#can't believe they were written by a shounen author

[shehsart]

It's gotten me thinking how it's so tragic it is that the league of villians are ostracized from society and their own families reject them simply for things beyond their control. (Touya's fire quirk incompatibility, Toga's need for blood) They've never been shown empathy so why would they empthatize with those who are blessed by the system? While they are forced to rot in the streets those with "socially acceptable" quirks get to thrive.

And it's beautifully written how these feelings of ostracism cause them anger and cause them pain all because all of them just wanted to love. Like Mary Shelley said "I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy one, I will indulge the other."

Their "love" turns to loathing and drives them to madness. Touya loved his father and he was his no1 hero but if the no 1 hero beats his wife and abuses his kids what about the rest? Society has driven them insane then it hates them for being ugly victims too. If they were dead or passive it would've been convenient. Hawks calls twice unlucky before killing him and he refutes it in his last moments as Toga embraces him. He wasn't unlucky, he was just never accepted by those around him and he finally found that acceptance within the league. He says he lived a fulfilling life because he got to love them.

I just wished we got to see things from the villains perspectives more. MHA would've been much darker and grittier that way but I'm atleast glad we got their side of the story too. Love and rejection have always been a central theme of the league, they're almost inseparable.

[salted-anime-takes]

Mob Psycho 100 (S1, S2, & S3)

Author: ONE

Studio: BONES

Genres (Listed by MAL): Action, Supernatural, Comedy

Premiered: Summer 2016 (COMPLETED)

Anime vs. Manga?: Both are so charming. It's worth checking both out. I really enjoy the progression of ONE's artstyle throughout the manga, too.

Salted Genres: mentor-apprentice, good sibling rep, respectful towards women (albeit without any taking lead roles), grownass man worthy of being babygirl, well-written characters, GREAT comedy, con artistry (lol)

Major Trigger Warnings: Not really??? Esper dad fights his esper son, but we're already in esper territory. ONE makes it clear that many adult espers are poorly adjusted socially, and the father character fighting his son is quite clearly Not a good guy.

Can I Watch It Around My Parents?: As long as they don't hate Supernatural themes, you could easily watch this around them. Couple of comedic scenes involve smartass guys getting their shit kicked in so bad, they get blasted to the point of their clothes disentigrating, but it's clearly meant for comedic purposes and not sexually. Trust me. He needed to be humbled.

Artstyle: Unique, leaning towards shounen. Heavily respects ONE's style while bringing it to a fuller depth and severely objectifying Reigen Arataka (he's in his late 20s). Not afraid to look raw or "ugly" (which is so refreshing).

Personal Review: Fuck you, this show is practically perfect. I don't have to say anything. You're on tumblr- Reigen is a god here. But seriously, just watch it. It's one of the few animes I wholeheartedly will recommend to anyone. If you can't appreciate it, it's just your loss. People who cry that "all anime has some caveat to it" to excuse shitty tropes? can eat shit. Mob Psycho is better than that AND your shitty harem anime.

Context: I watched this back in 2016 when it originally aired, and it was the fight with Teru (episode 4) that really got me hooked. Back then, ONE was the talk of the sphere for the recent release of One Punch Man S1 (Studio: Madhouse), and being the comedy fan that I am, I knew the humor was right up my alley. Season 1 was so fantastic that I immediately picked up the manga where it left off. All of us that were early fans used to convince people to watch it by saying, "If you liked OPM, this is the creator's piece he really put his heart into the story for!" Even after the manga ended with such a fulfilling ending, I was eager to see it again animated with BONES' gorgeous action animation skills. Some anime can manage being absolutely timeless, and I firmly believe Mob Psycho takes the cake.

Favorite Character: Reigen Arataka. I am not immune to grownass, loser men with hearts of gold (or at least when it counts). If anything, his entire character arc is becoming less of a loser since becoming Mob's role model, and you gotta love it.

Fandom: I never engaged with it, but it's impossible not to see on here. People are pretty wholesome from what I've seen (aside from objectifying Reigen, but he can have it. As a treat). Most takes include making Reigen a father figure (which I disagree on. Mob has a father. He needed a MENTOR. Big difference.) and the expected various shipping takes. The majority of characters are men, so it's mostly mlm. Most of the popular ships are pretty cute, so it's worth checking out if you enjoy shipping! Reigen is also memed to hell and back, and I miss Redraw Reigen days with all my heart. Great memes.

[demonking-propaganda]

Hey @100-gar, sorry to take this out of the tags, but I want to reply to the criticism haha - don't take this as an attack or shade, I just think it's important to discuss these points (I actually forgot to add some to the main post)

Spoilers for the series ahead, if you're new to the fandom!

