#but we have the shoujo manga and the original novel for that so

[akai-anna]

i'm rewatching toshokan sensou/library wars with a friend and god,my love for it always hits me so hard. i love and adore it so much.

[lesmisletters]

Happy New Year, and thank you so much to everyone who followed along with Les Mis Letters in 2023! It was amazing to see so much insightful discussion and enthusiasm on Tumblr. Book clubs (brick clubs?) always make reading more fun, and I’m excited for the next round of emails in 2024.

A special thanks to:

@dolphin1812 for brilliant exhaustive chapter-by-chapter daily meta throughout 2023!

@cliozaur for other engaging well-written daily analysis!

@pureanonofficial for lovely chapter-by-chapter daily gifsets of various adaptations, covering over half of the book!

@bobcatmoran for their daily comparisons to the Arai Manga in the early months of the readalong!

@lesmisscraper for their gifsets comparing Shoujo Cosette to the chapters in the original novel!

@pilferingapples for various fun analysis posts, and for participating in the older “Brickclubs” that helped lay the foundation of our tagging system!

@gavroche-le-moineau and other French speakers for giving insight into the pieces of the story that aren’t conveyed in the English translation!

@patron-minette for interesting background and analysis, especially analysis related to Patron-Minette!

@everyonewasabird and @fremedon for the archive of older daily Brickclub posts that helped provide more to discuss!

- and many, many others who shared art, writing, and more throughout the year! Thank you to the people who reblogged and interacted with the fandom even if you never posted, and for the people just read along. I am aware that there are a great many users that I have not mentioned in this post, particularly the people who were more active on Discord than they were on Tumblr, and I am glad for all the conversations we were able to have.

Feel free to shout out anyone you want to appreciate in the comments, and I hope you join us for the next round of daily chapters in 2024!

—mod Mellow

[the-yuri-librarian]

Bloom into You Analysis: Chapter One

Bloom into You tells the story of high school freshman Yuu, as she discovers herself and tries to gain an understanding of "love," which all of her friends seem enamored with. She has never had someone who felt special to her in that way, though she desperately wants to. This all changes when she meets sophomore Nanami, who has also never fallen in love. As they get to know each other, Nanami begins to fall in love with Yuu, though Yuu does not understand why. At the same time, Yuu thinks her chest may be starting to flutter, a feeling that she has longed for but still does not understand...

In this analysis series, I am going to explore Bloom into You chapter by chapter, breaking down what the writing is doing, how what the writing is doing works, and why the series is so popular. But, first, here's my favorite panel from chapter one.

Analysis below the cut

This may be common sense on some level, but the first chapters of most works of fiction typically have the same goals: establish the main character(s) (including their personality and flaws), the setting, the story, and the antagonist(s), as well as any thematic through-lines that will be present in the story. These goals, however, are especially important for a series that is released weekly; when you're reading a novel or a collection of chapters in a manga volume, the writer has a lot more room -- and as a result, leeway -- to take their time laying the groundwork for their story. But, when something is released chapter by chapter on a week-to-week basis, like Bloom into You, it is imperative that the writer does their best to give you, the reader, a reason to come back next week, and the week after that, and so on. The constraints of the weekly release schedule are something to keep in mind as we proceed with this analysis, not just for this chapter, but for all chapters. The constant stress to keep audience engagement high likely had an impact on the writing decisions Nakatani Nio made as she developed this story, for better and worse. With that being said, let's dive in on page one:

Full disclosure: I really love this page. It utilizes a combination of visual storytelling, internal monologue, and the manga itself as a framing device to perfectly establish the protagonist, Yuu, in a single page. Visually, Yuu is laying on her bed listening to music, (presumably) a light novel spread across her lap. The "camera," which serves as the audience's POV, is above her, so she is staring at us as she stares at the ceiling. Laying next to her are a couple of romance mangas, another book, her music player (an mp3 player of some kind), and an open CD case. Even without the inner monologue, you can immediately tell that Yuu is interested in romance. Nakatani then uses Yuu's inner monologue to take the audience's initial impression of Yuu and twist it. She is not interested in love in the same way the average teenage girl is; she is not particularly boy crazy, nor is she very experienced in the ways of love. Instead, she is interested in love precisely because she has never experienced it. She even thinks it herself: "I don't need a dictionary to understand the meaning... But I've never felt them for myself" (v. 1, Ch. 1, page 4; emphasis original). This not only works to make Yuu more complex as a character, but it is also a way to draw the audience in. It leads them to wonder, "Why hasn't she experienced love? Has she been hurt in the past? Or, is something else going on?" And then, finally, in what I genuinely think is brilliant, Nakatani turns the manga itself into a framing device by allowing the title of the chapter to interact with Yuu's inner monologue. The first box of Yuu's inner monologue reads, "The words in shoujo manga and love songs... They're always sparkling brightly" (ch. 1, page 4; emphasis original). She then laments that she knows what the words mean, but she's never felt them for herself. In comparison, the title of the chapter is "I cannot reach the stars." Thanks to the use of bold text for emphasis, Nakatani is drawing a straight line from the monologue to the chapter title. In other words, the stars that Yuu cannot reach are the feelings in the manga and love songs she is lamenting about. This gives the audience incredible insight into Yuu's character, because it tells us right away that not only does she yearn to feel the love that comics and songs talk about, but she also blames herself for her inability to feel romantic feelings, a thought that is going to become a driving force of the plot right away.

The next four pages work to set up the story. In summary, Yuu is not sure what club she wants to join, and one of her teachers recommends the student council, offering for her to sit in on one of their meetings. Yuu agrees because it sounds interesting, but on her way to the student council building, she gets lost. Instead, she stumbles upon a boy asking a girl out, which leads to:

This is our introduction to Nanami, the somewhat deuteragonist, and, more importantly, Yuu's main love interest. As the above image implies, Nanami turns this guy down. Then, she spots Yuu, who admits she is lost, and together they go to the student council building, where Nanami reveals she is a member of the student council. As the chapter progresses, Yuu, and by extension the audience, learns a lot about Nanami, mainly through dialogue. She is a sophomore, ten people (including by some girls) have confessed their love to her since she started high school, and she has turned everyone down largely because she was not interested, but also because "none of their confessions made [Nanami's] heart pound" (ch. 1, page 22; emphasis original). This information is given briskly, and as it happens we watch as Yuu becomes more and more interested in Nanami. At first, it is explicitly because she saw Nanami turn down a confession; her inner monologue in the next scene reveals that Yuu was confessed to at her middle school graduation and has not answered yet. Then, she hangs out with Nanami and Sayaka (Nanami's best friend and fellow student council member and sophomore) the next day, and begins to realize that Nanami is a cool and interesting person. Then, when Nanami reveals she has never felt love, Yuu's interest in her increases exponentially. The pacing and speed at which we are given information really works here, as Nakatani employs Yuu's increasing interest in Nanami to keep the reader engaged while also only highlighting the key aspects of Nanami's personality. She provides the audience enough information to keep us interested, but not so much information we have the full picture. This series of scenes culminates in the final scene of the chapter, when Yuu asks Nanami for advice in the student council room the next day.

On the third day after Yuu meets Nanami, she finds herself exactly as she hoped: alone with Nanami in the student council room. She explains that she has been confessed to and that the boy in question is expecting a response. As she relays this information, Nanami mistakes her intentions and says that she is not the right person to give out advice on this subject. Yuu responds that she's already decided to turn him down. During this conversation, the audience is shown a flashback of the confession, and when the flashback is over, Yuu does just that: she turns the boy down. When she is done and has had a moment to relax, Nanami takes her hand and asks Yuu in clear terms if there has ever been anyone special to her, if she has ever had romantic feelings for anyone. Yuu says no, and this leads to the page that my favorite panel is from:

There is excellent storytelling happening here. At first, Yuu and Nanami are holding hands and standing acorss from each other, then, with a turn of the page, Nanami is pulling Yuu closer. In the next panel, the camera cuts wide, showing us how empty the room is and just how close our lead girls are standing. The perspective shifts here are meant to put the audience on edge and add pressure to the tension that has building all chapter. Then, on the last panel, right as the tension is at its highest, the plot twists, letting the tension release like a stretched rubber band. It's a twist for Yuu too; the confusion on her face is painfully clear, as she begins to realize she has misread Nanami. Then, Nanami voices the realization Yuu is having out loud, informing her that they are not the same, they are different...

