#article: kageki

[zukalations]

Hizuki Hana, former Top Musumeyaku of Cosmos Troupe, has a monthly column in Kageki. In this one she talks about the 2023 Carmen production and her own changing feelings about the character of Carmen.

[algernoninwonderland]

I think that the presence of male characters in Utena was a significant part of what prevented it from having a significant otaku dudebro fanbase

(also it was Too Fucking Weird for many of them but that's not the point of this post)

The absence of male characters in so many contemporary anime, from K-On to Revue Starlight (arguably Madoka also fits that definition because who even is Kyousuke?), really is a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, not having hetero romance thrown at you can be refreshing, and it may allow for some truly good character writing for these girls, sometimes (not always) it allows for Gender Stuff to happen and that's all well and good.

On the other hand, that absence of male characters allows (predominantly heterosexual) male viewers (and otakus in particular) to be much more possessive of these shows’ characters.

Since there’s no male character standing in the way between them and the characters, that possessiveness is much easier. Of course you also find that in Idol culture and Love Live! and all of these other shows come to mind.

If you ever look for doujins for any of these shows on a site other than Dynasty Reader (and I don’t understand why you’d ever want to do that), the quantity of faceless reader-insert male characters (which makes projecting oneself supposedly easier, I guess) truly is astounding. This is what so many of these fans want.

The people producing these shows, these franchises, are all plenty aware of that absence of male characters and what it implies for its audience. It’s not just a creative decision, it’s a business practice. It makes selling your product to adolescents and adults with disposable income that much easier.

Utena has boys and men. It tells an uneasy and oft uncomfortable story. You, as an audience member, are not really invited to possess these characters, the show has one or two things to say about possessiveness, too. I'm guessing that acted as some sort of repellent for a certain crowd. I am glad that it did.

It's been fascinating, watching people like Naoko Yamada and Tomohiro Furukawa walk that tightrope between selling a product and actually telling an uncompromised story about girls (and the tensions in Furukawa's work are much more salient in that regard).

The Bloom into You anime has a more diverse cast of characters and features plenty of homosociality, but since it is more grounded and some of its characters happen to be male, since Yuu and Touko are in what is explicitly a relationship, since they are not very moé, the BluRay sold well but it never made Bocchi money or RevStar money (which isn't to say that these shows are bad, they are really quite good, but they are also much easier to market to an otaku audience). Also yes, the anime landscape and its market have obviously changed significantly between Utena and K-On, I'll get back to that point in a later post.

[leftersteindraws]

Just a random thought that occurred to me but am I the only one who sees a huge similarity between Mikoshiba and Dazai? Their vibe is similar, their antics are so random yet you'd be surprised at how reliable they both are, and although Yakumo and Atsushi are VERY different, the interactions between Yakumo and Mikoshiba in the stage play made me think: Oh they're just like Atsushi and Dazai

I never really thought about it, but you do have a point with Mikoshiba and Dazai's similarities...

In the context of the Initial File stage plays though, you might felt Yakumo and Mikoshiba's interactions more comparable to Atsushi and Dazai as I feel they've exaggerated the interactions quite a bit, it being a kageki and all. As I recall (I think it was from an interview or article?), Kaminaga-sensei pretty much gave the stage director Miura Kaori full creative liberty on the script and direction of the adaptation.

[historyhermann]

Webcomics Focus: "Not So Shoujo Love Story"

Not So Shoujo Love Story tells the story of a girl whose "perfect love story" is derailed when a popular girl confesses her love to her.

Reprinted from The Geekiary, my History Hermann WordPress blog, and Wayback Machine. This was the tenth article I wrote for The Geekiary. This post was originally published on October 27, 2021. Also, this post has been slightly changed from the original.

Curryuku's comedic Not So Shojo Love Story is the story of Rei Chan, a super fan of shoujo manga, who wants Hansum Ochinchin, a pretty boy in the Koko High School, to be her boyfriend. However, this goal becomes more distant when Hanna Schulerin, a girl who became popular due to so-called "dumb reasons," declares that she loves Rei, catching Rei off guard. As the story moves forward, she begins to figure out her feelings toward Hanna, while Hanna's feelings become that much more clear.

Rei begins by facing a set of bullies with rhyming names (Pam, Bam, Jam, and Ham), whom she attacks after they ruin her manga. Hanna tells her to stay away from Hansum, but when Rei tells Hanna she is pretty, it sets in motion a series of events which disrupt Rei's objective. And her "love story" becomes something entirely different than what she had imagined, and continues to face challenges along the way.

Meanwhile, Hanna, who is junior council president of the student council committee, struggles with her popularity, something she want so escape, trying to figure out how to have a health relationship with people, and Hansum has a secret which no one expects.

Hanna hugs Rei in the first episode

Not So Shoujo Love Story has compelling characters and storytelling. It pulled me in from the beginning and has kept me engaged throughout! There's Susan, a friend of Hanna and "rival" to Rei in terms of affection toward Hanna, who Rei labels "Hanna Dumbass" in her phone, and the dads of Rei and Hanna. The love stories of Hanna and Rei merge into one, whether Rei likes it or not, with Rei remembering back to when she met Hansum and was smitten with him after he called her hair style "pretty," but is heartbroken when he doesn't remember their first meeting.

At first, Rei is skeptical of Hanna calling her a "normie" and even wants time apart from her after the bullies try and pull them both apart. But, as the plot continues, she comes around to her and changes as a person. There's even funny anime references, like characters holding bread in their mouths, and the heroine tropes in manga.

