#best anime similar to your lie in april

[animeupdatedaily]

List Of Anime Similar To your lie in april

List Of Anime Similar To your lie in april: Your Lie in April was released in 2014 and is still known as one of the most emotional anime from the past ten years. Fans even say it’s one of the saddest anime from Japan ever made. People thought it would be a funny romantic show, but they were surprised by how touching it actually was.People quickly realized that Your Lie in April was a sad story…

[twilightstoned]

ranking my top 10 anime i've watched so far

this is ranked by personal enjoyment NOT by what's objectively the best! so i can't be wrong! :)

honorable mentions: Erased, Your Lie in April, The Promised Neverland (s1), Hunter x Hunter

10. Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop was the first anime I ever liked. I was introduced to it by my cousin when I'd sleep over and we'd be watching Adult Swim all night together. I do hold some nostalgia for it, but also it holds up well in all aspects (story, animation, OST, characters). The animation in this show is probably my favorite in all anime. It's such a vibe. It's probably the anime I rewatch the most just because I always throw it on for the vibes.

9. 86 Eighty-Six

Okay, I've let this one sit in my mind for a few weeks before updating my rankings and it's absolutely gotta be top 10.

It's such an incredible story with a beautiful OST. This actually is one of the anime that hit the hardest/deepest emotionally for me in a similar manner to Attack on Titan. I find that funny because Hiroyuki Sawano made the OST for both. It's not just the music though, the story is impressively profound. It deals with topics such as government corruption, discrimination, racism, and war extremely well. I particularly loved the journey of Shin's reasoning to continue to fight and exist. Additionally, Major Milize's journey to make a difference and fight despite her privilege made for a great character arc. I think this has one of my all time favorite endings out of all media, it feels perfect after everything we experience each character go through. This really is an incredible story, one of the very best I've watched.

8. Jujutsu Kaisen

I watched s1 of JJK like a couple of years ago and then watching S2 while I was sick in bed with the flu late last year is what got me into anime fully. I don't think JJK has the strongest story out there, but the characters being cool looking and likable plus the cool ass fights are why I adore this show. MAPPA really cooked with the fights. This is the first anime I had to read the manga ASAP after I finished the anime. Yeah, that's about it. It's just a really dope show with sick fights and sick characters.

7. Death Note

I'm actually surprised at how much I enjoyed Death Note. Like, I know it's beloved by so many, but I had tried it years ago and dropped it (probs due to my undiagnosed ADHD at the time). Regardless, it's fuckin good. There's so much tension and scheming that kept me absolutely hooked. I love the psychological war between Light and L. L might be one of the best characters out there. The only reason why it isn't in my top 5 I'd say is because I don't love the ending. I think the stronger points were before a major thing happens that I think anyone that's watched knows what I'm talking about. With that said, I still had a good time watching the whole thing. If the ending had stuck then this could have easily been one of the GOATs and a masterpiece, but regardless, it's still very much worth watching and I still loved it.

...

Okay so my top 5 can move around depending on what mood I'm in lol. I love all of these anime SO DEARLY. I did move it around since I last updated this, but i do find it kind of hard to rank them bc i like them at a pretty similar level i'd say (except my #1 which is untouchable apparently)

6. Fruits Basket

I have a history w/ this story. I lowkey watched the early 00s version of this like way back in junior high maybe? or high school? I remember loving it, but not finishing it. I had forgotten most of the story over the years and forgotten it even existed for all these years. The only things I can remember from then is that the guys turned into zodiac animals for some reason and Tohru and Kyo had a thing going on.

So, watching the 2019 version this year was such a treat. The story really hits you in the feels. I LOVE that every single character is developed strongly. Tohru is the best girl. It's just such a wonderful story with both heartbreaking and heartwarming moments throughout. I truly love this show SO much. I think I binged the final season in one day. I feel like this could be tied with #5 really.

5. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Well, Frieren is #1 on My Anime List for a reason. I think the first season we got was perfect in literally every single aspect when it comes to anime. Frieren has my favorite modern animation and artstyle out of everything else I've watched. It's become my comfort show. It's hard to say much more than it's just perfect. The story, the OST, the world building, the characters, the animation. It's all perfect. It's a beautiful reminder to appreciate the people in your life and to live in the moment.

4. The Apothecary Diaries

Okay, it might be recency bias, but I'm surprised how much I LOVED this one immediately. Something clicked for me with it. Maomao is one of my favorite protagonists in any show ever; she absolutely makes this show. Of course, the animation, soundtrack, and story are excellent as well. I thought the humorous moments were well-timed and didn't overdo it. Plus, I usually think anime humor is cringe, but this show actually had very funny moments to me. I enjoyed the mysteries of each episode and couldn't stop binging until I finished. This is definitely one of those shows that I connected with on a personal level and for that, it's immediately one of my favorites. I loved getting to see such an incredible character, who is a woman in a patriarchal society, navigate said society by using her knowledge and skills while also helping her fellow women she crossed paths with. I love so much about Maomao's personality, I'd probably write way too much if I explained why. I'm so glad we're getting season 2 soon!

3. Haikyu!!

Who would have thought a show about playing volleyball would be THIS good? There are so many hyped moments that had me tearing up out of pure joy. I found myself cheering like I was watching a real live sports match ahahah. The volleyball aspect of this show is quite accurate. It's wonderful to see each player's hard work pay off throughout the seasons/matches. Haikyuu is brilliant at character development and character interactions. It's crazy how it gets you to even feel bad, root for, and even love the players on the opposing teams. I love my main boys at Karasuno so much more though. This show can cure depression. Especially if that depression is from your irl sports team -.- lmfao.

2. Steins; Gate

This is one of the best stories in anime. I also think that it is the best time traveling story I have ever watched. I know people say up until episode 12 is a slow burner, but I never thought it felt that way. I could just watch all the characters do weird science experiments and random shenanigans together for a whole season or two. Plus, the building up of the mystery and tension during the first half of the show is exquisite. It all pays off in the 2nd half when shit gets crazy. Seriously, this story gets so good it's *chefs kiss* Also, the ending is great and REWARDING after all the suffering Okabe goes through. (Even more after watching Steins; Gate 0!)

1. Attack on Titan

Watching Attack on Titan was one of the rare pieces of media where I started watching because of all the hype and it still exceeded my expectations. Before I started this show, I didn't even really think I'd like it because of the dumbest reasons: I didn't like the colors and the story seemed not interesting to me at all. AND OH MAN I WAS SO WRONG! I knew by the middle of s1 that I was watching something special tbf lol.

AoT is the only anime that no other anime can even touch when it comes to brilliance imo. I keep trying to find another tv show that hits as hard for me. This is one of THE greatest stories of all time. I truly wish I could erase my memory of this show and watch it again for the first time.

It has the craziest plot twists. There's so many mysteries throughout the first 3 seasons that kept me absolutely hooked. I love how it takes an even darker and realistic turn in s4 too. It's one of the rare shows where it keeps getting better and better as it goes on. Rewatches of this show are insane as well because of all the foreshadowing that you don't recognize the first time. And to top it all off, the OST by Hiroyuki Sawano is absolutely breathtaking. I seriously can't stop listening to itttt. This has genuinely become my favorite show of all time (sorry Arc*ne, I still love you). It's insane how invested I became in the story and its characters. I still think about it daily. It has some of the PEAK moments in fiction, especially in season 3 and 4. I never thought I'd actually cry watching anime until this one; there were many moments that had me bawling. I could go on and on about this show.

TLDR?: AoT is simply a 10/10 goddamn masterpiece that everyone should watch.

Okay... that's all. I think this list will most likely change as I watch more anime. I got a long watchlist still.

[moiloru]

⛸️ Yuri!!! On ICE Review! 🏳️‍🌈

Hello! Welcome to a new anime review, everyone! In this one, I'll review a classic among the classics: Yuri!!! On ICE!

Before we begin, I'd like to ask any homophobe reading this to brace themselves, as this will probably hurt their fragile ego. Also, please do not be homophobic; thank you :)

Now, Yuri!!! On ICE aired in 2016 and has twelve episodes. As you may have surmised, it deals with ice skating with a romantic subtext. Surprisingly, it's a very mature anime that will resonate more with adults than kids!

To start, I have to point out that this anime has some vibes that remind me of my favorite anime, Your Lie In April. That, in and of itself, makes for a strength in my book. It's also somewhat similar to Free! if some of you have watched this series.

The plot is a mere character development device, so I won't write an essay about it. It does its job and does it well, even if it's fast-paced.

Ah, the cast... well, it's very gay. I think that sums it up quite well. More seriously, it's got a decent cast with a good duo of main characters and an okay third wheel. The side cast is hit-or-miss, with one a-hole and some pretty cool characters. But yeah, very gay.

The main strength of Yuri!!! On ICE is its character dynamics. It's a short anime but has excellent character dynamics. It has some romantic, sensual, and even sexual vibes that separate it from the rest. It's nothing NSFW, but pretty unusual nonetheless.

The focus on the leading duo shows the story's maturity, although I'll admit I didn't like the dynamics with the third MC quite as much. It's minor, though, and doesn't hurt the experience much.

Yuuri, the protagonist, is a sort of Kousei Arima with Shinichi Izumi's character design. I think there was room to improve his character (his humor, especially), but he's a good protag.

Victor, the second member of the leading duo, is also a good character with fewer flaws than Yuuri, in my opinion. His character was more complete, to begin with, so I suppose it was easier. They make for an adorable duo, though, no questions asked.

Damn, this anime's got good music. Of course, ice skating relies heavily on music, so it makes total sense, but still. Big YLIA vibes here with some classical pieces.

THE OPENING. History Maker, by Dean Fujioka, is one of the best openings I've ever heard. Possibly the most fitting of its anime, too. It falls really short of my top five, honestly. I'll be listening to it a lot in the near future, that's for sure.

Visually, Yuri!!! On ICE has good animation and decent art. It was actually made by MAPPA, which surprised me when I saw it since they're usually known for their shonen anime (JJK, CSM, AOT Last Season...).

Overall, this anime is an experience. It's nowhere near my favorite anime or even my top ten, but it's intriguing, to be sure. I would recommend it!

Down below is the tierlist for the characters in this anime!

...I'm just kidding, haha. But, honestly, this might be the most realistic tierlist you'll find for this anime. More seriously, down below is the true tierlist. Thank you for reading this review!

[twisted-in-wonderland-jay]

Twisted Boys and Anime

I posted this on insta as well, just small thoughts.

Yuu got the boy’s to watch anime for the first time. Some loved it and some said just this once.

Malleus

He got WAY to invested in “Ancient Magus Bride” and love story about a Fae and a human, and “Ride your wave” You could have sworn he was about to cry, but he didn’t. He tells you he would be the same as the girl in Wave, if something happened to you. (You have to watch it to know what I’m talking about)

Lilia

Castlevania, he likes the art and story, but the vampires took him.

Silver

InuYasha. He liked it but wouldn’t watch again. He studied the sword techniques, and might have fell asleep once or twice.

Sebek

Sports anime are the best! He loved “Run with the wind”, he gets pumped up!

Leona

The Tower of God of God of high school. He didn’t like it a whole lot but he thought it was cool. Ya know something competitive.

Jack

He’s a softy. You got him to watch a romance, it was “Fruits Basket” he was totally team YUKI! Because Kyo reminded him of himself...Tsundere.

Ruggie

Nanbaka. He thought it was wicked!

Kalim

Lucky star or any Slice of Life

Jamil

Black Butler

Idia

This might be crazy but he doesn’t like Magical girls. He likes Action like AOT or Jujutsu Kaisen

Ortho

MECHA ANIME!!! He wants to grow up and be as cool as the mechs.

Azul

He loves the Fate series and even made a list of which to watch.

Jade

Kakegurui. He loved the crazy art and the all around madness of the show.

Floyd

Bungo Stray Dogs which lead to “Durrr”. He’s into supernatural anime.

Vil

Boy Idol anime. He would only sit through a couple eps but at least he showed. A little interest.

Rook

He’s not the interested in anime, but he watched Moriarty The Patriot, and Demon Slayer which he liked. But he wouldn’t watch any other anime.

Epel

He loved “One-punch man”, but he REALLY loved “Say I love you” more. He’ll tell you thats not true but we all know. He also likes “My Next Life As A Villainess”.

Riddle

“March comes in like a lion” He cried... He doesn’t like anime, but that was a good one. He also watched “Your Lie In April” He liked the Main character, and related to him.

Trey

Food wars.... He was a bit weirded out, and blushed heavily for the first couple eps but then took notes on foods to try, to improve his cooking.

Cater

Isekai! He loves all of them! Plot Twist he’s a closet weeb

Ace

Levius, Megalobox, and Boxing anime. He just likes the action.

Deuce

GTO because he was a delinquent once and just kinda enjoyed it. he also has similar tastes to Ace

[kabookiii]

Hey what are other of your favorite animes? Or manga you’ve read? 🤔 I have nothing to watch/read now since aot took my heart and destroyed it into tiny pieces ;_;

I have watched and read too much anime in my life. I will give what I think most people would like. I can have odd taste so I’m going to be as vanilla as possible :)

This is the closest I can think a piece of literature is to AOT. If you haven’t read the manga Tokyo ghoul I would highly recommend reading it. Kaneki and Eren have a similar feel. There is an anime based on it but only season 1 is good, the other seasons no good animation wise and they didn’t follow the manga. I would recommend watching first season and then reading the manga. The art of the manga is beautiful. I have the illustrations book because I love Sui Ishida’s art work. You will cry with Tokyo Ghoul. 

Anime - I have a lot of favorites. Some that I know others may not like and its okay. I will love in secret so I won’t share this time (nervous chuckle). These are a few but I will try to give diversity in genre. If you want something more specific or a specific genre please let me know. 

Jujutsu Kaisen (action, mystery) if you haven't read or watched already then please watch. 

Yona of the dawn- (Romance, Action)  I love the anime. Only 1 season. I wished they gave me season 2 instead of ovas. Strong heroine even though she starts spoiled but she grows I promise. 

Kaichou wa maid sama- one of my first romance anime. Will forever hold a special place in my heart along with Toradora, Lovely Complex, Nana, Skip Beat! Kamisama Kiss and Inu x Boku SS to name a few. 

Fruits Basket (Romance, drama, mystery) 2 seasons complete. Season 3 recently released. The plot will initially feel cliche but it will get dark.

Haikyuu!!- volleyball sports anime- lovable characters

Made in abyss - mystery 

Your lie in April- Drama, Music- if you want to cry watch this. 