#the girls all being sidelined to go clothes shopping when they're at the amusement park was a little. you know

Hm, actually I disagree with this. I think we should distinguish between girls liking shopping and clothes, and the stereotype of it. If all girls in the manga were characterized like that, all the time, I would agree. But they are not. Just here: 1. while 3 out of 4 (Elizabetta, Clara, Keroli) wanted to go shopping, they all had different implied reasons - yes, Elizabetta likes clothes in the "stereotypical" way, especially when romance is involved, but Clara likes dressing up in general because it's fun, and Keroli was pushed by her inner perfectionist businesswoman. Like, "Ameri could look better with a dress, so she should put on a dress (gotta maximize cuteness)"; and 2. Ameri is just pushed around/is not enthusiastic.

IMO this alone lets you see that, for Nishi, girls are as complex and diverse as any other group. If you add the plethora of other feminine characters, I think it's even clearer (think: Bachiko, Sylvia, Marnie... All of them defy classical femininity in some way, and they're just the first three I thought about).

Finally, I believe this, together with the "Girls Talk" chapters, is a tribute to femininity by Nishi. Girls who like shopping and clothes exist. It's fair to acknowledge it, instead of erasing them, don't you think? Especially in a shounen manga, whose target demographic is technically adolescent boys. I know M!IK became a manga for the girls, the gays and the theys, but it's still a shounen. I low-key love that Nishi shows that femininity is okay too.

and kamui is icky but not as bad as mineta at least

This is what I forgot to add to my main post. I'll even add: I find/found Lead pretty icky too. However, I think it's important to note that both of them are somehow punished for it. Again: it's a fact of life that slimy men exist - the point is what the author decides to do with it. Kamui is shameless, but people around him react pretty badly to it, and Kalego as the Misfits' home teacher repeats several times that he should change his ways. It's never shown as an okay behavior. Something similar happens to Lead, who learns empathy when he's literally put in a girl's shoes (after the Evidol Games). As readers, we are never led to justify them.

#and i would be uncomfortable with how every girl immediately falls for iruma IF NOT FOR TWO THINGS #1. he's actually worth it his rizz is genuinely off the charts #2. the guys do it too

I see your caveats, I just want to specify:

it's simply not true that every girl immediately falls for Iruma; this is my interpretation but I think that "actual crushes" (from girls) are only 4 for now: Ameri, Clara, Eiko, and Chima. Some girls are shown blushing (like Keroli or Marnie), but it's more being flustered in front of Iruma's charisma and kindness than actually falling for him (worth mentioning that Eiko has a crush on Ameri too);

Given the crushes from boys (Asmodeus of course, and our icon-in-denial Vine Garson), I think this already counts as a subversion of the hetero harem trope;

The whole harem thing is a joke to make fun of the trope itself. Iruma has no idea of anything I've written above, he barely suspects something from Ameri - and they had TWO AND A HALF (OFFICIAL) DATES (I love his obliviousness).

#oh and it makes sense in context but high schoolers being taught how to seduce people is a little. you know.

Hm, let me put it this way.

It was a reference to succubi. You can't really say "in context but", the context IS the point here. I don't think teaching torture or other forms of violence to high schoolers is fine, too, but it's a demon school :)

It was an elective class, so it wasn't anything forced on anyone who didn't want to learn those topics;

Raim explicitly said that anything sexual was for "the advanced courses", so it was basically affective education.

Now, do I have some issues with chapter 17? Yes, mainly the strict binarism and heteronormativity of "only girls, no boys allowed", and the assumption that "all boys like ... (no male demon alive would turn down a demoness touch, etc.)".

My current opinion is that this reflects more on Raim's character than Nishi's, especially given the constant queer representation. Moreover, it was still volume 3, I believe some of these mishaps have been corrected with the development of the manga itself, as it gained more fame and Nishi was less forced into "stereotypical" content. Which we know she considered: think about the doubts about Clara's and Asmodeus's hair color.

Okay I'll stop yapping :D

13 spoiler-free reasons why you should read Mairimashita! Iruma-kun

...if you haven't done so already 👀 (With "spoiler-free" I mean I'm not describing plot points or characters, but under the cut I'll discuss the overarching themes, so be warned if that's too much for you. The first 7 reasons may be enough lol)

It's both funny AND wholesome. I literally can't read it without laughing out loud, and there are a bunch of chapters that make me cry every time I read them.

It's clever! The Japanese version contains several puns based on the kanji "魔" (read "ma", = devil, demon), starting from the title, but it's a recurring pun. The English translation adapts them pretty well. Plus, there are some of the best plot twists in recorded history (IMO). And the names and characteristics of most characters are based on real-life demonology.

