#at least the bsd tag is straightforward

[11worms]

First art post on this account lol. It’s been a while since I’ve been active on social media but I’ve missed it :) Anway here’s a little bit of skk fanart of The Road Not Taken by TopHat69. Peak soukoku fic guys,,

[soukokuwu]

Ahh yes an angst loving bsd blog bc we all need a little angst in our lives, how abt mori, fukuzawa, and kunikida with a terminally ill spouse who’s constantly getting surgeries and is always near the brink of death- them dying any second is a real possibility

     author notes. hehe yessss anony i love angst uwu i hope this is okay for you <3 tags; @animatedarchives

makes sure to tell his doctors (yes, the specialists he hired for the port mafia because he isn’t going to leave it up to the public hospitals) to do everything they can to extend your life.

spends any amount to get any possible treatment for you. always makes sure it’s spent on the best doctors available. he’d fly you out to other countries if it means better odds.

being boss of the port mafia doesn’t mean he has all the time in the world. there’s a lot that he needs to tend to day by day. he’ll try to be there for you whenever he can, especially for the surgeries, but if he can’t, he’ll make sure to send someone he trusts in his place and he expects a full report of every minute.

hires a caretaker to make sure you’re taken care of every minute of every day. if they mess up even once, he’ll fire them and get a new one straight away. he can’t gamble, not when it’s your life.

isn’t too straightforward with his feelings, but he makes sure to remind you everyday that he loves you, because he’s aware that no matter how hard one tries, the possibility of losing you is still very big, and he doesn’t want to have regrets.

he devotes a lot of time to you, to the point that you have to tell him that he can stand to dedicate more time for the agency. it’s easier said than done, so if he has to leave you alone to go for checkups and the like, he’ll make sure to ask you for updates.

ensures that he gets you a checkup with the best specialists available in japan, uses favours from officials if he has to. and if he goes with you, he’ll make sure to ask everything thoroughly; what he can do to make things better at home, any meal recommendations and whatnot.

he is the boss of the ada, but he reminds you that you are still his first priority. should any trouble arise with you, he would drop everything and rush to your side, no matter what he’s doing.

never expected to be one, but he becomes a worrywart when it comes to you. he’s always pacing back and forth when you’re in surgery, begging and praying for you to come out safely.

every night he gets to sleep next to you he counts himself as the luckiest man alive because he loves you so much, even a small thing like this is bliss, given the situation. and you know he loves you, because it’s in everything he does for you from day to day.

is distraught when he first finds out, because even though he takes into account the probability of this happening to someone he loves, he’s still human. hearing that the one he loves might be gone soon will still come as a shock.

has no choice but to trust that the doctors know what is best, and has a whole diary full of notes he jots down after he meets with them. it’s basically a notebook full of what you should do or not do etc.

spends as much time with you as he can, because he’s got a whole list of things that you’d want to do before you go. he asked you this once before everything, and he thanks god that he made it into a list. at least now he knows what to spend time doing with you.

whenever you have to have surgeries he spends the time that he’s not obsessively worrying about it on researching what else can be done to increase your chances, maybe a certain diet that would keep you strong, or anything of the like so that you have higher chances of pulling through all the surgeries.

cries it out whenever you’re asleep because in front of you he wants to be strong. he thinks he shouldn’t be worrying you with his emotions when you’re the one going through this hardship. will do everything he can to make sure you feel loved every minute of every day because he knows; he’ll never find an ideal person ever again, because now it’s all molded around you.

[okayto]

Mini-Review: Bungo Stray Dogs

Atsushi Nakajima is having a bad week. First, he gets kicked out of the orphanage he called home--home to abusive adults, but still. Then, he seems to be stalked by a bloodthirsty tiger so he has to stay on the move. Also, he’s about to starve. THEN it turns out he is the tiger--specifically a weretiger, but he didn’t know and can’t control it.

My initial reaction from episode 1, and my current reaction 37 episodes and 1 movie later, are the same: Atsushi is a sweet cinnamon roll who needs a HUG and a THERAPIST and to SLEEP FOR A WEEK and I LOVE HIM

While Atsushi is our entry into the series and one of the main characters, BSD follows the supernaturally-gifted members of the "Armed Detective Agency,"  who accomplish different tasks including running a business, solving mysteries, protecting people and running interference with the local mafia, which also employs a number of supernaturally-gifted people.