The webcomic, which has more than 59 episodes and hundreds of thousands of subscribers, is written and illustrated by Curryuku. Aria Villafranca edits the webcomic, while Elliot and Alza also assist. Not So Shoujo Love Story is a reboot, as the original was on WebToon Canvas for 33 episodes. Curryuku, known as Curry for short, is a freelance artist and illustration who enjoys drawing yuri / girl's love stories such as this webcomic. I hope she continues to draw and create in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead!

Not So Shoujo Love Story reminds me of the beautiful animation and art in Kageki Shoujo! or the scenes in Cardcaptor Sakura, both of which are just as colorful and full of life as this webcomic. There is even a whole episode where Rei imagines herself as her dog, Taro, making me think of the episode of Cardcaptor Sakura where Sakura is shrunk down to small size, having to face insects and other animals which are "monsters," or another where she is trapped in a world resembling Alice in Wonderland.

Hanna tells Rei she likes her in the third episode

Not So Shoujo Love Story is available to read on WebToon as a WebToon Original.

You can find Curryuku on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tik Tok, and Soundcloud. The webcomic can be supported on Patreon.

© 2021-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[talenlee]

The Increasing Presence of Anime On This Blog

The Increasing Presence of Anime On This Blog

Around early April, late March, I made a chart to check the distribution of material I was covering in Story Pile, and then the stuff I had planned to watch. I made this chart because I realised that there were anime I was looking to cover, but I already had covered an anime in that month. And then I realised that my initial idea to keep the distribution of content varied, which was to write anime articles starting in november and work towards the current now, had kinda hit a wall, because I had already watched more than twelve anime this year.

The anime had caught up with containment.

The anime had breached.

There was no plan to make this blog ‘about’ anime as a primary form of the story pile. The original plan was in an attempt to engage with anime (something I like) more, I would plan to watch at least one, a month, and write about it. This plan meant I grabbed a bunch of stuff that looked interesting, and then it started. I watched some anime dubbed at double speed to rip through it, to remind myself of specific points in specific shows.

Hey, did you know there’s a video sharing website like Youtube that’s primarily for Indonesian users? And that they put anime up there with dubs in their (sometimes very specific) languages? As far as fun group projects to do with your besties, ‘let’s all dub an anime together’ is pretty sweet, considering how likely you are to have your interests underserved anyway, and it’d teach you a lot about how to make things and do dubbing tracks.

It also reminded me that as much as anime is being made available for me in maximally convenient ways these days, there are still these uneven distributions. Funimation don’t subtitle the opening songs – which is a really weird thing since that’s a thing fansubbers have been doing for decades and their absence actually makes Funimation’s work look less professional. I want to know what the themes of the opening song to Kageki Shojo is, dammit!

But still, I wound up going: Hang on, this is becoming an anime blog.

It’s weird, though, because it’s not like I felt the need to defend the blog material when, thanks to a Netflix subscription, I was watching entire series of Star Trek at a time. Or that there were periods where the Story Pile featured a bunch of movies all in a row. What’s extra surprising to me, as I engage with this, is the way that I feel apologetic about this, like hey, I know you didn’t sign up to learn about anime, you came here for other stuff.

But nobody’s said that.

I have a friend who isn’t into anime. He rightly points out filler elements in it, and the ways that the genre does things like explicate things with dialogue that you wouldn’t see done in non-anime sources. Regardless of why things are this way, this doesn’t change the fact that anime observably has trends for storytelling and budget extension that works on different rules. A diet of nothing but anime builds a reference pool that is, mostly, other anime, and that kind of thing is what leads to heavy anime fans (in my experience) having a very basic vision of storytelling, because they’re too marinated in the experience of anime’s conventional structures.

It also means they’re probably way too okay with some of the things that anime does which we file, in general, under ‘Anime Bullshit.’ Things like weird age ranges or dubious consent communication, or even less obviously odious things like the way that these stories overwhelmingly are about finding a place to operate within a system, rather than doing things to destroy or replace those systems.

(Generally.)

(It’s getting better.)

The big reason I find myself watching anime lately, though, is a practice of sharing time with Fox away from our computers. I still have my phone on me – if people need me, I want to be able to talk to them! – but to watch anime together, we have to get away from the computer, sit on the couch together, and focus on the show. We can talk to one another, but there’s no other tasks that get done, no cooking or baking or cleaning — it really is just time spent, with one another, as we share in a media experience. Fox can do exercises for her wrists, I can take some time to rest my hands, and all of this while we get to watch a radio announcer lose her mind.

The subtitles really pin me in place – I can’t just ignore what’s going on in a show, and catch up from context clues in the same way to jog my memory of what I heard while I wasn’t focused.

This isn’t the only way I’m watching anime. I also have some anime I put on monitor 2 and watch while I’m doing more rote things on monitor 1. Minecraft or Pokemon are both great anime watching material, just grinding through some simple things that don’t need a lot of active attention. Digging through text for references and rewording things to make more sense? Easy to do while watching anime. I didn’t burn through a whole season of Jujutsu Kaisen in a day without a lot of fiddly word choices to pick through.

Which means that anime suits me right now. It doesn’t hurt things that anime of the past few years has been really good. The stories they’re being based on are developed more, there’s less filler and padding, and the stuff they choose to be about seem more focused? It wasn’t planned, but man, there’s so much cool anime happening right now and I’m really glad I’m getting to enjoy it, especially with Fox.

