#but still! i think stuff gets interesting there for the recurring cast

[riiye02]

WKBRL Transcript Part 4

As seen in this video This post will cover the 10th hour to the 12th, ending the first part!

10:03:39 (Music gets reversed) -[Smile Person, reversed. I think it says]: "Isn't happiness easy?"

10:06:24 -[Smile Person, reversed]: "What you are hearing is how it feels when you feel happy."

10:07:21 (Music stops) -[Introducer Person]: "Start tomorrow tomorrow. Start your day right now with me, a real live person who plays popular radio music, on the WKBRL." (Celebratory music plays, not reversed anymore)

10:20:08 (Music stops, news and weather intro plays:) -[News and Weather]: "News! Weather. News! Weather. News! Can you believe this weather? Weather. News! Weather. News. Have you heard the news? WKBRL news, and weather." (Jingle plays) "Live from Starr Park! This is the news and weather report from a news and weather person." -[News and Weather Person]: "Hello, and good day. I'm anchor name here. Or am I? The last thing I remember is news-" (News and weather outro plays while News and Weather Person is talking) "- outro cuts him o- Hmm? Oh. Yes, ha, I see what you did." (News and Weather outro stops) "Oh, thank you. I am a puppet." (Celebratory music plays)

10:32:10 (Music stops, KairosTim theme plays) -[KairosTim Person]: "Hello, fellow Brawlers! KairosTim would like to remind you that there is no better, safer way of wearing your Starr Hat than wearing it all the time. Even when you sleep. Even when you shower. Even when you try on another hat. This is Kairos!" (Celebratory music plays)

10:40:20 (Music stops) -[Introducer Person]: "You are tuned to WKBRL and because of that, you've won! And now, we must sing! We must sing! We must sing directly into the microphone or they won't know that we are singing because you won and therefore are happy." (Celebratory music plays)

10:43:09 (Music stops, jingle plays) -[Smile Person]: "This is your reminder to smile!" (Jingle plays, celebratory music starts)

10:53:39 (Music stops) -[Intermission Person]: "That was an hour of uninterrupted victory. I hope you feel it in whatever skin you're wearing. I hope your feet are marching in the correct direction. I hope you keep it tuned right here to WKBRL. And don't make the mistake of leaving!" -[People]: "WKBRL! The voice that hears you." (Echoes) -[Introducer Person]: "Up next, we will find happiness in the limitlessness of space. Our origin. Let's go back there, together." (Space music plays)

11:00:56 (Music stops and jingle plays) -[Smile Person]: "This is your smile reminder! Smile. Smile! Smile! Smile. Smile. Smile. Smile. Smile! SMILE. SMILE! SMILE! SMILE. There. That's better." (Jingle plays and space music resumes)

11:13:30 (Music stops) -[Intermission Person]: "Project yourself onto the outer reaches of the infinite galaxy. With laser focus, you can find yourself shining brighter than any star there never was. Because you're tuned in to WKBRL. And you, are drifting… through…" -[Distorted]: "space…" (Space music plays)

11:19:55 -[Smile Person]: "Technology has been domesticated to meet your insatiable appetite for fun."

11:40:07 (Music stops, news and weather intro plays:) -[News and Weather]: "News! Weather. News! Weather. News! Can you believe this weather? Weather. News! Weather. News. Have you heard the news? WKBRL news, and weather." (Jingle plays) "Live from Starr Park! This is the news and weather report from a news and weather person." -[News and Weather Person]: "Hello, and good day. I'm definitely anchor name here, and this is the news. This just in, everything is perfect! Ha haha, soo perfect. Too perfect, pfft- if you really think about it, hahah… Where the weather at?!" (News and Weather outro plays:) -[News and Weather]: "News! Weather. News! Weather. That was news, and weather." -[Introducer Person]: "This commercial free hour of space jams is made possible by the Ogawa Roofing company. Ogawa Roofing has not been fixing roofs for decades. Because there's been zero roof trouble to speak of whatsoever. No fiery objects have landed in the middle of any roofs that Ogawa knows of, but their roofers are always at the ready and happy to help if and when your roof collapses under the weight of a gigantic robotic foot, which it won't! But if it does, call Ogawa today." (Space music plays)

11:53:43 (Music stops and KairosTim theme plays) -[KairosTim Person]: "KairosTim here, and I have a riddle for you! What's fake, and not real, but says that he is real, but is fake? That's right, fake Kairos! Click, like and subscribe to the REAL Kairos. KairosTim." (Space music plays)

[egophiliac]

have u watched gavv's first episode yet? it is so good. it is so freaking good.

sorry to be getting to this so late, but I have finally seen the first couple of episodes! and! I am enjoying it immensely! :> I do think the second episode has a much better sense of what the tone and story is going to be; the first one had some interesting stuff going on, but felt more like a prologue than anything else. I'm feelin' it though! (and I hope Hajime is a recurring character, I liked his dynamic with Shoma and I was sad to realize he wasn't going to be part of the main cast. 😔)

it's still pretty early on (especially since I find riders tend to need about 10-12 episodes to settle into themselves) but I'm liking the intrigue they've set up, and the main characters seem promising! and I'm also very into the unexpectedly sweet reason for Shoma to be so obsessed with junk food. I wouldn't have thought you could do a tragic backstory for something like that, but...it kinda works?

[madlori]

i'm nervous but also excited for gerrard as captain simply because i hope it'll allow tommy to be fleshed out much more, give him more backstory and show his development since leaving the 118 and address his loneliness (defense mechanism?). we know people filed in complaints abour gerrard years ago. maybe this is the opportunity for tommy to finally face all his past demons and get much needed relief and closure, maybe allowing him to finally accept his past mistakes 100% instead of just 99%? at the same time, i am interested to see how the new 118 will handle gerrard. when he left, the 118 was still far far far away from being the found family that it is nowadays. what are your thoughts on that?

I think you're on to something. I do NOT think it's an accident that Tommy has been woven into the Gerrard "storyline" (I put it in quotes because it was really just foreshadowing) all season. He mentioned Gerrard on their first date in the context of how repressive it was and how he couldn't come out until he left. Then Gerrard showed up at the ceremony, and tossed an actual homophobic comment at him (and by extension Buck although who knows if Gerrard knows they're dating or not). Then he brings him up AGAIN at last night's date, AND tied it to how being there under that guy made him not the best version of himself. Most of what we know of Gerrard that's from this season is from Tommy, not Chim or Hen.

The writer in me thinks this is a way to weave him into the 118's storylines more solidly, which you'd want to do if you wanted him to stick around.

That being said, I think most of the Gerrard stuff will involve the 118 itself (those people are the main cast, after all - any involvement Tommy has will be secondary or via Buck).

I'm gonna say this, though...after this Gerrard stuff? My estimation for the odds of them trying to add Lou as a main cast member and not just recurring went from 5% to like...25%. I still don't think they will - recurring seems like a pretty solid guess - but the degree to which they're tying upcoming storylines back to the pre-Bobby 118 is interesting.