This is a VERY FUN SERIES. It starts out seeming like a straightforward Underdog Good Guys vs. Well-Funded Big Bad Organization, and that’s not necessarily wrong. But as the series progresses, the “bad guys” get their share of the spotlight too.

Now first, I want to say, because I was confused for the longest time: this takes place in an alternate modern day. They’ve got smartphones and the internet, but there was apparently recently some big sort of war that doesn’t correspond to anything real, and the characters’ dress is...well:

For several episodes, despite the cell phones and computers I swear I thought this was set in the 1920s, but no. They just all have the fashion sense of a 10-year-old playing with paper dolls.

I mean, look at the image above. And then look at Mr. Edgy High-School Vampire below:

These people not only inhabit the same city, but no one ever seems to think they look out of place.

Not a criticism. I admire a series that has devoted itself to such distinctly cosplayable designs and refuses to give an explanation.

Anyway.

The general storyline is usually: the Armed Detective Agency receives a job that involves investigating something murderous and/or supernatural, or that involves protection from something murderous and/or supernatural. Sometimes this is straightforward, sometimes this is part of a longer story that means things even more murderous and supernatural are lurking in the shadows.

The players are often the Agency vs. the Mafia, but these orgs will occasionally team up for the greater good if an outside threat tries to move in. Some members of one org were previously with the other, so there’s a lot of history and emotions between certain factions.

One such complicated person is this dork: Osamu Dazai. He’s the one getting strangled by his partner.

He’s often found in the middle of a [failed] suicide attempt, or asking a pretty girl to commit a lovely double suicide with him. He’s cheerfully nihilistic, not intimidating, comes off as an airhead and a dork.

...and then you see this face, which is Universal Anime Face for “character who knows SO MUCH and is excellent at scheming.”

The characters are this show’s strength. If you’d told me during the first handful of episodes that one of my top 2 characters would be a mafia leader, I’d laugh, because why would I like a bad guy *that* much? When something is set up as clearly good vs. evil, I don’t tend to land on the side of evil regardless of evil’s extremely good character design

But hey, lots of evil gets a backstory and turn out to be super interesting--heck, this guy here is part of the focus of a half-season prequel! (Season 2, for the record--the first half is a prequel, then the second half picks up after the end of season 1.)

The series is about fighting, and people get hurt, and people have to make tough decisions. But it’s often balanced with humor, and that’s part of why I enjoyed it so much. There’s so much to track--people on both sides with tragic backstories, the city- or world-ending plots that pop up, the many, MANY attempted murders--that if it went straight through, it would be overwhelming.

But in the midst of all that, you have characters making jokes, or being inept, or responding to a hostage situation by playing rock-paper-scissors to see who deals with it, or tripping their enemy in the middle of a Very Serious Battle like Bug Bunny showing up to fight Thanos.

(None of that really translates to gifs well, but here’s a character, in the middle of a dangerous fight, picking up Mr. Teenage “I Swear I’ll Kill You If You Laugh At Me” Hot Topic Model and carrying him like a sack of potatoes.)

Another fun thing about this series is that the title translates to “Literary Stray Dogs,” and all the main characters are named after famous late writers. This is easy to miss if you’re American like me and have never heard of “Doppo Kunikida” or “Akiko Yosano,” but once international characters show up in season 2, you’re faced with “Louisa Alcott” and “John Steinbeck,” part of a group led by "Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald.”

The characters’ powers all vary as well. Their names are often weird, until you learn that the names are all lines/titles of the original authors’ works (Chuuya Nakahara’s Upon the Tainted Sorrow gravity manipulation sounds ridiculous, Astushi’s Beast Beneath the Moonlight weretiger ability sounds pretentious until you know the connection). Abilities range from “cool fighting ability” to “useful defensive ability” to “Herman Melville creates small flying whales and that’s...cool, I guess?”

Verdict

English dub? Yes, and I love it! I tried watching both, and I actually prefer the dub’s voices.

Visuals: This is a show dedicated to its aesthetic, at least as far as fashion is concerned. I don’t know if any of the character designs/outfits are based on their namesakes (although remember my comment that I thought this was set in the 20s for a while? A lot of the namesake authors were active/alive between 1900 and 1930, so...), but maybe? Or maybe they just wanted to have suspenders and hats and long coats. Whatever, it’s cool and looks good, as does the rest of the series. Much of it it bright and/or takes place in the daytime--avoiding the “too dark to see what’s going on” thing.

