#blood blockade battlefront meta

[chibivesicle]

Trigun directly informs the character designs for Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront

I’ve been thinking about a fun little meta for awhile about how much of the vibes and character style from Trigun translated over to Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront.  Taking my brain off of hardcore Trigun for a bit let’s have some fun with Yasuhiro Nightow’s character design and how he likes to recycle and reform them.

The Japanese DVD box set volume 3 shows my three favorite charas in a  Norman Rockwell The Saturday Evening Post parody.  Steven drives a car while Chain snacks and K.K. screams excitedly.

The fact that the animation creative team went in this direction meant they were really having fun with the anime, but let’s dig into how Trigun translated more to Blood Blockade Battlefront.

Characters from Trigun and how they relate to Blood Blockade Battlefront

Vash the Stampede = K. K.

That’s right, our pacifist gunslinger is re imagined as the Bratatat Mom, code name K. K.

The character design has the same red duster jacket with tight black clothing underneath.  K.K. even has some finger less gloves for her ease of operating either her sniper rifle or her handgun.  She can also use two handguns at the same time while fighting.  They are tall and lanky, have blonde hair and both can be bubbly at times to cover up how they are really feeling.  Vash’s unique sunglasses became an eye patch for K. K. and she will also cover her eyes with sunglasses to not attract attention to the right eye as well.  Unlike Vash, K.K. is willing to kill a target if necessary and has the most awesome husband ever and two sons.  I very much like her character and wish she were a more involved member of the B3 cast but by her nature, is a bit more of a loner but seen as quite powerful.  She is critical of the patriarchy and has a real axe to grind with Steven who is closest to her and still different from her; this is due to the fact that they are the two senior members of the team over thirty and made different choices in their personal/private lives.

Meryl Stryfe = Leonardo Watch

The very detail oriented and short fused insurance adjuster Meryl is now Leonardo a budding journalist who by sheer luck joins Libra. Considering that Meryl ended the manga as a reporter it makes sense for this to be Leo’s starting place.

Both characters can be quick to snap out a remark of shock or annoyance, are the shortest adult member of the cast and have short dark hair.  Meryl’s hair was black with a purple undertone and so is Leo’s with more purple.  By B3 Back 2 Back, Leo’s hair picks up a more red tone which eventually translates into the anime adaption.  These characters frequently point out how absurd the events around them are while the rest of the cast calmly accepts things at face value.  Unlike Meryl in the manga, Leo is the reader’s entry point into the city and plays a role very similar to the anime version of her.  Like Vash, Leo is not the type of character to take a life and instead serves as support for the rest of the team early on in his time with Libra.  Both respect life and even though we know that Meryl has shot individuals in the manga and implied to have in the anime, she takes it very seriously and treats it with due respect.

Milly Thompson = Klaus V. Reinherz

The somewhat ditzy, honest and emotionally mature Milly is now seen in the character of Klaus; a true gentleman and total tank of a character.  Klaus towers over Leo, the same way as Milly is considerably taller than Meryl.

Klaus, gives zero fucks what others think about him, has no bias based on gender, species, affiliation, race etc etc.  He’s one of the most genuine characters who could crush opponents and enjoys a fine cup of tea just like Milly.  They both have more casual looks with ties, suspenders/vest and dark pants.  At first, Klaus was a decent character in my opinion but as the anime progressed, he grew on me and grew on me until realizing that I really do like him and his well balanced approach to life.  He enjoys simple pleasures in life like taking the subway, playing chess and/or prosfair and watering all the plants at the Libra main office.  Klaus is always there to accept Leo and encourage him along the way.  He never takes his strength for granted and can’t say no to others.

Also like Milly, Klaus is emotionally mature and works to help others calm down in sticky situations or encourage them when stuck.  He is frequently paired with Leo who greatly respects him and learns from him.  He also does not appear to have a driver’s license meaning he either ends up in the same car as Leo or trying to fit himself on Leo’s small motorbike.

Nicholas D. Wolfwood = Chain Sumeragi

The amazing werewolf of Libra, Chain is the first version of Wolfwood in B3.  Her character design is female Wolfwood other than her black vs tan shoes.

She occasionally has a small firearm, but was a terrible shot to not become an elite assassin and instead wanted to remain in intelligence.  Chain has the some of Wolfwood’s more juvenile pranks or remarks especially when Zapp is involved with her.  Chain is sarcastic, but it is targeted at one individual - Zapp Renfro and only Zapp.  It appears since Zapp and Leo are frequently together along with Zed, she’ll tease Leo a little but does not hurt him when she lands on him or sits on his head, instead only giving out pain to Zapp.  She has a high alcohol tolerance and will help out characters but doesn’t like for them to realize it at the time.  Like when Leo’s wallet got stolen from him in ‘Day In Day Out’ but she sticks it in his shirt collar as opposed to giving it back to him.  Chain is the sort of character who doesn’t want to be recognized and instead hang back and do things quietly.

Nicholas D. Wolfwood = Steven A. Starphase

The names alone show that these two characters are directly related.  Yet, Steven has a real middle name, Alan, as opposed to the D being whatever Yasuhiro Nightow felt it should be when interviewed in the moment.

Early on in the first volume of the manga, Steven also goes without his characteristic yellow tie with a dark blue dress shirt making him look even more like Wolfwood.  They both frequently are shown with a hand or two in their pockets and can be quite charismatic and friendly.  They have foodie tastes and respect well prepared meals.  Both men also have to deal with darker situations which their partner[Vash]/boss [Klaus] would not deal with.  Wolfwood did not hesitate to kill opponents of Vash to prevent further damage while, Steven will make sure that certain problems disappear before they reach the rest of Libra.  One could say they move in the shadows, but Wolfwood is more of a character who deals with things directly, while Steven has the right person or party on speed dial.    Wolfwood worked within the system of the Eye of Michael making him somewhat legit while Steven is the direct contact to the HLPD, FBI, governmental bodies, and likely organizations that straddle grey areas.  The fact that Steven will go through proper channels indicates a greater respect for the rule of law and civil society only moving into shady areas when absolutely necessary.

Therefore, with the basic character design and personalities it is pretty logical that we get certain pairings to generate enjoyable dynamics.

Meryl & Milly - Leo & Klaus.  The small hardworking realist with a quick temper is teamed up with the honest, occasionally ditzy giant.  Neither character looks down on the other and they are able to learn about themselves and others through their interactions.  Without Leo, Klaus would be unable to seal Blood Breeds.  Without Klaus, Leo would not learn to accept his guilt and gain confidence in himself and helping others.  Leo frequently doesn’t see his own strength since it is through his relationships and not physical force like Klaus demonstrates.

The size difference alone is exactly like Meryl and Milly here!  Leo is the one who is more than aware of what Zapp is planning to do quickly as events unfold but Klaus never even realizes that he’d been played by Zapp.  The two have genuine hearts and respect of all life (that isn’t trying to kill them at least).

One color panel for the manga which really captures B3 well and how close Klaus and Leo are is the following.  They are likely relaxing or killing time at the office enjoying the quiet.  Leo and Klaus are playing video games while Sonic watches next to them.  Meanwhile, the Luddite that he is, Steven loosens his tie while reading the daily paper.

Steven isn’t even paying attention to what they are doing. But Sonic is.  It is clear that Leo and Klaus are having fun and building on their relationship with each other.

Vash & Wolfwood = K.K. & Steven.  The two senior members of Libra frequently are teamed up together even though K.K. is annoyed by Steven (likely because he never lets her take time off to be with her family).  Steven frequently tries to play it cool with his calm demeanor while K. K. likes to tease him due to his rather academic approach to things ‘Dr. Steven-sensei’.  Despite their vocal bickering, the two work quite well together.

In Trigun, it is Wolfwood who is annoyed that he’s assigned to deal with Vash.  In B3 it is K. K. who always scoffs at her partner Steven.  It sort of makes sense, Steven with his Esmeralda Blood Freeze is cold and calculating in his actions but frequently must get relatively close to his opponent.

In contrast, K. K. literally shoots electrified bullets and will do support for Steven.  Their tension also likely comes from the fact that K. K. has a ‘typical’ family life with her husband and two sons to protect and take care of.  The opposite is the bachelor life of Steven in his lonely loft apartment with a great kitchen, stylish decor and no actual friends outside of work besides his housekeeper.  However, they are incredibly similar, angry at themselves for enjoying things in a brief instant related to their family or friends which ended poorly.

Wolfwood & Milly = Steven & Klaus

The Trigun anime really makes this a more important aspect of their character than the manga; Wolfwood and Milly work together more than once to help people out of a tight spot, think of the episode ‘Escape from Pain’ or the entire manga battle between Wolfwood and Midvalley when Milly steps in to help Wolfwood out.  However, the partnership between Steven & Klaus is much deeper than Wolfwood & Milly.  Klaus 100% trusts Steven to get all their ducks in a row and to make sure all of the logistics of Libra are working.  At the same time Steven understands the pressure that Klaus puts on himself and tries to lighten his load even if Klaus is oblivious to it.

The two play chess when Steven is first introduced and Klaus listens to Steven’s concerns about having Leo join Libra.

When Leo is kidnapped, it is Steven who immediately is worried about Klaus.

I like how these two characters have such great rapport and trust between each other.  Steven comments on how Klaus made a joke, something he’d likely say with his quick wit and dry sense of humor.

We seen in ‘Bloodline Fever’ that Steven completely trusts that Klaus will arrive on time to seal the Elder Blood Breed that he and K. K. only had to hold for four minutes.  It also shows that K. K. trusts Klaus as she was his escort to meet the Alterworld mafia don and based on her comments, she’s done this many times for Klaus. 

Steven trusts that Klaus can hold out against the one vampire from the missing hospital long enough for Leo to determine his name and result in his sealing.

The fact that the two of them can communicate when all they need is a single quip from Steven in reply to Leo’s answer and demolish an opponent is incredible.

What I find most refreshing about their relationship is that Steven, the older individual does not mind to be the second in command.  He’s a social enough person with ample skills to network and manage people effectively and does have more experience in the matter.  However, he also knows that he is not the right leader for Libra and finds purpose in his role on the team.  Klaus is too likely to be led on or lied to by others and Steven is streetwise enough to avoid or to use those people for their own benefit.  Klaus is the all to trusting Dad while Steven is the Mom making sure the kids don’t fight at dinner.

I also like the fact that when their main office needed security upgrades, the two of them accidentally invaded, Leo, Zapp (and Zed’s) sacred diner space.

Nothing like finding your bosses in your home away from home Leo!

Honestly, I could go on about this for way longer but I’ll stop it here.  Klaus and Steven are great and I love them.

Wolfwood & Wolfwood = Chain & Zapp? & unrequited crush on Steven

The one character who I have a harder time pairing in a sort of Trigun fashion is Chain Sumeragi.  Even though she is female Wolfwood, the character who she has the most dynamics with is Zapp Renfro.  Which would make her a sort of positive Wolfwood traits meets all negative Wolfwood traits plus manwhore.  Zapp smokes, drinks, gambles and fucks as much as possible.  He has the vices that Wolfwood had (save for the sex) and definitely exists to be a foil with Leo, Zed and well, most of the cast.  Yes, she has a crush on Steven, but the man is absolutely out to lunch on the matter.  In the anime, he’s oblivious to the entire protocol to undilute Chain and how it relates to him.  Then again, if someone screamed and threw a chair at you resulting in injury, it would be hard to call that attraction or affection.  Terrifying would be the most accurate word.  I’ve only read the first two volumes of the manga in English and it is clear that she has eyes for him, but again, he gives off the vibes that work comes first.

Since Zapp hangs out with Leo frequently, Chain ends up in their mischief as well, wanting to help them out but seeming too cool for school.  I don’t know if the anime upped the petty fights between Chain and Zapp more, but it def has that enemies to friends (?) dynamic going on.  I’m curious to see how things unfold in the manga as I read it.

 The fact that B3 Back 2 Back has the following covers seems to indicate a stronger Klaus & Steven, Chain & Zapp, and K. K. & Steven dynamics.

Furthermore, there is only the B3 volume 10 cover where Chain and Steven are next to each other, but Steven’s back is to her.  It seems any potential Chain and Steven relationship is likely not in the cards.  In group covers, Steven and K. K. are next to each other most frequently based on their skills as a two person team.

All in all, I love how elements of Trigun made their way into B3.  It is fun to look at all the angles, from the physical character design, to their personalities and their relationships with each other.  I’ve been a fan of Trigun for over twenty years, so it is hard to say if B3 is better than it - but, I do appreciate the realistic adult relationships, doubts, fears and goals of it more so that Trigun.  The sitcom feel to B3 really feels relaxing and I enjoy the rambling stroll through the city with this quirky cast of characters.

With my disappointment in Stampede, I can at least laugh and cry at how the B3 anime and manga really capture the elements that made Trigun so likable to me in the first place.  And that is all I can ask for - another zany series with lovable characters that you can’t help but root for.

[battle-of-the-dads]

We have now reached 74 total dad submissions, some of which are repeats, but I'm currently doing some non-dad-related tech shenanigans with my brother and will probably be at this for a while yet, so I think it's safe to say that the A-side bracket is full and the B-side bracket is a go! Keep sending 'em in!

Current lineup as of 3:30 PM CST, March 19:

Your Dad (Real Life)

Arthur Parnassus (The House In The Cerulean Sea)

Corvo Attano (Dishonored)

Glamrock Freddy (FNaF: Security Breach)

Cecil Palmer (Welcome to Night Vale) (Twice over!)

Gregory Edgeworth (Ace Attorney)

The dad from As Your Father I Expressly Forbid It (Lemon Demon)

Jupiter North (Nevermoor) (Twice over!)

Dad Egbert (Homestuck) (Three times!)

Lawrence Fletcher (Phineas and Ferb) (Twice over!)

Greg Universe (Steven Universe)

Pac-Man (Pac-Man)

Bandit Heeler (Bluey) (Three times!)

Klaus Von Reinherz (Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront)

Subject Delta (Bioshock 2)

Kazuki Kurusu (Buddy Daddies)

The King of All Cosmos (Katamari)

Meta Knight (Kirby)

Neon J. (No Straight Roads)

Agustin (Encanto)

Soundwave (Transformers)

Sun WuKong (Lego Monkie Kid) (Twice over!)

Kuroō Hazama (Black Jack)

Felix Madrigal (Encanto)

Professor Utonium (Powerpuff Girls)

Barda (Deltora Quest)

Bowser (Super Mario Bros.)

Captain Olimar (Pikmin)

Lilia Vanrogue (Twisted Wonderland)

Glenn Close (Dungeons and Daddies) (Twice over!)

Ron Stampler (Dungeons and Daddies)

Patton Sanders (Sanders Sides)

King Orange AKA Mango Tango (Animation VS Minecraft)

Gilear Faeth (Dimension 20-Fantasy High) (Twice over!)

The Narrator (The Stanley Parable)

Benjamin Sisko (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

Dr. Eggman AKA Mr. Tinker (Sonic) (sidenote but good LIRD what do you MEAN he's TWO SEPARATE DADS??? /pos)

Sojiro Sakura (Persona 5) (Twice Over!)

Philza (Dream SMP)

Gashu Satou (Kimi ga Shine/Your Turn to Die)

Godzilla (Godzilla)

Henry Oak (Dungeons and Daddies)

Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney)

Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher)

Waymond Wang (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Linebeck (Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass)

Alan Becker AKA Noogai (Animator VS Animation)

Lavernius Tucker (Red and Blue)

The Doctor (Doctor Who)

All-Might AKA Toshinori Yagi (My Hero Academia)

Barret Wallace (Final Fantasy VII / FF7 Remake)

Darkwing Duck AKA Drake Mallard (Darkwing Duck)

Halloween (Castles of the Calendar)

Rory Williams (Doctor Who)

Stanford Pines (Gravity Falls)

Joel (The Last of Us)

Nergal (The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy)

Vegeta (Dragonball)

G-Man (HLVRAI)

Eli Vance (Half-Life)

Bobby Nash (9-1-1)

Calvin's Dad (Calvin and Hobbes)

Bob Belcher (Bob's Burgers)

Nightmare Knight (Cucumber Quest)

Yep, it's time to send the dads off to war! Any and all fictional fathers welcome!

Submit your favorite father figures through the form I've got all put together up there, and once we have enough, we'll get them set up for the Brawl™!

SUBMISSION RULES:

Fictional dads only, please! "Your Dad (from Real Life)" is already going to be included by default, so you can focus on your blorbos!

"Dad" is felt in the soul- if you can make a compelling enough case for why your non-biological dad blorbo qualifies, I'll let them in!

Submit as many dads as you want, but only submit each dad once per person!

Please provide a link to an image of each dad you submit, especially if you're in a smaller fandom! (Unless your dad is a disembodied voice or otherwise can't be perceived visually, in which case just lmk instead of linking and I'll work something out!)

We'll be going until we reach 64 dads, but if there's enough extra dads, I might be convinced to do a B-side bracket with the dads who don't make the cut.

I may add a dad or two of my own to the lineup, depending on how many submissions I get, but we'll see how that goes.

Inspired by the likes of @shittycartoondadshowdown @orangecharactersmackdown @sleepsmackdown @baldguy-fight @original-character-championship @ultimate-divorce-tournament @thsc-sexymen-poll @nonbiney-swag-competition and so many more!

[eternal-aegis]

The King of Despair and William Macbeth: Visual Differences

It always seems that when I am making an outline for another post, I realize that I must first make a post to establish a different point, so it’s not me monologuing for eternity. I mean, that would be on-brand for me. “Eternal” and all that.