[frenchkanna1808]

i'm so mad at the missed potential of the yabusame post chapter 3, they do nothing!! i sometimes forgot that reko was even there and that is a waste, actually like 80% of the cast became npc this chapter which makes me terribly mad but i think alice and reko are the worst case (yes worst than shin even though he became just a regular npc in logic route which is the worst waste ever, but he compared to the yabusames will have his story developed you know, since nankidai completely gave up on the yabusames, especially reko). The entire reason for that is because nankidai had planed to kill them in logic route so he pretty much forgot that they didn't die in emotion route and kinda forgot which is a recurring pattern in emotion route. Which i loathe because favoritism isn't good and all the emotion route haters will use this as a point. Nankidai clearly has is more interested in some characters than others and doesnt know the fuck to do with them. i am still baffled that alice had this little screen time considering that he is THE GUY THAT """""KILLED"""" midori, ESPECIALLY IN EMOTION ROUTE. he just say random line from time to time to remind you he exist which is a crime because alice is best boy and i love him. At least reko gets some good scenes with ranmaru and like talking about nao (once tho), and like the little singing where kanna did death metal head shakes. But alice gets nothing, NOTHING. and that is all caused because in logic route nankidai planned him to die either way so both reko and alice get nothing. Why i'm mader at this that the zero screen time shin or gin have is because i know they are gonna get stuff later on, shin because he is kinda in the center of the story and gin because he is close to sara, but i don't think we are gonna get that much with the yabusames honestly and that makes me mad. The lack of screen time for the main cast is mainly caused by the terrible pacing of chapter 3-1 but with the yabusames its just no real work because nankidai didn't consider it useful since he planned to kill them either way. And the worse is that so much could have been done really god dammit. Alice lost his little sister and kanna lost her older brother, they are shown to have hanged out together, make them build a connection build on their grief, which would lead to kanna having actual positive interaction with anybody in this cast and alice to be less of a loner. For reko focus on the grief of like in a single day pretty much lose her brother, losing nao unfairly, and finding the man who ruined her life and her brother's too. I know we already have some scenes that way but make them more impactful like in chapter 2. Make her be more protective after losing so much in like a day. MAKE HER HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH ANZU PLEASE. EVERY CHARACTER DUMMIES PAIR MAKE SENSE AND ARE LOGICAL EXCEPT THE YABUSAMES AND ANZU. Oh also i think of sara finding out alone that that nao wasn't supposed to die and was brought here for no reason except raising mishima survival rate should be something that the whole cast should know actually, in general can THE WHOLE CAST be involved, this is the closest they have ever been and yet they are so distant. its a waste and i don't think it will be better because considering new characters and everything i don't think the yabusames will be relevant until the ending which sucks.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Bee Villain Audrey would be fun, especially given her previous interest in the temple. I agree she'd not be second fiddle, anytime Audrey lets others make decisions its cos of one of two reasons:

1: Its so unimportant that a plebian is tending to it. IE, she told them to. 2: She's indifferent enough to the situation that she doesn't care to handle it herself, IE most stuff she tells Andre to do.

Basically, yeah she's not gonna be second stringer, co conspirator at minimum.

Also, having a super powerful magical artifact, right after Gabriel and Ladybug humiliated her and Hawk Moth Akumatized her and- Wait a second! Gabriel was using Miraculous BS before, oh it is on! XD

Low key I have actually toyed with AUs built on similar premises and I think she'd be a very self motivated villain. Like maybe she wants a wish (If she knows about it) but she may just want other Miraculous, or to fuck over her rivals, or go on rampages. The line between Audrey & Style Queen is rather thin after all.

Also given the "Order & Subjugation" angle and how many write Miraculous powers as evolving or shifting based on the user. I could see Audrey's power being less Venom and more like, the power to command and control others perhaps?

Ultimately I'd say it comes down to how much one wants to do with her character. How much does she know, how much can she figure out, what does she even want out of life, ETC.

I know Audrey tends to get written off as just cruel and otherwise brainless. But I confess I always find that disappointing; there's nothing making Gabriel more inherently suited for supervillainy or competence than Audrey if you get my meaning?

As an amusing aside, her going out with a Miraculous power could lead to a very similar situation to Queen Wasp. Not identical, but in the sense that some Gabriel related event is disrupted by a Bee User. The heroes show up, Gabriel slinks away to try and Akumatize her, ETC.

Though in this case, maybe cos Audrey can re-use her powers, its instead him trying to AKumatize Ladybug or Chat as the fight turns against them?

(Oooh it could be Nathalie actually, like Gabriel is literally Veom-ed?)

But this gives a sense of how powerful a Akumatized Miraculous Holder would be (Even if it fails to take over Audrey or one of the heroes, the effort gives a sense of power), along with Ladybug losing the Bee, a signal to Gabriel not to quit. Or allow Nathalie to step up and take the role maybe?

Also, if/when Audrey is beaten (If she's a one episode wonder over a recurring problem) One could have Chloe snag Pollen up in the chaos (She was helping perhaps even jumped on her mothers back and grabbed the comb during the fight?) So now she's Queen Been, but no one knows she has it?

Sorry, rambling.

Honestly the only reason I haven't written Audrey as a villain is because she often has no genuine power over the rest of the cast.

Like.

The worst she could do herself is tank Marinette's career, but even then in a universe where Gabriel favors Marinette and her talents he could counteract Audrey's influence

Her influence over Chloé is limited and dependent on other factors. Is Chloé still vying for her attention? Is Chloé still a child or a legal adult? Does Chloé have a support network or not?

A lot of Audrey's other power would be dependent on Andre and what he's doing. Is he still willing to do things for her or has he kicked her to the curb yet? Even if he /is/ still under her spell, is this an AU where he'd break any rules for her? Or, though he is a man who wishes to grant his wife's every whim, does he put his foot down on things that would cause major problems?

But yeah in most of my AUs, Audrey has no genuine power over any of the rest of the cast. So she often is more of an annoyance or a short-term problem rather than a major player.

If I give her some kind of power though.....

[mylordshesacactus]

As I've picked it back up again after a long hiatus, I've realized that I probably have a lot of people around now who have no earthly idea what the hell my current longfic project even is anymore!

Anyway, this is a GREAT time to start reading

Reunification

Darnassus falls. In some timeline, in some version of the story, Nathanos Marris makes a mistake. In some timeline a word of kindness somewhere, a show of support somewhere else, a moment of humanity for lack of a better term, heads off a preemptive strike at the pass. In some timeline, Alliance intelligence is just a tiny bit more paranoid, a tiny bit more thorough, and the Horde stalls in Ashenvale. But today, Darnassus falls. Darnassus does not burn.

It's a single-point divergence AU of the War of Thorns--I was genuinely shocked that "AU where Sylvanas' original plan, to kill Malfurion and occupy Darnassus intact, succeeded" wasn't more prominent in the fandom. I was ALSO shocked to find so little Tyrande/Thalyssra anywhere, so I folded the two into a single project.

