#bishoujo drift

[grimxark]

Info on design under cut!

tried designing a bishoujo Drift a while ago alongside my Rodimus, but I couldnt find any inspiration for outfits that could still show her prosthetics in their glory. I also frankly couldn't quite get the prosthetics to look how I wanted them to: I wanted them to resemble Drift's legs, but still practical and not too heavy looking. I didn't like it very much, specially as making the colors work without making white/red too repetitive proved to be a challenge i gave up on. As for why the prosthetics, I frankly cannot see a human drift without them! His legs are a pretty defining part of his silhouette in my opinion, and he does lose his legs quite often (i mean, i suppose 2 times can be counted as often.) so I think it is fitting. Also, he can run faster. Speeed.

Overall, I would like to pick this up again, when I am more confident I can do the design justice. If anyone would like to pick up where I lacked, though, you can, as long as you credit me somewhat or simply to show me! I'd love to see what other people can do.

[secretsolenoid-revived]

2023 Secret Solenoid Gift Directory!

This is the 2023 gift directory of all of the gifts! Be sure to look at everyone's amazing work! ❤️

Some of these are various shades of suggestive or explicit. Those that include 18+ / Gore have been marked as NSFW!

[Anonymous] for sturthepotofmadness: [G1] Art (Astrotrain)

[Anonymous] for artificial-absinthe: [TFP] Fic (Megatron/Soundwave)

[Anonymous] for mxbenz: [IDW1] Art (NSFW) (Tailgate/Cyclonus)

Aecholapis for Alruin(melopardi): [IDW1] Art: (Deadlock/Megatron)

Alruin (melopardi) for utility-cavities: [G1] Fic (Galvatron & Rodimus)

apotherice for SeafoamSol: [IDW1] Fic (NSFW) (Getaway/Perceptor)

Argoxnautililus for OverlordRaax: [Bishoujo] Art (Starscream & Skyfire)

Artificial-absinthe for kagebros: [IDW1] Art (NSFW) (Orion Pax/Shockwave)

Awesomepotato2016 for Skidblast: [Soup] Fic (Starscream & Trailbreaker)

badautobot for spartyll: [TFA] Art (Starscream)

bassomega for hysterical-random-things: [IDW1] Art (NSFW) (Starscream/Shockwave)

bluecookiesabi for radiolovebot: [IDW1] Fic (NSFW) (Overlord)

blurrito for aecholapis: [IDW1] Art (Thunderclash/Rodimus)

bunny-fair for yesnomaybelobster33: [ROTB] Fic (NSFW) (Noah Diaz/Mirage)

cao-the-dreamer for undergroundoil: [IDW1] Fic (Grimlock/Misfire)

cartoonsinthemorning for mostlyhim: [G1] Art (Starscream/Megatron)

darksidekelz for luluvalu: [IDW1] Art (Swerve/Blurr)

deadangelcat for Gemmarose: [IDW1] Art (NSFW) (Rodimus/Ultra Magnus)

deadlysoupy for elmonstro: [IDW1] Fic (Brainstorm/Perceptor)

digispook for rotorarc: [IDW1] Art (Rodimus)

elmonstro for hysterical-random-things: [IDW1] Art (Tailgate/Cyclonus/Whirl)

exdraghunt for cao-the-dreamer: [ROTB] Fic (NSFW) (Noah Diaz/Mirage)

final-milf-ratchet for [Anonymous]: [IDW1] Art (Cyclonus/Whirl/Tailgate)

fowo for noodleblade: [IDW1] Art (Brainstorm/Perceptor)

friedfriedchicken for digispook: [G1] Art (Arcee)

Gemmarose for stynamo: [IDW1] Fic (NSFW) (Dominus Ambus/Rewind)

glasspunkart for cartoonsinthemorning: [IDW1] Art (Rung)

hapships for rodimusofficial: [Cyberverse] Art (Dead End/Perceptor)

hoursgoneby for fowo: [IDW1] Fic (Drift/Ratchet)

hysterical-random-things for thesharmat: [IDW2] Art (Road Rage)

Insecuriosity for megatronstillright/RHplus: [Soup] Fic (Skylynx & Astrotrain)

ivycorp for plainblackcanvas56: [TFP] Fic (Megatron/Orion Pax)

jariktig for badautobot: [IDW1] Fic (Ratchet/Pharma)

Jayspilledink (& nopes-and-dreams) for xenonmalachite: [G1] Art (Mirage)

kagebros for deadangelcat: [G1] Art (Skyfire/Starscream)

kusakichan15 for hoursgoneby: [TFP] (Knock Out/Dreadwing)

Languidly for madness-to-my-method: [TFP] Fic (Megatron/Optimus Prime)

LegendTrainer for Jariktig: [IDW1] Fic (Jazz/Megatron)

letslipthehounds (jedipati) for rinovarka: [G1] Fic (Cosmos & Omega Supreme)

luluvalu for kusakichan15: [G1] Art (Megatron/Orion Pax; Megatron/Optimus Prime)

lush-specimen for spashahoney: [G1] Fic (Optimus Prime & Rodimus Prime)

lush-specimen for undergroundoil: [IDW1] Art (Perceptor)

lyumera for theblueblazes: [Soup] Art (Soundwave/Rodimus)

madness-to-my-method for synchros (five-million-year-old-gilf): [IDW1] Art (Megatron)

mal-co-holic for nuclearjacks: [IDW1] Fic (Megatron/Orion Pax & Megatron/Optimus Prime)

martinthelandlockedmartian for exdraghunt: [G1] Fic (Jazz/Prowl)

martinthelandlockedmartian for gayrob0t: [G1] Fic (Megatron/Starscream; Optimus Prime/Ratchet)

megatronstillright (RHplus) for smoketopus: [G1] Art (Galvatron & Rodimus)

mostly-him for noritaro: [IDW1] Art (Blurr)

mxbenz for ivycorp: [TFP] Fic (NSFW) (Megatron/Orion Pax & Megatron/Optimus Prime)

noamalvaro for [Anonymous]: [IDW1] Fic (Orion Pax/Shockwave; Optimus Prime/Shockwave)

noodleblade for salicinalis: [IDW1] Fic (Drift & Rodimus)

noritaro for bassomega: [IDW1] Art (Starscream/Deadlock)

nuclearjacks for lush-specimen: [IDW1] Art (Thunderclash/Rodimus)

ohdeariemegoodness for Languidly: [G1] Fic (NSFW) (Jazz/Soundwave)

OverlordRaax for hapships: [Cyberverse] Art (Windblade/Slipstream)

pika (pikaisragingmad) for darksidekelz: [IDW1] Art (Deadlock & Drift)

pika (pikaisragingmad) for glasspunk: [IDW1] Art (Overlord/Tarn)

plainblackcanvas56 for martinthelanlockedmartian: [G1] Art (Megatron/Optimus Prime)

radiolovebot (StereoMinded) for thenamesblurrito: [Soup] Fic (Blurr)

rcxdirectrix for pikaisragingmad: [Cyberverse] Art (NSFW) (Astrotrain & Dead End)

rinovarka for lyumera: [G1] Art (Starscream)

rodimusofficial for noamalvaro: [IDW1] Art (Brainstorm/Perceptor)

rotorarc for bunny-fair: [IDW2] Art (Shadow Striker, Flamewar, Slipstream)

salicinalis for inkfamy: [Soup] Fic (Skywarp, Starscream & Thundercracker)

skidblast for jedipati (letslipthehounds): [TFA] Fic (Optimus Prime & Sari Sumdac & Isaac Sumdac)

Slyboots for rcxdirectrix: [Cyberverse] Fic (NSFW) (Astrotrain/Dead End)

smoketopus for starsh0ck: [TFA] Art (Starscream & Sari Sumdac)

spartyll for Insecuriosity: [BW] Art (Rattrap & Dinobot)

spashahoney for mal-co-holic: [IDW1] Art (Megatron/Rodimus)

starsh0ck for jayspilledink: [IDW1] Art (Ratchet/Drift/Rodimus)