...because Nanami is falling in love with Yuu. Just like that, with the flip of a page, the rest of the story is set up. Yuu, the girl who cannot fall in love, has made likely the most popular girl in school fall for her, seemingly because of the explicit fact that she has never fallen in love before. This twist takes the hook that was already in the audience's mouth and sets it into the flesh of their cheek; they're hooked now, and there is no telling where the story will go from here. Not all is perfect, though. In this scene, Nanami actually comes on a little too strongly for my taste, particularly dropping the L word so early. This is likely an effect of the weekly release schedule that I mentioned earlier; Nakatani likely wanted to end the chapter on the strongest note possible, leading to such a powerful confession. Additionally, it is hard to tell how valid this complaint is, as I am dealing with an admitted constraint: I do not read or write Japanese. This inherently limits my understanding of the scene, because I am perpetually an additional step away from understanding Nakatani's true meaning; not only am I reading the line through my own cultural values and life experiences, but the line itself has been translated from the Japanese, and since translation is itself an art, the translator's own cultural values and life experiences likely affects how they translate it. With that being said, assuming this is not a translator error and the original Japanese does say "love," then there is a moment later in the story that is the ideal place for Nanami to say "love" for the first time (in my opinion at least) that I will point out when we get there.

And, with Nanami's confession, the chapter ends. In the pages of this chapter, we can already see the emergence of the story's main theme: what is love? But, as the characters progress, this story is also going to grapple with questions of bodily autonomy, friendship, and what it means to find your way in the world. This story is, in my view, ultimately a coming-of-age story for Yuu. Not just romantically, but developmentally. She has to find her way in the world when everyone around her seemingly already knows their way. And, it is that journey that makes this story so special.

I hope you enjoyed this analysis! Sorry it was so long. Honestly, there was a lot more I wanted to say, but I ended up summarizing a lot to keep it as brief as I could. Chapter two is fewer pages so it'll be shorter (I hope). Speaking of, chapter 2 will go up on Wednesday, January 10th. Hope to see you then! ^-^

p.s. if you can fluently read Japanese and are interested in helping me on this project, please DM me!

p.p.s here's a cute bonus image from the end of the chapter!

[benkyoutobentou]

31 Days of Productivity Reading もう一回！: Day 9

Before: Today’s fatefully chosen read is ポーの一族！This is one of the series that I was most excited to get to, so its presence has been looking over me for this entire challenge. It’s another classic shoujo manga that follows a family of vampires. It was also originally published in Flower Comics, which is the same magazine that serialized BASARA! The art is also gorgeous.

Another reason why I’m so excited for ポーの一族 is that it’s by Hagio Moto, who’s part of the year 24 group. If you’re less familiar with shoujo history (herstory?), the year 24 group was a group of female mangaka (including Ikeda Riyoko, mangaka of ベルサイユのばら) whose works were highly influential in the shoujo manga scene and helped turn shoujo manga into what it is today.

With each spin, we get closer and closer to the manga and novel options being 50/50, but I’m still kind of shocked that a novel hasn’t been chosen yet. If I do this again, I think I’ll create a more expansive tbr and not have a goal to finish everything on it. But at the same time, novel scary 😖

After: I'm gonna say a few conflicting things. First, I did not finish this volume today. I think I just needed a bit of a brain break and I wasn't as into reading today, despite how much I've been looking forward to this series. It certainly feels like a series where I can read a volume in a day prety easily, I just wasn't quite in the mood today. And then, I feel like reading Japanese has been getting easier for me. Between this and BASARA, I've been reading with more ease than I usually feel with the language. I don't think I'm getting faster yet, but I've been able to read for longer stretches of time, and hopefully this familiarity with the language is a precursor to reading faster. I know that reading speed isn't everything, but I really would like to get faster so that I can reread manga without feeling like I'm abandoning my tbr.

Anyways, I didn't let my mood get in the way of my goals, so even though I didn't finish an entire volume, I still read my required hundred pages! And I read exactly a hundred pages. Bare minimum days are necessary sometimes. I've got a little less than half of this volume left, which means that it won't fulfill my goals for tomorrow, and I'll have to grab something else to read.

[kurisus]

So you love noragami we all love it any reading recs of things like it? Or that you just like?

YES!!!!!

So I have to preface this by saying there's nothing quite like Noragami. And there is nothing wrong with rereading Noragami over and over. But I still have a lot of recs that give Vibes or in general make me Feel Emotions, so here's a non-exhaustive list.

Anime/Manga:

Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya. I've been saying for years that Fruits Basket is Noragami if it was a shoujo. It deals with the same cycles of abuse and an outsider who tries to break them with pure compassion that Noragami does, although it's much more of a drama than a fantasy. Just watch it and think of Yato as the Zodiac cat. I rest my case.

Fullmetal Alchemist (Fullmetal Alchemist) by Hiromu Arakawa. Chances are you've read or seen this already but it's objectively a masterpiece by any standard you care to use. Whether you like shounen fights, deeply emotional interpersonal relationships, political dramas about war and revolution, fantasy based on Greek myth, or anything else, FMA balances them all perfectly (another thing it has in common with Noragami). I love it so much.

Code Geass. This may seem like a wildcard pick but I rewatched Code Geass a few years ago and realized there are a lot of shared elements (like, Suzaku and Kazuma are the same guy). I may be delusional but it's hands down one of the most insane anime I've ever seen, in a good way. Like how FMA and Noragami balance a bunch of genres, Code Geass is a mecha action anime, a school slice of life, a political drama, and a Shakespearean tragedy all at the same time.

Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Again this may be one you're familiar with, but after I caught up on Part 1 of the manga I was so deeply wounded I had to start thinking about Noragami again (which is a worse idea). Chainsaw Man is much more of a Shounen™ than Noragami is, and I still maintain that the saddest parts of Chainsaw Man are like happier Noragami chapters, but it's a very good story and one that also has a lonely, cast-out protagonist who craves human affection but has no idea how to get it (and when he does, it's ripped away from him).

Durarara by Ryohgo Narita. In the anime adaptation, pretty much the entire voice cast is shared between it and Noragami (in the Japanese dub). It is a very weird story about a lot of weird people who are competing to be The Most Normal Person In Ikebukuro, a task which they all fail at spectacularly. It doesn't have much in common with Noragami aside from the voice cast but I love it so I recommend giving it a watch (or reading the light novels if you're feeling adventurous).

Link Click. This is a donghua (Chinese anime) about time travel and it steadily drives me more insane the longer I think about it. The three main characters have such lovely relationships with each other and the emotions go OUCH every time. It's a little harder to pinpoint the connection with Noragami here, but it is a story about the things people will do for love. The writing is crazy good especially considering it's not based on a novel or comic; I haven't seen an anime-original with writing this good since Code Geass.

Not a specific anime but the other week I thought about, what if Yuki Kajiura had been the composer for Noragami? Her style suits its aesthetic so well so now whenever I watch something she wrote for, I yearn.

Books:

The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir. If you've looked at my blog at all in the last 2 years you'll know I am very sane over this book series. I actually made a Venn diagram comparing it to Noragami a while back, but the gist of it is that they deal with a lot of similar themes such as love, death, and the curse of immortality. It also has soooo many messy and complicated relationships and twists that leave your jaw on the floor. You can also use the worldbuilding to put your blorbos into and it's very fun for giving yourself Thoughts. For example I've done it both ways by putting the Noragami characters into the TLT universe and the TLT characters into the Noragami universe. Both are very painful.

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint by Sing-shong. I'm not done reading this yet (about 2/3 through), but the further I get the more I realize it's about all kinds of love, the same way Noragami is. The narrator forms a "party" of people in the apocalypse, and they go through life-or-death scenarios together, and the way they grow to love and care for each other is so natural and feels so earned whenever it pays off. If you want romantic relationships, queerplatonic relationships, parent/child relationships, or any other type of relationship, ORV has it. There is also a webtoon adaptation but I'm reading the novel because it's completed; the webtoon will take many more years to get there.