Blood Blockade Battlefront’s primary antagonist for Season 1 is the King of Despair, or Despair for short, who is possessing the body of Black, whose real name is William Macbeth. A Jekyll and Hyde situation, but how do we tell who is in control at what moment in time? Now, there are three (3) easy to spot visual markers that differentiate who is in control. These are the ones that the audience is supposed to see easily; however, there are also three (3) more markers that show in more subtle moments. There is also mannerism to take into account, but for now let’s delve into some visual analysis.

This is obviously Despair in control at that moment. How does the audience tell? What are the signs that we associate with him, right off the bat?

Red Eyes

Blue Coat

Hair

Despair, in most if not all of his appearances, has his hair brushed back. His eyes are red, and finally we have the blue coat; however, there are often times when his eyes are not animated as being red. There are times when he does not have his hair pushed back. There are times when he is not wearing the coat. This is when we have to rely on the less obvious visual markers, and of course attempt to interpret his behavior.

When Despair is being subtle, we don’t get any of the three visual markers that we usually do. His behavior is different, there’s less manic energy and intensity. He’s still intense, but it’s subdued. Despair has a more quiet confidence in the moments when he’s in disguise.

First of all, let’s look at the eyes again.

We see the King of Despair in the fourth episode, and it is confirmed that it is not William Macbeth there. How is it confirmed? When we meet Black in Episode 6: Don’t Forget to Don’t Forget Me, he says, “I think we’re meeting for the first time.” So, if it wasn’t Black who was in control on the train, it must have been Despair.

The particular thing that I want to point out is the difference between their eyes. When Despair is in control but masquerading, his eyes are drawn in a more narrowed way. They also appear to be a tiny bit darker, but that could be excused by the lighting. Black’s eyes, on the other hand, are more open and lighter.

Another thing to note, Despair has a habit of unbuttoning the first button of the shirt when he’s in control. This is consistent throughout his appearances. “Subtle” Despair and “Obvious” Despair both unbutton the first button.

So, what’s the last visual marker? That’s simple: teeth.

Despair’s teeth are drawn with a bit more prominence, a bit more sharpness to them. This is partially due to his mannerisms, he smiles differently than Black; Despair’s entire roster of facial expressions are very different from Black’s, but the thing to notice is that the teeth are drawn with a bit more sharpness when Despair is in control.

So, the three markers that show it’s Despair in control when none of the obvious markers are in place are:

Narrower Eyes

Top Button

Teeth

Now I need to go and figure out if I’m going to analyze the All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods next, or if I’m going to try to establish the differences in mannerism between William Macbeth and the King of Despair.

[blogquantumreality]

Blood Blockade Battlefront: Klaus von Reinherz

So I’ve been watching a bit more BBB! And I just finished Episode 3 which has been one of the most surrealistic episodes yet, in a way the previous two weren’t.

Nominally it’s about finding the source of this dangerous new drug, called “Angel Scale”, but in the end it barely gets any play.

Instead the entire episode seems to be about showcasing who Klaus is. He’s laconic, honorable, and a total badass even though he never gets in a physical fight in this episode.

He’s playing a kind of Hell Chess (TM ayalaatreides) game called prosfair, against a major crime-world figure in the Otherworld, Don Arlelelle, who is said to be a 1200 year old prosfair master. The only concession Klaus makes to the strenuous toll a 99-hour game is that his nose begins to bleed, and when he learns of a fellow person, Ulchenko’s, treachery in using a prosfair match to try and get him killed, he insists on saving Ulchenko’s life.

Like, wow. Klaus clearly has a very strong code of ethics he lives by, and while I don’t think the show intends to invoke the mentor trope with him and Leo, I definitely can’t think of a better example to be set for Leo’s own growth as he masters his powers within Libra.

[makowo]

List of writing info for anyone that wants to send a prompt

Took forever, but here it is gang.

Disclaimer: don't always expect your fic to come soon. I also like to work on my own ideas, and I do have a life. I may not always have motivation either, and asking over and over when i'll finish a fic does nothing except add stress. I am doing this for free. I am not being paid a cent to write, and thus am not obligated to write a fic as soon as possible. This is a hobby, not a job.

Nsfw prompts are okay! Just private message me abt an nsfw prompt rather than ask

Series/Games

Pokemon SWSH

Danganronpa THH

Cookie Run Ovenbreak

Kirby

Kid Icarus Uprising

Blood Blockade Battlefront

Beastars (anime only)

Characters

A.K.A characters I really really really enjoy/would enjoy writing a fic for that centers around them

Trainer Victor

Hop

Makoto Naegi

Squid Ink Cookie

Angel Cookie

Kirby

Meta Knight

Pit

Dark Pit

Leonardo Watch

Legosi

Louis

What I Won't Write

Fluff

To clarify; Hurt/Comfort is okay. I just don't wanna disappoint anyone since I will, without fail, write in some angst. Doesn't mean I hate fluff I just can't write it well.

Torture Fics

Despite how much I love myself some good angst and suffering, I have to draw a firm line somewhere. And that's at a character being hurt constantly for no good reason and it having a depressing ending.

Ships between minors and adults, incest(looking at all those fics of Hop/Leon. Nasty bastards), Naekusaba, Naezono, and Komahina

First part is self explanatory, but the dr ships i think I should explain. I understand they're all very popular ships, so I should at least say that I don't like any of these three very much. I won't say exactly why; that shouldn't matter. I just don't like them, and that's that.

(Prone to future edits)

[deltaengineering]

Fall Anime 2017 Part 4: Screenshots don’t lie

Saturday’s a very busy day this season, and all the sequels are hitting too. Time to get to work!

Previously:

• Part 1: Maximum Something

• Part 2: The snooze cruise

• Part 3: Fooled again

Burendo Esu (Cat Balls the Animation)

Blend S is the story of schoolgirl Maika that has “mean eyes” (basically, she has tsurime in a tareme world), which prevents her from getting a job other than the one in a moe gimmick-themed café, where her duty is to make “mean eyes” at the customers. The other waitresses play a tsundere, an imouto, an idol and an onee-san. So yeah, that’s one way to get your standard moe show cast together. But wait! The twist here is that Maika is not actually mean! Quite the opposite actually! And that goes for all the other waitresses too! While girls getting forced into moe archetypes is a pretty amusing/scary concept, this is of course a Kirara manga, so they’re just different moe archetypes underneath. In short, the concept doesn’t amount to much. As far as Kiraralikes go, this isn’t a bad one though. It’s colorful, cute and a little funny, and splits the difference between a pure moefest like Knohana Kitan and the more structured comedy of a Working (obviously). Only the pervy Italian manager and his obsession with his blob underlings gets old pretty fast. If you’re down for a show like this, this is probably the one to watch, because unlike Konohana Kitan I didn’t wish for it to end.

Code: Realize - Sousei no Himegimi

While we’re on the topic of “best of the breed”, Code: Realize is an upmarket otome harem. I know, right. The setting is a basic steampunk universe, the bishounens are Arsène Lupin, Victor Frankenstein &c, and our bland heroine’s super special trait turns out to be killing everything she touches due to some jewels in “her heart”. I mean, who hasn’t been there. So everyone wants to “steal her heart” and Code: Realize is very keen to point out the double meaning of this constantly. Hey, we kinda did it in Katawa Shoujo so I can’t really complain. The thing is that Code: Realize is very obvious, but it’s also not all that bad – the fact that is has more going on than nothing at all already makes it the best otome harem since Akatsuki no Yona: It looks fairly pleasant, none of the main characters are tremendous assholes, and there seems to be some sort of story to go with the pretty boys. But it’s also not as hammy and ostentatious as, for example, Dance with Devils, so it’s caught in a middle ground where I can appreciate it not sucking tremendously, but I also don’t feel like watching it – because it’s too respectable.

Dynamic Chord

Dynamic Chord is another otome VN, this time about rock bands. Since this is 2017, apparently the production committee thought they could cut out the middleman, leave out the bland girl and just make a boyband anime instead, because those are all the rage right now. So it’s Tsukipro, apart from the bit where Tsukipro looks like a Ghibli movie next to this. Dynamic Chord is a production catastrophe that looks closer to a no-budget gag short of the Pikotarou Lullaby type (note: I mean “catastrophe” in the absolute sense, for all I know this could all be calculated perfectly and the producers are laughing all the way to the bank). The show consists almost entirely of two things: Long, quiet zooms and pans over stills, and montages, mostly of “performances”. Those performance themselves are really something else too. What if I told you that this is a show in 2017 that does not seem to feature ANY 3DCG? Turns out 3DCG actually costs money too, so when the band plays, they do paperdoll tweens of 2D artwork. Oh, and outside the performances lack of CG means you get the worst animated car since the QUALITYVAN. There’s also just baffling stuff like walk loops that don’t loop. Given that these montages are all endlessly long, you might think there’s not much space for a story. And you’d be right. Basically nothing happens, the singer of a band gets a bad case of the broods so some guy from another band has to substitute  for him. That’s it. Would have easily fit into 3 minutes, but I have to say that by the end of this show’s 24 minutes, I was straight up laughing my ass off when the next montage of bad stills started right after the last one ended. That’s something, right?

Garo - Vanishing Line

I’ve seen Garo before, but last time I didn’t know it was a tokusatsu meta-franchise, the anime versions of which really only share that there’s a gothick looking motherfucker fighting horrors called Horrors. So this has little to do with the last ones: different crew, different studio, different setting. Because this version of Garo is most definitely set IN AMERICA: The main character is a gothick looking motherfucker called "Sword” that charitably resembles Hellboy, and less charitably resembles a Leifeld original. He rides a big hawg around a Big Apple, eats big bloody steaks and looks at big boobies a lot because you know, setting. It’s charming in its idiocy, and this is MAPPA so you get a lot of fights with very nice animation too. I could watch this simply for the action, but I won’t because there’s a Murrica-sized caveat here: The fights take place at night, are edited very rapidly and most importantly their idea of an impact frame is to do an extreme camera shake effect with intense motion blur. And there is a lot of impact frames – believe me, that might have been the easiest screenshot to find for an article yet, and I highly suspect I could have found worse ones if this wouldn’t bring the point across already. I simply can’t tell what the fuck is going on because everything is an incomprehensible mess, no matter how nice the frames beneath the effects are. It’s pretty infuriating because this show is one mouse click away from being a good time, simply disable your After Effects layer with the shake on it. But I can’t do that for them, so Vanishing Line ends up being a bad time instead. And even if you are interested in some big, zany action in the ol’ Gotham, there’s a little something that makes Vanishing Line instantly obsolete:

Kekkai Sensen (Blood Blockade Battlefront) & Beyond

Yeah boiiiiiiii, Kekkai Sensen is back. I had forgotten how fun this show can be, and we’ll discuss the reasons shortly. A lot has happened since 2015, and I have a good reference point for it now: Kekkai Sensen is basically One-Punch Man without The Joke. It’s an universe full of all sorts of crazy nonsense and a bunch of cool dudes that try to keep thing under control, usually in an explosive manner. The one really important thing that Beyond changes is that it’s not directed by Rie Matsumoto. Shigehito Takayanagi is taking over, and while that guy is a noted jobber of little distinction (previous credits: TWGOK, Dagashi Kashi and uh... Toyko ESP...), he’s at least enough of a craftsman to imitate Matsumoto’s style very well. I only found out about this after the fact, and wouldn’t have noticed the difference otherwise. It is noticeable if you look for it though: this episode has all of the stylish action antics, but none of the more moody content that Matsumoto’s original character (do not steal) White brought to the show. I liked most of White’s scenes with Leo and they gave season 1 some welcome emotional grounding, but to be quite honest, it’s not what I watched Kekkai Sensen for. I can definitely accept losing it if this time the show isn’t consumed by White’s subplot and doesn’t culminate in an ending that not only is all about her, but also comes out a season after everyone stopped caring because auteurs can’t manage a production. With Kyousougiga and Kekkai Sensen S1, Matsumoto has shown a 100% track record of donking her endings, so I’m not complaining she got replaced with someone who just gets the job done. Especially if it’s still Bones relying on Yutapon for action cuts; when shit hits the fan, it looks straight up incredible and makes me question why I slummed it with My Hero Academia for three seasons when I can get the same amount of awesome fights in a single episode of this. And hey, White is still in the ending, so maybe we will get the less crazy end of it covered as well. Just keep the priorities straight this time around, please.

Houseki no Kuni (Land of the Lustrous)

Houseki no Kuni is a manga about gijinka gems of indeterminate gender that takes the amusing step of Mohs hardness directly translating into Shounen Powerlevel™. Apart from that, there’s not much content in this episode 1: We get to know the characters and a glimpse and how a society of a bunch of brittle gems in makeup works. What makes this interesting is that the setting is intriguingly vague and very pretty (think: Haibane Renmei), and the characters seem to be fairly strong and likeable. Not exciting, but I could see myself watching this just for the atmosphere. The big downside of it is that it’s a 3DCG show, and not one of those fancy mocapped ones either. The animation is, in a word, bad: robotic and clumsy, as usual. I’ll readily admit that in screencaps it looks great, especially the crystal shaders that would be difficult to pull off in 2D animation. Houseki no Kuni seems very okay, but it has a hard time on this crowded Saturday so I don’t think I’ll bother with it right now. If it delivers in the long run, I’ll readily admit it to my backlog though.

Love Live! Sunshine!! S2!!!

Sunshine’s back as well, and finds itself in an awkward spot right away. This first episode has a lot of things to get out of the way: Tying up the last season properly because the final episode of S1 fumbled that, reminding the audience of the characters, and setting up a new drama arc. In practice, that means it ends up feeling a lot more like the lost E1S13 than the S2E1 it is, because the other two aspects are pretty pointless: Reintroducing the characters just means they all shoot off their catchphrase in turn, and the brand new conflict is (hold on to your seats for this one) that the school is getting closed and there’s a new Love Live. With all these things going on and none of them being all that interesting, the episode feels very rushed and just accomplishes establishing that yes, it’s a Love Live show. I guess that is exactly what it was meant to do and I can say that at least they have it out of the way now. Well, the last time I said Sunshine had gotten something out of the way, it was the obsession with µ’s in episode 1, the getting out of the way of which ended up lasting 10 episodes. It’s gone now (thankfully), but maybe I shouldn’t assume too much here. So yeah, fairly weak first episode, but it’s not like I wasn’t going to watch this to the end and even at its most rushed and pointless it’s still Love Live: a polished Five Guys hamburger of a show that doesn’t exactly need to be great to be a joy to watch.

Two Car

I expected Two Car to be That Show: the one where a schoolgirl discovers her sudden love for Thing and goes on to experience Thing with the help of her friends. Two Car isn’t in the K-ON/Bakuon/etc mould however, it’s much more similar to the sports show style of Girls und Panzer, wacky sport with themed teams of contenders in a world where everyone seems to care about it a little too much. It helps that real sidecar racing is already weird as hell (looking forward to the breathless Anime Now article about how it’s a thing that actually exists) and is less motorcycle racing and more Twister on a fast-moving platform. Quite coincidentally, Two Car is also tremendously gay, as you’d expect from a show about two-girl teams in very tight leather crawling over each other competitively. The main girls aren’t even so blatant (and shown to have a crush on their male instructor, who has taken off to the aptly named Isle of Man), but the opponents are all some sort of standard yuri pairing. So yeah, the setting is a goofy blast, but I’m sad to report that episode 1 has tremendous structural problems. All the team introductions are very clumsy and intercut with an equally clumsy introduction of the setting, the sport and the main girl’s extensive backstory. I will give this more chances because the setup has a lot of potential, but I really hope this shapes up on the storytelling front or I won’t make it very far in.

[aotopmha]

Hi~ I really like your blog and your opinions/metas. Which anime are you most looking forward this 2017? (apart from snk, of course)

Yes, Attack On Titan is one, of course.

Dragon Ball Super is looking to be pretty boss this year. The first episode of the Universe Survival arc was incredibly solid and the whole arc has potential in wads. It’s been a while I’ve been excited for something like this. I’ve been replaying the second opening countless of times.

(Maybe it’s also that Goku kind of became a problematic fave with episiode 77 that makes me the most excited; I hoping for - and there is potential I hope that is used - for a very interesting character arc for him.)

Then there’s My Hero Academia, which will be having some of the best arcs of the series animated in season 2.

Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul looks to be a great season 2 for Rage of Bahamut, which is a series I think deserves more attention.

Blood Blockade Battlefront also looks to be getting a second season - it’s also a series I really liked.

According to some info One Punch Man Season 2 will be coming this year, too, though I don’t think there is 100% confirmation from anywhere yet.

Thank you for the ask!

[ao3feed-fma]

Libra ya tiene muchos problemas como para agregar alquimia a la lista.

read it on the AO3 at http://bit.ly/2RbjWPa

by Yumeneko

Edward es mandado a Hellsalem Lott para resolver un caso de un alquimista quien ha estado intentando crear quimeras entre beyonders y humanos, pero entre sus nuevos compañeros de Libra y sus metas personales ¿Lo lograra?

Words: 4389, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 血界戦線 | Kekkai Sensen | Blood Blockade Battlefront, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen

Characters: Klaus von Reinherz, Edward Elric, Roy Mustang, Steven A. Starphase, Riza Hawkeye, Alphonse Elric, Leonardo Watch, Zapp Renfro, K.K. (Kekkai Sensen), Gilbert F. Altstein

Additional Tags: Crossover, Cross-Post, todo tipo de blasfemias gracias a nuestro amigo zapp, titulo provicional

read it on the AO3 at http://bit.ly/2RbjWPa

[javi150190]

My Top 10 Anime of 2016

See here for last year’s list

The past year was…something. It feels like everyone got screwed in one way or another and now everyone is bracing for a lot of uncertainty in every front possible.