Some highlights:

Thalrande arranged marriage as a political-hostage bargaining chip

Sylvanas displaying both political and military competence while, crucially, still being a deeply obnoxious asshole (affectionate) the whole time

Valtrois TM

Anduin Wrynn, Living Embodiment Of Sunshine

Jaina, traumatized and angry and heartsick, dragged into overseeing the joint administration of Lordaeron and finding herself again in a city she's terrified to let herself love

All of my favorite minor NPCs/Hearthstone protagonists getting their day in the limelight (Rokara and Cariel Roame and Elise Starseeker my beloveds--)

The stark divide between high-level faction politics, and the lived reality of (what I hope you find to be) a rich cast of ordinary, sub-Champion citizens of Azeroth whose lives are a lot more complicated than killing people over a simple blue or red banner

(Seriously, if you like my OCs in general, the little folk of Azeroth are a major recurring thing here.)

Cannot emphasize how emphatically Valtrois is both Present and Extremely Herself.

We're currently right in the middle of a really interesting arc that's REALLY intertwining the parallel plotlines; I'm referring to them in my planning notes as the Ruby Dragonflight and Lordaeron Crisis arcs.

I'm having fun and I think there's some stuff here for a lot of people if y'all want to check it out! I have a much more sustainable approach to writing these days (and a partner who's ALSO writing warcraft longfic, and that's helping to keep the muse alive).

Anyway! Hope to see you over there.

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

GUYS I'VE OFFICIALLY LOST IT-

So. Awhile ago, I saw this post, right? Basically it just said that Sera and Sir Pentious' cards have very similar compositions, and that Seraphim, which is what Sera is, are often associated with serpents. Interesting, but could still be a coincidence, right?

So anyways I checked the reblogs and saw somebody say they should kiss. And now I'm insane.

Because like... the only thing we know really about Sir Pentious' potential story arc in the show is that he's gonna have a crush on one of the other characters. And the only thing confirmed about his sexuality(to my knowledge) is that he is attracted to women. We don't really have any way to know who his crush is, because there are a lot of women in Hazbin Hotel, but could still be noteworthy, right? And like... okay this is gonna sound like the most "trust me, bro" evidence I could possibly pull out of my ass at first but I just need you to hear me out here, okay? Sera's crown and Sir Pentious' hat have a lot of visual similarities. Here's a helpful diagram :)

Which like. Okay. Could literally be nothing, right? Except for two small things that I can't let go of: One, Sir Pentious' goggles + the v-shaped brim on his hat were added to his design AFTER he was given a more prominent role in the show-

(Pilot design, back when he was meant to be a one-off villain of the week vs current design as a member of the main cast)

And two, the Hellaverse shows kind of have a tendancy to use visuals in order to signify characters' relationships to eachother. It's also just a pretty popular form of symbolism as a whole tbh, but the Hellaverse has a lot of really good examples. Like, for instance, how Vaggie's new outfit is a lot closer to Charlie's color pallette than any of her previous designs, or this really good breakdown by @/raeynbowboi about the symbolism of hearts in Hazbin Hotel and how they pertain to Angel Dust/his relationships! It's from awhile ago so some of the info is a tad outdated, but overall I do think the analysis holds up. Meanwhile, in Helluva Boss, Moxxie and Millie have basically the same color pallette and they were the most functional relationship in the entire show before before Fizzmodeus came along. Which, speaking of those two...

See, I made this diagram because, after I pointed out the similarities between Sera and Sir Pentious' headgear to my dad and asked him if those kinds of similarities were a valid form of analysis(because I am but a humble highschooler that doesn't know everything about media analysis, and also I felt like I was losing my mind-), my dad said that I should look at the creator's(Vivziepop's) other works to see if couples having similar motifs was a recurring theme. So obviously, I picked my favorite couple in either show and disected their designs for every little detail that could maybe possibly be an intentional parallel. And while some of it is kind of iffy, like Fizz's limbs being the same kind of blue as Ozzie's tufts could just be a way to show that Ozzie made them, or both of them having uh, two things sticking off of their head(that one's definitely a reach-), I think stuff like both of them having hearts as a recurring detail in their designs or having lITERALLY THE SAME EYE COLOR??? Are pretty good evidence that Viv/the Hellaverse design team tend to use visuals to signify characters relationships.

ALSO!!!! If the Fallen Angel Vaggie theory ends up being true, there could be some interesting parallels to draw between Chaggie and Sera/Sir Pentious! Something about like... demon royalty/random angel vs angel royalty/random demon. Could be used to draw parallels between how the two societies treat that kind of thing idk.

So, now that all the meta evidence is out of the way, we can get down to what really matters: would these two work as a couple? Do their personalities mesh well togther? And the answer to that is!

IM SORRY FOR USING THE GIF IT WAS A GOOD JOKE IN MY HEAD BUT TYPING THIS OUT IDK IF IT'S ACTUALLY FUNNY-

But in all seriousness, I don't actually know. We just... haven't seen enough of Sera to know for sure. In fact, this whole theory is based off of small details that definitely add up to SOMETHING, but could very well be pieces to some very different puzzles that I'm trying to shove together because somebody jokingly suggested that they would fit. Like, the parallels really COULD mean something, and it COULD have something to do with Sir Pentious having a crush on another character, but like. There could also be a million other answers to both of those questions, y'know? I also have a tendancy to make wild conspiracy theories about genuinely inconsequential details... I almost never talk about them publically, but still. Though I will say, based off of Sera's description in the leaks, I could definitely see a world where she bounces off of Sir Pentious pretty well. Her description in the leaks very much gave me uh... Isabela cover of Surface Pressure vibes, y'know? Shit that is- that is a weird way to describe that but most people on here have seen Encanto right? Y'all get it? And Sir Pentious is both a Victorian Gentleman Type and completely unhinged. Like... idk there's something there. I could maybe see it working. But at the end of the day, it's just too early to tell.

That being said I WILL be trying to pump out some fanart of these two before the actual show comes out and crushes my crackshipping dreams. Also their ship name is either SeraPentious or PentSera I can't decide.

Edit: Wait a second... SeraPent. Serpent. PUN!!!!!!!!!! Okay I think I'm going with SeraPent-

[theneighborhoodwatch]

i see a lot of speculation on this blog but its kinda hard to see where you're coming from when there's so little out, is there somewhere specific you look for secrets? a lot of the spooky images on the artist's main website are beta designs that will be changed (perfect example is the baphomet image of wally where he has 5 fingers instead of 4 and poppy's neck is still bent down-ward, also we know images with wally's cross cuff is beta and not up to date).

i'm liking your theories btw, this is not me critizing you, i think what you're saying is genuinely interesting but it feels,,, too easy? we know that the story itself will have something to do with the idea of "home", what it means, etc, etc. if you wanna talk more in dms i'd love to chat, im just very confused and feel like something is missing from the source. if you want we can work together to compile evidence about the story and stuff. it might help a ton in laying out the story as it progresses.

