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shihalyfie · 3 years ago

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Translation problems in the official English subs for Kizuna

We’re thankfully in an era where Digimon is getting official localizations again, and with much better quality than we used to, but, unfortunately, Kizuna’s official English subtitles have problems that are detrimental to the movie. (Even worse, the official English dub is obviously based off the same mistranslated script, so a lot of its issues are carried over.) It’s not to say that the movie can’t still be enjoyed well enough or understood with it, but this is a fast-paced 90-minute movie that relies on a lot of nuance in key lines, and it’s not like we haven’t already had issues with things with a more oblique storytelling style getting accused of being “difficult to understand” or “incomprehensible” due to the impact of a less-than-ideal translation (hi, Hurricane Touchdown and X-Evolution).

In this post, I’m going to point out some of the more glaring translation issues in said official release and why they pose a problem. Note that I still endorse supporting the official localized release if you can -- it’s very important that we still show our support for Digimon products having demand outside Japan, especially subtitled, and I also feel we’ve still come a long way from the time when official Digimon subtitles used to be borderline bootleg tier -- but I’m writing this post as important reference so people are aware of the translation issues if they need to do deeper analysis of the movie’s dialogue. Note that the Dash X Bunko edition of the novel has the movie’s dialogue transcribed effectively word-for-word, so I suggest referring to this translation of it if you would like to reference a more accurately translated version of the dialogue.

The movie has effectively been fan translated (at least) three times apart from the official translation, partially because of frustration with its quality, so that should go to show how frustrating it is for people who know Japanese to see this. For this post, I’ll be referencing both the translation by L Subs (which is translated by the same person who translated the Dash X Bunko version of the novel) and the translation by an anonymous person who released it under a “Kizuna” name, having retranslated it independently out of frustration about the official translation being subpar. (I’ll be referring to the latter as “Kizuna subs” for lack of a better way to call them.) An indirect translation was also done by a third translator via the Shueisha Mirai Bunko novel; I won’t be referencing it below due to some minor differences in the actual Japanese text, but note that it’s also far more in line with the other two fan translations than the official version in terms of preserving important nuances in each piece of dialogue.

(Also note that the official subtitles use the American English dub-originating names for characters and terminology, but although I’ll be quoting them as-is, I don’t consider them to be translation problems, so this is all purely about the phrasing of certain lines and some outright mistranslations.)

Official subtitles: The more that people accept the future chosen for them...the less they will age.

L Subs: We aren't so elderly yet that we simply accept a future that has been decided by someone else.

Kizuna subs: We have not grown up so much that we can simply accept the future that was decided for us.

Already, the first sentence of this movie is a huge huh? in the official translation. In fact, it’s supposed to be just a clear statement of the movie’s main theme: we don’t just sit here and accept what people tell us is inevitable, and that’s not what getting older is even supposed to mean. The official translation here arguably says the opposite in that being younger means accepting a future that someone else’s decided, and that’s...uh, really not good?

Official translation: “My wings are holding back, they are still weak”

L Subs: “Even with these unreliable wings, full of images tending to stay”

Kizuna subs: "But even on these undependable wings, filled with images I can't just shake"

This one doesn’t really have to do with Kizuna in particular per se, but I’m starting off with this example just as a proof of concept: notice how absolutely diluted the lyrics of Butter-Fly, of all things, have gotten! This song has been translated more times than you can even count, so you can reference all of the other translations on the Internet to compare -- the L and Kizuna versions are most certainly capturing something that the official translation just isn’t retaining at all. Being interpretive is understandable, but this is pushing it way too much.

Official translation: “It’s just, it made me realize what I really want to do.”

L Subs: "I just want to do what I really want to do."

Kizuna subs: “I just realized that I only want to do what I really want to do."

Taichi hasn’t realized what he wants to do yet! The point here is that Taichi doesn’t have the motivation to push on unless he finds out what he really wants, instead of graduating just for the sake of it. Taichi’s fully admitting that he’ll push forward if he does find something he wants (which he does at the end of the movie) -- he just hasn’t found it yet, which is why he’s having his existential crisis right now. Also kind of important in light of it already having been driven home back in 02 that partners have a connection to having passion for one’s own dreams.

Official translation: “Mimi launched an e-commerce startup.”

L Subs: “Mimi put up an online shop selling imported goods.”

Kizuna subs: "Mimi's built her own online shopping site and is selling all sorts of goods all around the world."

This one’s more of a nitpick than anything, but since we only get a few sentences to catch up on everyone like this, it’s good to not omit the part about the imported goods -- it ties into Mimi’s love of cultural exchange, and contextualizes why she constantly has to do so much international travel.

Official translation: “We’re at the Asagaya Horumonya...”

L Subs: "We're at a barbecue restaurant in Asagaya."

Kizuna subs: “We’re at an offal grill in Asagaya.”

I’m just including this one because I honestly think it’s hilarious that the official subs seem to think there must be only one offal barbecue grill (horumonya) in Asagaya to call it the one there. (Actually, the restaurant is a real one, and its name was earlier in the scene: it’s Buchi Horumon Yakiniku.)

Official translation: “Do you know why Digimon partners pick the children they work with? It's because they're full of potential...The possibilities are endless. Their choice results in growth. That growth and potential produces an enormous amount of energy. Surely you understand. Your growth was the trigger for your partner Digimon's evolution. As we live our lives, the choices we make help us grow. But as you grow older, the power of your Digimon steadily dwindles. And once it's gone...the bond between Digimon and partner is broken."

L Subs: “Do all of you know why it's children who are chosen to be partners with Digimon? It's because children are full of possibilities...The future is rife with unlimited choices. You grow as a person by making those choices. 'Growth' and 'possibilities' together provide vast energy. As I'm sure you guys are already aware, the evolutions of your Digimon partners are triggered by your growth. In our daily lives, we make tons of choices and grow. But in those choices, the power that exists between you and your Digimon gradually decreases. When that power is gone...Your partnership with your Digimon ends."

Kizuna subs: "Do you understand why children are chosen to be Digimon partners? Because children are overflowing with potential...The limitless choices that stretch to the future. The growth that comes with making those choices. The coexistence of this potential and growth produces a tremendous amount of energy. You all should know this. The evolution of your partner Digimon was triggered by your own personal growth. In the course of living our day to day lives, we choose amongst many possibilities and grow. But in doing so, you steadily lose the power that exists between you and your partner Digimon. When that power disappears...your partnership with your Digimon is broken.”

First of all, if you’ve watched Adventure and 02, you should know full well that Digimon partners do not pick the children they work with! But that aside...

Both the L and Kizuna translations are much better at phrasing Menoa’s “theory of partner dissolution” in much easier-to-understand ways, and the ambiguous references going back-and-forth really obscure the case Menoa’s making. Precise syntax is important here (especially since the rest of the movie is dedicated to showing that Menoa’s view of the world is extremely warped). Menoa’s argument is, in short, that “making choices narrows down your possibilities”, and this is kind of gleanable in the official translation, but gets very obscured -- which is a problem when the finale brings back the exact sequence of events that led to Menoa locking onto this mentality, and why it’s wrong.

(In general, this official translation has a problem where it's way, way too vaguely or sloppily phrased for a movie where phrasing really matters, and is altogether very stilted in its wording. Character personality is also totally absent, with Koushirou and Iori’s infamously polite speech patterns nowhere to be seen.)

Official subtitles: “I like Matt’s ramen better.”

L Subs: “I like Yamatoya’s ramen better, dagya.”

Kizuna: “I like Yamatoya’s ramen more.”

(As a side note, I like how you can see three tiers of localization philosophy in terms of name changes and retention of verbal tics.)

So as you can see, the official translation seems to have misinterpreted “Yamatoya”, a reference to Kizuna’s scriptwriter Yamatoya Akatsuki. (Making “cute references” to Digimon’s own staff members has been a long tradition since the original Adventure, and Yamatoya’s name sounds like one that could totally be that of a ramen shop, because it literally means “Traditional Japanese Shop” and uses the “-ya” suffix common to such shop names.) It’s also referenced in the drama CD. Of course, there’s nothing stopping you if you want to make a headcanon that Yamato is now so good at making homemade ramen (not an easy feat!) to the point he can beat out professionals, but...

Note that this is one of the most obvious signs that the English dub was working off the mistranslated script -- it has the same error.

Official subtitles: “We’ll never grow apart.”

L Subs and Kizuna subs: “We’ll always be together.”

The phrase that more literally translates as “we’ll always be together” -- (zutto) issho da -- is used as a recurring theme in this movie (and in the stage play, too), with this exact phrasing. The fact it can be expanded to mean many things in terms of “being together” (including the implication that their partners are still somewhere tied to their hearts even after they ostensibly disappear) is also an underlying nuance as we get into the later parts of the movie. Beyond the fact that “grow apart” is really weirdly poetic phrasing for our very lackadaisical Taichi, “growing apart” is kind of...exactly what happened here to cause this whole problem in the first place.

Nitpick, but I’m really not sure what was the rationale to translate a simple “Gennai-san” to having this whole “Master” thing. Taichi was never particularly respectful of Gennai (he called him a very irritable “old man!” back in Adventure), and moreover Gennai’s more like an informed advisor for them, hardly a master of anything. The fact that the Digital World’s main protector entities weren’t particularly all-powerful or omniscient was kind of a recurring thing back in Adventure and 02.

Another nitpick, but it seems that the translator here didn’t recognize that “Bingo!” is supposed to be a known recurring catchphrase of Miyako’s (this usage here is meant to confirm that she’s still got that habit). The English dub goes with this translation as well, thus also missing what was the equivalent of her catchphrase in the original English dub of 02 (”Perfecto!”). A shame.

Official subtitles: “I’m afraid partnerships do end.”

L Subs: “Unfortunately, you are experiencing the case where your partnership is dissolving.”

Kizuna subs: “Unfortunately, it’s true that there are broken partnerships.”

This is probably one of the most detrimental ones overall. One of the key words in Gennai’s statement to Taichi is the word jirei (case) -- this is a single isolated case of a partnership dissolution. While the Kizuna sub translation doesn’t literally use the word “case”, it at least captures the nuance that there isn’t some set-in-stone rule that partnership dissolution is going to inevitably happen to everyone, but simply that there’s known cases of this happening and that Taichi is one of them. This ties into, again, the fact that Gennai and the other Digital World protectors were not portrayed as necessarily knowing everything about how Digimon partnership works, so they’re getting a feel for this just as much as Taichi and the others are. At this point, a perceptive viewer should be able to catch that there’s a mismatch between Gennai’s way of framing the issue and Menoa’s significantly more cynical and resigned way of seeing it.

The much more vague phrasing of the official translation implies that Gennai knew that this was some kind of ironclad rule and never divulged this fact, which makes the fact he never told this to them before look significantly more cruel-sounding. In the situation where this is just a thing that may happen, it makes much more sense to not talk about it until it becomes relevant, because hey, we don’t know much about this yet and you might be lucky about it not happening! -- hence, why Gennai’s following statement is about the fact you normally wouldn’t talk about something morbid like this unless you were asked. But the official translation not only makes Gennai look like a pretty horrible person, it also makes Menoa’s “theory” of inevitable partnership dissolution happening at the cutoff point of adulthood look a lot more plausible than it’s supposed to be.

Official translation: "But if you still have unlimited potential...Or..."

L Subs: “But if you guys still have infinite possibility...Then it's possible...”

Kizuna subs: "But if you two still have limitless potential, maybe..."

Again: This scene is supposed to give you the impression that something’s off -- that Gennai just came with a significantly more hopeful outlook than Menoa’s. Translating that last word (arui wa) as a simple “or” sounds borderline ominous, or at least doesn’t correctly get across the nuance that Gennai’s implying a way out of this, or a way to change this situation in the future, very much not like Menoa’s extremely cynical way of seeing it. Taichi’s zoning out and missing this last part, which is why he’s still subscribing to Menoa’s way of seeing things until the end of the movie.

Official translation: "And...you might be able to change our cruel fate. I truly believe that.”

L Subs: "You guys might be able to change this tough reality. That's what I thought."

Kizuna subs: "Because I thought that you might be the ones who could change this painful reality."

Notice something about how both fan translations preserve the fact Menoa considered Taichi and his friends to be strong enough to change things in past tense. Menoa’s portrayed as cynical, and completely and utterly resigned to a lack of any possibility out -- she takes the actions she does at the end of the movie because of how completely convinced she is that partnership dissolution is inevitable, and that adulthood is cruel. Even Taichi and Yamato, members of that so-called strongest team, ended up with the rings on their Digivices, and just as confused as to what to do about it. In other words, they “failed” her.

Therefore, it’s actually pretty out of character to end a line like this on a hopeful tone of her belief in them -- her belief that they can’t do anything and that she needs to force her way on others is what defines her mentality right now!

(Unfortunately, the English dub, running with this translation, absolutely has Menoa say that she “believes in them” with full hopeful voice acting delivery to go along with it.)

Another instance of issho da (both fan translations phrased this as “we’ll always be together” to match the other instances of this recurring line), this time translated by the official translation as “sticking together”.

Official translation: “So...this is my fate.”

L Subs: “So...This is our destiny, huh?”

Kizuna subs: “Damn...is this our destiny?”

The problem isn’t the translation in a vacuum, but the fact that the official translation fails to maintain a particularly significant recurring nuance. (The really distressing part is that the official translation of To Sora maintained a proper distinction, but the official translation for the movie itself does not.)

The word Yamato uses here is unmei, a word that’s historically showed up a lot in the Digimon franchise, and in kids’ anime in general, or really any kind of poetic or idealistic series. It’s showed up in episode titles (Adventure episode 34), in major parts of the franchise like a certain Digimental, and has been repeatedly brought up in any kind of context you can think of. And in many cases, it’d be fine to translate it as “fate”, but the problem is that in this movie, it’s important to maintain the distinction between it and the word shukumei -- which is used by Menoa.

I’ll go into shukumei when it shows up from Menoa’s mouth later, but the important part is that unmei still has a nuance of being able to overturn it by luck or effort -- it’s a sort of thing that the universe vaguely set out for you, but that doesn’t mean you’re bound to it, whereas shukumei is an inevitable thing stuck on you since before your birth that you’ll never be able to escape no matter what. The words “destiny” (implying a guided route to a “destination” rather than necessarily something incredibly set in stone) and “fate” (which has a much stronger nuance of something inevitable) have a similar difference in nuance, which is why both fan translations go with it here.