In times like this, escapism stops being an option and it becomes a necessity. In that regard, I would say that anime accomplished this task during 2016, but not only as a means to separate ourselves from an unpleasant reality, but also to motivate us to deal with it and come on top of adversity.

2016 was a year of interesting experiments in anime, with many of them being able to surpass the usual offerings in terms of popularity. And more importantly, they reminded us that thinking forward and breaking the norm can pay off in moments when politics seem to be all about going backwards into a time in which a lot of excluded people were being pushed into silence in order to not “disturb” the stablished order.

For that reason, I am, once again, making a Top 10 List with my favorite anime from the past 12 months.

The rules are the same as last time:

      Only series or seasons that STARTED IN 2016

    Only series that had a LEGAL streaming  service overseas as they were airing on japan.

    No Toonami.

 10) Durarara X2!! The Third Arc

Content Warnings: Violence, Bullying, Implied Sexual Torture, Constant Shots of a Severed Head.

Despite the fact that there were a lot of ambitious series in 2016, I can’t deny many of them ended up out of this list, mainly because they engaged in some mayor storytelling stumbles when nearing their respective conclusions.  To give a few examples of this:

-Delivering your main twist in a serial killer mystery in a way that’s reminiscing to “Scooby Doo” and then expect your audience to take your cartoony tone shift seriously (“Erased”)

-Changing your lead writer halfway through in a show with heavy symbolism and reality-jumping narrative with awkward results (“Flip Flappers”).

-Having your main villain show up at the 9th Episode and then throw in a hastily written final arc that contains all of the WORST traits of the lead writer’s previous work (“Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress”)

-Trying to use the “Anime was a Mistake” Meme as an actual plot point (“Danganronpa 3”).

On that note, the fact that “Durarara” managed to stick the landing comes off as a miracle, especially considering it had to wrap up a storyline that probably amounted to the same amount of content as the aforementioned shows combined.

Despite some lackluster direction and visual execution, along with an ending that feels a little too convenient for one of the characters involved, this was pretty much a satisfying conclusion to a colossus of a story that in many ways was ahead of its time when it was initially published as a light novel series, delving into the crazy social machinations of the internet while also adding its own flavor with the clever inclusion of supernatural plot points and one of the best cast of characters ever reunited in a single show.

It can be hard to follow at times and this is something I would never recommend to someone who hasn’t seen the previous seasons, but if you have been following the adventures of a certain headless rider, this is a conclusion you don’t want to miss.

 9) Mob Psycho 100

Content Warnings: Discussion of Bullying and Social Isolation. Mass Destruction.

Director Yuzuru Tachikawa, who also made 2015’s “Death Parade”, has definitely set up himself as one of the most prominent new talents in the anime landscape, although I’m starting to feel like he has to figure out some basics, because it took me 5 EPISODES to recognize the writing strengths of “Mob Psycho 100”, and that was entirely because of the show’s initial slow pacing and episodic approach to each character, not to mention a bizarre decision to just RUSH through episodes 6 and 7 for the sake of later material (a meta-textual issue that was also present in “Death Parade”, hence why I’m not blaming the original comic for it).

Once you get through the initial awkwardness, this show becomes one of the most striking studies of the teenage psyche, in particular the first encounter with what is known as ennui and the feeling of loneliness that comes from having a special talent, and how the pressure that society puts over teens in order to exploit those talents, which often ends with those same teens becoming isolated.

This also comes with some of the most mind blowing visuals that Studio Bones (“Wolf’s Rain”, “Space Dandy”, “Blood Blockade Battlefront”) has come up with. Taking full advantage of the sketchy style from the original web comic, done by the same author as “One Punch Man”, this series is an animation marvel, and a welcome break from the normal super strict line that usually comes with anime.

 8) Haven’t you Heard? I am Sakamoto

Content Warnings: Bullying.

If you are familiar with DeRay Mckesson, one of the members of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, you’ll notice that his Twitter page has a gif from this series as his pinned tweet, and that image, without exaggeration, offers a pretty good summary on why this is one of the best comedies of the year.

This is a good example of a potentially disastrous premise turned into something wonderful. The titular character is surprisingly likable thanks to the ludicrous way he handles himself and the school bullies that try to take him down.

But the real sell point for me is the amount of heart this show packs along with its comedy. While other shows also managed to tug on the heartstrings while delivering their punchlines, “Sakamoto” deserves special mention for featuring a main character that is set on in making others happy in such a hostile environment like a high school, and only because he thinks is the right thing to do. In a year plagued with bullies, this was a series that reminded us that greatness and kindness are not divorced concepts.

 7) Please tell me! Galko-chan

Content Warnings: Discussion of Sexual Themes and Body Functions, Menstruation Jokes, Hinted Fatphobia and Body Shaming (Although for the sake of calling the characters out on their BS).

Believe it or not, you can pack a lot of surprises in 8 minutes. Anime shorts have been gaining traction for a few years, to the point that we now have 12 “episode” series made exclusively from these, and so comes “Please tell me! Galko-chan”, a comedy that fills a rarely attended niche: sex comedies for women.

The best way I have to describe this show is as your biology class about puberty was being told by the characters from “Mean Girls”. It’s sincere with its approach to the way girls talk about their bodies, and also to the many double standards that they are subjected by the make classmates, particularly to stereotypes involving promiscuity, weight, family background, etc.

Now all of this manages to add a lot of depth to what otherwise would be a series of short gags about bodily functions, but even that thematic layer wouldn’t matter much if the series wasn’t funny, but even with the short duration of each episode, each joke never overstays its welcome and the fast pacing actually helps the delivery. This is also joined by instantly charming cast of characters that manage to subvert expectations in more ways than one.

With “Little Witch Academia” managing to evolve into a full series after starting out as a single shot, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the girls from “Galko-chan” return in an extended format.

6) Haikyu!! 3rd Season

Content Warnings: Discussion of Psychological Pressure, Sport Injuries.

This is something that by all accounts shouldn’t work. The first two seasons of “Haikyu!!” were definitely enjoyable but now the show decided to do a gamble that in paper sounds like a disaster in the making: Making a 10 episode run on a single volleyball match.

If you are familiar with sport-anime clichés, then you know that stretching a plotline like this is usually standard for the genre, but in the past few years these shows have moved away from this trend, so to see “Haikyu!!” to attempt to stretch itself out like this was discouraging, to say the least.

So imagine my surprise when this gambit paid off in ways that I couldn’t imagine, all thanks to one single element: Tension.

Regardless if you are a sports player or just audience for a sports match, we all have been on that situation in which a single game feels like it’s taking on forever to end, despite being at most a couple of hours long. Studio Production IG (“Maria the Virgin Witch”, “Eden of the East”, “Kuroko’s Basketball”), manages to bring in a nail baiting atmosphere that delves right into the very core of the team dynamics while also not missing a beat in terms of pacing.

The only downside comes from the fact that you will probably need to watch the two  first seasons in order to get the most of this installment, since it depends a lot on the character dynamics established before, but once you get pass that, this is hands down one of the most satisfying experiences of the year.

5) Sweetness and Lighting:

Content Warnings: Discussion of Death of Family Members and Accidents Involving Kitchen Tools.

Time for a little confession here: I am a pretty mediocre cook, not because I make disasters in the kitchen, but because of my constant fear of screwing things up, therefor I keep myself from doing advanced stuff in the kitchen.

On that note this show seemed made for me, since it’s about teaching a guy who’s completely lost in the kitchen. However, like with “Sakamoto”, it also has a surprising amount of heart by adding a highly relatable story of a person forced to take care of his family and take responsibilities that you weren’t prepared for, and coming from a family that LOVES to go big in celebration dinners, I was glad to see the show demonstrating what a difference makes for a family to have somebody that can cook, as it brings family together in a unique way.

Also this is hands down one of the cutest shows of the year, but without managing to become overbearing on the viewer as other shows, and it manages to land many solid punchlines thanks to its “moe” mascot, the energetic Tsumugi, who comes off as instantly likable thanks to her high energy, but also feels like a believable child due to her constant clashes with others and the feeling that she hasn’t fully processed her mother’s death.

All and all this a great slice of life comedy that I definitely recommend to anyone who’s a fan of feel good comedies and lighthearted family drama, and if you are an aspiring cook.

4) Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū

Content Warnings: Sexual Themes, Discussion of Forced Prostitution, Implied Internalized Homophobia, Character Deaths, Hinted Emotional and Domestic Abuse.

Summarizing this show almost feels like describing a Japanese submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, yet surprisingly this show is an adaptation of a manga that began serialization in 2010, and a Josei Manga at that, which means that its main demographic were women in their late teens and into adulthood.

The first season of “Rakugo” (Which is getting a sequel starting in January 7) is a surprisingly deep character piece that manages to examine a period that doesn’t pop up all that often in Japanese fiction, despite being so critical for the country’s history:  The 1950’s. This is a moment in which Japan went through massive changes, from a dramatic increase in the access to TV and Radio, to the outlawing of prostitution, all of which brought a slow decay for many ancient artistic expressions. One of these was “Rakugo”, a form of storytelling similar to stand-up comedy that was hurt by the advent of mass media.

Here we are shown three characters trapped in a system that presents itself as stubborn in the face of a changing world, and the people inside it end up destroying themselves and each other by trying to live by its supposed “absolute truths”.

I would like to point out that this is one of the few examples that manages to successfully have a LTGB character whose affections and his sexual orientation are sub-textual but don’t feel dishonest to the viewer and are actually relevant to the plot (I’m looking at you “Sound! Euphonium”).

3) Yuri!!! On Ice

Content Warnings: Fatphobic Jokes at the Beginning, Discussion of Sports Injuries, Nudity, Discussion of Low Self-Esteem.

As the opening of this show implies, “Yuri!!! On Ice” was born to make history. Director Sayo Yamamoto, who had already established herself as one of the most distinct directorial voices in the anime landscape, struck gold with a project that she apparently had been planning with as early as the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, but didn’t have the support to realize it until 2014, when figure skating became a big sensation in Japan thanks to Yuzuru Hanyu’s gold at the Sochi Olympics.

Just from the production design you can tell that Yamamoto and series co-creator Mitsurou Kubo put their heart and tears into making this show as visually appealing and flat out sexy as possible (anyone familiar with Yamamoto’s previous work shouldn’t be surprised with the sheer amount of straight up sex in this show), while also paying little visual homages to the world of Ice Skating and the various locals in which the action takes place.

But let’s face it, I don’t need to mention why this show became such a hit, even to the point to crashing both Crunchyroll and Tumblr on the day of its finale. I definitely recommend reading Gabriella Ekens reviews in Anime News Networks, since as a queer writer she can explain the crazy steps taken by “YOI” in terms of LTGB representation far better than I (a straight girl) can.

However, what I can do is praise the hell out of the show’s positive depiction of globalization, by portraying an interracial couple as the main focus of the show, having a Latino as the US representative instead of a stereotypical blue eyed blonde, and even a budding relationship between a Russian and a Kazakh, something that holds far more weight than you might think.

As the great granddaughter of a refugee and as a strong pro-immigration writer, I am more than glad to endorse a show that show how a person’s world only gets bigger with globalization.

2) Thunderbolt Fantasy

Content Warnings: Gore, Mutilation, Implied Use of Drugs.

The story behind this crazy experiment will surely become a legend. Apparently, in mid 2014 writer Gen Urobuchi (“Madoka Magica”, “Fate Zero”, “Psycho Pass”) went to a comic con in Taiwan and came across the work of puppet production company Pili International Multimedia, and he was blown away by their work, to the point that he brought home a bunch of DVDs to show to his friends at Nitroplus, basically telling them “drop everything. We need to do this!”. To make things even funnier, many members of the staff at Pili turned out to be fans of the writer, and when offered the chance to work with him, they jumped at the call.

Now, there has been a lot of discussion regarding whatever “Thunderbolt Fantasy” classifies as an Anime or not, however, I define “animation” as the action to move objects that are considered “inanimate” to give the illusion of life, and puppets definitely count.

Now, back to the important matter, I don’t think I saw any other show this year play its cards as smartly as "Thunderbolt Fantasy”, the spectacular imagery is one thing, but then you get to the memorable characters, the expertly written dialogue, the surprisingly clever story, and the laugh out loud comedy. This is probably that best script Urobuchi has done since “Madoka”, and without a doubt this is also the most fun show he has worked in, which might seem a stark departure from his usual style, but his fingerprints all over the place, and so his now near legendary writing skills.

The only flaws that I can point to are a slight pacing slump between episodes 8 and 10, the “uncanny valley” feel that the puppets will cause in some people, and the confusing naming conventions, as the characters have Chinese names, but they are pronounced differently when translated to a Japanese script, creating a massive gap between what’s in the subtitles and what the voice actors are speaking. To give an example, the main character is named Shāng Bù Huàn in the original Taiwanese script, but in the Japanese voice over it is pronounced as “Sho Fukan”.

This caused massive confusion for non-Asian viewers, whom ended up resorting to nicknames when referring to the cast. The most common strategy ended up being the servant roles from the “Fate” franchise (Saber, Lancer, Archer, Assassin, etc.), and similar RPG lingo.

Regardless of what naming convention you prefer, “Thunderbolt Fantasy” it’s a near flawless execution of a crazy idea, and hands down one of the best action series in quite some time.

It is also getting a sequel, so count me in for the next adventures of “Gandalf the Vaper” and “300% Done-With-Your-Crap Samurai”.

1)      Lupin III Part 4

Content Warnings: Gun Violence, Blood, Implied Use of Drugs, Police Brutality, Sexual Content, Some Fatphobic Jokes.

(NOTE: This show originally premiered in Italy on July 2015 and in Japan on September 2016, but it didn’t make it overseas until January 2016, hence why it made the list).

I have talked a lot about breaking boundaries in this list, whatever being by portraying difficult subject matters, subverting expectations, or simply using a device that no one thought out before for considering it “too risky”. However, as we move forward, we also have to be careful in not leaving the works that gave us the base to make such important advances, and even more importantly, we also have to make sure that those works don’t end up as simple relics of our past. We have a responsibility to make sure that the classics grow up with us, while also staying true to what made them important to us in the first place.

And so we have this phenomenal update to the “Lupin III” franchise, taking bits and pieces from the series 30 year long history and adding a modern twist to it. The visuals have been upgraded, the stories have been modernized, the characters still feel fresh, and it never feels like the show is pandering on its audience’s nostalgia,.

Instead, this new installment boldly steps into new territory for the franchise, and also delivering a love letter to its fans in Italy, where the show is set and was also broadcasted before its premiere in Japan.

The show also brings back the charcoal-like visual style introduced by “A Woman Named Fujiko Mine” (Directed by “YOI”’s Sayo Yamamoto), adding a whole new layer of depth to the series already charming and timeless art design, while the soundtrack smartly brings back the jazzy tunes of the classic “Lupin” instalments and adds a few notes of Mediterranean instruments in order to make things feel fresh.

Special mention has to be given to the new inclusions to the cast. Rebecca Rosselini is a wonderful foil to both Lupin and Fujiko, while MI6 Agent Nyx is probably one of the best examples on how to pull off a character that sounds dumb as all hell, but ends up being a wonderful new opponent for our hero, and then there’s the show’s villain, which its frankly ridiculous, and a gambit that would have fallen apart in lesser hands.

As far as adventure franchises go, “Lupin III” will always have a special place in anime fandom, but that doesn’t mean that it should rest on its laurels. With a premise as flexible as “Notorious thief travels all over the world with an Interpol agent chasing him”, there will always be an opportunity to modernize the formula and expand its legacy among a new generation of viewers, and let’s hope we can see other efforts as this in the near future.

 Honorable Mentions: “Flip Flappers”, “91 Days”, “Poco’s Udon World”, “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable”, “ClassicaLoid”.

[chibivesicle]

You just can’t win; how K.K. is a great example of a professional woman in the 21st century

This is the second in my character analysis for Kekkai Sensen, focusing on the senior female member of the team, K.K.  I absolutely love her character; she is incredibly well written and I find her to be an excellent example of the situation that many working women find themselves in as their careers advance.

K. K.’s character design is obviously inspired/derived/variation of that of Vash the Stampede with a gender swap and the willingness to kill.  I find her unique as she is a taller than normal female character, much like Milly Thompson from Trigun but with the tall and skinny versus tall and stocky (Klaus).  She has a blonde bob haircut and striking blue eye while she wears an eye patch over her right eye at all times, even at home with her family.  We don’t know when she lost/injured her eye but very much like Steven, she has a visible sign of her job as a fang hunter since they are both over thirty.  I really appreciate that Nightow visibly shows us the toll that their job takes on their physical body as well as their minds.

K.K. was first introduced when Klaus went to go play prosfair against the Beyondian mob boss who absorbs the brains of his defeated opponents.  We find her in a parking garage surrounded by a literal pile of foes defeated by her single handedly, and we also learn that her vehicle of choice is a motorcycle.  Which makes her even more cool.  Zapp has his moped, Leo has an e-bike/motorized bike, Zed a skateboard and Steven drives a standard sedan car for the most part.

Nightow makes is quite clear that according to Klaus, she is one of the strongest people he knows but of course he’ll defend her because she’s a lady.  But at the same time, she’s the person he brought with him and Gilbert.  Which in a way puts her on the same level as Steven one of the two senior Libra members whom he really does trust.

We learn that she smokes clove cigarettes when stressed out and is one of the more emotional though mature members of the team.  What I mean is that she’ll make a statement or observation that is emotional, but she isn’t overreacting, she’s instead expressing her feelings on the usually sub-optimal setting.

Our next introduction to her is with the Libra social event, where we get her first observation on the workplace.  She runs into Zapp on their way into the after work/after hours social gathering.  It seems there is some sort of power dynamic between the two of them were K. K. has the advantage over Zapp.  However, it is clear that she is in part reacting to the male dominated cabal.