Stynamo for Slyboots: [TFP] Art (NSFW) (Knock Out/Breakdown)

sturthepotofmadness for awesomepotato16: [G1] Art (Optimus Prime)

swagrez for toasty-teddy: [IDW1] Art (Cyclonus/Tailgate)

Synchros for swervesbar: [IDW1] Art (NSFW) (Chromedome/Rewind)

theblueblazes for seekertrine: [G1] Art (Skyfire/Starscream)

thesharmat for deadlysoupy: [Cyberverse] Art (Rodimus, Cheetor & Bumblebee)

Toasty-teddy for friedfriedchicken: [IDW1] Art (Chromedome/Rewind)

undergroundoil for argoxnautilus: [IDW1] Art (Nightbeat, Nautica & Skids)

utility-cavities for ohdeariemegoodness(spacecoats): [G1] Art (Soundwave & Jazz)

vitrificvitrol for bluecookiesabi: [IDW1] Art (NSFW) (Thunderclash/Rodimus)

xenonmalachite for graymercy: [IDW1] Art (Minimus Ambus & Rodimus)

yesnomaybelobster (Bremmatron33) for final-milf-ratchet: [G1] Fic (NSFW) (Cliffjumper/Mirage)

[vanillaxmochi]

Mom said it's my turn to make a Ladyformer

Guess who pulled an all-nighter working on a silly little model because the idea of continuing until after I had woken up was not an option? ahahahahahahahaha (kill me)

Anyway seeing the Bishoujo Bumblebee Figure reminded me how much I love the concept of turning a Giant Alien Robot into a Cute Anime Girl (to quote a friend of mine: “more metallic Creatures should be turned into cute anime girls honestly”) and I wanted to try my own hand at it. Naturally Drift was my victim, because who else would I choose?

She’s still in a semi-WIP stage but far enough along that I can show her off. I want to add some armor onto her right arm, plus find some tabi for her (if I play my cards right, I can make them thigh highs!) and I might shorten up the skirt, as well as see if I can find an ahoge to give her (top of the head’s looking a little bland ngl)

Drift has a total of 9 added morphs, including the two seen in the preview. She has morphs to change her eye color to either red and yellow, any of those eye colors can glow, morphs for either a set of cat ears or a fox mask (I plan on adding morphs for rabbit and fox ears as well), she can take out her earrings, a simple halo based the “Unreliable Narrator” panels (sparkles have yet to be added), the halo can glow and the transparent skirt layer can be removed

There are plans to make a matching Deadlock model, as well as a pre-war based one. I might put Drift-chan up for distribution, but we’ll see how she looks and the rules for each part when I’m finished

RENDER CREDITS Model: TDA, Vanilla Mochi Pose: ConConCocoa MME: ミーフォ茜 Background Pattern: Shishi2011

MODEL CREDITS Base: TDA, jjinomu Head: TDA, OBSESSCORIC Hair: Illusion Cat Ears: デメキッパ Top: OverHit, FiveIdentities Obi: 金子 Skirt: Tehrainbowllama Geta: 3DCG, amiamy111, ColorsOfOrion Earrings: Vanilla Mochi Fox Mask: Meovvsotis Halo: Vanilla Mochi Skin Texture: MijumaruNr1 Eye Texture: Relomi SPH: ノゲ, 待つ, oe

[phlebaswrites]

International Fanworks Day 2023: When Fandoms Collide

Happy International Fanworks Day 2023!

I've made two lists for International Fanworks Day this year and, just like last year, one is a list of my own works and the other is a list of works I'd recommend.

They're fairly long lists so I'm putting them under a cut.

My Stories

The Arrow Does Not Dream

The world doesn't need a hero.

It needs a professional.

A fusion with The Witcher.

Founders Fairy Tales

Fusions of various Disney Princesses with the Founders from Naruto.

Almost all the princesses are here, except for Pocahontas - because cultural appropriation - and Tiana - because I have never seen that film. I did Frozen instead.

None of the stories are more than 2,200 words and most of them are a lot less.

The Closing of Our Shared Narrative

A Jedi and a Sith can never be friends, everyone knows this.

Everyone is wrong.

A fusion between Naruto and Star Wars.

To Seek (and Find)

Kisame had a dream.

He’s determined to get it back.

A fusion between Naruto and Inception.

Created Monsters

To step into a Jaeger is to Drift.

To become one of two.

A fusion between Naruto and Pacific Rim.

Ring Cow Bell Ring!

Everyone agrees that Konoha Farms produces the best fruit, cheese, and wine.

It’s just their methods that are questionable.

A fusion between Naruto and Harvest Moon.

Waddle Giggle Gargle Paddle Poodle!

Sometimes, there are dinosaurs.

(Where you least expect them.)

A fusion between Naruto and Jurassic Park.

Senju Sauropods

Hashirama is not your usual dinosaur.

He makes a friend.

A fusion between Naruto, The Good Dinosaur and Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon.

The Secret Lives of Marilyn and Susan Short

Mary Sue Maybe.

A fandom crossing take on The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

My Recommendations - Naruto

Defense Against The Dark Arts With Professor Umino by AvocadoLove

Crossover with Harry Potter.

Book 5 AU: With no witch or wizard willing to take the Defense Against The Dark Arts job except Umbridge, Dumbledore is forced to look elsewhere.

He hires a shinobi.

Fire and Water by AvocadoLove

Fusion with Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Waterbender Sifu Iruka meets firebending Commander Kakashi during the Siege of The North.

oh, but the revelation of stardust by PandaFlower

Crossover with the Marvel Cinematic Universe

What is the world coming to when goddamn aliens give me sympathetic looks about paperwork? It was boggling. Infuriating. Maybe, a smidge validating. Nick Fury resisted the urge to swear and check over his shoulder in case Murphy was lurking.

Not that this Senju Tobirama was their typical extraterrestrial, oh no, guy had to come from a separate dimension in addition to being from a different planet.

My first introduction to Tobirama and I fell in love instantly.

Moon Fish and Qilin by Good_Grief

Fusion with Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Izuna has been hunting for months, following whispers of a legend. All of the stories have led him to this place where the Moon Fish resides, all he needs to do is catch it.

Idiots Of Unusual Size by Asuka Kureru (Askerian)

Fusion with His Dark Materials.

Madara's daemon settled early.

Hashirama's daemon did not. Momo-kun was not settled when they met and he did not settle when Hashirama was thirteen and getting caught at the river. He didn't settle when they were fourteen on their first real battlefield, either, and while Madara and Kuyuri felt relieved that they had thus far escaped meeting on the field of battle, they could not help a gnawing ache of curiosity. What was he going to be? A bear, dangerous but only in it for the honey? Some slow, well-natured, well-horned cattle? A squirrel?

"Not quick-witted enough for that one," Kuyuri would say sarcastically, "but otherwise!" and Madara would half-heartedly chide her.

My Recommendations - Inception

What Dreams May Come by MarbleGlove

Crossover with Highlander.

Methos' mind is not one you'd want to be stuck in, aka the inception team attempts extraction on Adam Pierson.

Thicker Water by pprfaith

Crossover with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Arthur and Natasha rarely make it to their Gamma's birthday, but business keeps them in touch.

In Duty Homeward Shall We Fly by toomuchplor

Crossover with 3rd Rock from the Sun.

Arthur had been on this planet for nearly fourteen years now and everyone still insisted on treating him like a child.

Lions and Tigers by Starlingthefool

Crossover with Calvin & Hobbes.

"What were you like as a kid?” Eames asks him.

“Quiet,” Arthur says. “I lived in my head a lot. You?”

“I did too,” Eames replies. “Only I was never quiet about it.”

A story about growing up, sort of.

The Boy Who Spoke With Ghosts by AvocadoLove

Crossover with The Sixth Sense.