And that means that this blog is gunna be a bit of an anime blog for a while. Don’t worry, I am mixing it up! I’ve written about more books this year than I expected, because books are usually really hard to engage with with so much of my day to day involving reading these days.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Media #Meta #Anime

[animefeminist]

Anime Feminist’s Top Picks for 2021

This year had a range of anime for just about every taste, and the result is one of our biggest year-end lists ever!

How did we choose our recs?

Participating staff members picked five titles and ranked them. The only rule was that the series or season had to be complete as of December 2021 or been on the air without a break for over a year. This meant that split-cours and shows that began in 2021 and are still airing (like Ranking of Kings) were NOT eligible. They’ll be rolled onto any 2022 lists.

We always want to emphasize that our recommendations are not meant as a rubber-stamp of “Feminist Approval.” Rather, we aim to highlight shows we found valuable and think might appeal to our readers as well, with any content warnings or caveats that might apply.

How are they ranked?

They’re not, really. We’ve highlighted our “top picks” that received the most staff member votes, but otherwise they’re just organized alphabetically. The team has varying tastes, as do our readers, and we didn’t want to try to put those tastes in a hierarchy.

Hey, you didn’t list my favorite show!

That’s okay! Like we said, we limited ourselves to a Top Five, and everyone has different tastes. If there’s something that slipped under our radar and you think it’s a series other feminist-minded viewers would enjoy, please let us and your fellow readers know in the comments!

Read it at Anime Feminist!

[yurimother]

'Adachi and Shimamura' Named One of the Top 10 2021 Manga by The School Library Journal

On December 1, the School Library Journal (SLJ), a publication for librarians working with children and teens, released an article featuring the top 10 manga of 2021. The article, written by Brigid Alverson and Robin Brenner, names 10 series published in America recommended for school libraries.

The list feature Moke Yuzuhara's Adachi and Shimamura, the manga adaptation of Hitoma Iruma's Yuri light novel series of the same name. The series is published in English by Yen Press.

The article included other diverse series, including Keito Gaku's Boys Run the Riot, which follows a transgender boy, and Kageki Shojo!!

Each title in the SJL article is labeled with a recommended age group. Adachi and Shimamura is labeled as suitable for grades 8 and up.

You can check out volume 1 of Yuzuhara's manga adaptation of Adachi and Shimamura in English paperback and digitally: https://amzn.to/300ZJWI

Source: School Library Journal

[animepopheart]

Hello! Do you know of any Christian-inspired anime? Referenced? Or like even portrayed? Thanks!

I sure do! You cover a lot of ground with those questions, so yeah, there are actually a lot of series that would qualify, particularly from a more superficial level.

Lots of anime, of course, use Christian elements as window dressing (think gothic churches) or for world-building, usually portrayed in a negative light (ex. Evangelion), though there are some that portray the faith more neutrally (Samurai Champloo), comically (Saint Young Men) or in a positive way through the actions of a Christian-like church (Chrono Crusade), with some even throwing in decent theology (Vatican Medical Examiners) too. But the latter are rare—you're more likely to find stuff like this experimental trailer for a proposed Warrior Nun Areala anime:

There are a few straight-up, Christian anime, mostly older ones like the original Superbook, which many kids grew up watching in Sunday School, and In the Beginning: The Bible Stories, a series written by Osamu Tezuka. I also like to post the short film, My Last Day, each Easter; it was developed by a Japanese studio for the makers of the Jesus film.

On Beneath the Tangles, though, we prefer to dig a little deeper. Instead of looking for superficial elements, we connect better with themes or content that help us think more about the Christian life. A couple recent examples of articles include one about Rio's arc in Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai and how Sakuta's advice to her doesn't provide a strong hope, and another on the final episode of Kageki Shoujo and how one character's thoughts and actions brings to mind the older brother of the parable of the Prodigal Son. A more classic example is in Trigun, and Wolfwood's struggles with grace.

If we believe God is who he says he is, his stories are everywhere around us, often in unexpected places and in media where creators never intended to include him. That's what we examine on our site.

Here are some recommendations we have for Christians, though virtually none of these series actually reference the faith.

[pupa-cinema]

Arukara - さすらい(Wanderings) - Lyrics English Translation

繰り返す目眩に　まっさか逆さま Lights flashing over and over, sending me downright upside down 振り乱し傾いた　ザンバラバラ Hair tousling as I went down, tossed and turned

野次馬は騒めきの　まっただ中なか A crowd of onlookers to a commotion, and I’m at the center 答え合わせのメロディー？？KAGEKIにやってくれないか Give us a sign with a melody?? Can that melody be KAGEKI 最後の願いさ That’s my last wish やってくれないか So can you do that for me さすらいの別れ雨 The wandering rains herald farewells

繰り返す目眩に　まっさか逆さま Lights flashing over and over, sending me downright upside down 掻き乱し傾いた　頬紅面 Hair tousling as I went down, cheeks beet red 煮えたぎる地獄の　まっただ中なか The blazing flames of hell, and I’m at the center of them 答え合わせのメロディー？ Give me a sign with a melody? KAGEKIにやってくれないか Can that melody be KAGEKI 最後の願いさ That’s my last wish やってくれないか So can you do it 三条河原に雨 Rain falls into the mucky waters of the Sanjou Riverbed

銀鼠の空　焦がしつく The sky is a silver gray, it sears its mark さすらいの風　逆巻き The wandering winds send water tossing and turning 業火の窯の中 Inside a kiln lit by the flames of hell 我が子を掲げた I held my child up high