By holding Zapp physically back, she is preventing him from joining the inner circle of Klaus and Steven.  Her observation is 100% for many workplace environments where men will form groups, frequently not even aware of it and create smaller groups where key decisions are made and women are absent from them.  A sort of backroom deal situation but without a backroom but maybe X activity at Y location.

Steven laughs it off (in the Darkhorse translation) calling her pugnacious which only annoys her more, but it is a losing battle.  Of course, Steven laughing at her doesn’t make it work and she drops his common nickname of scarface and notes that he’s not just a scheming bastard - but the most scheming.

Interestingly, the entire time Steven seems nervous with little sweat drops and she states that she’s the bad guy today after noticing Chain’s crush on Steven.  These entire two pages are so honest and realistic - even though this is a fictitious vampire hunter organization.

However, the party comes to an abrupt end when Leo confirms that he saw a Blood Breed and Lucky Abrams comes calling.  Hilariously, since both of them avoid him, the end up together at the 23rd Street Station.  Of course, K.K. voices her annoyance about being teamed up with ‘this’ schemer.  The anime uses ‘black-hearted’ instead and I am too lazy to determine which is the more accurate translation.  It is clear that K.K. has reservations about Steven and he is always replies with a level headed and logical reason to work together.

It is clear that K.K. has some sort of revenge/rationale waiting for the return of the Blood Breeds while Steven would rather not even have to do these sorts of things.  However, each time you go back and read or listen to their dialogue the more and more it sounds like old friends bickering and not two people who hate or dislike each other.  This is further emphasized, and will continue to be depicted this way where the two of them move completely naturally with each other as a team.

This is our first two page spread in all of Kekkai Sensen with them. Just - ah.  So good.

Two professionals at work, completely serious.  Notice how they went from their standard bickering to non-verbal actions.  Time and time again, we will see this with the two of them.  When the Blood Breed from the India Gate comes to HL, it is K. K. who first spots the possible vampire and Steven is the first one to the scene by car.  K. K. saves the girl and her mother and Steven is able to freeze everything in the last second.  He remarks he was cutting it too close while she snarks back he was looking to make a dramatic entrance.  His reply that it wasn’t like her praise dripping with abuse.  These two have a long history of working together.

She’s annoyed that they ended up together again (this has to be super common outside of the story on the pages) and we get the standard Steven line of “Now, now/ まあ,  まあ” trying to deescalate/console someone.   Yet, after their short bickering, they are down to business.  Can we just state that this entire dynamic is just awesome?  K.K. goes by the information Steven relayed to them via phone as they nervously decide how to proceed.  And even though K.K. is incorrect in her assumption, Steven isn’t a jerk about it.  They both pull out their mirrors without actually discussing it.

Teamwork.  I like good teamwork.

What is interesting is the first time that K.K. doesn’t end up with Steven.  When Leo and Chain are looking for the arms dealer who stole Zed’s special breathing apparatus, the rest of the team had to fight villains.  In that instance, K.K. is teamed up with Zapp.

At first she is thrilled to be working with Zapp.  He does an excellent job (but we all know that Zapp is 100% on the job when he’s on the job) and she praises him for a job well done and that she feels lucky to work with him.

Since this is a great way to transition to speak to him as a parent, she has concerned about his recklessness.  She’s being very honest and contemplative about this positive interaction with Zapp, when Zapp totally bales on her!  Zapp literally sprints off and thanks for taking charge and working with others to continue the clean up and she’s pissed!

What does this tell us?  That despite all of her verbal complaints and bickering, there is no way Mr. Anal-retentive would leave.  Instead, Steven would be there giving exact directions to them for the clean up while she could leisurely hang out of even take off to see her family.  This short two page spread shows us that she likely appreciates working with Steven more than she’d verbally admit.

Since after this chapter, I can’t think of another time where K.K. was paired up with anyone besides Steven in fights.  Though I can’t be 100% sure since I haven’t done a full re-read of the series yet.  But all of the big scenes in the Calamity Auction arc, they are teamed up together.  We don’t know what would have happened win the Noctova Smile arc b/c K.K. wasn’t present for the entire incident.

Another interesting short page that gives us more insight into her character is from the “Lunch” chapter where Leo, Zapp, and Zed struggle to decide where to eat.  While they are bouncing around the city failing to agree on a place to eat, Steven and Klaus are in a back alley meeting up with Inspector Daniel Law.

Law makes a dumbass mistake (again going back to her workplace gender dynamics observations) of commenting on K.K.’s physical appearance and her age.  He makes it clear that the HLPD is actively trying to snipe K.K. and he gives her a terrible misogynistic backhanded compliment that she’s got no boobs but a great shot.  Which immediately causes K.K. to fire a warning shot next to Daniel’s head.

You can’t cover that up by stating it was a compliment as Steven simply smiles and that K.K. still was able to keep it to a warning shot.  Funny how Steven is using her skills as a way to press their own advantage implying that K.K. could have simply shot him and there wouldn’t have been any recourse - since the HLPD can’t track her.

What this also shows us, is that K.K. is playing a critical support role for Klaus and Steven.  Yes, they are very powerful together, but they didn’t go into that location alone and without backup.  Since K.K. is providing it for them.  The level of trust between these three characters is amazing.  Klaus wouldn’t go to play prosfair without her nor would he meet up with the HLPD without her in a sniping position.

An important part of K.K.’s character is that she is slowly revealed to be a mother, but that it is not the key aspect of her as a character.  When writing decides that a woman needs to be primarily framed as a mother it makes me cringe since that woman should not be defined by if she has children or not.  She should be defined by her whole self and different aspects combine into this.

The first major instance of this is towards the end of volume four of the manga.  The last one shot chapter is about K.K. trying to find a birthday card for one of her sons.

Leo has been roped into trying to help her find this super obscure and random card with a character who is very popular in the K.K. household but apparently no place else.

She adorably sings the theme song for the obscure series and Leo, the most ‘normal’ of the Libra crew has absolutely no idea what she is talking about.  Even though this is a joke on her that her kid has weird taste, it also demonstrates that K.K. knows what her kids are into, showing that despite her taxing job, she gets them.

The convenience store instead becomes a set up for an awesome shoot out between K.K. and a bunch of nefarious gunmen while she smooshes Leo out of the way.

The two page spread of her flying through the air above the aisles is just great as she deadpan makes her marks.  Looking to use the mirror to see where all her opponents are etc etc. 

I just love K.K.  We also have her getting emotional and even though Leo is trying to console her, again, he isn’t judging her as she expresses her frustration.  She still needs to maintain that straight calm face but and is already concerned at how he’s growing up and wants to give her moments of childhood joy.

I really like how she regains her composure as she puts everything in context.  She knows she’s missing part of his childhood and society already puts enough pressure on her to somehow be a mom and a fang hunter and DO ALL THE THINGS.  Which, obviously, she can’t.  This single chapter is laying the groundwork for the last chapter in volume 9, Bratatat Mom, where we get a slice of her life outside of Libra.

The chapter starts with a meeting of the in house SWAT/tactical team with Libra led by Steven.  K.K. looks awkwardly nervous as she slowly admits that she can’t support the tactical team that day.  Stating personal business to not get into the specifics.

The team is annoyed since it is clear that they rely upon her and highly value her skills. She comes clean admitting that it is for parents’ day at her younger son’s school and due to work, she’s never made it to any of their open houses!  She’s upset about this and also afraid that it will impact her role in their family as being a mother.  Think about this if it were a male character.  There is no way he’d be under the this type of pressure - furthermore, there is the judgement of parents upon their peers at those who are involved in the PTA and who is too busy etc etc etc.  The parent-school dynamics haven’t changed as much they should have; with the transition of women to the North American workplace in the 1970s.  And it isn’t even that, it is also the fact that she’d like to do something for her children since they are her kids.

Steven then steps in to diffuse the situation as we’ve grown to expect from him by this point in the manga.  He looks disappointed and admits that it isn’t ideal but she can go.  She cheerfully turns to excuse herself from the meeting when Steven then turns his personal manipulation to the max and guilts her that the other men may not make it and not see their children as well.  It is amazing that the most well known bachelor of Libra is able to achieve this so well.

It works and K.K. snaps threatening to kill Steven herself.  This is his ‘black-hearted’ nature at its finest.  Thus, K.K. comes up with a compromise - she pulls out all of the stops to coordinate with Patrick to get her all the weapons possible that she could remotely operate.  We get a scene of K. K. with her loving and adorable husband who is comforting her when she told her son that she’d be at parents’ day.  I love how this entire scene shows us that despite all that she does, he chose her, and also wanted to build a family with her.  K.K. knows how to choose them!  Win for healthy relationship!

He’s the best support spouse, and one of the best examples of a female led family/household.  That man is the house husband doing support and it is little elements like this that I love how Nightow writes female characters and their close relationships.  Despite the chaos of remotely supporting Steven and his tactical team, she gets to have hard hitting emotional moments watching her son with his classmates.  He may not understand it at that time, but it means the world to her.

This also sets up another mission that is a K.K.and Steven partnership.  Yes, she’s only doing remote support until she isn’t.  She realizes that one of the other parents is a Blood Breed standing right next to her.  Just like Steven does in Day In Day Out as he looks out into the night, K.K. berates herself for trying to enjoy herself in the moment.  Living her life like a normal person.  This shows that the two of them have much more in common than they don’t - both wanting normal lives, and not allowing themselves a break or the ability to forgive themselves for turning their fang hunter brains off for a second.

Yet, she returns to her senses and gets down to business.  Her original motivation is to protect the children.  She was able to inform Steven and his team of the Blood Breed at their location but then had to deal with the one she was chatting with . . . however, this is the only time that we’ve seen Steven fighting a Blood Breed solo and he’s getting his ass slowly handed to him.  The man knows he’s at a disadvantage and so does his opponent.  Steven is always either with Klaus or K.K.

And that is where the writing for this chapter is amazing as K.K. makes her move on the Blood Breed.  She is confused when he refers to her as ‘also’ being a fang hunter giving us the clue that he’s currently fighting Steven at the moment.  Right before he’s about to engage with her, his daughter finds him wanting to bring him down for lunch with her in the cafeteria.  This lapse in his concentration gives Steven the advantage he needed to break the head off of his remote robot.  There is a nice touch of the ice on his neck where it broke it as he collapses unable to fight back in front of the children.

Thus, even though they were not aware of it, the K.K.-Steven team succeeds in the most unlikely way possible!  I really wished that the two of them would have later been shooting the shit, bickering about something, like Steven being to relaxed and K.K. ready to go and this pops up.  And then the two of them realize it was their teamwork that allowed the mission to succeed.

I think it also goes to show how much Steven relies on/appreciates/needs K.K.’s talents for him to help complete Libra’s mission in HL.  K.K. may complain about his requests but ultimately knows that he’s a solid organizer and makes good, well thought out plans for the entire team to execute.  They also know how to both annoy and motivate each other which is another asset to them as partners in missions.

I already mentioned it in my previous post about Steven and the woes of running a secret organization, it is K.K. who gets him to stop his course of action with the escaped human-nonhuman fused being from the evil pot.  No one else is able to make him pause as he lets the team argue it out until K.K. calls him out.  That look on his face - he knows she’s right and K.K. is, I think, the only other member of Libra who can get Steven to change his mind.  That speaks volumes for how much he actually respects her.  This than comes back full circle to her shooting that warning shot at Daniel Law and Steven can only laugh at Law, rubbing salt in the wound since he’s one of the few people who understands her besides her amazing husband and Klaus.

So where does all of this leave us in regards to K.K.?

K.K. is a character who fills several different roles in the series but they do not define her or make her one dimensional.

K.K. as a fang hunter - she was first introduced as clearly powerful when she was chosen to be Klaus’ escort.  One of the few members of the team who has long range strikes and therefore, support she fills a niche that no one else can do with her 954 Blood Bullet Arts.  She frequently snipes able to disable enemies and does a great job as a distraction in Get the Lock Out! Though she did almost cause Steven to lose it when she was ready and willing to break into the main office. 

With the birthday card in the convenience store shoot out, we see first hand that she’s incredibly talented. 

I’ve also pointed out that other than acting as a support sniper, the rest of the time, she’s almost always working with Steven as her teammate and it again leverages the best of their abilities.

K.K. as a professional mother - much of the anxiety and drama around her has to do with her role as a professional and a mother.  How she’s worried that she isn’t there enough for her family; that she can’t do the same things that other parents can do.  The stress of likely being judged when she does meet other parents.  Yet, we know that one of her major motivations to do her job is to protect her immediate family and the future and all other families.  And that she has a husband who feels blessed that she chose him is top tier mature adult relationships and communication as a couple.

This even comes out when Leo thinks back to all the advice the team gave him if he were in danger and alone.  She joked that she’d snipe a barista if he threatened Leo at the local coffee shop, meaning that she isn’t just a mother to her own children but that the younger team members could use a little maternal love in the absence of their own parents.

K.K. as a female professional - this is slightly different than her as a mother, though the two are intertwined.  There are different aspects of the workplace that women have to navigate and they are never easy.  If a woman is single than she pays the tax of “Oh, since you don’t have a family you can do overtime.”  if she has a family than she gets the loss of skin in the game “Oh, since you have a family, you won’t be as committed to the organization’s success.”  As you can tell there is no way to win, it is more dammed if you are or dammed if you aren’t. When she shows up for the work party, she immediately realizes that she’ll be cast as the bad guy, noting the boys club which Zapp immediately tries to join where Steven and Klaus already are.  And as intelligent and gentlemanly as Klaus and Steven are, both are completely oblivious to this dynamic that leaves her on the outside.  Thankfully, this isn’t a frequent issue within Libra itself and I will continue to state that the ability of K.K. and Steven to work as a pair only improves as the manga progresses.  That speaks volumes as to their mutual respect of each other. 

Interestingly, we don’t see a lot of her interactions with Chain - I think this is a reflections of both their age differences with Chain being in her early twenties and K.K. being in her thirties but also the fact that Chain has a female friend group in the Werewolf Bureau.  In contrast, K.K. has her family outside of Libra.  Additionally, both women have different ways of expressing their emotions as Chain likes to keep hers a bit more distant (or so she thinks) while K.K. is more likely to let them out.  It may also feed into that bit of strong women workplace dynamics where it is sometimes best to leave each other a wide birth to avoid conflict.

Lastly, K.K. as an older female character who isn’t uwu-cute - Yep, there are no uwu-cutesie-waifu women in Kekkai Sensen.  And I as a reader like it that way.  She’s an honest character, living an interesting life, contributing to protecting the balance and has all these different unique aspects to her life.  All of this comes together to make a very human character in a series where totally zany shit happens all the time.

[chibivesicle]

A more comprehensive way to watch Kekkai Sensen

This is something I started way back in May when I made my best friend watch the first few episodes of KKSS but in chronological order (in universe) as opposed to episode release order.

By no means is this to be a definitive list of things and I didn't quite completely match the manga and instead went with a flow that allowed for character development. I also wanted to make certain season two scenes or lines make more sense in context with the additional information from season 2 episodes or skipped manga chapters.

Like many people, I started KKSS with the anime and watched season one. I greatly enjoyed it but immediately picked up on the fact that a lot of content had to have been skipped over. This is due to how frequently anime will so faithfully adapt manga (line by line, panel by panel) that I found too many lines/character interactions were lacking something. Yes, Steven is one of my favorite characters, and my bias is showing, but it was clear that he was one of the characters who definitely had things cut around him. Closely following Steven, were K.K., Chain and Zed to a lesser degree since he didn't pop in until S1E9 and fairly late in the manga as well (volume 5 of 10).

Another issue with the season one original arc as opposed to adapting the chapters in order meant that all of the volume 1-10 back fill that season two had hurt Leo's character the most. Season one has him slowly overcome his struggles to save Black and release White. Season two then starts with legit Back 2 Back content and then jumps to back filling with the amazing original chapter 7 Day In Day Out. All of a sudden a lot of the comments directed at Steven by K.K. in particular make a hell of a lot more sense from S1E4.

Most of the return to previous chapters fleshes out Chain and the rest of the werewolves, Zed's origin and struggle to belong, Gilbert's skill set as a combat butler and K.K.'s domestic life responsibilities. Luciana Estevez is introduced all in all much later and we also get a return to the Desperate Fight in the Macro Zone, a story focusing on Leo's friendships with Beyondians outside of work.

Why a chapter like Get the Lock Out! was smashed in the middle confused me, since the season two finale was the manga volume 10 finale before Back 2 Back. I'm not sure if they should have even included this episode and instead animated other chapters like 11.5. Cherchez L'idole, 16. Outlaw of Green, or 19. Escape from Pain: Chain Reaction.

This all contributes to a sort of 'backwards/stagnant' character development for Leonardo Watch. When he does appear in events that happened in the manga before KKSS volume 10, he's back to the usual struggles which he was supposed to have overcome by volume 10. It made it weird as a viewer to see him get his ass handed to him as he waffled on things while if things had gone in order, it would have all tied up neatly with the Spectral Vision, Spectral Eyes the volume 10 finale. Instead, this is the season two finale which makes Leo go through the same motions as with season one and the new Black/White/King of Despair arc.

This is why I argue the anime hurts Leo's character the most - he gets development, then slides back trying to match the original manga story line and then ends up at the same place by the end of season two. If you had just been reading the manga chronologically, Leo gets much more fluid development and a lot of the self-doubt and growing street smarts have already resolved by the beginning of Back 2 Back. Leonardo Watch will never be the type of character with out of the world power or stats but by time he's in Back 2 Back, his relationship with Libra is such that he is a completely equal member of the main team. He voices his opinion when necessary and rolls with whatever is happening.