Official translation: "Try to make it back in one piece."

L Subs and Kizuna subs: “Come back safely, boys.”

Imura jokingly calls Taichi and Yamato “boys”, which has a bit of symbolic meaning in that this is the moment Taichi and Yamato most resemble their younger selves in temperament and initiative.

Official translation: “The one that goes to File Island?”

L Subs: “It’s the one on File Island, isn’t it?”

Kizuna subs: “-- the one from File Island, isn’t it?”

The train car never went to File Island, it only was either on it or left it. The fact it’s associated with leaving the island is presumably connected symbolically to why it’s crystallized in this movie, as if wanting to prevent it from ever going anywhere.

Official translation: "The fated parting with our partners is inevitable."

L Subs: "Separating from your partner is your fate. It can't be changed."

Kizuna subs: “Separating from our Digimon is fated. It cannot be changed."

All three lines are similar for the first sentence, so, again, this isn’t an issue by itself as much as it’s in the context of how the words in question are used. The prior mention of Yamato’s unmei had been translated as the same “fate” here, but there’s a distinction!

Menoa uses the word shukumei, which is a word that you really don’t hear much -- if at all -- in Digimon, or really in much of anything else, and the reason is because of how impossible it is to do anything about to the point of downright cynicism. (The etymological root is that the un part of unmei means “luck”, as if the course of your destiny is based on how the dice rolls, while shuku literally means "dwelling" and refers to a place you're inevitably determined to be in as determined before you were even born.) This is the kind of word that’s used to describe fatalism and other really cynical outlooks on life. You invoke this when you have the view of your life being mapped out for you, with no concept of agency in the situation. Even Katou Juri in Tamers, at her most cynical about her inability to overcome death or inevitability, still used the word unmei and not shukumei.

So the point here is that even Yamato, agonizing over what’s in store for them, is not nearly as cynical as Menoa, who’s completely locked down on this fatalistic view of how things are going, with no ability to change it. The official translation also omits that extra sentence to drive in further that it’s “unable to be changed”, which is an important part because not only does Menoa believe it’s inevitably incoming, she’s obsessed with the idea that nobody can do anything about it, no matter what they do -- which is also what Taichi, Yamato, and the others set out to disprove by the end of the movie.

Official translation: "That's why I have to save her and the DigiDestined throughout the world."

L Subs: "That's why I have to save all of the Chosen Children throughout the world."

Kizuna subs: "So I had to do this. I had to save all of the Chosen Children all around the world."

The original Japanese line never mentioned “her” (Morphomon), and that’s reflected in the two fan translations. Because yeah, it’s probably not a good idea to imply that Menoa thinks saving Morphomon is possible -- again, the issue is that she thinks there’s nothing she can do about it, so she thinks she’s doing everyone a favor by preventing them from ever getting to that point.

Official translation: “And now I save myself.”

L Subs: “This is my salvation for you.”

Kizuna subs: “This is my salvation.”

Huh? Menoa’s not claiming that she’s doing this for herself at all -- her entire schtick is that she’s trying to save everyone. She’s saying that she’s doing everyone a favor by giving them “salvation”, so the literal translation is necessary here.

Official translation: "Thanks, Captain Obvious! I mean, it's like we're not the only one's [sic] fighting!"

L Subs: "Of course! We're not the only ones fighting, after all!"

Kizuna subs: "Of course! We aren't the only ones fighting!"

This one’s just disjointed in general. Beyond the fact that “Captain Obvious” is somewhat uncharacteristically dismissive for Daisuke, it’s not that he’s just getting a feeling about the others around the world -- he’s well aware this is a battle they’re fighting for everyone’s sake.

Official translation: "Even if you made a bad [choice] along the way!" “We all have to live with the choices we make!”

L Subs: "But no matter what waits for us after making that choice...!" “We have to live with the decisions that we make!”

Kizuna subs: "But no matter what lies beyond that choice..." “...we have to live in that future!”

This is a plain-and-simple mistranslation. It’s not exactly a good implication to say “your choice wasn’t a mistake, but it sure was bad!” Taichi and Yamato are just saying that you have to have the strength to deal with the future that may come as a consequence of your choices, even if you’re uncertain about what comes next.

Official translation: "We may not be able to change our fate. But...!" "Our lives aren't preordained!"

L Subs: "We might not be able to change our fate. But...!" "We can change our destiny!"

Kizuna subs: "It's true that some things in the present might be fated. But!" "We can change our own future destiny!"

The shukumei and unmei distinction returns again! I understand that the emphasis on “preordained” is an attempt to invoke the fatalism aspect of shukumei, but the nuances that are missing are: the fact that this is Taichi and Yamato directly challenging Menoa’s outright stated ideology with the one they’ve been believing in this whole time, and the fact that they’re saying outright that there’s still hope to actively change it. It's not just about life going one way or another; Taichi and Yamato are going to spit in the face of it.

Honestly, I’m just wondering what the point is of keeping this line’s sub in if it’s not going to actually say anything? (Yes, I know this is me being nitpicky.) The L Subs version chooses to use the “I’m sorry...” line that came from the novel (and was presumably in the original script), and other versions of this official sub have “Forgive me...”, which the English dub also pulled from...? Meanwhile, the Kizuna sub just omits it entirely because technically nothing's in the audio. Either way, pick one or the other, please...

Official subtitles: "Those guys are awesome!"

L Subs: "I knew Taichi-san and the others would succeed!"

Kizuna subs: "Yahoo! Go Taichi's group!"

It’s not just “those guys”, it’s Daisuke specifically being his usual senior-adoring self.

Official translation: “And that was how we finally grew up.”

L Subs: “This is how we arrived at the entrance to adulthood.”

Kizuna subs: “Thus we arrived at the entrance of adulthood.”

There’s very good reason the word “entrance” is used here -- the question of what counts as “adulthood” is vague to begin with, and it’s arguable that Taichi and Yamato still hadn’t even really reached it yet rather than running around in circles with no direction. But now, they have a proper start of the rest of their lives in front of them, and they’re entering a new adventure in its own way. This should not be translated with finality.

#digimon #digimon adventure last evolution kizuna #kizuna spoilers #shihameta

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salty-dracon · 2 years ago

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AI The Somnium Files Nirvana Initiative Spoiler Liveblog part 2. Starting a new thread for another major change in the story.

Continuation part 9.

We've finished both of Ryuki's path splits. Now, we can go back and remind Ryuki of "Dahlia Boat" or "Kaname Date".

Both of these are different timelines. Ryuki should technically know only one- Shoma revealed "Dahlia" when he finally opened up to Ryuki, and "Boat" was when Tearer said it himself at the cathedral.

Uh oh, his face is fading away... and everything's glitching... and my device isn't happy...

OH HELL NAW I'M BEING CHASED BY SLENDERMAN RYUKIS

Haha. Now you're the game, dumbass.

Hmm. Tama can accidentally glitch into Mizuki's brain... and its dark secrets.

Dahlia Boat. I wish I had any idea what that meant. It could be a thing where the writers thought of a fake English name and it did not sound like one in the least.

Hopefully Mizuki's side of the story is a little more lighthearted this time... Because Ryuki's was sheer pain and confusion.

The scooter!!!

How come Ryuki closes his eyes diagonally while Mizuki's are straight? Is it possible that Ryuki doesn’t have depth perception, and we just didn’t know?

If this Jin's death was nine hours ago, and the other one was 40 hours, that means the corpse teleported back in time. If time teleportation and not cloning was, in fact, the truth... maybe. Time is fucky here.

A single tire tread, machine oil, and a screw... don't tell me... Shoma's Robota? He chose to follow Naix in the explosion route... Maybe he's using Robota for them.

WHAT??? OTA AND IRIS LOOK SO DIFFERENT!!!

IRIS REALLY SANG THE CHUG JUG SONG WTF

Iris and Ota please stop with the conspiracy theories.

Ryuki stop going insane! You're gonna become like one of our story's two creepy old people at this rate!

Amame :( I'd really like to know how and why she seems to know Naix and the Nirvana Initiative so well.

Gen loves Amame so much awwwww

Why is there a second customer and why is he saying something about a king's dream

Breaking and entering into my old classmate's house. just to use the kotatsu

Kizuna's in a wheelchair? I didn't expect that! But her design now matches her box art. Lien hasn’t changed, though, but he already matched the box art, minus his airplane necklace.

She suffered a spine injury in the collapse? Awww. Poor Kizuna.

Wow. Lien's really mellowed out. He was downright creepy at first, but as the obsession wears off his kindness is shining through. That being said, it's still creepy to hit on an 18 year old at first sight.

Shoma’s going to Horadori Institute? That means he hadn’t cut ties with them, or he really believes that he’s going to die if he doesn’t keep getting their genetic treatment.

MIZUKI POWER LETS GO!!!!

How many astronauts are there?! I count ten on screen... she just beat up three...

MASKED WOMAN TO THE RESCUE!!! She’s straight up the funniest character in this game, which is the last thing I expected.

there are dead astronauts everywhere. like among us.......

KIZUNA???

Well, we can rule out the masked woman being Kizuna!

They’re being very dodgy about showing Shoma’s face... apparently he and Lien are like “brothers” now.

Did “what” to you?

I kind of... actually had no idea how old Tokiko was... so 37 years ago, she was 23.... SHE’S SIXTY???? AND WITH SKIN THAT SMOOTH????

remembering ana overwatch...

HAHAHAHAHA MASKED WOMAN SPILLING ALL THE TEA ABOUT THAT CRAZY ILLICIT RELATIONSHIP CHIKARA AND TOKIKO HAD

... wow, she was really attached to that child, wasn’t she. is that why she’s like that?... And the child is dead? If I’m right that Gen is the child, of course Tokiko would dream about them both. Or perhaps Shoma is the child, like a clone of her original child. Hmm. (Well, I was right that she made some decisions due to her trauma... but we still don’t know why she joined Naix or if it’s even relevant.)

Aww, the masked woman is really nice and stressing she’s on our side. Despite shooting at Mizuki. With rubber bullets. Her two pieces of advice were “Don’t lose sight of yourself, no matter who betrays you” and “Be wary of Ryuki.”

Kizuna why are you having nightmares about Chikara and can I help you

One thing I realized re: my initial theory powerpoint is that since I forgot to add the images, nothing is really stopping me from adding text boxes and adding my comments on my initial theories after the game.

Absolutely hilarious that Boss went “don’t do anything stupid or illegal” and the next day mizuki goes and does something stupid and illegal

kizuna brain time

“Little Blue Riding Hood”... not red.

Wow, it’s all so... sparkly. And weird. And melancholy. And calm...

Looks like her memories are being rendered as fairy tales...

*homophobe voice* it’s hansel and gretel not hannah and gretel

aww. kizuna was always sad that her father wasn’t around, no matter how much he gave her.

glass slippers... looks like she really did see lien as her prince, in a way. Holy hell her whole life has been downright depressing.

And eventually, during her childhood, she lost her sister, too. It’s like everything she had, and everything she loved, was eventually just stolen from her. So she just hid all the pain and sadness away. What other choice did she have? Kinda relate in a way, though I’m only just starting to lose beloved family.

So, Kizuna’s father knows about the inhumane genome experiments being done at Horadori Institute.

“A girl whose genes were forcibly rewritten...” What does that mean? And why? There are lots of mysterious female characters in this story we don’t know anything about, but one that gained superhuman athletic ability... that could be Mizuki, or it could be the masked woman.

... wait... MIZUKI??? Mizuki was the one with superhuman abilities? No one else? So Shoko and Renju just adopted her when she was three? She’s not their birth kid? All those stories about how her grandfather was super strong were just lies?

chikara’s left half got stuck to the edge of the giant stone rectangle in yoyagi park. and this was apparently the man that genetically modified her. holy shit, this must be devastating for her.

uh, let’s see. jin got horizontally displayed in a tv studio, and then in a stadium. chikara got vertically glued to a blackboard and then a... stone slab. we’re gonna find tokiko on boss’s desk or something. and then komeji in a police truck.

... why did they stick the alphabet inside his body. what is “rle” supposed to mean? and now “aef”... it’s like they wanted mizuki specifically to figure all of this out for herself... and same with ryuki’s own investigation.

wait, let me check my previous liveblog posts. i wrote down the letters in that one video...

ccfggd,aeigahe ... nope i can’t figure it out

Hmm, two X’s that cross down. And the balloon was red on the left and blue on the right, kind of like this game’s thematic.

Scrabble word solver didn’t help with anything.

MOMA YOUR VOICE????

Uh, those puzzles are clearly going to point to “NAIX”.

Ryuki shot a guy? Oh no...

Gen wasn’t BORN with a warped skeleton... but Chikara’s genetic experiments destroyed his body. That’s three characters that have been experimented on now- Shoma, Mizuki, and Gen. And potentially also the masked woman.

More warped voices? And it’s the male and female one again. They seem to follow the order of %.

GEN NO

we’re psyncing through his MASK??????

oh my god. a cooking competition. gotta have one in everything

“we can use the timie from earlier to reduce any amount of time to one second”... oh boy and here comes the gag. THATS A LOT OF SECONDS

every time i learn more about chikara I hate that guy even more!!!! gen is not a failure!!! he’s a friend!!!!

wait... chikara said that gen was created from a genetically modified egg. his body wasn’t genetically modified, his pre-existing genetic material was and he grew from that. so is there a way to grow bodies that doesn’t require a surrogate? or was someone else the surrogate...

gen :( awwwww but amame loves him so much

1 HO ST

2 UN RA

3 IN DG

HORAINSTUNDG

Oh, Horadori Institute Underground!

Boss was literally about to kick her ass for this one and she’s like “better call my friend with a giant key for some reason”. illegal and dangerous!

Well, thanks Lien. Your description of the TC-PERGE virus, which according to him causes people to do crazy things over and over, sounds a lot like a certain speech from a certain hologram of a certain dead cult leader.

According to the hologram, you do enough crazy things over and over in a video game world, you’re bound to find some way to break outside of the game’s boundaries, in a way no one wants you to do... and if you’ve got all of humanity doing that, that process is accelerated seven billion times. Those “seams” they believe exist, would be found very quickly. All anyone would have to do is quarantine themselves until they find one. And then, you get in an astronaut suit and punch God in the face.