No one suspects Arthur. He's too practical, too organized, too sensible to believe in the supernatural.

Based on the kink meme prompt: Arthur's real name is Cole Sear.

dream a dream (and what you see will be) by Mizzy

Crossover with Die unendliche Geschichte (Neverending Story).

Eames has always said Arthur has no imagination and should dream a little bigger. The problem is, Arthur's dreams might be the most dangerous place to be on the planet. And when their latest job forces them to recreate Fantasia, and Arthur's secret past unravels alongside it, Cobb's team might be about to find the answer to the Neverending Story...

Two-minute warning by Trojie

Crossover with RED.

Eames tries to warn Arthur there's a price on his head.

Skybird by windsweptfic

Crossover with White Collar.

Arthur and Eames adopt a kid and raise that kid into Neal Caffrey.

secretly a reef rat by templemarker

Crossover with Hawaii Five-0.

Arthur is Steve’s brother.

My Recommendations - X-Men

The People Who Stand By You by pallorsomnium

Crossover with Wanted.

aka "In which Charles actually has a twin brother, who now wants to kick Erik's ass"

Wesley didn’t want much out of life, but what he wanted the most was for Charles and Raven to be safe and happy.

So he was rightfully displeased when he heard the message left on his emergency line, and by someone distinctly not Charles or Raven.

From Westminster With Love by thehoyden

Crossover with Sherlock.

NATO intelligence says there’s an omega-class telepath who sleeps under Westminster. Major Erik Lehnsherr is about to find out the truth for himself.

I've only done lists for three of my favourite fandoms so feel free to hit me up if you want more recs!

[avoidghost]

Drift bishoujo-former design cus I can 😅

Did a slightly Deadlock color alt too ☺️💖

[whereyoursoulresides]

I did it! I finally finished writing this chapter! I’m so sorry it took ages; it has 4 different scenes so it was a bit tricky to be in the right zone for all four of them! I hope you all enjoy!

As usual, link goes to A03, or you can also read under the cut! 

Chapter Summary: After their first fight, Izou senses Kunihiro has withdrawn. His anxieties take him all over Tokyo, where he bumps into someone who seems strangely familiar.

“Thank you, we’ll let you know if we’re interested.”

Izou accepted the resume graciously and thanked the man for his time. As soon as he had left the establishment and was greeted with the open air, Izou couldn’t help but let out a groan. 

“What a waste of time,” he moaned to himself, crossing The Jazz Heart off his list. 

With another annoyed sigh, Izou ran a hand through his bangs. He had only a few resumes and business cards left, and had to choose wisely. To remain in the area would mean applying to more businesses in which he had little experience: high-end jewelry and retail outlets, flower shops, or elegant dinner venues. A wistful part of him had even hoped to win a position at the up-and-coming jazz bar, despite his lack of official musical experience.

“I should have known better,” Izou muttered to himself, as he scanned the list and chewed on his knuckle absently.  “As if I actually know anything about any of those things…”

But, as quickly as that thought came, another arrived. It rose from his gut, soft and illustrious but tenacious in its roots.

But you do, this voice whispered, echoing into his bones. You would know better than most.

As loudly as he could, Izou tried to squash the voice. 

“Let’s try further afield!” he announced, trying to pep himself up. So long as it wasn’t as far as the coffee shop from last year, anything would be reasonable. With a newfound sense of determination, Izou stuffed the list back into his pocket, and marched off.

---

As Izou meandered his way through the city, however, he found himself struggling to concentrate. At every coffee shop and bakery, his mind would drift to his home: the empty apartment, in which he and Kunihiro had been regularly in and out of since their first “fight”.

It hadn’t been an easy few days since that fateful interaction. Although neither of them had spoken of the incident again, the apartment had fallen with an unusual hush. Izou couldn’t tell how much of the quiet was due to their usual mismatched schedules, or if Kunihiro was intentionally avoiding him. The only exchange they regularly had was Izou handing a daily lunch box to Kunihiro. The man always accepted it with a nod, but Izou couldn’t help but notice that Kunihiro’s eyes never met his.

I’m reading too much into this, Izou scolded himself, as he rounded the corner to yet another hopeful location. This one, like the others, was a bit of a long shot. Izou had seen ads for this particular milkshake shop flash in all his magazines. It was new, hip, and set to open later this month. Izou hoped that by coming here early, he could convince the owner to hire him as part of the opening staff. 

After checking the address once more, he stepped back to take a better look at the establishment. 

Starlight Parfaits...

The windows were a slick shade of dark purple, gradually transparent like the facets of an amethyst. Posters of dark chocolate sundaes, fruity gradients, and swirly sorbets hung like pillars between the windows.  As Izou tilted his head, he tried to gauge his feelings about this particular place. Even though it was so new, there was something about it that seemed strangely familiar. In addition, strangely comforting. Izou could see himself regularly popping up in a place like this.

Deciding it was worth a shot, Izou readied his resume. However, just as he was about to knock on the door, he caught sight of a familiar silhouette. Curious, Izou lowered his hand.

Past the bustling workmen and supervisors, a man and a woman were chatting behind the main counter. Although she had her back to the door, the woman was significantly shorter, and so Izou could see past her stature to the man towering over her. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and handsome. A cloud of dark curls cascaded down his back. Despite his rising heartbeat, Izou squinted closer. Where did he know this man…?

Suddenly, as though the man had sensed his presence, his head jerked up. 

For the briefest moment, their eyes locked. Bright ivy green and startling cerulean were frozen in time. However, as soon as the man shifted from the counter, Izou recoiled back. When the shadow began to solidify closer and closer to the door, Izou bolted from the corner as fast as his feet would carry him.

By the time the man had arrived at the door and opened it, all that remained of Izou’s presence was his resume and business card, lying motionless on the sidewalk. 

---

It seemed ages before Izou’s feet began to slow down. The echoes of the pavement pounding were comforting; as if each step could breach him further from the dread that was rising within him. When he felt he had gained enough distance, Izou stumbled to a halt, crouching down to regain his breath.

Just great, he thought, as he gulped air with his hands on his knees. On top of everything else, he hadn’t needed this. Although deep in his gut he knew who that man was, Izou was forcing all his focus to stave the recognition at bay. Think of anything else, he kept telling himself. We are not going to open this box.

When his lungs were eventually functioning normally again, Izou finally collapsed onto a nearby bench. With the adrenaline wearing off, the heaviness of regret began to sag in. Defeated, Izou hung his head in hands, trying to hold himself together. His messenger bag knocked hollowly against the seat, his silken love-charm dangling silently.

I wish Kunzite-sama would talk to me, Izou finally whispered. 

The name almost brought tears to Izou’s eyes, which he angrily pushed away with his sleeve. That name was so precious, so miraculous, yet as forbidden and dangerous as cursed treasure. To own it would be an elixir, the saving grace from the danger of the ghost that lived inside him. But to touch it at all was to unleash the rest of the monsters from their prisons, to drown in fool's gold in a cave of wonders. 

The past doesn’t matter, Izou kept telling himself. We have a new life. A real life.

But how can it be real, a different voice asked, if you’ll never know the truth?

Letting out a frustrated groan, Izou buried his face in his hands again. If only there was someone else he could talk to. Some higher power who could understand the nuances he was struggling with. Izou didn’t consider himself particularly religious, but at this point, he couldn’t think of anything else to turn to. What human could possibly help him navigate adjusting his first real relationship, a spotty memory of an equally questionable past, and possibly some supernatural elements thrown in the mix?  

At that moment, Izou felt something brush against his cheek. As he looked up, he thought he saw a pink petal float out of the corner of his eye. How strange, he thought. Cherry blossom season wasn’t set to open for another month…

But that’s when he realized where he was. Before him stood an immense stone staircase, lined with green cherry blossom trees that lined its ascent. As Izou’s gaze slowly drew to the top, the grand majesty of the temple slowly dawned to view. It was the same temple he and Kunihiro had visited on his birthday. 