Kono Oto Tomare- (Music, Drama)- great anime about a traditional Japanese instrument 2 seasons. 

Orange (Romance)- if you want to cry watch this. 1 season and ova the manga is good too. 

Black Clover- the first episodes aren’t the most interesting as it gives backstory but it is good. It has comedy, action, romance and lovable characters. The anime ended with 170 episodes but the manga is ongoing and really good. 

World Trigger (Action)- Best team fights and good world building. 2 seasons. 

Noragami- only 1 season 

Beyond the Boundary- only 1 season

Beastars- very unique plot. Only on Netflix 

Parasyte (Horror, Drama).

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures- (Action)- Season 1 imo is weakest but the other seasons are good. 

Mob Pyscho 100 (Action, Comedy)

Ouran High School Host Club (Comedy, Romance)- funny characters that will help cure our depression. Also Kaguya-sama love is war is a good romcon. 

Re:Zero- (Isekai, drama, romance) if you haven’t watched already. 

Dororo- one season only but it will give you feels. Only on amazon 

Chihayafuru (Romance, sports- unique to Japan): Trio of friends and their friendship and love triangle is well executed. 3 seasons completed

Fate franchise- I would recommend starting by watching Fate/Zero first. 

Hyouka- (Drama, Romance). 

Ancient Magus Bride (romance)- only one season but animation is good. 

Manga/Webtoons: To be honest I haven’t been reading as much manga as I did in the past. I find myself reading more webtoons/manhwa so I will suggest webtoons because I want others to love them like I do. I still love manga and always will too. 

Tower of God- the webtoons is great with 300+ chapters. I love Bam. The anime came out but the webtoon is superb. 

Solo Leveling- great fights that are beautifully drawn- webtoon

Omniscient Reader- art style gives me solo leveling vibes. I would recommend to read this after solo leveling. 

The beginning after the end- the novel and webtoon is good, a lot of world building, 

Unordinary- if you like superheroes then you will like this webtoon.

Lore Olympus- based on greek mythology the webtoon has beautiful artwork. 

Chainsaw man- manga. Anime will be coming in the near future and will be animated by Mappa. 

(I have read a lot of romance manga/webtoons that it will need a separate post/list so if you are interested please let me know and what kind of romance you are looking for ^^). 

[catsnraincoats-archive]

i think my ranks for anime iris' rn from best to worst are

Your lie in april

Sk8

To your eternity

Haikyuu/OHSHC (similar iris' so they are tied)

Rosario vampire

Bakuten!!

Death note/ Yuri!!! on ice

Saiki K./No. 6

mha

[angelanimedesaray]

Through The Looking Glass Chapter 2: Like Smoke

AN:  Ahhh, yes, I get to continue this one--I keep getting distracted...by the planning for this series.  I’ve got pages and pages of notes for this series now, It’s getting to be quite the ambitious project.  OH and I have a playlist for the series, too, on YouTube.  There’s a link for it on the Masterlist.  BTW I’m tagging all of the things that have to do with this (Chapters, Masterlist, and Playlist) #TTLG and all my fanfics have my penname AngelDesaray in the tags (Unless for some reason I forgot)

P.S. to find my masterlists, I link the masterlists for series in every chapter (As well as previous or next chapters).  Links to stories and series masterlists can also be found in my Author Masterlists, which can be found as a separate page on my blog under the Masterlist tab on desktop (Only shows published pieces), or as a link in my blog bio for mobile users (Also has upcoming pieces listed).

Characters:  Levi, Reader, Reader’s Mom, Kenny (Mentioned)

Pairing:  (Eventual) Levi x Reader

Warnings:  I mean, there’s fluff...and there’s some sad stuff near the end...

Word Count:  5004

<---Previous Chapter    Masterlist    Next Chapter--->

(Gif From Your Lie In April, found on Your-Lie-In-April on Deviant Art)

*Levi’s POV*

The sound of a distant woman calling a familiar name roused Levi from what may have been one of the best rests he’d had so far in his very young life, eyes fluttering open slowly as he tried to remember where he was.  Everything was so soft, and he just wanted to drift back to sleep, curl up in the fluffy warmth around him and…

The woman’s voice came again, a little closer this time, and there came a sudden burst of movement next to him, Levi’s eyes flying open as the little body of Y/N flailed to untangle themselves from the mess of blankets around both of them.  She struggled to her feet with a squeak and fumbled for the door that she toppled ungracefully out of, crawling on hands and knees out the door and kicking it shut.  Levi was left dazed, halfway risen out of the blankets, and wondering what had just happened, but now also laden down with the weight of several more blankets since she had thrown blankets and pillows onto him in her mad dash to get out the door.  He pushed a few blankets off, crawling over to one of the tiny windows to catch a glimpse of the girl reaching the door to the back of the house, where the woman who had been calling her name was standing in the doorway.  He could only hear fragments of the conversation if he listened hard enough.

“...sleep in...all night?”

“...forgot...check...almost couldn’t sleep....”

“...school...thirty minutes...late…”

Levi shook his head, dropping back down into the mess of blankets with a muffled yawn as he glanced around trying to find the water bottles in the now tumultuous mass of blankets and pillows.  Once he found them buried in one of the corners he finished off the one bottle he’d started on the day before he laid back down, contemplating going back to sleep despite the light filtering into the little house.  He was so comfortable, and if something happened and he had to go back, then he wanted to enjoy it while he could.

The door was thrown open, startling Levi with the suddenness of it all as he saw Y/N stick her head inside, huffing like she was out of breath and hadn’t stopped running since she scrambled out of the tiny house.  After her head poked in and she saw where Levi was, she tossed a sac of some sheer, opaque material inside, its contents rolling around.  She spoke quickly in the brief flash that he saw her, the last part tacked on as she shut the door and hurried away.

“I gotta go, I’m late for school!  Here’s food, see you later!”

Her mother shouted from the house for Y/N to hurry, even though she was already scrambling back.  Afraid that if he tried to fall asleep again she’d simply re-appear and scare him awake, Levi resigned himself to getting up for the day, reaching for the bag she’d tossed inside and poking through its contents.  There were two more rolls inside, no longer fresh and warm like they’d been yesterday, but still good.  There was also a green apple, something hard wrapped in some kind of thin, shiny, silvery covering, a spoon, and two white and red containers a little bigger than his hands that were cool to the touch and had a similar silvery covering over the top.

Deciding to investigate the stranger things later, he munched on the bread and the apple first, gazing out the window thoughtfully.

When all that was left of the start of his breakfast was half the apple, he grabbed the bag and one of the water bottles and decided to venture back outside, a little more used to the light this time since he’d woken up to it.  His legs were stronger than yesterday, steps surer as he tentatively ventured out of the little house, staying close to the walls of the little house and his head turned towards the house to keep an eye on it as he shuffled closer to the trees behind the house.  He wanted a closer look at the trees--wanted to sit quietly outside in the warm sun, breathing in the fresh air while he ate and explore the surface while he was up here.  If Y/N was going to be gone for a while, then that was what he wanted to spend the day doing.

The shade was much kinder to him than the direct sunlight, easier on his eyes that were used to the dark and not as hot.  It was comfortable and cool in the shade, and he stopped when he saw another large house starting to appear through the trees, doubling back a bit and finding a nice dry patch of grass in the shade to sit down in, curling up comfortably on the ground and squinting up at the sunlight flickering down on him through the leaves.  He was close enough to a tree he could put his hand gently against its trunk, feeling the grooves of the bark beneath his fingers and watching the rather large black ants travelling up its trunk while carrying tiny crumbs of food.

Speaking of, he still had the stranger things in the sack she had thrown him to eat.

Resting his back against the tree trunk with his knees pulled halfway up to his chest, Levi set about investigating the stranger, silvery wrapped things in the bag, finding a soothing solace in the quiet and the green all around him.

*Reader’s POV*

School couldn’t go by fast enough.  Sure, you were in trouble with your mother for messing around outside looking for a stuffed animal instead of getting ready for school.  It was better than her finding out you’d hid a boy in your playhouse all night, though, right?

Of course, with how antsy you were to get back home and see him when you had school to distract you, he must be bored out of his mind alone in that playhouse!  And he wasn’t going to get lunch until you got home, either!

With all these thoughts, you were bouncing in your seat on the bus, then racing home on foot once you finally reached your stop.  Your backpack lay abandoned at the front door, causing your mother to yell at you to pick up after yourself as you skidded into the kitchen.  Your tongue poked out as you hurried to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before your mother came in and tried to stop you from having a pb&j for a ‘light snack’.  Once that was finished, you grabbed two Capri Suns your mother probably thought she’d hidden, grabbed a family sized bag of chips, and dashed outside towards the playhouse.

“I’m back!  I brought...some…”

You paused, head craning and foot poking at the mess of blankets in case he was simply buried under all the fluffy things.  Still, you didn’t find Levi in the playhouse, and you stepped back outside with a frown, wondering where the little boy had disappeared to.  Your mother would have instantly pulled you aside to talk about Levi if he’d gone inside the house and been seen.  Maybe he’d wandered into the brush behind your house?

Changing directions, you started picking your way through the trees and bushes, looking for the skinny boy you’d been smuggling quite a bit of food to by now.

“Levi?  Levi!” you called as you came closer and closer to the backyard of the people who lived behind your family.

You squeaked in surprise as his head suddenly peaked out from behind one of the thicker trees, disheveled strands of black hair falling into eyes that were slightly brighter than they had been yesterday.  It seemed he was sitting with his back against the tree, legs curled up towards him, and the plastic bag of food you’d given him earlier now holding his trash at his side.  You gave him a bright smile, sitting down next to him and offering the pb&j to him.

“I brought lunch,” you said cheerfully, opening the bag of chips that made Levi jump from the loud pop sound before you placed the bag between the two of you, working on punching the yellow straws into the Capri Suns.

The silence lasted perhaps only a few seconds as Levi tore into the sandwich before it rapidly devolved into almost frantic smacking noises from Levi.  Maybe you’d put too much peanut butter on it?

You giggled as you watched him continue to make those smacking noises, struggling with the amount of sticky peanut butter with an amusing look of bemusement on his face.  When he looked at you accusingly for laughing at him, you offered him one of the Capri Suns with that bright smile still on your face.  He took it carefully from you, eyeing you more than it as you sucked happily on your own Capri Sun.  When he finally started drinking the juice, he seemed to relax, the juice soothing his peanut butter problem.

“You must have been bored, out here so long,” you said once your Capri Sun was finished.  Levi shrugged, taking smaller bites of the pb&j now.

“I like it out here,” he said simply, and now that you looked, his eyes did seem to constantly drink in the greenery around the two of you.

“There’s a...a con...conservation place a little ways away,” you said slowly, making sure the bigger word came out right.  “Mom lets me go play there--we could too.  There’s long grass, and trees, and berries, and a pond with fish and frogs and rabbits--we can play there.”

Levi was silent, chewing on the last of his pb&j thoughtfully.  “How far is it?” he asked slowly.  You suddenly remembered how he’d had a hard time moving around yesterday.

“A few streets over…” you admitted sheepishly.  “But I could carry you!”

Levi made a face, but you were already on your feet and exuding raw unbridled, positive energy.  “No, really, I’m pretty strong, I can pick up my friend at school, and you’re tinier than them.  I could give you a piggyback ride there!”

You started putting your trash in the plastic bag, rolling up the so-far untouched bag of chips.  “We can take the chips with us--I’ll throw this away, tell Mom where I’m going, and come get you!” you said cheerfully, already making your way back through the brush towards the house before Levi had the chance to agree or disagree.

*Levi’s POV*

She hadn’t been lying when she said she could carry him.  It was embarrassing, but no one seemed to be looking as the two children made their way down the sidewalks.  Levi’s legs were wrapped around her waist, her hands tucked under his knees to support him as she leaned forward slightly, Levi leaning against her back with his arms wrapped around her shoulders and across her chest for extra security.  His head peeked around hers to look around him as she carried him down a few streets paved with some kind of seamless black stone down the middle and raised brown stone on the sides.  Every now and then he saw some sort of strange horseless carriage like objects sitting unmoving along the edge of the black street or still on the wider brown-stone pathways leading up to homes.  He didn’t ask what they were, figuring it was something only surface people got to have, and Y/N was pretty much ignoring them, so he figured it was a normal sight for her, even if he found it strange.

As they went up a hill, Y/N started to pant underneath him, her hands starting to feel sweaty on his legs and her movements a little slower.

“I can walk,” Levi murmured as she continued to struggle.  He wasn’t entirely sure he’d be able to make it if he tried, honestly, but the girl shook her head.

“No, it’s...just on the other side.  I can carry you...the rest of the way,” she said between huffed breaths, shifting her grip on his legs and picking up her speed slightly as she powered stubbornly forward.  Levi clung tightly to her, turning his head and resting it on her neck as his eyes looked up at the light blue sky, gaze tracing the outlines of the soft white clouds that drifted lazily by and watching the leaves of the trees in various yards sway high above him in the breeze.  If he hadn’t been so transfixed by the sight of the surface world, he could have easily fallen asleep against her back, the secure comfort she was giving him making him feel drowsy in contrast with the energy that raced through his system with the excitement of everything around him.  Her breathing underneath him was heavy, and he could feel her quickened heartbeat against his ear, but she kept climbing with Levi on her back without a word of complaint.

When she crested the hill, the street dipped low just briefly before stretching out in one straight road, trees framing both sides for several paces before the trees on the right gave way to a meadow of long grass, just like she said.  Levi stretched forward over her shoulder to see it, eyes widening as more and more of it came into view.

Y/N only carried him until the edge of the meadow, setting him down in the soft grass with a relieved sigh.  Levi pressed some of the longer grass down as they walked forward, the meadow opening up and dipping into a lower basin where a fairly large body of water rippled and sparkled in the sunlight.  On the other side of the meadow was a thick collection of trees and bushes, and if he looked hard enough, he could see spots of dark red or blue on some of the bushes.  But that was for later--right now, he wanted to get closer to that giant pond in the middle of the meadow.

The grass tickled his arms and legs, causing him to scratch here and there as he stumbled his way down the uneven slope on shaky legs, Y/N close by the entire time with her head tilted up to the sky and the warm sun with a smile on her face.  She was so...so...happy.  She probably didn’t have to worry about anything, didn’t have to be afraid of anything.  She could only be this happy because she lived on the surface, and the things that lurked in the dark underground weren’t lurking above it.  Her life seemed...easy, perfect, and he envied her for it.  But he couldn’t envy her for it for long, because she was still sharing it with a dirty Underground dweller like him, even if he couldn’t fathom why.