Which would explain the final part of Tokiko’s Somnium. She knew that tons and tons of people would die painfully for Naix and the Order of % to find the seams. Though whether she would have wanted to see it happen (she feels... something towards shoma and gen... probably just pity) is still up for debate. And we can’t ask her, she’s dead. (Well, actually, Ryuki might be able to contact Jumpscare Tokiko.)

Also reminds me of Zero Escapes 2 and 3, in which religious cult leaders release a virus over Earth that causes complete and total mayhem.

shoutout to the guy who heard a bit of music and recorded it in do re mi’s. actually i’m going to see if i can transcribe it into piano music

Or the game could do it for me.

Musical code! That seems awfully unsecure...

Well, we found it. Horadori Institute Underground.

Now the question is, descending these steps, will I be faced with a Horadori Jumpscare or a Shigure Jumpscare?

Lien really is “I’m a locksmith!” *smashes window*.

I don’t like how rusty that door is.

This is... what?! The Naix cathedral?!

Noise...? No biological life...? ... Tama is there?

Years-old bloodstains...?

A tooth! Specifically, Jin Furue’s tooth, probably. Meaning if there’s any place he got bisected, it was most likely here.

“Let us call this person T for now” must be a reference to another Uchikoshi game. Not sure which one...

Tokiko Shigure’s other half?! (Her bangs are... not entirely cut off.)

And that’s how the bodies got cut in half molecularly. It wasn’t teleportation, and it wasn’t a portal like in Big Hero 6.... it was just a really, really, really thin string. But does that mean everyone was sliced like that while they were still alive? And why are there two machines? And how was the body even preserved all this time, since her time of death is six hours ago?

And why do I have the sinking feeling that Shoma’s wrapped up in all this...

Ouch, she was suicidal.... that sucks.

“I can’t just leave her, but...” Leave her. Trust me. Screw her.

Wow. This is most certainly a murder dungeon. There’s a Naix symbol up there, a shower... it’s like a really, really dingy living space. And there’s lots of training equipment.

Nirvana Trial was produced here. Looks like the person living here was having their creation used without their permission. And unlike them, there was someone here who was kind to them. I’ll be furious if that’s true, but I’m betting that’s Shoma. He was affiliated with Naix and Horadori Lab, he had a creation used for evil (Robota), and Tokiko clearly knew Shoma somehow- and this might be how. He even calls a woman “Mom”...

Huh? So, something about a “Mom”... and that he hates “him”... and that he was bleeding from the mouth after he was punched in the face. Jin Furue? But who’s “Mom?” And is she the one degree of separation connecting everyone else? Also, no way this can be Shoma- he’s extremely weak.

That’s how Jin died! He was punched by this person, got his tooth knocked out, left unconscious... and then chopped in half by him.

I’m even more sure now that “Mom” is Tokiko and “him” is Jin. Plus, Tokiko was ready to help her kid with money- and with that crazy waterfall in her office, she’s absolutely loaded.

Oh, this guy is Tearer! But could Tearer be another Ryuki? Or is it Shoma, like I thought? (That would be a twist... ) Shoma’s in the mountains, camping... but that could be a lie.

First Jin, the man he hated, who apologized insincerely for locking him away. TC-PERGE, the virus that will make humanity achieve “Moksha”. Then, Chikara, who stole something important from him. 2/13, they met the person of their destiny..... who is that? Who is that person? Is it Ryuki? Is it Shoma? ... Is it Date? I still find it suspicious that “Kaname Date” fits right into the question at the beginning of the game... But the diary stops right before Tokiko and Komeji being bisected. And Komeji’s corpse is nowhere to be found. Plus, this is minor, but why say the names out of order?

Boss is REALLY mad! And for once, Aiba’s standing up for Mizuki.

A fifth person’s blood... a victim we don’t know about yet. Who could that be?

That’s right, Mizuki. Even if your mom hated you, and you were used as nothing more than a test subject when you were a child... you’re surrounded by the best of friends and family! And you’ve got a trusty eyeball who’s defending you from your boss. Who also loves you. Which is another reason I’m suspicious about Date... Ryuki only ever looked up to him, and now that Date’s missing, he’s gone off the deep end. We don’t even know where he is right now.

Still trying to understand what “truth is only an illusion” means. Does it refer to simulation theory and that’s it? Or is there really something darker at work?

Uuuuuuugh, we’re missing so many pieces! And I’m 90% sure Amame and Tokiko have some kind of strong relationship, but hell if I know what it is!

Well, uh, Kizuna and Lien ending? Yay, they dug up the time capsule.

I wonder if it’s possible that Amame is Tearer. 1. When Shoma came face to face with Tearer, Tearer said his name was “Dahlia”. And when Tearer ran into the cathedral, he said his name was “Boat”. Dahlia is a super feminine English name, and “Boat” has something to do with water, which Amame is associated with. 2. The only time we suppose they had contact was when Amame supposedly met Tearer, when Aiba is supposed to be able to tell when there’s living organisms hiding and somehow didn’t know. Somehow, she didn’t think that the Tearer behind the curtain was a real person. But Amame could have just slipped her Tearer costume onto a mannequin. 3. Amame was apparently heavily traumatized by Tearer’s words. But she knew Tokiko before she ran into Tearer, and she knows everything about the weird videos that are coming out. Her knowledge of what the Nirvana Initiative was existed before she met Tearer face to face. And how did Tearer explain the Nirvana Initiative so fast? It doesn’t make sense unless Amame is Tearer, or she knows way, way more than she’s letting on. 4. Jin Furue’s death was practically the first thing that happened in both stories. That means that no matter what branch, Amame isn’t wrong about it being only her and her mother. Or her being dirt poor. A lot of what’s going on with her could be lies by omission. It would also explain her affection towards Gen. 5. Amame’s Somnium was weirdly fucked up for someone who supposedly held affection towards everyone in the room. Like, Saito levels of fucked up. Her Somnium was about being taken prisoner, almost...

Iris and Ota! They've got some more bullshit information! And... Yogano... who... has just proven that bullshit information right. Plus, if Aiba says that people are going out of control on the news, she's probably right. And the descriptions of the actions people are taking matches up almost exactly with Tokiko's description of how humans tried to reach Moksha. Hmm, Misetan at midnight?

Now Lien is hiding something?!

Amame’s dad is watching from heaven. She has to obey someone. The three male victims are Chikara Horadori, Andes Komeji, and Jin Furue, plus possibly a fourth person... Based on what I said earlier, I think she’s associated with Naix. Like, as I keep memeing, Tokiko is her mom or something.

Time to meet 18 year old Shoma!

He looks the same as 12 year old Shoma... But he’s a little more talkative. So, just like me. He also wants revenge, just like Ryuki does. Well, without going off the deep end.

Curious why Shoma asked about how Jin’s body blew up. A thermite bomb on a timer, obviously, but what would he use that information for? Choosing violence?

He’s still a little grumpy and hard to read. That’s normal.

Naix is at Ikume Shrine?!

The rockets from six years ago contained TC-PERGE?!

Mizuki going full sadist and reminding the Naix members that she beat the shit out of them all six years ago. And she could do it again. And will.

Masked Woman! With a baseball bat this time...

Huh. She was raised at Aioen. And experimented on at Horadori Institute.

HUH? From 9 to 15, she was raised with a different family. A sibling she loved. The most peaceful six years of her life ... The Masked Woman is Kizuna’s real Big Sis. The one Kizuna loved, and the one she misses so much.

Huh. She describes herself as a “designer baby”.

Masked woman stands the fuck up, says she needs to rest, and passes the fuck out on the ground. What a queen.

horadori jumpscare

why are horadori somniums just straight up BANGIN’

okay, well. second horror game somnium

also shoutout to chikara’s va, because you’ve had to voice this guy doing so many weird things and now he’s a horror movie scientist, and you’re still doing amazing

Wait, I just realized- this room, with its metal shutters, is where we found the left half of Tokiko’s body, aka the slicing room. She was experimented on under Horadori Institute.

HUH??? The masked woman’s Somnium has a path split!

this one is just full of horadori jumpscares eh

When his son was born, he said an eight-letter word about it. Looks like the password is a result of the path split.

Well, this Somnium is stress inducing. Mess up, and you get stabbed. Also, rudimentary stealth section, which is... annoying.

I was right again: if you don't know what Chikara said about his son, the eight letter word, you can't go down one path.

just realized that when you're hit with a horadori jumpscare, his pupils are little slits. Like a catboy's! ..... Chikara is not a catboy.

You know, I was considering a plot point where my mad scientist character drives a drill into someone's heart... but not a child's!

Why did I think this guy was a red herring again? He's completely messed up!

HOLY SHIT!!! A DRILL?! WITH YOUR BARE HANDS?!

Yeah, that's what I thought. Cause a worldwide, simultaneous bug. Using TC-PERGE. And the rehearsal's at Misetan.

Are you bringing Masked Woman? Yes you are!

Those dark lines under his eyes... he's clearly doing worse. I wonder if he's Tearer, with Date's help. Or if Date's Tearer and he's helping.

Masked Woman: Hey.

Ryuki: You...

Masked Woman:

Ryuki:

Masked Woman: *beats the shit out of him*

Mizuki: Why did you punch him?!

Masked Woman: I kicked him too.

Phew, there was no virus in that rocket...

There's Komeji's left half. We still don't know how they're messing with the time of death...

So I noted after hitting the twist of AITSF that there was a plot reason why there was nothing after the Ota ending. I'm wondering if it's the same for the Komeji ending- for some reason, Tearer has to cut Komeji in half. That would be awful for Shoma.

Get the bow... Komeji's bowtie, maybe? Which would prove they're different people?

... wait. Mizuki has a younger sister? Who? Who's just forcibly inserting little girls into everyone's lives?

Chocolate for Shoma!

Wait, what Komeji found and hid away was... a corpse?! The left half of someone's body?! Was that the same six years ago and today?

Kizuna's missing again?! This is just like the Explosion ending...

I wonder if the twist is that Mizuki's story doesn't actually take place after Ryuki's. It takes place in a timeline that appears similar but is fundamentally different.

Right, Lien's friend is someone named Quartz, but we don't know anything about them.

Hmm. He doesn't kill when he doesn't have to.

MIZUKI LIFTING NOISES

Same as Ryuki. She gets hit with an eyeball destroying blast of electricity.

Now Ryuki's turning on her. That's why I'm 90% sure that Tearer is Date.

How did one bullet knock Tearer out?!

Psync with Tearer, eh?

Doesn't the existence of the chemical plant Psync machine completely spoil AITSF?!

if this is Tearer's room, wonder if we'll actually see the faces of his victims.

Wait, "Terrible, terrible, terrible... That guy can just die" is from TEARER'S somnium??? In which case it's likely referring to Jin Furue.

'Mom help me'.

Oooo a walking puzzle! I love these things!

Jin had tumors in only one half of his body. Is it possible that this child was being used by Jin as someone to harvest organs from?

Looks like he kept that resentment until adulthood. Of course he did- he was a prisoner and a human test subject.

Oh. You're fucking kidding me. Jin Furue is Tokiko and Chikara's son. And Tearer is her son too.

Well. That was fucked up.

Somnium end.

4 notes · View notes

lacktastrophe · 4 years ago

Text

Daisy MegaPost Pt1

Update: 3/7/2021

This one’s been in the shop for a couple of years now. I think I started this way back in 2019 but I just became just far too busy to work on huge posts again. I had anticipated to have all of Daisy written up during the break that BCB had, but I became in need of a break myself too. Part two was written up, but I never went further.

I had come back to this recently and made some changes. I wasn’t too happy with the way I used to write and I’ve been editing this over and over, until I noticed it wasn’t keeping them. I’ve published it now since there wasn’t any point just keeping it in drafts and it’s more or less done, just not in this state I’m perfectly happy with, but it seems to be keeping my changes now it’s in this state. I anticipate I’ll still be making some edits. Before I continue on with Part 2. As for part 3 and onwards, I can’t give a time frame.

With the webtoons version way ahead of the chapters here, I’ll probably make progressive updates and start using those over the old Volume 1 art, I’d anticipate the webtoons version is a retelling of the story and thus there might be some retcons, like how Kizuna was replaced with Stacy. I’d anticipate some changes might make different meanings for the future.

I still enjoy examining the story and characters. I still plan to do some introspections to the other characters I haven’t come to, but it’ll be far fewer and in-between than years ago. I have other projects and those need priority.

But I’m happy that people still enjoy reading these.

---

We’re onto the main characters now, things are going to need to change with the way mega-posts are going to be published from this point forward. My previous mega-posts are usually just one long post, hence the name. Though they’re starting to become uncontrollable, and Tumblr is clamping down, or at least not really working with excessive word counts.

Uh oh. . .

Well, the old mega-posts can still be accessed but you’ll need a direct link, they won’t show up on the mainroll and I’d be surprised if they still show up these days, and I’d have to guess this has something to do with the anti-spam detection on Tumblr.

If you were interested in the previous mega-posts, they can be accessed on their own page from my blog’s front page. I just wouldn’t try reading some of the earlier ones on an app, it’ll struggle.

The other problem was with the word count, even without the characters being the prime focus, they’re starting to get long. Abbey’s alone was a 16000 behemoth. This surprised me, as despite him being a secondary character there was an awful lot to discover and talk about. Augustus, despite being a character who appeared much more in-between chapters but much fewer than Abbey, was nearly 21000 words. If there was that much to talk about with the secondary characters, the same method of just dumping as much as I can into one post is clearly not going to work when we start approaching the main characters. I had to split both of them up for my own convenience.

The main change is to make these smaller so they’re friendlier on the app and the website; maybe aim for 2000-5000 words without focusing too heavily on trying to get through on as many chapters as possible and see how far we go.

The plan from this point forward is to do a large collection of write ups but then deploy them progressively. That’ll also give anyone who’s keen a chance to give feedback or who wants to talk further about something.

Sound good?

Me too! So without further ado, let’s get a move on and have a look at Daisy.

----

So, our first protagonist, where do we start with Daisy?

How you’re first introduced to Daisy really depends on whether you read the book or followed the comic through the site. The book’s opening chapter, ‘Like a Bittersweet Candy Bowl’ introduces you to Daisy as a massive bookworm who does well in school. She’s pretty smart!