Before he knew it, Izou began to slowly make his way up to the temple once more. 

---

When he arrived at its peak, Izou was dismayed to see that the temple grounds were practically deserted. Not a single attendant could be found, and Izou didn’t feel entirely comfortable approaching the grand establishment on his own. Biting his lip, he unhooked the enmusubi from his messenger bag. Perhaps if nothing else, he could find someone to buy a new one from…

Come back in six month’s time, or when the charm has run out, the attendant had said. Izou gazed upon the charm agonizingly. Only three months had passed, and with Izou’s love and care, the enmusubi practically looked as good as new. Its magic, if he believed in such things, should still be working…

But this isn’t an ordinary situation, Izou thought desperately, closing his eyes. Maybe I should try something more powerful…

“Can I help you?”

Startled, Izou opened his eyes. An attendant with yellow-blond hair had opened the door to the temple, and was stepping out with a broomstick in hand. From this distance, Izou thought he recognized him, but he wasn’t sure from where.

“I’m just hoping to say a little prayer,” Izou answered, but his voice was distant as he struggled to place this man in his memories. His gait, his serious, slightly condescending voice. The way his bangs hung over his eyes, as though he didn’t really want to meet Izou’s gaze unless necessary. How his short hair was the color of summer wheat, or freshly ripened corn.

Without looking up at Izou, the attendant began to sweep briskly. 

“That enmusubi isn’t meant to work overnight,” he answered matter-of-factly. “Trust in it, and let it do its work.”

Although Izou understood where the man was coming from, he couldn’t help but feel uncertain as he glanced back down at the omamori in his hand.

“I just need a little more help,” Izou whispered. “Or maybe a different type of luck…?”

The attendant sighed shortly and paused in his sweeping. Suddenly, he turned to face Izou straight-on, and Izou was startled to see his features so clearly. Though he had boyishly handsome cheeks, they contrasted so sharply with the seriousness of his bright blue eyes. 

“With all due respect,” the attendant said bluntly, “praying for change is a waste of your energy.”

Once more, Izou was taken aback with the man’s words. “Excuse me?” was all he could say.

The attendant didn’t look impressed, but he also seemed to understand that Izou wasn’t going to absorb his advice immediately. 

“Praying only gets you so far,” he explained, gesturing to the charm. “And the omamori can only do so much. The rest is up to you, and your own effort to actively do something about your problem.”

Izou eventually closed his fingers over the amulet. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew the man was right in principle. Even if magic was real, it wasn’t as if Izou could summon such powers to bury away the obstacles that laid before him, or force Kunihiro to open up to him. The only thing he could do was to rely on himself - his own bravery, tenacity, and quick-thinking. He looked back at the man, whose sky-blue eyes remained steadfast. 

“What if I’m doing all I can,” Izou finally asked, “but the other person isn’t responding?”

The attendant’s expression hardly changed.

“How do you know they aren’t?” 

Izou blinked. “Er, well…” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. ”They haven’t exactly talked to me about it. How would anyone solve a problem if they don’t even discuss it?”

“People process things in different ways,” the attendant shrugged. “Just because they’re not talking about it doesn’t mean they’re not working on it.” 

It took a moment for Izou to process the man’s words, which seemed to have been spoken from a place of personal experience. Speaking came so naturally to Izou that it was hard for him to imagine anyone struggling with it, much less Kunihiro, who seemed so eloquent when he did speak. But perhaps that’s what Izou had been seeing all this time: a perfect facet, polished from practice. 

He looked really upset, Izou recalled from their fight. Perhaps that night he had stumbled upon a crack, and Izou had not given Kunihiro enough time to address it before calling it to attention. Maybe the crack even ran deeper than it first appeared. But Izou understood now that it was unlikely for Kunihiro to trust him with it again so soon. Izou would have to earn it.

Slowly, Izou tilted his head at the attendant, gauging him up and down. Although there was something familiar about him, the sensation was entirely unthreatening. There were no shadows or pinpricks of dread, no echoes of ghosts. Instead, the man felt like a safe harbor, a neutral impasse. Izou decided then and there that this man was a friend.

“What’s your name?” Izou asked. “I’m Kozakura Izou.” He nodded respectfully. “A pleasure to meet you.”

The man blinked at him, as though he hadn’t expected Izou to be so forward. Eventually responded with a nod in kind.

“Daito, Jay,” the attendant answered. “Same to you.”

---

Upon his return home, Izou felt much better. Although his discussion with Jay hadn’t solved his various problems immediately, it certainly lightened Izou’s emotional load considerably. It was still early days yet, and Izou had faith in his self-efficacy to navigate himself around Kunihiro. He had made it this far, after all. They could talk about all that messy stuff when the time was right.

“I’m home,” he sang habitually as he stepped inside. As he hung up his items, he was surprised to see that Kunihiro was indeed home. There was a pot stewing quietly on the stove, and the smell of sweet curry wafted around him like a hug. From around the corner, Kunihiro appeared.

“Welcome home,” he greeted. “How was your day?”

“Good,” Izou chirped back. He decided it wasn’t worth telling Kunihiro about his worries from earlier that day. This was the first the man had spoken to him since their fight, and Izou wasn’t going to ruin it with something he could solve himself. “How was yours?” 

Kunihiro passed Izou his lunchbox, all wrapped up in its fabric. Izou blushed when he realized he had accidentally sent Kunihiro to work with a pattern dotted entirely with flowers. He hoped he hadn’t embarrassed Kunihiro.

“Good,” Kunihiro answered. He looked like he was about to say something else, then quickly changed his mind.

“Why don’t you get yourself settled. I’ll plate for you and we’ll eat on the sofa.”

Izou smiled as Kunihiro went to busy himself with their curries. This was the most normal and relaxed they had felt in some time. When Kunihiro disappeared around the corner, Izou slid open the knot to sort out the lunchbox. Since Kunihiro was a much better cook, Izou was happy to do the cleaning.

Upon opening the lunchbox, however, he discovered it had already been cleaned. Not only that, but a single pink rose laid in its center. His heart warming, Izou slowly brought it up close. 

This is his apology, Izou realized, his eyes closing. He just needed some time.

With the lunchbox and the rest of Izou’s things put away, he hurried to join his partner in the living room. As he tumbled into Kunihiro’s side on the sofa, he flung his arms around his partner and pressed a chaste kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you,” he said, referring to the rose. “It’s a lovely gift.”

Whatever tension Kunihiro had been reserving seemed to evaporate with relief.

“I know I’ve been a bit distant lately,” he murmured quietly. “I’ve just needed some time to think.”

“I know,” Izou said, resting his head on the crook of Kunzite’s shoulder. 

“But I wanted you to know my affections have never changed,” Kunihiro continued quietly. “To me, you are…” The most important, but somehow Kunzite couldn’t finish the sentence. It felt like making a deathly promise, a vow to beckon fate to break. “My care for you will always remain the same.”

Izou beamed and gave his partner a big, tight hug, before unwinding his arms and settling in next to him.

“Don’t worry, I know,” he said cheerfully, as he picked up his plate from the coffee table. “So long as we have time together like this, nothing else matters to me.” He curled up his knees and looked up at his partner. “I know how you feel, Kunihiro-sama.”

A great weight seemed to have been lifted from the room, and Kunihiro’s smile rose along with it. Reassured, he even turned on the stereo so they could enjoy some quiet, easy listening.

“Thank you for understanding,” he murmured quietly as they began to tuck into their food.

“No worries,” Izou replied, around a mouthful of rice. “Just don’t forget about the special days, you know? Those are the best days to spend some time together.”

“I promise I won’t forget.”

[recentanimenews]

The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend, Vol. 1

By Kennoji and Fly. Released in Japan as “Chikan Saresou ni Natteiru S-kyuu Bishoujo wo Tasuketara Tonari no Seki no Osananajimi datta” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sergio Avila.