Miscellaneous:

The Adventure Zone: Balance. This is a DND real-play podcast and it doesn't really have anything in common with Noragami but, like Noragami, it made me feel every possible human emotion, so I recommend it. It has a slow start but it grows into something so beautiful and creative and by the end of it I was sobbing in my car. Listen to it if you can, or at least listen to the music (it gets music later on and all of it is soooo good).

Okami. This is a video game heavily inspired by Legend of Zelda and much like Noragami it's a retelling of Japanese mythology, so the storyline will def have some familiar elements. I recommend playing it for yourself (it's available on Steam for PC and pretty much every other platform you can name), but a playthrough would be good too. It's nearly 20 years old and has withstood the test of time because the creators decided to make it look like a classic Japanese painting come to life, and the gameplay involves drawing, so it's very artsy and fun (although the controls are really weird).

Thanks for the ask! Hopefully you found something new, and I'll be sure to share if I find anything new to add to this list because I am always on the prowl for Noragami-adjacent things ❤

[tae-shimura-is-my-wife]

They aren't shoujo but...

Originally I wouldn't post it because I didn't wanna to cause controversies and thought it was silly, but this has been annoying me for a while so here we go...

The idea that shoujo is any mang/anime containing romance is annoying and tiring when it's a diverse demographic, and is even worse because a lot of people use the "romance" aspect as a way to dumb down the demo, so I really understand shoujo fans frustrations with it but there's certain mangas that folks get PISSED OF when most think they're shoujos even insinuating it's a completely crazy statement which in my opinion isn't fair.

︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵

Apothecary Diaries

Let's start with this one, that actually is the one which makes me more annoyed (and novel fans too)

Apothecary Diaries is a light novel that was published digitally, since LNs don't have demographics like mangas, they're categorized as joseimuke (for women/girls) or danseimuke (for men/boys), and guess what? It was written by a female author aimed at a female audience oh wow! "But the manga adaptation is a seinen!" yes, but this isn't a strong argument when code geass manga is a shoujo and we know very DAMN WELL women aren't the target audience for it 💀. Also an interesting thing to note is the (printed)novel beloging to square enix and they don't have a josei demographic, so it didn't have much chances of getting labeled as their og target audience.

Also it's kinda funny that people got kinda pissed at the notion of elements that could intend it being for women like Maomao herself or Jinshi (there's plenty of Jinshis in joseimuke medias so why they got mad) and it's especially funny because jp otaku men hated it when the anime aired, calling Maomao ugly and annoying, saying that Jinshi is too unrealistic and it's a female power fantasy why this is a bad thing help .

·· ──────── · ──────── ··

Horimiya

Recently I discovered a lot of people hate that anime/manga and hate the fl, welcome back Toradora! Now to our shounen or... not exaclty? It was published in Monthly G Fantasy a manga magazine known for their bishounen characters and fanservice for fujoshis; some of their titles are Black Butler, Jibaku Shounen and they also do the manga adaptation of Twisted Wonderland a joseimuke game,

Despite being a shounen jp sites sell them in the joseimuke category and some of their titles can be found in the female aisle alongside with shoujo and josei and most of the information of the magazine is focused on it young female readers, which is ironic since other magazines don't keep ofuscating their male readers y'know, but looking at what is published there is kinda obvious the actual male demographic is almost inexistent.

Now to the actual manga, let's be for real Miyamura ALONE is a reason to why most wouldn't think this is for men yeah bishounens exist in male demographics but not in romances, it's literally a recurring joke on how shounen romance girls look stunning meanwhile the men are average as hell, but in Horimiya is the opposite, look Hori is super pretty but compared to Miya she gets overshadowed to the point HE is the main selling point of the series.

Since i talked about Miyamura being the main point, this is also a reason why much wouldn't think this is for men, generally the idea of shounen romances is getting a perfect waifu, she's the main point, a girl that a guy would dream have, but when Horimiya launched actually the girls were fantasazing about Miya and they still do! Miyamura has more merch than Hori and look it's basically IMPOSSIBLE to have anything of a male character in a male targeted romance, since the idea is to you collect and appreciate your 2d gf, just search for popular shounen and seinen merch of that genre and see what I'm talking about.

To finish Horimiya most jp sites tag it as "for girls" manga and it's not even because of being a romance as many would think, since Blue Box and Kaoru Hana are sold as shounen in the same stores, so yeah maybe people weren't that crazy about calling it shoujo 😆.

·· ──────── · ──────── ··

Skip and Loafer

And last but not least Skip to Loafer you probably would be thinking "this chick gonna say this shit is secretely a seinen shoujo?" but no! It magazine is pure seinen, so if this isn't from a proto-shoujo magazine, neither having the a adaptation being joseimuke why is it here? Simple the content, Skip to Loafer is a coming of age story about a high school girl that focus on growing up, female friendships, characters emotions and has realistic deciptions of girlhood, hmm where did these things are more common? Which demographic would have something like that? It's obvious guys c'mon! The only thing that makes it not be a shoujo is the label, to the point where a lot of shoujo fans thought it was one and it's constatly compared to kimitodo, also the author already wrote bl and josei before so it's not like people are completly crazy thinking this could be for girls, and let's be honest, do you really think this is a series which the target audience are adult men? SERIOUSLY?

And yeah there's some men that said this is better than shoujo and stuff, but if it was shoujo they would say the same shit, saying "it's not like the other shoujos" how they did with Yona, Fruits Basket, Rayearth and even Sailor Moon recently and please stop letting dumb dudebros that don't even know what shounen or seinen is affect you that much, most of the fans are women both in jp and west, and most of them already watched shoujo before.

Just to conclude that part and also adding some things seinen and shoujo line sometimes can be very blurred, a lot of shoujo authors are or were seinen writers, also Kageki Shoujo were a seinen before moving to Melody and Orange moved to a seinen mag.

︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵

And to finish I understand the frustration of people recommending this series instead of actual shoujo ones (except Apothecary Diaries bc it is for women), especially because the manga community tend to snob shoujo series and see them as lesser just for being targeted at girls, demographics do matter! But I don't think is fair to get pissed off at people interpreting these works as targeting girls, considering they do have a female appeal and were purposely created that way by its women mangaka. I still think the real enemies are the ones calling Nisekoi, My Dress Up Darling, Rent a Girlfriend a shoujo💀.

[vampkitty66]

2023 Spring Anime Season: My Thoughts Thus Far

Yamada-kun at Lv999 

Disclaimer!! These are just my opinions

Status: Currently Ongoing

Starting off we have Yamada-kun at Lv999. I will say after watching the first two episodes I immediately picked up the manga. It currently only has five episodes, and the final episode will be the thirteenth. This follows Akane, a college student who recently got dumped by her boyfriend for a girl he met in a online game they both used to play together. Wanting to make him jealous, she attends an event for the online game knowing that he’ll be there and meets a boy named Yamada. Yamada helps Akane out after she tripped and her ex boyfriend spots them together. Turns out her ex is a big fan of Yamada’s, and in an attempt to make her ex jealous she bribes Yamada to say that they are dating each other.  Since I am a shoujo lover myself, I felt super drawn to this series because it feels nostalgic. I think the characters are likeable and despite their age gap ( although I don’t find it a big deal as its only two years apart ) their relationship is healthy. Really enjoying it so far, I think its refreshing to see a romance anime nowadays with little to no fan service. If you haven't, I highly suggest picking up the manga.

Hells Paradise

Status: Currently Ongoing 

Completing the “Dark trio” we have Hells Paradise, I preface that I have not read the manga. With only five episodes so far, I've got to say that this might be one of the best watches for me this season. Mappa has really outdone themselves in my opinion, the animation is crazy. The story follows Gabimaru the Hollow who was captured and sentenced to death. With him practically being invincible, Sagiri, his executioner, gave him an opportunity to be pardoned. To be able to be pardoned he and other death row convicts have to find the elixir of life. I think the story is fantastic and the characters are all interesting. I’m really excited to see what comes next as the series continues, and we’ve already seen some development in some of the characters, as well as some of the backstories. Waiting for my girl Sagiri to be an absolute badass and prove everyone who doubts her wrong. Also just got to say that the opening song is  fire and its been on repeat for me. 