[2nd ask] omg i totally didnt see the resource doc, that's so embarrassing. dms are still open tho

no worries! although i will admit i was VERY confused for a second there lol (and quite frankly, a bit wounded that you'd think i'd forget the importance of The Home in the grand scheme of things!)

you do bring up a good point about it being a risky move to cite concept art as evidence, since there's always a chance of Something getting shuffled around or outright scrapped in development. even now, i don't really like looking at WH's concept art from a literal/Plot-Heavy perspective just yet; i tend to look more for recurring visual motifs, possible symbolism, that kinda thing. to help myself out, i have a very basic sorting system when it comes to combing through concept art, which looks something like this:

concept art from around 2018-2019: pertains to a now scrapped version of welcome home. harder to find since it was all on clown's old blog before partycoffin. you likely won't find much here that applies to welcome home as we know it today but it's fun to track those little Evolutionary Changes through it.

concept art from around 2020-2022: home is introduced! the cast lineup is finalized! the Themes begin to take shape! i keep an eye out for Motifs here, but it's important to keep in mind that if there's any era of concept art where shit gets shuffled around the most, it's Probably this one.

concept art from site launch (feb. 14th 2022-onward): the most dependable era. concrete plot details that can be gleaned from concept art alone are still scarce, and to be honest, i don't mind that at all - but the visual design, and any recurring motifs by proxy, seem to be set firmly in place. it's like a chew toy for my brain.

as for your offer - i have plenty of folks in the discord and friends from elsewhere trawling through the site with me, but if you have any findings that haven't been recorded in the observation document or any theories that you'd like to discuss, then yeah i'd be happy to dm!

[veebs-hates-video-games]

And now for something completely different: I actually finished an entire game and even liked it! Wild, I know.

I think 8 is still my favorite, but I had a lot of fun with Ys X and overall probably liked it about as much as 9, with some things a little better in one or the other.

Adol continues to be the most upbeat and wholesome and aroace shounen protagonist. He's just here to go on adventures and make friends and go on adventures with friends. I tend to be less likely to get invested in games or series that center around male protagonists, but Adol is just a decent guy who happens to get caught up in shenanigans constantly, and there's always an interesting cast of other characters surrounding him.

That's actually something I've really been appreciating about the modern games in the series. They've done a really good job for the most part of having a good amount of variety in terms of ages and genders of both important characters and minor ones you spend a decent amount of time with. The main party members tend to be in their teens and twenties, but it's nice that you end up hanging around with extremely mixed groups ranging from eight-year-old kids to middle aged parents to 70-year-olds, who all also tend to have interactions with each other too and are developed enough to get their own side quest storylines.

And it's also been fun jumping backwards and forwards through the timeline and seeing how recurring characters like Dogi develop too. In this one he's just barely joined up with Adol (I think it takes place immediately after 2 if I remember right?), and he's still not quite sure what to do with his life, while in 9, the previous game that takes place several years later, they've each grown to be the most important person in each other's life and someone they can count on no matter what happens. It's fun seeing little slices of that from different points in time, and it's always nice in general to see guys being genuinely good people with healthy relationships who just want to take care of the people around them.

I won't say too much about the story, but it's enjoyable too and has some good moments in it. I don't think it has anything super deep to say, but sometimes you just need to go on an adventure through absolutely bonkers European history fanfic.

And as far as the gameplay side of things goes, I think overall it might be my least favorite of the three recent-ish games in the series while also doing some things the best of the three.

The ship sections aren't bad, but they're definitely my least favorite thing in any of the three games. It gets better as you get more upgrades to make movement and stuff suck less than it does early on, but it still kinda kills the pacing at times compared to when you're on foot, and even on foot the movement options don't feel as good as their counterparts in 9 did.

I think the combat might actually also be my least favorite when fighting regular trash enemies, but at the same time it probably has the best boss fights. Switching to a block-heavy system and really de-emphasizing dodging didn't really click with me at first for a while, but a lot of the later boss fights get to be pretty satisfying as you learn their patterns and start pulling off perfect blocks and getting a huge damage multiplier as a reward. It's also fun how a lot of late-game enemies reward you for charging directly at them like an idiot and dodging directly into an attack so you get a free random finisher as a counter. It really works well with my tendency to be reckless, be stupid, have no plan, and improvise something when you get there.

The new engine works great on the Switch too compared to the previous one. Shadows and stuff still aren't great, but overall most things look much cleaner than they did in 8 or 9, and it feels a lot better to play without it constantly dropping frames like 9 did.

I'm just glad there are still people out there making mid-budget games like this that have almost disappeared in the sea of $100+ million AAA games and indie stuff made in someone's bedroom with a budget of like a buck fifty. They can still have the scope and polish most tiny indie games can't afford to, but without having to make too many concessions to reach the wildest possible audience because they need to sell 20 million copies to turn a profit. They can just keep doing their own thing for the niche that happens to be into that.

[annakie]

From Broken Bow to Calypso - Check-in #2

Did another 18 or 19 episodes, of my Star Trek by Stardate rewatch, so let's recap.

I was really hoping that SNW S3 would be out by the time I got to SNW at all, but that doesn't look like it's anywhere near happening. Ah well, at least I can slot the S31 movie in there where it belongs probably.

1/9/25 - Episode 19 - Oasis Rene Auberjonios! An interesting SciFi story with a cool twist, though the episode is a little slow. Auberjonios is, of course, fantastic.

1/9/25 - Episode 20 - Detained The Quantum Leap Reunion Episode!! I only wish they'd have gotten Dean Stockwell to do a recurring character. Good to finally get some information on the Suliban.

1/9/25 - Episode 21 - Vox Sola Oh hey it's the Angelicaaaaaa Skyler episode. Long before Hamilton was a thing. She's not in it much, though. This episode is genuinely creepy and squishy-gross, feel bad for the actors rigged up in that stuff. I liked T'Pol encouraging Hoshi. Otherwise, honestly this one is a bit slow.

1/10/25 - Episode 22 - Fallen Hero Fionnula Flanagan is fantastic as the Vulcan ambassador. Feel like she could have told Archer and T'Pol what was going on soon but whatevs. A somewhat by the numbers episode but a decent story.

1/10/25 - Episode 23 - Desert Crossing Clancy Brown! Who kidnaps Archer and Tucker, so it's one of those "Main character(s) being held hostage" episodes. The desert lacrosse game is such beefcake pandering. IDK if I buy Trip being the one who almost dies from heat exhaustion rather than the older Archer but w/e. Those two have had it rough between Vox Sola and this lately. Brown's character ends up being a bit of a moral quandry as to whether his actions are justified, I wouldn't have minded finding out what eventually happened to him.

1/11/25 - Episode 24 - Two Days and Two Nights Risa ep, finally! I forget if Archer's "girlfriend" ever came back, but its an uncomfortable subplot that feels unresolved. Can't believe Trip and Malcolm fell for that scam, nor that Hoshi's language guy DIDN'T turn evil on her. Even Travis gets a little subplot, but Phlox steals the show on this one. Sad note, per Memory Alpha this is Ensign Cutler's last episode because the actress died in 2003. I really liked her and would have liked to have seen where things went with her and Phlox.

1/11/25 - Episode 25 - Shockwave, Part I Honestly, good season finale. A real Problem with the colony getting blown up, high stakes on the team being recalled, and the stuff with Daniels works real well. Truly suspenseful ending. ENTERPRISE SEASON 2

1/11/25 - Episode 26 - Shockwave, Part II The way Archer gets back to the present is a bit too convenient, but the rest of the crew taking Enterprise back over was genuinely great, except that they didn't give Travis anything to do. Also could do without Hoshi losing her shirt. But generally, a decent season opener and yay for T'Pol standing up for the Crew and doing a great job while in command.