独裁者欺き　あっぱれヤバヤバ Dictators pulling tricks, huzzah, holy holy shit 絶景かな絶景　大盤振る舞い What a sight to behold, the sheer display of lip service 歴戦のマブダチ　黄金色したキセルは　今　何処へ My compadre who’d been with me through tough shit, where has that golden cigar pipe gone

KAGEKIにやってくれないか Can that melody be KAGEKI 最後の願いさ That’s my last wish やってくれないか So can you do that for me さすらいの別れ雨 The wandering rains herald farewells

KAGEKIに殺ってくれないか Can that eulogy be KAGEKI 来世も傾くさ Ah, to fall down into the otherworld やってくれないか Can you do that for me さすらいの雨よ　今鮮やかに O’ wandering rains, they’ve cleared up

Footnotes:  ● KAGEKI is the name of Arukara's album. In kanji, it could mean either "Opera" or "Extremism". So I think each line could be interpreted in 3 ways, "Sing our album", "Do it extreme" or "Do it like an opera"...

●  "三条河原に雨  Rain falls into the mucky waters of the Sanjou riverbed" Sanjou Riverbed in Kyoto was once a site for public execution and samurai battles aplenty... Now Sanjou Bridge stands as a historical point! This article goes into depth more: https://www.insidekyoto.com/kyoto-samurai

[hotarutranslations]

Cherry---!

Evening Its Ishida Ayumi

 Funaki Musubu-chan!!!

 Today was her birthday event, within that she wanted to sing a LILIUM song… In that way she got to wear a wonderful costume!

It was actually what I wore in the 2014 play,

So its Cherry’s outfit,

 Its like new life was breathed into it……

 I was really moved by it……

 Also it suits her so much……

 Funa-chan really love TRUMP amazingly,

The amount of knowledge she has on it is amazing,

Further she has the feeling of being in an eternal cocoon period

 Therefore I think I was also pleased with the costume

 Seeing the light of day again like this! Lol

 Although I’m in the situation where I didn’t watch the event,

I think one way or another I’ll watch the video

 “LILIUM ~Shoujou Junketsu Kageki~”

 If you haven’t watched it yet, you definitely should

 In addition I’d like you to read this article as well

 Here

    On Yokoyama Reina-chan’s blog,

She went to sleep without drying her hair!

 Is what she wrote,

 On the same day I,

 I fell asleep in a tatami chair…… Without getting up in the middle of the night I slept soundly till morning…… My back was all stiff……

 Yesterday I went to sleep properly at night

 But my back hurts ←

 The moment I woke up in the morning my back ached,

Is it because my bed or pillow don’t suit each other…?

But up until now it was fine, so its like….suddenly sometimes, so is it just related to my own fatigue?

 (it’s the latter)

 Recently I’ve been noticing,

 The lymph nodes under my ears, and at the base of my chin? Kinda around there?

 If you push it or massage it,

It feels like it hurts like, Uwaa~ there’s blockage~,

So I’ll massage them often,

I’ve been told, its muscle strain~

 Are there people were it doesn’t hurt there!?!?

 Without lymph node blockage,

I wonder if your face is super soft lol

 Like in babies… they’re indifferent to it right…

 I didn’t notice it at all in elementary school……

 Some day the lymph nodes build up blockage

 Why do lymph nodes do that…

What are lymph nodes…

 Lol

 A photo from a while ago

 This is one of the raw photos that were taken

  ……a last minute struggle ←

 Tomorrow is a concert in Fukuoka

 Since the songs will change from Nakano,

Tomorrow is the last time I’ll sing that song……!

 Thank you for supporting me

 See you ayumin ❤

 https://ameblo.jp/morningmusume-10ki/entry-12617772321.html

[zukalations]

Feature where siennes review their favorite shows. This one includes Houzumi Mahiro, Kiwami Shin, Shimon Yuriya, and Rukaze Hikaru.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the nature of the feature it can contain major spoilers.

[recentanimenews]

Demon Slayer, World Trigger Ranks High in Japanese Fans Top 10 Anime Endings of 2021

  Coupled with the top anime openings of 2021 voted on by Japanese fans, Anime! Anime! also revealed the top 10 anime endings of 2021 to look back at the jams that anime brought us over the past year.

  740 people were surveyed between December 4 and 15, with 43.8 percent being male, and 56.2 percent being females. 48.8 percent were 19 years old and under, while 16.5 percent were 20 to 24, and the rest of the respondents were over 25 years old.

  Note that this survey was held by Anime! Anime! and has no affiliation with Crunchyroll, we’re just as interested in what Japanese fans think as you are!

  10. (tie) “PLACES” by TRIGGER - IDOLiSH7 Third BEAT!

    10. (tie) “Komorebi no Yell” by Machico and Saori Onishi in character - Umamusume: Pretty Derby Season 2

    9. “Mirai wa Kaze no Yo ni” by Liella! - Love Live! Superstar!!

    7. (tie) “Koko de Iki o Shite” by eill - Tokyo Revengers

    7. (tie) "Nai Nai” by ReoNa - Shadows House

    6. "Hoshi no Tabibito" by Sayaka Senbongi and Yumiri Hanamori - Kageki Shojo!!

    5. "Maid With Dragons" by Super Chorogons - Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S

    4. “Oz" by Yama - Ranking of Kings

    3. "Ungai Dokei" by Fantastic Youth - World Trigger 3rd Season

    2. “Hatsukoi” by The Nakano Family's Quintuplets  - The Quintessential Quintuplets 2

    1. “Shirogane” by LiSA - Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Mugen Train Arc

    As with yesterday’s article, it’s no surprise that the current anime song queen LiSA is top of the chart, though seeing The Quintessential Quintuplets 2’s ending theme at second place is noteworthy and unexpected. While it might seem strange that World Trigger is at number three, the franchise is hugely popular within Japan, with it’s standees at Jump Festa 2022 having longer lines than Chainsaw Man and One Piece. Ranking of Kings in 4th place is nice. 

  Do you agree with this ranking? What was your favorite anime ending of 2021? Let us know down in the comments below!

  Source: Anime! Anime!

  ----

Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.  

By: Daryl Harding

[akianimes]

Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight Specials - Episódio: 01

Episódios especiais que vem com o Blu-Ray da série. Read the full article

[historyhermann]

Do It Yourself!! Review

Do It Yourself!! (Dū Itto Yuaserufu!!) is an original slice-of-life and DIY anime. The series is directed by Kazuhiro Yoneda and written by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu. It is produced by Pine Jam, a seven-year-old Japanese studio known for series such as Kageki Shojo!! and Just Because! In addition, Koyubita Beru's online manga adaptation began at the same time as the anime. This review will have spoilers.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs, my History Hermann WordPress blog on Jan 4., and Wayback Machine. This was the fifteenth article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on December 11, 2022.

The show's plot is simple and sweet: Serufu Yua (voiced by Konomi Inagaki) is an easygoing first-year student at Gatagata Girls' High School who joins the school's DIY club after the club's leader fixes her bike after she crashes. Her name, in Japanese order, is a homonym meaning "yourself", as in "do it yourself".

After joining the DIY club, Serufu makes new friends. This includes a third-year named Rei Yasaku (voiced by Ayane Sakura), also known as Kurei, who is the club leader, and a shy first-year named Takumi Hikage (voiced by Azumi Waki).

Serufu is later joined by an overly friendly, and energetic, girl from Southeast Asia named Kokoro Kōki / Shii (voiced by Karin Takahashi). Shii does not go to the same school, but is an external member of the club. These friends, and others, attempt different methods to gain more club members, so the club can remain at the school.

Humor is central to Do It Yourself!!. For one, Serufu is very accident-prone, causing her to always wear bandages on her face and arms. As a result, she often spends time in the nurse's office, for which she has perfect attendance. Her laid-back mother (voiced by Kikuko Inoue) even hides power tools in the house so that Serufu doesn't hurt herself. Adding to the humor are occasional scenes when Serufu, and her mother. eat pork while her pet pig, Meat, sits and shutters at the thought they are eating animal meat like him.

The series excels at being low-pressure and without drama, for the most part, in contrast to currently airing series like I'm the Villainness and I'm Taming the Final Boss and Bibliophile Princess, which are filled with dramatic storylines from beginning to end. At the same time, Do It Yourself!! is optimistic and uplifting.

The anime's characters are more than simple caricatures. For instance, Yua's friend, Miku Suride (voiced by Kana Ichinose), is given the nickname of "Purin" by Serufu since is tsundere about her true feelings. She often gets worked up, especially when it comes to Serufu. There's also her housemate, Juliet Queen Elizabeth VIII (voiced by Nichika Ōmori), also known as Jobko. Although she is a prodigy from the U.S., due to a language mix-up, so she ends up in the wrong school. She gives Miku the name "Pudding".

The series is not a simple slice-of-life story like Azumanga Daioh or Non Non Biyori. It doesn't shy away from harsh realities. For example, after everything seems lost at the end of the ninth episode, when materials the DIY club has been collecting for their treehouse are gone, the show does not take a dark turn. Instead, it remains upbeat. The club members are successful in gathering necessary excess materials along the way. They also learn that their club advisor, and school nurse, Haruko Hoketsu (voiced by Yumi Kakazu), was once a club member!

Do It Yourself!! touches on the "clash" between technology and hand-made materials. Purin goes to Yuyu Girls' Vocational High School, a high-tech school, while the other characters attend Gatagata, which is next door. Instead of saying one method, or one school, is better than another, the show gives the lesson that DIY ethics can mesh with techno-optimism and technology itself. Jobko is a perfect example of this, as is Purin, to an extent, combining their skills together for benefit of others.

Similar to currently airing anime, such as Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit, Management of a Novice Alchemist, and Bocchi the Rock!, the show contains yuri subtext. This is most evident between Serufu and Purin, with the latter having feelings for the former. Additionally, Kurei and Takumi bond over a similar interest in a fictional manga named Sunflower Girls.

The show's writing pulls you into the story and makes you want to watch more. This is unsurprising since the show's writer, Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, is known for his work on Black Clover and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. He has also been a screenwriter on well-known series like Encouragement of Climb, In the Land of Leadale, Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina, and Is the Order a Rabbit?.

Ryōhei Sataka writes the music for Do It Yourself!!. He is known for work on the iDOLM@STER series, Classroom of the Elite, D4DJ, and Boarding School Juliet. The music of the series is simple, easily fitting with the themes and story.

The writing, story, and music are enhanced by the show's voice talent. For instance, Ichinose depicted protagonists in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Carole & Tuesday, and If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, while Sakura voiced characters in Wandering Son, Love Live! School Idol Project, and Spy x Family.

The show's other voice actors are known for work on series such as The Aquatope on White Sand, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Tokyo Mew Mew, and Komi Can't Communicate. Their talents are put to good use in the series.

Do It Yourself!! is a perfect embodiment of the DIY ethic. Although it is sometimes grating to see the characters use power tools and other tools without any safety gear, that might throw off the "cute girls building things with their hands" vibe that the show is going for.