“Can you swim?” she asked him as they finally reached the bank, already taking off her shoes and socks as she spoke, sitting on her rear with her feet kicking in the air in the process.  Levi shook his head, and she gave him a sheepish smile.  “I’m not a good swimmer, yet, I just bob.  We can just stick our feet in, cause it gets a little deep.”

She sat down on the edge and dipped her feet in with a little giggle, smoothing down a patch of the long grass around her and looking at him expectantly.  Levi still approached the water slowly despite the fact he was already imagining how refreshing it was going to feel, not wanting to get too eager and accidentally fall in after she said it was deep.  He settled down next to her, feet stretching out experimentally towards the water and tentatively dipping his rather dirty feet below the surface.  It was cool--not cold thanks to the sun shining down on it, but not warm either.  Pleasant in contrast to the warm air with the sun beaming down on him when there was no shade to protect him.  Levi leaned down, letting his hand dip into the water as well, swirling the waters around between his fingers.

While he was doing that, a thought occurred to him, and he dunked both hands below the water, taking the time to scrub at the dirt on his hands, arms, legs, and feet before he cupped his hands and scooped up water to splash on his face, rubbing at the dirt there, as well.  It felt so good to be clean, to see and feel the dirt giving way against the crystalline water and see the water droplets against his skin shimmer clearly under the sunlight.

Now he wouldn’t get any more dirt on all those comfy blankets and pillows in the small house he was sleeping in.

There was a sudden splash, and water spattered across his face, followed by the sounds of giggles beside him.  He was taken aback at first, looking over at Y/N just in time to see her splash the water towards him again with a huge grin on her face.  She laughed more audibly this time, with Levi trying to duck to avoid getting splashed in the face again before he returned the splashes with some of his own.  It quickly escalated, water sloshing violently between them and getting them both soaked, Y/N’s gleeful shrieks filling the air and a wide smile working its  way across Levi’s face.  He felt lighter than he’d felt in some time, like he would float away up into that blue sky any moment.

“Okay, okay!  Uncle!  Uncle!  I give up!” she eventually laughed, the splashing finally calming down and the waters returning to its calm state around their feet.  They were soaked now, and Levi shivered, but the sun was still warm against his skin, and he felt like he’d dry out in no time.  Y/N pulled her feet out of the water, trying to wring the water out of her hair as she stretched, eyes on the bushes on the other side of the pond.  “Do you want some berries?”

“Okay.”

He watched her head over to the bushes he’d been eyeing earlier, brushing hair out of his face and watching as she picked berries off the bushes and used her shirt as a makeshift basket to collect them in.  The only sound was the occasional drip of disturbed water or the rustle of leaves, and he laid down, some of the grass curling back up around him and towards the sky.  A soft breeze wafted the grass above him, the thin blades waving in and out of his immediate field of vision.

Please...let me stay...

A few minutes later, Y/N had reappeared, standing over him with her shirt basket heavy with berries as she kneeled down next to him.  He sat up on his elbows as she showed him her collection of small red cup-shaped berries and round blue berries, her free hand already digging into her collection to grab a few of the red berries.

“Raspberries are my favorite,” she explained with a small giggle, offering the berries to him after she’d grabbed what she wanted.  Levi got a handful for himself, a lot less hesitant in trying the foods this time since almost everything she’d given him so far had been delicious.

He didn’t care much for those chalky rectangular things in the silver wrapping this morning, though.

Something caught Y/Ns attention, her head turned to the side as she went still, nose wrinkling as she suddenly became far more concentrated than Levi had seen her so far.

“Hold these,” she said quietly, dumping the rest of the berries on him so suddenly that Levi had to scramble to snatch them up before they all tumbled to the ground.  She wasn’t even paying attention anymore, crouching low in the grass and creeping slowly towards the pond like a kitten stalking a mouse.  He watched her, confused, wondering for a few moments if she’d seen a fish in the pond or a bird or something.

Suddenly, her hands shot out, cupped around something as she let out a loud squeal and leapt to her feet.

“I got it, I got it!” she crowed, prancing back over to where Levi was sitting, getting really close on her knees with her cupped hands between them.  She held it up close to his face, but craned her head awkwardly so she could see as well, forehead knocking against his.  “I don’t want it...to get away…”

Slowly, she bent her thumbs, a small crack appearing in her cupped hands that she gradually widened further and further.  At first, Levi didn’t see anything, but then, slowly, two glimmering, tiny, beady black eyes caught some of the sun, and Levi realized there was some kind of tiny creature trapped in her hands.  He got closer, trying to see what it was, faintly making out a fat but tiny body, spindly limbs, and--

Y/N suddenly shrieked, hands opening reflexively.  “AH!  It peed on me!”

All Levi registered was peed and the fact that suddenly a tiny little brown and spotted body was flying out of her hands, through the air, and directly towards him.  His own vocal reaction was lost in her continued shrieks of disgust as he tried to get out of the way, a tiny, bumpy, sort of slimy body landing on his arm.  Afraid the thing was going to pee on him, too, his arm jerked upwards in response, and it flew off of him and disappeared back into the tall grass.

Y/N had abandoned him to the little menace already, her hands plunged into the pond as she scrubbed valiantly at her hands, muttering ew over and over before she pulled them back out and tried to shake the water off her hands.  Levi was still wide eyed and trying to figure out what just happened.

That grin was back on her face as she turned towards him again.  “I think I want to try and catch another one!”

“Why?”

“So I know I can really catch a frog; I wasn’t just lucky that time!”

Levi scowled, looking down at all the berries that had been scattered everywhere while he’d flailed around trying to get away from the stupid, tiny frog.  She only laughed at his reaction, coming over and grabbing his arm to pull him up onto his feet, dragging him with her towards the trees.

“Okay, okay, we can play hide and seek instead.  There’s plenty of places to hide in the woods.  C’mon, c’mon!”

And just like that, the little hellion frog was forgotten as she urged him on towards the next experience, sweeping him away into more discoveries and experiences before he had the chance to dwell too long on whatever bad tried to poke through.  Even though his legs were shaky, she volunteered to be ‘it’ over and over so he could rest in his hiding spots while she tried to find him, stopping every now and then to look at a bug they’d found, to pick a few berries from the bushes in the area, and at one point, to stare in wonder at a small nest of baby bunnies hidden in a hollow at the base of a tree.  They looked but didn’t touch, watching the two tiny rabbits squinting back at them with their little noses twitching furiously, the two rabbits curled close together much like Levi and Y/N had curled up under the blankets last night.

And when the sky started to turn to a rusted orange, she carried him on her back without complaint once again as they headed towards her house once more.  Levi could hardly stand after all the running around they’d done, but he didn’t regret it.  In fact, he was perfectly content, even with the burn in his legs and ache in his arms.  He was already dozing off as he tucked his head against her back once again, the exhaustion mixed with the relief from her carrying him back instead of him having to walk back, mixed in with the warm air and the dim light from the sun making it easy to simply...drift…

He woke up long enough to realize when he was being set down in front of the little house, weaving on his feet as Y/N helped him back inside and he curled up in the cloud of blankets and pillows with a softly sighed good-night, his hand groping about to find Tuff before he slipped into a blissful sleep.

When Levi opened his eyes again, it wasn’t to the bright light filtering into the tiny house as he curled up in a nest of blankets.  It was dark, and the smell of sweat and dirt and decay assaulted him much more viscerally after the contrast of the clean, fresh air.  He wasn’t even curled up on his side like he’d been when he’d fallen asleep, but still sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest, back against the wall, arms wrapped around his legs.

Directly across from him was the bed that still had his mother’s dead body.

It was...a dream?

Blinking slowly, it seemed he hadn’t moved an inch, and he was covered in dirt and grime once more, not a hint of a clean patch of skin after scrubbing clean by that pond.

Or was I...seeing things?

It didn’t matter...it wasn’t real.  Levi’s heart plummeted, and he ducked his head into his arms, surprised that his eyes actually stung with tears when he’d thought he was too dehydrated to cry anymore.  None of it was real.  The surface, the sun, the air, all the green, the nest of blankets, the food, the girl...it wasn’t real.  He was still wasting away, forgotten where no one cared about him anymore, waiting to finally die.  If he was seeing things, maybe he was finally close.

And yet…

The door to the room opened, a pale yellow light cutting across the room and over the bed, drawing Levi’s attention towards the man who stood just inside the doorway.  The sudden appearance made him forget--for the time being--that he wasn’t hungry anymore.

*Reader’s POV*

“Where do you think you’re going with that bowl, young lady?”

You froze by the back door, a bowl of cereal you were hoping to bring out to Levi before you had to go to school in hand, suddenly feeling cold at your mother’s scolding tone.  This was it, you’d been caught, you couldn’t think of an excuse fast enough and your mother was already closing in, probably to take the bowl from you, but Levi needed to eat before you left.

Looks like you couldn’t hide the boy in your playhouse much longer.  Why did you feel like telling your mom about him was going to get you in trouble.

“I...I need to...Levi needs breakfast,” you said in a small voice, feeling like you were about to get yelled at any moment.

“Levi?” your mother asked, pausing just by the door.  “Who’s Levi?”

“T...The boy in the playhouse.”

Her expression went blank, and then for some reason, worried.  “There’s a boy in the playhouse?”

You nodded very slowly.  “He-he’s been there since the other day.  He needs to eat before I go to school, or he’ll have to wait till I’m home.”

Your mother’s expression was unreadable as she stared at you and the bowl in your hand for several long moments, then carefully said in an even tone, “Can I see Levi?”

She wasn’t yelling, so you didn’t think she was angry.  Maybe this was good--if your mom knew about Levi, she could make sure he was taken care of while you were at school--he could have real food and eat dinner inside with you, sleep in a bed--or on the couch at least--and probably get a change of clothes.

After you nodded, your mom took the bowl out of your hands and followed you outside towards the playhouse.  You hoped he was already awake--he probably was, since he’d fallen asleep so early yesterday.

“Levi?” You called softly, opening the door to see...a mass of blankets and pillows, like yesterday.  Again, you pushed around a few of the blankets but couldn’t find him.  Your mom was standing outside the house with the bowl still and you shook your head as you immediately went to look in the brush again.  “He was back here when I came outside yesterday, he’s probably there, now.”

“Y/N…” your mother was starting to say tiredly, but you were already picking through the trees looking for Levi again, ignoring her as you tried to find your new friend.

“Levi?  Levi?  Levi!” you called, hoping his head would peek around one of the trees again.  But he didn’t show up--you couldn’t find a trace of him.  Did he leave?  Did he leave in the middle of the night or before you woke up?  He’d seemed happy yesterday, so why would he leave?  Didn’t he like you, didn’t he like sleeping in the blanket nest?

“Y/N, its okay to have imaginary friends, but you can’t waste food on them, they don’t eat like you and mommy and daddy--” your mother was saying carefully behind you.  Hearing her suggest Levi wasn’t real made you suddenly angry and frustrated as well as hurt at the thought that Levi had simply left.

“He wasn’t imaginary, he was real!  A real boy that was really here!”  Your eyes burned and a few angry, hurt tears slipped past your eyes, the words starting to stick in your throat as you felt yourself starting to cry.  “His name was Levi...and he didn’t even say bye.”

Next Chapter--->

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[myanimeforlife-blog]

Sad Anime That Will Make You Cry – Sad Anime Recommendations

Is it accurate to say that you are searching for a lamentable anime that will make you cry? Alright, look no further, our Top Best Sad Depressing Anime Suggestions will cause you to sob and to feel for the characters. These accounts are solid, with lamentably tragic scenes and passionate minutes. 

As sad anime can cause you to holler your eyes out, such anime sort is scandalous, so for what reason do we watch them? For what reason do makers of anime love to make their fans cry? Also, why would that be a ton of miserable anime out there? 

Anime designers appreciate seeing their fans cry. There have all the earmarks of being a lot of anime made exclusively to cause us to wail our eyes out. Anime has discovered innumerable approaches to break our hearts and make us cry, from the sincere shows of high school love, lonely emotions, and relationship dramatization to the more reasonable stories that talk about subjects like demise, war, and sickness. 

Sad anime encourages us to have a decent cry whenever we want to cry, yet pitiful anime additionally causes us to see one another and even advantage from one another without truly feeling any of those miserable minutes or allowing them to understand that they are in good company in whatever damnation they are in. 

Here is an accumulation of surveys in no request for a rating of an extremely miserable, awful, and dismal anime. 

1. Chrono Crusade 

Chrono campaign 

Studios: Gonzo 

Scenes: 24 

Circulated: Fall 2003 

Chrono Crusade is a great, tragic anime arrangement with clever, profound, and fascinating characters. 

The Americas in the Roaring 20s. Not too far off, after the carnage of the Great War, it is a confident, prosperous second. In any case, prowling in the dimness is a dull factor prepared to remove the harmony. Sister Rosette Christopher, an exorcist functioning as a feature of the Magdala Order, must fight the fallen angels that come and exact obliteration. However, she normally ends up causing more harm than the actual devils, alongside her companion Chrno! On a particular task, they meet with a young lady with a beautiful voice named Azmaria, whom her stepfather focused on. Rosette is as yet looking for her sibling, whom an evil presence has detracted from her. 

Chrono Crusade is known for making the group shout for activity, satire, and sentiment. It's a concealed pearl that begins gradually, yet you'll be dependent after you watch the initial 3 scenes. 

2. Violet Evergarden 

Violet Evergarden 

Studios: Kyoto Animation 

Scenes: 13 

Broadcasted: Winter 2018 

Violet Evergarden is a profound and amazing anime, even though there are a few cases that will surely help the tissues hit you. Numerous individuals refer to this anime as being one of only a handful, not many that at last left them demolished. 

The chief character, Violet Evergarden, was raised principally to be a weapon for use against enemies. Yet, as the war concluded, after mending from her injuries, she needed to locate another explanation behind her life. She is beginning to work as an Auto Memory Doll, a job that assists with changing the feelings of individuals into words on paper. 

3. Plastic Memories 

Plastic Memories 

Studios: Doga Kobo 

Scenes: 13 

Circulated: Spring 2015 

One of those arrangements that offer you a supporting portion of authenticity and the way that nothing endures forever is Plastic Memories. The show's entire thought is around the presence of androids who are practically hard to recognize from real individuals. 