1/12/25 - Episode 27 - Carbon Creek Still one of the best ENT episodes. Another Don't Think Too Hard About How The Universal Translator Works episode, (Note, I'm going to abbreviate that from here on out) though. I wish the rest of the cast had SOMETHING to do in this ep but it's still a great one.

1/12/25 - Episode 28 - Minefield First actual Romulan contact! A good showcase for Malcolm. Not sure I buy that nobody died in that initial explosion and wow they sure had a lot of control over their space suits in 10 (or 20) seconds, but whatevs. Travis got a small spotlight, looking real serious while steering with a joystick. Middle of the road ep.

1/12/25 - Episode 29 - Dead Stop Despite some gaping plot holes, I like this episode. Though it makes me laugh that there's a Travis subplot that Travis is BARELY IN. I don't think we ever find out who built that station, though. Roxann Dawson not only directed, but voiced the station, as well!

1/12/25 - Episode 30 - A Night in Sickbay A real love/hate relationship with this one. Hate the Archer/T'Pol stuff, in general but especially here. Skipped this episode on my last rewatch as the day I was supposed to watch it, my cat Patchy got a terminal diagnosis at the vet and I knew I couldn't handle the Porthos plotline. Fry jumped up and watched along with me cuddled up in my lap this time, and Fry is almost 15 years old so it was a real bag of mixed emotions watching the episode between remembering Patchy and soaking in some Fry cuddles while Archer was worried sick about Porthos. Maybe I just actually mostly hate the episode at this point.

1/13/25 - Episode 31 - Marauders A straight up Magnificent Seven episode. It was a fine episode, but very by-the-numbers. At least nobody had an episodemance. Trip befriending the kid was a nice subplot, but I question the wisdom of leaving Enterprise blueprints on a random colony. Hopefully he sanitized them a bunch. :p I did like the training sequences and T'Pol getting to do martial combat a lot.

1/13/25 - Episode 32 - The Seventh NGL, I liked the parts on Enterprise and Trip having to deal with being Captain a lot better than the T'Pol main plot on this one. But I guess it is even more explanatory about T'Pol's emotional state. Also, they sure are finding ways to bring Travis along but not giving him much stuff to do! I did like them showing how Trip wasn't really quite ready for full Command yet, and he's just really good at what he IS doing.

1/13/25 - Episode 33 - The Communicator Another foreshadowing the Prime Directive episode, for good reason. Also "hey they really need the transporter" episode… oh and yet another DTTHAHT Universal Translator Works" episode for sure, lol. It was fine. The feeling Malcolm has when he can't find the communicator is ALL TOO RELATABLE though.

1/14/25 - Episode 34 - Singularity The Reed Alert & Captain's Chair episode! I really enjoyed this one. Everyone goes a bit nuts, and everyone has a part in the story, one of the few episodes where it feels a bit more ensamble, up until the end. Not an important episode, but an enjoyable one.

1/14/25 - Episode 35 - Vanishing Point Hoshi disappears, just like her and Travis' characters throughout the show. :p Honestly though, a lot of nicely building mystery and tension throughout the episode. Don't think too hard about the typical ghost problem -- you can put your body through stuff but don't fall through the floor. But all that tension and mystery ends up basically being a hallucination, which makes the ending anticlimactic and kind of disappointing. I guess it sets itself apart from the TNG episode where Geordi and Ro vanish, at least.

1/15/25 - Episode 36 - Precious Cargo Trip gets a new episodemance and it's Padma Lakshmi. Too bad we never see her again. A fairly by-the-numbers episode but T'Pol pretending to be a very strict punishment judge was a fun scene.

1/15/25 - Episode 37 - The Catwalk I love this episode! A genuinely cool threat, the close quarters scenes are well done, and a neat twist with the ship being boarded while all this is going on. Travis gets a little screentime, drops a harrowing boomer story and kudos.

I'm now 7 episodes ahead of my 2/day goal, so I'm pretty happy with that progress and I've got good padding for skipping a couple of days if need be.

...okay, back again in a week or so.

[doomerpatrol]

Comic Log: Agent Venom by Rick Remender

A mixed bag. I like a lot of the artists that worked on this book, particularly Lan Medina and Declan Shalvey, who do good jobs of capturing the emotional extremes that the Venom symbiote represents. However, I've yet to be impressed by Remender as a writer - neither of the runs I've read from him (this and his Punisher, which essentially gives up on its own concept halfway through) are particularly cohesive. Venom in particular is tonally inconsistent, riddled with scripting problems, and I think most frustratingly, lacks faith in its own premise. I don't know why that's a recurring trait in Remender's writing, but I'm two for two now!

While I think the dual concept of "Venom as secret agent / Flash Thompson trying to process the 'venom' in his bloodstream from a history of violent abuse and alcoholism" is very good, the book doesn't succeed at exploring either. We get approximately four issues and a "Spider-Island" crossover before all of the characters and concepts of "Agent Venom" are thrown out. What actually unifies Remender's run is not Flash wrestling with his status as a dog on a spiked leash for the military, or his struggle between living up to his hero and the temptation to slide back into a regressive stereotype. Instead, it is a supremely petty conflict between him and the "Crime-Master" (and a new, incredibly annoying and unfunny Jack O'Lantern). This central antagonist hires a "Savage Six" to torment Flash, menaces his family and his girlfriend Betty Brant, and is eventually revealed to be Betty's seemingly long-dead brother who appeared once in a Spider-Man story from the Stan Lee era. Ugh.

Somewhat ironically, Remender's Venom run repeatedly tethers itself to Spider-Man right when it's getting interesting, rather than take risks to carve out its own identity. It makes sense, since Flash Thompson and Venom are such fixtures of Spider-Man's mythos, and Spider-Man is Flash's hero. But 1) this era of Spider-books is revolting and I would rather not be reminded of its existence, and more importantly, 2) part of what is intriguing about the choice to put Flash in the Venom suit is that it's bold, it's different, it offers the opportunity for new supporting players and concepts. You can still have the "Flash trying to be less like his dad and more like Spidey" stuff, you can still do symbiote stories, but they should be stories that you would or could not get in the main Spider-Man titles. That's what makes the first issue work quite well, as well as the start of the "road trip" arc.

That sort of unique possibility is undermined by doing the same kind of Peter Parker-esque plots over and over again. "Our protagonist is always late or never around, and his girlfriend gets kidnapped because of his lies about his secret identity, and also he has to decide if he wants to kill someone (even though this moral quandary is insanely meaningless here because he is a long-standing member of a professional military and his reluctance to take life is not presented as an alternative to that militaristic outlook)." It's played out, it's karaoke.

But Remender's run also doesn't do the work of getting us invested as readers in the plots it does present. There is basically no real supporting cast minus Betty, and she's playing a generic love interest. Flash's family gets dangled as an "oh no!" moment, but we barely get any interaction with them, so the threat to them has no real weight. His military handlers are cardboard cutouts. And of course, we have the incredibly obnoxious new Jack O'Lantern, who sets himself up as arch-nemesis to Flash and basically acts as like a more politically incorrect, watered-down Deadpool. And my god, there are so many dangling threads of plot and characterization that just go nowhere in this run. (Thought Flash might have to face literally any consequences for going AWOL? Nope. Thought Flash might be a little more mind-blown by being an Avenger now? Nope.)