I have not read the two other series that this author has out in English. Hazure Skill and Drugstore in Another World are both in genres that I’m gradually trying to read less of. But ‘syrupy sweet high school romance’ is still a relatively new genre in English-translated light novels. Honestly, the marketplace changes a lot these days, and yesterday’s down and outs are today’s up and comers. Remember 15 years ago when we all said sports manga was impossible to license? Even just five years ago I was saying that you couldn’t get a LN title licensed unless it had some sort of fantasy or supernatural plotline in it. But now here we are. That said, to be honest I picked this up because of the artist. Fly is best known here for Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, and this is in the same basic genre. That said, the two books are doing different things. Tomozaki is a deconstruction. This book is what it deconstructs.

Ryou is a typical light novel romance protagonist: nondescript, doesn’t have many friends, school skipper, thinks of himself in terrible ways. One day on the train he sees a girl being groped by a salaryman, and decides to make a scene and get the guy caught. Later, in school, it turns out that he’s sitting next to said girl in class… and that it’s Hina, his childhood friend. They had been inseparable in grade school, but in middle school she got super gorgeous and popular, and he got more self-conscious and so they drifted apart. But while he may have mostly forgotten about her, she certainly hasn’t forgotten about him. As the book goes on, Ryou starts to notice that Hina is asking to walk home with him, and making him food, and asking him out on dates. Does this mean… she has feelings for him? Nah, let’s not overthink this.

As always with this genre, whether you can tolerate it or not depends how much you like ‘oblivious’ teenage boys. I’d say it was unrealistic except I was also a teenage boy, and no, it really is this bad. That said, at least the series gets a confession out of the way by the end of the first book, even if it leads to “I’m not sure how I feel about you”. Hina is cute, and the reader is meant to understand her frustration with Ryou and sympathize, and it works pretty well. I also loved Ryou’s younger sister Mana, who does not have a shred of the standard “younger sister of the protagonist” character to her and is quite happy wingmanning for her brother, though buying condoms for him turns out to be a mistake. (There’s no sex in this book, sorry to disappoint. Everyone’s very pure.) And the love rival role is handled pretty well, as she’s good at analyzing Ryou and Hina and knows that’s why she doesn’t really have a chance.

There’s nothing outstanding about this book, and it doesn’t have a good gimmick like Tomozaki. But it’s decently written, and there are no terrible people in it yet. If you like the genre of “pretty girl tries to get guy to admit that someone might actually like him and it’s her”, this is a good one to try.

By: Sean Gaffney

[gingersmiith]

alt!

Send me “alt!” and I’ll introduce you to a character I’ve rped in the past, want to play in the future or are currently playing somewhere else!

Featuring: Jadeite from Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon!

He drifted in a dreamless nothingness, only vaguely aware of even existing. Proto-thought came slowly, if at all, as if his mind were somewhere between sleep and death.

But even in his semiconscious state, he could sense power: The giant-but-weak pulse of Metallia and the smaller, stronger beacon that was his Queen; Kunzite's desert sands, Zoisite's snow-capped mountains, Nephrite's star-flecked forests. Further away, flickering like candles, he could sense water, fire, and the weak reflection of the Moon's power. Even further than that, metal.

The forest moved, then was felled. The mountain followed, and lightning grew from nowhere. The metal joined the other candles, and the mountain collapsed. Roses sprang up around him, to be overpowered by the Moon's renewed glow.

The desert blew away, and then one by one, lightning, water, metal, and fire went out. The roses withered, and Metallia's pulse suddenly overwhelmed and merged with Beryl's--

And Jadeite blinked.

He tried to move but couldn't --

"I have discovered the identities of the Sailor Senshi!" "Excuses are unbecoming! Sleep for eternity!"

Sheer hatred rolled off him in waves, and the spell encasing him cracked.

He stared in shock -- that was all he could do -- and then he realised that while he remembered, flickers of water, fire, lightning, and metal had all rekindled.

That power joined with the overwhelming silver of the moon, which then overran Beryl-Metallia--

Jadeite thumped to the floor of Beryl's throne room. Disoriented, he tried to look around only to find he lacked the strength. 

Pink light that stank of the Moon Kingdom surrounded him, and Jadeite panicked.

Magically gathering as much energy from the oncoming rush as he could, he teleported as far as he could from D-Point just as the pink light consumed Beryl's throne room.

[bwprowl]

Toy Nerd Super Bowl weekend hits and leaves me with the biggest amount of stuff I have to write about all year! The one-two punch of Toy Fair and Winter WonFes bring a boatload of reveals of all kinds, and I'll be running down everything I thought was remotely cool or interesting (and I'll still probably forget a few things along the way). Don't worry about overhyping ourselves too much on the distant future though, since I'll also get a look at some stuff you can pre-order right now, including Kirbys, cartoons, former exclusives, and a little video game you might have heard of called Overwatch. Then we finish this round of exciting drinks with a classic Iron Man chaser. So get comfortable friends, because it's the biggest Tuesday Night of the year for Toys!

New Stuff: All's Fair

Toy Fair was first up on Saturday this weekend, and it felt a little bigger, like there was more cool stuff that appealed to me at this one than last year. As I did then, I'm just gonna go off piecemeal about each cool thing I saw in no particular order:

QMX, whom I mostly know for those little chibi figure things, are expanding their licenses from superheroes. This will include a nice statue of the Planet Express ship from Futurama, as well as a Q-Fig of Pinky and the Brain (who don't have enough modern merchandise)!

The Loyal Subjects also look to expand their tiny-toy lineup, in this case doing Mega Man figures, and miraculously NOT just starting with the MM1 cast! As well as Bass and Treble, they'll also be doing X (in armor) and Sigma.

Speaking of that sort of branching out, Cryptozoic will be doing Street Fighter figurines in the style of their mini-DC-Bombshells, and this will include a few non-SFII characters. Most notably this includes Ibuki, and makes me excited for who else they might get to.

And while on the subject of Street Fighter, Bluefin was also their doing their part to show off Bandai's import lines (Bandai notably doesn't have much of a presence at WonFes, so don't look for them below), including Tamashii's expanding SF Figuarts line. This includes Rashid and Cammy, thankfully branching off the previously-unsurprising Ryu and Chun-Li. They had a poll up on their web-site, apparently, for the next one, and you know I'm crossing my fingers for Karin.

Mezco's One:12 Collective line had plenty of their always-tempting stuff on display, most importantly their anticipated Popeye figure, who cuts that perfect blend of detailed and cartoony that Mezco has nailed on other toys like their Space Ghost.

Big Chief Studios will notably be releasing replicas of the puppets from the original Thunderbirds, a series that I'm continuously surprised always seems to get merch of some kind out.

Marvel Select had the main thing I wanted to see from them: Their GOTG2 Star-Lord. There are a ton of different versions of this guy coming out thanks to the hype for this movie, but after hearing about this, I figured it would probably be my definitive choice, and seeing it in person did not disappoint.

Marvel Select will also be doing their own version of Spider-Gwen, but...see below before you make a decision on that one.

They'll also be putting out a Kotobukiya Bishoujo statue of Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel, and she looks...not as affected by the Bishoujo line's stylings as you might have feared. Seriously, she clearly has a spine and everything, she looks pretty great and adorable!

NECA had one of the most absurd reveals of the weekend, announcing that they'll be selling a puppet version of Ash from Evil Dead! This thing is unapologetically done up in the recognizable Muppet style, and even sports the adorable moniker of 'Ashy Slashy'. I'll always appreciate how (not) seriously this series takes itself.

Playmates showed off their impressively-expanding Ninja Turtles line, including that they're finally doing Usagi Yojimbo! They also had Turtles in samurai armor, which mainly just served to give me traumatic flashbacks to Ninja Turtles III (handily NOT the best thing to wear the subtitle 'Turtles in Time').