The series falls short only by dragging out the tsundere nature of Purin toward Serufu too long. If the series is only be 12 episodes long, it would be unfortunate if Purin spends more time with the DIY club in the opening credits than in the actual episodes. However, it is a distinct possibility that the series will continue into another season.

If another season of Do It Yourself!! was developed, it could focus on the strengthened friendship, or even romance, if that plot was chosen, between Purin and Serufu. New characters would likely get introduced, as the DIY club would expand after the "secret" treehouse is built.

Serufu reminds me little of Izumi-kun in the romcom anime Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie or even Milo Murphy in the sci-fi action comedy, Milo Murphy's Law. The difference is that Serufu has no backpack like Milo for any eventualities, nor does she have a sweet girlfriend, such as Shikimori-san, with excellent reflexes who rescues her from dangerous situations.

The focus on friendship, a do-it-yourself attitude, and peaceful family lives is a nice breather from the realism depicted elsewhere. There are no physically or psychologically abusive parents, similar to those in the short-lived sports drama series, Stars Align, nor any like Mother Gothel in the Tangled films and animated series. While such depictions are truthful as there are real-life relationships that some have with their parents or guardians similar to those depictions, it can be disheartening and depressing to see those depictions, at times.

Do It Yourself!! stands out as a strong slice-of-life series during a fall anime season filled with romance and drama. It has a different tone than other anime. It is more carefree, sometimes even happy-go-lucky. For that reason, I recommend the series wholeheartedly.

Do It Yourself!! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

© 2022-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

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Salve de tomes 1: épisode 3

Seulement trois mois se sont écoulés depuis mon dernier article de tomes 1. Entre temps, j’ai enfin pu lire le tome 2 de Kageki Shojo, continuer les lectures du Requiem du Roi des Roses ainsi que de Ton visage au clair de lune, et même terminer Kids on the Slope (qui était génial !). J’ai consacré la fin de l’année 2022 à ce dernier, à Nakamura Asumiko dont j’ai relu All About J et Inheritance of Aroma puis, enfin, à la tannée qu’a été Vampires d’Osamu Tezuka. Depuis le début de cette année, je n’ai pas énormément lu. Je me suis plongée à corps perdu dans la huitième partie de JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Jojolion. J’ai aussi eu une fringale de BL donc j’en ai profité pour découvrir le travail de Scarlet Beriko dont je recommande vivement Jealousy ! J’ai aussi commencé Gals! (Mihona Fujii) que je prends le temps de lire tant c’est une lecture qui me fait chaud au cœur ! J’avoue m’être aussi investie dans le webtoon, en continuant Rumor Has It (sungA) à raison d’un chapitre par jour et en commençant le dernier titre de Soonkki, After School Lessons for Unripe Apples. Toujours est-il que trop de Jojo tuant le Jojo, je me suis dit qu’il était temps que je m’attaque un peu à ma pile à lire qui ne fait que de grandir. Ainsi, j’ai entamé la lecture de plusieurs mangas… Shôjo, josei, shônen, seinen, tout y passe !

Le premier manga à être passé entre mes mains est Yasha d’Akimi Yoshida. Pré-publié dans le magazine shôjo Betsucomi, le manga est disponible en France aux éditions Panini à 16,99€. Sei Arisue est un petit garçon, il vit paisiblement sur l’île d’Okinawa auprès de sa mère et de son meilleur ami, Toichi Nagae. Enfant aux capacités extraordinaires, il se retrouve kidnappé par un mystérieux groupe. Six années après, on retrouve Sei aux États-Unis, scientifique accompli travaillant pour le groupe pharmaceutique Neo Genesis.

Akimi Yoshida ne fait pas vraiment partie de mes mangakas fétiches. Pourtant, quel plaisir ça a été de la retrouver avec Yasha ! La comparaison avec Banana Fish est inévitable: l’ambiance et les personnages sont similaires et la maestria de narration de la mangaka reste la même d’un manga d’action à un autre. Pourtant, j’ai trouvé à Yasha suffisamment de points de divergence dans l’histoire avec Banana Fish pour que le titre ne souffre pas de cette comparaison. C’est un nouveau contexte, et les ramifications de l’histoire sont différentes. Évidemment, j’ai aimé les passages d’action ! Tout d’un coup la tension monte grâce à un jeu de trames redoutable, et le manga bascule dans l’action d’une page à l’autre. Akimi Yoshida vient casser les angles droits de ses cases rigoureusement rectangulaires, amenant ainsi du mouvement, et n’hésite pas à mettre la dose de lignes de vitesse pour nous embarquer au cœur de l’action ! Ce type de découpage a beau être le fondement d’un passage d’action, il n’en demeure pas moins super efficace. La mangaka utilise très justement, avec un certain équilibre, chaque élément pour que ces passages convoquent le sentiment d’importance lié aux situations au sein de l’histoire. Je ne saurai mettre exactement le doigt dessus, mais il y a quelque chose de redoutablement percutant chez Akimi Yoshida. De plus, les personnages de Yasha, et particulièrement les jumeaux (car c’est une histoire de jumeaux !) ont quelque chose de très fascinant. À chaque fois qu’on pense être proche de Sei, dans les moments comiques notamment, il nous échappe. Je crois que cet aspect, avec un personnage principal insaisissable et grandement fascinant, participe au plaisir que j’ai ressenti en retrouvant Akimi Yoshida avec Yasha. Au fil des pages, les mystères entourant Sei s’épaississent, l’histoire nous échappe. Il me tarde de lire la suite pour découvrir jusqu’où Akimi Yoshimi m’emmènera avec Yasha !

Le second manga de la liste est Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun d’AidaIro. Étiquetté shônen par l’éditeur français Pika, le manga est en cours de publication au sein du magazine à la cible éditoriale mixte: G-Fantasy. Le manga est disponible dans toute bonne librairie pour un prix de 7,70€. Nene Yashiro a un crush… à sens unique. Désespérée, elle décide de s’en remettre à la légende de Hanako, un esprit qui hanterait les toilettes de l’école. Cependant, tout vœu formulé auprès de Hanako a un prix… Nene se retrouve à devenir l’assistante de Hanako ! Ainsi débutent les aventures d’Hanako et de son assistante Nene au sein de l’école Kamome !

Est-ce que vous vous attendiez à un avis sur Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun de ma part ? Moi non ! Mais de nombreux passages en librairies m’ont rendue curieuse ! Je trouve chacune des couvertures de ce manga superbes. J’aime beaucoup l’ambiance mystérieuse et fantasque qui se dégage de ces illustrations. Je trouve aussi le travail de AidaIro autour de la couleur très beau, que ce soit dans le rendu de la technique et des outils employés que dans la palette choisie pour chaque tome. Mais ai-je bien fait de me fier aux couvertures ? Eh bien, je dis que oui ! J’ai été ensorcelée par ce premier tome ! Je suis complètement sous le charme du dessin de l’auteur et de l’univers qu’il a réussi à développer. Fourmillant de détails, je suis retrouvée totalement immergée dans cet univers cabalistique fait d’esprits, de fantômes et de légendes urbaines japonaises. De plus, le style moe, accompagné de la souplesse du trait, fait de Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun un manga aux graphismes irrésistibles. Je suis aussi très charmée par le côté épisodique du manga, chaque chapitre est comme une nouvelle aventure à la découverte d’un nouvel esprit. Un fil rouge commence aussi à se mettre en place, notamment autour des origines de Hanako-kun et de l’apparition du personnage de Minamoto qui s’ajoute au duo formé par l’esprit et Nene. À l’image d’un Détective Conan, c’est un manga qui peut durer très longtemps grâce à son côté épisodique, et dont le fil rouge ne viendra tisser la toile de fond que de manière très sporadique. Seuls les tomes suivants me le diront !

Le troisième manga de cette salve de tomes 1 est Entre les lignes de Tomoko Yamashita. Pré-publié dans l’excellant magazine Feel Young, Entre les lignes est publié en France par les éditions Kana et est disponible au prix de 7,55€. Le manga commence avec le personnage adolescent d’Asa qui, après avoir perdu ses parents dans un tragique accident de voiture, emménage chez sa tante écrivaine Makio. Les deux, parentes mais distantes, vont devoir apprendre à vivre ensemble.

Enfin ! Après tout mon cercle Twitter, je me lance dans Entre les lignes ! Je ne sais pas si je peux dire que j’ai aimé ce premier tome, si je le prends simplement comme un tome isolé des suivants. Cependant, il m’a donné envie d’en apprendre plus sur Asa et Makio. C’est un premier tome qui pose les bases, qui nous indique les problématiques qui se noueront ou se dénoueront dans les tomes suivants. Tout de suite, on en apprend beaucoup: le mystère autour de la relation d’Asa avec ses parents, la mésentente entre Makio et sa sœur, ou encore, le travail et les relations extérieures de Makio. Bien sûr, aussi, le cœur de l’histoire: les liens à nouer entre Asa et Makio, comment elles vont cohabiter et comment leurs individualités vont s’entrechoquer. J’ai trouvé ingénieux de faire ces premiers chapitres en deux temps. Le tout premier chapitre est un chapitre qui se passe au présent, puis les suivants, jusqu’à la fin du tome, sont un flash-back de l’arrivée d’Asa chez sa tante. Ce sont ces deux temps qui me rendent curieuse vis à vis de la suite, que s’est-il passé entre le premier chapitre, où Asa est en terminale, et le reste, où elle est en 3ème ? Graphiquement, on retrouve bien le côté minimaliste de Tomoko Yamashita. La mangaka utilise aussi des techniques classiques de ce genre de récit centré sur les relations sociales: le fond noir pour les souvenirs, et beaucoup de jeux de regards entre les personnages. La mangaka utilise aussi de manière brillante la métaphore du désert pour le vide intérieur ressenti par Asa. « C’est sûrement la solitude. » dit Makio. Dans ces moments de vide, Asa n’est même plus dans le lieu présent, elle est dans le désert de son être. Plutôt qu’être une lecture qui m’aura passionné, le premier tome d’Entre les lignes m’a laissé un sentiment de grande curiosité. Que se passera-t-il pour Asa et Makio, qu’on t-elles au fond d’elles ? Comment est-ce que leur relation va évoluer ? Si je suis curieuse de connaître la suite, je pense que c’est un manga que je ne lirai qu’avec parcimonie, afin d’en profiter au maximum.

Le quatrième manga à m’être passé entre les mains est Mon Petit ami Genderless de Tamekou. Lui aussi pré-publié dans le magazine Feel Young, il est publié dans nos contrées par les éditions Akata, et est disponible pour un prix de 8,05€. Wako est une jeune femme travaillant pour une maison d’édition. Son petit ami, Meguru, est un homme genderless travaillant dans une boutique de vêtement, et est très populaire sur les réseaux sociaux. Couple hétéro défiant les conventions, on suit leurs aventures au quotidien. Avant d’aller plus loin, il convient de dire que genderless, ici, ne veut pas dire non-binaire, mais se réfère davantage à un style vestimentaire défiant la règle des vêtements genré.