Skip And Loafer  

Status: Currently Ongoing   

Skip And Loafer, another romance anime with only five episodes so far (its very exciting to have so many wholesome animes come out this year) This one also feels like a very nostalgic shoujo, but its in fact a sienen. This one is based in high school and it follows Mitsumi Iwakura, a girl who lived on the countryside her whole life. Iwakura attends high school in Tokyo and even though she thinks everything will go smoothly, it turns out to be quite the opposite. Watching this made me cringe so hard not even going to lie, its awkward and goofy but that’s also what I like about it. Despite having to throw my phone to the other side of the bed because of the awful secondhand embarrassment I got, I'm definitely going to continue watching it. 

Why Raeliana Ended Up At The Dukes Mansion

Status: Currently Ongoing 

This was originally a manhwa that got adapted into an anime. I have not read the manhwa so I can’t base anything off of it, but so far I'm enjoying it. It follows Raeliana who was originally Park Eunha who had died in the real world and woke up to be Raeliana. The world that she is in as Raeliana is based off a novel she had read in her previous life, so lucky for her, she knows what's to come. There were a lot of isekai animes this season and to be honest, this is the only one I've watched. This seemed like an interesting concept, I don’t watch or read too many isekai series because a lot of them feel the same and I find some of them boring but maybe I should give it more of a chance? I digress, I like most of the main characters so far and if I were her, I’d totally jump on the duke bandwagon. The animation is a little iffy but I can look past it, overall I don’t have that many complaints about it.  

Honorable Mention

Oshi No Ko

Contains spoilers!!

Status: Ongoing

Note: This is an absolute mess of a review oops

Okay so I’ve only watched the first episode so far (I think there's two or three now??) The first episode was like an hour long and it was a lot. We start off meeting the two main characters in the hospital, the little girl and the doctor. We see Ai on tv and to be honest does no one else find it weird that the doctor is like obsessed with a teen idol? Yes I know its because of the little girl, she was his patient and she died blah blah blah. I just find it a little odd... I don't know, it’s fine, moving on. Ai is pregnant and the doctor gets assigned to her, turns out shes having twins and on the night that she is supposed to deliver, the doctor gets pushed and dies. The doctor and his little girl patient gets reincarnated as her twins but they are fully aware of their previous lives. So now a 12 year old girl and a 20 something year old man are Ai’s twins. Also forgot to mention, didn’t the doctor say something sus to the little girl before she died because didn’t she want to marry him??? Honestly I forget, anyways, fast forward the twins, Aqua and Ruby, get older throughout the episode. Ai has been doing her idol shit and what not and Aqua also dabbles into acting a bit. Ruby is dancing or something and all is swell until it all turned to shit. Ai is I think 20 years old now? There's someone who comes to the door and she opens it, he then stabs her and she dies. Oh and she finally tells her kids that she loves them. The episode is almost over at this point, Aqua asks this one guy to raise him or something and Aqua pretty much figures out that his dad hired someone to kill his mom so he’s in his revenge era now. This was a whole mess but its fine. I liked the characters designs a lot, I thought they were really pretty. I have some problems with this anime but I think I might continue to watch it and then do a whole review on it. Still baffled on how people claimed that this was the best first episode they've seen ( even topped aot ) I think it was a good episode don’t get me wrong and I liked the animation style and there were cute moments but I don’t think it was the best first episode I've seen. Ai’s song was fire though, I will say that.

[bbnibini]

it's thanks to your blog that i discovered the apothecary diaries and decided to check it out. i love how smart maomao is, and seeing her get excited over poison and medicine is so cute (and sometimes concerning)! i also love the palace intrigue, everything going from 'just another day' to 'welp, now we have to deal with this problem or SOMEONE COULD DIE' just sparks my interest. bless lady gyokuyou's servants too! they just care about maomao so much, i love them.

originally, i was going to buy the light novel ver of it, only to discover it's not been released yet! absolutely adding to my wishlist. basically, this is just a long ramble for me to say i'm glad i found this series, and thank you because i wouldn't have found it on my own.

Awww I'm so glad you loved Apothecary Diaries! <3 Series with ace-coded female protagonists (Maomao is a meme machine. Her expressions are so adorable. Stray cat-coded fr) and wholesome relationships (especially female friendships cause god forbid women getting along and supporting each other/s; *me glaring at certain shoujo isekai series*) hold very dear places in my heart and I can't recommend it enough! And yes yes yes to all that you said!! <3 I love the political intrigue to it too! The anime started sprinkling the dark themes of the series early on but it still astounds me how they approached episode 5; imo it's one of the more sensitive and triggering plot points in the show (I won't spoil here but you'll know what I'm talking about once you watch it lol) but the way they executed it in the anime is done really well. I like it when series approach dark themes and implement it naturally; bite-sized and all and it just accumulates and accumulates until you realise 'Wait a minute that's effed up'. Another series who does this wonderfully is Ascendance of a Bookworm(my beloved<3). The LNs are only available as digital copies (not sure if they're planning on releasing physical releases). I just have a tendency and preference to collect novels/light novels compared to manga since I enjoy reading them more. The manga is also a great adaptation should you want to collect more copies though! For me personally, I was not really a fan of its pacing in the beginning, that was why I looked for alternative ways to get into it. Enjoy reading, and thanks for the asks! (and rambles hehe~)

[tonikogemmie]

April 10th, 2024: Wednesday's Bittersweet Gem

Freaky Friday wasn't enough for you? How about a one-of-a-kind bodyswap with no confidence of when or if you'll swap back. This story answers the question no one was curious about; what if you bodyswapped and had to go through puberty in another body? With the opposite gender at that. It's a tale about a unique body dysphoria, growing up and lots of teenage angst.

Shishunki Bitter Change by Masayoshi

Puberty Bitter Change // 思春期ビターチェンジ

TYPE: Manga

TAGS: Drama, Coming of Age, (Light) Romance, Slice of Life, Supernatural (?), Tragedy*

DEMOGRAPHIC: Shoujo

STATUS: Completed (65 Chapters)

Perhaps this is why this story would be to your liking:

A novel twist on a usually comedic trope. It is a genuine, actualized body swap that deals with the characters having to just... live someone else's life. From elementary school on as well! This author knows well how to write children growing up and all the pains that come along with it.

There are two main characters, Yuuta (Male) and Yui (Female), who while they aren't the craziest personalities, it is enough to root for them to get back to their original bodies. But since they're stuck with each other, they must do their best together to make it through each other's adolescence.

Puberty is one hell of a thing to experience in another body. This isn't all that much of a spoiler, but these kids will be growing up which means we get to witness all throughout their teenage years. I personally believe there isn't enough stories that span across a longer period of time.

A small warning: Usually a gem is a gem for its writing value as well, but I do think all of this story is stellar apart from its endings. Yes, endings. In my opinion, both endings are rather weak, but the core of the story is interesting so its a shame.

*Oh, but before I go. Two endings! Originally a web publication, there is a manga ending (that is more accepted universally as the ending) and a web publication exclusive ending. The web publication brings a grim, damn near miserable seeming ending while the manga brings the fairytale happy ending. It's the web ending alone that makes you wonder if this entire story was building up to a tragedy after all.

Well! I’m off to read some more!

ENGLISH FAN TRANSLATION:

Well the me from Highschool who read this was really touched. Honestly. But that is only one opinion, which is mine. Equally you can read this and think its not accurate to adolescence at all. Isn't that what's interesting about growing up? Everyone grows up differently.

[badlydrawnarsenelupin]

Thoughts on Chiho Saito's VS Lupin

So back in 2019, I found this series while I was browsing for Lupin things, as one does, and proceeded to buy the whole set, because it’s Lupin, drawn as a sparkling shoujo-manga pretty boy.

What is this series? 

VS Lupin (Original Title: VSルパン) is a currently ongoing series serialized by Shokugakan in the magazine Zoukan Flowers, based off of the original Lupin stories by Leblanc. It is written and drawn by Chiho Saito (さいとう ちほ), a shoujo and josei mangaka, who is best known for being a creator of the Revolutionary Girl Utena series. 

By the way, while I’ll be mainly using shoujo when describing the series in this post, VS Lupin is officially listed as a josei manga. The labels shoujo and josei for the most part are used as an age-rating to specify the intended audience. As a genre they have a lot of overlap in the style and tropes… I’m just using the terms interchangeably. If you’re a Manga Expert™ pretend you didn’t see this.

As of writing this, VS Lupin has a total of six volumes completed in the original Japanese, covering a handful of stories and novels including: The Countess of Cagliostro, The Crystal Stopper and The Damsel With Green Eyes. Volume 7 is currently in progress and is said to be based off of Eight Strokes of the Clock.

Volumes 1-4 from that have been translated into Chinese (which are the ones I have). 

Just look at how pretty the covers are! From left to right, we have Lupin, Joséphine Balsamo, Clarisse d'Etigues and Lupin again. I'm not entirely sure when the original VS Lupin actually started serialization in Zoukan Flowers, the closest to a date I have is the publication year of the first volume (2014) printed inside the Chinese-edition.

I actually went back and checked to see if the original listing I bought these from was still available but uh, no. Seeing how there hasn't been news for a translation of vol 5-6, I fear this series may be falling into the same fate as Aventurier Lupin (niche and cursed to cease physical publications forever). The original Japanese editions are still available for purchase, as well as ebook versions of the Chinese-translations… which are better than nothing, but I really would love to have the full series so here’s to hoping they continue the publication at some point.

General thoughts:  

As it is probably obvious from the art style and creator, VS Lupin is a retelling of the Arsène Lupin stories in a shoujo/josei-esque style. Visually, the art-style is heavily reminiscent of many classic shoujo series of the late 80s and 90s. 

VS Lupin, Ch 7 Illustration / Volume 1 Afterword

The illustrations are carefully drawn with very thin lines, giving everything a delicate and elegant appearance. It is especially noticeable in the details of the backgrounds and objects, such as the fancy frills and jewels. 

VS Lupin, Ch 1 "The Princess's Wedding" / Ch 3 "The Queen's Necklace"

It’s a weirdly fitting look for Arsène Lupin, as it really encapsulates the vibe of a past time period. Plus the whole heroic-gentleman-sweeping-away-young-girl-in-distress trope that Lupin has in common with the shoujo-genre.  

Also, just. Tuxedo Mask. 

Top: Sailor Moon, Act 47 / Bottom: VS Lupin, Ch 8 "The Wedding Ring"

And early Kaitou Kid, who was also originally created in the 80s and actually precedes Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask.

Magic Kaito, Ch 2, "The Police Are Everywhere"

Look at them sparkly-cape-hat-glove-boys go. There's probably something to be said here about the influence of the original Arsène Lupin as a trope in the genre, but it's not something I'm well-versed in so let's just leave it there.

Plot & Story:

Much like the art, the story and characters are also written through a more romanticised lens. The series is not a one-to-one adaptation of the original Leblanc canon, telling a more chronological story with slight but noticeable changes to the timeline. 

Volume 1 of VS Lupin starts off in a more episodic manner, with the three short stories of “Lupin’s Marriage” (Confessions of Arsène Lupin), “The Black Pearl” and “The Queen’s Necklace” (Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Thief). 

The first major change occurs in “The Queen’s Necklace,” where Raoul is shown meeting Clarisse d'Etigues for the very first time. The introduction of Raoul’s backstory with the Queen’s Necklace leads into vol 2-3, which covers the entirety of The Countess of Cagliostro and Raoul’s evolution into Lupin. Clarisse, unlike the original Leblanc canon, is given a much larger role and presence in the story as Lupin’s first wife. 

In the afterword of vol 3, Saito-sensei explains the reason she decided to change so much of the story:

「 Clarisse 」 "In Japan, perhaps it is because of the strong impression Lupin III’s anime (Castle of Cagliostro) left on people, the name ’Clarisse’ is the most well-known of all of Lupin’s heroines. "

But, but, as Lupin’s first wife, she only briefly appeared in the original story, I was very surprised. The original story of The Countess of Cagliostro itself was a work written very late (in Leblanc’s career), which was why there was no other way.  And so, I heavily rewritten chapter 8, ‘The Wedding Ring’ and chapter 9 ‘The Birth of Lupin’ from the original.  I’m sorry! Leblanc-sensei and fans of the original Lupin stories! – Chiho Saito in VS Lupin, Volume 3 "Afterword"

Honestly, for me personally, the changes and the original chapter “The Birth of Lupin,” were a big positive. It was well-written and tied Clarisse into Lupin’s life in a satisfying way, it also fills in a blank with how Lupin originally found the Hollow Needle, something that was not there in the Leblanc canon. 

Also, we get Clarisse coming in on a horse to save Raoul’s sorry ass. I see this as an absolute win.

VS Lupin, Ch 7 "The Countess of Cagliostro 4"

The last volume of the series I have, vol 4, covers The Crystal Stopper. 

Compared to The Countess of Cagliostro, the pacing of the story in this is noticeably more rushed. The Countess of Cagliostro had two volumes and a little more leading up to it, plus the original chapter, “The Birth of Lupin” rounding off the ending. While The Crystal Stopper had only less than one volume of time to cover the original novel in its entirety, having to share the page count with “The Silk Red Scarf.” (Confessions of Arsène Lupin)

As expected, much more was cut from the story. Especially noticeable were the scenes where Lupin in the original canon acted more… unflattering. I guess we can’t have our heroic pretty-boy doing cartwheels all over the villain’s lifeless body, it’s not very marketable for a male-lead in a shoujo story. I jest. 

Amongst the scenes that were cut, there were also Lupin baby-talking to “Hercules,” Lupin and Clarisse Mergy torturing Daubrecq then popping his eye out, and most regrettably, the little epilogue at the very end between Lupin and the Narrator. There were probably more, but it’s been awhile since I’ve read The Crystal Stopper and those were the main ones I can recall. 

On the positive side, here’s Gilbert being taller than Lupin. 

VS Lupin, Ch 10 "The Crystal Stopper (Part 1)"

And this fruity, very edible-looking blond Lupin harassing Ganimard. 

VS Lupin, Ch 12 "The Silk Red Scarf"

Bonus, the afterword from VS Lupin's Crystal Stopper:

「 The Crystal Stopper 」 The biggest impressions of Lupin this time are, "the weakest," "always losing." Or rather, the antagonist he was up against was the strongest! No matter if it was in the appearance, or rotten personality, (Daubrecq) excelled in it all! "At the start, I got scared of the graphic descriptions in the original story, however after getting used to drawing (him), M. Daubrecq made me feel very happy."

Not only that, Lupin, with the beautiful young man who believed in him without a doubt, then trying and falling in love with that certain mother, (his) feelings once again becoming messy amidst it all. And Lupin, out of his love for them, absolutely would not give up! "So good! In other words, when talking about 'cool' Lupin moments, people will no doubt think of these!" – Chiho Saito in VS Lupin, Volume 4 "Afterword"

Thoughts on the characters: 

In VS Lupin, Chiho’s Lupin is noticeably sanitized. The story smoothes out some of Leblanc Lupin’s more asshole-y behaviour and makes him more appealing for a shoujo/josei manga audience. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a complete negative, as it gives the story a more fluffy shoujo, romantic atmosphere. Good if you just want something light-hearted and a bunch of fluff. But compared to Leblanc!Lupin it’s definitely a bit lacking, and slightly takes away from some of the complexity Lupin has as a character. 

The female characters on the other hand, are more of a mixed bag. 

For Clarisse d’Etigues, she was definitely a big winner here. She was given more focus and screen time, plus a slight increase in her agency as a character, such as letting her save Raoul twice. She definitely reminds me of some of those magical girl protagonists in that aspect, able to be a heroine who saves people and while also being unapologetically girlish and feminine. 

I really do love how Chiho’s Joséphine Balsamo was drawn, probably my favourite character in the series design-wise. It really perfectly captures her more adult-ish allure with her thick, dark curls in contrast with Clarisse’s thinner, lighter hair and girlish grit. 