Worth watching? YESSSSS. Please watch sweet cinnamon roll too good too pure for this world Atsushi find a place of his own and learn he does get to have nice things. Please watch Dazai act like a total goof before the next scene shows us he’s five steps ahead of everyone else. Please watch Chuuya manipulate gravity so his hat stays on while he flips upside down. Please watch characters snark at each other even as they team up to defeat city-destroying monsters.

Where to watch (USA, as of September 2020): Funimation (sub and dub), Crunchyroll (sub and dub, plus Spanish and Portuguese)

Click my “reviews” tag below or search “mini review” on my blog to find more!

[pyropelove413]

Tagged by @atsukyou, thank you! 💛

rules: pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. don’t cheat. tag 10 (or however many) people.

1. Boku no Hero Academia

2. Bungou Stray Dogs

3. Free!

4. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

5. RWBY

what’s your favourite character from 1?

I have a bunch of faves, but I think if I had to choose a favorite I'd go with Aizawa!

who’s your least favourite character in 2?

I don't think I actively dislike anyone, but if I had to pick it'd probably be Kajii. Or maybe Gide? He just makes me sad over Oda ;v;

what’s your favourite episode of 4?

It's been a while since I watched it, but maybe the one where Ling digs up Greed's memories of his friends and then he attacks Bradley? Or maybe the one where Greed merges with Ling? It's a very good show, they're all very good (I just really love Ling and Greed, haha)!

what’s your favourite season of 5?

Season four I think! Helps that this season is the one that introduced Tyrian haha, but I also enjoy how our main team are still dealing with the fallout after season three in their own ways separately. Season six was also super interesting with the Ozpin secrets reveal and how that affected their relationships with each other and their plans going forward (although the Apathy Grimm absolutely freak me out omg those episodes are so haunting).

what’s your favourite couple of 3?

Ohhh, Rin/Haru absolutely.

what’s your favourite couple in 2?

I fell hard on the Dazai/Kunikida/Atsushi boat when I first watched it, pick any pair from the three of them and there you go. Although! Ranpo/Fukuzawa have definitely snuck up on me with the past season and the light novels.

what’s your favourite episode in 1?

Ooooh, I really enjoy Encounter, where Deku meets Shigaraki in the mall. I've also really enjoyed the recent episode of Class 1-A's festival performance!

what’s your favourite episode in 5?

Either the one in season six where Oscar reveals Ozpin's been hiding things and the team meets Jinn, or the ones in season four where we meet Tyrian and he fights with Qrow!

what’s your favourite season in 2?

I really enjoyed this past season, season three!

how long have you been watching 1?

Since the first half of season three was out, I believe! So maybe a year, year and a half? Almost two years? (What is time!)

how did you get into 3?

In middle school I read a lot of manga and only watched a tiny bit of anime, then in high school I went to a nerd school and kept hearing about everyone's favorite anime and got more into watching stuff, then eventually found my way to Free!. I think a friend might've posted a gif of that scene with Rin cornering Haru against the fence from season one, and that probably helped nudge me towards it as well, haha. (It's been so long omg.)

favourite actor in 4?

I don't pay too much attention to voice actors, really? With the sub, I did enjoy Ling's and Greed's though, haha.

which do you prefer? 1, 2, or 5?

Oh wow wow, I think if I had to choose I'd go with BnHA! They're all super great shows though <3

which show have you seen more of, 1 or 3?

Definitely BnHA; it has more episodes to start, but I've also rewatched it many, many times, haha. I occasionally rewatch the season two Free! OVA, but other than that I haven't rewatched it.

if you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

Everyone's lives in FMA are so so stressful omg! I don't know, maybe May Chang? ;u;

would a crossover of 3 and 4 work?

I mean, I'm sure someone could make it work? I don't think they'd mesh very well though, haha. (The other three could much better, especially BnHA + BSD!)

pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple?

Do you just want a rare pair of mine haha Maybe Spinner and Mandalay? Like if he broke off from the League? I can't really think of anything, that was just the first one to come to mind.

overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5?

They are very, very different haha. I think Free! has a more straightforward storyline compared to RWBY's more complex one, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's better.

which has better theme music, 2 or 4?

Oh heck, I jam out to both their themes all the time! A little unfair because FMA has five whereas BSD only has three (four if you count the movie's), but I think FMA wins by just a tiny bit. (FMA's Again and BSD's Namae o yobu yo are my absolute favorites omg)

If you'd like to do it, tagging @puppymabel99, @empoleon, @trashthatyoucannevergetridof, @rennalemma, @leftpantykarkat, aaand anyone else who'd like to!