The greatest qualification, in any case, is that they have an exceptionally little, restricted life expectancy. They will get by for pretty much nine years and no more. With one of these androids, the hero begins to look all starry-eyed even though we need to observe him comprehend that his experience with her is running out. 

4. I Want To Eat Your Pancreas 

I Want To Eat Your Pancreas 

Studios: Studio VOLN 

Scenes: Movie 

Circulated: Summer 2018 

It may resemble an ecchi or a zombie awfulness anime by the name however it's an adoration show successful in making you cry basins pressing. I want to eat your pancreas.

At some point, in the medical clinic, a secondary school young lady, seen a book. The title was "The Journal of Coexistence Disease." This was a journal written stealthily by her student, Sakura Yamauchi. Inside, her days have been checked due to her pancreatic malignant growth. It resembled she got pulled into her. However, the universe uncovered a youngster with a similarly brutal truth experiencing an ailment. 

5. Nana 

Nana anime 

Studios: Madhouse 

Scenes: 47 

Circulated: Spring 2006 

Nana is a shoujo sappy sentiment anime with great music and something lovely that allows you to celebrate on it for certain characters and feel a few episodes similarly as strongly as the actual characters inwardly. 

Nana "Hachi" Komatsu wishes that she will get to Tokyo and put behind her impulsive love life. In the realm of rock and move, Nana Osaki, who shows up nearby simultaneously, has plans to score high. While these two young ladies come from different foundations, in a tornado universe of sex, culture, style, dramatization, and throughout the late evening celebrating, they quickly become best mates! 

Nana is a pitiful anime that shows how individuals hold their things and how it is a human defect. You will shout, sob, and find Nana's two-section solid relationship. It gives numerous life exercises, its tests and its blunders, we don't need to do. 

6. Clannad: After Story 

Clannad After Story 

Studios: Kyoto Animation 

Scenes: 24 

Circulated: Fall 2008 

Clannad: After Story  is splendid about how it portrays life, the significance of family, and the intricacies of adulthood. 

The anime variation of the realistic novel of a similar name is Clannad. It's conceivable that this is the most well-known miserable anime. The anime comprises of two seasons: the 23 scenes long Clannad, the 24 scenes long Clannad: After Story, and its boundlessly more discouraging development. Albeit the principal half arrangements with secondary school show, chiefly kinships, and dating, the subsequent part is a significantly more extraordinary and effective glance at grown-up issues (with an accentuation on the significance of family). 

The continuation of the widely praised cut-of-life arrangement Clannad, Clannad: After Story, begins after Tomoya Okazaki and Nagisa Furukawa move on from secondary school. They feel the psychological rollercoaster of growing up around one another. Tomoya, unfit to settle on a way for his future, perceives the significance of a decent hard-working attitude and understands the force of consolation from Nagisa. They push ahead to face their passionate issues, reinforce their former connections, and fabricate new ties through the couple's responsibility and solidarity of aim. 

7. Grave of the Fireflies 

Grave of the Fireflies 

Studios: Studio Ghibli 

Scenes: Movie 

Circulated: Spring 1988 

Perhaps the most deplorable film you could at any point see is Grave of the Fireflies. The film, set in the most recent days of the Second World War, recounts the narrative of a kid named Seita and his more youthful sister, Setsuko, whose lives were annihilated by the brutal and savage war that left them without guardians and homes. 

Left in the Japanese wide open to battle for themselves, the young any expectation of the kin is stunning even with unfaltering difficulty, giving them the fortitude to keep on getting away from an inescapable fate. Grave of the Fireflies is a film that is strongly miserable, profoundly sentimental, and capably moving that can leave nobody apathetic. 

8. Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day 

Anohana The Flower We Saw That Day 

Studios: A-1 Pictures 

Scenes: 11 

Broadcasted: Spring 2011 

Need to cry explicitly for each scene? Might you want to obtain the stunning ability to sob on interest after hearing a tune's first notes? We have you covered if your answer is yes. Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day is A-1 Pictures unique anime that debuted in the spring of 2011. This anime of eleven scenes tell the story of a gathering of companions, presently grown-ups, battling to adapt to the passing of their beloved companion Menma, who kicked the bucket when they all were extremely youthful. 

The gathering of companions had self-destructed a long time since Menma's passing, yet the apparition of their tragically missing friend may simply be sufficient to arrange them once more. The gathering is brought together so Menma can really make her desire and proceed onward, while simultaneously offering her companions the solace they need to push ahead without her. All through the plot, surprisingly terms with their inability to adapt and overcome their sensations of regret, we perceive what Menma's demise meant for every one of her mates. Anohana is a tragic, passionate experience that you certainly don't have any desire to miss. 

9. Your Lie in April 

Your Lie in April 

Studios: A-1 Pictures 

Scenes: 22 

Broadcasted: Fall 2014 

The fall 2014 Anime, from A-1 Pictures, Your Lie April is joined by a well-known kid performer, who after his mom's demise, lost the capacity to hear the sound of his piano. After two years, Kousei experiences Kaori Miyazono, a dynamic violin player who causes him to comprehend that music can be played normally, and not in the inflexible, formal way that his mom instructed him. 

The anime tends to Kousei's recuperation story when he finds that music is something beyond playing each note (and becomes hopelessly enamored with Kaori). Shockingly, Kaori's happiness just masks the inescapable catastrophe, similar to the clear shading range of the anime. Your Lie in April is a staggering and contacting story that investigates mental injury, overcomings misfortune, and advancement. This anime is without a doubt going to make somebody shed a few tears. 

10. Orange 

Orange anime 

Studios: Telecom Animation Film 

Scenes: 13 

Broadcasted: Summer 2016 

As far as I might be concerned, Orange was a roller seaside enthusiastic ride. Feelings are things that rouse us and figure out what choices we take and how our lives end. Orange is an arrangement that investigates how emotions will change our course. 

A letter from ten years is sent one day to Takamiya Naho. At the point when Naho peruses, the letter says the specific day's occasions, including the exchange to the class of another understudy, Naruse Kakeru. after 10 years, Naho says continually that she has a few second thoughts, and she needs to fix them by guaranteeing that the Naho from the past will decide effectively – especially comparable to Kakeru. Seriously astonishing that Kakeru will presently don't be with them ten years after the fact. Naho needs all her nearby eye on him.

Top 10 Sad Anime That Will Make You Cry – Sad Anime List — Click To Watch the video!

[thewritewolf]

Two Cursed Detectives in Paris: Landing

Chasing down their suspect has lead Connor and Eerie, two detectives cursed with animal-like qualities, to France. There they find two kids madly in love with each other, even if they don't realize it yet. But with the help of two American detectives, love might just find a way...

Based on the Chouette! story and artwork that can be found here.

(If you haven't seen Chouette! before, then don't worry - I explain everything that matters for the plot.)

Hello and welcome to this fic that I have been very much looking forward to for the past month! I've been obsessed with Chouette since I first saw it in April of last year, so combining my two favorite obsessions into one gloriously fluffy fic felt only natural. And if I can get you to join me in this fledgling fandom, then I'll be absolutely thrilled!

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 (Final)

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

Broadly speaking, she was cursed.

Although not in the sense that most people thought of when they heard the word “Cursed.” ‘Oh, my hair just won’t cooperate! I must be cursed!’ ‘My TV is flickering, it must be cursed!’

No, she really was cursed. If the talon-like nails, the head that swiveled three hundred and sixty degrees, and a host of other little abnormalities were anything to go off of, then probably cursed by the spirit of an owl. Or maybe she was possessed by an owl spirit? Honestly she had never been too clear on how it all worked despite living with it since middle school. It’s not like she’d been given a handbook or introductory pamphlet to help her through those first few rough months. Or the rough years that followed.

The ‘owl horns’ in her hair could be held down by her bow and the talons just looked like well manicured nails, but the red eyes and orange marking around her eyes like a mask were a dead give away. Not to mention the mossy green hair. At twenty two years old, it hadn’t been a long life so far, but it had certainly been full of struggle.

But that was who she was to the people who just saw her curse and decided not to look any further.

More specifically, she was Eerie. Eerie Escamilla, top of her class out of law school, junior detective and intern at the Cursed Special Unit, filled with people with a similar… background to her. A snore drew her attention to her left, toward one such person.

Connor MacThomas was cursed, like her, but with a raccoon rather than an owl. They hadn’t let him bring his favorite pillow with him into their first class seating, but he managed with his soft and bushy tail. She had to bite her lip to keep from aw’ing at the way his little raccoon ears twitched ever so slightly in his sleep. It wouldn’t do to be cooing at someone who was debatably her boss but unquestionably the more experienced detective between them.

Evidently, he could feel her eyes on him since he chose that moment to wake up. He yawned and stretched, his gloved hands grasping at the roof of the airplane. His hands were his greatest strength and his glaring weakness - so sensitive he could read the mood of a person by touch, which also made them so vulnerable he kept them in sturdy leather gloves worn thin by constant use.

His eyes, with their light blue sclera, opened up as he blinked at her, a bleary smile on his lips. Those eyes stood out all the more for the black mask, so similar to her own orange one, surrounding them. Another person might have thought that his crumbled, messy appearance was because he’d just spent the last five hours sleeping curled up on himself. But Eerie knew that was just how he always looked.

He adjusted himself, pulling down his shirt since it had ridden up a little. Her eyes followed the movement and she felt her cheeks heat up. Her heart fluttered and she quickly looked away, towards the window. A bad idea, given her fear of heights and suddenly her heart was fluttering for a different reason entirely. Her eyes widened and her breathing started to come in short bursts.

“Eerie?” Connor seemed to pick up on her panic quickly, if the concern in his voice was any indication. “Eerie. Boss. Look at me.” With a force of effort, she tore her eyes away from the window. “I didn’t pay much attention to the briefing. Why don’t you tell me about this mission?”

That was a blatant lie, but she was too grateful to call him out on it. She took a deep breath and gladly switched into lecture mode.

“We’ve been on this guy’s tail for the last couple months, picking apart his forgery operation back home.”

Connor grinned and stretched his hands. “Most of which was spent convincing rich people to let me get my paws all over their fancy but fake statues and busts.”

“And the rest of it was me doing meticulous art research,” Eerie said, rolling her eyes with a smirk.

“Of course, boss.” Connor didn’t break eye contact as he reached behind him to close the window with one hand. “And then what?”

“Well, I noticed that all the pieces had one thing in common - all the authentic ones are currently housed in the Louvre. And considering a lot of them aren’t even on display for the public-”

“Explaining why the fancy art people didn’t know they were being had.”

“-that means that the guy we’ve been after is in Paris, France and likely works at the Louvre. The local authorities have it up to their necks just trying to handle some crazy stuff happening in the French capital, so when the Chief offered to send the detectives already on the case...”

“...They were more than happy to accept,” Connor finished. “And luckily, we both know French, so this works out à la perfection.”

Eerie made a disapproving sound. “About that last part…”

“Yeah, boss?” A stewardess handed him a package of peanuts which he quickly tore into.

“I learned French because it was the only foreign language they offered in high school and I thought being bilingual would be good for a resume.” Eerie propped her elbow up on their armrest and put her chin on her hand, staring at Connor. “But you never seemed the type to care about stuff like that. Why did you learn French?”

To her surprise, he blushed. “It’s, uh… it’s not important.”

“Really?” Eerie blinked innocently at him. “So you wouldn’t mind telling me then. Right?”

Connor stuck out his tongue at her. “Nosey.”

“Comes with the detective territory, boss. Spill.”

After watching her for a long moment, he slumped his shoulders and groaned. “I did it to impress a girl, alright?”

Eerie’s eyebrows flew up. “Wow, really?”

“It was middle school okay?” Connor crossed his arms as his tail twitched in irritation behind him. “It didn’t work either, obviously. That was, uh, just before the whole curse thing happened. But I stuck with it!” Connor paused. “Well, mostly.”

“What do you mean, ‘mostly’?”

“Well, I’m conversational at least…”

“Connor! You said you were fluent!”

“No,” he replied. “I said I can speak it.”

“That-” Eerie stopped herself and pinched the bridge of her nose. It was a complication, but if anyone could manage to get by without knowing the native language, it was Connor. He was more resourceful than he looked. “Okay, fine.”

Their conversation was cut short as the pilot announced that they would be landing soon. They glanced at each other, Eerie locked eyes with him as he began eating the package the peanuts came in. Both of them reached the same conclusion. With more people waking up around them, it wasn’t as safe to talk about their assignment. It would have to wait until the hotel.

----------------

Connor's hand hesitated at the door to their shared hotel room. Knowing their mission designer, he’d half expected her to get them a room with only one bed. Jemina was great and all, but sometimes she was even more pushy about his relationship with Eerie than his own mother was. He opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, this room did have two beds. With some big business event happening in Paris at the moment, two rooms was out of the question.

“As much as I appreciate being stuck staring at your fluffy butt, can you get a move on?” Eerie’s voice brought him back into the moment. “This stuff is heavy.”

“Right, sorry.” He stood still for another moment and looked behind him. “...So you like what you see back there, huh?” His tail swished back and forth happily.

She rolled her eyes and pushed him with her foot. Snickering, he stepped forward set to work turning the bed into something almost like home. Before long, he heard her speak up again.

“...How did you manage to pack your giant banana pillow?”

“Very carefully,” Connor said in what he hoped was a cool and mysterious way. “I figured you wouldn’t let me build a nest of pillows and blankets-”

“Accurate. I don’t want to get the house keepers annoyed with us. We’ll be here for the next few weeks after all.”

“-so this is the next best thing. Thankfully for me, Nanners here is a cuddlebug.” To prove his point, Connor laid down on his bed and spooned the person-sized banana. He opened one eye to see Eerie hiding a smile with her hand. His heart melted at how cute she was in this moment.

His eyes widened at the thought. She’s your intern, he mentally chastised himself, get ahold of yourself. He quickly sat up and put his legs over the side of his bed, facing Eerie.

“So now we’re in Paris. You remember the next part?”

“Yup, some of us pay attention to the mission briefing.” Eerie rolled her eyes, but a smirk still played at her lips. “Tomorrow, we’ll be setting up our covers. Chief managed to get us some part time jobs. Apparently I’m going to be doing deliveries for a local bakery.”

Connor frowned. “That sounds delicious. Is it too late to switch?” He asked with a hopeful lilt to his voice.

“Way too late. But hey,” she said, squeezing his shoulder. “You’re going to be an English tutor for some rich kid, I’m sure they’ll keep you well fed.” She pursed her lips. “With actual people food. So no digging around in the garbage.”