It's queer AF. Like, really gay. There are explicitly homoromantic relationships and several nonbinary and gender non-conforming characters. One of these is the best unashamedly nonbinary character ever written. Plus, the manga premise can be seen as an allegory of hiding in the closet. The only thing that made me uncomfortable because of cisnormativity (boys in drag as a joke) is completely fixed in later chapters, and very well so.

It's feminist, without being preachy or paternalistic. Simply put, the women/girls are three-dimensional, complex characters, as the norm should be. And there are lots of them, without it being a harem (...the harem trope is actually used as a joke).

It's spooky and adorable, imagine Halloween vibes all year round. Both main and background characters are super diverse, and if you like monsters there is stuff for you.

Most characters are neurodivergent-coded. It's basically the autistic/ADHD manga.

The art is phenomenal. It's especially good to see the improvement of the art style over the years (the first chapter was published in 2017 and the manga is ongoing). Some panels are really breathtaking.

8. The story is about personal growth - like most shounen manga, fair enough. But the protagonist, Iruma, is so far from toxic masculinity I dare say he's the antidote to it.

9. It's also about found family, the discovery of unconditional love, and trust, and healing from familial trauma.

10. It's about finding a group of friends you belong to, and transforming your weirdness into a strength, identifying and cultivating what you're good at instead of fitting into a mold.

11. It's about the beauty of learning in your own way, and the importance of education and the shaping of future generations.

12. And the reason why I opened this blog: it's about fascism and fighting against it. I mean real fascism, as in "a powerful individual/group wants society to be hierarchical and oppress certain minorities, elevating a specific subset of the population based on intrinsic characteristics which are being misleadingly treated as merits". Ethno-nationalistic stuff. More specifically, it's about being a somewhat politically illiterate person, who learns about systems of oppression beyond personal injustices. It's about questioning what is the best way to arrange society.

13. Most importantly, this manga gives you hope about the future, something I find harder and harder to have. Hopelessness is dangerous - as people without hope stop fighting. This manga makes me actively feel better. Since it's ongoing I can't ensure it will always remain that way, but I've come to trust the author enough that I expect it to.

[kikuism]

here are the books i've read lately that i want to talk about!! all of them are debuts too.

the witch's heart: a story about the giantess angrboda, whose union with loki produces three unnatural children: the wolf who will swallow the sun and moon, fenrir; the world serpent, jormungandr; and the keeper of the realm of the dead, hel. they live their life at the edge of the world, away from prying eyes, in domestic idyll bliss...until angrboda’s visions plague her, and she sees her children responsible for a large part of the destruction that ragnarok—the end of times—will bring about. are her children monsters? how far does a mother's love go to protect her unnatural children destined for destruction? these are the questions at the heart of the book and they really truly tugged at my heartstrings. i wasn't prepared for how emotional this book made me feel. at its heart it is a story about family, about motherhood most of all. my budding interest in norse mythology also greatly upped my enjoyment of this book. i'm definitely going to keep an eye out for more books by this author in the future. i can't believe this is her debut!

these feathered flames: inspired by russian folklore, twins asya and izaveta are thrust apart by two separate destinies: asya trains to become the firebird that keeps magic in check in the realm, and izaveta trains to be the next queen. however, tragedy brings them back together: the death of the queen. suddenly izaveta is crowned the new queen, and asya prematurely must take on the role of the firebird. tensions rise between the sisters, who not only have not seen each other in years, but whose new positions have never really worked in tandem with each other before. the sisters must navigate growing political tensions as well as try to figure out what—or who—killed their mother.

in my personal opinion this book promised more than it delivered, and i think if the execution were a little sharper I'd have enjoyed it more. i wanted to get more of a feel for the characters. it was there, but i wanted more. i admit i enjoyed izaveta's parts more than asya's—i think i have a thing for ice queens trying to navigate their new roles (god....not to bring up frozen, but i was so excited for elsa's character and....they just didn't do anything with her). izaveta reminds me of what elsa would be like. also, i'm sorry, but...the f/f enemies to lovers romance that was a big part of this book’s hype absolutely failed to do anything for me. i so wanted to like it, but unfortunately i couldn't care for it. and i know it's because i didn't care enough about the characters that i couldn't get invested in their romance. if i can't care about them as individuals, how can i care about them together? also, the pacing of their relationship was just not it. i also expected this book to be steeped in russian folklore and culture the way the bear and the nightingale was—with that book, i felt like i had truly stepped in medieval russia; it was dripping with culture. but with these feathered flames, it felt like just a little dip into what should have been a richer world. yes, there is russian food and clothing and names, but i still felt the impression i was reading about some vague european setting rather than a fully established russian one. all in all, it wasn't terrible, but it didn't really do much for me. i give it a generous 3.5/5. i might pick up the sequel.