Intéressée par la mode, les styles alternatifs, j’avais eu hâte de découvrir Mon Petit ami Genderless ! Puis par manque de moyens, je l’ai laissé filer jusqu’à finalement le trouver en occasion. J’avoue que ce n’est pas plus mal, car j’en suis ressortie assez mitigée. Commençons par le positif ! J’adore le dessin de Tamekou, il est assez fin, pop et acidulé. Malgré l’absence de couleur dans le manga, ce côté acidulé se retrouve notamment dans les trames utilisées par l’auteur: étoiles, cœurs, carreaux, dentelles ou encore pois sont omniprésents. J’ai aussi beaucoup aimé les moments comiques, notamment le malentendu avec la collègue de Wako qui, après avoir croisé cette dernière et son petit ami genderless dans la rue, est persuadée que celle-ci est lesbienne. Ce qui est comique ce n’est pas que Wako soit potentiellement lesbienne, mais qu’elle laisse croire à sa collègue que c’est vrai, alors que tout le monde sait que c’est faux. Globalement, le manga aborde les rôles de genre sous différents angles (comment on doit s’habiller, qui fait quoi à la maison) d’une manière tellement naturelle et légère que c’en est presque imperceptible. Pour ça, Mon Petit ami Genderless est une véritable bouffée d’air frais. Cependant, ce n’est pas un manga qui m’a véritablement intéressée ou fait ressentir quoique ce soit d’excitant. Je n’aime pas vraiment la dynamique du couple principal où on a l’impression que Wako est une fangirl de son propre petit ami. J’ai été déçue de la mode dedans. Pour le peu qu’il y a, j’ai trouvé ça assez moche… Surtout, je crois qu’il manque à Mon Petit ami Genderless une direction vers laquelle aller. Wako et Meguru sont déjà en couple, et tout se passe pour le mieux entre eux. Quoi de plus ? J’ai bien compris que Tamekou avait l’ambition de faire un manga slice of life mignon, qui réchauffe le cœur, mais je ne vois pas dans quelle direction le manga va. Rien n’a su attiser ma curiosité. Pour l’instant, je n’ai pas l’intention de continuer, à voir si j’y repense dans les mois à venir.

Enfin, l’ultime manga de cette liste est Du mouvement de la Terre de UOTO. Pré-publié dans le très bon magazine Big Comic Spirits, le manga est publié en France par les éditions Ki-oon pour un prix de 7,95€. Dans l’Europe du Moyen Âge, Rafal est une jeune garçon prodige, futur théologien, et passionné d’astronomie. Il rencontre Hubert, un hérétique repenti qui va le pousser à se poser une question alors contraire au dogme religieux: où se place la Terre parmi le monde ? Est-elle au centre du monde, comme l’a démontré Ptolémée et comme le voudrait Dieu, ou non ? Au contact de Hubert, la vie de Rafal bascule. Contre tous, il décide de dédier sa vie à la théorie de l’héliocentrisme.

En bonne fan de récit historique, Du mouvement de la Terre était une des nouveautés que j’attendais le plus cette année, et je ne suis pas déçue ! De prime abord, on pourrait penser que le sujet de l’héliocentrisme est bien vaste, pas franchement intéressant. Pourtant, c’est un sujet que je trouve passionnant, et qui en dit long sur le passé de l’humanité, sur comment l’humanité s’envisageait au sein de l’univers. Malgré le sujet complexe, le manga est tout à fait accessible et ne cherche pas à nous expliquer en détails la théorie de l’héliocentrisme. Plutôt que de choisir un angle rigoureusement historique et scientifique, UOTO s’attache davantage à nous livrer un récit d’aventures. En effet, plus qu’un conflit d’idéologies, c’est une véritable poursuite entre l’Église, représentée par le personnage de Novak l’inquisiteur, et les sciences, représentées par Rafal, qui se dessine. Au niveau graphique, j’ai trouvé ça plutôt chouette. Il y a de très belles pages et de bonnes idées de mise en page. J’ai notamment aimé les pages où l’auteur insiste sur le regard du jeune Rafal, puisqu’après tout, l’astronomie n’est qu’une question d’observation. Je peux tout de même lui reprocher d’être un poil cliché façon « seinen mature se déroulant au Moyen Âge ». On y trouve des moments de violence graphique ou encore des doubles pages d’une extrême puissance soudaine par exemple. Le manga reste dans l’ambiance « Moyen Âge sombre et violent ». UOTO est un auteur encore jeune, et je suis persuadée qu’il emmènera ce récit très haut et très loin. Du mouvement de la Terre promet d’être un récit passionnant, aussi bien dans le fond que dans la forme.

Cet article touche déjà à sa fin ! Mon préféré de la liste est de loin Du mouvement de la Terre. Est-ce vous avez lu ces titres ? Si oui, vous en avez pensé quoi ?? Dites-moi tout sur Twitter ! Vous avez peut-être remarqué, mais j’ai changé le titre de ces articles consacrés aux tomes 1, je ne pouvais plus me voir « …comme s’il en pleuvait ». Pour terminer, merci encore de m’avoir lu jusqu’ici, une nouvelle fois, et on se retrouve sur Twitter, Ko-fi (oubliez de jeter un œil à mon super marque-page !!) et, pourquoi pas sur Anilist. Portez-vous bien, des bisous.