The big thing I was looking forward to seeing from Playmates was more of their Voltron line, and it did NOT disappoint. First things first: They are doing action figures of ALL of the Paladins in their armor, along with Zarkon! They look great, and I'm probably going to get all of them. I really hope they get around to Allura and Coran afterwards. There's also a figure of the second Robeast (that rad laser-eye chameleon guy) coming out, as I'd hoped. 

Further, they're gonna be doing smaller, die-cast-constructed toys of the Lions that combine, so if the giant/expensive Legendary Lions were too much for you, these should be a delightful desk-size alternative. I'm even more excited for this line than I was a few months ago.

Along with their Power Rangers stuff, Bandai dropped a big surprise: Dragon Ball Z Dragon Stars, a western-focused line of 6-inch detailed DBZ figures. That's right, it's Dragonball in the Marvel Legends model, complete with a Build-A-Figure Shenron, and they look pretty good, all told! They'll be starting with the usual lineup of a couple Gokus, a couple Vegetas, and some bad guys (or whatever Beerus is now), so nothing I'm chomping at the bit myself (though a cheap Final Form Frieza is tempting), but there's a lot of appeal in wondering where Bandai of America will go with these if the line continues for a while. They certainly seem more likely to give us guys like Yajirobe or the Ginyu Force than the Figuarts line.

Hasbro's Star Wars line was there gearing up for Episode VIII at the end of this year, but understandably couldn't yet show off anything too specifically from that movie. They did have some new figures on display (Thrawn getting a release in the 3.75" line is certainly notable) but the most interesting tidbit to me was the Black Series line going to vintage-inspired cardbacks. I've always liked this packaging, and they look pretty darn good in this case. Certainly more eye-catching on the shelf than the, well, black packaging.

The 'Bro's Marvel lineup was also looking pretty great. They had their newest Legends lineups, including one with Jim Lee Cyclops, Disco Dazzler, and friggin' Shatterstar (god I am such a 90's kid). 

They also had a Spider-Man Legends lineup that included Tombstone! Their 3.75" line included such gems as the current (awesome) Spider-Man 2099 costume, the new Wolverine, and even a comic version of Jessica Jones (still need to watch that show). They'll also be putting out a pack with the classic versions of the Sinister Six!

And then of course there were the Transformers reveals. The Last Knight looks more and more like a movie I hope is good, since there's a lot of cool toys in there. We're getting a new Voyager-class mold for Scorn (one of the more memorable Dinobot designs from the last movie) as well as a retooled Drift, a new Hound, and new prospective money-making mascot Sqweeks. I still hate that name with a fiery passion, but I'll be damned if the little bastard's toy doesn't actually look pretty cool! 

The biggest reveal in the mainline though, and one of the surprise winners of the whole show, was actually the Leader-class toy of the new Megatron design! Turning into a big, badass jet and sporting a sick-looking sword, a flamethrower with attachable fire effects and some amazing detailing including a flip-up faceplate, this thing quickly shot to the top of my need list. It's just such a well-realized design that also works great as an actual toy. I hope the 'street date' for movie toys actually works out this year, since I could need to get one of these things on day one.

They'll also be releasing these Tiny Turbo Changers, little blind-packed SD figures of various movie characters that transform. There's a Starscream. I'm going to need it.

The RID15 line also packed a few surprises, surprisingly! The Team Combiners, like the ones we saw teased of Bumblebee's team and what appeared to be Menasor, will feature figures that all have individual transformations, simple as they are, and combinations that I *think* have some auto-transformation to them, similar to the Crash Combiners that just recently came out. They could end up like advanced versions of the ol' Power Core Combiners, and will even feature a Robots-in-Disguise-style Cyclonus turning into Galvatronus, which I guess is just a thing Cyclonus does now!

Finally the Generations reveals. Hasbro's really going all-out on us this year, knocking Titans Return even further out of the park than they already had, somehow. The big revelation was seeing Trypticon in person, and finding out everything he does. This includes Full-Tilt being a fully-fledged Deluxe figure now (and a Headmaster to boot), to his vehicular altmode being reimagined as a Nemesis-style starship, to him having a delightful Titan Master 'eating' gimmick that actually deposits the little dudes in his tummy jail, which is way more fun a thing than I was expecting!

We also got to see Overlord, finally, looking as bulky and boxy as I could hope (and even more extensively retooled from Black Shadow than I expected), and got confirmation of the long-suspected Octane and Blitzwing retools of Optimus and Megatron, respectively. They look great, Octane's actually got a lot of new parts (those wings) and Blitzwing gets his sword (which I was worried he might lack after Megatron didn't have it), and they look terrific together. Hasbro sold it well, having them stood together with the recent Astrotrain. There are more Deluxes and Legends on the way too, with Twin Twist expectedly retooled from Topspin (Wreckers fans rejoice!) and a whole-new mold Titan Master Windblade, with some rad-looking swords. Along with that there's the new Seaspray, who looks pretty much perfect, shipping with a rerelease of the exceptional previous Cosmos mold. All this plus a really cool retool of Shuffler into Ram Horn!

And of course there were those multi-packs we all heard about. There's two to start, and they're completely nuts. The big one is the Chaos on Velocitron set, which includes a Nautica figure retooled from Blurr. She looks very good, as she should, since the whole point is to convince MTMTE comic fans to buy the set for her. Fortunately, the rest of the set looks pretty neat too, including as it does a Rodimus Prime Titan Master head, a whole-new-mold toy of Clone Fastlane, a G2 Laser Prime-accurate redeco of the Voyager Optimus mold, and Six Shot done up as Autobot Six-Changer Quickswitch (who actually DID have a submarine mode!). The other set, Siege on Cybertron, doesn't include any comic-book darlings, but does include Takara's Super Ginrai mold (called 'Magnus Prime' here, and hopefully we'll find out what THAT'S about!), appropriately accompanied by Metalhawk made from Triggerhappy, plus Broadside recolored as Armada Tidal Wave, another new mold as the Clone Pounce, and a Titan Master of Thunderwing's head. Whew! I don't know exactly when these things are coming out, but I'll be totally ready to break the bank for them.

Really feels like Hasbro pulled out all the stops on these, they're practically BotCon level!

And that was just the first half of Saturday! After that, the evening brought WonFes, and all the surprises it could bring. There's likewise a ton of stuff here, and I know I'll miss some stuff, so let's just get on to it:

Oh god where do I even start

I don't fully know what this Dark Advent thing from Alphamax and Saitom is, but it's giving us this rad posable toy of this girl with a big smashin' arm, so I'll take it.

F-Toys will be releasing a line of various nudibranches! They actually look really pretty and well-detailed!

Alter will be doing a statue of Nikumi from Food Wars, a character it's really stunning I don't own a figure of myself yet (still holding out for a figma, really). This one looks good though, I at least like it better than the earlier Kotobukiya version.

Similarly, Di Molto Bene has a statue coming out of the only Girls und Panzer girl that ever caught my eye, Anchovie! She's eatin' spaghetti!

Anchovie's also getting a Cu-Poche. I'll have to go in for a toy of this character at some point, I guess.

The Super Master Stars Piece line of Dragonball statues will be doing the main characters, and they all look pretty standardly nice but-WOAH! This 2D style Vegeta is something else, something worth keeping an eye on.

Craneking appears to be making prize figures based on those infamous 'cutaway' images of the various classic Kamen Riders, starting with #1 (can't wait to see this one painted).

We're also getting a line of 'Cuter's' Rider figures in SD style, including #1 (or it could be #2) both by himself and on a bike, along with perpetual Mr. Popular Den-O, and current main Rider Ex-Aid.

1000Toys will be releasing this robot that turns into a box, appropriately named 'Robox'.

Megahouse's Desktop Army line is one I haven't kept up with, but the newest set, Dragoon, looks very appealing to me. I might like to get at least one or two from this one.