Connor feigned a gasp. “Boss, this is Paris! They have the finest, most gourmet trash in the whole world. How can you ask me not to try the local cuisine?”

“It’s not- No! We’re going to actual restaurants, I’m not letting you dumpster dive while we’re here. We’re supposed to be undercover, remember? And that’s exactly the sort of thing that will draw unwanted attention.”

“You’re just using that as an excuse ‘cuz you don’t want me eating garbage.” He waggled his finger right below her nose. She gently pushed it aside, but even with that brief touch he could a vague feeling of her emotions - a mix of exasperation and amusement.

“You’re exactly right. Is it working?”

His tail flicked back and forth irritatedly behind him. “...Maybe,” he grumbled.

“Good,” she said with far too much pep for his liking. “Now, it’s been a long day and we don’t start our new jobs until tomorrow. I’m going to take a nap.”

Connor yawned. “I think I’ll do the same.”

“You slept for most of the trip here!”

“And that was very exhausting!”

Eerie stared at the ceiling for a few long moments before laughing and soon enough he joined her.

“Good night, boss.”

“Night, boss.”

[magpieslocket]

#writeyourwitchcraft

Inspired by this post, I wrote down my answers to these prompts in September 2019. Revisiting the list, I have rewritten my answers for January 2021.

The long long prompt list and answers follow under the cut.

What draws me to witchcraft?

Witchcraft draws me in as a tool of self-reflection and self-improvement.

How do I see the divine?

I see the divine as a human creation out of necessity. We seek patterns in a chaotic universe, and divinity is the thing beyond us that laces together disparate parts into a seamless whole.

What in witchcraft makes me happy?

Tea, oils, incense, and community.

Do I want to follow a path that has to do with a little nature, or a lot of nature?

A lot of nature. I believe we need nature in our lives, and the closer we can get to it, the healthier we are.

What areas of witchcraft would I like to learn more about?

Regional biodiversity, ethnobotany, divination outside of tarot, more about tarot, more traditional Americana regional styles of craft.

Where do my witchy talents lie?

Visualization and empathy.

What kind of deities, if any, do I want to honor?

I don’t currently work with any deities.

How do I believe magic works?

If it works, it works by sympathetic principles of energy flow and positive psychology. I think we manifest what we believe. I think we have the most powerful computer on the planet riding around on our shoulders, and magic is a way to program ourselves.

Simple or elaborate spells/rituals? Why?

As elaborate as is needed. I believe that some pageantry acts as a trigger in our brain to start recording, so to speak. By performing a ritual, we are telling ourselves we have power to affect the outcome of events. Some elaborate steps can help us believe it better, as we are so trained to see simplicity as ineffective.

What are my views on cursing/hexing?

I believe it is pointless, as it only increases the pain and hate in your own heart, and will seldom affect the target unless the target knows they have been cursed. On the other hand, I don’t believe in some “karmic” return of the reflection of the power used. I think it is fine for others, but I don’t seek it out. 

Do I want to practice something similar to my ancestors?

I am wary of Norse reconstructionist religion because so much is based on so little in the way of sources, so I have no idea how similar the practice is to what my Danish ancestors would have really known. In spite of this, I have always been drawn to Norse mythology and have Huginn tattooed behind my ear. I try to balance my own Norse leanings with some Americana / Appalachian tradition.

What are the basic morals and ethics I feel I should live by?

This is such a difficult question to boil down to a few sentences. I believe we are all human together, and as such, we must treat each other with dignity and respect. Not because of some reward for doing good, but because we wish to be treated with dignity and respect ourselves. 

What in nature am I drawn to; the ocean, animals, the trees, etc?

All of it.

Which (witchy) holidays, if any, would I like to celebrate and how?

I celebrate the Wiccan Wheel of the Year with friends because while none of us are Wiccan, we are all flavors of Pagan, and find the regular breaking of bread together fun.

How do I believe divination works?

Divination is self knowledge passed through the veil that obfuscates authorship. We project our gut feelings onto a medium made to soak up and amplify those feelings into readable patterns, then read those patterns without acknowledging our hand in making them.

Would I like to work with a group some of the time, all of the time or not at all?

Some of the time would be grand, Covid willing. I would love to find more like minded people to practice with.

Which aspects of witchcraft appeal to me most, which the least?

I love the trappings of witchcraft, and despise the gatekeeping, racism, and antisemitism that plague the community. The sense of community and the ceremony of witchcraft appeals to me in so many ways, but I find a lot of fault in the community at large for cultural appropriation of people it then fetishizes. 

What do I believe happens to us when we die?

I think we go dark, cease to be, and are mourned. I think our body returns to dust and our mind was only ever a flicker of light in the darkness in the first place.

How do I see mythological creatures?

I think most mythological creatures are based on hearsay of living or extinct animals, that knowledge passed down from ear to ear and from generation to generation, changing and becoming unrecognizable to its original form, like a strange game of Telephone.

When do I feel most magical?

I feel magical when I am in a flow state. When the rest of the world melts away and I can focus entirely on the task at hand.

How much is witchcraft woven into my daily life; is this too much, too little or just enough?

I feel that right now, it is just enough. I use visualization to boost my mood, my confidence, and my energy, and I use meditation to relax, soothe anxiety and depression, and be more mindful of my body. I use crystals and teas to affect change in my emotional states.

What kind of witch do I feel I am?

If I had to choose, Green Witch. I feel most connected with the energy of plants.

Which texts/quotes best describe my current path?

There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments. – Janet Kilburn Phillips

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. – Greek proverb

Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get. — H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Do I like research and gathering info, or do I like things handed to me?

That is a loaded question and I don’t like it.

Which things about witchcraft worry or scare me?

I worry about becoming overly dependent on magical thinking and not taking the reins to my own life.

What is my favourite element?

No way to say.

How do I see gender (roles) in witchcraft?

Gender is not a binary experience, and gender roles in magic often feel like outdated trapping of a different time. I feel that society is catching up with the expression of gender being something varied and personal and that the witchcraft community is catching up too. I simply ignore anything that takes it upon itself to assign gender roles to magical correspondences. 

Am I interested more in magic, or spirituality?

I have had great talks with friends on the difference between the two. How do you define it? I think I prefer spirituality as a pattern grid that lays over life and gives meaning to senselessness.

Do I like to be told how to do things, or would I rather figure it out on my own?

That depends on the thing! I prefer to be told how to fix a car or not poison myself with homemade tea, but I like to figure out my own methods for programing my attitudes. 

What rules, if any, do I live by when it comes to witchcraft and magic?

I had a lot of trouble with this question. There are simple rules, like “don’t eat strange herbs without ample research” and there are complex rules, like “try not to appropriate closed cultures” - I think that like the ethics and morals question, it boils down to treating others how you’d like to be treated.

What do I gain from witchcraft and magic?

I gain a feeling of autonomy, to self-direct my own brain. 

Formal or informal rituals/spells? Why?

Informal, because who’s to say what is formalized. 

What subject do I love to study?

Oh everything. There isn’t a bad subject to study.

What is my favourite type of magic; candle, sympathetic, sigils, etc?

Sympathetic magic is one of my favorites, and sigils are a common topic of interest for me. 

What would my perfect witchy day be like?

What does this question mean? “April 25th — because it's not too hot, not too cold. All you need is a light jacket!”

Would I want to be dedicated/initiated?

Sure, if I trusted the people doing it.

Who do I honor (ex: deities, ancestors, myself, etc), and how do I, or would I like to, honor them?

I honor myself with mindful listening.

How do I create a sacred/witchy space?

I create the space by engaging with my five senses. Creating texture, scents, sights, and general ambiance to enrich my experience and captivate my senses. 

What do I believe is needed for a successful spell/ritual?

Intent and belief. 

Which cultures do I draw from in my witchcraft?

Norse, Hellenistic/Greek, American/Appalachian.

What is my learning style; books, websites, videos, more hands-on?

I’m still experimenting with content, but I think websites and hands-on.

What, if anything, in my mundane life influences my witchcraft?

Chronic depression and anxiety influence my witchcraft because they influence my energy levels and ability to engage with the experiences. 

What are my hobbies, how do I (or can I) incorporate them in my witchcraft?

My biggest hobbies are writing, drawing, and painting, and I use all three to explore my craft. I use writing to question and define, I use drawing to explore, and I use painting to honor.

Where do my non-witchy talents lie, how do I (or can I) incorporate them in my witchcraft?

Art is where most people would say my talent lies. I have used stormwater to add interesting energy to paintings, and would do so again in the future.

What would my dream witchy life look like? What steps can I take to work towards it?

My dream witchy life is running a combination gallery space and witchy store. Steps I can take would be to continue honing my craft (art and magic) and building the skills necessary to run a gallery space successfully.

What would my dream sacred space/witchy home look like? What steps can I take to work towards it?

Plants, plants, and more plants. Statues, paintings, and prints of powerful imagery. I am working on my gardening dreams, and my art dreams, so continue to do both of those things.

What symbols correspond with me; runes, animals, flowers, gemstones, etc?

Stags, deer, wolves, smokey quartz, rutilated quartz, snowflake obsidian, pothos.

Am I an open and proud witch, or do I (need to) hide my craft?

I am a very private person in real life. I don’t share my craft with anyone outside my direct family and close friends.

What are my favourite witchy items/tools; divination tool, ritual tool, décor, clothing, etc?

Tarot cards are my current obsession. Some of the magpied shiny bits that I have collected over the years, from sharks teeth to perfume bottles, make the list. 

What is holding me back in my craft?

Issues with mental health, physical health, and self-doubt.

What is my pre-spell/ritual routine?

Grounding myself to the Earth.

What are my ultimate witchy goals and how can I work towards them?

I’m not sure how to answer this. I guess, to be more mindful, to be more content, and to be more present. I am working with myself through therapy and ritual and setting small achievable goals to work towards those things. 

I implore @theodoravanyar and anyone else who takes the time to read this long slog of words to consider writing their own answers down for the new year. 

[yinxiong]

do u have any anime recs?? ive only watched the popular ones like haikyuu, bnha and aot but its kinda overwhelming to look for new ones so im asking u since i know & trust that u have good taste

ooohhhhhh boyyyy im vibrating bc 1) you’re asking me for anime recs 2) yOU SAID I HAVE GOOD TASTE HDJK THANK 🥺💞

okay but being serious here ,,, i’m not sure exactly what genres you’re looking for so i’ll put a list of my favorites + other ones similar to those 3 you might enjoy :))) if you have anything specific in mind lmk !!! i recently compiled a list of everything i’ve watched / tried to watch (it’s quite embarrassing actually) so hopefully there’s something you’ll like on there 😊

fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood

genre: shounen, action, fantasy, women characters being badass

very brief summary: two boys learn alchemy and try to get their bodies back, ends up unravelling government conspiracy in the process

this is my all time favorite uhdfdjks

top tier, a masterpiece truly

i'd rate it 100/10 but it surpasses that honestly

it's just really REALLY good

might be a little bit slow in the beginning but trust me it picks up quickly

if you’re interested it’s originally a manga and has some more details the anime left out !!!

assassination classroom / ansatsu kyoushitsu

genre: shounen, school, action, kids being kids but with knives and guns

brief summary: a class of kids are assigned to kill a super monster before he blows up the earth in exactly one year - the catch is that he’s their homeroom teacher :D

basically kids learning how to be assassins but also trying to pass school and it's all very heartfelt and you WILL adopt them all

10/10 i cry every time

honestly watch this first it’s very easy to follow

also a manga with a few storylines the anime left out, not crucial but i recommend anyways since i read it first before the anime even came out and it just has a special place in my heart

noragami

genre: shounen, urban fantasy, gods being literal disasters someone pls help them

brief summary: a girl accidentally meets an unknown god and asks him for his help, slowly learns more about his world (i’m so sorry this is really vague but it’ll all be covered in the first episode trust me)

the gods can find spirits (dead people) and turn them into weapons if that’s cool

sexy animation !!!!!

only big flaw with the anime is that they mess up the main character’s characterization a little bit so you might want to read the manga? also only has two seasons and the manga is further along ,,, but everyone is currently stressed tf out over the plot ohmygod ,,,

gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun

genre: romantic comedy but heavy emphasis on comedy, slice of life, literal chaos

brief summary: a girl has a crush on a guy who turns out to be a manga artist, she winds up being his assistant (this barely covers it though)

a bunch of high school kids being chaotic and oblivious

just watch it i can’t really explain it in words you’ll be laughing a lot

only one season so if you enjoy there’s also more chaos in the manga

your lie in april / shigatsu wa kimi no uso

genre: shoujo, classical music !!!!

brief summary: a former piano prodigy who no longer plays because he can’t hear music meets a violinist that brings color into his life once again

look

this is top tier

so beautiful hhdjfdks

i watched this on my new tv and shed real tears

as a pianist/musician i adore it a lot hhhhh the pieces they chose to play are all the favs (i performed a medley with my violinist friend for a show once hahahah)

a little sad tho beware of feels

the opening song is like . so freaking well known omg

akame ga kill!

genre: shounen, action, lots of fighting and blood, war

brief summary: a boy joins a group of assassins who are working to overthrow the shithole government (yea sounds kind of basic but there’s more to it)

mainly just girls with weapons

i mean there’s guys too but the girls are the best characters

the weapons are lowkey magical too

yea this is where my nickname came from lol

the anime gets a 7/10 but the manga probably 8/10

manga is darker, more graphic but better plotwise

no game no life

genre: shounen, a bit of ecchi ugh, lots of mind games

brief summary: two genius gamer siblings get transported to a world where everything is decided by games, they decide they want to beat god

very colorful and pretty animation!!!!

there’s some questionable “fanservice” moments but ignoring that the plot is legit

only one season tho :(( pls it was so popular when it came out where is s2

there is a movie prequel, a lot more angsty but still vv good

ao haru ride

genre: shoujo, the usual high school romance, slice of life

brief summary: a girl meets the guy she used to have a crush on, only to find that his personality has completely changed (she has too though)

insert falling back in love

one of the shoujo classics haha

i binged this in one night a few weeks ago

not sure if it was worth it but i had fun lmao

just a low stakes cute anime

also very pretty

only 12 eps, the manga finishes later

given

genre: just music boys being gay lol (jk it’s kind of sad)

brief summary: a boy learns to move on from his ex by joining a band (this is possibly the shittiest summary ever but i dont wanna give anything away hdjhkjs)

just watch it lmao it’ll make sense

idiot boys

band boys !!!

feels but not overwhelming

the comedy is top notch though

i adore given so much hhjkdf waiting for the movie to come out

THE MUSIC IS SO GOOD

all the songs are on spotify i listen to them way too much

yuri on ice

genre: figure skaters being gay that’s all you need to know

brief summary: a figure skater falls into a slump, somehow winds up with the top skater as his coach (yet another shitty summary sorry)

hmm this isn’t actually one of my favorites but it’s popular enough so why not

i just really love figure skating hfjdks

it’s pretty accurate i’d say! there are even easter eggs of top men skaters irl hahah

definitely dramatized lol

but still pretty fun

bungou stray dogs

genre: shounen, urban fantasy, very dapper mafia / detectives

brief summary: a kid on the run after getting kicked out of his orphanage accidentally saves a detective, shit goes down from there

pretty fun as you learn about their powers, watch them solve mysteries

the fighting is cool too

until the machine guns appear ugh i just tune that part out

oh yea all the characters are named for actual literary figures and i didnt realize until s2 💀

fairy tail

genre: shounen, magic/fantasy, action, friends !!!!!

brief summary: just mages in guilds going on quests lolol what more do you want

fr it’s honestly quite chill

like there’s definitely an ongoing plot and lots of subplots / arcs

but it’s very character driven

so many cool character designs

was OBSESSED w this in middle school ,,, highkey embarrassing omg

one of the big anime/manga, if you like bnha i’m sure you’ll have fun with fairy tail

this was a stupidly long list and im clearly way too excited ,,, if you have any questions or just want to scream about any of these, my inbox is always open ;)))

[a-skyfull-of-starz]

Anime in the Time of Quarantine

This fine quarantine period, I have made it my mission to watch as much anime as possible, because I don’t know, I guess it’s better than wallowing in self-pity.  Here’s a list of everything I’ve watched to date and how much I recommend them, because I don’t know, I’m bored or something.