This is my long winded way to say that my proposed watching order will allow for a more natural development of the cast of characters and try to keep key elements together.

Here is my proposed watch order:

S1E1 – Secret Society of the Magic Sealed City

S1E2 – After the Phantom Ghost Wagon

S1E3 – A Game Between Two Worlds

This is one of the few anime episodes that really blows away the manga panels. The entire sequence as they enter the domain of the mob boss to play prosfair is gorgeous. I was already enjoying the anime, but when I saw this transition, I knew I was caught hook, line and sinker. The clever animation sequence, the perfect OST song, the build up. It was all excellently executed!

S1E4 – Bloodline Fever

S2E3 – Day In Day Out

A critical character development chapter for Steven, Chain, Leo and Zapp. Not having this in season one greatly hurt the characterization for them, in particular Steven and Chain. However, by bumping this into season two, I can see why after Get the Lock Out! they did not include Midnight Blue as Anila and Garrett are in Get the Lock Out! and Midnight Blue revolves around Garrett.

S1E5 – The Tremendous Blood Hammer

S1E7 – A No-Holds-Barred Eden

S2E5 – One Butler’s Blitzkrieg

S1E6 – Don’t Forget to Don’t Forget Me

Read chapter 11.5 Cherchez L'idole. This is the first glimpse into K.K.'s private life removed from Libra.

S1E8 – Z’s Worst Day part 1

S1E9 – Z’s Worst Day part 2

S1E10 – Run! Lunch!! Run!!!

Note, this episode will end oddly due to it being followed by S1E11 but most of the content with Daniel and the HLPD makes sense to be here. Again, this isn't perfect; you could watch up until Zapp gets sick and hold the last bit to watch right before S1E11 for better flow.

S2E4 – Werewolf Mission: Chainpossible

Somewhere around here read the chapter 16, Outlaw of Green. Again, a Klaus-centric chapter with more unsavory aspects of Steven's character that are removed from the anime.

S2E8 – Desperate Fight in the Macro Zone part 1

S2E9 – Desperate Fight in the Macro Zone part 2

Read chapter 19, Escape from Pain: Chain Reaction for Zapp & Zed Big Dipper bonding and hangry Steven. [Where's my subway sandwich?] and more unsavory Steven behavior dropped from the anime.

S2E2 – A Phantom Hospital Ward Rises

S2E7 – Bronchial Blues

S2E10 – Bratatat Mom

Watch the Restaurant OVA or read chapter 20, King of the King of Restaurants.

S1E11 – Paint it Black

S1E12 – Hello, world

I have no good filler for this section. Imagine some sort of boring time passed between these two situations. Due to the White/Black storyline it seems odd to flip the order of the finales.

S2E11 – Spectral Eyes, Phantom Vision part 1

S2E12 – Spectral Eyes, Phantom Vision part 2

S2E1 – Lights! Camera! Action!

S2E6 – Get the Lock Out!

There you have it, my proposed watch order for KKSS. If you want to throw in the zany formal dinner with the generic middle eastern prince OVA, go ahead and put that in sometime before S1E11, perhaps before watching Bratatat Mom since K.K. thinks lovingly about her husband Yukitoshi.

I personally love the OVA since it is one of the few times we get to see Steven's inner thoughts in a difficult situation animated. I still can't tell if the only reason why he doesn't succumb to the out of the world delicious food is to how anxious he is that he can't enjoy anything. He's so worried about landing the additional donation all other things fall to the wayside. Perhaps he should have brought a subway sandwich just in case?

That's all I have, go ahead and give my order a whirl if you want it to flow a bit better and read a few of those missing manga chapters.

[chibivesicle]

The sadness of Steven A. Starphase.

How Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront is painfully realistic.  In the most banal adult ways possible.

With me going back to rewatch Trigun before Stampede began to air, I was itching for more work by Yasuhiro Nightow.  However, his follow up manga that started as a one-shot that became Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront came out while I was in grad school and when the anime was briefly on Crunchyroll later, it didn’t ping me as a suggestion.  I’m very much a josei/seinen person with occasional forays into good sports or slice of life series, then shoujo and then shounen series if they have a good sense of humor.  Essentially, I need something like FLCL or Gintama to keep me amused.

With Stampede not meeting what I’m realizing were unrealistic expectations, I was curious and decided to follow up on Blood Blockade Battlefront (B3).  The title alone would be a turn off for me; I put faith in it that it would have that original Trigun quirky vibe.  Honestly, I wish they’d not have translated and told me it was Kekkai Sensen, I would have been easier to convince to watch it.  I watched the first episode and was already loving the style, the artwork and the OST. That OST man - so good.  And the VA cast - so many actors from Gintama and I was shocked no one was commenting that Femt, the King of Depravity, was voiced by one of my fav VAs, Akira Ishida!  What sealed the deal for me, besides the incredible graphic design, story boarding and attention to detail from studio Bones was the entire sequence in S1E3 - A Game Between Worlds when Klaus and K.K. go to the Alterworld following the former Soviet chess grandmaster to the Alterworld Mafia Don’s home. 

As the story unfolded in season one, I started to gravitate towards my usual character types; tough independent females and tall, dark, and handsome males.  Yeeeaaaaah; I love Chain Sumeragi, K.K. and Steven A. Starphase.  I also appreciate Leo with Sonic and Klaus Von Reinhertz is the best male tank character I have ever seen.  He’s so adorable!  And gentlemanly with his tie and oxford brogues.  B3 is a workplace drama/comedy that just happens to take place in a secret organization that handles weird supernatural stuff.  Seriously, that is a great summary and it is a great cast even if I’d likely kill Zapp and punch Brody & Hummer for being double ditzes.

I haven’t finished season two yet (I’ve watched through S2E7 - so no spoiler comments for the rest of season two or the manga please!).  But the character who ticks all my boxes is Nicholas D. Wolfwood - er - I mean, Steven A. Starphase.  Steven is the second in command of Libra, one of the oldest team members (over thirty), has a facial scar, dark hair, sarcastic, stylish and the team member; who gets shit done.  That peaking bit of a tattoo and his ruffly black hair . . .  Chain may have gotten Wolfwood’s outfit and is a werewolf, but Steven is the evolution of Wolfwood, balancing out Klaus’ unwavering principles, and willing to take on the role of doing the dirty work in the background which is necessary.  The body language of Steven is the same as Wolfwood, he’s a mix of straight lines, angles and noodle.

Steven is also paired with Vash - I mean - K.K. on missions.  Following the anime format he’s teamed up with her in S1E5 - Bloodline Fever where they have to fight a Blood Breed in a subway station.  Unlike, Vash and Wolfwood, K.K. is not keen on him all the time calling him black-hearted and giving him the mocking nickname of Steven-sensei (I guess since he is the logistics expert of Libra always coordinating the teams while K.K. is a lone sniper character).

However, despite their one-sided discord, the two of them work well together where he shows his noodle qualities saving K. K. and the young girl and her mother in S1E8 - Z’s Worst Day - Part 1.  Interestingly, Steven takes K.K.’s criticism rather seriously as he’s shaking as she scolds him . . . Steven takes K.K.’s words into account indicating that he does want work well with her.

Before, reverting to his oft “Now, now, now” line to de-escalate things.  The two also naturally balance each other out and communicate well with their options when trying to determine which of the two mysterious individuals is the Blood Breed from the India Gate.

They are also characters who are able to info dump quite naturally due to them being the most senior members of Libra in the main cast besides Lucky Abrams.   And the storytelling makes their info dumping flow with the story - sometimes they are trying to figure something out, sometimes Steven is pondering a situation. Either way it works well for the second in command to be the man with a bookmarked to hell reference text and even have a color swatch for a Blood Breed’s aura.  He also has lots of paper reports which indicates he’s the kind of guy who likes to read through physical items than scan a computer all the time.

By the end of season one, we know that Steven is for the most part, serious about work, a deadpan snarker, leans towards the more pessimistic side despite having hope for the future. e.g. he’d likely describe himself a realist as opposed to Klaus being a dreamer.

It gives us enough information that he’s been beaten down and is no longer an idealistic youth.  Take when he asked about why Leo wouldn’t accept higher pay despite struggling financially and comments that Leo is an upstanding young man.  He also originally was hesitant for them to even invite Leo to join Libra in the first place, despite knowing the value he brought to them, we know this is alleviated by S1E5 when he takes a literal beating to stall for time. Steven looks chronically burnt out - he is the only character who always has lines under his eyes.  His facial expression is rarely one of him smiling or laughing and he maintains a sort of meh or down turned expression when not dealing with serious work situations.  Even in the image below when he’s smiling it isn’t a happy smile, he’s thinking about the situation they are about to enter, looking back on the past three years.

His character is frequently shown with a cup of coffee - at the office, he has a blue mug with a red bottom that matches his shirt, frequently when he has papers in the other hand.  He will also drink tea with Klaus but it is clear he’s reached that working adult phase of life where coffee is fundamental to your day to day function.  Steven is also shown to down energy drinks in times of extreme deadlines as well.

Season two, B3 & Beyond appears to be a season of back filling manga chapters that were skipped in season one to have a tight story.  The one aspect that was a bummer in season one for me was how characters besides Leo, Klaus, Black and White got loads of development and growth everyone else was just in the background as support.  Season two likely pulled from manga chapters that were published earlier which lead to some confusing/unclear points for viewers aka, like why K.K. calls Steven black-hearted and the Steven-sensei nickname.  It is too bad they didn’t have these episodes earlier but I’ll take my character development background whenever, just give it to me.

We first get the explanation from Klaus and Steven at the hospital that reappeared about their personal experience of the Great Collapse to Leo and the introduction of Dr. Lucina Estavez (who should totally date Klaus) as well as defeating the Blood Breed that the two hand been training to fight.

The episode that really hit on my idea that there is a sadness to Steven wasn’t until S2E3 - Day In Day Out.  We get a few parallel story lines that show what happens in Leo, Zapp, Steven and Chain’s day where they are independent of each other but still cross paths by the end.

The first thing we learn is that Steven has an amazing loft apartment with a balcony and cool artwork and an Alterworld/Beyondian housekeeper, Mrs. Veded.  He emerges from a bedroom with a cup of coffee in one hand and the newspaper as he greets her.  With a genuine smile too.

I can look beyond his choice to put milk in his coffee - however, that goes against K.K.’s comment that he’s got a black heart.  I’ll excuse his milk in coffee for his stress and soothing his tummy.  The phone rings and he goes to pick it up.

We can still see the lines under his eyes so again, he is either always exhausted or we are to read them as actual wrinkles.  Maybe both - he’s older and tired due to working hard.  A rather playful female on the phone jokes with him about waking up early - at 11AM and it is clear that he hasn’t been up that long either.

There is a conversation about how much alcohol to bring tonight, cluing us into the fact that he’s having a dinner party at his place.  Which again, is freakkin’ swanky as all hell.  I want Steven’s place.

He’s got a carefree attitude as he talks to two different people on the phone about arrangements for the evening. These are not Steven at the office looks, these are Steven potentially having an outside life facial expressions!

When he gets off the phone, Mrs. Veded comments that he looks happy and Steven seems shocked.  She also noted that he seemed very stressed out and tense all the time and she is glad to see him not in such a state.

Since we know that Steven keeps a straight face for the most time at work, he can’t help but reply that he’s shocked at her observation.  Which is true, I’m sure Klaus can read him pretty well in work situations, but it is his thing to keep his cards close to his chest.  In season one, he is frequently the go between for Libra and the government whether it is the FBI, HLPD, the League of Casters and so forth.  Angelica’s comment of Klaus-san and Steven-shi shows that she knows Klaus from previous interactions, but the -shi on Steven implies that she’s never met him, but knows of him and speaks to him respectfully.  The English equivalent would be like staying, “Oh, you’re the well-known organizer at Libra, Steven Starphase.”  The point is, Steven is well known in certain circles and is respected professionally.

In season one, he was only happy when they were successful at work or his plans went well.  For example, his delight at how Leo was able to spot the Ghost Wagon and how he told Klaus that he needed to work on his management skills of others.  He additionally has a mix of a dark and offbeat sense of humor, able to laugh while Leo is wrapped up in bandages.

This is not a relevant image other than that it shows time has passed and I still want Steven’s loft.

Mrs. Veded has been helping him all afternoon to prep for his party and we see that he even gets in on the action cooking and wearing an apron of course.  He goes with his more casual dress shirt with no tie.  There is an almost excited look on his face.  I’d guess he hasn’t had people over in sometime.

He goes to let people in and he hands the flowers to Mrs. Veded (who adorably inhales their scent looking happy) and after greeting them, trips over.  Of course the friends comment that he’s been working too hard.  Steven, adulting hardcore.

The gifted flowers are placed on the table in a vase by Mrs. Veded and he thanks her for all of her help.  However, it is clear that he doesn’t need her for the rest of the evening and she takes her leave.

Again, we see another nice subtle smile from him here but something about it lingers, like he’d like to say more but can’t.  After she departs, he talks to himself about getting things started, grabbing a bottle of champagne from a bucket of ice and commenting they should get started.

The next time we return to his place, all of the party guests are eating, drinking and chatting up a storm.  There is chill music on, everyone looks fashionably dressed, wealthy - and human.  All of this gives us the indication that outside of work, Steven has the most ‘normal’ social group.  Look at his swanky place, the nice artwork, stainless steel fridge, kitchen island . . . yet while everyone is chatting merrily in groups we get a framing shot of him silently standing alone leaning into a column in his living room.  You can tell that every single individual except for him is talking with another person or two based on their body language.  This is such an excellent image and it lingers just long enough before it zooms into him looking off in to the distance with a wineglass of course.

Steven has such an interesting expression here, he’s got what appears to be his usual poor posture, leaning against the wall, holding the wine glass and has a soft but almost sad smile.  Wistful is the best I can think of.

The fact that his left hand is across his chest and under his right is unusual for him.  He rarely displays this type of conservative closed off body language, think of how frequently he’s got at least one if not both hands in his pockets.  Steven speaks rather casually and bluntly; I like to call his overall posture, noodle, which is relaxed and confident.  Yet, here, he appears much more stiff and is alone at his own party as you look more closely. Something is definitely off.

He goes off to get more beer and leaves the living room when all of his guests raise their arms to reveal biological weapons and tell him to remain in place, Steven Alan Starphase of Libra.  Love the use of his middle name for emphasis as well.  Of course he denies any knowledge of Libra at first before turning back towards them slightly.  Another great part of this scene is how when he walks the few steps up to his kitchen we get a glimpse of his shoes he’s wearing at his house party. 

They aren’t some sort of relaxed shoes, the few short steps allow us to see that they are his modified shoes for Esmeralda Blood Freeze techniques.  We didn’t get this when he tripped in the foyer, but this is now giving the viewers a hint that he’s prepared for a serious fight.

The first sign that things are about to go south is that when he calls out two guests for only just meeting this evening but appeared to actually know each other.

As they continue to threaten him, he concludes that they need to capture him alive; likely due to his role as the second in command at Libra.  This allows him to stall for time as he teases them to give him more information, by stating their bosses are idiots for wanting to capture him alive - as it implied he was expecting them to shoot him.

The framing for this entire sequence is top notch.  He never turns to face them directly while continuing the conversation with Ellen. She tries to threaten him to stop being all pretentious and that they’d have no choice but to attack him.  Of course he replies mocking them by throwing the question about it back at them.  The resignation in his body language that this is what is happening.  I don’t think that at this point that he can even look them in the eye.  He’s too upset and is keeping it calm and collected.

The shading over his eyes as he looks down, the slack shoulders, this is not how he wanted his evening to go down.  Yet, here he is inside his kitchen in a tight spot.  Or so it seems.

However, Steven is anal retentive when it comes to organization and details, and he faked tripping at his front door to use his Needles of Absolute Zero move on them.  Obviously, he likely did this at the beginning of the party for the rest of the guests being a good host circulating himself.  This also explains why he sent Mrs. Veded home, he didn’t want her to witness him doing something this ruthless.  Plus, she likely doesn’t know what he does for a living anyways.

The look on his face as he freezes them is so lonely, his eyes are closed and he’s hunched forward.  He may not regret his actions honestly; he had no choice but to follow through with this course of actions but that feeling of disappointment, sadness, loss, betrayal. It hurts.  Only after he’s frozen them all in place does he even glance back to them as his breath is visible in the air.

Once everyone has been subdued, he gets a moment to gloat over them and their mistakes.  He notes that Larry was smart to select weapons that could get into his building undetected implying that he lives in a pretty secure building and that Larry was carrying his weight funny for the past ten days.  He also tells Ellen that she tried too hard to cover the scent of the weapons with her usual perfume - by adding more.  However, she should have changed the scent and he wouldn’t have noticed.  After telling them how he figured out things were off, he steps back and looks at the group, his entire expression tired and blank.  More stress lines under those eyes.

His own personal clean-up crew is there to take them all away.  And since this isn’t under the guidance of Klaus, he’ll likely let those masked individuals use questionable methods to interrogate everyone for the information he needs to know.  Who or what is targeting him?  Why?  What do they want from him?  These are the sorts of things Steven has to know, but the type of things that Klaus wouldn’t be involved with due to his stricter moral code.  In this instance, Klaus is Vash, holding an almost impossible level of hope and goals while it is clear that Steven is pragmatic and realizes sometimes you gotta slog through the shit to get things done and protect others like Wolfwood.  Though, Steven would have been very upset if Mrs. Veded’s roast were damaged in anyway so he clearly loves her cooking and the love she puts into it.

The likely immediate reaction for a lot of viewers at the end of this scene when he goes out for some air is; Holy shit!  Steven is a total badass.  He just froze his entire dinner party and turned them over to shady underlings to pump them for information.  Badass indeed!

Yet, when I saw the end of that scene, I felt so sad.  When it goes to him alone along the road, he’s chastising himself for his own behaviors.  He’s leaning on the railing looking out into the night giving himself criticism for letting his guard down and enjoying himself too much.  He tried to meet ‘normal’ people who didn’t work for Libra and look what it got him?!?!

He thinks back to how he met various individuals like Ellen and Larry.  And that is when it really sinks in and all of its subtlety.  You think back to his comments and realize he had to likely know these people for a few years as he met them and slowly thought about having them meet.  To realize what type of perfume Ellen wore all the time.  To notice that Larry started walking oddly with in the past ten days meant he saw him walk a lot more for a decent amount of time prior to the recent days.

And then it sinks in - all of those people might have went out of their way to befriend him over the period of several years - for the purpose to kidnap him for their boss.  The level of deception, of effort.  If that was how he met all of them, it sucks so much that it could break someone down.  I almost felt like crying the more that I thought about the entire situation.  Even if they’d met him first to just be friends, it still shows they were convinced to join this plot to capture him.

Thinking about that hurts; it would make him absolutely paranoid to befriend anyone who isn’t associated with Libra and socialize with them outside of work.  But you don’t want to hang out with your work friends outside of work do you?  

The entire mood of this image captures his feelings of sadness, isolation and loneliness.  He’s the darkest figure in the image as the car headlights, apartment windows and orange construction barrels are more illuminated than he is.

The car turns out to pull over and stop as it is Mrs. Veded and she’s got her two children with her who meet him.  Steven smiles at them and they have a pleasant conversation.

The icing on the cake is when he thanks her for everything - she likely thinks it is about her help prepping for the party and cleaning his place.  But Steven is speaking from his heart.  She’s likely one of the most normal people he knows.  Oh, that smile and his smiling eyes.  Steven, you’re a good guy even though you have to do some not so great things.  You care about normal people, you know how to talk to normal people and you are not biased based on species.

Her daughter shows him the cat they found and he knees down to see them eye to eye and comment on how the cat is so cute.  Note, he’s totally channeling Wolfwood, by talking to the children like they are normal and then comes down to their level to continue to chat with them.

The bonus is that he properly pets that cat which shows it is happy.  Aaaahhhh my heart is melting.  I love it when someone knows how to properly interact with cats.

The episode then ends with Leo, Sonic and Zapp riding by, Zapp having a total meltdown about his eminent loss of his most important body part.  Steven laughs how his friends are having a wild night out on the town - revealing that for better or for worse - his closest friends are his colleagues at Libra and Mrs. Veded.

I’m sure that when Leo stops by to chat with Steven, they likely notice the heads of the two goons in the car and figure out that cat is the missing purebred and all’s well that ends well.

The entire episode was a wild ride as the different characters navigate challenges for the current stages of their lives.  The one though that stuck with me the most was how realistic Steven’s entire situation is, besides being a key member of a secret organization who can freeze stuff with his blood.  I mean more along the lines of what it is like to be a hardworking professional over the age of thirty. Trying to navigate a work-life balance and meet people outside of a school context.  It is really difficult and it makes his situation in this episode sadder.  He likely put a ton of effort into meeting all those people as adult friendships are bloody hard.  Steven’s actions were not out of revenge nor malice; it boiled to either something bad happening to him or to them.  He outsmarted them and won the contest but at the loss of likely a bunch of people he socialized with outside of work and clearly never told them who he was - with the whole working for a secret organization.

We can also guess that with his multilingual skills, like Klaus, he’s not a native of NYC originally and moved there to be a part of Libra.  Which makes his story even sadder and more lonely.

We don’t have enough information if he’s a native speaker of Spanish or that he knows it for his Blood techniques.  Zapp and Zed have to do theirs in Japanese (with very Buddhist undertones as opposed to Christian for Steven and Klaus) and they were taught by a mysterious ‘otherwordly’ man with a dark skin tone and wears a skull sooooo one can’t correlate Blood technique language with ones own racial/ethnic background.  All that it has revealed is that between Steven and Klaus, besides English, they can speak a total of nine languages knowing that Spanish and German are two of those nine.

I’ve gone off track, but getting back to my main point.  The entire episode fills in a few gaps from season one.

Steven does have a black heart - sort of.  K.K. isn’t incorrect, but he isn’t doing this all for fun.  He’s the guy who has to choose between two terrible options.  He is the character who makes decisions - very deeply thought out decisions for the overall good of the many as opposed to the few.  Unlike Wolfwood, he does not charge into situations and instead, does his research, assembles teams and will work himself to utter exhaustion to prevent disaster.  He commands others with a strong presence and organizes almost all of their coordinated plans as well as making sure they are executed properly.

Though his interactions with Veded and her kids as well as his concern for protecting normal people or other staff; he cares a lot about others. 

Older characters are more reserved. Steven frequently interacts with all sorts of people and is the contact point for Libra.  Everyone has his number.  He does not show his emotions easily and takes much effort to be convinced.  Detective Daniel Law is the one who talks directly to Steven while Klaus listens silently.  Though, as obvious as it is that Law is manipulating Klaus, Steven doesn’t say anything aloud and instead sighs and groans at the expected outcome. When Master Raju Jugei Shizuyoshi appears, it is Steven who quickly determines his identity, implying he’s done his research though it was still after the Blood Battle God utterly mocked both K.K. and him, the two most senior members of Libra. Yet, he holds his own and keeps his cool - interestingly, Klaus does not speak until addressed by Shizuyoshi, instead allowing Steven to carefully question him without being intrusive. A character like Steven also hits differently.  The antics of say Chain or Zapp aren’t as interesting or realistic as watching Steven lose it over making sure his computers aren’t destroyed.

He’s realistic even in the context of something like B3.  The burnt out vibes, the snarky comments, the confidence in regular work situations.  Steven is an easy older character to connect with.  And he’s got that twinge of adult isolation and loneliness where you wonder how you got to this point professionally successful, yet, somehow are still alone? What did you sacrifice to reach this point?  Was it worth it? I still have a few more episodes to go, but I’m curious to see how things pan out.  Annoyingly, the print version of the manga is out of print (throws serious shade at Darkhorse) AND they don’t even have it digitally for me to legally support.  That’s pretty annoying there Darkhorse . . . Yet so far, hands down, I love Steven’s character and all of his banal realistic flaws.  As life gets older, you have to compromise on things and his character is a great example of that along with the grind of working and being successful

[chibivesicle]

The evolution of Daniel Law in Kekkai Sensen

Confident bravado slowly shifts to more subtle actions.

Ah yes, time for more Kekkai Sensen meta and we are turning to a character who has slowly be worming his way into my heart as the story has progressed. When I first watched the anime, I absolutely did not like Daniel Law.  He was a classic cop character, smug, confident, full of bravado more than willing to make threats to others to achieve his goals. I’m in general not a fan of cops in media or in real life; it would take a lot for me to find any reason to like the police.  Yet, when I read the omake segment where Nightow absolutely gives Daniel shit, I knew I was starting to change my mind on him. 

Let’s dive into Daniel and how his character has changed in the manga from his introduction all the way to his role in the Calamity Auction arc.

The introduction of his character is very well done and channels classic noir/crime/detective media as he is revealed over a series of panels giving us a glimpse into his personality.

Between two establishing shots in the middle we have a man sitting on a bench, smoking a cigarette, and a partially cropped figure.  He has an open trench coat, dark suit and tie as well.  It really seems that a light colored (implied to be beige or tan) lightweight coat like his is almost a code for detective or private investigator.  There is a somewhat disheveled vibe to this smoking character.

As the discussion about the one thousand yakuza brothers occur the unnamed smoking man states that they are on the verge of moving and that he doesn’t have the people to deal with the situation.  We see a distinct swoosh of hair over his left eye and a cigarette between his teeth.

Only then is he revealed.  The swooshy haired main is slouched forward on the bench with another man standing guard next to him, but we can’t see him up close yet.  It is only on the middle right panel that we see that Steven is the other side of the conversation which was asking if he wanted them to help.  Of course he replies that they could be arrested in all of the chaos.

The man agrees that they have all reasons to be cautious as there are others who’d very much like to seem them arrested in reality.

The rumpled coat and smirk tell us so much about this man’s personality.  Furthermore, he is the first character who has been introduced who seems to hold his own in a conversation with Steven.  He baits Klaus into getting literally fired up to assist while Steven hangs his head in defeat, having not wanting to be involved with him.  By this point the visual cues from his outfit, bodyguard and mention of arrest are more than enough that the reader can conclude he’s a cop.  Finally, we get a smug grin where he eagerly states that ‘your boss’ has decided to help and he thanks them.  Steven is hesitant before he replies begrudgingly that he’ll owe them one before stating his name.  This is the Darkhorse translation which goes with Lieutenant Daniel Law (ugh, that low typo).  The anime also chooses to use Lieutenant as well.  Later scanlations will go with Assistant Inspector as his official title within the HLPD.

Steven is not happy with angry eyebrows and a sweat drop combination.  Daniel than replies he’ll owe them one - hence why he’s decided to not arrest them.  God, that look on his smug ass face.  Makes me want to punch him, thinking that he’s the shit.

And readers, this is when I realized I did not like Daniel Law in the anime.  Threatening to arrest Klaus and Steven!  Jerk.  He even goes on to give K.K. a backhanded compliment about her lack of a bust but is an excellent sniper.  This results in her giving him a warning shot and Steven smiles as in response to his lame excuse it was supposed to be a compliment.  I’ve already mentioned how this scene is important character development for K.K. supporting Klaus and Steven understanding there is inherent risk in this meeting with the HLPD.  And also, just compliment her on her skills and leave the physical remarks out Daniel.

Interestingly, the anime has Daniel sitting on a briefcase of some sort and K.K. is not providing support, the page where she shoots at him is left out.  I think that the loss of this did a disservice to K.K.’s character and it also made Daniel look weaker as well.  The anime relied on the dialogue to convey the power dynamic while the manga does both.  The fact that he’s slouched on the bench while Steven and Klaus have to stand a safe distance away visually tells us that Daniel is the one with the most power in this situation.  In reality, we know that they are physically more powerful than he is, but they work in a legal grey area and Daniel does not giving him an advantage. 

Keep in mind that these events occur in chapter 14 Run! Lunch!! Run!!! and that we will witness Steven stealing information from the police in chapter 16, Outlaw of Green.  Not sure if that favor that Daniel owes them is repaid by giving a blind eye to Steven’s actions with Anne?

Fully involved with the HLPD, Klaus and Steven head to the Eighth Precinct and get the full briefing from Daniel.  Of course the entire conversation is driven by Daniel and Steven while Klaus hangs back.

It is Steven who then begins to leverage his own contacts, making it clear that he’ll look into it from his end.  Daniel only appears in a few more panels before the actions starts as Zapp, Zed and Leo are about to eat their long delayed lunch.

In the anime Daniel is given a rather drab color scheme. He also has that sort of messy appearance when he’s first talking to Klaus and Steven.  His characterization is also slightly different due to the introduction of the anime only plot line.

We see back at the precinct he’s got his feet up on his desk as he leans back in his chair while on the phone with Steven.  His tie is also looser and we can see a more open collar - with Nightow’s characters in this series it means he’s working hard and down to business - just like Steven.

I think it is safe to conclude that Daniel’s character design is in part inspired by the famous TV detective Columbo.  His suit in this official artwork even has a green tie and purple toned suit.  Other photos show a muted brown suit so it is pretty clear that muted earth tones are the color palette for Daniel based off of Columbo.

The next time we see Daniel in the manga until Back 2 Back.  The anime gives us the teaser in the OP here as the secondary cast are shown in the city while Leo and Zapp run through the streets.

He also gets to be in the background looking annoyed as they arrest the mad scientists who were attempting to summon the earthshaker who were frozen by Steven in Get the Lock Out.  Daniel is with a subordinate who will show up in the Calamity Auction arc.  However, since a fair bit of season two is Kekkai Sensen chapter back fill he does not get anything else.

Additionally, this scene is not in the manga - instead the anime team chose to include him to remind us that he exists along with the beat cop next to him.

In the manga Daniel appears in the Dead of Night Warfare chapters when Noctova Smile had descended.  This time, Daniel Law is not in the position of power visually.  Instead, Steven lifts the yellow police tape and strolls right into the crime scene.  Steven has the relaxed posture while Daniel points at him angrily cigarette in hand.

He pauses before stating that Steven is well informed and fast as well.  It leads him to ask Steven when he even sleeps, which doesn’t get a reply but the retort that he could ask the same question of Daniel.  Pot, meet kettle.

Daniel tries to keep quiet, turning away while telling Steven he’s got nothing for him.  We see Steven frown as he thinks about his next move, which is to blurt out the truth with his sly smile - not like Daniel can even see it.  Both of these men have terrible posture.  Also note the pinstripe suit that Daniel is sporting under his trench.

The bottom panel shows the huge frown on Daniel’s face as Steven, still nervously smiling confirms that he knows what the truth.  We see Daniel’s right hand look like it might make a fist, instead he reaches up and grabs Steven by the lapel of his suit and doesn’t have any kind words for Mr. Starphase calling him a bastard and ready to remove him from the crime scene by force.

Steven calmly tells him to not worry about it, stating it came from his own internal sources.  The entire bottom panel is Daniel thinking things over with a very angry right eye glaring at Steven.  This then leads to the reluctant partnership between Daniel’s team and Libra.  He finally come to the conclusion it would be better to work with them; despite being in the weaker position, he makes sure to push his advantage as much as possible giving Libra the crappy end of the bargain.

Steven is not thrilled and instead of threatening to arrest him, he says that Klaus has to talk to Daniel.  If not, Steven would have to do Daniel’s bidding.  This leaves Steven livid ‘cause, we know the man has [ahem] major trust issues, but seemed to think that his relationship with Daniel warranted a little more faith from the HLPD side.  I can assume that this means that off the page there have been more cases since Daniel’s first introduction where the two men have worked together successfully.

Thus begins the awkward meeting where the HLPD and Libra are going to follow the HLPD plan to transport Noctova Smile out of the city.  I’m also totally in favor of this outfit upgrade with the full three-piece pinstripe suit.  What can I say, I’m a sucker for well dressed men.  Of course, he almost gets attacked by Zapp but honestly, the conversation between Daniel and individuals like Zapp are pretty much the same as when they are being given orders by Steven.

Daniel Law is the only character who is as snarky as Steven and this time he’s not as much of a dick trying to threaten people outright with arrest.  Now, he’s confident that he’s got everything covered.

However, when the discussion that he suspects that someone in Libra might leak information, it does not go over well with Steven.  Note, that this chapter is after Midnight Blue, where Garrett was removed from Steven’s team and Libra by his personal squad.  It might be a sensitive subject to Starphase as indicated by how fake his smile is.  Steven is even polite enough to ask him to please stop acting that way.  With emphasis that he really means it.

Of course the Assistant Inspector’s confidence is crushed when a wax sealed letter is delivered to him.  From Veneno the interdimensional thief!  That expression on Steven’s face in the background while Daniel frowns is priceless.

That look of shock and anger - which on the next page shows everyone looking disappointed that their job got even harder as he frowns in a semi-chibi form.

Chaos results as Veneno appears and despite all of Daniel’s preparations, things quickly unravel.  As expected, he and Steven play a role ordering other people to do things as the stakes get higher.  I personally love the panel were Daniel is driven by in the SUV yelling “Goddammmmiiitttt!” only to be followed by Steven screaming at Zapp, Zed, and Leo to not just stand there.

When they finally catch up to transport truck with the Noctova Smile, it looks like Veneno will have it, until Curious explodes him into little bits of body parts.  Daniel Law in charge of the operation at first tells him to hand it over.

Out of all the HLPD members present, he doesn’t even have a gun!  Are you sure that you are an American Daniel Law?  His attempt to stop Curious doesn’t go over well with Steven who whispers over to him stating it might not be a good idea.  He sasses back that he can’t just watch Curious take the Noctova Smile, thus, he’ll proceed boldly.

This leads to an interesting monologue from Curious towards Daniel based on his legal rationale to acquire the Noctova Smile for the US government.  Seeing that Curious escaped from a US DOD lab, his words indicate that he was enticed by something or someone in the government and then captured and imprisoned.  We see a stern but nervous looking Daniel as he finishes talking.

Daniel, likely in a moment of hesitation gives the order to fire and Curious begins to fight with Klaus.

Ultimately, Klaus uses the Noctova Smile to block a strike from Curious, destroying it and preventing anyone from getting it.  With the assistance of Veneno’s caster with some encouragement from Chain and Leo, Curious gets tossed into the Abyss for some time.

The absolute look of defeat on Daniel’s face says it all. Equipment has been destroyed, the Noctova Smile no longer even exists and his plans fell apart.

It takes to Steven first address him, where he’s at a loss for words stating “We’re really, truly sorry  . . .”  The body language shows it from Steven’s side but Klaus looks like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Everyone is exhausted and hopefully they all head home and get some sleep.

The next time Daniel Law returns is at the beginning of the Calamity Auction arc.  This time, it appears that Steven and Daniel have agreed to meet in relative secrecy on an equal level on an empty rooftop.  So, we’ve gone from cocky, to uninvited Steven, to what appears to be an arranged meeting - likely they went to call each other at the same time when the news broke about the auction.

Daniel starts out by relying the information that he knows from the Federal government.  Steven points out the internet still exists, but they quickly come to the conclusion that where there is a will, there will be a way.

Both of them have much softer facial expressions.  Daniel Law seems more willing to accept that the situation will continue on despite all efforts to stop it.  Steven agrees and Daniel states it should be left up to the experts.  Of course Steven knows there are all sorts of ways to enter the city outside normal means.  They then start to determine who is going to do what as Daniel wants to know how Libra will enter the venue.  Steven can only reveal that they are already on it along with the Werewolf Bureau.  Daniel pauses before asking if he can share the information with him.

Steven then hesitates not replying, prompting Daniel to ask if he can believe Steven.  As he’s done previously, Steven does not answer Daniel’s question and only states that he feels the same way.  Sooo, this means that both men want to believe each other at this point but also still can’t completely trust each other.  Steven smiles as he asks the rhetorical question that they know how each of them work which is the best answer he’s willing to give.

They have come a long way in their dynamics since we first saw them interacting in a small park.  Their facial expressions show it so clearly.  Daniel is serious, not smug and Steven is relaxed as opposed to aloof. This sets up their next encounter soooo well.  They almost trust each other, or know each other well enough to feel confident in what the other does reveal. 

Until the feds decide to attack Libra and Steven escapes with the team except for Klaus who allows for himself to be arrested.  Upon learning this, Daniel is in an absolute panic.  He rushes back to the office where he asks what the hell is going on, to his younger brother Marcus.

Marcus has less swooshy hair and much rounder eyes than Daniel giving him an even younger appearance.  He’s also comfortable enough to stroll around while carrying a handgun in the office.  Marcus simply writes off the arrest of Klaus as an order that they cannot do anything about.  Daniel angrily replies he’s well aware of the situation and points out they need Klaus.  He both concludes the feds are stupid to pull away Klaus and are confident when they shouldn’t be.

The situation only gets worse when Marcus informs Daniel he’s about to be taken off of active duty and placed under house arrest.  Daniel thought that Marcus was going to stop him from being impulsive but instead, his brother (who must be another more junior detective) is taking over. 

The rationale is that Daniel is tainted from the Noctova Smile Incident.  He brought Libra into the plan and then Klaus destroyed it.  This shows that Daniel Law is now guilty by association with his previous actions.  It would be interesting to know if someone was monitoring him when he’d gone to meet with Steven on the rooftop.

One of the more emotional older cast members, it is not surprising that Daniel reacts by grabbing onto his younger brother.  Man, Daniel looks like he’s gone lose it calling Marcus a stupid idiot and that if the HLPD keeps taking the fall for every little thing there will be no more local law enforcement.

Marcus concludes that it is a violent opinion and he’s trying his best, but other coworkers are seriously wondering what is up.

Daniel’s terrible day only gets worse.  He heads to the restroom while grumbling about how bad the decisions are, bemoaning how many people will likely die as this thing shakes out.  Only to get his ass frozen by Steven.  Steven A. Starphase, you have some balls to stroll right into the bathroom at HLPD HQ.  I love how Steven feels that a ball cap and white short sleeve dress shirt are boring enough for him to waltz on in.  Like we saw in the last arc with him, he predicted that Steven would be coming for him.

These panels are mainly Daniel talking Steven down from doing something worse and proving that he was out of the loop having been taken off duty.  What really seals it is the fact that he has the same belief that those in Libra do. The fact that Daniel is only partly frozen indicates that Steven 1.) needs info from him and 2.) likely trusts him enough to try to hear him out.

This entire five page sequence shows the complete reverse in their dynamics from when Daniel was convincing Libra to assist him in the yakuza situation.  As Daniel thaws out, he slams his fist on the tile, declaring that he’ll be in touch and will not stay silent in the matter. 

Throughout this entire arc, Marcus will act on behalf of the feds while Daniel will work in such a way that Libra will be able to use his information without being obvious about it.  After the Auction House incident, Daniel starts pounding the pavement talking to the beat cops to get an idea what is going on.  He’s with MacKenzie, the blond guy from the Noctova Smile incident and they are trying to figure out how people were able to leave the building with all the exits closed off.

The front line cop (Harrison, I’m guessing from the fuzzy context) mentions that one of the snipers spotted bats leaving the venue, Daniel muses if the bats are a sign of the Blood Breeds but states it would be really stupid.  The on duty officer than realizes that Law should be under house arrest while MacKenzie says he’s on his way to the grocery store.  It becomes obvious that Daniel is disobeying orders and MacKenzie is fine to ignore them as well.  The other officer asks Law if he could do something to help.  This shows that people really seem to trust Law, however, he’s realizing if they get caught it will be his job on the chopping block and not theirs.  Calm is not a word to associate with Daniel Law.

Daniel’s ability to glean this information will prove to be critical as the arc progresses.  The next time there is a group of bats spotted in the sky, Daniel pauses for a moment.  He’s supposed to be under house arrest and not anywhere near other people and we get to see the tension build as he decides what to do.  His expression is down turned and then we get to see him squeeze a radio microphone before calling all units using what I’m assuming to be his badge number to identify himself.

This action shows he is disobeying orders but ties in nicely to a previous scene where Chain is on a rooftop listening to the police communication.  So when Daniel identifies himself (and we know that Libra knows his number and voice) they will realize he’s putting it out there for them.  Chain hears it and then takes off in pursuit of the bats.

This allows for her to infiltrate the roost of the Blood Breed bat gates/bloodline gates.  However, Chain ends up in a standoff with the sentient Blood Breed gates where she’ll get killed if she tries to undilute herself while they state they can reform a gate with another bat.

When it looks like Chain is trapped, the door is suddenly broken down with a battering ram and an HLPD SWAT team rushes in.  Under the command of Daniel Law!  The best part is if you look more closely at the team right outside the door.  That’s right; Daniel is behind the others and he is unarmed - AGAIN!

Daniel, my man, you really don’t even see the point of having a gun do you?  He even reminds everyone to visually confirm the Blood Breed related bats/bat gates/whatever.  Good call Daniel, though it is unclear what sort of guns will work on them with no fang hunters present.

This intervention allows for Chain to negotiate with the bat gates.  All that Daniel can see is a bat blob about to attack an empty corner.  As it breaks up into individual bats and swarm the SWAT team Chain forces them to open the Boodline gate.

As most of them flee they are left to observe the gate that Chain forced them to reveal.

Thus, Daniel’s hypothesis has been proven correct!  The bats form the gates that allow for people to cross into other locations.  Meanwhile, the auction house sends every greedy bounty hunter on Leo and the expected chaos ensues.  We get one last action from Daniel where he orders HLPD forces to take Leonardo into custody and to not overdo it if possible.

By this point he doesn’t give a damn about his house arrest order and is taking action.  While Libra deals with things that the police simply cannot handle the auction house becomes the final battle ground.  However, even with its interdimensional abilities it doesn’t matter when Chain made the Bloodline Gate connect for Daniel and the HLPD.  And for the first time we see him holding his gun.  He does have one and only uses it when it likely isn’t necessary.

And thus, with the assistance of Libra he’s able to proceed into the legal system to charge the business in criminal court. 

By taking the time to look at Daniel overtime, it is clear that he’s had some great character development.  He’s clearly meant to be the legit foil to Steven in many instances where Libra and the law bump into each other.  I love the color page from the Calamity Auction arc featuring both of the Law siblings.  Daniel is passionately speaking to his brother leaning up against the bar with a beer in his hand.

Meanwhile, Marcus smiles as he listens.  It is clear that he’s the younger brother who looks up to his rough older bro.

What has the series showed us about Daniel up to this point?

Daniel Law is a passionate and proud man.  He starts out cocky able to convince Klaus to assist the HLPD.  Steven is more hesitant to join him and physically looks annoyed while Daniel has his own shit eating grin.  It is clear that they respect him but you can tell with his hot personality, he’s the opposite of Steven.  The two of them frequently bicker back and forth and Daniel is more honest and forthcoming than Steven.  Neither apparently get enough sleep, seem to be on the pulse of events and have their vices; caffeine for Steven and nicotine for Daniel.

Yet that pride is well placed.  Daniel has proved that he is competent and knows how to organize, motivate and lead other people in situations.  Other police officers trust him and are willing to disobey orders to keep working with him.  Unfortunately, he’s a regular human with no special abilities and has held a firearm once in the entire manga to date.  He reads others well and plans for the unexpected including a visit from a very unhappy Steven. 

It is funny how hurt Steven is when Daniel won’t trust him after he entered a crime scene.  However, when Daniel was stuck, Steven was on it to lend assistance since the HLPD problem was also a Libra problem.

He drops his facade only to those who know him well enough.  Most people still get snarky remarks from him, over dramatic facial reactions and a lot of Daniel freaking out/swearing/being very annoyed.  It seems in part he does this so that people don’t pay too much attention to him and underestimate his abilities.  This shows with how infrequently he’s drawn a gun.  When he went to arrest the auction house owner.  This likely refers back to the Columbo elements that Daniel has.  He’s got this scruffy look to himself, like he could use new clothing in the beginning or at least get things spruced up.

Yet, when we see that conversation with Steven on the roof, he’s not bluffing or acting confident.  Instead, he tentatively asks if he could be privy to the intel that Libra has. 

This is such a great scene.  Love it so much.  It also confirms that Daniel is all bark and no bite.  He agrees with Libra’s mandate to fight because those who can’t won’t be able to anything.  It means that even if their methods are different they are out to achieve the same goals and protect the citizens of HL.

What is in store for Daniel Law in the future?

He started out as an annoying but competent police detective.  He’s worked with Steven a lot based on their dialogue of events that cause them to cross paths off the page.  The Calamity Auction arc was clear in revealing that his reputation is tainted from working with Libra in the past.  The feds don’t trust him and we don’t know what happened to him after the arrest of the Auction House Owner.  Was he able to escape being reprimanded?  Or did he get docked for pay or something like that?

With how successful things were, it is only logical that Daniel will want to work with Libra even more.  Steven is smart enough to realize that Daniel knew that Chain would be able to pick up on his actions.  There is also younger brother Marcus, a character more likely to follow orders without objection.

Will the story bring us to a point where Daniel Law will have to choose between falling in line with the HLPD or working with Libra?  Will he and his brother have more arguments, since it is clear that Marcus was worried about him but didn’t do much to change his mind.  Is his brother in a better position to be favored by those higher up since he toes the line?

I’m leaning towards some sort of conflict where Daniel going to have to choose who to work with.  But the thought of him joining Libra likely means lots of bickering with Steven . . . both men are workaholic control freaks.  Steven exudes it with his tidy appearance and only tries to look more approachable with his relaxed posture.  Daniel instead has a scruffy and gruff manner but runs everything with an exactness that only matches Steven.

Anyhoo, that’s all I have for now.  Looking forward to seeing more of him from the future.

[chibivesicle]

Kekkai Sensen character clothing colors continued

I've been under the weather with epically bad seasonal allergies and a busy few weeks of work on top of deciding to draw and write for fun. Oh, and working on my Daniel Law cosplay for the future. Anyhoo, I'm back to thinking about clothing colors and outfits in KKSS and of course I'm stuck on my man, Daniel. Which might be less about clothing colors and more about the fact that he's got different outfits compared to the rest of the cast.

The most common look and appearance for Daniel Law is from the anime as shown here.

He has his dark brown hair, white dress shirt, red tie, brown suit and tan coat.

In the same episode we later see him kicking back at the office with his messy desk without the coat but still wearing the rest of the drab brown suit. I still want to know how smoking is still allowed in offices and he's got his own ash tray at his desk, where we see the smoke rising up in the entire scene from every angle.

Later on when he appears in season two, he still maintains the same look, tan coat, red tie, white shirt and brown suit.

This is most famously highlighted in the OP where he's on the fire escape here looking at the camera while the rest of the police are not.

He really got the short end of the stick in season two; despite being in the OP and ED (standing near Steven in the ED beyond the yellow police tape) he had one scene in the background looking disgruntled as they arrest the men Steven froze. I'm guessing he's on the phone with Steven or something to that effect.

Of course he shows up in the finale only to yell at Libra that they are finally there still wearing the same outfit.

All of the above scenes except for the Get the Lock Out bit (where he isn't even in the manga chapter) are from the KKSS volumes 1-10. Interestingly, when he's introduced in the manga, Daniel has a light colored tie, both with the policesuits and during his formal introduction through Steven and Klaus.

I guess we are to retroactively interpret this tie to be likely light green since he'll sport one much later in Back 2 Back.

One thing I noticed while reading Back 2 Back was the fact that his suit and tie colors were different depending on the arc.

For the Noctova Smile arc, Daniel sports his most popular look (based on fanart) the pinstripe waistcoat and pants. We first get a look at his pants under his signature coat when he tells Steven to get back to Klaus as he leaves the crime scene.

Later on we get many panels of him at the precinct wearing this waistcoat which save for one page is dark so I'm going to go with red tie. By far this is his best outfit and I refer to it as his outfit upgrade.

The next few stories settle on a mismatched suit pants combination. It is most obvious in the My Life as a Doc chapters.

I guess this is a light brown suit jacket with dark brown pants and a red tie? We also see this in the dead lynx short chapter with Brody & Hummer, as well as Neyka and Patrick's backstory chapter with Guinness.

When the final story of Back 2 Back starts, the Calamity Auction arc, Daniel is back to wearing a light brown suit and red tie. This is likely to contrast with his brother Marcus appearing for the first time with an actual name since his introduction in the background of Bloodline Fever/chapter 5.

Marcus is show back at the precinct wearing a white dress shirt, light green tie and his firearm holster.

This also gets back the the point that I keep thinking about - does Daniel even carry a gun in the story for the most part? Sure he shoots at Nightow in the omake; yet we only see him pull his gun on the auction house manager when he's under arrest with plenty of support. Which makes Daniel's own gun pointless to aim at him.

Adding into the mix was the manga color chapter here after the official introduction of Marcus.

An interesting thing to note is that in the full color page, Daniel is wearing black oxfords which are clear if you have the acrylic stand. Here we have Marcus in a medium grey suit with red tie while Daniel has a purple-grey one with the light green tie. Or perhaps, Marcus is wearing a sort of navy suit which would be the most popular and easiest.

The only signature aspect of Daniel's look are the following; tan coat, white dress shirt and a tendency to wear earth tones, the brown and purple-grey (stone?) sort of color above. He's got a mix of red and green ties just like his brother. Perhaps, the scenes where he's got the darker pants color is when he's wearing this purple-grey suit? There are a few shots of him with dark shoes which may be black instead of brown.

We sort of have to wing it, so I'll go with Daniel either having brown or a possible purple-grey suit.

Brown - this is seen as a classic suit color and one that had the additional vibe of a person being honest, humble, approachable etc. When thinking about Daniel's character, I feel that he's almost honest to a fault - when Luciana Estevez prevents him from entering the hospital to make an arrest he expresses is discontent with a kick to the pipe as well. He's got that scruffy hardworking vibe that he's not trying to impress anyone and instead means business.

Grey-purple - it is hard to determine where this color falls; I'm just putting it under the general darker grey category. It has a warm undertone and would be very practical. Professional but not over the top.

Pinstripes - the Noctova Smile arc was the one time Daniel was sporting pinstripes which are a very formal and power play for menswear. This makes sense since he was the head of the operations to take the object outside of HL via police escort. Additionally, this was a chapter where Daniel was incredibly confident with his plan and back up plans. You couldn't help but feel sorry for him as even his intricate plans did not work out. In his defense he didn't include Curious showing up . . . Return of his pinstripe outfit when Nightow?

White dress shirt - the most classic and practical thing to chose. So, very much Daniel. I could see him rationalizing it based on the fact if it gets dirty, he'll just bleach it. Really, you can't go wrong with white and it works well with brown suits.

Red tie - a clear power color. Shows that he's in charge and fits with his personality to quickly get people to move to action. This is quite obvious across media and styling especially in the States.

Green tie - a confident color. Another example where Daniel is demonstrating that he knows what is happening and competent. I don't think it leans towards the concepts of envy or jealousy. Apparently, much more popular in the UK than the States. Which, now that I think about it, green isn't really a thing in the States. I personally, feel the green is also more youthful; maybe Daniel is trying to compensate for his exhaustion?

Tan coat - classic detective garb in American media. This garment goes back to film noir and detective stories of the early twentieth century. Daniel (and Marcus) are simply more examples of characters who are visually identified by this obvious clothing silhouette. The cigarette adds to his classic detective appearance and the only thing missing is a fedora honestly. However, I don't think that most men have such cinched waists as seen with Daniel. The exact style of his coat also varies from time to time. It could be variability in the artwork (most likely) but I like to think with all of the crazy shit in HL, that's how many coats he goes through in the line of duty.

Anime Daniel is considerably stockier as well as shorter when compared with his appearance in the manga. He is also notoriously slouchy in the manga, making him have posture that is as bad as Steven's. The tight waist is not a part of his character design and they really went with very drab colors besides the red tie. I'd be curious to know what the decision was to change that aspect of his appearance. Hell, I've always been curious why the made Steven's suit charcoal instead of light grey.

Interestingly, the color which is never associated with Daniel is blue - either the classic navy blue or even a more blue-blue. I feel that we might get Marcus wearing navy blue in the future. Hell, it might be sort of what he's wearing in the color panel a navy blue suit with red tie is just classic, lazy, American male power look.

Whatever the color is, it is clear that Daniel does not wear blue. I feel that his color palette is earth tones that are warm. It shows that he's serious, confident and capable but approachable. With a slight issue of getting mouthy or hot-headed when people do things he thinks are really bad ideas. I would guess, Daniel shows that he's somewhat unconventional and doesn't try to default to looking how people expect him to. Instead, he's got a clear retro vibe showing he likely isn't one to follow any sort of trends. He makes his fashion statement with his coat not his suits or ties for the most part. All in all, I think his style choices are deliberate to make sure he looks decent. Yet, at the same time not putting to much effort into it for fear someone would judge him as shallow or vain.