Flash is a character that had a lot of history before they decided to make him a superhero, so there's a lot to potentially explore: his former status as a bully, his alcoholism, his disability, his relationship with his abusive parents, his hero-worship of Spider-Man. But although these things are often alluded to, it's only in the final issue that any of them get meaningfully elaborated on, and even there it's not enough. It is very possible to tie these different concepts together - I think the most obvious move would be to very explicitly present Flash as wrestling with an alternative between emulating his hero and regressing to the things he hates about himself that he identifies with his father (deception, alcoholism, violent temper), which his involvement with the military relies on or exacerbates. But Remender treats them as disconnected, piecemeal elements: a little alcohol relapse here (with no consequences), a little abuse plotline here (handled very inconsistently in a way that suggests haphazard characterization rather than an authentic struggle with processing a parent's violence). It all just kind of adds up to nothing because the character doesn't really learn or develop or adapt - he ends in pretty much the same place he began, emotionally speaking.

I'm not sure if I'll continue with Cullen Bunn's follow-up run - it seems, at very least, like it might have a slightly more unified vision that seeks to set the book apart from just a second-tier Spider-story. But I was thoroughly unimpressed with Remender's run, so I'm not exactly eager to continue.

Favorite issue: the final one, "Father's Day" - it's imperfect, but the Shalvey art is gorgeous and I like the way that it ties up the themes of Flash's attempt to become a better person than his father. Wish the story had meaningfully addressed those things instead of just mentioning them a lot. And I liked the start of the road-trip arc because it promised brighter things, though those were quickly snuffed out when Jack O'Lantern came back.

[loregoddess]

no spoilers below the cut, I was just having a lot of thoughts about Engage earlier that I felt like I wanted to write--talking about the narrative themes and motifs in broad strokes, so no specific spoilers or character names (aside from a brief Alear mention bc, protag). Mostly just wanted to get the thoughts down, bc damn this game is so good

was thinking about Engage earlier, and specifically like, how really carefully written the themes and stuff are and just how well written they are, like sure, the plot's nothing special, it's simple and predictable, and that is honestly the beauty of it. Because when you're not trying to write the most interesting plot in the world, when you're not caught up in trying to plan the best plot twist or most deranged events to top previous games' deranged events, when you allow yourself to have a simple, even campy or corny, earnestly campy and simple plot, then you free yourself to have so much room to really dig deep and explore the actual narrative themes and motifs like, like--

there's a recurring theme of loss and grief. The entire narrative is arguably about grieving. It's not as easy to track as like, the symbolism of the Five Stages of Grief in Majora's Mask, but how Engage handles grief is still so deeply, carefully, thoughtfully written. There's the obvious grief of losing a loved one, yes, but it's also about the grief of losing the past, of becoming a new person (however good that may be, there's still the loss, a "death," of the past self), the grief of growing up and being unable to return to simpler times, the grief of the onward march of time and of losing what precious time one has. There's so much grief in Engage, and yet the story is so, bittersweetly, hopeful, for it is also a story of healing, and metamorphosis, and love.

adjacent to the themes of grief are also recurring narrative themes of self and identity. There are several characters who, whether by their own choice or by forces outside there control, have a separation from their past self. And there's a variety of characters in different stages of this life change. Some are very near to their old self, trying to remake themselves into a person they want to be but they're not there yet, they're in the messy area between their past self and who they want to become. There's characters who've become the person they were trying to become, but are still haunted by their pasts. There are characters who seek to know their pasts, because the truth is essential and important, no matter how painful. And there are characters who know they will have to change, to become a new version of themselves, who either resist that or try to waylay that future. And it's so fascinating, because every character is treated as the best possible version of themselves, in the present moment, no matter where they are in their personal journey, because at the end of the day we can only be the person we are in the present, no matter how close or far it is to who we want to be or who we were, and there is beauty in that, there is beauty in that perfectly imperfect present self, and that self is okay for simply being and trying

there's just, so many weird little narrative themes I keep finding the more I reflect on the game, and reading through more character supports and learning more about the characters, and like, this really is a gem of a narrative experience. Because the scale of the narrative is so small, it's not like the characterization or worldbuilding can be easily mixed up or inconsistently written, there are no branching timelines to confound the writers with "what ifs"--there's just a simple, straightforward concept that allowed deeper thematic elements of the narrative to shine through, and the cast of characters is incredibly consistent and surprisingly varied, making the entire experience of the narrative overall just, really incredible

sure there's not the nuance of the horrors of war or whatever, but in my opinion FE has never been a good series for war-critical narratives, since the war is almost always just a game mechanics backdrop and narrative metaphor for whatever issue the characters are actually dealing with. And that's part of what makes Engage so good to me, is that, yes there's a war and a zombie apocalypse going on, yes these are part of the plot, but they're at best metaphoric devices to reflect the actual inner struggles of Alear and several other characters, for moving through grief can feel like a battle, and trying to gain a grasp of one's self and identity is a struggle at times, and what is fantasy for if not reflecting the most confusing inner turmoil in fantastic, over-the-top--and therefore safe--settings?

[perryhedge]

yugioh sevens - goha 6 elementary arc

finally finished this arc!

overall i liked it, but not as much as maximum. i didn't find asana particularly compelling on her own (same with her go rush counterpart) or as a foil to yuuga and some of the one-off duels were just alright. the major theme of this arc was freedom vs duty, so i thought it was weird that gakuto didn't have much of a focus when that's his whole thing...but instead that theme was mostly explored through tazaki and ranze. poor romin I don't think even had a duel past the one with the sushi lady where she LOSES......lol.

there was some of my favorite episodes yet though. the luke club episode...pure genius. when the show really gets into a certain rhythm of high-paced absurdity, i feel like i connect with its humor really strongly. loved the tiger episode as well...and honestly the rush duel / rappa duet gag killed me. there's this absolutely wild improvisational energy to the way the story moves episode to episode sometimes, which i find refreshing and honestly a little shocking -- it takes a long time to make anime, so i feel like you rarely see something so spontaneous as allowing entire storylines to be built on of silly puns or callbacks. of course, not all these gags are hits, since the giant cast of recurring characters mostly stick to a one joke quota. there are several who i'm already sick of (and the fact that they are brought into go rush exacerbates this). but i'm surprised at how many of the gags do make me laugh every time, and even when they don't i have to marvel at the absolute gall to write some of that stuff. this manic quality is definitely emblematic of bridge era writing, and i'm not 100% sure who to attribute it to, but i'd guess based on knowing a few fans of his work that director nobuhiro kondou had a hand in this.

the animation of the show is already catastrophic, which i expected, but still bums me out massively. if i didn't like the characters so much, i'd definitely have stopped watching by now, because okay is seemingly the best it will ever get. i remember being shocked that some earlier episodes looked actually good, but those days are behind me now, it seems. and look, i know why it's like this -- covid definitely plays a role, and looking at their work bridge seems like a studio that loves to push out as much anime as possible and that situation cannot be good for a production schedule. it just depresses me, because although even in the gallop era yugioh was never a super lavishly animated affair, and fan favorites (i'm fan) like gx were definitely not the prettiest anime ever made, i would like some flashy poses, some interesting layouts, just something, anything to look at. anyway, i guess that's just why i watch shadowverse, too.

i also noticed it feels like there's more luke focus this arc, which makes sense. though the final duel this arc ended up pretty hype, it seems like yuuga is a bit of a struggle to write conflict with. he can't really be allowed to fail, unless it's existential despair for him, or maybe even rush duels itself, lol. that's why I found the maximum arc so compelling. on the other hand, luke's whole life is failure in a sense, and I say that with love. it's much easier to write interesting scenarios around, both where he's the butt of the joke but also his unexpected triumphs. i really like luke as a character so i don't really mind if the show does shift more focus on him. as usual no idea where the show is going next so looking forward to it

[squireofgeekdom]

contemplating this further and i think this would also work - and potentially be better as - a 6 episode miniseries, to give it more space to breathe

this is distinct from what i'd do for cass in a more conventional multi season, 13 or, if we're truly returning to form, 26 episodes a season, which would be much different in both structure and tone. think episodic dramady/almost slice of life sort of vibes?

like, in a period where cass is operating in a city outside of but close to gotham, like in batgirl (2000) when she's running around in bludhaven, in that era where she's figuring out who she is as a civilian outside of being a superhero (while still being a superhero)

like, think something along the lines of season 1 of supergirl in terms of the combination of humor/drama/action, except rather than figuring out a superhero identity it's the reverse. (might even just call it cass wayne for that vibe) and like, I've only seen bits of a couple of unbreakable kimmy schmidt episodes but like, also that same grew up in horrible circumstances that left you totally unprepared for being in the world as a person, handled with a lighter tone. and since it's cass like, when she's out of step with social expectation or whatever 9 times out of 10 she's just like wow. sucks to suck. obviously i am doing this better than you. which I think is a delightful avenue to do comedy poking fun at stupid/absurd social norms - as well as like. give full rein to cass's canonical sharp sense of humor. (and other things from batgirl (2000) like her picking up things from tv, occasional obliviousness-to-the-point-of-comedy, etc) (my brain also keeps going to btvs as another point of reference in structure and tone)

also things like a running thread of cass struggling with and learning speaking and reading, and then getting very into reading ala batgirls. etc.

the batfam would show up as recurring characters but like, she'd have her own supporting cast. maybe alysia yeoh has coincidentally moved to the same city before cass does and barbara asks her to look out for her, so there's someone who knows cass in both civilian and superhero identity. but then of course, there's identity shenanigans with people cass befriends as a civilian (like her friend at the cafe in batgirl 2000) vs people befriends as a superhero (like the family with the vietnamese restaurant in batgirl 2024), and cass's frequently indifferent attention to maintaining a secret identity (potential for delightful comedy of people knowing who she is and pretending she is maintaining a secret identity anyway, potential for drama of people protecting her secret identity)

and of course there's still superhero action and being able to do more dramatic plotlines with shiva or cain or various batfam related conflict, and also potentially doing stuff with folks outside of the batfam, like with xanthe zhou in spirit world. and i'm of course picturing steph as the endgame love interest but with a multi-season show there would be some time for cass to explore different relationships

and of course your series finale ends with the flash forward to her taking on The Bat mantle

i am thinking... about a cass movie

it is just called 'the bat' and it is told nonlinearly over three different periods in cass's life

[sepublic]

Hunter: The Main Character who’s a Side Character

I’ve said it before with Any Sport in a Storm, but it really is so fascinating how a lot of previous development in Seasons 1 and 2 culminate in our protagonists imparting similar lessons to Hunter, and/or being in the same state of mind to receive that mutual growth with him.

It’s just... How they actually build off of past development and arcs so they matter as does their sequence and it adds up; With the payoff for all this careful setup being that it acts as a launching pad for characters to not just take their growth to the next level, but to pass that wisdom to Hunter as well. And that allows Hunter to grow faster than he might normally have; It reminds me a lot of how Eda learned a lot of lessons as a kid firsthand and passed them onto Luz, even as she learned and reiterated a couple things of her own...

And now we get to see Luz and her friends to the same, as the payoff and reward to their own journeys established in Season 1, that we actually worked on and reap the benefits of, while continuing to still build on that for the sake of said protagonists and not just Hunter. Because as Luz helps Eda too, Hunter does the same. And it really does feel like fate (it kinda is from a meta writing perspective) that Hunter meets these people one by one, and they all contribute their own past growth via a contained lesson, and all of their collaborative development combines to uplift Hunter and help him.

Because helping people with what you went through, so it’s easier for them, is SUCH a recurring theme in this show that you could make a drinking game out of it. It all comes into place and they’re not just building stuff for themselves but for Hunter, and it feels so sweet how everyone has lowkey adopted this kid into their found family mutually. Everyone is playing their part because it takes a village to raise a child.

It’s just so compelling and clever and efficient of the writers to take advantage of episodes they established, the work of those who came before makes things easier for those who come next, as it should be; And Hunter feels like... A sort of marker of our protagonists’ progress, part of his purpose is to reflect their own growth back at them, and now he’s narratively checking up on each of them, one by one, to celebrate and summarize what each protagonist has gone through. He’s like a vessel for the audience to do a character arc roll call with and I love it.

And what goes around comes around, because they not only pave the way for Hunter’s redemption, as the most indoctrinated protagonist who has the most to unlearn and thus learn; But we see how Hunter pays them back and makes them realize thing about themselves, in their recognition of the self in him, like a mirror. Hunter is a mirror not just to but for the protagonists, so Luz gains some contemplation about her future; Amity understands what unconditional love is; Willow has someone who gets to know her for who she is; And Gus learns to trust and believe in himself again.

Hunter is just... An almost chameleon character, multi-purpose with so many parallels, like a changeling. And he’s a wonderful narrative tool for our protagonists and a compelling character that we and the characters see themselves in, so there’s just that fun dynamic for them to bounce off of. I really do think Hunter helps enrich our protagonists and give appreciation to their past growth; He’s like a culmination of our beloved cast in a sense, a representative/champion on their behalf. I can see why Dana loves this dude...

In any other story Hunter would be the main character, which I think is meta and sonder; Having our POV be Luz, who wanted to be a main character but recognizes that so does everyone else, everyone is just as real with just as meaningful lives and backgrounds and perspectives as her. And it’s then interesting to explore the type of accumulative character that the main protagonist usually is, since usually it’s them finding others who are a reflection of them, rather than this subversion of the other way around; Our protagonists finding Hunter one at a time.

Hunter is almost like that kind of protagonist who serves as a consistent commentator, a fellow observer with the audience to the REAL protagonists’ stories per episode as we travel around, an episodic, anthological type of story almost. But again, he’s from a different perspective, which adds to the unique subversion and twist; As does Hunter’s deconstruction as a chosen one, his supposed destiny just a scam to keep him in line, just like Adegast’s scam for Luz. I did compare him to ‘Nevareth Bladestrife’, who complains about not being chosen as the hero despite being main character-bait...