This list does not contain anime I’ve previously watched, because that would make it normal life anime. So don’t ask me why Shingeki no Kyojin is not on the list.  Of course it remains my favourite and I will continue to recommend it until my dying breath.

Also, this list is ordered in the order I watched them in, and does not reflect any standing other than that.  Also also, I get bored really easily, so if an anime doesn’t grab me immediately, chances are I’ll close it very quickly.  I’ve started a lot more anime than is on this list but got bored and closed it.  Hence, this list is almost entirely positive recommendations.  Also also also (I swear this is the last clarifier), I’ve been in a slice of life kind of mood, because my slice of life is boring and uninteresting to the extreme, so that genre is kind of over-represented here.  So with that being said, on to the list (sorry that it’s so long, I have an issue with verbosity).

Stein’s Gate: I started watching Stein’s Gate two years ago, but didn’t make it past the five minute mark, because I just didn’t get it.  I started watching it again a few weeks ago, and I still didn’t get it, but I persevered because I was bored and high on chocolate.  By the end of the first episode…I still didn’t get it. I continued to not get it until probably midway through the third episode, but when I got it, holy hell did it hit hard.  I absolutely enjoyed every second of this anime.  I loved watching Okabe’s journey from imagined insanity into actual insanity and then back again.  He went on a true hero’s journey, and I loved every second of it.  Miyano Mamoru gives a masterful performance (I always watch the subbed animes, and I recommend that everyone else does too).  The chemistry between Okabe and Kurisu is probably the best in anime that I’ve watched thus far (sorry Asuna and Kirito, your time has finally come).  This anime is rich with emotion, humour, tragedy, (some) romance, friendship, mad scientists and beautiful characters.  If you can stand being confused for the first three episodes, this anime will be an incredibly rewarding journey for you.  I highly recommend it.

Ao Haru Ride/Blue Spring Ride: I saw a clip of this anime in a seiyuu video and I fell in love with the art style and decided to give it a watch.  I have mixed feelings about this one.  On the one hand, the plot is interesting, although having watched similar anime, a lot of it is kind of cliched.  That being said, I did like the message of being true to yourself, no matter the cost.  And I appreciated the fact that Futaba (our main hero) wasn’t a stereotypical anime girl (although she really does cry a lot and I agree with Kou that it is annoying). I found Kou (our love interest) a very interesting and compelling character.  The clear winner of this anime though is the art style.  It is beautiful to look at.  Unfortunately, the first season ends on kind of a cliffhanger, and there doesn’t appear to be a second season coming any time soon, which is really disappointing.  If you like high school romance stories with an edgy bad boy in it, then this is the anime for you, but don’t expect a satisfying ending, because, well, there isn’t one.

Stein’s Gate 0: I watched this because my friend said that it made her cry after every episode (I personally didn’t think Stein’s Gate needed a sequel, but oh well).  Based on her recommendation, I went in with high expectations, which were kind of mostly unmet.  The plot was way more confusing, less compelling, it felt like the stakes weren’t that high, mostly because they were only introduced way later in the series (I know Stein’s Gate did the same thing, but it somehow felt more shoved in with this one) and because we already knew how it would end. Also the ending felt incredibly rushed. The only episode I really wholeheartedly enjoyed was the reunion between Kurisu and Okabe (sounds weird out of context, but I’m trying to remain spoiler free).  For the rest, I was left with mixed feelings, although I have to say, I probably love Okabe even more in Stein’s Gate 0 and Miyano Mamoru gives us another stunning performance.  I would probably have been happier if this entire series had just consisted of Okabe trying to move on from the fallout of what happened in Stein’s Gate and there was no drama of World War III.  So, I guess if you’re curious to see what happens if Okabe does not look for Stein’s Gate in the previous season, this is for you.  Honestly though, I’d probably be happier if I hadn’t watched Stein’s Gate 0.

Shigatsu wo Kimi no Uso/Your lie in April: THIS ANIME OH MY GOSH!!!!  I did not even know that this anime existed until I saw it on Kaji Yuki’s Wikipedia page (I’m a fan, so what?).  He’s barely in this by the way, but that doesn’t matter, because this anime is amazing.  I knew how it ended because I unfortunately saw spoilers when I was reading what the plot was about when I was deciding whether or not to watch this, and I still cried for about an hour after the ending (and I don’t cry easily, especially not with anime).  The writing here is probably the best in any anime I’ve watched (yes, better than SNK, the king has been toppled from his throne), the soundtrack is amazing (I’ve been listening to it on repeat for a week now), the acting is beautiful, the artwork is gorgeous (apart from Kosei’s disappearing glass frame, that was weird), and all around, this anime is just…perfect.  If you enjoy teenage romance and drama, if you love classical music, if you feel like bawling your eyes out for an hour because right now your life is pretty boring and pointless, then this is the anime for you.  And even if you aren’t any of those things listed, I still recommend this anime because it is gorgeous and deserves recognition for how incredible it is.

Welcome to the NHK: this is probably the direct opposite of Shigatsu wo Kimi no Uso in every way possible.  I haven’t finished this anime yet because it is extremely heavy, and I can only manage two episodes a night, but I still highly recommend it.  It’s a fascinating take on a lot of modern Japanese culture, specifically surrounding mental health, the hentai industry and consumerism. It’s also got a lot of black comedy in it, which I love.  All in all (and depending on the ending of the series), I highly recommend this one for its interesting writing and plot and excellent acting.  

Lovely Complex: honestly, this anime sort of crept into my heart as one of the most adorable, refreshing, hilarious and unexpected love stories of all time.  It basically tells the story of two idiot friends who slowly realise they’re in love with each other, how this impacts their friendship and how they navigate the very dark waters of teen romance.  If you’re looking for an uncliched high school romance anime, where the heroine is the opposite of a cute anime girl, where the broody handsome guy is not the object of our affection and where you get flashbacks of just how dumb you were as a teenager and how grateful you are to be out of that age group (if you’re my age I mean, I’m mostly talking about myself here), then this is definitely the anime for you. Also, the opening song is ska, how cool is that?

Orange: another time traveling story, except the time traveling is even more confusing here. Just kidding, the time traveling is probably the least interesting part of this story, which examines suicide, depression, guilt and bullying, and does it in a pretty mature way.  Our hero (dear lovely confused Naho) is unfortunately not very smart, but that’s ok, because she has Suwa, the best human being in the whole world, to help her out.  Honestly, this story would have ended very differently if Suwa had not been around and he deserves every award that can possibly be given to amazing human beings. This anime is sort of 13 Reasons Why, but in reverse, less exploitative and with better friends (you’ll understand what I mean when you watch it).  If you aren’t going to be triggered by discussions of suicide, depression and bullying, then I really do recommend this, as it is very interesting, well-performed, and largely well-handled.

So that’s my anime watch list thus far.  I plan to finish Welcome to the NHK soon, and then start watching Mushishi, as I’ve heard a lot of great things about it.  Also, now that you guys have seen what my tastes are, I would love it if I could get more recommendations.  Lord knows, I’m not going to be doing anything else until I can find a way home, so I might as well expand my horizons.  Also also…no, that’s it.  Have a good quarantine folks!

[atinynacho]

The Album “…And They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness” by Ólafur Arnalds

S

Does the album cover look like a solar eclipse or is it just me?

9 songs and 43 minutes in total.

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ky3yykLzFEWHBT74EZXWxg0OrddTXdSXY

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6t4xcY1ZR7tKazkBIRrHOh

Awards: Has the most “How do I spell/type this song again or time to learn Icelandic ohohoh” Songs.

Favorite song from the album: þÚ Ert Jörðin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXjrFW26k1Y  The motif the piano plays sounds like a question to me and the violin’s response almost makes it sound like a conversation between two people during an uncertain situation. 

want a similar artist? try Jónsi or Sigur Rós

Side note: if you like the feeling of this album please check out Sigur Rós’s Hoppípolla. It’s so uplifting and the music video is literally a bunch of old people pulling pranks like small children and just generally enjoying life. Check it out.

Personally, I think this is one of the best if not the best album I’ve found to cry and move on—you know, when you feel down and listen to wallow a little but also move on. It also serves as very, very good music to write angsty stuff too. 

Like @leafenclaw​ pointing out for his work for Broadchurch, this album is very atmospheric. It starts out very nostalgic before becoming so sorrowful my heart hurts a little bit (well a lot sometimes) and then finishes on the last two songs as incredibly hopeful. 

I really like his use of the drum set in the songs Gleypa Okkur (Swallowing Us) and Hægt, kemur ljósið (Slowly the Light Comes). It comes in about 3/4 into the song at the climax and combined with multiple violins crescendoing it is just gut wrenching and breathtaking to hear. 

Other than violin I heard other various string instruments (sorry strings I’m a percussionist and I cannot tell the difference between you guys), the drum set, the guitar, the piano, and a trumpet in the last bit of the last song "þau Hafa Sloppið Undan þunga Myrkursins."

Piano and Violin (and string instruments in general): these two make up the most of the album, and man are these instruments magical. Pair these two together and you can make someone cry. (cough cough the anime “Your Lie in April”)

Drum set: Used for the climax of "Gleypa Okkur" and "Hægt, kemur ljósið" and also in "þau Hafa Sloppið Undan þunga Myrkursins." In the first two it highlights the very gut-wrenching notes/chords the violins play, and in the last song I feel it represents a beat to the march of going forward and moving on. Drums in general are just really nice when used because most people don’t listen to the drums of a song but it adds so much to the tone and feeling of a song. More love to the drums even though I can’t rhythm or drum for my life. 

Trumpet: Trumpets sound so triumphant sometimes and there are so many times when trumpets are used in marching band to highlight the most triumphant or “the audience should go wow” parts of a marching band show. It’s appearance in the last song is used so, so well. It’s both triumphant and hopeful. 

Also did I mention the titles and the theme from them? 

"þÚ Ert Sólin," "þÚ Ert Jörðin," "Tunglið," "Loftið Verður Skyndilega Kalt,"  "Kjurrt," "Gleypa Okkur," "Hægt, kemur ljósið," "Undan Hulu," & "þau Hafa Sloppið Undan þunga Myrkursins" 

Or translated (by google translate): 

"You Are The Sun," "You Are The Earth," "The Moon," "The Air Will Suddenly Be Cold," "Cool," "Swallow Us," "Slowly, The Light Comes," "Ahead Of Hulu," "They Have Escaped Heavily darkness”

The solar eclipse like album cover makes more sense to me after translating the song covers.

I just imagine two people making it through a tough time and the story ends with a hopeful future. 

It’s just very, very cool. Listen to it if you have time. 

[medea10]

My Review of The Rising of the Shield Hero

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!

Yeah, this warning because apparently I curse more than normal here. That should give you a fun indicator of what you’re in for.

Is this a joke? Is Medea really going to watch a recent Isekai anime?

No joke. I am. Yeah, since just about every Isekai I’ve ever watched was made before the year 2012, I thought it was time. And in case you’re not hip to the lingo, Isekai is where a random person is transported to a strange world (different from their’s) and go on an adventure. Things like Escaflowne, InuYasha, Fushigi Yugi, Kyou Kara Maou, and to a far-lesser extent, Sword Art Online! But because I haven’t watched anything made past 2012, and haven’t watched things like Konosuba, ReZero, or Overlord, my knowledge is shit and I should be ashamed.

So I’m going to start with one of 2019’s best animes, The Rising of the Shield Hero.

Naofumi Iwatani was checking out light novels when he was transported into another world. But unlike many other Isekais with this similar setup, Naofumi isn’t alone.

He and three other boys (from alternate timelines of Japan) are transported as well to the kingdom of Melromarc. These four boys are going to be the saviors of the kingdom as the “Four Cardinal Heroes” where they must combat against these entities known as “waves”. However, Naofumi is seen as the weakling from the very beginning due to being the holder of the shield (and is now known as the “Shield Hero”). But it goes even further than that! The king of Melromarc immediately shows his disdain for the shield hero due to the previous shield hero doing something to him. I don’t know what, just fuck the king. The kingdom, the other heroes, and the people of the kingdom did just about everything to Naofumi to make him feel like trash. If he was on fire, they wouldn’t even spit on him to put him out!

Being the lowest-level weapon user, no one will join his team and even if they did…they would swindle him, set him up for failure, and spread the worst lie you could ever lie about. But Naofumi can’t return home due to all four weapon users must be there until they defeat the waves. So Naofumi is stuck in a new world where literally everyone hates him or fears him.

That is until he buys a slave (named Raphtalia) and their EXP points can grow. Along the way, he obtains an egg that hatches into a filolial (later named Filo) who has the ability of turning into a human female. And every now and then, the second princess of Melromarc (named Melty) will come along with Naofumi. Trust me, she’s the nice one in that family.

Let’s watch the struggles and rising of the Shield Hero!

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: So this is licensed by Crunchyroll (but I think FUNimation dipped it’s cookie in this milk). I know these two companies divorced some time ago, but FUNimation sees no problem piggy-backing off of Crunchyroll when they get a hit. And yes, this got an English dub and because of that, YES I watched the whole thing dubbed! Done by the good folks in L.A.! I gotta say this was a well-done dub. Well, they did one thing right by hiring Erica Mendez to play Raphtalia. Just about everything Mendez plays is friggin’ gold! Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Naofumi is played by Kaito Ishikawa (known for Kiawe on Pokemon SM, Genos on One Punch Man, Mitsuo on Golden Time, Urui on Tokyo Ghoul :re, Sakakibara on Assassination Classroom, and Rinne on Kyokai no Rinne)

*Raphtalia is played by Asami Seto (known for Officer Jenny on Pokemon SM, Mado on Tokyo Ghoul, Young Yukiatsu on Anohana, and Shizu Delta on Overlord)

*Filo is played by Rina Hidaka (known for Last Order on Index/Railgun, Ririchiyo on Inu x Boku SS, Kohane on xxxHOLiC, Silica on SAO, Nemesis on To Love Ru: Darkness, and Urara on Food Wars)

*Melty is played by Maaya Uchida (known for Norman on The Promised Neverland, Rikka on Chunibyo, Rui on Domestic Girlfriend, Frenda on Railgun, Yoshino on Food Wars, Irina on High School DxD, and Yusa on Charlotte)

ENGLISH CAST: *Naofumi is played by Billy Kametz (known for Jousuke/JoJo on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part IV, Osomatsu on Mr. Osomatsu, Metal Lee on Boruto, and Galo on Promare)

*Raphtalia is played by Erica Mendez (known for Ryuko on Kill la Kill, Haruka/Uranus on Sailor Moon redub, Emma on The Promised Neverland, Nico on Love Live, Yuuki on SAO II, and Tsubaki on Your Lie in April)

*Filo is played by Brianna Knickerbocker (known for Rem on Re:Zero, Akane on Durarara x2, Arisa on Love Live, Anna on The Promised Neverland, Iori on Charlotte, and Erica on Berserk 2016)

*Melty is played by Jackie Lastra (known for Conny on The Promised Neverland and Selka on SAO: Alicization)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: I know I’m gonna have fun with the next category, but I think I spent most of this series hating on several people where I forgot to pick a character I liked.

Well folks, I gotta say that I loved Raphtalia. And after her, Filo! Then Elhart, Queen Melromarc, Melty, and Fitoria! With the exception of Elhart, it’s all women! That’s rare! Don’t worry, there’s one woman that has received a restraining order from this category. On with the worst!

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!

Y’all know what’s coming!

DISLIKED CHARACTER: Prior to watching this series, I have gotten several warnings about one particular character! Princess Malty or Myne, whatever people call her. This woman is despised throughout the anime community and even going so far as to say she’s on “horrible character” status left only to infamous characters like Griffith, Makoto Itou, and Shou Tucker. And I’m like, “WOW, what did she do, kill a pope?” I mean seriously, how bad could she possibly…?!

*one episode later*

FUCK THIS BITCH: Oh this bitch can burn at the stake for all I care! Yes, everyone else who treated Naofumi like shit can go jump off a bridge. Because I hold no sympathy for towns-idiots that treat a hero with no respect (as I’ve said before with One Punch Man and Dragon Ball Z)! But Myne just took that zero respect and pushed it to a crispy 425 degrees of fuck-roast! In the first episode, she seemed genuine with pitying Naofumi because no one would join his team. That didn’t even last a whole day. Myne ends up faking a rape by lying to the kingdom that Naofumi sexually assaulted her.

Faking a RAPE!

Faking a FUCKING RAPE!

Bitch, this is 2019 (I KNOW IT AIN’T THAT IN THIS KINGDOM, I’M JUST FUCKING PISSED). Faking a rape is a big, fat, NO-NO!

After he spends the little money he had on her to buy equipment, she double-crosses him by setting him up for immediate trouble and switches to the Spear-Hero side. Well fuck you too, you skank! Have fun with your dickhead Spear Hero. And may that be the last time I ever see you!

*several episodes later*

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! You cheating, lying, slut! Just when you think she can’t possibly get any worse, this bitch takes worse and shoves it off a fucking cliff. As if faking an assault wasn’t bad enough, screwing townspeople for your own gain is another story. She would take over a whole town and give no fucks if it’s destroyed by her or her fuck-face spear-hero. Add to that fuck-cake, every time you run into Naofumi, you find some way to screw him over time and time again. This bitch tampered with a fight between the shield and spear hero so that Naofumi could fail and they could steal his only team member away from him! You have your father, the church, your dickhead boy-toy of yours, and the royals wrapped around your little finger. Myne just continues to be worse than tainted peanut butter. I wish she would catch the worst STD imaginable and die a painful death!

*several more episodes later*

AAAAAAAH gabba da da ffuuuu worble BITCH FACE gararba fruznuss SET FIRE plskay adkkin aidnnlwjsnda UP DONALD TRUMP’S ASS galidamdh amoiejwm wwwaasosoh A POPCICLE! FUCK! AAkajrriaja DIDIA LEJHE KLHAEHAE FYUEEajejioqih3hv SSLLSHE3V ADKDKDDHEI333!!!!

Oh, you do not want a translation from my…whatever the fuck I just wrote. Just know that Princess Malty or Myne is worse than hemroids up the ass. I can’t believe this woman is still around, breathing and shit. Also, I’m tempted in re-writing my Top 10 Least Favorite Anime Character list because Myne would definitely be at #4 after Griffith from Berserk.

Okay…Okay…I think I’m calm now.

WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE CUT THIS FUCKING CUNT’S HEAD OFF LIKE A CHICKEN IN CHINA TOWN?!

Now I’m calm! Now then…

ANYONE ELSE WHO NEEDS TO DIE IN THIS SERIES?: So obviously I hate Bitch and Trash (Myne and the King). And I have the same kind of respect for the townspeople who treat Naofumi like shit. I ain’t got time to be dealing with townsidiots again. But if there was anyone else that should get a mention of how much I want for them to be set on fire and I’ll just sit there drinking my ginger ale, it would be Motoyasu.

Now by no means do I hate him more than Miss Bitch over here. But I hate him on the same level as Shinji from the Fate series (which is now teetering on my top 10). I question why he’s still alive and why no one has introduced his face to a jagged boulder. Unlike the other heroes Ren and Itsuki, this guy has got a vendetta against Naofumi from the get-go. And this was like before the sexual alligations came about. After that incident, this fuckturd tries at every turn to make Naofumi’s life worse than it already is by stealing away his crew and challenging him every chance he gets. And when he’s not doing that, he’s screwing over the townspeople and doing very little to be a “hero” (which is his freakin’ title). Then again, Ren and Itsuki aren’t great heroes either, it’s just I really need to lay into Spear-Dick for the shit he’s done.

SHIPPING: Hmm…aaaaahhhh….eeeeee…urrrrggggh…

Naofumi x Raphtalia: I know Naofumi doesn’t see Raphtalia as a romantic partner and more as a partner on his team, but Raphtalia doesn’t see it that way. She is 100% loyal to Master Naofumi. Who could blame her? Naofumi saved her from a lifetime of enslavement and cured her from an illness she’s had for years. She’s grateful and every other hero is crap in her eyes! She’s worshipped the shield hero since she was younger when she would hear stories about the shield hero. So imagine her worry every time Naofumi talks about going back to his home world, she gets horribly upset. Me being very skeptical here, I can’t really imagine this going any further than team partners. I can’t see at the end of the day Naofumi staying in Melromarc forever or Raphtalia somehow returning to Naofumi’s world when all of this ends. So for now, I’m just going to see where this takes us.

FUNNIEST MOMENT: Whenever Motoyasu gets conked in his frank-and-two-beans by Filo! If anyone deserves to be whammed in the nuts, it’s Motoyasu.

SADDEST MOMENT: I don’t usually mention sad moments in anime anymore, but one moment touched me and that was episode 15 where we learned a little more about Raphtalia’s past. Raphtalia, even after losing her parents in a wave attack, she tries her best to keep a smile on her face. But shortly after that, she and many other demi-humans were taken away from their homes and sold off to a nobleman. This is when we see some pretty inhumane moments where Raphtalia and many of her friends are whipped for the fun of it, starved to death, and sold off to traders.

In this episode, we learn about a few of Raphtalia’s friends (Keel and Rifana) from her younger days. The day Raphtalia got sold off, it looked like Rifana was teetering towards death. When the Shield Hero’s party came to rescue the surviving demi-humans (like Keel), Raphtalia went to see if Rifana could possibly be alive. And if the disturbing picture of Rifana’s skeleton doesn’t churn your stomach, I really don’t know what will. God damn, that was just messed up!

I CANNOT TELL A LIE, THIS ANIME HURT: I know I have sadistic tendencies and take joy in the misery of others. But I seriously cannot enjoy any second of the humiliation and degredation given to Naofumi. And it was because of the abuse put on the Shield Hero that made me feel sick to my stomach just watching all this happen to this guy. I thought it would last for a few episodes at the most, but it carried on a lot further than I imagined. Almost to the very end! And every episode you put on, you just wish for some kind of karma to kick in or for one more person to be nice to Naofumi or something, anything to happen!

But because the king has a vendetta against the previous Shield Hero, Naofumi has had to pay a heavy toll by having every horrible crime or offense thrown at him including rape, murder, attempted murder, cheating, witchcraft, and treason. AND HE COMMITTED NONE OF THESE OFFENSES! So you spend just about 20 episodes watching this poor boy having to go through this hell. I can’t even imagine having to go through this kind of torment and some of these moments make me ill in my stomach and quite pissed off. So like I said, this anime hurts to watch.

ENDING: As it turns out, the kingdom is corrupt under the rule of the king and his daughter, Princess Cunt (yeah, BIG shocker there). How corrupt? Well, they were in cahoots with the church that had their own religion praising only 3 of the Heroes (guess which one they don’t praise)! That was until the pope decided that everything must be wiped away because they are “unclean”. That includes the monarchy, the heroes, and their crew! Thankfully, they were able to put an end to this cult, with a little help from the true leader of Melromarc, Queen Mirelia of Melromarc. She finally shows herself and her powers on the battlefield. And now ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the moment everyone and their mama have been waiting for.

JUSTICE IS SERVED: With the queen’s return, come some harsh sentences to her own family. Her husband, the king and her daughter, Princess Malty! I gotta tell you, seeing these two in chains makes my heart so happy. The king was guilty of summoning the four heroes prematurely and causing a lot of harm to the kingdom of Melromarc with the church. Then the queen puts a seal on Myne’s chest, giving her unimaginable pain whenever she lied. That still didn’t stop the bitch from lying! In one swoop, it’s proven that Naofumi was innocent the whole time and that the king and princess were worse than period cramps. And for their crimes, THEY ARE SENTENCED TO DEATH BY GUILLOTINE!

FUCK YEAH! BRING IT ON!

CUT THEIR FUCKING HEADS OFF!

Yeah…unfortunately for my blood-lust self, that didn’t happen. Instead, Naofumi stopped the queen seconds before blood was to splatter. Claiming that the princess and king should be stripped from their titles and must go through life with new names! The king will be named “Trash” and Malty/Myne will be named “Bitch” (or “Whore” when she’s traveling). Okay, I guess it’s all good. With that, the church of the three heroes is abolished and handled a lot better than I thought.

But seriously Queenie, was it really, REALLY a good idea to keep your daughter alive? I know she’s your own daughter and you felt severe hesitation (in the anime) before calling for her execution. But for fuck’s sake, literally a day after she’s spared from the guillotine, she’s poisoning food meant for her sister Melty, Naofumi, and his friends!

IN THIS AFTERMATH: Now has Naofumi finally obtained acceptance throughout the kingdom? Yes and no! Yes, it’s true that the people of the land respected Naofumi after all he’s done. It’s just that some of the other heroes and castle men who still treat Naofumi with such disrespect. The queen wishes for all four heroes to be treated equally and to get along so that maybe they can defeat the waves without too much trouble. Hell, the queen of the filolials also said the same thing! I think Ren and Itsuki have kinda been on board with this for a while (even if they are kinda dickish about it). It’s just that Motoyasu’s still a condescending dick to Naofumi! Sigh!

FINAL WAVE ATTACK: Final one for now! On their way to another land, Naofumi ends up getting chummy with two travelers (L’Arc and Therese).

We meet these fuckers three episodes before the finale.

They’re bad guys, aren’t they?!

Something like that! Yeah, the next wave attack was coming up real quick. And the heroes have to go up against Glass again (the woman who caused a lot of trouble in the midway point of the series). But it turns out L’Arc and Therese are in cahoots with Glass. But it gets really…complicated here!

Glass and L’Arc are both fan and scythe heroes from another world. And they’re destroying the waves on this side along with destroying the people of this world to prevent catastrophy in their world. Yeah, finale time guys! How many parallel worlds and heroes are there?

READ THE LIGHT NOVEL!

Fuck me! Well, Naofumi and the other hammy heroes were able to stop the wave attack once more. And we even get to watch Queen Melromarc in action again! In this aftermath, Naofumi gets a new member on his team. Yes, it’s another female, but at least this one is older than all the other girls that hang with him (making this a little less ewwwie). Rishia was abandoned by Itsuki’s team for…reasons. So she’s going to join Naofumi after she helped in the last wave attack. And we get some last-moment hopeful scenes as we see things that give me hope for people in this series. Raphtalia’s old friends and homeland is getting back into the swing of things and Naofumi will take control over the land. And we wait for this promoted second and third season Crunchyroll swears by. Seriously guys, when are we getting more Shield Hero?

DON’T KNOW! READ THE LIGHT NOVEL AND STOP ASKING STUPID QUESTIONS!

If you can’t already tell, I liked this series! Yes it was unbelievably painful to watch certain things where all of these people gang up on Naofumi and screw him eight ways from Sunday, but I guess good stories have a little struggle. Except here, it’s a lot of struggling! It was an interesting tale and is giving me a little hope for the Isekai genre as a whole. Will I get into all the other recent ones so I can one day watch Isekai Quartet? Don’t get too cocky! I’ll stick to this and maybe head on over to Konosuba later on.