Anyways, that's all I've got on this for now.

[chibivesicle]

Just wanted to send a quick one to say I fully enjoyed your breakdown of stampede and thoroughly agreed with your analysis (and fully understand why you won't be continuing if there's another season) BUT ALSO wanted to say I'm very excited to see more Block Blockade Battlefront analysis! Especially considering Nightow's love of ambiguity which came across in the series, and the anime only plotline!

Hello there!

Thanks for dropping a line. I'm replying to this late (as usual) so you have likely already seen more of my Kekkai Sensen meta and silliness. I have some more meta posts in the hopper including K.K. and I may start to do an analysis of the quarterly chapter drops with B3P even. It will likely depend on how I'm feeling, how busy work/life is and actual upcoming vacations. I also want to dive into Klaus, Leo, Chain and the odd little man who has been growing on me, Daniel Law (mainly from his roles in B2B).

I haven't quite settled my thoughts on the Kekkai Sensen manga vs anime only plot line just yet. However, as I dig deeper into the manga, I'm starting to lean more towards the manga but I cannot be too harsh on the anime. The anime is beautifully done; honestly, my pet peeve is the inclusion of the White/Black/King of Despair plotline hurt character development for most of the Libra cast. Chain, K.K. and Steven especially suffered from this in season 1 and I wish they would have included more of the one shot chapters; like the plant yakuza, Zed and Zapp trapped in the armored car/where is my sandwich?, midnight blue, finding a birthday card for K.K.'s son and even some comments or half panels really helped to set the scene.

I will have a little bit more Stampede content coming and I'm trying to decide if I want to go back to the Trigun manga or if that is already fairly saturated with analyses.

This also gives me a chance to plug my fav YT analysis of Trigun here:

This will all be sort of random, but looking forward to more meta fun times here!

Thus, I leave you with this fine image of Inspector Daniel Law looking suave. I have so many ideas for meta/topics that I'll be busy for awhile.

[chibivesicle]

Trigun Stampede Episode 12 - July does go boom

That’s right we reached the end of this paradoxically paced anime known as Trigun Stampede.  The episode tied up pretty much how I expected it to.  We knew that Vash would have to emerge from stasis to fight Knives and blow up the third city, July.  I fully admit that this will be the last episode from Stampede that I’ll watch.  Even if more episodes were green lit for past the two year time skip from the original Fifth Moon incident which was now changed to the July incident.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-03-25/trigun-stampede-anime-teases-final-phase-coming-soon/.196428

This is where my Stampede episode review metas will stop and I’ll get back to a few asks. I’ll likely slide back to some Trigun Maximum meta and focus on Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront more.  ‘Cause, man, Kekkai Sensen has some great points to look at.

The episode has a cold open and more of a flashback/Vash’s current mental state while frozen. 

Edit update:  The following passage is incorrect!  I had assumed based on body language and dialogue that it was Vash who was the cowboy dreamer.  It was actually Nai! However, this annoys me more since it seems sort of OOC for Knives to be so into this idea when all of our previous flashbacks have him being subdued and dour while Vash is energetic and chatty.  I even watched this scene three times and didn’t even notice >_< which means I really was going for the vibes here.  It also makes me annoyed that for how heavy handed they were with storytelling, I admittedly never quite noticed the difference between the two of them.  This flashback further confuses me since the entire crux of the episode is the fight between Vash and Knives and it is Vash who finally shows us his gunslinger skills in action.  And that the manga really highlights the fact that Vash never goes beyond seeing himself as a simple gunslinger as opposed to Knives leveled up plant abilities.  However, my statement of the talking about the Wild West remains correct as Studio Orange is telling you they are going to a ‘Wild West’.

We see him excited about a American mythological Wild West where he’s a cowboy protecting his friends finger guns and all while Nai states he doesn’t like this concept.

This is yet another case of Studio Orange not using look and don’t tell but instead tell and look at what I’m telling you.  I’ve begun to wonder if part of the issues that I felt arose with this adaptation of Trigun Stampede is how Yasuhiro Nightow is an artist who really leans heavily into the show don’t tell type of storytelling.  He gives you a lot of visuals and it is up to you, the viewer/reader to figure out what it means.  That’s why I’m wondering if this is a sort of artistic vision/storytelling disconnect in addition to what is a rather phoned in version of Trigun.  The fact that this episode is called ‘High Noon at July’ and gets labeled as episode 0 captures all of what I’ve said.  They take an American Western Media Myth, High Noon, and combine it with a prequel concept for Vash’s $$60 billion bounty for destroying July.  I’m sure picking a Gary Cooper movie from 1952 required a quick Google for that reference from the post-WWII Hollywood media industrial complex.

Rem tells the twins that she loves them and the usual from her still underdeveloped character this many episodes in. 

The action returns to Meryl watching as - oh god, it turned out to be true, that Knives was gonna go touch that plant core and impregnate all the plants with souls so that they could give birth to independents.

Meryl tries to shoot the bullet proof glass to wake Vash up while Conrad tells her it isn’t possible.  Of course, we know that Vash is going to have to wake up from his frozen state and prevent this terrible plan of Knives.

He goes on and he penetrates that core with his long knife tendrils.  Yep, I went with the terrible pun there.

As the giant tree continues to grow, Wolfwood watches from a great distance and Zazie flees but has enough time to chat with them.  Zazie has concluded that the twins will have the entire planet and humans are done for, but is concerned enough that all of the worms are fleeing as well whatever may happen.  Wolfwood is out of smokes, so he groans implying he needs to walk back to July to help out or do something.  Meryl realizes that the only one who can stop Millions Knives is Vash himself. 

The action returns to his mind where he’s humming a song that Nai asks him where he heard it.  This must be in reference to Rem’s favorite song from the manga and what in the ‘98 anime is the song Sound Life.  The song is what allows Vash to regain control of his mind and memories as a single flower appears in his palm and he runs away from Nai realizing he used Rem’s words to manipulate him.  As he flees from Knives, Vash ages while he chases a wind like flower petal manifestation of Rem.  Rem’s voice apologizes for leaving Vash as he chases after her.

Rem thanks him for remembering her and then also says the following:

“Thank you for protecting my dreams and my hopes . . . Vash.”  that’s great Rem, but Studio Orange never actually had a flashback where you told us your dreams and hopes.  We know you wanted Vash and Nai to blend in and not be noticed at independent plants but never once did we get enough of Rem’s moral code and backstory to know that Vash was protecting it.  I’m disappointed that never once did we get Rem’s quote that “Everyone’s future is a blank [train] ticket.” Implying that no one knows what destination they will end up at and what may happen.

Vash snaps out of his trance, thus reversing the energy flow back into his black hole ability.  The higher plant dimension spits Knives back out into reality as the flower petal turns red on Vash’s heart and that of the giant plant like being also showing a red glowing heart.  With the perfect timing of things, Knives almost kills Meryl but Vash is able to save her.  He is trying to condense all that plant inter-dimensional power down into a little cube and holds it in his left hand while aiming his gun at Knives.  Now, he has his recognizable spiky hair, worthy of Wolfwood’s nickname for him, Tongari.

And for the first time in these twelve episodes, I recognize Vash the Stampede.  No, I don’t mean his spiky hair.  I mean his body language, facial expression and tone of voice.  This is the side of Vash we never saw until now and it feels like it was far too late.  At 8:30 seconds or so, the fight between Vash and Knives has begun in earnest.  We see Vash shooting at Knives and performing his rapid fire gunslinger skills.

Of course, Conrad is there to point out that the cube that Vash made is just a giant inter dimensional energy bomb which is a problem.

The fight between the brothers moves outside and Meryl and Conrad chase after them, but Meryl almost slips off the roof only to be saved by Wolfwood, who still feels like he owes Roberto for those smokes.

Here, Wolfwood is filling in for Milly, pointing out the obvious that they are no match for Vash and Knives and they need to get the fuck out of town.  We get a rather dynamic scene of Wolfwood frantically leaping out of the way which is well animated.  There is no comedy in this entire sequence save for when Wolfwood steps on the face of the nameless terrible July MP.

As the fight between Knives and Vash escalates, Vash is able to grow out a left wing, while Knives has no problem flying with his single right wing and his knives on the other half of his body.  Not entirely sure how either of them are able to fly with a single wing - in Trigun Maximum they can manifest a full set of wings for flight and the whole dramatic point at the end of the manga is how both brother’s lose a wing and have to work together to safely land after their final battle.

Vash continues to push himself and eventually manifests his angel arm on the right.

Sadly, it seems that Vash’s angel wing aspect completely lacks the creepy factor of the original for a more dark floral organic look than terrifyingly biblical.  Meryl thankfully is able to return to her quick wit and tell us that Vash is going to release the energy into space and the brothers continue to fight over the little energy cube.

Conrad then activates a sort of ship from the top of the tower to escape from the city.  Dang, I was wrong about him dying in this episode.  I guess we have to keep the scientist alive so that he can collect the badly wounded Knives and pop in him a light bulb to recharge.

As they fly up into the atmosphere, Knives continues to argue for his ideal world of independent plants and not being slaves to humanity.  He’s disappointed that all Vash can reply is that he’ll keep running until he doesn’t have to anymore.

And again, we get a visual which seems more like Vash, his dopey comedic approach to things.  Finally, Vash cries as he explains that he’s Vash the Stampede and that he only has a disappointing answer for Knives after over 100 years.

Vash yells at Knives to let go, who wants to somehow use the energy to re-enter the plant dimension.  We got a long and annoying monologue as Knives slowly burns all the skin from his body down to a skeleton that is still able to talk.

Knives appears to be destroyed as Vash crashes right back into the city where it explodes with his impact.  It is amazing that Vash was able to survive that free fall into the ground, when his past angel arm situations were all with him standing in the middle of the blast zone.

However, this achieves the original starting point, his 60 billion double dollar bounty for destroying July and 90% of the population.  Since Conrad escaped, we have room for the return of more of the Gung ho Guns.  Meryl stops by a small monument with a photo of Vash, Wolfwood, Roberto and herself as well as a pack of cigarettes likely left there by Wolfwood before her. 

As she drives off, her boss calls into let her know to come pick up a newbie who wants to work with her, Milly Thompson and is threatened to be given a new job with the Insurance Society if she doesn’t cooperate. 

Vash as Eriks plays a piano while a young lady tells him it is okay if he doesn’t remember anything and that he’s safe with her in a more traditional Western Style Saloon that is empty save for the two of them.

As the special ED song plays we get a view from one of the moons and dialogue from the space ships from earth preparing to warp to their location.  Does this mean Luida and Brad where able to ask for help?  We hear the voice of Chronica the most independent of the independents able to resist the Knives in Trigun Maximum.

However, for me with this ending my time with Trigun Stampede has come to an end and I won’t be watching whatever comes after this.  At the end of the day, this demo for Studio Orange’s technical skill did not win me over with a series that is near and dear to my heart.

I got less than one entire episode of an actual Vash the Stampede in all twelve episodes.  Just because Studio Orange went with a more serious tone, it tried to take itself too seriously and fell flat on its face.  Vash’s zany antics were how he hid all of his pain and trauma as well as sometimes him just being himself.

The idea for his hair to shift due to the shock was not unexpected, tons of people were predicting this change in him.  But, just like the removal of the white lily for Tessla from Rem, we lost the fact that Rem styled Vash’s hair like her dead significant other and therefore, Vash continued to style his hair like that with Rem in mind.

Meryl looks tougher at the end, but will we see that follow through since she was super uwu waifu in this.  I’m also afraid of what they’d do with Milly as she is a very unique character for current anime aesthetics. 

And this time, I was able to catch the graphic on the cup/ashtray!  I had noticed it at the beginning but forgot to go back and check it.  Hello there Sonic the Speed Monkey and member of Libra!  Right next to the single Derringer.

I’m now more offended since we get our Sonic reference twice in Stampede and zero Kuroneko-sama?!?!  Come on, where is god in all her elegant feline glory?

Overall opinion on Trigun Stampede

All in all, I’d rate this anime as average at best.  If I had to give it a score 5/10.  If you had absolutely know idea of the original, you’d likely rate it higher.

Was it well animated?  Yes.  Unbelievably so.  The fight sequences were fluid and dynamic.  Depending on the character, the facial expressions were great.

Was it well voice acted? Decent.  I didn’t get that sense of chemistry from other series I enjoy, but it was fine.  I’ve heard train wrecks of shows before and this was not anything bad.  It was professional and got the point across.

Music? Overall, the OP and ED were fine.  However, the OST fell way short for a number of reasons in my opinion.  1.) It would be compared to the original OSTs which are some of the top from the 90s - period. 2.) It aligned with the vision for the show more closely and drew on the Western inspiration as opposed to the sci-fi.  It is hard to top parts of the OST.  Can I remember any part of this OST or associate it with a certain character?  No.  I should be able to tie tracks to characters or situations by the end of a twelve episode series and I can’t.  Or that is how I feel about an excellent OST. 

Canon compliant? Eh, sort of.  I’ve already stated numerous times that I enjoyed the original anime more than the manga which had to do with the overall storytelling structure and cohesiveness.  I found reading the manga to be helpful in understanding more, but the anime was easier to follow and hit similar themes.  The way that Stampede approached its female characters, absolutely rubbed me the wrong way.  The original anime passed the Bechtel test with flying colors (in ‘98). The role of Meryl and Milly was much less in the manga, there were plenty of other great female characters who were just missing in Stampede.  Zazie’s non-binary-ness being absent along with the possible trans erasure of Elendira are high in my list of concerns for character changes.

Story boarding, plot, dialogue, pacing? Absolutely terrible.  This was really the nail in the coffin for me.  Lazy writing, reliance on tropes that were less established in anime and manga from the 90s, weird establishing shots from time to time, strange framing and the terrible pacing. 

It takes effort for an action packed anime to drag so heavily as this one did. For me and my partner in snark/muse, Merdopseudo, it drove us nuts how bad the pacing was.  I am not the type of person to have issues when a show will do rapid cuts between scenes or toss the viewer into something without context.  If it is done well. 

Studio Orange did not do that well.  It had so many plot points that were perfect for no reason e.g. character shows up at exactly the right time.  Or they did not understand the visual intent of a lot of elements from the manga.  The meaning of flowers, or dialogue frequently from Wolfwood, the heavy Christian themes that underlie a lot of debates and tension between Vash and the world.  How the heavy themes of the original were balanced out by humor that was either absurd or deadpan/snark.

The entire concept of establishing a character, getting to know them, realizing that there is something to reveal and then timing that reveal. This is a concept that Studio Orange completely failed at.  No payoff was earned or timed properly.

The heavy use of info dumping and telling us what we need to know from a particular scene.  Sometimes, you gotta clue your viewer into what is happening.  This alone is not a problem.  How Studio Orange did this, well it was frankly an insult to the intelligence of the viewer.  Perhaps, if someone had no idea what was going on and didn’t know the other to versions, it might make sense.  But you have a lot of viewers who certainly saw the anime and a smaller group who read the manga as well.

And this ties back to the original source material.  The ‘98 anime kept the visual storytelling style the same from the early manga to the show.  The manga continued that style, though, with some editorial issues that made Trigun Maximum hard to read at times.  What is the way that Yasuhiro Nightow arranges his works?  In a way that you need to figure out what is happening. He tosses you right in with minimal information and it is up to you to figure out what is happening.

This is likely why when you go to watch Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront or read the manga it is up to you to figure out what the fuck is happening.  Honestly, after watching B3 and reading as much as the manga as possible other than gaps in the early volumes under copyright with Darkhorse, he’s gotten much better at showing us something and you fill in those gaps.

This scene here from chapter 19 is laid out perfectly.  The first page has Steven lean in and say “Annie . . .” and she replies with a concerned “Wait!”  The next panel shows his hand intertwined with hers and the USB drive.  He swings their arms out to the side before leaning in closer.  Before he turns away with his coat and the USB drive firmly in his possession with a casual thanks.  How she looks at him in surprise at how quickly he’s leaving and heading back to the office. The casual reply of “I’ll be in touch” as he puts on his coat while walking!

The following page shows Annie visibly flustered, pans out to a street and Steven walking alone.  He notices Klaus’ car and he says hi before showing him that he got the goods = the USB drive.  This serves the purpose to continue to validate his nickname of being ‘blackhearted’ from K. K. and demonstrate his absolute dedication to supporting Klaus and the cause of Libra.  He’s willing to play dirty to get the information that they need.

Does everyone want to read/watch a series that is like this?  No, we are getting into a matter of personal taste.  Do I generally like series with this sort of style?  Yes, yes I most certainly do.  Thus, when Stampede went for a very heavy handed, we’ll tell you what you need to get out of this visual style, it rubbed me the wrong way at the beginning and I couldn’t put my finger on it at first.

Yasuhiro Nightow’s works have very strong moral questions that underpin them and he leaves it up to you to figure out who is right, who is wrong and what it means to be human - or not human.  He’s also not afraid to shove those characters into situations where they struggle with those decisions and have guilt, lots of guilt.  However, these sorts of stories are not conducive to black and white stories. And black and white is what Stampede ended up doing.  Nuance was not key to their work and it showed.

This is my rather long winded way to say that the above structural decisions that Studio Orange made are why, despite the high quality product visually, I am not impressed with this anime.  It went off in a direction different that the source material and then didn’t put in their effort or homework when they needed to.  This is what led to the shift in Trigun Stampede and why many fans are disappointed. 

With that, I’ll leave things here and sigh in relief my meta time for Stampede is over.  I’ll be back with some answered asks and more metas on B3 for sure and Trigun Maximum as it catches my eye.