Book in hand, we’d pretty much believe that right off the bat. She appears like the most studious in this group of friends. And we’d be right! She even puts the ever-perfect Mike to shame. She’s nothing less than a perfect student.

‘Perfect’ could be an understatement, Daisy is a literal freak of nature when it comes to her academics; as when Daisy and the kids transition to Roseville high, we find her already in classes well advanced than her peers.

Daisy is just that incredible!

Through the website, ‘Simple Pleasures’ aims to introduce the kids in much the same way, but there is far less in the way of monologuing and we’re introduced as the characters interact. In much the same way as the introduction chapter in volume 1, we learn that Daisy is quite the bookworm and school-obsessed student, even during weekends. But that’s not the only thing dominating her thoughts, as when Lucy goes out on her walk, the first person she runs into is Daisy who is looking for someone else in particular!

You guessed it!

Oh GOD, does Daisy like boys! Can you guess who she’s got her eye on?

Of course it’s Mike. Are you surprised she’s got a deep crush on the boy who seems very perfect himself? Everywhere that Mike goes, you can be sure that there’s a shadow in the shape of Daisy not too far behind. . .

Wherever he goes. . .

Daisy doesn’t shy from showing her interest in him when the convenience calls for it. Ah, young love.

Eventually, Daisy would find love, though it wouldn’t be with Mike. It would however be the second longest running relationship in the comic if you consider Mike and Sandy, with an admirer of hers.

Still, suffice to say, even after every attempt gets shot down in the most spectacular way, Daisy bounces back -- Like a daisy. Her shining ray of positivity follows her everywhere. It’s all in the name, after all. Daisy still manages to rise up with her sunny disposition.

But not every time.

As the story progresses, little by little, we start seeing that there’s more to Daisy. We start to see that not everything is bright and happy like her name-sake despite appearances. Things would be far from perfect, and underneath that smiling face is a character suffering with low self-esteem in that very same area; her appearance; believing their Ragamuffin/Selkirk-Rex heritage is letting them down and putting them in misery. This tends to be particularly true on rainy days, when all the hours she spends of a morning brushing down her fur become undone when the droplets causes it to fluff up and the curls start showing. Daisy attributes these traits to the reason she isn’t quite as easily noticed by the boys as the other girls, setting up for a number of stories involving her in Volume1, and opening her to be taken advantage of in the pursuit of attention and affection.

Not all the characters gain admirers or attention and for most of these characters, this is fine. But Daisy is not one of those and this above all things has an enormous impact on her. She wants to be noticed and receive affection, particularly from Mike, and others to a degree.

It’s when faced with multiple rejections from her dream boyfriend we also progressively discover a side of her shown to be more envious if not resentful of a few others who have it so easy, particularly with one such character inside her friend circle.

As you can imagine, these weaknesses will eventually put Daisy in danger as she tries her best to come up with ways to cope and make changes in order to improve her life, especially if the means are at the cost of logical reasoning like taking advice from the seediest boy in the school to attain her goals. She isn’t infallible; Intelligence doesn’t necessarily mean smarts. Even with someone who does as well in school as Daisy does, there’s always room to grow.

But until that happens, Daisy often finds herself in trouble when her personal feelings, ambitions and dreams do the talking for them on pursuit of happiness, for herself and others.

And oh boy, doesn’t Daisy make more than her own fair share of mistakes.

Let’s move onto the story, it starts with Simple pleasures, the first chapter.

This chapter serves to introduce us to the main group of characters central to the story and so features the aloof and prickly Lucy, the playboy Paulo, the ever-perfect Mike and the bookworm Daisy. It starts with Lucy on a morning walk and progressively running into each of them. With Daisy specifically, it starts with Daisy coming across her first and greeting her by shouting ‘Hey’ behind her.

Except...Lucy ignores her, and we don’t know why -- Is Lucy doing this intentionally? She’s in a world of her own at the moment with her singing. Are they friends? Is she just so aloof she doesn’t realise she’s there?

Well, Daisy isn’t going to let herself be ignored so easily and she really needs Lucy for something. So she goes to get her attention by impulsively grabbing onto Lucy’s tail. This would turn out to be a very critical mistake that one of the other protagonists just can’t stop helping himself from doing, and because of that we notice that Lucy isn’t as aloof as she seems, and reciprocates by twisting around and kicking her in the face.

Only to find that the person she was expecting was actually Daisy, much to her surprise. There’s a reason she never noticed her.

The first chapter has a number of objectives, it serves to set up the tone of the comic by showing the dynamic between the main group of friends, but also displays their characteristics. We already learn a couple of things from Daisy and Lucy’s interaction here. We learn that Lucy has a short fuse when it comes to unwanted contact. She appears aloof, but the main reason for Lucy not acknowledging Daisy initially is through the understanding that she’s partially deaf, unable to hear out of her left ear in similar in characteristic with her breed, the Khao Manee. Many of the other characters will make this mistake too and often at times Lucy doesn’t make it obvious she can’t hear what’s going on around them and needs to ask about what transpired much later. Lucy’s aloofness will be questioned in time as we start seeing more of her.

Daisy had forgotten about Lucy’s disability because something else was more important. And naturally, we learn that Daisy has, no less; a bit of a crush on the forefront of her mind. And we learn here that crush is on Mike, one of their friends at school, and her reasoning for bothering Lucy is that she’s only looking for him. What we come to learn later is it’s a little known fact that wherever Lucy is, Mike is often not too far away. In fact Lucy is never off on her own by herself.

Sadly for Daisy, Lucy doesn’t know where he is, so Daisy runs off in the opposite direction. That’s about as much of Daisy as we see until the next chapter.

Before we move on, let’s talk more about their interaction. As brief as it was, the interaction gives off more in the subtext into the status of the relationships between these characters and the others. I anticipate as new readers many of the details of this interaction just fly over heads, accepting these two are friends and this is just how they are. But being as late into the comic as we are, I feel we’re already seeing some of the signs of what’s to come in the story through this short interaction. Not everything is as it seems.

Most of this payload of information is laid in the question that Daisy poses after Lucy asks her what she’s after. When Lucy states she hasn’t seen Mike, Daisy asks ‘Oh no, did you upset him?’

Immediately we’re given some insight into the triangle that exists between these characters and their relationship between one another, and insight into the state of these relationships.

Starting with Mike and Lucy’s relationship as the question is directed about the two of them, we learn that the friendship isn’t without it’s issues, and we’d be quick to pass this off initially as something that happens from time to time. Fight’s happen, it’s a fact of life, and it happens more so when you’re a kid and figuring things out, yourself and life. Reading through the story, we would find the two inseparable in the later chapters and we never look at Daisy’s question again. But reading through BCB again from as late in the comic as we are, we have to wonder why this question specifically.

What we learn much later in the comic as we progress through is that Mike and Lucy’s relationship is much more complicated than what it appears to be. Much later, we see that the two do argue from time to time, until we get to the point where the plaster and apologies aren’t mending the cracks. The friendship isn’t quite as clean cut as it was made out to be and we start seeing some back stories into the characters. What appears to be a competitive rivalry through volume 1 between two friends is really something more sinister. By the time we reach Volume 4, we learn these two are really anything but friends.

For the moment, Daisy’s casual interaction gives off a sense of normality in their environment and understanding the answer to the question would actually help plan out her next move if we were to consider that maybe there was some intent behind the question. But we’ll get to the nature of it soon.

Without knowing too much about the kids as early in the story. I’d feel we’d put our trust in the kids to tell the story for us, and Daisy does come off as being quite perceptive and trustworthy immediately being the positive bookkeeper she is, she would be the expert for us until such a time as we become the experts.

One thing we’d discover much later on our own is that the Mike and Lucy are inseparable. In one way or another, they will find each other and act like close friends again. And Daisy knows this too without specifically pointing it out. Already suggesting that they’ve fought, it would only be a matter of time before they made up again, whether that takes minutes or hours. No matter how big the town is again, so long as they’ve got each other in their thoughts, they’ll stumble upon each other in no time, almost like a six sense.

It could be said that this is for the sake of convenience in the story in getting them to interact faster in the comic and resolve disputes, and that would be right. But BCB takes this and turns it into a running gag between just these two characters. There are more than a few jokes that exist in Volume 1 to make this seem like these two are made for each other in the way that they will eventually run into each other no matter how big the town is. One such joke is seen in Volume 1 through Mike’s inability to surprise Lucy on her Birthday. It’s so powerful, even Lucy’s auditory disability doesn’t stop her from catching him just before he can do it, even if the hiding spot isn’t obvious.

We’ve only seen this fail once, and that was in ‘Its all in the mind’ when Mike does sneak up on her, but Lucy has very much moved on from Mike at this point, so we’d have to wonder if this is something to do with them both being in Sync, we might not know.

The question Daisy asks doesn’t just pertain to Mike and Lucy’s relationship however, it also begs the question to Lucy and Daisy’s relationship at the same time. In fact, if it wasn’t for Daisy’s sunny disposition and Lucy’s stone-faced responses, the entire interaction would appear quite rude; Daisy’s question isn’t whether or not she’s seen him, only if she’s upset him, shedding some poor light on Lucy’s personality.

It’s important to remember that while these two are friends at our current point in the comic, they did not start out as friends, especially when you consider Confrontation, as we’re coming up to. Daisy, while she was amicable around Lucy and quite hospitable to her in the friend group, has to contend with her as being this roadblock to getting to Mike. Lucy seemed more aloof around her, but there’s more than enough to suggest that Lucy had other mutual feelings.

Understanding now that there is a rivalry between the two (or a one-sided rivalry, take your pick), we can understand why that particular question had been asked. Its tent though is to give more reason to Daisy’s next move: If Lucy did divulge she had fought with him; then it would only be a matter of time before Mike showed up, as Mike would feel the need to apologise and through their innate ability, would find each other, it would just be a matter of time. If she hadn’t; then Mike could be just about anywhere.

It turns out to be the later. And too infatuated with Mike (or not interested in hanging out with Lucy, take your pick), Daisy does not simply stay with her to wait and runs off in the opposite direction, hoping to find him first.

It’s when Daisy is no longer in the focus, we can see that Lucy isn’t exactly as stonewalled as she initially appeared to be, blushing from the interaction.

As possible that Lucy is only reacting because of her stupid head-over-heels attitude for that other idiot, as Lucy is yet to realise her feelings for Mike, we could wonder if it might not also be because Daisy has rudely pointed at the elephant in the room in Lucy and Mike’s relationship. Who’s to say?

(2021 edit -- The webtoon has this piece of dialogue changed. This time Daisy asks ‘Awww, are you both fighting still?’, which makes this even more pronounced that things aren’t all quite sunshine already. )

Finally, Daisy and Mike. Now that Lucy’s interaction with Daisy is done, Daisy is running around town looking for Mike, for whatever reason it just can’t wait until school.

Ah love. I’m sure it won’t be a problem in the future, right?

Mike is a real nice guy; lending Daisy his math workbook to Daisy.

We really need to look a bit deeper into this. We know much later in the story we that Daisy is well in advance of her peers in her studies. When she starts Roseville high, we find her in no more than two ahead of the others in her grade, with the juniors, and Tess.

And in the first few chapters of volume 1, we learn that Daisy often tutors Mike, so there’s no way Daisy even needs that book.

Unless...

O---Oh. It wasn’t for Math after all.

We’d come to learn that boy troubles are generally the source for all of Daisy’s grief. We’ll find that Daisy’s crazed obsession over Mike is used to justify a lot of the actions she’ll take in the future and we don’t know how bad this is until the much later volumes. Volume one step over this lightly as just a girl wanting her crush’ affection. But it becomes more pronounced in the much later volumes, especially when Abbey makes a point out of it when Daisy is less inhibited to keep her real feelings secret after getting drunk off Alcohol at Rachel’s party in a very late chapter.

Getting back to the current chapter, Lucy will notice that Mike eventually did find Mike, but she’s not with him. So maybe that was all she really wanted.

We’d be saps for thinking that.

But without anything concrete, we can only presume that was it. So thanks for returning Mike’s book, Daisy.

Daisy appears again in Merry Snow Day, the following chapter. This is a very short chapter where the kids are going to school after Lucy (begrudgingly) accepts schools not out, and walks with Mike to school. Daisy appears not long after and the first order of the day is to talk about homework, including offering to tutor him. She’d do anything if it meant helping her fellow students.

It’s at this part we’re introduced to the subtle idea of the rivalry for Mike’s affection between Daisy and Lucy. It’s subtle since it’s very one-sided and Lucy and Daisy don’t directly interact with one another or show that they’re fighting. Their interactions for most of the early chapters happen through Mike like you can see above when Lucy adds herself into the conversation. We’d have reason despite Lucy’s aloofness that such a rivalry does exist subconsciously and there are some reasons to believe this we’ll touch on. But for the moment, we can be sure that Lucy doesn’t consider Daisy a threat for one main reason: Mike will come back, so there’s no problem.

Daisy wouldn’t make a point of the rivalry either but Daisy would take advantage of the convenience of Lucy being out of the picture to seek attention from Mike, as she does when Lucy continues to school, and Daisy directly copies what happened just seconds ago when Lucy was about to fall on the ice, and Mike catches her.

Nice.

This chapter also introduces Yashy, Lucy’s pet Lizard and her surrogate daughter into the story line. The earlier chapters of Bittersweet Candy Bowl are ripe with slap-stick humour, and Yashy is the general source of this with her outspokenness and wise-ass personality. She’s there to rile up the others and break all the ice with her innocent demeanour. This will be the case up until the kids go to Highschool when the comedy starts being turned down in place of focusing on the rifts coming between the kids.

Unlike the other pets, Yashy is integral to the plot involving Lucy and Mike’s relationship, as she’s partly the reason for the friendship going on as long as it has. Having known Yashy for as long as Lucy, Mike takes on the role of the surrogate dad in Yashy’s life and this ends up having Yashy taking on the belief that Mike and Lucy are an established couple. But this isn’t true, and it plagues Mike as this is anything further than the truth. But with Yashy’s innocence, he can’t find the means to break this to her.

Yashy’s insistence of Mike and Lucy’s eventual destiny of being husband and wife comes at Daisy’s expense, as despite Lucy not necessarily seeing reason to stop Daisy’s attempts at trying for seek Mike’s affection, it’s Yashy who perceives her as a real threat and will shout obscenities at her when she doesn’t get her way, with a particular choice of word in mind. Though it doesn’t stop Daisy. But we can’t help but wonder much later if those words Yashy chooses to throw don’t have some kind of an effect on her much later.