Rising of the Shield Hero was definitely a tale and I highly recommend it. It’s just that if you’re prone to anger when it comes to absolute injustice, half of this series might be a little unbearable to handle. But there were several great moments (particularly from Raphtalia) that kept me going with this series.

Especially episode 4! Best episode of the series! Her undying devotion for Naofumi was definitely one to behold! I can’t wait to learn more about these different kinds of worlds, kingdoms, and heroes in the upcoming stories. In the meantime I will await for these seasons two and three Crunchyroll assures us are coming…They are coming right? You guys weren’t just blowing smoke up our asses in the last CRX convention, right?

READ THE FUCKING LIGHT NOVEL, YOU AUTISTIC TWAT!

I can’t do it! There are too many chapters!

Currently, both FUNimation and Crunchyroll have the entire series subbed and dubbed.

Okay, great stuff! What’s next on my Amazon/Netflix…or Crunchyroll licensed anime!

Magical Girl Site?

Oh fuck. I heard about that first episode. This is gonna hurt.

[mysterylover123]

BNHA Rewatch: Season 1 Episode 6 “Rage, You Damn Nerd”

mysterylover123

Episode 6, with the best most hilarious title ever! Tells you exactly what you’re in for.

Finally, Bakugo’s reaction! I seriously was waiting through all three episodes for this. Like a Hitchcockian bomb under the table. Almost literally!

Bakugou .exe has stopped working.

Aizawa starts his pattern of lying to Class A to get them to do their best. He kinda stops doing this after a while, I’m guessing because it doesn’t take lying anymore, just let Wonder Duo go running off at the mouth and they’ll do the job just as well.

Momo’s first line! I think we’re introduced to her in a method meant to make her seem a bit smug and condescending, which is interesting - Momo has a similar trajectory to Bakugou in some ways, introduced as Hot Shit and embarrassment used to break that ego, so this is important to keep in mind.

Aizawa and All Might seemed like they were gonna have a rivalry in early drafts and that got dropped. Anyway, I’m noting the timeline here, as All Might drops the info that this is April 8 (April Fool’s day was Last Week).

The friendship trio forms! Yay! (BTW I ship Uraraka and Iida, if you didn’t know.) We get a quick sum up of life at UA (sob why can’t my school be more like this) and then transfer on to the start of the Battle Trial Arc. Here it goes!

Everyone’s in costume! I figured I’d use my fave Costumes for my ranker today, so I’ll comment on them below. (BTW I loved this arc a lot the first time around. I adored how perfect it feels as a simulated Heroes v Villains exercise.)

All the detailed info on designing costumes and enrolling quirks is another thing I enjoy about BNHA; it feels like such a well-realized world, probably the most fully realized one I’ve encountered in some ways. Horikoshi is so obsessive over details, I love it.

And it actually serves as a means to illustrate character. Since they designed the costumes themselves, everyone’s choices tell you a little something about who they are. I think that both Deku and Kacchan’s costumes are designed to look like All Might’s - both have pointy hoods like his spiky hair, both have metal gear around the neck, etc. They look alike, yet opposite.

Deku’s first costume is so doofy looking, though. And it’s kind of symbolic of his whole issue at this point: he wants too badly to be like All Might, so he covers up his own face with a mask that has this weird, distorted fascimile of All Might’s hair and smile. He really needs to up that confidence! 

This is followed by an adorable sequence of All Might trying to be a teacher and explaining the rules of the BTA. I totally empathize with All Might here; starting at a new job like this can’t be easy. (now I’m thinking about the “Even Idiots Can be Teachers” joke in Episode 52 and laughing)

I wish there was more to comment on with the BTA teams. A few of them feel important. Kaminari and Jirou, of course; one of my ships, they hang out a lot. Also , Ojiro/Tooru, and Tsuyu/Tokoyami get teamed up here (but not Momo and Shoto or Kiri/Mina, so I refuse to call it a shipping pattern). Ashido and Aoyama have a bit of a rivalry going on that starts here. Everyone else’s is pretty random.

And now the fated showdown of destiny! Well, the first time, anyway. I could watch these two fight all day. The whole series could just be them fighting each other back and forth and yelling while YSR plays and I’d be fine.

Bakugou is so salty about Deku! The first time around, of course, he just comes across as an asshole. Rewatching it though, it does seem fairly reasonable to be pissed off that Deku’s apparently been lying to him this whole time (because he doesn’t know about OFA, and Deku didn’t even both to lie to him like he did to his mom), and they are fighting in an organized combat mission, so his behavior here makes total sense in hindsight. Amazing how that character development works.

Uraraka is initially really blase about doing well. in hindsight, I think one of her flaws (at this stage, anyway) was that she basically didn’t know what she wanted and pretty much coasted on Deku (she says as much during the sports festival). She gets over that quickly, but flaws make good characters, so I wanted to point it out.

Incoming Deku “Kacchan Sugoi” moment #1. I love this little twist, too, on the way we perceive Deku. He doesn’t want revenge on Katsuki or something like that. He wants to beat him (”the incarnation of victory”). Deku is not some frail flower needing protection from the world. Don’t let his cuteness fool you.

Deku is so effing cool here, TBH - brilliant, tactical, strong, and brings his rival down to earth by judo-tossing him. Damn, the animation on Baku hitting the floor though, you can feel that impact. No wonder he was so pissed! (Deku’s strategic mind is one of my favorite things about him. Also the symbolism in Baku blasting away part of his All Might mask! 1/2 of the whole!)

“From now on, Deku is the name of my hero!” Once again that trio of foil-y ness between Deku, Kacchan and Uraraka. I wonder if it’s a relic of when the series was originally gonna be them as a trio, a la Naruto/Harry Potter/etc, so they were designed to all foil each other in some way? It’s not as much in the series proper, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Also, You Say Run! Down the bottle! (3rd episode in a row).

In sum, I love this episode. Costumes! All Might teaching! The Battle Trial Arc! Bakugou being crazy (I mostly gush over Deku a lot, but I love Kacchan too. Crater-sized faults and all). And of course, all of the...

BKDK Corner:

Cute flashbacks! Adorable flashbacks are adorable. Little Bakugou is so arrogant; if he was an adult he would be insufferable, but because he’s just a kid it’s cute.

Now to get into a little analysis! This ep marks the first time we actually delve into the depths of Bakugou’s psyche, and basically to sum it up: He’s scared of Deku because he deep down knows that Deku is better than him, fearing that Deku will surpass him, and doesn’t understand why. It’s amazing how the characters introduced at this part of the series as simple archetypes (relatable hero, bully, nice girl, uptight boy) become so complex as the series goes on. Not to be taken at face value.

Uraraka changing the meaning of Deku is another moment that parallels the Deku/Kacchan and Deku/Ochaco dynamics. Again, I’m not sure what that means in the long run, only that paralleling Izuku’s romance subplot with his main rivalry has interesting implications.  

“So, you know Bakugou? He’s kind of mean to you, right?” ‘“Yes but he’s also super amazing special awesome and cool and did I mention amazing? Let me present my eighty page thesis to you on why Kacchan is cool.” OK, exaggerating. But it is interesting how much Deku admires and looks up to Kacchan despite him being such a jerk, so seemingly the opposite of what Deku wants to be as a hero. Basic 2 sides/same coin stuff, of course. Kacchan has all the self-assurance, power and pride that Deku lacks (at least at this point).

Deku speaks fluent Kacchan and predicted exactly what he would do. He knows his S/O so well. 

“I took notes on all amazing heroes, including you” Subtle, Deku. Wanna make your crush a little more obvious? (also check out the BNHA smash comic of this, where he takes it up a notch and reveals what a full-blown stalker he actually is).

This is definitely their lowpoint of antagonism, though. This early part of the series, where they’re both mad at each other. I do think that Deku never really hated Bakugou, though; he hates things about him, but not him as a person. (Deku is way too forgiving.)  Bakugou hated him, but I think that’s fading away in the current timeline (so weird, the last time we saw these two in the manga they were chilling on a couch together and drinking tea. Such a crazy contrast with rewatching this!)

Best Girl of the Episode: Kyoka Jiro!

more info on her: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7FVXWFFm4w&t=481s 

Ranker: Favorite Hero Costumes

5. Nejire Hado’s!

I’m not sure why, but she has one of my favorite costumes of the whole series. it looks so good on her, it’s simple and tells you who she is.

4. Izuku Midoriya’s (3.0)!

Deku’s third costume is amazing and looks cool. It’s sleek and powerful and badass, somehow taking that dopey baseline design and turning it awesome.

3. Camie Utsushimi’s!

It’s so simple yet so great. Bodysuit, white boots and that awesome Shiketsu hat. Yet it works. It looks cool, even with the boob window.

2. Katsuki Bakugo’s!

It’s so ridiculous and yet so perfect. Exactly what you’d expect Bakugo to design for his outfit. Keeping in character and suitably dark.

1. Ochaco Uraraka’s!

My favorite in the whole bunch. It looks so much like a space heroine super suit - I especially like it with the helmet. It’s all there for her quirk, too - there’s an explanation behind each piece of gear. (BTW, Bakugou and Uraraka had the same designer. They really lucked out!)

[khattikeri]

I used to be into anime a couple years ago but i’ve only recently rewatched death note and i want to get back into it. i was in love with the style and plot of “Your lie in April” and i also loved the plot of Death Note. Do you have any must watch animes? or even any recommendations? Thank you so much.

Sure! In case anyone else wants more recs than the ones below, here’s my previous rec post . I’ll try to list series that you likely won’t get right off the bat from Google-- I know how frustrating it is to ask for recs and then only get the same five popular shows you’ve already seen before.

To anon specifically: your favorites seem to be the titles that have drama and/or mind games in them, so I’ll mark shows with those elements with a star like this * next to the title. 

This post is long! Here we go!

If you want action:

The Promised Neverland* -- Emma, Ray, and Norman live in an orphanage called Gracefield House with their Mom and many other adopted siblings. One day, they discover that the orphanage isn’t exactly what it seems on the outside...

This is one of those shows where you really ought to go in blind to get the best experience. It’s incredibly thrilling and shocking, with mind games and plot twists similar to Death Note, especially in the first arc that the anime (currently at one season, with a second on the way) adapts. It’s rife with tension that’ll keep you eerily waiting on the edge of your seat for the next big thing.

Tiger & Bunny--  It follows superheroes with NEXT powers being filmed fighting crime on a televised contest where they get more points and sponsors for each arrest. As new superhero duo Tiger & Bunny learn to work with each other-- Tiger being a lax veteran who dislikes the way heroes are marketed to consumers, and Bunny being a new, high-strung starlet who is used to it-- they uncover and fight the sinister plots that face their city. 

This is My Hero Academia’s darker and edgier forgotten older sibling, for a lack of better words. It focuses more on the rift between true heroism and its commodification for profit, which is why I like it so much. Despite its darker plot and higher amount of violence, it’s not all serious business, though-- the main duo is a lot like a buddy cop pair, and there are plenty of humorous and even romantic moments between the two and the other characters.

Houseki no Kuni-- In a mysterious futuristic world, humanoid gems live together in harmony. Though most of the other gems are allowed to fight Lunarians, moon people who regularly attack the gems, Phosphophyllite (Phos for short) is deemed too fragile and cannot help, instead being asked to compile an encyclopedia instead.  The story follows Phos and their journey towards finding a role they can enjoy, as well as their efforts to be useful and protect their friends. 

The story may seem strange, but it’s very intriguing to see how much of Phos’ individuality is lost in trying to be useful to the gems as a whole, and what that means about the other gems as well. There’s a lot of subtle details that play towards the story’s overall message, which is why I found it so fun to watch. The animation-- entirely CGI, which is very rare-- is also extremely fluid and gorgeous. 

If you want drama: 

91 Days* -- Taking place in Prohibition-era America, this show follows Angelo Lagusa and his quest for revenge against the Vanetti mafia family, who murdered his parents and brother seven years ago.

It’s both tragic and terrifying seeing how wholly vengeance can consume someone. 91 Days is a good show precisely because you know that nobody is really a “good guy”-- not any of the mafiosos, nor even Angelo. This tangled, tricky story puts all of its characters in a web of back-and-forth revenge killings, and seeing it unfold in all its muted, morally gray glory is what really makes it special.

Erased* -- 29-year-old Fujinoma Satoru has a gift: whenever tragedy is about to strike, he always finds himself being sent back in time to a few minutes prior to it. However, when he is accused of murdering someone close to him, he finds himself sent back to elementary school, in 1988. He realizes that the murder from the present must be connected to the abduction and murder of Hinazuki Kayo, one of his classmates from back then, and resolves to prevent her murder and find out who the killer is to make things right again.

This anime has probably what is one of the most gripping premiere episodes I have ever seen, save for The Promised Neverland, mentioned above. The twists, turns, and tension of the murder mystery each episode as well as the heart-tugging drama from helping Hinazuki escape her abusive childhood makes this series an absolute must-see for those invested in the mystery genre.

If you want romance/slice of life/comedy:

Kaguya-sama: Love is War* -- Shirogane Miyuki and Shinomiya Kaguya are the school’s top students, the student council’s president and vice president respectively. Academically bright and talented, everyone looks up to them and sees them as a perfect pair. And even better, both of them like each other! Unfortunately, the two are so competitive that they refuse to admit their feelings-- after all, whoever confesses first is the loser-- so they instead spend their time attempting to outsmart the other and tricking them into confessing first.

This show has been described by many as the Death Note of the romance genre, and I’m honestly inclined to agree. The mind games (often for incredibly stupid reasons) are absolutely hilarious. Yet despite the humor, there is still heart underneath. These two are still just teenagers, after all, and baring your heart to someone is a frightening experience. Because it’s both humorous and genuine, I have to recommend this show-- and especially the manga that continues its story.

ReLIFE* --   27-year-old Kaizaki Arata has an unremarkable life, flitting from one job to another. One day, he meets a man named Yoake Ryou, who offers him the opportunity to change his life for the better with the help of a mysterious pill. Kaizaki takes the pill and wakes up  the next day having reverted back to being 17 years old, and learns that he is now the subject of a unique experiment where he must attend high school as a transfer student for one year. The show follows Arata's struggle to adjust to high school life again and avoid repeating his past mistakes, all while slowly discovering more about his fellow classmates and learning how to make meaningful connections with others.

ReLIFE is actually a complete adaptation of its web manga-- all of its romance and drama and slice-of-lifey elements are included. The connections between its characters, both as adults and as teenagers, are both relatable and bittersweet. That’s what makes this show such a good watch, especially for those struggling to find meaning in their lives.