Speaking of build-up boxed toys, Aoshima will be releasing the 'DJ Booth Collection', letting you construct your own mixer and turntable setup. Depending on the scale (can't quite tell from that image there) this could be a useful thing for various figures.

Sentinel's Mega Man line, not to be outdone by a dang candy toy, will finally release a Volnutt Mega Man from the Legends series. I predict that this will do...quite well, at least amongst the people I know who talk about Mega Man.

Sentinel also showed off that they'll be doing a new, amazing-looking version of Machine Robo's Baikanfu in their Metamor Force line. I still need a version of this thing someday, maybe this could be it. It could hang out with my Revenge of Cronos bots when they're not being Go-Bots.

Azone's PureNeemo character doll series will be doing at least a couple New Game characters, starting with a nice-looking Aoba they were showing off and continuing later with Hifumi (who seems to be popular with everyone except me). Hopefully they'll also get to Hajime at some point, since it's still an absolute crime that the toy-collector character doesn't yet have any toys made of her.

Azone also had a bunch of new Assault Lily figures on display. Those new brown coats are really cool looking.

The AL girls were also being used to show off Little Armory's newest releases: 1/12 scale squirtguns! Nice to see even they don't take themselves too seriously, and these look like they'd be pretty cute to have around for your figma and the like.

I wasn't quite right when I hypothesized that the next in the Figure-Rise Mechanics line would be Cell in his science tube, but I was close! It's Trunks's time machine, and it includes the hatched-out husk of Cell's first larval form.

We’ll also be getting a model kit of the AT-AT from Star Wars, and it'll notably be 1/144 in scale: just the right size to fight your Gundams!

I'm not familiar with this Aria on the Planetes thing (I'm just gonna assume it's a dating sim) but the girls being done up as statues from it sure do look pretty, so here they are.

In the spirit of Armor Girls Project, Cross Frame will be putting out a GaoGaiGar girl figure, showing that even the most hot-blooded of mecha series are not safe from the siren song of moe.

On a similarly-styled subject, I'm not sure what this VLOCKer's thing is, but the design is neat and the modular part-swapping looks fun.

Kotobukiya is going to continue their line of Pokemon statues, seemingly in no particular order, as the female Trainer from Black/White 2 is up next, and will apparently be followed by the Trainer from the FIRST Black/White. Your guess is as good as mine.

Along with whatever THIS cool-lookin' figure is!

We got to see Takara's new Big Powered GV from their Diaclone Reboot line in prototype form, and it's more huge and glorious than I could have imagined. I can't wait to see everything it can do/turn into.

The Powered Suits are also powering along with some new accessory options!

Megahouse will be doing additional Drifters in their Super Action Statue line, revealing Nobunaga and Yoichi, at least allowing you to complete the power trio of the series. Japan always needs more stuff based on Oda Nobunaga!

Kaiyodo will be partnering with Union Creative to release figures of various animals, including this great-looking posable polar bear.

Kaiyodo also had one of the stunners of the show, with the revelation that the next in their Amazing Yamaguchi line of Revoltech-jointed Marvel figures would be none other than Spider-Gwen, and an incredible version of her at that! This caught everyone off guard, and looks like it'll turn out just as amazing-looking as their Deadpool, Spider-Man, and Venom. I already know it's probably going to be my definitive version of the character.

Megazone 23 must have picked up some steam for an older series, because it seems like more companies are taking a crack at its main mecha, the Garland. Arcadia will be putting out their version, affordably competing with Art Storm's ridiculously expensive premium release.

And Good Smile will be doing a model kit as well, which could end up even more reasonably priced!

Ah yes, Good Smile. They had a TON of cool stuff revealed to show off. Starting with Nendoroids, there was Lum from Urusei Yatsura, proving that not everything they do is flash-in-the-pan currently popular stuff.

And then more expectedly, Akko from Little Witch Academia, which while not surprising, was still nice to see.

They did reveal just before the show that they'd be doing a full line of Disney-based Nendos, thankfully not letting Frozen monopolize that corner of the line. I'm glad to see Rapunzel in there.

They're also going all out and doing a TON of characters from currently-airing series BanG Dream, which I hear ended up not being all that worth watching so far!

They also confirmed (again, unsurprisingly) that there will be more Overwatch Nendoroids after Tracer, with Mei and Mercy up next.

The Nintendo toys are continuing as well, with Lillie from Pokemon Sun/Moon (awesome) and Kirby in his robot from Planet Robobot (also awesome).

All that plus an absolute truckload of moeboats and swordboys, and that's just Nendos!

Figma side was a bit lighter, but still had some very cool reveals.

Continuing with Overwatch, Tracer will also be getting a figma, as will Genji (hey, nice that a husbando gets some love alongside all these waifus), and in this case I hope they eventually just make the whole damn cast.

More video game figma were revealed as well, including a full look at Odin Sphere's Gwendolyn, and she's looking as appropriately pretty as she should from that game.

The Persona 5 protagonist is rather expectedly getting a figma. Less expected is the Pixie Persona getting one, alongside what is *apparently* a giant figma of Mara. Yes, that Mara!

About the furthest thing from a schoolgirl, Max Factory, dang.

Most surprising, but welcome on this subject though, was the reveal of King of Fighters figma! They'll be starting with Kyo and Iori, of course, but I have to assume Mai will be in there soon as well. There's another one where they could just make the whole cast and I'd be happy.

No new Monogatari figma at this one, but there is a new figFIX of Senjougahara's Second Season look, and I'll get it just to be able to add that short-hair head to my original Hitagi.

time for crab

Last notable figma actually shown off were that memetic classical Japanese painting for the Table Museum line, as well as a prototype (outta nowhere) of Hinata from Haikyu! Will this include a volleyball net to let your figma play? I hope so, but even if it doesn't it's a dang Haikyu figma! I'll probably need it.

There were a ton of just-announce figma as well. The BIG news for me was that they'll be doing one of Red in his FRLG look (probably my favorite design), something I've been hoping they'd do for aaaaages. I hope it's not just available through Pokemon centers.

There was also an announcement for a figma version of Priss from the original Bubblegum Crisis, and if the picture is anything to go on, will include her bike as well!

That's a lot of announcements that cater to me specifically, but if you're still looking for Sonoda stuff to make, Max Factory, might I suggest...Gunsmith Cats?

Aside from their big collectible lines there, Good Smile also has a statue coming out for Ramlethal from Guilty Gear Xrd (more standard look but less-space hogging than the FREEing version), as well as even newer character Jack-O.

They're also making one of Marie Rose from Dead or Alive 5 in her secondary costume. It's not my favorite costume, but it's nice to see anything DOA, and I do like Marie Rose in general.

Oh, AND they've got kits coming out for adorable little Scopedog and other mechs from VOTOMS, as well as tiny little Mechatro WeGo kits!

Oh, and you can't buy it anywhere, but check out this sweet garage kit of Wheel Gator someone had at the show!

So be good and know what to wish for, and maybe Santa Saber will bring you what you want!

And I think that might be everything! Holy cats, that was even more to write about than I thought it would be! Hopefully with me gushing about all that, you saw a few things in there that caught your eye too!

Wishlist: Deja Vu

So yeah, if you existed in the general vicinity of the internet last week, you’ve already seen that Overwatch’s Tracer is getting a Nendoroid. You’ve seen everything about it. I’ve got nothing new to say on the subject, I already talked about the other ones coming out up there, you got me. She’s up for pre-order, she looks really cute, you’re probably gonna buy it. Cheers, cavalry, etc.

Pre-orders are up for Funko’s Rick and Morty figures, adding another facet to this show you can indulge yourself in during the eternal wait for Season 3. If the toys look pretty simple, that’s at least in line with the show’s aesthetic, and they come with parts for a Build-a-Figure Snowball, which looks pretty great. Even if that does kinda throw a wrench into the Mr. Meeseeks figure, who is technically an army-builder.