VS Lupin, Ch 7 "The Countess of Cagliostro 4"

Writing-wise, the narrative in VS Lupin noticeably leans more in favour of Raoul than Joséphine than the Leblanc canon, which makes sense as a decision for the series overall. Joséphine is shown more treating Raoul in a belittling manner, referring to him as a “youngster,” and from Raoul’s inner-thoughts, feeling as if he was treated like a dog. There was definitely an effort to make her more unlikable… After all, in VS Lupin, we are supposed to be rooting for him to get back to Clarisse. 

Clarisse Mergy on the other hand… I felt that she was, unfortunately, slightly scuffed on. She was framed as more of a classic damsel-in-distress role, while in the original stories, she was more aggressive in her desperation. I think the main problem here was just how much had to be cut from The Crystal Stopper, such as the scene where Clarisse Mergy tortures Daubrecq. 

VS Lupin, Ch 11 "The Crystal Stopper (Part 2)"

The one positive Chiho!Mergy got was the scene showing her directly rejecting Lupin’s confession at the end of the story. Compared to canon, where we were only shown Leblanc!Lupin complaining to the Narrator about how she refused him even after he saved her sons, which is… bad Lupin, bad. *bonk*

Conclusion:

I enjoyed this series a lot! The art is, again, absolutely gorgeous. The writing is pretty well-done overall, and paired with the lovely visuals, it’s very much worth a read for those who can. 

Here is Chiho Saito’s twitter, here are the Japanese versions of the series from the official Shogakukan site, and lastly, the Chinese-editions of volumes 1-4.

Please, publication gods let me have volumes 5-7 orz

[astharoshebarvon]

never understood why some people hate yuki in given. i mean seriously, have some sympathy and decency for the boy, his death was so tragic thats its really pathetic you hate him. mafuyu and uenoyama adore each other, why do you have to think he is some third wheel when he is dead? mafuyu loved yuki, nothing will ever change that. the name of the freaking manga is in reference to him, are you for real, to actually hate yuki?

it's pathetic how these weirdos don't hate that horrid, homophobic bitch classmate of uenoyama who was disgusting as hell, don't dislike his equally gross sister. i love how he doesn't give either of them time of the day. is it same crap of not hating fem characters even if they are right trash, like how actual pedo women in fiction books and manga get pass but male characters who arent even vile are condemned.

sesshoumaru was an exception to this rule. glad that shit flopped. he didnt deserve what was done to him.

otherwise, its' just same case of absolving bad fem characters of their rubbish. i don't even get why given artbook and illustrations have these two dumb females and not yuki in group pictures. like seriously, what did he even do wrong? the answer is nothing. he did nothing bad. he was a good guy, no matter what delusions people may have.

this kind of mentality explains so well how tom riddle sr was treated, he had no obligation to stay with his rapist wife. merope can go to hell for what she did to him.

then i saw another weird post on twitter, why is omegaverse manga getting anime. my god, please cry harder about it. i am so glad that sweet BL manga is getting an anime adaptation. omegaverse was always always for MM SLASH, it's the origin for it, there is no such thing as straight omegaverse, 99 % erase the core, gay element and make it het. shut up.

i am glad so many people are excited for it, the weirdos can stay mad. the hets get tons (hell, almost all of them are het) of anime, crappy shoujo/josei anime with annoying fem leads who are so off putting it's unreal. let's not pretend those anime would be remotely liked if it werent for hot guys in it and a good looking ML. i can name a lot of them but i am afraid i'll actually end up feeling annoyed for hours.

some even have blatant homophobia, seriously, get out. i am so glad gay erotica, BL is way way more popular these days. it actually feels nice.

akatsuki no yona, skip beat, cardcaptor sakura ( not clear card ) tsubasa reservoir chronicles, sacrificial princess are gems among shoujo/josei. josei novels and mangas are usually so horrible its amazing cringe and lame stuff like that even gets printed. especially Josei TL. they are a joke. i bought one novel only for the illustrations. the story was atrocious.

no wonder weirdos liked and defended that slut from ten count. may that bitch burn in hell for what she did to shirotani.

i don't even know why we should even care for that gross ex in therapy game. she wasnt getting enough attention from shizuma so she cheated on him. please, just shut the hell up! she was a cheating scumbag and nothing will ever justify her bull. like, how do you even justify this kind of garbage, literally no sensible person would feel sorry for her. if you arent getting attention doesnt mean you jump to another fellow. get help if you are that foolish and strange. you can bet if same crap was in het story literally no one would be trying to make excuses for her, because some weirdos were. ew. she was vile and horrible.

there was even a creepy post about couples from gay anime, some fool watermarked the bottom guys with caption, why are you not girl.

lol, please go get help. ask yourself why are you such a horrible person? they'll always be two guys and in love. they are gay. cry harder and stay mad that gay ships and gay erotic/bl is popular.

[ridley-was-a-cat]

Fall 2022 Anime Roundup

Somehow yet another season has completed, and this one was a doozy. Not only were there multiple sequels to major franchises like Mob Psycho and My Hero Academia, we got a sequel to Bleach 10+ years after the last season ended. On top of that, there was the highly anticipated debut season of Chainsaw Man, and four adaptations of shoujosei works, which is more than we usually get in an entire year. There was just a ton of stuff on offer this season, and almost all of it was good.

Completed

Anime of the Season: Mob Psycho 100 III

In a season as packed as this one, choosing a favorite was no easy task, and I went back and forth between this and Raven of the Inner Palace. As good as they both were, I'm going to have to give this the edge for pairing its moving story about adolescent turbulence with an absolute spectacle of art and animation. I really can't say enough good things about how Mob steadfastly rejects violence or subjugation as displays of strength or power. The show never gets preachy about it, Mob just sees people's appeals to use his power in destructive ways as pointless and unappealing. ONE said that he set out to write something kind when he wrote Mob Psycho, and I have to say that he definitely succeeded in writing one of the best examples I've seen of positive, non-toxic masculinity. 9/10

First Runner Up: Raven of the Inner Palace

I didn't really know what to expect when I added this to my schedule for the season, and basically only watched it because it had a shoujo label, and I reflexively support shoujosei anime. What I ended up with was a fantastic drama that used one to two episode-long vignettes about various people and spirits around the imperial court to tell a larger story about who the main characters are, and how the events of the past affect them today. The slow development of the relationship between the Raven Consort and the Emperor was extremely satisfying to watch, as was seeing her learn to open up to the people around her. Many of the characters' backstories were tragic or traumatic, and the show handled them with the right amount of thoughtfulness. 9/10

Second Runner Up: Akiba Maid War

I nearly dropped this halfway through the first episode thinking that it was going to be just another P.A.Works original about humbling an idealistic young woman at her first job, and then a gang war broke out. A committed and affectionate parody of gangster movies with enough heart to avoid becoming a cheap joke. 8/10

Bocchi the Rock! - I didn't plan to watch this because the manga runs in one of those lolicon magazines that skeeve me out, but luckily the hype got to me, and I didn't miss out on this spectacularly animated and directed comedy about an introverted girl chasing her rock and roll dreams. 8/10

I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss - This tried to squeeze three light novel volumes into twelve episodes, making episodes 4, 8, and 12 into arc-concluding speed runs, but our villainess was so charmingly spunky and her demon lord boo was so damn fine that I was having too much fun to care about its flaws. 8/10

Spy x Family Part 2 - I kept waiting for the plot to kick back in before finally accepting that this series apparently is more of an episodic comedy than the first cour let on, but it's still plenty entertaining. 8/10

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - I liked, but didn't love, Bleach's original run, and this sequel retains many of the story writing traits I didn't care for, but the visuals got a major upgrade, everyone is smoking hot, and they played "Number One" at the end of the last episode, so I can't help but feel the hype. 8/10

Chainsaw Man - I can both see how skillfully directed and animated this was, and how the characters and story would be appealing to a lot of people, while also disliking the decision to mimic live-action movies, and acknowledging that this story full of misery is just not for me. 7/10

Do It Yourself!! - A cute girls doing cute things show that broke through my exhaustion with the genre by having an unusual activity like carpentry, and mixing it with distinctive character designs and lively animation. 7/10

The Little Lies We All Tell - The visuals for this didn't appeal to me so I didn't pick it up until the season was almost over, but it ended up being a really charming little comedy about four friends with bizarre secrets. 7/10