Hunter really does feel like that type of central main character where everyone else reflects a different facet of him and exists to get his development and lesson of the day going, but... In the role of a side-character and seen as such from the POV of our ‘side characters’ who would in another story exist just for Hunter’s sake. He didn’t even properly debut until Season 2! And I feel Hunter ultimately uplifted these characters for me, and gave them an additional compelling dynamic to work with and explore themselves with. It’s all so weird and meta and subversive and strange and I just... IT’S SO FASCINATING Y’ALL!!!

[natsspammityspamspamham]

I'm actually writing this post specifically for @deepwoodenheart because they followed my main and were not a porn blog. Thanks! They've recently expressed an interest in Yuichiro Umehara (a voice actor), and @msyuksanh is his number one fan who is the one who actually introduced me to this specific voice actor. Since I watch a ton of anime (an unhealthy amount), I will be running through some of the stuff I have watched (and some stuff I haven't). Some of these are just to make fun of these anime, but I don't fault any seiyuu for taking a bad role because you do what you need to to make that bread 🍞

His list of roles is big but not as big as some other voice actors, so I was able to go through which ones I had watched or heard of quite quickly. He has made some random appearances in other anime that I've watched where I went "Huh, definitely know this guy from somewhere" like Fire Force, Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun, and Kaguya-sama.

Note: I haven't watched Jojo Part 6 yet or that parody magic anime with the wombat. The anime will go in no specific order, but it generally goes from "good" to "mediocre" to "these anime can go suck cheese" with anything below the "keep reading" being literal trash-tier anime. There's also some missing stuff, especially in terms of idol anime because I haven't watched those and don't plan on it for now. From looking at the cast list, I think his major idol roles are in Magic Kyun, Tsukipro, Ensemble Stars, and Idolmaster SideM (regular Idolmaster is for female idols).

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime

I was talking to a friend of mine recently when we went Christmas shopping, and when he saw this manga he went, "I didn't like that one." I personally did like this one. His complaint was that too much time was given to the secondary love interest. Umehara plays a supporting (but recurring) character.

((This scene still makes me laugh to this day. Kaori Nazuka was really funny here.))

Fruits Basket (remake)

Okay, Umehara admittedly barely shows up in this one, but people should watch Fruits Basket no matter who they are. It's good for the soul. That is all.

((It took me so long to find a fricking gif of this bir-- guy.))

Romantic Killer

Anyone who reads this or anyone who has Netflix should go watch this.

((Kabe-down))

Tenchi Souzou Design-bu

This anime is surprisingly not directly creationism, but it sure comes close! As a biology major, this anime was pretty neat, but some of it made me go, "What am I watching anyway?" I'm not an ecology specialist though, so maybe this makes more sense to others. His character is a supporting character, but he has some funny bits.

((He also gets to rap in this role, so that was kind of funny. My other favourite lines are "Wow, Mercury is dead!" and "WOO! SAIKOU NI COOL!!!"))

SSSS.Dynazenon

This one was not nearly as good as Gridman which was already divisive in the mecha community (that I'm not a part of). I heard from others that it was enjoyable, but I personally thought it was a bit of a bore. Props to the casting director for getting Chika Anzai and her cousin Junya Enoki. There are some subbed radio segments that are funny too.

((Also, this is the first anime I watched where he was cast as an ugly adult. Ain't nobody falling for kinoko hair over here. He has also played a piece of sperm, but I digress.))

Dame x Prince

This anime was built for cringe, and it succeeds at cringe. But because it embraces the cringe, it unironically becomes one of the better anime adaptations of an otome game which is like saying you're the tallest dwarf of the seven dwarfs. It also gave a long-running radio with Kaito Ishikawa and Soma Saito.

Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul

I genuinely remember so little about this anime that I went to go watch clips to refresh my memory, and this anime wasn't even bad. It was mediocre, but for something based off a card game, they did really well. I actually watched this for Sumire Morohoshi and her bubbly character Nina. This is technically a sequel, so you'd need to watch the previous one to fully understand it. Oddly enough, I didn't know the first season was a romance until some characters kissed.

Gakuen Babysitters

This one was essentially built to be a comfort watch. It works at what it wants to do, but I don't like kids. The ending theme is cute, but Nishiyama looked way more into it (Umehara was there to get paid).

Shinchou Yuusha

I personally thought this anime was gonna be a Konosuba, and it kind of was, but it was far more palatable for me (I was not able to make it through Konosuba and will try again at a later date). Aki Toyosaki carries 99% of the comedy in this anime.

((That slime never did anything to youuuuuuu)

Orenchi no Furo Jijou

Fun fact: I watched this before knowing what a shounen ai was! I saw the shounen part and went "Oh, so my demographic" watched it, came out, and went "What. Was. That?!" I don't remember a whole ton about it, but I don't remember it being horrendous. It's just some mermaid in a bathtub. I think this was his debut role, and he does play a main character.

Juuni Taisen

This is probably in a similar boat as Tenkuu Shinpan (later in the list). It's just a bloodbath of an anime, but I will give it credit that it has fanservice for both sides (they sexualize men and women). Anyways, it has a stacked seiyuu cast for something that is so incredibly mediocre.

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai

He had to be replaced partway through due to his acute immune disease. However, I think he recorded it in post-production. Either way, it's a supporting character in an anime that I think wasn't worth the watch besides the banger of an opening. Masayoshi Ohishi has a knack for writing openings for romcoms (he likes romcoms himself).

((He's the glasses guy))

Tenkuu Shinpan

I kinda want to watch this one just to turn off my brain and watch some Battle Royale-style gore.

((That character looks sick.))

Darling in the Franxx

Apparently, you're supposed to watch the first 12 episodes then dip, but come on, when the mechas are built like that, I'm not touching that thing. Even though it has Haruka Tomatsu and one of her most famous characters, I'm not watching it.

((It took me over 100 gifs to find one with Gorou in them despite typing in "Gorou Darling in the Franxx", and he is part of the main cast.))

Goblin Slayer

You know, for such an edgy first episode, this series is so mid at the genre it tries to take on after. Umehara said himself, "He doesn't really say much of importance." This anime has sexual violence (and it's explicit), and it's not even good.

Plunderer

I haven't watched this one, but he does star alongside his bandmate Yoshiki Nakajima. Both of them have been in better anime that is certainly not this one. I even read a chapter or two of the manga when it first started airing and went, "They're really making that, huh?"

((He forgot one streak of hair when dyeing it haha))

Kabuki-bu!

I couldn't make it through three episodes, but maybe I'll try again-- actually, no I won't.

Uchitama

Hmm... I haven't watched this one. It's not hard to see why, but basically, I have not reached that level of degeneracy, and if I do, someone should put me out of my misery.

Senjuushi

Fun fact: This anime is so bad that it has a rating similar to Boku no P-- I'm not finishing that title. I obviously didn't watch this one.

Makura no Danshi

I didn't watch this one, but I saw a video on it and was near tears from laughter and despair because there's no fricking way someone made an anime about this concept AND got Masayoshi Ohishi to write an OP for it. This is the stupidest thing I've seen in a while, and just being close to it made me even more embarrassed that I watch anime. I also listened to Masayoshi's version of the OP before I knew what it was connected to or how to understand some words in Japanese. After learning its association, I was legally obligated to take that song off my playlist.