That completes this chapter. Daisy doesn’t have much of an impact in Unfit for Education, appearing more to just be a participant in Sue’s obsessive thoughts game. But she gets a larger role to play in the following chapter; Burden of Parenthood.

This chapter has the kids going through sex ed. and being given the responsibility of raising a robotic baby, which they will be graded on based on their performance. This chapter starts off quite unexpectedly, as when the teacher begins pairing off the students, Yashy’s expectations that Michael and Lucy will be paired together, doesn’t actually happen for a change.

This time, Daisy is paired up with Mike, and Lucy is paired up with Paulo.

As you could guess, Yashy isn’t thrilled in the least bit. But neither is Lucy particularly when she spots Paulo pleased at the results himself.

Again I still don’t think Yashy’s abuse is really doing much for Daisy, I can’t help but wonder what that will do for her self-esteem?

Oh, I bet she’ll be fine, she’s like a Daisy, remember?

It’s during lunch we find Daisy is positively happy with the result when she confronts Mike with their baby. Although there’s just one problem. The baby is a glaring defect, a very...interesting feature about it that has Mike freaking out.

And he’s not playing ball because of it. Even Lucy is having a hard time with the baby’s smile.

But Daisy, Daisy couldn’t care; it’s Mike’s child.

The Daisy x Mike compatibility really doesn’t take off as Mike wants absolutely nothing to do with the newly-named Alegria, which Daisy is quick to point out after keenly watching a maternally-skilled Lucy teach a very clumsy Paulo how to properly hold a child, something she learned when raising Yashy. Daisy is by all means entranced by the romantic exchange.

But where’s hers?

Trying to get Mike jealous by thrusting her baby in Paulo’s arms, and Paulo taking to the baby. Mike sees his chance and gets Lucy to ditch the two and work as a team again.

There is a momentary issue when the teacher discovers the pairs do not have their correctly assigned baby, and through a quick suggestion they were giving a realistic portrayal of divorce and custody, get extra marks on their assignments.

You’d think Daisy would be quite depressed with her chance to work with Mike not going the way she planned and the opportunity going out the window. But to receive additional credit on their work, she’s actually more than ecstatic at the results!

It’s fine, there’ll be more chances. There’s still 4 more years of school!

And in the meantime, Daisy x Paulo was born. One would have to wonder if it would bear fruits.

...Nah.

Daisy has a role to play in the next chapter; Prom Preparation. She’s tasked with organising the 8th grade prom.

The first order of the day is to survey the music selection for the evening, starting with genres. Daisy gets ideas from a number of the students, almost forgetting she hadn’t asked Mike yet.

Apparently Mike doesn’t have a favourite genre of music that comes to mind. Not being a fan of new music, Daisy fills the gap and suggests he’s into much older stuff which she tries to bond over, infuriating Yashy.

When Daisy asks Lucy for her favourite music genre. Lucy wonders why she should bother since she’s not planning on going. . .

Leaving Mikie easy pickings for the evening. Daisy sees her chance for a bit of romance that evening, and Yashy is not at all pleased about this.

It’s worth talking about Yashy at this point, as even though we’re technically focusing on Daisy, there’s something we might be able to gain from both Yashy and Lucy that might give more insight into Daisy and Lucy’s relationship. You might notice, (2021 -- Especially in the Webtoons version), during each outburst by Yashy we can see Lucy blushing as her child unleashes hell upon Daisy, and we’d have to wonder why that is, because Lucy doesn’t seem to be initially the kind of person to care too much about anything going on around them, right?

But what if Yashy was this mouthpiece of Lucy’s impulsive thoughts that she doesn’t act on, and that’s why Lucy appears to blush from embarrassment? Yashy’s impulses are not something she’s able to control, only her own through her own inhibitions. Later in the story we start seeing hints that Lucy’s stonewall-straight faced demeanour is very much a facade and she’s actually quite sensitive, but when she’s fighting her emotions inside and she doesn’t have the answer, a blank expression is all you get so she can’t be hurt in one way or another.

But having been raised by Lucy, we could assume that Yashy is very much Lucy’s child and we can expect that having been raised by Lucy, much like every other kid out there, sometimes kids pick up traits from their parents.

(2021 -- The problem of Yashy’s language was also bought up in the more recent chapter, Dinner time, when Lucy’s mum points this out as Lucy and Jordan are fighting. While the person who was called out for this was Jordan. Can’t help but think that despite Jordan pointing out something embarrassing about why Mike might not be over more, Lucy is instead more blushing over the problem with Yashy, as Yashy is still embarrassed at being called out over it too. It’s hard to imagine the problem is just Jordan as Lucy has quite opinionated language as well, and lastly, because Yashy spends more of her time with her. There’s just an awful lot of body language going on in that scene and it’s hard to tell.)

Yashy is quite innocent in the story as she is one of the fewer characters who meets with rejection and doesn’t undergo the same hardships that Lucy underwent in her youth, so where this language and outspokenness has come from, you’d have to wonder if it’s just a quirk, or something deeper at this stage. Like as if Yashy is actually Lucy without the inhibitions.

Daisy doesn’t back down from Yashy when the golden opportunity arises even despite the name-calling. It’s when Mike believes both girls are fighting over him for Lucy to set the record straight -- she isn’t; Yashy and Daisy were and makes a point out of it. This causes Mike to walk off embarrassed since Lucy doesn’t reciprocate the same feelings. It’s only a little later towards the end when Daisy is turned down along with several other girls who learn of Mike’s availability. That ends that chapter. No romance for Daisy.

The next chapter is Helping hands, this chapter stars Daisy and Paulo who appear to have become closer friends since their pairing together in Burden of Parenthood. The chapter begins with Daisy and Paulo walking through the street, with Daisy talking about how Katie had a sleep-over the previous weekend but wasn’t invited, she was sure she must have misplaced it.

Though why missing out on Katie’s sleepover is the highlight of Daisy’s weekend is anyone’s best guess, right?

Daisy screams out suddenly as she points out an injured bird on the road, appearing heartbroken at the events. Paulo points out an arriving car that is about to put it out of its misery causing Daisy to become further distraught by this. At the very last minute, Paulo saves the bird, almost putting his own life in danger.

Expecting her to be elated, Daisy is not at all pleased in Paulo’s recklessness and scolds him, before being otherwise thankful he did it to save the bird.

But the next question is, now what?

With a hospital being too far away, Daisy suggests instead to take it to Lucy’s house as a last resort. Bringing up Paulo’s crush however, garners a reaction from Paulo that, well. . . Daisy’s not to pleased at seeing.

Oh, we’re going to see more of that.

Daisy thinks about whether or not Lucy would end up adopting the bird as she has quite a number of pets herself. Daisy would herself although her mother wouldn’t allow it.

Suggesting Paulo could with how well Paulo did at looking after Alegria, Paulo finds the talk far too embarrassing for his ever-masculine personality. Daisy tries to persuade him that girls are into boys who can be shown to have a caring attitude. Sadly, Paulo thinks he’s already at this level.

Oh, how Paulo x Daisy is teased so.

The weather starts to take a turn for the worst and threatens to rain down much to Daisy’s horror, as we learn something interesting about how her fur reacts to the rain. Paulo tries not not to give this away but Daisy then realises and starts showing how self conscious she is about her fur, a fact we learn more of in an intermission, where Daisy spends quite a number of hours brushing it down. When Daisy asks whether he’s grossed out by her curls, he avoids the question by telling them they have to hurry, or the bird won’t make it!

Unfortunately for Daisy, Paulo isn’t the last person when they arrive at Lucy’s house. Leaving the bird in her care, Daisy immediately runs into the bathroom only to run into Mike, it’s an absolute nightmare scenario.

Feeling devastated, Paulo comes in with some saving words and tells her if Mike was really worth her time, he’d wouldn’t care no matter how she looked. Which does wonders for her esteem.

Lucy arrives down shortly thereafter and lets the two know the bird will make it, having only been attacked by another creature and not so much struck by a car. Lucy will nurse it until its better, much to the joy of Daisy and Paulo.

At that point, the conversation switches as that matter is taken care of. Noticing that Mike is at Lucy’s house studying with her. Daisy tries to invite herself to stay over and help out too.

It turns out, simply asking means you’re outstaying your hospitality.

Yeah, they’re not really tight friends are they?

On the Monday, Daisy and Paulo ask Lucy about the bird, first mistaking what Lucy says meaning that the bird passed away, it healed over the weekend and left the following day.

But not before giving them a gift.

After all, they’d need it for their baby. The bird seems to think they’d make a good couple. Ah, PauloxDaisy again. If only they both felt that way about each other.

Daisy appears in show and tell, in this chapter we are introduced to the specific breeds the characters are.

Naturally, Yashy is not at all pleased about Daisy when she arrives.

When it comes to Daisy’s turn, we find she’s Selkirk Rex cross Ragamuffin.

Which would explain a lot of Daisy’s features, Selkirk and Ragamuffins are both very people-oriented and akin to Teddy Bears. Both breeds can get along with nearly everybody.

And, well that’s true for Daisy.

Daisy appears in Pep Rally, a chapter focusing on the sports carnival. Daisy appears as one of the school’s cheerleaders next to Amaya, Stacy, and her rival, Katie, who is not at all happy that she’s not the captain. Daisy is not about to give up being the center of attention.

This chapter has more to do with Mike’s super sensitive hearing than anything else. Even so, Daisy is more than capable of being able to amp up the crowd, especially when Mike lands a win.

Daisy appears in the next chapter ‘Off to the Movies’, when Mike invites Lucy to the movies, only for Paulo, David and Daisy to show up at the same time and suggest they all go see a movie together (Lucy reluctantly agreeing). When it comes to selecting their preferences for movies, Daisy goes for the mushiest movie that’s available. Paulo and David wanting horror, Mike wanting comedy and Lucy. . .well, she wants to see a love story. It seems like they all can’t decide, but Lucy chooses the jack of all trades movie as a compromise; the ‘epic suspensful, romance thriller with lots of jokes’.

Win-win, right?

Daisy’s in heaven when the seating arrangements are chosen, right next to her crush, she couldn’t be more optimistic.

A number of things happen during the movie, but nothing got by Daisy when the movie ends as she notices Paulo on the brink of tears following its conclusion. Daisy offers to forget that she ever saw it, on the condition he explains his phobia to barking, something else that happened earlier when Paulo tried to steal David’s popcorn.

Predictably, Paulo is far too masculine to talk about his feelings.

Eventually Paulo balks to the peer pressure (from Daisy) and explains what happened. When the others make fun of Paulo over it, Daisy leaps to his defense and tells them off. There’s a lovely moment between the two as Daisy reassures Paulo that she appreciates his forwardness and openness to the things that bothers him. And Paulo decides to talk about everything.

The PauloxDaisy content just keeps coming.

But it’ll never work. I--I swear it won’t.

By the very end, the kids all say their farewells to each other and go their separate ways.

Daisy appears in the next chapter ‘Puppy Love’. Mike finds a love letter in his locker from a secret admirer (It’s Stacy). Mike chastises Lucy who finds the whole thing hilarious and reads the poem aloud. Mike wants to find the person responsible. Suddenly, and out from nowhere, Daisy appears suggesting they do some detective work, all in the name of romance. But Mike reveals he just simply wants to reject them.

With much similarity to Prom Night, this chapter is more to point out with how much of the school has an interest in dating Mike. It’s not just Daisy, but also Sue, Amaya, Katie, those three random girls. The only exception is dear old Lucy.

The next chapter is Confrontation. This chapter opens with Mike and Lucy doing what they do best when something unfortunate happens; they argue, with Lucy blaming Mike for having them miss their stop. Daisy begs Paulo to get them to stop, and they do, albiet, for a short few seconds before they start arguing again.

With no sign of it ending, Daisy and Paulo day-dream of a better alternate reality where they both get their desires. Mike and Lucy are just awful for each other. Things would work out better if it was just Mike and Daisy, and Paulo and Lucy, Just think of the romance. What could go wrong?

The kids get off at the next station which unfortunately for them turns out to be a bad idea as they end up in the roughest neighbourhood a few towns over from Roseville. With Lucy suggesting they find a phone to call their parents, they go out in search of an open store. With Mike and Lucy still at each other’s throats, Daisy tries to take advantage of the situtation by suggesting that Mike could in fact stay over at her place seeing as how late it was, especially if his house is a bit too far. hoping that Lucy having been quite bitter to him will cause him to think about coming around to her advances. But Mike rejects her advance. When Daisy becomes fed up enough to suggest he’d go to Lucy’s house despite their fighting, he agrees it likely would happen, frustrating her even more.

She loses her temper, exploding about Mike and Lucy’s friendship being just horrible and suggests any investment would never be returns. Prompting a reaction from Mike for a short moment, until Mike twists that around and tells her to stop chasing the same stupid feelings, walking ahead and leaving Daisy to sulk to herself.

She’s joined shortly after when Paulo’s escapade in trying to woo Lucy goes as well as anyone would expect. Daisy, frustrated in how Mike always seems to show some compromise with Lucy, argues with him over his bad taste in women too.

Daisy’s thorns are on full display here as she starts to openly show her resentment towards Lucy who has it all so easy with both Paulo and Mike due to her looks. Daisy’s frustrated that despite her best efforts to be more appealing in every other way; Lucy has the looks, and that’s all that matters.

With Daisy being too frustrated from being inhibited from displaying this side of her, it’s clear neither she nor Lucy are good friends at all. Daisy has shown such a low opinion of her because of her attitude, knowing full well that often times Mike gets beaten up by her. Lucy’s aloofness could be confused with disinterest and both of them suggest that Lucy wouldn’t really care if either of them suddenly caught alight.

But Mike overhears this thanks to his superhearing and tells them there’s more to her than what they know. But neither of them take the comment seriously.

Lucy also overhears, and is a little distraught at how the others think of her.

The kids find a bar and Sue manages to call ther mother to come pick them up. Problems arise when Mike takes on a dare to eat as many liqueur chocolates from a stranger, and is quite positively drunk out of his mind. Lucy comments on this having watched on and Daisy chastises her for letting him do it.

She might have wished she had done something about it, as Mike is all over her, uninhibited from telling her how he feels about her looks.

And that does nothing for Daisy who sucks at all the attention Lucy’s getting. The world’s just unfair.

Though, Mike notices Daisy’s state, and goes over to give her attention too. What would be a dream for Daisy is sadly shortlived, as Mike’s attention switches to ice-cream truck music, and suddenly takes off towards it.

The kids are find themselves backed into an alley, as the stranger who Mike took the bet from comes to get his money back.

The ordeal is quite terrifying to Daisy. Paulo tries to defend her. But he gets a little too in over his head, not realising these two were the people who created his phobia of barking .

When Paulo is kicked aside, Daisy goes to him and asks if he knows the two. But Paulo doesn’t recognise them.

Not considering herself a fighter, Daisy is only able to come to her friends’ comfort as each one is assaulted one by one. Paulo first, then Sue when she cops an arm to the nose.

She can only watch when Mike tries to defend them, actually having some martial arts experience, but being too drunk to be effective.

And finally Lucy, as capable as she was finds herself unable to fend off Alejandro. Daisy calls out, but Lucy tells her to be quiet, or to hide as Lucy bears the brunt of the assault.

Mike regains consciousness at the very last moment and saves her before both team up in a last stand against Alejandro. Alejandro realises he’s bitten off more than he can chew and runs away. Daisy watches on as Lucy breaks down having realised how close they all were to having someone lose their life.

Sue’s mother arrives and all the kids are on their way back to Roseville. Paulo can’t help but notice that Daisy is really in the dumps over the night. Lucy did something completely unexpected in coming to their aid at the last minute — the ever uncaring Lucy put herself on the line so no one else would get hurt. And she feels awful knowing she was wrong — about Lucy and what she said about her to Mike.

Paulo tries to reassure her that Mike probably doesn’t remember what she said, and that turns out to be true as Mike is willing to accept her apology the next day.

Things are back to normal it seems, luckily for Daisy.

Or are they?

I figure we’ll stop here and resume next week. Look at that! We covered 12 chapters of 127! There’s a lot more of Daisy to come!

#bittersweet candy bowl #bcb #megathread #daisy

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a-student-out-of-time · 4 years ago

Note

Let’s kick Mavedick!

You see? There it is. Violence: the universal language.

The only way your beliefs can stand up is by denying the real world: someone wants you gone.

...Look, if you brought me here to kill me-

And make you a martyr? Don’t be ridiculous.

...This...This doesn’t prove anything. You could be lying to me, just trying to gauge my reaction.

Just like I know you’ve been gaslighting Kana.

Oh? You still won’t accept she’s your sister?

That I can accept. What I won’t accept is you saying my Dad cheated on my Mom.

What makes you want to believe in them so strongly? I thought they were hardly ever around for you.

That might be true, but I know them. My parents love each other. They’re good people, and I know they care about me. There’s no way my Dad would ever cheat on her, and there’s no way he’d abandon Kana.

So where did Kana come from then? Hm?

Why do you even care so much about her? You didn’t even know she existed a week ago.

I believe in them because I want to believe in them.

Interesting.

*He sits back in his chair*

Just out of curiosity, what are you intending? I don’t imagine you have it all planned out yet, but are you going to introduce Kana to your parents? Ask how she’s related to you?

You’re putting a lot of faith into something you have no proof of. For all you know, you’d be the one destroying your parents’ marriage by introducing them to Kana. Wouldn’t be the first time you and your friends screwed something up with your “good” intentions.

...

I didn’t brainwash them or hypnotize them, you know. Kanon, Damian, Yuki, Kana, Kizuna, they all came to this island because I offered them the chance. Your actions gave them that little nudge toward it.

And be real, Nanami-san. They were the ones you came for. You don’t really care much for the other people on this island, do you?

That’s...o-of course I do!

Do you know anyone else’s name?

...

It’s funny too, you know? You and Kasugano made that big spiel about how you were going to change all of Japan, but what have you done, really? You’ve saved maybe a handful of people, put a serial killer away and got another one killed.

Or did you quietly dispose of Genocider Syo alongside Otonokoji Kanade?

...

Ah. I see.

But be honest, now. Did you know them in a past life or something? Is that why you got rid of them quietly? Didn’t wanna make it a big deal?

Syo’s not part of this anymore. You don’t need to worry about it.

…So, this person slices up a bunch of guys, crucifies them and writes “Bloodbath fever” in their blood and you’re protecting their identity. But when someone like me or Otonokoji Kanade comes along, we’re irredeemable?

It’s not the same thing!

Jeez, no need to get angry. I’m just asking simple questions.

Maybe it’s just that you want to protect your friends?

…Why are you doing this?

What? It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I mean, realistically, the human brain can only handle a certain amount of information at a time.

Truth is, we all care about our own communities and our own groups more than we do the rest of the world. People will talk about what’s good for the world, but they can’t comprehend how big it is or what every single person out there needs or wants. Nor should they, really.

You wanna know what’s been happening out there in the world at large? Just earlier this month, people all over the world started protesting an Islamophobic movie. There were protest, riots, arson and even murders. I think the death toll’s over 50 and almost 700 people were injured.

And back in July, there was that guy in America who shot a movie theater, calling himself “The Joker.” Did you hear about that?

There was a plane crash in Pakistan that killed almost 300, the largest power outage in human history, the last member of a species of Tortoise died, a whole bunch of countries severing diplomatic ties with each other...

Not to mention the ongoing problems in so much of the world, like poverty, disease, war, corruption, oppression, crime and who knows what else. Yet here you all are, trying to be the big heroes for saving these people. These people you know just enough about for them to matter.

I assure you, these people are already safe. The end is coming soon, and this island’s gonna be one of the few safe places on the planet.

With you in charge?

Naturally. Who else?

Unlike most people out there, I actually understand how people operate. What they really need is a guiding voice, a handsome face and a gun to keep them in line. To keep them from killing each other.

Do you really think you’ll be saving anybody? Dragging them off this island when they clearly don’t want you to and throwing them into a furnace that’s about to be lit?

So what about their families?

Well, I’ve made arrangements for them as well. As long as certain conditions are met.

What conditions?

Let’s not worry about that. This isn’t about me, this is about you.

Do you really think you have what it takes to stop the end? You really think you can save anybody?

You’re not gonna trick me! I know what I’m doing is right!

Jeez, I ask simple questions and you flip out on me.

I’m sick of talking to you. I’m sick of hearing about all the pain you’ve caused these people. And I’m sick of this island.

Did you forget? They’re only here because of what you and your friends did.

I mean, did you give any thought to this before you joined up? Was this always about the world or just your friends?

...

____________________________________________________

Hajime, there’s no way you can solve this all by yourself, and I can’t let you knowing what I know now, especially not when you have a twisted ankle.

And there’s no way I can just let any of this happen to our friends. Not when there’s something I can do.

So I’m in. I’m gonna help you.

____________________________________________________

Did you ever think you were in a position when you could make any kind of choices you wanted?

____________________________________________________

Oh, are you flirting with my boyfriend, Nijiue-san?

N-Nanami-san! Umm, I…I- uh…n-no, not at all!

Aww, no need to get so embarrassed. I think it’s cute.

____________________________________________________

You all point the finger at me for breaking the law, but what about all the laws you’ve broken? All the other people whose lives you’ve impacted for your own plans?

____________________________________________________

Is everything clear on your end?

*In the Mall’s public announcement room, where both doors are held shut with chairs*

*Chiaki pulls her bluetooth away from the mic and puts it back on*

It all went through. I think everyone heard it.

Now I gotta hurry before security shows up!

____________________________________________________

Chiaki…everyone…

No. Please just…don’t, okay?

We all made our choices, and if this is what you all think is the best option, then okay, we’ll go through with it. I’m just really tired of talking about at this point.

What’s important is we still have a bunch of criminals running around on the streets that we need to catch. We need to get to that right away, and being angry and petty about this isn’t going to fix anything.

____________________________________________________

And even with your “good” intentions, haven’t you seen some terrible things?

____________________________________________________

I could’ve had so much, and I was so close this time! All I had to do was wait for Kotoko to hit puberty! Can you imagine what some people will pay for a sexy little bitch like that?! They offered 50,000 yen just for the pictures I sent them!

You sent them pictures of your own daughter…

Why not? I’m her father, I can decide what I want to do with her. She’s my responsibility.

____________________________________________________

What about all the horrible things happening in the world? You know they’re up in arms over my announcement, and some of them are calling for your heads. But it goes beyond just that: what about all the horrible things people have said and done to you?

____________________________________________________

I-I didn’t mean to cause any trouble, I just-

“Nobody wants you here, rich girl.”

“Aww look, it’s muffintop!”

“Pick up a real game for once.”

“Stop acting like you’re a real gamer, bitch.”

“What, you won’t look me in the eye? You think you’re better than us?”

“All you do is sit there playing that stupid game. You’re useless.”

____________________________________________________

...

You see now, don’t you?

There’s nothing worth saving, and you’re hardly the kind of person who could make a difference. Stop this pointless struggle, and just let the world die.

#danganronpa #sdr2 #danganronpa 2 #chiaki nanami #maverick storm #a student out of time #DR #The Puppetmaster arc #Anonymous

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fizzingwizard · 5 years ago

Text

I fell asleep as soon as I got home and didn’t get to write about Kizuna. xP So belatedly, here are my thoughts.

Warning: Spoilers for Digimon: Kizuna Last Evolution

So to start with, some context: I had a bad day at work. Not gonna go into details, but it was the sort of thing to put you out of the mood for seeing a movie, even one that’s a childhood treasure. I almost didn’t go.

In addition, because of what happened at work, I had to stay an extra hour, which meant I missed the first 25 minutes of the movie. I’m not sure how much story I actually missed - probably there was 10 min or so of trailers - but it’s possible I missed some framing. Usually the cute, fun, get-to-know-the-character moments happen in those beginning scenes, and I didn’t get to see those. When I walked in, Taichi and Yamato were having a meal together and talking about how their lives were all changing, but the Digimon stayed the same. So that’s where I’m starting from.

One more thing - I haven’t read the Kizuna novel. It sounds like if you did, you already know everything that happens. (Possibly reading the novel is more interesting than seeing the movie.) Sorry if I’m surprised by things y’all already knew!

For those who don’t like reading my long-winded posts:

Kizuna is what I would have expected from a Digimon sequel before Tri came out. That is, it’s predictable.

The art is quite good, except when it’s not.

There’s not enough of characters who aren’t named Taichi or Yamato.

Yamato is extremely COOL.

Koushirou has some good moments.

Tri is actually still canon, which I didn’t know - Meiko appears briefly in Kizuna.

It was fun to see the 02 kids, but they didn’t do anything special, although they did more than some Adventure kids.

It ends with the partner Digimon disappearing ‘forever,’ but also with Taichi putting in I think his thesis in politics specifically between the human world and the digital world. So everything seems geared to reach the 02 ending, where we know they were with their partners. So I guess at least we can headcanon that they find a way to reunite :/

OK so.

The art is really nice in this movie. Very smooth, very anime movie-like. I preferred Uki Atsuya’s designs and it did feel a little weird to go back to a more wide-eyed, innocent style now that the kids are older, but it was so lovely that I didn’t mind. Tri really lacked smoothness in the animation, so this was refreshing.

There are some times where the animations falters or some error happens - at least twice I noticed characters’ mouths moving without them saying anything, and there’s a scene where Taichi gets blown back by Eosmon’s attack and when he sits up his, um, backside is quite pronounced, like on-the-cover-of-Playboy-pronounced x’D Who knew Taichi was so thicc?

I liked in the beginning when they fly through cyberspace to take on Eosmon and it’s just like the cyberspace in Our War Game and Diablomon Strikes Back. The beginning was a bit promising. Omegamon is called on to help but his evolution breaks down, and fortunately Menoa knows all about why. There were some strong emotional moments when Taichi seizes the chance to help with a Digimon situation, and even stronger when they find out their partner Digimon are going to leave when they become adults and commit to a path (since apparently becoming an adult means you no longer have the endless possibilities of childhood). Digivolving speeds up the process.

Taichi and Yamato react very strongly. Other Chosen don’t seem in danger yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Takeru breathes a sigh of relief when he checks his digivice and realizes there’s no countdown, but Yamato’s and Taichi’s digivices are glowing with a countdown clock. Yamato screams and runs off to do anything he can to stop this. Taichi tries to deny it, but then Gennai appears in his apartment (which I think he cannot afford because we never see him turn on the lights :P) and tells him it’s all true and there’s nothing we can do about it. Then it’s bye-bye Gennai.

Oh, but before Gennai shows up Taichi is showing Agumon his apartment, and Agumon immediately finds his porn stash. I mean, that’s what you get for having magazines and DVDs instead of just using the Internet, Taichi, you moron. Teehee.

So Menoa and Imura convince the Adventure kids to “help” them, saying they’re trying to save the Chosen’s trapped consciousness. Yamato immediately figured out something’s not right, but pegs Imura as the likely suspect. However, he’s suspicious of Menoa too. Remember in Tri, when he sneaks after Nishijima and Himkawa, and gets them to talk? This is that only More. He lurks in stairwells, he goes without sleep, he researches online databases, he gets the 02 kids looking up details on Menoa, he follows Imura to some secret hideout covered in the typical secret agent decor of Papers Pinned To Walls With Illegible Writing.

As fun as it is to watch Yamato be all Men In Black, shouldn’t it... be... Ken? X’D Or are there many secret agents in space?

When Imura confronts Yamato, Hikari and Takeru have been taken prisoner. Somehow. They’re tied to chairs and Koushirou gets sent a message from Hikari’s phone saying in many different languages “Which one will be next?” So Taichi and Yamato hurry to the scene. At this point, Mimi has already had her consciousness abducted, and we now find out Jou’s KO’d too off screen.

Yamato sees Imura sitting on the stairs holding a gun. He lifts the gun and says “Takeru is already -” and I as like OMG THEY KILLED TAKERU!? but the gun is just... for show x’D Takeru has had his consciousness trapped. So has Hikari. Yamato makes good with Imura and they realize they need to go after Menoa, that she’s the one behind it all. Uh, too late though, because Menoa’s already moved against Koushirou, I think because she wants his information on Chosen Children around the world, and traps his consciousness as well. But not before Koushirou is able to track the location of Eosmon and leave the coordinates in a message for Taichi.