My Master Has No Tail - The rakugo performances left a little to be desired, but the character interactions in this light comedy about a tanuki taking up rakugo in Meiji era Osaka kept things entertaining. 7/10

Reincarnated as a Sword - If this wasn't a light novel adaptation, and it didn't have so much monologuing from the sword, blah visuals, or mediocre shot composition, this would make a pretty fun story despite the goofy sounding concept. 6/10

Bibliophile Princess - I've read the manga adaptation, so I was really looking forward to this, but some combination of poor animation, questionable story adaptation choices, and an annoying tendency to rehash the same conflict made this a bit of a slog to finish. 6/10

Ongoing

Golden Kamuy S4 - I'm definitely looking forward to watching this when it comes back from hiatus in the spring, as the action was really starting to get interesting, with our competing gangs of charismatic scoundrels about to get back on their bullshit. 8/10

IDOLiSH7 Third BEAT! Part 2 - This part continues with the corporate drama instigated by the extremely hateable villain, while completing Trigger's transformation from antagonist to loveable underdog, and giving some very satisfying character development moments. Looking forward to the concluding four episodes in February. 8/10

One Piece - While I'm definitely still enjoying myself, and this really is the best One Piece has looked during its run, I'm kind of ready to be done with Wano already. 8/10

Play It Cool, Guys - You've heard of cute girls doing cute things, now get ready for the new hotness: cute guys doing airhead things. Just pure, unadulterated fluff that brightens my day. 8/10

My Hero Academia S6 - On the one hand, this was kind of an exhausting anime season for seeing the good guys get the stuffing beat out of them, but on the other hand, seeing Mirko rip a monster's head off with her thighs was some peak content. 7/10

Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun S3 - This season still has most of its charm, and I still love all the characters, but this contest arc is really dragging. 7/10

Dropped

The Eminence in Shadow - This was sold to me as a satirical take on power fantasy isekai, but it was playing all the tropes pretty straight, and the atrocious fanservice in episode 10 made me decide I had better things to do. 6/10

[visarcana]

@coverteyes​ said:

His Royal Grumpiness, no?

Oh yeah, I remembered I also wanted to post this disclaimer here: I had no idea THIS even existed when I drew THIS. But I will freely admit I even had Van with arms crossed but then I redrew it, so it probably really more uncanny to me than anyone else.

Sooo, this Kaze no Uta, Hoshi no Michi (Song of Wind, Path of Stars) is apparently a lesser-known 1992 light novel by Shinobu Saeki (the illustrations are by artist named Kouji) that started a whole series and yeah:

I’ll even post the summary cause it’s kind of hilarious:

The story takes place on a continent divided into seven kingdoms. One of them is the Ridolphi Kingdom, ruled by the Finrek royal family who is said to hold mysterious powers! The thief Sword (I’m not kidding, that’s the most likely transcription of his name but let’s just call him) Sald sneaks into the royal palace to free his stepfather Harald who is held prisoner there. There, he meets a young girl, who is revealed to be Leticia, princess of the Finrek family. Eventually, he ends up being ordered by the king to accompany the princess on her “mission” and the adventure begins!

I can’t... I really want to get into fantasy shoujo manga/light novel scene, it feels like such fun (I’m too old to take it too seriously but I know I’d enjoy)! In any case, the aesthetic this has going on is *chefs kiss*. Literally the color scheme I want for VA Van, too, although I knew already that it wasn’t going to be anything original. The girl in turn reminds me of Melfina from Outlaw Star and what is going on with that vampiric shoujo mascot?? It looks like you can get the books dirt-cheap in Japan, too. Maybe next time I visit, I’ll try to look it up!

Kinda reminds me of Minato Tajima early Escaflowne doujins, too (I mean the Endless Destiny series)

Also yeah, CE,  

“The cute guy with dark, messy hair is kind of a fetish at this point.” 

Seems we share a type, then! I can give you 20 examples from anime alone right off the bat, haha. Also, just for info, the artwork you posted this under is from Arslan Senki (The Heroic Legend of Arslan). 

I bought an Arslan artbook simply because it looks so good to me. But I have yet to check the actual franchise it’s from (that again, started as light novels, got a 90s OVA and a recent anime series). I am surprised how much fantasy of my kind specifically has got written in Japan, and it rarely ever gets localized. But hey, the obscurer and harder to get, the more intrigued I am and want to do something about it!

[sereia1313]

"Love stories are meant as an escape, whether to be read or written, and as someone who’s been in more than one of these relationships (both romantic and familial), fuck this mentality." Uh, go read the original Romantic novels. They weren't written to provide "healthy wholesome uwu relationships" for people who think all fiction should be didactic.

Anon, I'm going to assume that you HAVE read the "original romance novels" and can provide context? Cuz I'd honestly like to know which ones you're referencing in this. As an FYI, even the earliest work of Shakespeare was meant to be entertaining. And saying every piece of fiction out there promotes a positive outlook on life would be a farce. I'm very well aware of the variety of written works that exist in the world.

Going along the notion that you've completely missed the point from this post, it doesn't matter when you're reading romance stories, whether it's paid for or original or fanfiction, creativity is meant to be enjoyed. The thought that the main couple (or even the plot) needs to be "toxic" in order for the audience to connect or "go mad" over is BONKERS. For those of us conscious enough to recognize the trauma we've gone through, I can pretty much guarantee that we do NOT want to relive it.

I'm not saying everyone, cuz like I said in the previous post, there are some people who need to read about things that like that because they want to see the protagonists overcome the trauma. They want to see the characters survive, and that's totally fine! I don't speak for everyone.

Who I do speak for, are those of us squinting at the notion that toxicity on its own is entertaining. And normal. IT'S NOT. Brushing off negging and jumping to conclusions and stalker-like tendencies is NOT okiee and should be addressed as such. I look back on all the shoujo manga I read as a teen, and I cringe at all the times a conflict arises SOLELY due to one of the characters overhearing a conversation and RUNNING AWAY instead of simply asking their partner about it. THAT'S NOT HEALTHY.

So yes, I will continue to write my characters with the ability to talk to each other. With the ability to work through their problems, both externally and internally. To create healthy relationships based on trust and communication and love. Save the toxicity for the villains, and stop trying to pass it off as a necessity for a functioning relationship. THAT is what should be considered normal.

[thecraftyfoxthewriterscorner]

Let's Talk About Sequels Part 1

Some opening thoughts about sequels and a couple of announcements! 🌸

Hey Story Crafters!

I wasn’t feeling well last weekend, so I wasn’t able to send out a post like I originally planned. I ended up binge-watching several movies—as one does while on bed (or couch) rest—and a couple in particular got me thinking about sequels: 22 Jump Street and Shrek 2.

Now, the type of humor in the Jump Street movies isn’t my cup of tea. (I don’t tend to like comedy movies, or at least live action ones, in general. On the manga/anime side, Gintama, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, and Sakamoto desu ga? have the kind of humor I enjoy.) I stumbled into 21 Jump Street by way of autoplay after dozing off, and then stuck through to the end of the second one out of a combination of morbid curiosity and just being in a haze of unwell. By the end of it I wanted to watch a movie with a more satisfying sequel, and hopped over to Shrek and Shrek 2.

Before we talk about the elements that make up a satisfying sequel, let’s take a look at the transition or lead-in to the sequel—in other words, the first work’s ending. When a work has series potential, the ending will leave the reader or viewer with a sense of anticipation (“What happens next?”) that the sequel is expected to fulfill.

This can be played out in a couple of ways:

Cliffhanger. It’s clear that the first work’s ending is a pause to build up tension for the sequel. At the end of 21 Jump Street, Schmidt and Jenko are told they’ll be undercover in a college for their next assignment. A couple of book examples include For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten, which ends with a character getting sent to another world; and Godkiller by Hannah Kaner, where the main character (MC)—presumed dead by the other characters—regains consciousness and prepares to continue on her quest.

Setting the expectation of progression. This can be through:

Time: The MC gets older, usually by a year. Think the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, where the next book is the next year at camp. Or just any series where the MC needs to progress through grade levels at school, etc.