These cute little Kirby stacking figures are coming out too, including Kirby, a few different Waddle Dees (apparently out to prove wrong my earlier statement that he doesn’t get as much merch) and even a star block and Maxim Tomato! These look like an adorable addition to your desk clutter.

And in a surprise twist, Sentinel’s previously ‘Con-exclusive Miku-styled Mechatro WeGo is up for pre-order at general Japanese retail! If you weren’t able to get this thing originally, it’s not going to get any easier than this. Hell, for that price, a cool-colored Mechatro with an oddly-Adventure-Time-based Miku is even tempting to me. Jump on it if you want it.

On Desk: If I Only Had a Heart

Well after hammering out a wall of text like that, best thing to do is unwind with some comfort food, er, plastic. The 3.75” Marvel Legends original Iron Man was a total indulgence purchase for me last week, and I’ve enjoyed having him within arm’s reach since. I’ve always loved the old ‘tin can’ design (equally so the movies’ outstanding take on it) so I’m glad Hasbro’s never been too shy about making toys of it.

This version uses a really nice deep metallic grey plastic to simulate the metal coloration of the suit, without worrying about silver paint and the chipping thereof. There’s plenty of details sculpted into his shiny surface, but not too much, so it doesn’t break up the simple roundness of the whole design. They’ve also included an added piece around the neck that  fills in where the head connects and adds an antenna, which is a nice bit.

The articulation is a bit limited, but not in a bad way given the design (the Mark I was never the most mobile mecha design in the world). His legs have great range of motion, with double-knees and universal ‘ball’ hips (which I’m normally not a fan of, but they work well on this design). The arms are a bit more restricted, only having the one elbow hinge and not being able to bend much past 90 degrees, but again, it works for the design and it all looks good. The hands are on swivels, and the odd pointing gesture the left is in is just more amusing for poses than anything else. I don’t know why they did it that way, but it turns out fun, at least!

He’s a good little toy, overall. The sort of thing I’ll probably keep within fiddle range for quite a while. This line is nice enough that I wish they made a few more that catered to me specifically like this.

Well I don’t know about you, but all that was a ton of fun for me! I’m gonna take a well-deserved rest everyone! Let me know what your favorite stuff of Toy Fair and WonFes was, be sure to have fun, and I’ll see you next week!

[larkinthesnow]

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Kaiou Michiru, Tenoh Haruka, Meiou Setsuna Series: Part 1 of To Save Our Home We Must Leave It: An Adventure in Another Galaxy Summary:

A stranger appears from the Andromeda Galaxy, to bring a warning to the Sailor Guardians. Her own galaxy was drained of life by a mysterious enemy called the Kyriosans. Unable to leave the galaxy for fear of a Kyriosan invasion, Queen Serenity sends Small Lady and her Sailor Quartet to the Andromeda Galaxy to strike at the Kyriosans to regather the Stolen Chrysolan Galaxy Planet Crystals, and hopefully bring back life to the planets. In this introductory chapter, the Outer Soldiers discover a mysterious stranger drifting throughout space. Unsure if she is a friend or foe, they try and make sense of her seemingly disastrous story.

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 1/6/21

SEAN: It’s almost 2021! A year that is not 2020! Let’s start it off well, with manga.

ASH: Yes, let’s!

SEAN: We start off with J-Novel Club, who have a giant pile of stuff, including several debuts.

No debuts for print, but we do see An Archdemon’s Dilemma 9, Ascendance of a Bookworm’s 3rd manga volume, Full Metal Panic 4-6 in a hardcover omnibus, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 2 (manga version), Infinite Dendrogram 10, and My Next Life As a Villainess! 5.

ASH: I’ve been enjoying the Ascendance of a Bookworm novels, but haven’t actually gotten around to reading the manga yet.

SEAN: Digitally we start with the manga adaptation of already licensed light novel Black Summoner, which runs in Overlap’s Comic Gardo.

Speaking of Overlap, they’re the publisher of the light novel Dungeon Busters, which debuts next week. Our hero finds a dungeon in his backyard… and suddenly there’s 666 of them all over the world, which need to be cleared in ten years or the world will end! What to do? Start a company dedicated to clearing dungeons.

If you’re tired of fantasy dungeon crawls, there is also Our Crappy Social Game Club Is Gonna Make the Most Epic Game (Jakushou Soshage-bu no Bokura ga Kamige wo Tsukuru made). A former amateur social game maker has transferred schools due to past trauma, but cannot help but be drawn into the Social Game Club there too. The whole club is weird. The club is also about to be disbanded. Can he help them?

Also out digitally: Ascendance of a Bookworm 9, Discommunication 6, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash 16, Infinite Dendrogram 6 (manga version), and the 5th and final version of My Little Sister Can Read Kanji, whose other volumes came out when J-Novel Club had just begun.

Kaiten Books has a manga debuting digitally. Gacha Girls Corps (Gacha o Mawashite Nakama o Fuyasu Saikyou no Bishoujo Gundan o Tsukuriagero), from Micro Magazine’s Comic Ride, is based on a light novel (not licensed here), and its premise seems to be “In Another World with My Gacha Rolls”.

In print, Kodansha has a 2nd Blue Period, Saiyuki 4, and Sweat and Soap 5.

ASH: I’m just now getting around to giving Sweat and Soap a try; I’ve been hearing good things.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is Harem Marriage (Hare Kon), a manga that ran in Young Magazine. A woman who has had bad luck at love moves back to the country, only to find the bad luck follows her – her family are deeply in debt! A stranger offers to take care of the debt if she marries him. The thing is, their town has legalized polygamy, and he already has TWO other wives. If you find the idea of harem manga interesting but want one far more realistic and seeped in drama and sex, this might interest you.

MICHELLE: I might check this out.

SEAN: There’s also All-Rounder Meguru 18, the 7th and final Cells at Work: Bacteria!, Drifting Dragons 9, The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon! 5, The Invincible Reincarnated Ponkotsu 2, and Smile Down the Runway 17.

Seven Seas has several debuts, though we’ve seen two of them in digital form already. Berserk of Gluttony and Muscles Are Better Than Magic get their light novels debuts in print.

The manga debut is A White Rose in Bloom (Mejirobana no Saku), a yuri title from the creator of Classmates that comes from Rakuen le Paradis. A girl at an elite boarding school is forced to stay over the holidays, and the only other student there is the aloof ice queen. The author and magazine this is from make me very, very interested.

MICHELLE: Indeed! I also love the cover.

ASH: I love Asumiko Nakamura’s work, so I am very much looking forward to this series.

SEAN: There’s also Gal Gohan 6, the 12th and final Himouto! Uramu-chan, I’m in Love with the Villainess 2 (digital), Machimaho 7, Non Non Biyori 14, and the print version of Reincarnated As a Sword’s 7th light novel.

Vertical has the 10th volume of CITY.

Viz has no debuts, content to merely be releasing new volumes for most of the best-selling manga in the world.

On the shonen side, there’s Black Clover 24, Haikyu!! 42, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (the “pilot” for the ongoing manga), Moriarty the Patriot 2, My Hero Academia 26, Platinum End 12, and The Promised Neverland 18.

MICHELLE: I’ll be reading a bunch of these!

ANNA: I need to check out Moriarty the Patriot.

ASH: I picked up the first volume but still need to read it.

SEAN: On the shoujo side, we get Daytime Shooting Star 10, An Incurable Case of Love 6, Love Me Love Me Not 6, Prince Freya 4, Snow White with the Red Hair 11, and Takane and Hana 16.

MICHELLE: And also a bunch of these!

ANNA: It is a good week for me!

SEAN: Lastly a trio of titles from Yen Press: Breasts Are My Favorite Thing in the World 3, Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts 12, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: The Ways of the Monster Nation 3.

Anything strike you as particularly 2021 in this list?

By: Sean Gaffney