I don’t like Menoa. First of all, she’s a foreigner who likes to insert random English words where they’re not needed, and her accent is one of the worst I’ve ever heard x’D If you’re gonna cast someone who can’t speak a language as a speaker of that language, how about not have them actually speak it? But also, she’s not interesting. She had a Digimon partner - surprise! - who was a butterfly - surprise! - and who disappeared when she entered the path to adulthood - surprise! - and who she’s been grieving for ever since, so her big master plan is to somehow trap the consciousness of all Chosen Children around the world in another dimension where they can live inside their memories and never have to grow up. (The Digimon too.) She refers to it as her “Neverland.�� None of this interests me. Yawn.

She is able to trap all the Adventure kids except Taichi, Yamato, and Sora. But don’t get excited about Sora not being trapped - Sora has decided not to fight anymore, and she sticks her decision the whole movie long. Sora is almost completely absent.

So now almost all the Adventure Chosen have been abducted and most of them didn’t even get to do anything, unless they were all being super awesome in those first ten-fifteen minutes that I missed. The 02 kids do not get trapped and when Eosmon copies start raining down around the world, they run around trying to stop them. Daisuke is adorable. Pretty much just what you’d expect. Iori is Iori. Miyako is her exuberant self. Ken is forgettable X’D I’m so sorry, Ken. Someone give him a hairstyle. My problem with the 02 kids is because, as much as it sucked that they never turned up after their inauspicious start in Tri, having them around isn’t really improving anything. Nostalgia, sure. But they’re too busy doing research and fighting to have those nice character moments we’d like to see. They do the shonen anime thing of Stating the Obvious and Promising to Unite As One and that’s it for their dialogue. They’re polite and take turns letting each other say the predictable line. At least we know Stingmon still calls his partner “Ken-chan.” <3

Taichi and Yamato use Koushirou’s coordinates to go after Menoa in her world. But not before Yamato reacts with irrational strength when Taichi suggests they save their trapped friends. Because saving them means digivolving, which means the process of losing their partners forever will speed up. “Taichi!! Are you okay with that??” Taichi’s like, “Um... no, but people are trapped and need to be rescued.” And Yamato’s like “Oh right.”

So they go and are attacked by Adventure-age versions of their trapped friends and also random Digimon. There’s quite a lot of blood?? Someone, I think Yamato, has a freaking Drimogemeon attacking him. He doesn’t get gored though lmao. Eosmon has a billion copies and they’re around the world going for Chosen Children. They bring out Omegamon and he gets his leg chopped off, whee. But both Digimon are physically intact when the evolution is broken.

Menoa is completely mentally unstable and fuses with Eosmon to become their “goddess.” Taichi sticks his hand out zombie-like under the pile of Digimon attacking him and yells at his Adventure-age friends “We must move on!” (ie, grow up). He is able to crawl to Hikari and blow her whistle with a huge breath.

This snaps everyone out of it. At this point I think “Okay! Big battle all together!” But nope. It’s still just Taichi and Yamato, who get new evolutions that look like Thundercats, and go after Menoa. While some song plays making it difficult to hear dialogue, they defeat Eosmon which makes the copies around the world disappear, and then they find Menoa trapped within her own memories of her partner, Morphomon, and rescue her as well. Menoa’s last scene is being handcuffed by Imura.

Then Taichi and Yamato go out separately with their partners and have a last conversation with them as the countdown clock is about to expire. Yamato plays his harmonica. Agumon tries to ply Taichi for food. We get Agumon’s vantage point looking up at Taichi and it’s like “wow you’re huge now.” Agumon and Gabumon both ask their partners what they’ll do tomorrow. Just as Taichi and Yamato think of an answer, they look and their partners are gone. Taichi and Yamato do some pretty impressive sobbing. Then we see them some time later hurrying on with their lives under symbolic cherry blossoms. The end!

The credits show scenes of the Chosen living their adult lives, the younger ones still with their partners, the older without. It ends with a peek at Taichi’s thesis, representing step one towards becoming a diplomat between the human and digital worlds. Like I said before, since we know they still have their partners in the 02 epilogue, it’s strange to me that they kept everything the same except that. So let’s headcanon that they’ll meet again o.O I guess

So if you read this far, you probably got the vibe that I wasn’t super impressed by Kizuna. But it’s not a bad movie. Tri pretty much spoiled me. I get that there are people who really don’t like Tri for various reasons, but to be honest, I think that even if you dislike it, you have to acknowledge what a gift it was. Six movies that gave every character something to do and mostly avoided the predictable stuff, not entirely, but much better than would be expected from an anime movie. Tri did so many interesting things. It’s got its flaws, a couple big ones, but I can never get past how it built everything up and what it resulted in.

But Tri’s number one strength comes from having six movies to tell the story. Kizuna has just one. If Tri had been condensed into a single movie - say we meet Meiko, the infection happens, she’s the origin, before the partners lose their memories Meiko asks the kids to kill Meicoomon, Daigo dies saving Taichi and then Taichi kills Meicoomon, the end - Idk if I would have liked that. It wouldn’t have gotten the build up it needed. I wouldn’t have learned to love Meiko. Stories need pacing, they need development, and more of each the more characters there are. Tri had the time to give us that.

I wasn’t expecting Kizuna to be like Tri - both the art style and all the info about it said otherwise - so I have to say that all in all, Kizuna is the movie I originally would have expected a Digimon sequel to be. It’s got That Plot that every fan read or wrote on fanfiction.net back in the day, where the kids lose their partners as a result of becoming an adult. I always hated that plotline because it was so predictable. If everyone can think of it, how can you call it creative?

But it is quite Japanese in a way, the appreciation for “the transience of things,” what they call 物の哀れ. Sora’s final ikebana display includes what I assume were cherry blossoms rising above a field of colorful flowers. Cherry blossoms represent this ephemerality in Japanese culture because of their short flowering time and how their appearance marks the beginning of spring. So in that way it’s all very striking and real. But I just personally don’t like it and never have. Also I think that for me, because I was so moved by Kokuhaku, there wasn’t much chance for this plot to have the same effect: Kokuhaku simply did it better.

I do think Kizuna is appreciable on its own and that if Tri weren’t a thing I’d have liked it better. I am not sure if I’m gonna go see it again. I might! I got a Koushirou clear file for going this week. (... The postcards we got for going to Tri were way better, though xP) So could at least go and collect more maybe.

But Kizuna has a big downside, which is that it’s just as obsessed with Taichi and Yamato as Tri was, but it’s even more felt due to the time constraints. At least with Tri, we got to see everyone do something at some point. In Kizuna, they don’t even try. Mimi, Jou, and Hikari are barely around and get their consciousness trapped early on. Takeru at least gets to join the initial fight with Eosmon, but I think that’s due to wanting to give a nod to Our War Game and maybe just because fans like Angemon. Then Takeru’s gone. Koushirou gets to be his brainiac self, I don’t really have a complaint about his treatment, except in the final battle where he’s just there. And Sora simply isn’t around period. Tri didn’t have the 02 kids, ok, that’s too bad... Kizuna has them but they’re boring and most of the Adventure cast doesn’t get to do much either. Is this really better, guys?

When you’ve got a cast this big, I don’t think you can do things the typical way. I’m an X-men fan, I should know. Lol.

That’s it for Kizuna! I’m still happy it exists, and have to admit that I might have had a slightly more positive take if I hadn’t been in such a bad mood from my day, so I hope that on a second viewing, whether I go to the theaters or wait to find it online, I will find more bits to appreciate.

#kizunaspoilers #digimon kizuna #digimon last evolution kizuna #digimon #kizuna

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courage-a-word-of-justice · 4 years ago

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HypMic 7 - 9 | Maou-jou 5 - 6 | Akudama Drive 6 - 8 | I7 s2 6 - 9 | Taiso Samurai 5 - 6

HypMic 7

I will never not laugh at the content advisory, haha.

I like Kazuha already. Too bad he’s probably evil…

Oh, is it the day of the DRB in the series already…? Or maybe, because it’s the qualifiers, BB and MTC’s match is on a different day to FP and MTR’s.

Oh? Does Tom know Jakurai well enough to call him “Jakurai-sensei”? (<- middle ground between “Jinguji-sensei/Sensei” and “Jakurai”) Also, Tom uses “ore”.

Ooh, Iris is a motorbike rider, eh? Interesting. I thought they (<- not sure if Iris is a “she” or “he” with a really weird name) were more of a Saburo-type and didn’t bother with things like that, based on their appearance. Update: Someone on Yahoo Answers said based on Iris’s watashi, she is a woman.

Typo fixed! Good job, anime staff! Update: I’m referring to “…darkest hour is just before the down” (sic).

…bukkorosu = “f***in’ slaughter ‘em”. It’s not wrong…it’s just the subbers really like to abuse the F word for MTC. But you knew that already if you got this far…right?

LOL, Ramuda wants to “scratch [Rex’s] back” (figuratively) to…get SNS views? Hahaha.

This Studio Alita is probably a reference to Shinjuku Alta.

Yotsutsuji!!! That was the one big spoiler I got before watching the episode today and I’m so happy I got to see him animated!

(One of) Irihatoma and Degarashi refer to Jakurai as “Jakurai-sensei” as well. Hmm, I never noticed. Update: That’s Degarashi, because Irihatoma speaks to Jakurai alone later this ep.

There’s 50% chance I’m getting this wrong, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say Kazuha is voiced by a veteran VA…one I already know about.

Doppo calls Kazuha by his first name…That upgrade means their relationship escalated quickly (or this is a quirk of HypMic in general, since I noticed most characters are on first name basis with each other). Also, it’s cute Doppo finally has someone in his corner. No other part of the franchise has one, to my memory. Update: It might actually be “Kazuha-kun”…but I’m still surprised though. Update 2: It’s both, actually.

I’ve listened to the phrase “some random guy” several times from Hifumi’s mouth and all I can figure out is the “yatsu” at the end. (Doesn’t help my ears blocked themselves up again, although it’s less than it used to be.)

Harumi Wharf.

R? On a helicopter landing pad?

…uh oh. I was right when I thought Kazuha was going to be evil. Also, Doppler shift/effect. Update: “Doppler” is clearly a pun on “Doppo”.

Hmm? “Hey, Doppo” from “yaa”…it doesn’t have a name referred in there. It’s a small but odd thing to do. (I remember a professional translator was complaining that people with intermediate Japanese were giving them flak for translating things “wrong”, but what I do here is analysis for my future and edificiation. I’m not here to knock down pro translators’ doors and demand a refund, because I’m trying to go pro to atone for my sins as a scanlator.)

The soundtrack’s slightly sinister tone, plus the fact I figured the culprit well before Doppo did, makes me slightly scared…for MTR.

I realised they skimped on the budget…this “hot off the car chase” line seems more like an MTC line, doesn’t it…?...Yeah, it’s almost word for word for MTC in DRB+. Maybe the subbers rushed and used this translation (this link I put here) rather than their actual lyrics…? I will have to get to the bottom of this. Update: Turns out the translation is slightly different, but…yes, there is reference to a car chase in the start of Shinjuku Style. (Sorry, I don’t know every lyrics of every song off the top of my head.)

…wow, this got really Doppo-centric. I’ve never seen the leader relinquish their position when it comes to “leading into battle” before. It just goes to show the staff really do pay attention to how popular Doppo is.

Note “Doppo” means “walk alone”, roughly speaking, hence the “solitary” line.

This song is very, very faithful to its original lyrics, because I was trying to look at Hifumi’s “mixing paint” line and it pretty much matches.

Hifumi’s “my men”, LOL.

Kazuha = “one leaf”, hence the “leaves” in one of Jakurai’s lines.

I cringe every time I hear screaming coming from this episode, y’know…?

…oh dear. MTC’s plot actually bled into MTR’s.

I already knew from browsing Twitter earlier today that Kizuna was going to become FP’s today, but hearing it is another matter entirely.

Kosuke Miyoshi is Kazuha. Apparently, this guy also voiced Mashirao Ojiro (the tail guy) from BnHA, but that’s his only major role…so I was right in that I knew him, but wrong in that he was, again, a relative rookie in comparison to most.

Apparently FP’s sign is a peace sign sideways to represent an F, but…it’s just a sideways peace sign to me…

…how is Dice’s bead ornament attached to him? Is it on his hair, on his ear, on the skin behind his ear…? I was trying to replicate his outfit and got stuck on how to represent it, so I ended up opting for trying (and failing) to do a small braid on the right side.

IWGP shows up this season…it’s the song with the “hoo!” noise BB perform in this episode.

LOL, “Dead men tell no tales” is a perfect saying for MTC.

Akudama 6

Is there a movie called “Brother”…? There’s apparently one that’s the plural of that, but not that itself.

If HypMic likes the F bomb, then Akudama like the S word.

I-Is it just me or is the choreography sped up at some points in this episode…? It’s a bit disorienting to come back to.

I thought the kid was a robot…but close enough.

Oh no! Why does the teacher always have to die for the student to become stronger???

Kairaku/shugi -> pleasure/doctrine (if I didn’t somehow misunderstand the shark’s kanji combo),

The part after the ED looks a little too long…keep watching.

The Japanese says “Lost Children”, but the English says “The City of Lost Children”, probably referring to this French sci-fi film.

I7 s2 6

I like how Gaku is taking special offence to Yamato’s comments about him being a playboy.

Re:vale-san. I never noticed until now.

“I’m already looking forward to it.” That’s how I would translate Tsumugi’s “I’m already excited”.

“…who could possibly complain?” – I think Mitsuki might.

The pun in the MEZZO show is that tai (group/squad) sounds the same as tai (want to ~). Rabbinsta is obviously Instagram + Rabbit (Chat?).

Oh my gosh! It’s the Yotsuba sister!

Mitsuki’s shopping trip OST is nice, man. This piano.

This episode has a really great sense of danger and foreboding for the future.

I7 s2 7

Perfection Gimmick. Never heard it in the anime before.

Even the ramen house’s name is a play on “Idolish7”.

LOL, Yamato sure turned that comment around.

The sign talking about beer says something about coupons below it. (It went by too fast and my CR app’s kinda fiddly, so I can’t really go back…)

Kimi to Ai na Night (pun on Idolish7, aka “AiNana”, again).

Mitsuki, no one hates you! You’re just imagining it all!

I7 s2 8

Momo hugely resembles Sasara, right down to the highlights on the hair…

“…you’re so handsome…” – I’m dying on the inside here, people! *laps up the BL pandering with a derpy smile on my face*

Banri and Tsumugi haven’t been focussed on lately…they’re clearly doing something regarding Banri’s ties with Re:vale, but I can’t quite figure out what that “something” is.

Why is there a basketball and a football in the back of the Takanashi office…?

Please don’t run in heels, Tsumugi…

“I love Idolish7!” - Ah, despite my quibbles, Tsumugi is good after all.

“making one’s best exertions” – Why do those words on the cup worry me a bit…?

Isn’t “I’m watching you” a creepy statement…?

Apparently Tamaki’s symbol is mp (mezzo pianissimo), hence Sougo’s words.

…my gosh! Aya’s foster father is Kujou?!

I7 s2 9

If I heard it right, Tenn’s line was “I can be your idol”, not “your prince”.

“Older Izumi” - …ah, poor Mitsuki.

“Damn you, sexy beast…” – LOL!

…aw, I think this is the first time my heart has been lightened by Tsunashi’s laugh. He’s a good boy.

The chibis…I’m still trying to get used to them…

As a song once said, “You can’t please everyone so you just gotta please yourself.” (Blah blah blah, something about garden parties…)

Takao what now???...okay, Takao Dayuu.

…You’re lucky that wasn’t Tenn doing Takao Dayuu. It would’ve been very “Gentaro does his courtesan voice” if it was.

Nagi doesn’t overpronounce things as much in this season. It’s…pleasant, actually. Give me more of that.

Nagi’s “Oh my god!” was hilarious.

Taiso 5

Ra (ら) and ro (ろ) look kinda similar in hiragana.

Even without the audio, I can guess the words were “yarubeki koto” (things you should do) -> shachihoko.

The texts are written in gyaru-moji. Gyaru-moji is basically indecipherable to anyone who doesn’t know how it works – kind of like the common teen vernacular, to be honest (LOL…?) – and so the subs actually kind of ruin the confusingness of it all, but they did slightly better when they went “UR”.

Movie shiritori! But…has it really been half a year since Leo started? I feel slightly robbed about that plotline with the Men in Black right now…(then again, HypMic is just as bad about important plotlines, if not worse, so…I’m going to be patient and not complain.)

July 5th…Rei is a Cancer…?

They’re…finally moving on this Men in Black plotline! I only complained two points ago! Thank you, staff, for listening to my complaints (…?).

Moon Land finished recently, so I wonder if I’ll lose interest in this anime from here on out…? There was a Pommel Horse Prince in that.

Moon Land taught me that gymnastics has a lot of skills named after their creators, much like the Aragaki previously. The score is out of 10 for both D (difficulty) and E (execution), meaning a 20 is the best you can do, but the judges can get really picky...

The word for “vault” literally means “leaping/jumping horse”…makes sense.

Some of these names are names I’m familiar with from Moon Land already…but I never remember what the skills look like.

…welp, Leo just proved he really is a ninja after all.

Dr Stone’s s2 had its ED announced to be “Koe?” by Hatena and “Yume?” here really makes a theme…does Hatena give all their song titles question marks on the end?

Taiso 6

Colour gangs? Like in IWGP?

It’s nice to see they’re (Jotaro and Rei) communicating properly for the first time in possibly this entire anime.

On the wall, that thing is an evacuation map…of some sort.

…I’ve always wondered: if a bird eats chicken, does that count as cannibalism?

This is like thw Makkachin incident all over again (in YoI).

“…there’s no reason for you to grin and bear it.”

…Leo and Jotaro, both are so dense! Boys *shakes head*.

BB? More like ET (LOL)!

Maou-jou 5

…I didn’t even notice the cast was all dudes bar the princess at this point.

Tatakau Onnatachi. It could mean “fighting women” or “female warriors”.

I’m still vaguely pissed that Kirito is here under my nose…darn Demon King!!!

One of the harpy’s recent worries was that she wanted to become friends with the princess…That’s kinda cute…

Didn’t Syalis already get the coffin that one time? Or did it get confiscated?

*eyes sparkle* Cloud…I’d like to sleep on a cloud…*dreamy look on face* Cloud.

This is basically Princess, ‘Tis Time for Torture in reverse.

Is it “make do” or “make due”…?

I don’t think I need to explain the joke where the harpy is happy.

Gendo pose!

I wonder if the bed or the sheets will talk to her (Syalis) someday?

Maou-jou 6

The New Gearbolt’s quote is “guruguru dokkan”, which is just a bunch of sound effects. It would translate to something like “whir-whir-thud”.

Underwear episodes are some of the worst episodes ever…they’re so juvenile…I dropped at least one series based on the underwear episode alone.

Ah! The seal on the ice monster’s shoulder! Too cute!

How can a mechanical princess mecha (…thing?) have worries?

LOL, never underestimate the hilarity of the teddy demons ganging up on the Demon King.

I like how the Japanese pointed out the demons only moved the princess.

HypMic 8

I thought the robberies were Kazuha’s doing…? Or is this a separate case?

Samatoki answering his phone with his feet up…LOL, there’s just something funny about it. It shows he’s just so badass, he can get away with it.

Riou’s hacking (?) skills come to the fore again. (Or is that listening to enemy intel?)

Ooh, Iris is sassy. I love her already.

…er, Samatoki? Blowing cigarette smoke into Jyuto’s face is just rude…

“…don’t hang up your gloves.” – Considering Jyuto has his red gloves…LOL.

What the heck is that backing track when the 2nd car moved out? That’s a cool track.

Ah! Iris is a Saburo-type…LOL, Saburo’s fake identity.

“a cop who’s in with the yakuza” - Wow, way to diss your own teammate, Samatoki.

For a guy who was only just in the water, Riou doesn’t even look wet.

“2 DIE 4” – Hmm? So did the anime staff know what Riou’s 2nd round song title was at the time…? Update: Judging by the name “Requiem” dropped in the next episode, I would say yes.

“…f*** the police…” - Wow, way to diss your own teammate, Samatoki. X2

Hmm? In Riou’s rap bit near the end, he goes “mad warrior” and that rhymes (in a very loose way of speaking) with “Mad Trigger”. The English didn’t keep that.

I remember seeing a spoiler which said that line (the one about slaves)…but seriously, Jyuto is such a “sexy revenge cop” (as someone once said – I think it might be Slug, or an anon to Slug) that literally nothing else seems to matter about him.

Why do they subtitle the laughing??? I still have no idea.

“Sgt. Iruma”? The guy just says “Iruma-san”. Is he a sergant or some other rank? Update: Yes. (As in, he is a sergant.)

I’ve never actually seen Ramuda sleep in a bed before, come to think of it. Does he not have a bed?

I would assume Gentaro is going…but he said he won’t be going, then negated that and then negated it again. Unless the 2nd time was him admitting it was a lie the first time…is he going or not???

“shinsetsu no human” – (Spoilers for later on/manga)…Yes, that’s actually what Ramuda says. It’s as if Ramuda subtly admits, right there, he isn’t human.

Nodo = throat…If this were translated more literally, it would sound pretty clunky.

“…rappa no inochi…paa!” – Yep, the subbers got the gist of the joke there.

Dice is basically a worm at this point…He’s squirming like one, anyway.

That “number of pips facing up” thing has got to be foreshadowing for something, y’know? Nothing in a story ever goes to waste. Also, it’s likely the dice are weighted or something…

…yep, there you go.

That voice Gentaro used for “I despise lies” was amusing…because it’s so different to his normal voice, and because Gentaro is a serial liar.

The 2nd song…which I already know is called “JACKPOT” from browsing Twitter earlier today…was a bunch of fun.

Udagawacho.

Hmm…emphasis on the candy. I wonder what that means? (<- already knows, I just want to keep it a secret from you, dear reader, if you don’t know it too)

ANIME SHOP is so clearly a pun on Animate, including the colours, that I can’t even…LOL.

FP’s Kizuna sounds distinctly different to the others…probably because of Ramuda. It’s mostly Ramuda carrying the tune there.

“Life is what you make it.” – Hmm, an interesting quote for sure.

HypMic 9

…welp, they don’t call it Fling Posse for nothin’.

I didn’t believe my ears, so I went and listened to it again. Sure enough, Ichiro calls Jakurai -san, not -sensei.

Ramuda’s normal voice! Things are getting serious~!

“Hifuming”? Is that a deliberate choice on the translators’ part? Or is it a mishearing?

…I’m laughing at how Samatoki called Ichiro a “hypocritical piece of s***”. I know the “s***” part is correct at minimum from the audio.

I believe Samatoki said -san, not -sama when he asked for an honorific. Hmm, interesting.

I knew this would get animated, but…I still can’t believe I’m watching it! Amazing…absolutely amazing.

If you’re wondering…yes, that long thing is her entire title and name. It’s said the name “Kadenokouji” is the longest Japanese surname in existence.

I remember reading a tweet earlier today that said somebody wanted “Altercation! Altercation! Altercation!” as a song title…and now I LOL, because the subbers made Gentaro say the exact same word.

Hmm…I only just noticed BB are the only ones with bags. They probably came last, but who took the others’ bags into Chuoku…? Update: Some of the others did have bags, I just never spotted them. For instance, Riou is carrying a large black rectangular bag, but Samatoki and Jyuto don’t have any. Jakurai has the bag from his TDD days.

The 2nd DRB brackets got announced today. BB vs DH, MTR vs BAT, FP vs MTC, rolling out across Japan (and Japan only due to COVID) in 2021.

“What happened between you and him?” - I was going “who?” in Cantonese (as I sometimes do), but turns out they’re just referring to Samatoki.

This is exactly as it played out in the drama tracks and manga…exactly what I was waiting for all this time! So good, dangit!

LOL, in the future, we will have camera drones working our concerts like they do in the DRBs…I think (?)

I wonder what Dice is thinking right now, seeing Otome on the screen…hmm…

…gah! Airhorn! Airhorn to the ears! *tilts to side due to sound*

I still kind of remember Slug’s take on the final battle…”The popo? More like the poopoo!” (or something like that). *sniggers*

The little barking bit after Jiro’s verse was…kinda cute, actually.

…ow, these are some burn-ass words. See? This is the power of the DRB!

…eh? Riou’s mic has his MC name on it. Don’t think I’ve seen that in any other part of the series.

Hoh, Riou even made references to Saburo’s character songs.

You can see “Hc” on Samatoki’s mic too…probably another case of his MC name, but partially obscured by his hand.

Aw, “Samatoki no sabaku toki” is a good lyric. Why couldn’t you try to keep that, instead of translating it literally to “judgement day for Samatoki”?

You can hear a thumping beat in the background when Samatoki prepares himself. That seems to be a similar way to how ARB treats this stuff.

“I’m THE Samatoki” – “Samatoki-sama da”.

I think it was really cool to show Samatoki handing the song over to Riou, but it also indicates there’s a disjunct in the lyrics that would cause such a thing. From this, maybe Riou is MTC’s weak link…?

Skeletons with katanas! Is that not cool?!?

…hey, that joined words thing Ichiro does…I would assume that’s what Rhyme Strike looks like in the HypMic universe?

Notice Samatoki took the word “signal” from Ichiro’s part and put it into his own one.

“Today is a good day to die.” – *eyes bulge* Oh…gosh. What a quote. Update: Someone theorised Ichijiku wrote these titles (the last 2), but someone else – like me – theorised this quote was what FP and M fans thought for this battle.

Akudama 7

…that’s one twisted kid.

Never threaten to kill a kid who can regenerate far better than you, Hoodlum.

Brawler is still in the OP…it’s kind of saddening to see him now.

I noticed a certain character appears on the Executioners’ hands if you pause at the right moment in the OP. It’s the first character in shori (management).

Bunny: set meal/Shark: roasted meat (yakiniku)

…This sounds a heck of a lot like the genbaku dome (Hiroshima Peace Park).

Bunny and Shark’s shirts together: Idiot -> Shark: Bone

Actually, this also reminds me of the Osaka Expo held in 1970. I loved writing about that event – it was just so fun to write about.

This anime is like Appare-Ranman’s sequel, except without the racing and crazy racial stereotypes (although there are still crazy stereotypes).

…whoa! This scene is going on the end of year list for sure. Just…have to remember this scene, where all the children disappeared, exists.

…”The City of Lost Children” is an apt title for this episode.

(HypMic spoilers!) I wonder if they’ll reveal that Ramuda is a clone in what’s left of the HypMic anime?

…oof, Doctor’s a filthy traitor!

Rule number 1 of fighting: never yell out “Smokescreen!” when the smokescreen is meant to cover you.

…LOL, dark censorship bar. Please wait for the Blu-Rays to see this scene uncensored.

What the heck?! The countdown went from 7 to 0 so fast!

Akudama 8

Black Rain, huh? *checks* It’s a movie about a pair of New York policemen who have to save a Japanese gangster from his death.

…don’t jinx it, Swindler!

Your brother isn’t on the moon, Sister. It’s just your dreams on there.

Notice “Neo Lake Biwa” actually has ��Reiku” in its name, as opposed to, say, “mizuumi” or “ike” (the Japanese equivalent).

You can still see where Doctor stitched herself up.

What did Doctor “hold on to”?

Way to monologue through the whole morality thing… (<- not as satisfied as they would like from this scene)

I wonder if the seal is electronically tracked…

Tsubo = pot, vase…*thinks about drugs* (Not that pot.)

“…I’ll make you into a real man.” – More like a eunuch, LOL. (partially sarcastic)

I recall from Sarazanmai that “pair look” is the term for “twinsies” in Japanese.

Oh! Swindler kind of looks like the Executioner Boss now.

…I find it ironic that Swindler had long hair up until not too long ago.

Can to the eye! Ouch! That’s gotta be worse than a lightsaber…er, jitte to the eye!

This makes me wonder…was Courier a rich kid once…?

#simulcast commentary #hypnosis mic #HypMic #hypnosis mic -division rap battle- rhyme anima #Akudama Drive #taiso samurai #Maou-jou de Oyasumi #sleepy princess in the demon castle #idolish7 second beat #Chesarka watches HypMic #Chesarka watches Akudama Drive #Chesarka watches Taiso Samurai #Chesarka watches Maou-jou #Chesarka watches I7

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