Life milestones: Yes, this technically falls under “time,” but I made it separate because the mental/emotional stakes are a little different. The MC or MCs achieve a life goal in one work, with the expectation that another life goal will be the focus of the sequel. This happens in Shrek, where the happily ever after is achieved (relationship-wise = the marriage to true love), and leads into Shrek 2, where the MC’s focus is on keeping or making the happily ever after work (a.k.a. actual married life post-honeymoon phase).

These are just a couple of techniques that came to mind. Feel free to share others you can think of in the comments!

An exception to the sequel lead-in

An exception to the sequel lead-in is the mystery genre, whodunits especially. Think of detective characters like Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, or Benoit Blanc (from the Knives Out movies)—they don’t tend to experience the kind of character arc we expect in most fiction. These characters are brilliant investigators who don’t usually experience any internal change; instead, they’re placed at the scene of a new crime or mystery to solve. We’re less concerned about learning to care about the detective character, and more interested in finding out how the victim over there ended up with a knife in his back when the room is sealed and there isn’t a blade in sight.

That’s not to say mystery novels can’t have MCs with character arcs (Vera Vixen from the Shady Hollow series comes to mind). It’s just not as much of an expectation for them.

We’ll stop here for this post. Stay tuned for future discussions about sequels!

Now, onto a couple of announcements.

New posting schedule

Due to changes in my work schedule, The Writer’s Corner will be updating every other week!

#RevPit 2024: #MeetTheEditors

This week, all participating #RevPit editors will be hosting live chat sessions on Reddit so authors can get to know them! I’ll be hosting my session this Thursday, March 7, at 6 p.m. ET. Even if you’re not participating in #RevPit 2024, please feel free to drop in!

If you’re looking for an editor, this session is a great way to learn more about me, and to see if we’ll work well together! I’m interested in working with authors of:

Fantasy

Dark Fantasy

Science Fiction

Horror

though I’ve also worked on cozy mysteries too. I’m open to working in most genres if an author and I fit well together, so please get in touch if you’re interested in working with me!

Send me an email!

For the #RevPit 2024 contest schedule, please visit https://reviseresub.com/annual-contest/schedule. You can also find more information about the #RevPit contest, and ways to stay up-to-date with the contest on social media.

I’m still not too familiar with Reddit, and I’m equal parts excited and nervous about my session. As a sort of icebreaker, I plan to have this small LEGO built by Thursday.

Photo of LEGO 40463 Easter Bunny box.

Alt text: Photo of LEGO 40463 Easter Bunny box. A small build with a cute brown bunny next to 2 easter eggs and small flowers on a green base.

I’ll share pics of the finished build during my Meet the Editor session!

I hope to chat with some of you on Thursday! 😊

Best,

Leah

Visit the Crafty Fox Editing Services

Connect with me on social media!

Substack Post: https://thecraftyfoxwriterscorner.substack.com/p/lets-talk-about-sequels-part-1

Interested in learning more about me, and the kind of energy I’ll bring to a writer-editor relationship? If you're a writer, consider subscribing to my free Substack newsletter.

You can also check out the archives.

[emchovy]

WHAT I READ IN JAN/FEB/MAR 2023:

This wasn't originally meant to include March but I procrastinated so long that it can! Anyway, here we go!

LIGHT NOVELS/NOVELS:

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard by Vol. 2

I like these light novels, but I don't have a ton to say. Would recommend if you're REAL into jewelry, or you like descriptions of pretty boys.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Sins of Commission by Susan Wright

This ended up being a really enjoyable book! I read it mostly because I wanted info about one random minor character, (Jono Endar - star of a single TNG episode) and I heard he was mentioned in this one. He was, there was a touch of lore for him, loved all of that, but I ended up really loving the plot of this book, as well. It's a very tense story about the Enterprise going to assist a planet with an environmental crisis, which all gets worse when aliens who have an uncomfortable control over emotions come to stay on the Enterprise. It's a great book, with really good characterization of Riker and Beverly. Also at one point Geordi is pissed at Data and Data calls this experience "exhilarating". Hoo-boy.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Q Continuum by Greg Cox

I enjoyed this one as well. Set post-finale, this is a trio of novels (I read it all in an omnibus) about a foe from Q's past returning to plague the universe once again. The Picard/Q relationship here really shines, but I think Beverly gets a lot of great character moments too.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - A Stitch in Time by Andrew Robinson

Not to hardcore flex on anyone, but I've got a physical copy of this one. Thank you to my brother who got it for me.

Anyway, Andrew Robinson's famed chronicle of Garak's life, told in his own words. I think I'm gonna need more time to digest this one properly, but I really enjoyed it. (Also, Garak's slams on Dukat were funny. I clapped when the Cardassian with the super long neck was introduced.)

MANGA/COMICS:

Killing Me by Akiyama, Vol. 1

A fun vampire yuri comedy. A vampire hunter finds herself entangled with a vampire that goes to school with her, unable to kill her, no matter how hard she tries. Short 'n sweet. I don't think I'm going to pick up volume 2, but volume 1 ends on a nice note, so that's fine.

Phantom of the Idol by Hijiki Isoflavone, Vol. 4

Another volume of my favorite current comedy manga! POTI consistently manages to bring in great new elements and evolve relationships in interesting ways. Huge recommend.

On or Off by A1

This is a Korean webtoon, adapted to print form. A manager of a company that's creating an app for a much larger company ends up sexually and then romantically involved with the Large Company's CEO. A cute story, good art, and notable for BL, features lots of women, which always makes me super happy.

Ordinary Crush by Hyouta Fujiyama, Vol. 1

A BL anthology. It kinda sucks, as a lot of the old JUNE manga kinda does. I don't know why I keep buying these.

Oshi no Ko by Aka Akasaka

The story of a gynecologist who ends up doctoring to his favorite idol during her pregnancy. This story, however, goes so off the fucking rails I can't even describe it. Don't look this one up, just read it. It's insane.

Requiem of the Rose King by Aya Kanno

A weird manga, a historical fiction about the Real War of the Roses that Really Took Place. I enjoyed this manga, the art was beautiful, but perhaps the most interesting element was learning that the author was the creator of one of my roommate's favorite shoujo manga, Otomen. Cool!

Sotus by Bittersweet

A BL about a Thai university which features hazing as a major part of it's culture. This was a little uninspired, so we'll see if I read more.

Tokyo Alien by NAOE, Vol. 2

Pretty generic shonen sci-fi action, but I'm gonna keep reading! It's got enough there to keep me hooked.

Witch Hat Atelier by Kamone Shirahama, Vol. 4

Another volume of Witch Hat Atelier! This story is always fantastic, and I really enjoyed the character development in this one.

NOVELS/LIGHT NOVELS:

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard by Vol. 2

I like these light novels, but I don't have a ton to say. Would recommend if you're REAL into jewelry, or you like descriptions of pretty boys.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Sins of Commission by Susan Wright

This ended up being a really enjoyable book! I read it mostly because I wanted info about one random minor character, (Jono Endar - star of a single TNG episode) and I heard he was mentioned in this one. He was, there was a touch of lore for him, loved all of that, but I ended up really loving the plot of this book, as well. It's a very tense story about the Enterprise going to assist a planet with an environmental crisis, which all gets worse when aliens who have an uncomfortable control over emotions come to stay on the Enterprise. It's a great book, with really good characterization of Riker and Beverly. Also at one point Geordi is pissed at Data and Data calls this experience "exhilarating". Hoo-boy.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Q Continuum by Greg Cox

I enjoyed this one as well. Set post-finale, this is a trio of novels (I read it all in an omnibus) about a foe from Q's past returning to plague the universe once again. The Picard/Q relationship here really shines, but I think Beverly gets a lot of great character moments too.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - A Stitch in Time by Andrew Robinson

Not to hardcore flex on anyone, but I've got a physical copy of this one. Thank you to my brother who got it for me.

Anyway, Andrew Robinson's famed chronicle of Garak's life, told in his own words. I think I'm gonna need more time to digest this one properly, but I really enjoyed it, if only for Garak's slams on Dukat.

--

Anyway, that's the wrap-up for these three months! Feels really good to get that all accomplished! I still wonder if I should change up the review format somewhat, or maybe just start doing actual "what I read this month" vids on YouTube or something, but for now this is good.