ariadne: ariadne and her sister phaedra are princesses of crete, who have grown up hearing the thunderous bellows of their brother, the minotaur, in the massive labyrinth underneath the palace. every year fourteen tributes are brought over from athens to be sacrificed to the beast. until one year, one of the tributes turns out to be the legendary theseus, who vows to defeat the minotaur and end this cycle of violence and bloodshed (yes! suzanne collins was inspired by the myth of theseus and the minotaur). ariadne falls in love with theseus and aids him in killing her brother. but what does this mean for her—is this betrayal worth it?

i enjoyed this book. i think by now i have a soft spot for mythology retellings (thank you madeline miller 🤍), and the writing in these kinds of books is close to my own style, so i love that. i had originally thought the entire book was going to be about the maze and the minotaur, but it's just the first part! i won't say what happens, but...things happen. like all mythology retellings, this story too takes place over the course of the subject's life, so there's a sense of the passing of time. i must say that the writing is gorgeous and so expressive. it was a real treat to read. i think the overall reason i don't Love this book though is because 1) the ending was rather abrupt, and 2) the main theme, to me, really just boiled down to 'men ain't shit'. which....yeah, valid, but also i sort of wish it was a little more substantial than that. i wish it had something more to say too. i remember sometime around the middle of the book i just paused and was like, ‘okay but what's the point? what is this book trying to say?’ but regardless, i really and truly sympathized with the women in these book, mortal and immortal alike. they had it rough....we still have it rough....the universal timeless experience of being a woman.

the poppy war: *shrieks* i'm so glad i gave this book another chance. i could not put this down. it's the better 'orphan goes to boarding school' story. in fact, the first part tricks you into thinking it's going to be cutesy boarding school antics. but holy shit....no. no. this is a horrific story about war.

the poppy war is a historical military epic inspired by the second sino-japanese war and overall china’s bloody twentieth century. knowing a bit about east asian history myself i could actually recognize some of what was going on in this book. main character rin aces the keju, a nationwide exam that seeks to root out only the most talented youth—and is accepted into the most prestigious military academy, sinegard. however, tensions are fraught just across the sea as the federation prepares to make its move against nikan, her home. rin soon realizes she has an affinity for shamanism, a mythical power that calls upon the gods, and which might just be the key for winning this war and saving her people. but is this great power worth the even greater cost?

the best way i can describe the writing in the poppy war: it's a shounen anime come to life. the action is so amazingly written and explosive, from the swords to the magic, especially the way it's interspersed with the emotional moments. the way everything is written, i can see everything happening so clearly in my mind's eye. it's such a visceral experience. the writing just flows.

but this book is about war, first and foremost, and all the horrors that come with it, down to every last garish detail. it takes a lot for a book to unnerve me, but this one did and more. it made me uncomfortable and disturbed and horrified. this book delves into war intimately, not a small dip but rather a full submersion. there's a section detailing carnage in a city that's just going to stay with me forver. it's like that scene in mulan where they abruptly fall silent as they reach the massacred village, except every inch of that carnage is described in full intimate detail. it's not for the faint of heart. at one time i clapped my hand over my mouth because i couldn't believe what i was reading.

and it asks questions about war, too. who's right, who's wrong? is any of this justified? is vengeance the way to go? and the thing is....it's not. duh. venegance is Not the way to go. we all know this. but oh my god the way r. f. kuang writes, you want Nothing more than pain and death for rin's enemies. you want to see them suffer in the worst way possible. like rin, you want to get back at them in the worst possible way. and it's like...yes venegance is not the answer but you want her enemies to hurt So Badly. you start thinking, maybe it's okay, because they're so horrible and vile and inhumane, retaliation is the only possibly course. vengeance Must be served. but then.....what does that make you? what is the cost of vengeance? can you pay it? can you ever? is it worth it?

this book is insane and epic in the best way possible. i'm so glad i gave it another chance. the world building is so rich and lavish and the cast of characters is huge and i care for each and every one of them and i'm just. So Invested in what's going to happen next. SO MUCH happened in this first book, i'm still reeling, i feel like i've read two books in one sitting. i can't even predict what's waiting for me in the next book, which is a whopping 650 pages....i'm going to be fed so well.

also, here is a list of triggers. please exercise caution going into this book as it deals with some very dark themes: