#cuz even if he did i would take him from the mangaka you do NOT deserve him

[arataneo-a]

i am once again thinking about tachihara michizou

[salamanderflamewing]

Blood Sweat & Tears

Summary: In this world, all fantasies of magic, elves, and orcs are real.... the only thing is, it may not be exactly as one would think, elves starting large tech corporations, orcs becoming 5-star chefs and dragons transporting cargo across the world. In a world like a beautiful clock, there is the beautiful face and the inner gears. These inner gears are what allow the beautiful face to function... but the faces treat the gears poorly and ultimately all those gears turn into a version of Robert Rubert Grimly. A cynical white-collar worker who is addicted to cigarettes and caffeine products, living paycheck to paycheck barely having enough time to even have a social life outside of his cat Charlotte.

Introduction (for author): First and foremost I have never ever done this before, but I have a passion for storytelling and anime, I dream of being some form of mangaka/comic creator. I chose to progress through writing a light novel and then making comics from the light novel.  I personally have this really big story that I have decided to put on the back burner for a while to practice my story writing skills first. This story is one that will be for practice, I'm not sure how long this story will be but I hope to have it run for close to ten chapters. (If people really do like the story I may make the story a bit longer). This is an in-progress story so there will be updates, but keep in mind I go to school and have a job, so the updates may be infrequent. but without further ado please enjoy  

Chapter one: 

Waking dread 

It was a morning like everyone else's, and the main character followed suit. Unlike most stories about extravagant heroes and villains, this is about a character like ourselves: someone who has to hold down an office job to pay his rent for a shitty apartment. Robert wakes up finally feeling good in his body. He sits up in his bed after bringing the comforter off of him CRACK “Great there goes the back again”. He groans and reaches for the water on his nightstand while rubbing his eye, which causes all of his over-the-counter medication to fall off his nightstand and spill onto the ground. “Fuck, Great there goes what little happiness I felt for today” he muttered as he scrabbled out of bed to pick up all that he spilled. It didn’t take long to put up but it cost him his morning joy. Once he finally got the last pill, he stood up and did his huge morning stretch, grabbing his wrist and extending it over his head, followed by large crackling sounds. Robert stays there staring off into nothing for a while thinking about the day he may have at work. “Will it be another day where my ass of an orc boss gives me another 50 reviews to go over or will I finally get lucky”

Sighing to himself, he realizes it's unlikely and moves to open the blinds to see out his second-story window. Outside the window, Robert sees human kids playing heroes and villains beating up some of the other species' kids in the park, A variety of Teenagers playing on their P.M.C (Portable magical consoles) while waiting for the bus, and a bunch of dwarves smoking pixie dust.  “Why does it always feel so dull… like even the bloody sky is grey” “Cuz it's full of smoke from your company dumbass” “Right, I'm contributing to it… GReAT”. Robert finishes his dreadful ponder and puts on his white muscle shirt and socks without bothering to change out of last night's underwear. 

He walks by 5 employee group photos, a record of the past five years and some of the random nic nacks his mom gives him every year from her vacation spots. Without regard for anything Robert went right into the kitchen and started his coffee and was greeted by his cat Charlette jumping onto the shiny countertop and meowing. Robert smiled softly for a moment while petting Charlette “Sometimes you know you're the only thing in this world that makes me smile” he sighed while the coffee maker was bubbling in the background. As the coffee maker was finished he took a sip of his black espresso, while grabbing his tablet and cigarettes. 

With his coffee and cigs, he walked to the balcony, and Charlotte followed suit. He placed down his coffee, cigs, and tablet then fed Charlotte. Charlotte was chewing softly as Robert was smoking and reading the news with the occasional sip of coffee. Robert read slowly, First were the updates on how his company was making international moves which always reminded him of how shitty his job was. Then were some of the new song releases from the pop star Tinky Twink which he only listened to due to it reminding him of the freedom he had in high school while he jammed to nightcore. Lastly, he was reading about some of the newly discovered artifacts of history, some of them were ancient heroes ' weapons and some of them were the skulls of the old demon kings Apparently… it was just an extension of the myth of the generational heroes and demon kings, no matter how much the archeologists claimed these artifacts had traces of their mana, no one had the source code for it which in this society meant that it did not exist. 

As Robert was finishing his Cig and was putting it out  Charlotte jumped onto his lap with a cheerful expression he gave her some wonderful pets and whispered “Thank you, sweety now I can charge some of my social battery before having to head to work.”.  He started to swipe to a different news source while petting Charlotte; Centur mail, “Mmm interesting might as well” As soon as he opened it there was a large headline written in bold “ The badlands are approaching” Sigh… “Here we go again Hopefully it isn’t going to affect my way to work” he began to read it in depth, and the further he went the more dread and annoyance he felt… first it was the fact that some of the war vets lost contact in the frontlines and then it was the fact that the countries were refusing to work together and causing a number of these beasts to be released into cities and national airspace even going as far causing some delivery dragons to be brought down.  As Robert felt the life be sucked out of him he looked at Charlotte and felt at least a little bit of peace again. 

SPLASH… mid-sip of coffee both Charlotte and Robert were spooked out of their seats by a sparkly blue liquid being poured down from the balcony above them. Immediately as Robert realized what was happening he ran to the side of the balcony where it came from looked up and screamed “ HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL STEWERT STOP POURING YOUR STUPID PSEUDODRAGONS BARF DOWN THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING MY CAT KEEPS EATING IT AND IT FUCKING STAINS THE FUCKING TILES” Robert finished and waited for a response for a few moments…. SPLAT Stwert poured yet another bucket full of pseudodragons barf right into Robert's face then flipped him off… Speechless from what just happened Robert picked up Charlotte brought her inside, blocked the cat door, and went into the bathroom to wipe his face off. 

Looking in the mirror he could see the wrinkles around his eyes that he started to get after so many weeks of working overtime, his lifeless bloodshot blue eyes, and his short straw-like hair. Finishing cleaning off his face he took the mythical grade dragon eye drops that he keeps by the dozen and leaned back dropping at least 5 or more drops in each eye. Walking he trips over the dirty clothes that he hasn’t washed in at least a month going back into the kitchen where he pops in 2 pieces of toast for himself. While he waited he tended to Charlotte cleaning off her fur and giving her a treat for her good behaviour. 

He quickly buttered his bread and began eating one while putting on his tux for the day and finished the other while packing his bag. Once he finished he gave Charlotte a few more scratches and said “Be back soon, hope you get comfy and enjoy your naps” Charlotte meowed in response with a gleeful tone. As he walked out he noticed that the mailbox next to his door was filled to the brim with envelopes… sigh... “That stupid geezer still hasn’t notified the tenet”.  He walks over to the room next door 69 as he walked over he practically tripped over all the garbage and trash. Catching himself he holds his breath puts on his most presentable “work face” and knocks exactly three times… about 2 minutes go by and no one answers so he knocks again… another 2 minutes go by… no answer and no he was about to knock again but this time mid anger he was greeted by a huge orc that was the full height of the doorway and had the belly about the width of it. A few seconds passed and the smell finally hit him Robert's nose was on fire from how disgusting it was. In a deep guttural groan, the orc said

 “What's the issue, human”  

Robert sighed and spoke clearly with a stern face “ Firstly please refrain from calling me “human” and second I asked you politely to tell the mailman your new address” 

The orc looked at him in disgust and spoke sharply “ Firstly I don’t care about your feelings and secondly, I already did you slow-brained punk” 

Now clutching his nose bridge in tension Robert let slip an ounce of aggression under his breath “Well maybe if you actually took out your garbage he would come to the door” 

Now looking angry the orc furrowed his brow looking like he was about to attack and said “What did you just say to me”

Robert shook it off like nothing “Oh sorry I didn't mean anything.” 

The orc looked at him and slurred out “No I heard what you said… how could you say that man you know I have been going through a hard time lately” The orc began to cry as he finished… “at least get a fucking job then asshole, I’ve heard from the neighbours that you have been breaking their doors and stealing from them. We even got you on footage yet the useless police won’t do anything about it”  Robert sighed “Sorry man I've had a rough morning Sewert from upstairs threw his dragon puke down the side of the building again”  The orc stopped crying and stuttered out “Jusstt... Be careful dude I almost squashed you because I thought you were threatening me” “You thought I was threatening you!!! I’M NOT EVEN HALF YOUR SIZE Why on earth would I want to attack you I WAS EXPECTING YOU TO FUCKING JUMP ON ME… why on earth do I have to live in this god-forsaken place”.  Robert looked up at him and muttered softly somewhat mockingly “alright dude, just please fix the issue” as he handed him the mail while noticing Robert’s company seal for interviews. So he pauses and

[sueske]

Im gonna ask for some grace in this question because im autistic and I can barely understand social stuff from my culture, none the less Japan's culture. So basically, all the not-het stuff Kishi did is not common in other Shounen? If so, has he ever commented on why he did what he did?

I guess the only two options are he really did this intentionally in the only way he could. I'm not sure how homophobic Japan is, but I assume being overt would've made Naruto a failure of a manga/anime. So he had to be subtle.

Or maybe he is genuinely not a socially aware guy?

Am I understanding the situation here?

Regardless, he must be aware of the loud conversation around SNS. Has he ever acknowledged it at all?

well I’m not Japanese so I can’t really speak on behalf of their culture/fandom, all I can do is give my two cents from an outsider’s perspective, but what I can say from my 20 years of watching/reading anime/manga is that no one does it like sns, especially not in shonen. If I were to list all the reasons this reply would be thousands of words long so I'll redirect you here.

No one’s ever explicitly asked Kishimoto as far as interviews are concerned whether sns are actually gay or not, but the topic of their bond has been discussed. Kishimoto said that he finds their relationship hard to put into words, that he’s not sure if he explained it properly, that sns might look insane to some people, and that people who grew up lonely wrote to him saying how much they identified with the characters (paraphrasing here). The fact that even Kishimoto finds it hard to define their bond using the usual labels is very telling. So we have to read in between the lines cuz the answer lies in the words left unsaid. The words he probably can’t say.

Japan is home to a homophobic society, as is most of the rest of the world, and the fact of the matter is naruto is a shonen manga. How can teenage boys self insert into the main protagonist if he’s overtly gay after all? Kishimoto still wrote a love story though and while it was never explicitly stated in the normal way, ‘I love you!’, it was explicit in all the other ways that truly matter.

Kishimoto 100% wrote sns gay intentionally - reasonings specifically in this ask here. As for whether he’s socially unaware... I’m not sure what you fully mean by this question. As in, he can only write a gay story if he’s socially unaware? That he's socially unaware, so that’s why he just wrote a gay story for the fun of it? Kishimoto is very socially aware, which is why he took such great care in crafting his work in the first place. Also take a look at some of the works that inspired him previously. 

As for whether he acknowledged the speculation around sns, well. If you were a mangaka of one of the most popular series in the world wouldn’t you be curious as to what people were saying about it? So he had to know. He 100% knew what he was doing when writing his work, so I’m sure he also became curious if people actually picked up on it. Not to mention the editors/higher-ups would have brought to his attention certain things the fandom were saying. SJ’s mission is to make money, so giving the people what they want is a sure-fire way to do that, which means listening to what they want (and what they don’t want) and relaying that information to Kishimoto. And, well. That’s how Boruto happened.

[katpapple]

Random Summer Troupe Headcanons

Tenma 🌻

Everyone in the Summer Troupe has declared that Tenma has 2 modes. Actor mode is when he's big brained and really knows what he's doing. Then there's the Hack Mode(As dubbed by Yuki), where he's just pretending he has a braincell when you know damn well he doesn't.

Feels really insecure about not having any friends growing up like the others did.

Since he's a trained actor, he's probably got one of, if not the best singing voice out of everyone in the company besides Juza.

Is secretly a sucker for romcoms, but doesn't want to admit it.

Knows the lyrics to EVERY Disney song. I'm sorry, I don't make the rules in my brain(oh wait, yes I do, teehee).

Honestly ngl I feel like his favorite Disney Princess movie is Tangled 😳👉👈

Yuki 🎀

Me: Yuki is genderfluid af Tenma: understandable have a nice day

Always has a sketchbook for costume designs

Would totally work as a fulltime costume designer as an adult

Would look adorable with longer hair. Like tied up in a cute little bun,,,, my heart,,,

Starts to crush on Muku HARD. Yes I ship these two, they're just so cute-

Likes going shopping with Azami for new clothes

Looks up to Muku because of his kindness and drive to improve and be brave

I personally think his favorite animal would be a chinchilla because they're smol and floofy

I feel like as he gets older he'd take on a flexitarian lifestyle. He mainly eats a vegetarian diet, but on special occasions he eats meat.

Makes a beauty blog with Azuma and Azami

Is unironically good at freestyle rapping and it kinda both impresses and annoys Azami

Muku Sakisaka 👑

Becomes a shojo mangaka. That's it that's the post send tweet.

Loves showing a lot of romantic gestures to Yuki when they start dating, even if it embarrasses Yuki a lot.

Asks Yuki to make costumes based off his favorite shojo manga

Starts a yoga group with Misumi and Tsumugi!

Loves learning about the flower language from Tsumugi because he finds it fascinating and romantic!

Takes Hisoka and Misumi to a cat café because yes :')

Surprises everyone by being fluent in French! :o

Misumi 🔺️

I personally headcanon Misumi to have Autism, since I myself was diagnosed when I was 9. I relate to him in particular with his interest in triangles, since I myself have areas of interest I hyperfixate on.

I like to project and say some of his stimming includes rocking, flapping hands, clapping, and snapping fingers(those are some of my stims, like I said it's me projecting asjfjshdj)

Would be a fun yoga instructor!

Gets a skateboard that has a kinda triangular look from Taichi and cherishes it forever

Would honestly look good with a nose piercing to me

His favorite season is autumn because of the colors!

Celebrates hanami with his boyfriend Kazunari by going to view the cherry blossoms(Misumi calls the blossom triangle blossoms 😭)

Kazunari 🌺

BI. AS. FUCK.

Loves drawing portraits of his friends(with permission of course)!

Has a lot of fun learning to play Shogi with Misumi

Kazunari is totally a Kirby main

Loves Gorillaz cuz of the artstyle!

Takes Misumi on a scuba diving date 😌

Would totally own a scooter

Kumon ⚾️

His favorite Jojo is Jotaro because he reminds him of Juza

Loves the idea of going to a rock climbing wall with some of the boys

Surprisingly more flexible than he lets on

Likes going on runs with Muku!

Gets a scooter to fuck around at skateparks with Kazunari

If anyone in the Summer Troupe were to play the drums, it would be this guy.

Challenges Kazunari to DDR and they keep record on wins and losses

Ness main. Purely for the baseball bat.

[natsunoomoi]

Holy crap. So like with the previous post I was thinking about Fushigi Yuugi again and kind of checking up on what was up with Byakko Senki cuz I haven’t checked on it in awhile and it looks like it’s on hiatus right now and she’s working more on Arata Kangatari, which is cool cuz I thought she finished that, but I guess not and she just took a break to like finish Genbu and do Byakko or something.

But also I was scrolling through her Twitter to find that she is really into this Chinese movie “Legend of Luo Xiaohei” and so I was checking that out cuz so ironic that Japanese mangaka that got her big break writing manga about an ancient China setting is interested in a Chinese movie. So just looking through her Twitter thread and apparently she found out about Luo Xiaohei from watching a CM while watching Modao Zushi. LMAO It’s amazing, but this situation just feels like an ouroboros eating itself because I have a high suspicion that her work on Fushigi Yuugi imported into China back in the 90s was probably a huge influence on Chinese creators and artists to write their own stories about their culture and helped to popularize the xianxia and wuxia novel movements in more modern times. On top of that MXTX said she was inspired by a D. Gray-man fanfic and while she mentioned that title specifically, I think in the periphery Fushigi Yuugi itself and more recently Arata were probably an influence too. Growing up a number of my Chinese friends also said they got into anime overall because of Fushigi Yuugi because it was an anime and work from Japan about their culture and arguably done pretty damn well. 

In terms of the danmei movement as well, I’m pretty sure Fushigi Yuugi was included in what started the movement as the movement was influenced by Japanese BL that came in via Taiwan, and the beginning of Fushigi Yuugi had the whole thing between Nuriko and Hotohori even though that kind of went nowhere, Nuriko dies to everyone’s depression (I have several friends who refuse to watch the rest of the series after Nuriko dies because it’s not the same), and that whole ship goes off a weird deep end with Hotohori marrying a woman that looks like Nuriko. Also, the exact reasons for Nuriko being in the harem and all that. There was a whole lot of shipping in the 90s from Fushigi Yuugi and it was one of the first series that had a male cast that was almost entirely ikemen and I think the actual first reverse harem. A number of shows probably simultaneously popularized the female gaze in mainstream anime, but Fushigi Yuugi was definitely one of them. Like literally one or two years before there was a lot of manly men and guy’s guys kind of anime characters, but beautiful ikemen, no, not really. In 2021, there are some things about the series that are a bit problematic, but it’s influence on the world is pretty significant. It was one of the first shows I’d seen that had any kind of reference to homosexuality or transgender in it and although it’s not necessarily portrayed well, the fact that it was there and that Nuriko was such a beloved character it started a conversation and helped us to get to a time where the topics she represents can be more discussed. I’m actually not even sure what pronouns would be appropriate for Nuriko because of her reasons for what she did and in Japanese the pronoun problem is actually really easy to get around because you just don’t have a subject or speaking in 3rd person is totally normal. But still, without her the minds of thousands or even millions of fans around the world would not have been opened as early to LGBT topics. Her existence, even problematic as it might be, allowed people to consider and love a character of a different sexual orientation or gender identity than their own and just open their minds to just not being a homophobic, biphobic (cuz relationship with Miaka?), or transphobic piece of shit.

Then also Genbu Kaiden and Uruki’s powers. Yeah.... I mean, also kind of with the earlier discussion, the idea of dual cultivation I don’t recall even being brought up much before in most media, but such ideas were also banned and repressed in China at a certain point. Documentation shows it was more of an ancient practice that suddenly became known about again. The book I was talking about that has it more explicitly written is banned in China has its only original surviving copy in the Japanese National Library as it was one of the books brought to Japan by scholars escaping persecution in China and bringing with them books to escape one of the many episodes of mass book burning. According to my Chinese lit professor who had us read an English translation of that book as a part of our curriculum anyway. Supposedly the translator of said book had to go to Japan to read the original in order to write the translation. There’s apparently a number of ancient Chinese texts like that because book burnings were a thing at different points in Chinese history, so if you are a scholar of Chinese lit if you want a complete picture of your field for some texts you do actually have to come to Japan to do your research. But yeah, that power mentioned in that very book Watase-sensei gave to Soi, and also the story of Fushigi Yuugi takes place in that very library that contains that ancient copy of a banned and would have been lost to the world book. If you’re asking why a “dirty” book would be something a scholar would grab to save, ancient lit scholars do regard it as a rather well-written piece of literature even though the content of it is basically taboo.

But also the Fushigi Yuugi Suzaku Ibun game is a hot mess when it comes to this same issue because if you romance Nuriko you can save her from death and my friend Hikari said she wasn’t sure if she was happy about fucking with the universe like that. (I’m not either.) Nuriko’s death was such a huge impact on the story and everything. Also, notably, most of the Suzaku Shichiseishi died, but Nuriko had the LONGEST tribute. Like Chiriko and Mitsukake’s was like a tag on of a few minutes. Hotohori’s was too even, but it was addressed more in the later manga chapters the publisher pressured her to write and in the OVA series afterward.

Also, like Fushigi Yuugi other than the Neverending Story was one of the original sucked into a book holy shit how do I survive stories. Idk if SVSSS is influenced by it in that way, but it’s fair to draw the parallels because of the similar theme. It’s just canonically Taiitsu Shinjin is not behind the the system in the book and in a number of ways Shen Yuan is more competent than Miaka. Miaka gets a lot of shit though and when I re-watched FY a second time I actually found the gripes people generally have about it make up only a small part of the series. People just talk it up so much that it seems like a huge thing when it’s not. Plus the technical canon is only the original TV series because that’s where Watase wanted to end the story and that is an emotional rollercoaster that makes you cry so good. But like there’s some other kinds of parallels as well like how toward the end and like the last two episodes you hate Nakago up until the exact moment you find out why he’s an absolute asshole, and characters straight up criticizing him about how he’s an asshole the whole damn series just gives the same kind of feels that SY gave criticizing the original throughout SVSSS. Can’t say for sure, but Fushigi Yuugi has a lot of clout in a general sense.

But yeah, Watase-sensei said that she was really surprised by the animation quality of Chinese animation these days and she thought Japanese anime was going down in comparison. Same, yo. Same. But still, her work was probably a huge contributor to the movement that allowed MDZS to exist because her art is damn beautiful, Chinese influenced, and she had one of the first works in Asia to like bring the subject of LGBT issues into the mainstream after years of oppression from mostly Western influence because in pre-modern Asia no one gave a shit before and there’s a significant amount of classical novels that address some form of LGBT issues at least in Japanese lit and like even academic documentation that notes Confucius saying that doing it with a guy was better than with a woman. And the author of the work that probably was very influential to BL back in the 90s watches MDZS. She noted that there wasn’t any in the actual anime, which is true, but I think she helped that series to exist and she watches the anime so it’s kind of exciting.

I hope it influences her to go finish Byakko, but OMG I want her to finish Arata too because I like Arata. I should try to find time to read more of it because the anime is too short and the wiki descriptions of what’s happening are so damn confusing and incomplete.

[otakween]

07 Ghost Children

So I originally thought this was some kind of sequel to 07 Ghost (kind of like how the Fruits Basket sequel manga focuses on everyone’s kids) but apparently it’s a side story collection that was released before the final volume of 07 Ghost even came out. I think I actually prefer this. Stories about kids are usually pretty disappointing lol. I really dislike how Frau’s nose is drawn on this cover...

Speedster

-First of all, I really appreciate that this manga has furigana. I don’t really understand how they determine which manga gets furigana and which doesn’t. Isn’t this considered a josei series?

-Yaaay more of baby Frau. Is that why this is called “Children”? Cuz it’s focused on childhood? I love character-centric storytelling so any kind of backstory development is a win in my book.

-I guess child labor laws don’t exist in this fantasy world (well, slavery is legal so...) 

-The name Gido makes me uncomfortable because it sounds like the Italian slur “guido.” Also I think Gido looks a liiitle too similar to Frau for them not to be related 

-Magdalene is HOT! Also, I like the name Magdalene. I guess you couldn’t name your kid that because of the biblical implications though...

-I always find it weird when they have a child character mourn one parent but don’t mention the other at all. Like we get a sense that Frau lost his father fairly recently but he apparently either never knew or didn’t care about his mom. I want the full scoop! 

Summer Memories

-To summarize this chapter: all of the bishops are perverts except pure-boy Labrador 

Platonic Cafe

-I feel like I’ve heard the word “Platonic” thrown around randomly in anime a bunch. I guess Japanese people think it sounds cool (or did they title it that to be all “no homo”?) 

-This story was adorable. Didn’t expect to get a Kuroyuri backstory. I feel like they low-key suggested they’re a girl because they were wearing a dress in the flashback? But at the same time they said something about not wanting Haruse to think they were a girl so -shrug-

Begleiter

-I seriously misread “begleiter” every time it shows up. I read it like “Beg-uh-leh-tear” for some reason 

-This chapter seems as though it was done by a different artist. Ayanami’s hair is looking flat af :/ 

-I think it’s just the fluffy coats, but Suzu and Yuki always remind me of these twins from Dogs Bullets and Carnage:

-The Japanese in this is too tricky for me so I switched to this translated version midway: https://07-ghost-children.tumblr.com/

-Honestly, although Japan loves these “jerk with a heart of gold” character types I don’t like the implication that Ayanami is a good boss deep down. Working for him seems stressful ad and no one should have to put up with that 

-Okay, I also don’t like the implication that in order to earn Ayanami’s respect you have to be willing to die for him. This is a toxic work environment >:( 

-I kinda felt like Hyuuga was a little ooc in this chapter, especially when he flipped out over the prisoner escaping. I feel like it would normally take more than that for him to crack...

Always Together

-Another lil omake section. I guess snow makes Teito sad so they try to cheer him up by celebrating all the happy things about snow lol 

Aspiration

-Yaaay some Konatsu backstory. I’ve always liked him. I just find him the most relatable I guess lol 

-I never really noticed Konatsu wasn’t a warsfeil...was that ever brought up? XD;

-Man, if I had a nickel for every anime character that said “Your sword is an extension of you!”...

-It’s kinda funny how Hyuuga’s popping up in all these backstories as a cheerleader of all the younger characters. I feel like he’s pretty versatile. I can see why he’s the subject of a lot of fanfic lol (I’ve never liked his design tho)

Dream Pot

-Wait...where have I seen this bubble wrap joke before? Did they make the same joke in the main series? -deja vu- (It’s either that or I saw it in fanart somewhere lol)

-Bwahaha “my children are dying.” It took me way too long to get that joke (Konatsu spilled hot coffee on Hyuuga’s lap) 

-Apparently money in the 07 universe is called “yuus.” According to the 07 Ghost wiki 1 yuu = 2 yen

One Day I Saw the Sky

-Damn, Mikage is so ride or die. I’m glad we get to see more backstory to justify Teito angsting over him the entire series lol

-Kinda weird to think they have movies in this universe. Then again, I guess the race Mikage and Frau participated in was televised. It just feels weird in a fantasy setting

-Teito totally should have died with all those boulders on top of him. Reminded me of Obito from Naruto 

-I didn’t really realize Teito was doing his slave duties while in school? I thought that all ended before he enrolled?

-Teito’s emo slave child backstory seemed a little over-the-top grimdark. Hard for me to take seriously 

Godfather 

-Awww, I like these little brief looks at quieter moments between the characters. The bonding in this chapter between Teito and Frau felt really genuine (I wish I could hear the Raggs language...)

Aw, that was overall a nice little side volume :’) I wish more mangaka took the time to explore these smaller moments without always worrying about moving the plot forward. Anything that gives an extra bit of character development is also great in my book. I kinda wish I read it mid-series instead of at the end (because the series actually references it) but oh well. Onto the doujinshi!

[agatsumaraidne]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGATSUMA ZENITSU!! 0903

⚡️❤️🎂 09.03 marked the day Zenitsu Agatsuma was picked up by his master, jii-chan (Kuwajima Jigoro) and thus became his official birthday... T_T jiiichan...Anyway since I don't have any Zenitsu merchandise for now... I printed those pictures myself~ hahaha! gonna get my hands on his stuff on October ><~! Well since today is Zenitsu's birthday... let me explain why I LOVE AGATSUMA ZENITSU and when it's all started... hahaha! you can just scroll along if you don't wanna read~ and thanks for reading if you are interested ^^It was all started the day I knew his seiyuu, Shimono Hiro is going to be part of the main casts in KNY. At first I kind of hesitated to try watch this anime since... yep Shimono-san isn't the hero of the story... I am very bias to Shimono-san basically... aka Shimonotard hahaha! Back to our story... I checked his character... and I thought... hmmm his character design isn't that bad... in fact it looks cool... so checked wikipedia what KNY is all about... aaand... after knowing that the hero, Tanjirou's seiyuu is Hanae Natsuki, I decided to just give it a try since I like him in Tokyo Ghoul. Aah! Kaneki!! Haise!! <3 <3 <3 Darn it!! Okay back to KNY.My first impression of Zenitsu before I watch/read KNY... I thought his character probably like Senri Ichinose, a chuunibyou from Norn9... a very timid character who likes to curse others for bullying him hahahaha! Urgh!! Senri so cute! Or maybe Nai-chan from Karneval... a very innocent and purest boy in the planet... yes even more pure than Tanjirou because... he's not human... he's actually an animal... BUUUUUTTTBOY! I WAS WRONG!! Completely off the chart!! I watched the first 3 episodes....still no Zenitsu... and I was frustrated like... where the heck is Zenitsu?! Impatient I read the manga... at this point I still thought... hmmm he won't be my most fav top 3 Shimono-san characters... nah... because I thought he won't have his epic moment like Tanjirou or the others... I was fked up!After that very scene where he protected "Tanjirou's box" he immediately succeeded to win my heart in top 3 characters Shimono-san ever did! My top 3 rank for now...

Zeno (Akatsuki no Yona) : cuz DARN HE'S OLD BUT HE'S CUTE BUT HE'S WISE!!! I want this kind of man please!!

Zenitsu (KNY) : I'll explain later...

Miyoshi (Joker Game) : He's sexy with his monotone voice and gawd isn't he just brilliant!! uwaaa!! too bad he died!! damn! my one and only HUSBANDO!!

WHY I LOVE ZENITSU??

Because.... HE IS JUST THE BEST CHARACTER A MANGAKA HAS EVER MADE IN HISTORY!!! I'm not talking about his power or strength... I'm talking about Zenitsu as a person himself... a very very very messed up character! But in a good way... Thanks to Gotouge sensei and salute to him/her for creating such an amazing character like Zenitsu. Who in the right mind would ever make such a messed up character like Zenitsu...??!! Do you know the risk you have to take by creating an imbalance character like that?? You have this mixed feelings about him. At first I feel angry with him for being such a coward like YO! GET YOUR ASS OVER THERE AND FIGHT DAMN IT! I KNOW YOU'RE STRONG like no idea how strong but yeah you're strong SO DON'T PLAY DUMB! but then... as the story goes on... I started to understand and relate a whole lot with him... and I started to either consciously or unconsciously protect this baby. Oh... he likes to whine?? I never felt annoyed by that... him whining, crying and yelling is like music to my ear~~ compared to teaching a 200 kids at school who always screaming, yelling and whining for half of the day... Zenitsu's voice is waaay more adorable and cute~ so his voice is never a problem to me... the only problem I was having with him is him being scared and refused to fight. However after reading the manga so far... I tend to realize... WE ARE ACTUALLY HIM IN REAL LIFE! So I forgive his weakness and decided to just celebrate it :) who are we to judge and curse him? are we perfect enough not to be judged and cursed too? so the math is simple... Like in FMA it's touka koukan... or exact trade... and also what Zenitsu has said to Daki "Don't do unto others what you don't want others do unto you..." So yeah... that's my Zenitsu story... hahahaha! believe me... I can nag 100 more pages about this guy... but... that's it for today ^_^ and I'm tired too...AGATSUMA ZENITSU... THANK YOU FOR BEING CREATED INTO MY WORLD... YOU ARE MY SON AND I'M PROUD OF YOU~ MAY YOUR DAYS BLESSED WITH ALL THE HAPPINESS IN THE WORLD <3 <3 <3 and... pst... please marry Nezuko when the time is right ^_^ <3

[razberryyum]

A Gintama chapter a day keeps the ending away...Lesson 438

I believe Sorachi-sama IS beautiful and can make manga, wonderful manga.

MY 20 FAVORITE MOMENTS IN LESSON 438:

Omggggg I love this arc sooooo much!!! It was so damn hard deciding on my favorite moments cuz there were so many. I’m proud that I was even able to limit it to only 20. As soon as the Mansengumi appeared, I was dedd. 

Honorary Mention: not quite a moment but I just loved the summary of last chapter. As far as I’m concerned, Sorachi-sama DID win Miss Universe and he IS the most beautiful mangaka in Japan.

Moment 1: this squad.

Moment 2: he’s weird enough to me, no matter what color his glasses (grip) turn.

Moment 3: I liked Dekobokko lots until I realized how narrow-minded he/she is in regards to gender roles. Still, I think him/her for his/her holy hammer of sex change.

Moment 4: Ginko was so crazy adorable! I loved how easily she slipped into her new role. 

Moment 5: The God Dekobokko being a smart opportunist.

Moment 6: As usual, Jyuubei to the rescue. Luckily for him, Tae-chan was still Tae-chan.

Moment 7: I remember being both happy that Tae-chan was attracted to Jyuu-chan, and then sad because eventually he would have to return to being Kyuu-chan.

Moment 8: Ginko deserved that fork in the head.

Moment 9: I was on Jyuubei’s side: if he didn’t take advantage of the situation, when the hell would he EVER have a serious chance with Otae? 

Moment 10: A very valid concern...although I do admit I was a bit mystified that she didn’t figure it out yet. And then it struck me, oh my gods, has Gintoki NEVER seen a manko? That thought kinda blew my mind for a bit.

Moment 11: Lame four eyes is also her brother so definitely a no, but I did love the group date vibes.

Moment 12: It did not escape my notice that Pachie immediately imagined Ginko together with his sister and I did wonder if that got him excited since it was a two hot girls scenario (even if one was his sister, but then he does have a siscon so I doubt that would stop him much).

Moment 13: I seriously thought that was Madao at first and I couldn’t stop laughing that he turned into a totally hot woman.

Moment 14: And of course here is when I immediately realized that no, it’s not Madao, it’s a gorilla.

Moment 15: Ngl, I thought she was prettier than Otae.

Moment 16: YEOUCH. I TOTALLY felt Goriko’s pain. 

Moment 17: NON. STOP. SCREAMING. You don’t understand, I TOTALLY did not expect this kind of epicness. Kondou has often popped up in arcs without the rest of the Shinsengumi boys, so I thought he was all we would get of them. This...this was like a gift from the gods and I just about died of happiness. Look at how fucking uber adorable Okita is!!! I will never stop loving this arc!

Moment 18: Tae-chan’s breast envy is dangerous for all the ladies’ physical health.

Moment 19: NON. STOP. SCREAMING. Except this time, it was a little bit in distress because whyyyyyy???? I wanted a totally cute Tenko to match with the totally cute Ginko. Yes, I’m being completely superficial and I am ashamed of myself for being that way, but still, nooooooo my poor cute Hijikata. He would’ve made such a pretty girl! I also briefly wished he had stayed a man and then fell head over heels for Ginko-chan cuz that would’ve been sweet and hilarious (and then those feelings could have remained even after Gin-chan returned to being a man and that’s how they end up together...the fanfic/doujinshi just writes itself).

Moment 20: That made me only feel worse for being so superficial about Tenko. Poor Tenko.

SHIPS TALLY:

Jyuubei x Otae: finally, sparks were flying, BOTH ways. I felt so happy for Kyuubei Jyuubei. For his sake, I wanted this “dream” to last forever.

Kondou x Otae: nice to know his love for Tae-chan remained even though he was a woman now. I’m glad Dekobokko-sama wasn’t anti-lesbian.

Otae x Gintoki, Okita x Gintoki: even though she was really rough, she did feel BOTH of them up so I’m just gonna count them. Boob groppage counts for valid base movement.

Disclaimer: Gintama is not only about shipping. Gintama is hilarious, clever, exciting, poignant, heart-breaking, loving, brilliant, and just so freaking amazing.  It is only due to Sorachi-sama’s generosity that I can enjoy Gintama on yet another level, the shippy level, and I am forever grateful for that. GINTAMA IS LIFE AND LOVE.

3/16/2018

[shadesofmonochrome]

Wtf Rui !! Remmeber what you promised your sister!

NO HARD FEELINGS !!

(Updated as of 7:40pm I went on my laptop and fixed the post so it isn’t slashed anymore T3T ...I’m warning ya. Domestic and Kanojo Spoilers esp with ch272 and me just stating my opinion).

Don’t be an idiot and not go through with the wedding with Natsuo! Just Love and Marry him !! Hina already knew her place after Natsuo promised to be with you and you having his kid on top! Like, if Hina wasn’t in such a vegetative state, she’d slap the hell out of you and tell you it’s ok to be happy !!! Uuggh, I just wanna see Hina wake up so she can be happy with someone else (which we probably won’t see in the manga at this point. Feel she’s gonna do a self love journey or something ).

The first paragraph is just bullet point of shipping; second paragraph is me not promoting antiHina .If you wanna skip it go to third paragraph that has a bold sentence. Might make a future post on domestic na kanojo ships when series is over.

I don’t ship RuixNatsuo but I respect that they’re together . It is what it is ; I won’t bash shipping cuz I do kind of see how and why they ended as a couple just not 100% liking or maybe understanding the shipping yet. My ship ? Yes i do like HinaxNatsuo that’s my ship and I don’t care about “taboos” in the series because 1. It’s fictional ppl so the mangaka can write whatever they want - sometimes sadly (and y’all have read worse manga taboos-and hentai. I know y’all have read at least one and y’all better be of age to read this cuz y’all shouldn’t be like ‘oh they’re promoting bad stuff to society’ and etc. like I said. It’s fucking fiction). 2. They’re not blood related (just they’re parents are married , it’s not like you would know ur crush would be ur family member cuz hey, it’s a small world after all). Not satisfied with this paragraph ? Again I’m on mobile and I want to reread the series again when the series is complete so I don’t miss any details without waiting for new chapter.

I do read posts of antiHina saying she’s a bother . But hello, she’s Rui sister. She’s gonna butt in. If she was like a regular stranger then yes but she isn’t. And Hina is only human . Cuz she’s older, she needs to be an adult . And being the adult she is , she did backed off for Natsuo and her sister sake. Her flaw (which is also a strength that can improve ) as a character is that she holds everything in and will do everything alone (even for the one she loves) because shes older than Natsuo, because she’s Rui older sister and because she’s an adult to her mom and society’s eyes. And y’all can’t just ridicule her for still having feelings for Natsuo. She was in a messed up relationship with her teacher (the messed up part being he was married while they were together and being indecisive because of their age -no lie he started this shit up) and was a bit of an outcast in school. She even tried to make Natsuo hate her even before they became a couple. But Natsuo didn’t back away from Hina even though he would confuse her at times since Rui and him had that moment in Ch. 1 and that kiss in his room awkward. Adding, she had a stalker and Natsuo saved her ! Like , not most ppl would jump in front of u to save u. So; I honestly , give Hina a break by not calling her derogatory names. You don’t have to like her but don’t say she’s a bitch stealing Rui’s man. Natsuo fell for Hina first in a romantic way and later with Rui and Hina hasn’t used any deceptive methods to steal Natsuo. Plus, the girls agreed to “win his affections.”

ANYWAYS !!! Coming back to main the topic at hand . Hopefully if you read last paragraph , as much as it might contradict what I’m writing , I don’t want to see Hina with Natsuo. Especially because of what’s happening rn. Because if Hina wakes up to know Rui broke off the marriage just cuz Rui felt guilty after seeing the rings and overhearing Natsuo and Kobayashi talking , she’ll be upset and knock Rui to her senses (honestly I want Hina to slap Rui). Hina wouldn’t want to be with Natsuo out of guilt. She would want to be with him if it’s from the bottom of his heart. But Hina and I both know , esp with everything that has happened in the series , they won’t be happy together. Natsuo will choose Rui. Even before the accident he was upfront about it and Hina understood. And it’s heartbreaking esp Hina held onto mementos of their moments together ! It’ll take time for her to heal and this is what I hope: I hope for her to wake up, for NatsuoxRui to marry overall and for Hina to move out of the house again and take time away from her family and come back one day with a smile on her face and with someone else. Someone who can make her happier , provide for her like protecting her and to have her open up to them (saying that she doesn’t need to do anything alone and it would be even better if they can give her a hand without asking or waiting for her to do it ). Because there’s an important saying for couples that people should know (esp with ch 272):

You can’t build your happiness upon the happiness of someone else - Married Life (old movie forgot the year ).

[anime-imagines-galore]

Rohan Art Museum Date

((Like the Jotaro fic, this is based off a trip I took recently (Dallas Museum of Art and Baltimore Museum of Art) and this is dedicated to @brandosimagine. I personally don’t like Rohan but who else would go to a freaking art museum and I had some harsh ideas on some of the more contemporary pieces, much like the fandom’s favorite mangaka. Also under the cut cuz it’s 2.1K words))

    You were damn near close to crying and silent laughter shook your entire frame as you eyed the man next to you. An elegant hand cupped his chin and mouth while the other tapped on the hip he had jutted out as he took in the piece before him. One foot tapped ferociously and the rest of his face was contorted in the most disgusted grimace you had ever seen and you waited excitedly for his verdict.

“What the fuck is this?” laughter threatened to bubble over as you waited for the rest of his verdict. “The color scheme is atrocious, the composition, nauseating, and what does this have to do with ancient cultural pieces? This is contemporary! What is wrong with the placement of these pieces?!” He looked at you out of the corner of his eye, his hand hiding his amused smirk as you tried to keep quiet despite the fact you were laughing so hard. Honestly, other than finding inspiration for his art, he knows that his harsh words brings a light to your eyes that he’d give anything to see again. “I can’t stand to look at this anymore. Let’s go.” The sketchbook in his hand was still surprisingly blank even though the two of you have been through the entire contemporary exhibit.

 “Nothing caught your eye?” you ask jokingly, still breathless from your laughing fit. His scowl returned, though not as harsh, and the sassiness of his walk only sharpened as his agitation rose.

“Please. I trust my reader’s intelligence to understand such a complex story but whatever inspiration I get from these pieces will give them whiplash. Now, here's something intriguing."

    You watched as he sat before a collection of renaissance paintings and started sketching. Even though he sketched pretty fast there was still an entire collection before him and that prompted you to look around. You didn't have the same critical eye as Rohan but that didn’t stop you from criticizing the art the same way the mangaka would. Just the thought of doing so made you smile fondly as you shook your head. In all honesty, the pieces weren't as bad as Rohan made them out to be. It was probably because he has such high standards but the art was truly amazing. Sure, the layout was a little wonky (I mean, maybe, who goes to the art gallery often enough to figure that out) but it was nice to see the stark difference between the exhibits. Contemporary next to ancient culture, ancient culture next to abstract sculptures, sculptures next to religious pieces and so forth.

    After staring at the pieces for a while, you figured it was time for you to go back to where you left Rohan. It wasn't until you turned and saw him quickly tapping his foot did you realize that he'd probably been standing there for a while. As earlier stated, he draws fairly fast and could've sketched the entire collection in just a handful of minutes instead of an hour or two like a normal person. A hand on one cocked hip and gracefully arched eyebrow meant that you were in for an earful. Ducking your head in shame, you shuffled to the tall man and looked up at him through your eyelashes, hoping this would soften him up a bit. If anything, his brow arched higher and he sneered at you down his nose. 'Here we go.' you thought mentally rolling your eyes.

 "Do not go on without me again. You were the one who dragged me here-"

"You're the one who asked me…."

"-to get my verdict on these pieces." he said moving on as if there was no interruption. "Being here happened to be of interest for reference. And you wouldn't have been able to get into the private sections without me. Don't get it confused." turning sharply on his heel, he walked toward the next exhibit and tossed an arrogant "Try to keep up." over his shoulder.

Grumbling, you hustled a few steps to catch up and made sure to, if not match his steps just to annoy him, then keep up.

    Lengthening his stride for the sake of being awful, Rohan nearly walked right past the next exhibit. When the mangaka was sketching and looked up to realize you weren't there beside him, it didn't worry him too much at first but the anxiety of possibly losing you in a huge building after a few fruitless minutes of searching caught up with him. He didn't necessarily ask you to go to the art gallery with him per say, he just planted the idea in your head. He wasn't exactly sure how to say "Can you go to the art gallery with me? I would rather be alone but I really enjoy your company and I know my criticism will make you laugh, which I love, by the way," without being out of character. It was true that he wasn't fond of contemporary art but he laid an extra thick layer of venom to his words just to hear you laugh at them. Seeing you not there when he was sketching hurt him more than he cares to admit for whatever reason. He usually knows what he wants and is proud to say that there's not a single thing that he doesn't know about himself but emotions are much too slick to grasp, especially when it comes to you.

 "Rohan! Slow down! You'll miss the exhibit." he heard you huff behind him. Realizing that you were right, he stopped but because he wanted to, not because you told him.

    Next were the sculptures. Rohan made poses from the sculpture's shapes but his sketches were coming out messy from his frustration. Slamming down his pencil with a dramatic sigh, he looked up at the sculpture as though it insulted him. He suddenly swung back to look at you, startling you in the process. A sharp catwalk to you ended with another dramatic sigh. You didn't even bother to hold back your eye roll.

 "I wanted to apologize for how I acted earlier." your eyes widen in shock as a smile crept its way onto your face at the man. He was actually apologizing and being a nice person for once- "I'm glad I got that off my chest. Now I can sketch again in peace." Wow. Just as you were complementing him. You can't say that you're surprised but he actually said sorry no matter how passive aggressive it was.

      He went back to sketching, not even bothering to sit down as he walked from piece to piece in rapid succession. You could tell by the way he was hunched over his sketchbook that he wasn't taking in the meaning of the art. After jumping to the tenth piece in a matter of two minutes, you walked up to him and laid a hand on his arm. The sudden jolt made him misplace a line and he looked up ready to yell but whatever he was about to say died on his tongue when he saw your expression. You looked up at him with such sadness in your eyes that made him take a sharp inhale. The initial goal of this trip was to spend time together since you were the only person he likes other than Koichi. He sighs again, this time a quiet and very real sigh escaped his lips as he closed his sketchbook.  He didn't want to admit that it actually pained him to see you this way but he also didn’t want to keep staring at those sad eyes. He sent a quick glance to the hand on his arm, which you removed. The great Rohan could only be so nice at one time.

    The two of you walked through the other exhibits side by side as Rohan took time to examine the pieces instead of draw the first thing he thought of. A cold glare whenever he reached for his sketchbook made the man grit his teeth in frustration but he obeyed nonetheless, begrudgingly, of course. That didn't stop him from taking pictures, though, and he took plenty to make up for the fact that he couldn't use his sketchbook. Out of sheer pettiness, Rohan had kept quiet and didn't disclose his opinion on the artworks. He realized this was worsening your mood and decided it was time to enact his second act of kindness of the day.

The two of you stood before a collection of fanged stone masks when Rohan let out a theater scoff.

 " 'The Stone Masks were found in a rainforest in Mexico in the early 1900s. The exact use of the masks are unknown as are the creators but urban legend states that once dowsed in blood and worn, the wearer becomes a vampire.' What kind of half-assed backstory is this? This sounds like something from a D-list 80s Halloween movie, not something that belongs in an art gallery." he hums and smirks evilly as he heard you start to laugh. He could tell you were trying to hold back to not give him the satisfaction of winning but it was a challenge.

"Well, considering some of the other pieces here, this fits right in." he sneaks a glance at you and sees that your lips were pursed in a tight line, trying to hold back any reaction.

" 'The Red Stone of Aja is said to be an amplifier to the masks. With the mask on and the Stone inserted, it turns its wearer into the Ultimate Lifeform.' Putting rock into more rock turns its wearer into the ultimate lifeform? Sure, okay. 'Some speculation is thought that its creators were the Pillar Men. Many died out but those left were-' Kars, Whamuu, and Esidesi? AC/DC like the band? Were they all named after bands?! Goodness this writing is lazy! Names should have substance, not be named after bands!"

      Your soft chortles rose to full out snorts as you were unable to hold back the laughter anymore. Tears leaked from tightly closed eyes and laughter overtook your entire body. It was one thing for Rohan to pick at certain aspects of a piece but it was something else when he shredded its entire history. There was no story greater than whatever he came up with himself and Rohan's not afraid to let someone know when their writing is as interesting as watching paint dry. He also knew there was a strange emotion eating away at him when he saw how upset you were with him and he had to change it. The great Rohan Kishibe was perfect in every aspect and nobody in their right mind had any reason to hate him and he definitely wasn't going to give one to one of the few people he cared about. As much as Rohan could care, of course. A triumphant smile played on the mangaka's face and he reveled at the fact that he was the one to reduce you to such a state with a few harsh words.

 "Okay, calm down. This is starting to get embarrassing."

"Shut up and let me have this. I haven't laughed this hard in so long…hahahaha~." even so, you calmed but your eyes shone with happiness.

      Rohan inwardly grinned at your change of mood as he didn't want to you to be mad at him anymore. The two of you went through the rest of the museum much of the same way, he would criticize the art and you would laugh at his remarks. Ready to finally leave, the two of you walked out and idled on the front steps of the building.

 "Today was fun. We should do it again sometime." you told the mangaka.

Fighting down a blush with a shit-eating grin, Rohan responded, "Of course who had fun. You were with me aftera-"

"But don't think I forgave you for earlier. It's one thing to be upset but another to offend me. Next time I see you, I'm kicking your ass." smiling at his pale face, you turned to walk back home. "See you later! I won't go easy on you either!" throwing a wave over your shoulder, you bounded down the stairs with a skip in your step.

      Rohan didn't even bother to try to mask his surprise and fear as you could very well kick his ass. Walking down the stairs at a slower pace he made his way home, thankfully in the opposite direction. Another genuine smile made his way onto his face at the thought of you. He really was in deep, wasn't he?

[radicalrave]

Ok, I'm going to present one of list of most favorite anime/manga/light novel series in mosaic in chronological order and will give reasons why I love series and made it on the list.

Reason being is cuz my tastes have changed over time and some series aged well and some didn't, and you'll see why that is when I give my thoughts and reasons.

However, I will give an honorable mention on here, since it won't show up on here. You'll come to see my patrician tastes as 4chan delicately likes to put it haha (yes, I'm a channer and I love trolling with the kids there hahaha that place is information gold that's real and legit.)

1.) Evangelion: Let's face it, this is like most people from the 90's top selection. Not only is it vintage for being around for 20 years and iconically dark for a dark shounen (boy's) series, it left a major impact on the industry and the world in ways that most people, even I underestimated. Infact, I'd venture out to say that this series has aged perfectly well compared to lots of others during its time period. It has definitely aged far better compared to Cowboy Bebop and Betterman and all of it's contemporary peers in the competition back in the day. Infact, we're a few years ahead of that series now, which is strange cuz most of us probably didnt expect to see life past 2010 and 21 hahaha. As a whole, this series was far better compared to everyone else. Now, admittedly, it was dark and has some themes that provoke good questions for society at the time in terms of "what if's." At the time, you can tell that the director was a major nihilist and didn't like the direction the world was going, and you can basically see that in his work here. I know I don't have much to say about this series and it does sound like a weak biased argument and apologize for that, but in all honesty, it's done one thing that most series in the 90's was capable of doing: Stand well against the test of time. THAT's what made it impressive. Even though lots of stuff in it are very much obsolete and clunky now. I mean... all that clunky stuff... its hard to believe we used to live in an ugly world like that at one point in time.

2.) FLCL: Now, I'll admit, it IS overhyped and overrated. I sometimes still can't see the big deal behind it, but I will say this, for a 6 episode mini series, it's directed well with excellent art direction all around on the topic of growing up and coming of age. Back then, it did look very mature and course, but now that I'm older, it's definitely a kids series which was admittedly a bit too edgy and dark for it's time, but, I think could have done better had it been more balanced out being a bit more colorful and lighter instead of darker.

I suppose at that time when pop punk and me was going around that time, and correct me if I'm wrong here, I believe Japan was going thru an economic crisis at the time, which is probably why there was such a negative foul air over the future and industry of Japan and the world as a whole at the time, politically and economically speaking.

The series can be a bit of a cool watch if you're into that era of time, but I would venture to say it's one of those that I'd definitely like to keep in my library, along with stuff like Super Milk Chan and anything else that popped up at that time. It was progressive in it's own way coming off very gritty and crunchy in it's own sense if you understand what I mean about the rough comic aesthetic that it gave off at that time.

3.) Gurren Lagan: This was one of the last Gainax series before they ended up closing shop, and not to mention, progressed past it's predecessors in being extremely fast paced. I loved the art and direction and it was fast paced that had excellent action scenes and novel epic art. However, my main qualms about this series, is that it should have just been 1 season long. I feel that it failed past the time skip in the last 10 episodes and should have crunched the last episode into episode 13, therefore, preserving and making it a quality series holistically instead of being watered down and suffering overtime like Death Note did after volume 7 when L died. In Bakuman, you can tell that Ohba and Obata (Ashirogi Muto) when they made their (Death Note; It's obvious people) that they wanted to end it there to preserve its quality as an art as a whole so that it doesnt suffer, unfortunately, the editorial and the shuisa jump magazine pushed for it, which is why we got a weird asspull with Mello and Near after, and you can see how they wanted to end Death Note with this.)

Now, Gurren Lagan, I liked the direction, it was ok, but it also had some misses too over time. It wasnt perfect, but the direction was fresh for it's time. However... personally speaking, if I were to replace this with another series that deserves an honorable mention, and it's directed by one of my current favorite directors in the industry right now, it's Re: Cutie Honey, based on Go Nagai's manga back in the 70's as one of the first and original magical girls to come and pop up with it's modern digital groovy colorful and psychedelic disco aesthetic. I really loved the direction and way it came out and would love to endorse how much I love the direction behind these kinds of aesthetics in anime and manga. Personally, I'd like to see both modern and old school and see how they age 10-30 years from now, just like alot of series I grew up with over the yeras. This however, is NOW 10 years old and remember when it first came out and the internet and DA was all big about it with Ryoko and all that, but I admit that it was a bit overhyped, I like it, it was a bit sometimes edgy and weird, the weird was ok, edgy, at least it wasnt but it would have been better had it been toned down even with coolness and make it more cartoonier and it would have definitely succeeded. The final fight scene in the series is the best and loved it and wished that it ended sooner than it did, then the series would have ended perfectly. The last 10 episodes of that season was watered down, the plot was weakened and honestly wasnt a big fan after that. It's one of those 7/10 that could have been a 9/10 in my book.

4.) Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei: THIS. THIS SERIES IS BY FAR THE BEST THAT HAS CAME OUT IN THE PAST 3 DECADES! What's frustrating is that it was poorly marketed, underrated and poorly localized. It is by far one of the best directed anime series of all time that I haven't seen been topped off or progressed in yeras. The closes to it is the Monogatari series which is based off the light novel series and directed by the same director who took up the project. You can tell by the direction with the slides and the timing of the scene changes. Zetsubou however was fresh, creative for it's time and progressive and to this day, I still consider to be and supposed to be the future of anime and manga.

Based off the manga series by iconic mangaka Koji Kumeta, Kumeta was one of those guys who taught me how important critical tone and dialogue is when it comes to witty batter and writing when it comes to screenplay, writing and manga and the guy lets his frustrations out with gusto. I haven't seen anyone come as close to how good this guy is as a writer other than Sorachi of Gintama fame, who is also one of my top and favorite mangaka of all time. As a quality series as a whole, I also put it up there with Death Note, but much higher. I like his simplistic art style that he has adopted past his earlier works and the art style that changes over time that sticks out and can tell, it's his. and both the writing and the art compliment each other well perfectly with excellent satirical critical tones. You can tell that his writing style is pervasive in Joshiraku, Impatient Count and the Time Thief and toned down in his latest work Kakushigoto. (Yes, I'm a huge fan of this guy who is underrated and not well known and honestly wish he would get better credit than he currently deserves and is by far one of the best creative driving forces in the industry I have ever come across.)

What makes this series tick out and perfect art the gags and the dark truth satirical tones this series takes. The characters are original and fresh and very likable, memorable and have a charm that makes them attractive. Basically, the way he designed them holistically is far better compared to anything that Akamatsu of Love Hina and Negima has done and basically executes his work with excellent precision. The topics the teacher brings up are interesting and basically rags on everything that annoys him as he and his students debate about life topics in and out of school. You can say its like a modern high school version of charlie brown peanuts with a bit of a Tim Burton feel to it, but not as macabre and also somewhat cute. I like how he questions politics and law as well in this work of his and perfectly concludes it with 300 chapters in 30 volumes with a pretty comical yet grim ending that people will come to remember as a holistically quality work worth keeping and remembering for the years to come. This ended about roughly 5 years ago, so it has been around for quite a while the past 12 years and has done a good job aging for that generation of people who were around for the Haruhi and Lucky Star hype back then. This one is easily a 9 or 10/10, cuz its that good.

Localizing may be tough, but its best to appreciate it for what it is. Its still never came over here considering how good it was back then, but I can still see it as future of anime kind of things.

5.) Tatami Galaxy: Now this one is admittedly a bit pretentious with being known as a fast talking anime series for an older audience set in a university setting. I love the art direction, but the theme is kind of redundant, but it can be fun to watch. It's based off a light novel series which apparently gets alot of positive critical attention overseas, but the direction for the anime, you can say that its equivalent to the speed of the voices for the dubbing of Speed Racer back then. Having seen Speed Racer in it's original intended language, I love it far more and it's more natural and relaxed and presented in the way that it was meant to be and honestly, I loved it.

This however, is one of those ones if you want an articulate post modern art college watch and want to kick back and relax, as it can be somewhat confusing as he goes back in time alot and redoes things with every episode till the last episode. You can equate it to that of Haruhi's 2nd season of the Endless 8 arc where the same exact thing except presented differently in each episode is done, but this was better, and was probably one of the biggest trolls in anime history of all time. It CAN be pretentious but it isn't completely per se either.

6.) Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt: OK... I lied... THIS is one of the best progressive anime series with best art direction of all time. It's very western animation influenced in western cartoon format and very colorful. To me, THIS is what I'd still consider and call the future of anime and still should be looked at as such. Here are reasons why. It's simple, not in depth or edgy and dark, but it was just completely perfect all around to the point that it seriously does deserver a 10/10 in my book. Hands down.

Lasting only one season with a trolling cliffhanger, it is one of the best episodic series I have come to watch and enjoy as an anime series of all time and wish that more anime would adopt the kind of aesthetic this series brought to the table. Aside from probably being the LAST Gainax series before the director went on to form Trigger the upcoming years with Kill la Kill, Kiznaiver and currently airing Little Witch Academia, it stood out for it's colorful art direction and cartoony feel that it had which I feel most anime SHOULD have. Despite the history of anime and manga being heavily western influenced by Disney and the country's earliest calligraphy and erotic paintings and shunga back in the pre modern times.

Now, it IS raunchy and not for kids, so let me emphasize when I say that when you watch the dubs or the original with liberal subs, it can be taken out of context at times, but still... it is very raunchy and not really kid friendly, the context in its original language is admittedly very crude, but not as crude as the liberals and americans tend to portray it here theatrically in its direction. Infact, it's so Raunchy, Adult Swim CAN'T air it here in the states, considering that AS is mostly for kids and teens in the day and age and not really adult shows. I've seen adult series and honestly, alot of what I posted aren't considered as such, This one is more like teens and older adult with childish and kid like theatrics and appeal which is what I really like about it. So... its probability for one of those extremely leftist liberal families that are cool with sitting with their kids and educating and explaining content to their kid with guidance so they can be mature NOT to do or say those things that is presented on here, but realistically, the statical odds of things like that are extremely small to most likely less than 1%.

Admittedly, it DOES need a 2nd season and there is a following and demand for it, considering the way it had ended 7 years ago in Christmas of 2010. It's one of my favorite art directions at the time for cool stuff like Danganronpa, No More Heroes or Mad World, lots of games with colorful comic noir aesthetics like that and is honestly at the top of my list as one of the best landmarking and progressive anime series of this decade that to this day, STILL hasn't been topped off at all. It's easily a 10/10 in my book, so do watch with discretion.

7.) Eccentric Family: This one, I caught this one a bit late. This is from the same writer of the Tatami Galaxy Novel series and illustrated by Koji Kumeta of Zetsubou Sensei fame, so you can see I have a bit of my biases of my favorite people in the industry who team up and work together on different projects, this is one of them.

The plot is very simple and not complex and its not deep or edgy. It's quirky and fun with some colorful playful humor with alot of Japanese folktale lore presented in modern day japan. This series is very reminiscent to that of Paranoia Agent and has features that are similar to it, though unfortunately Satoshi Kon hasn't been with us since his passing in 2010. What's great about this is that a 2nd season has been green lit this year and will be airing this year, so you will be on time to hop on and enjoy the ride with the rest of us on this fun and quirky ride of tanukis and tengu.

8.) Kill la Kill: I'm sorry but I'm majorly biased cuz I love Ryuko chan and would love to wife her as my waifu obviously. But joking aside:

Kill la Kill is currently Trigger's most popular magnus opus in the industry right now and one of their earliest works. They have put out some stuff before they put this one out. They later ended up putting out Space Patrol Luluco and Kiznaiver at the same time last year which both performed well, but never outshined Kill la Kill to this day and so far, Little Witch Academia with a few OVAs the past few years and currently airing is expected to be the next big magnus opus that will outshine it. I can see it and like how kid friendly it is and it can't, mostly for the semi nudity and side boob that it shows. Not that that's a problem, but lots of conservatives will have a problem with it and can lose an audience because of things like that when marketed and presented to the public.

It's one of the first project after the director formed it after working on Panty and Stocking and did other shorts such as Sex, Violence and Machspeed, which is a knockoff of Panty and Stocking with a different comic noir aesthetic and were cameoed in Space Patrol Luluco along with Sucy from Little Witch Academia.

This series is a semi kids series and love it and would love to own the anime BDs for sure. There are subtle hints of politics in this series in terms of life fiber and alliances in the series. It's NOT the best but its decent and ok and not as progressive or articulate compared to the others I have mentioned on here, and had it tried to be progressive in the timeline trying to progress past them as a quality art, it would have definitely succeeded as a 10/10 and mostly gets roughly an 8 or 7 out of 10. 8 cuz I'm being nice and love Ryuko, but thats not an excuse or reason to give it an extra point.

The plot was simple, it wasnt that deep or edgy or dark, its somewhat colorful and cartoony is what I like about it and its not raunchy or explicit showing nipples or anything, its simple. It can be seen as for adults and older teens, its basically a coming of age for girls outgrowing their high school years and questions the nature of humans in society.

It can be seen for kids, but mostly kids at the age of 10, but I can see it definitely see it being coarse. Now, it's not as course and raunchy and tantalizing compared to To Love Ru which is indeed raunchy in a good light and thankfully not disgusting, but there's easter eggs that you'll see in the art and expression of the series where you'll see exposed areas in the reflection of the series that bypasses the censorship laws in japan for manga and anime on tv to the point that Yabuki has been taken to court a few times because of upset parents. Basically, he would literally draw in very subtle stuff like a vagina and clitoris in the reflections in the art and would be easily overlooked and most people even editorial wouldn't notice but bypassed censorship laws that not even hentai artists could do. I remember a documentary of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations when he went to Japan and sat with the mangaka who invented the tentacle rape to bypass Japanese censorship laws because of a loophole he noticed and exploited.

Same here, but he used reflections instead of blatant exposure. So if you read the series, if you look at water drops, metal reflectors or bubbles and mirrors, you will definitely be seeing vagina, penises and clitoris that you aren't allowed to be seeing and are outlawed on Japanese media but only because its bypassed censorship laws by exploiting a loophole found. This was noticed in To Love Ru Darkness, and the story behind it was kind of sad and understandable as Yabuki went thru a divorce with his wife who caused him trouble and left him being a single parent, so it was in a sense of him retaliating and venting off his anger and frustration off of society and pushed the border which gave him the name (madman yabuki.) He is known for his earlier work Black Cat which ended prematurely on 20 volumes last decade and is the main artist and collaborates with the writer of the series. But is known to be raunchy and cleanly tantalizingly provocative for sure.

So there is debate, its questionable, its hard to categorize and tell at times (sorry, psychology talk here) but its definitely memorable for Ryuko and the trigger studio for putting another quality series out there. Personally, had the plot, direction and writing been better with better art direction all round in being progressive, it could have easily gotten a 10/10 in presenting something in a way that's unique and in a way that's yet to have been done before, there aren't much annoying tropes which I liked about it, but still, had they done better research, worked harder and didnt half assed it and outperformed, I would definitely have been raving about it for yeras to come and age well to landmark and progress the timeline of the industry's history.

9.) Last but not least, SPACE DANDY: I LOVE THIS SERIES. IT's colorful, brilliant, hip and amazing all around and definitely Watanabe's best work as an anime director the past 20 years. This series definitely outshines any work he's done with Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo combined by giving it a colorful and quirky cartoony feel and making it enjoyable and fun to watch that's not dark, but it's unique and experimental in the story telling models and style of series for what it was. Rather, it wasn't episodic, but there was lots of academic themes in science and philosophy that are mentioned alot that surpasses sci fi in the past which is WHY it's currently his best work, It's brilliant touching up on topics such as physics and mathematics, the pure sciences and talks about stuff such as different dimension, time travel, and the like and he does it in such a way that its excecuted perfectly and enjoyable to watch all around as a holistic watch. Over time, Ic an see it aging well for the next 10-15 yeras, depending on how society, literature, thought and technology goes and progresses over time. Its definitely watanabes best and creative work, even though he has experimented and messed with mixing things up with different cultures and time periods, this however, was not so much as by the book, but he takes that and applies it and get creative and makes it better and doesnt try too hard like he did in the past, but keeps it simple. THAT shows true mastery. Its similar to that of Ashirogi Muto's current project Platinum End. By the book, but applied and creative past that, and that's exactly what Dandy did. Though, his work after Dandy; Terror in Resonance, was his weakest and bad project and waste of funding since it was a culmination of everything that happened the past 2 decades all rolled up in one and dont consider it creative or great at all in all honest and one of his weakest efforts as a director.

I enjoy it far more than bebop, bebop wasnt as great as I got older, mostly because I realized that Spike was a loser asshole who basically had an affair with someone else's woman and basically caused a shit storm over selfish ambition and in all honesty, dont consider him cool in the least, but rather, just a complete fucking asshole who thinks he's cool when he won't admit it when in all honesty, he's really the bad guy in all this and all this plot would have been avoided, had he not been such a complete fucking prick (yeah, school teaches you to think very differently.) Dandy on the other hand may be a loser, but he's a loser with a good heart and good ambitions whose kind of like Gintoki, not as good or cool, but he has his own charm which is what makes him great. Dandy is indeed, one of the better works of his career and catalogue and very proud to say that this is something that I'd own in my library on BD for sure. It's tough to give this a 9 or 10 out of 10. I'd say 9.5, but for the sake of rounding off and keeping it simple and as to how much I liked it and trying my best NOT to be biased, I'll just be lazy and keep it simple and say that this series deserves a 10/10 for not just being what I mentioned earlier, but because this series offers alot of variety and diversity like Bakuman did, and you can tell that Watanabe experimented and exercised alot of new things and tried many many things that made this series so great. It's down to earth, kept simple, fun, colorful and enjoyable and definitely one of those realistic satire that did question and bring up things in today's societal issues.

My advice, don't get put off by Boobies which is like Hooters, keep it simple and don't get too deep or complex about it, thats where you go wrong already for critical analysis, keep it simple and say that it also keeps in touch with reality when it comes to human nature and the true nature of the world all around us that the truth is, nobody really knows anything at all in a socially constructed society that we all in this day and age live in consciously and unconsciously. That's what makes it a very great series in general. I'd consider it a family friendly series which is why I give it a 10/10. It's not disgusting, provocatively grotesque and raunchy, but very clean, fun, comical and enjoyable for ALL ages. No matter what culture or where you're from.

10.) Honorable Mention.

OK, I'm getting tired, but this one HAD to be mentioned cuz it's really good and deserves a mention:

Monogatari Series. I had a hard time choosing between this and Eccentric Family. Both are not well known and obscure, but... I decided to give it to Eccentric, because its not as popular, so it was hard to choose between the two.

Based on a currently ongoing and popular Light Novel series, the series follows around young Arrarragi, who basically becomes a half vampire after getting bit by one. What makes this series stick out is the dialogue and relationships he has. There's lots of drama and interaction but done in the intelligent and pretentious way. Not as pretentious as Tatami Galaxy, but you can tell it can be.

It is directed by the same guy who directed the Zetsubou Sensei anime, so you can tell with the slides and screens and timing the series has with it's own unique style and aesthetic. Now, what I really love about this series is the girls he talks to, their curses and the art direction. It's beautiful. I love how articulate and artsy it can be and you can tell its pretentious, but its not annoying or smug about it. It tries to keep it simple, but some characters are alike that. I'm a huge fan of the series, I love how it's progressing and indecisive it can be. Its got its own feel but can be cartoony and you can tell what references they refer to.

I love this series alot, so far, it's got a good 7 or 8 out of 10 from me. I'd definitely like to buy the novels and books if localized, but its definitely one of those honorable mentions that needs to be put out there cuz of how good it is and the staff involved in the project behind it and really enjoy it for what it is. Its good art watch if you want something progressive. It is somewhat progressive but still doesnt top off zetsubou sensei, its kind of the same but more artsy... they're both artsy... but int heir own way and comes later, but in my opinion not as good, but its still good and doesnt lack. I really love the dialogue and interaction in this which is what makes it enjioyable to watch.

And that's it... its alot but I will post more later. I will post a favorite of favorite manga/anime adaptations. It'll be stuff like One Piece, Gintama, Death Note, Bakuman, Rurouni Kenshin, My Hero Academia, D. Gray Man, Assassination Classroom, Hunter x Hunter, FMA, Yuyu Hakusho and Embalming: Another tale of Frankenstein. They're mostly Jump series as you can tell, but I like them alot and enjoy them a great deal and will give my thoughts and opinions of them later on. Thanks all.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 246: Plot Whiplash

Previously on BnHA: Hawks handed Endeavor a copy of Re-Destro’s NYT bestseller and was all “ಠ_ಠ READ THIS!!” He then flew off back to the PLF and was all “hey guys just got back from handing out free copies of Destro’s book to everyone in a 1000-mile radius, which absolutely nobody asked me to do, well anyways you can thank me later” and they were all “SWEET.” Back at the Endeavor HQ, Bakugou got all fired up to BUST SOME HEADS but Endeavor’s sidekicks were all “WAIT FOR THE PLOT YOUNG MAN.” Meanwhile in his office, Endeavor discovered a secret code in the book Hawks gave him, which basically read “HEY WHAT’S UP THE LEAGUE HAS TAKEN OVER THE MLA AND HAS AN ARMY OF 100,000 PEOPLE” and Endeavor was like “!!!!” And then we cut to the League and Toga was all “IN FOUR MONTHS TOMURA IS BLOWING THIS SHIT TO KINGDOM COME” and then the chapter just ended. Sometimes it be like that.

Today on BnHA: Tomura sits down with Ujiko who monologues a bit about Quirk Singularity and then starts some sort of quirk-upgrading process which will apparently take four months to fully set in. And also he’s like “oh btw let me tell you about One for All” so THAT’S A THING NOW, GREAT. We then cut back and forth between Endeavor and Hawks, who both somehow come to the weird conclusion that THE INTERNS ARE OUR ONLY HOPE NOW using logic that is hard to explain on account of THERE ACTUALLY ISN’T ANY LOGIC BEHIND IT, SHHH. But anyway, so Endeavor figures out the rest of Hawks’s message and he knows that Hawks is trying to figure out what the League is up to, and something something that’s why the internships are so important. Like, I get that the Terrible Trio are future legends in the making, but these guys are seriously like “well okay let’s just go ahead and rest all our hopes on them” out of the blue, and Hawks has this big monologue about how “THINGS WON’T GO ACCORDING TO YOUR PLAN, VILLAINS” and okay then!! And then the last two pages are basically just DID SOMEBODY ORDER SOME HYPE with more shit going on than I can possibly sum up so I won’t even try lol. But damn.

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity afterward, and added a few ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.) 

okay guys, I’m feeling kinda under the weather today, but I know this chapter’s gonna be good so lesssssss gooooooo. bring me back to life Horikoshi

(ETA: lol well there sure was a lot happening in this chapter, that’s for sure. my head hurts.)

oooooh it’s a sexy Jump cover celebrating season 4!

I really need the anime team to step up and give Ochako and Tsuyu some more screentime in the Basement Arc since the manga did not do them justice. there’s only like a 20% chance of that happening, which is depressing, but it’s 2019 and the winds are slowly changing, albeit at a geriatric pace. so I’ll allow myself to have some hope. you never know

YEAH SON LOOK AT THIS COLOR SPREAD Y’ALL THIS IS RAD

hello I love everything about this. the colors, the focus on our best girls, Deku’s bizarre-yet-awesome assorted sci-fi accessories (Deku do those headphones let you communicate with space or what), and of course, the five million TVs in the background which for some reason all appear to be from the 70s. all of this to remind us to TUNE IN TOMORROW FOR THE LONG-AWAITED SEASON 4 DEBUT. I will definitely tune in! the first episode is just gonna be the usual half filler/half clip show, but honestly season 3 was so good that I could sit through a whole hour of nothing but highlights and still be thoroughly entertained

anyway let’s move on because there are GAMES AFOOT, and we’re hopefully about to learn which direction this arc will be headed in!

OH SHIT OH FUCK

yep, that’s him. Shigaraki “destruction incarnate” Tomura. I see we’re getting our weekly dose of “just a reminder that WE ARE SCREWED” even earlier than usual this chapter, huh

so does anyone else get a chill up their spine every time Ujiko makes an appearance, or is that just me? like, god. he may honestly be even creepier than AFO. he’s just completely soulless, this guy. he’s got like this Mengele vibe to him (though that may be kinda dicey to compare horrific real-life atrocities to fictional ones in a shounen manga, but I’m just trying to explain why I find him so disturbing) and it really freaks me the hell out, ngl. anyways so him wearing a surgical mask and standing in front of this weird examination chair is pretty much the last thing I need right now. go away Ujiko

so Tomura is all “I want it cuz you promised, so pay up jackass”, and like. fair, though

I really like this new art style Horikoshi’s been using for him since his Awakening. kinda curious how it’s going to translate to the anime, or even to a color spread. but at the very least in black and white it looks siiiiick

smh look at this little punk trying to downplay how insanely freaking overpowered his quirk currently is

okay first of all, “President Baldy” is only alive because you left him alive. and he also had to chop off his own legs to stay that way. like, what kind of argument is this, Tomura? “this power is far from invincible, all my enemies have to do is amputate their own limbs and then they’ll have me right where they want me.” you know what, just go on and destroy the world right now kid. you’re getting greedy now and it could be your undoing

that is a nice parallel between him and Deku there, though. now I’m craving some Symbolic Artwork of them standing back to back each holding out their scarred right arms. maybe with their respective mentors in the background. here at BnHA we prefer our parallels nice and dramatic

sdskfjlaskdj

son of a bitch. I really wish he wouldn’t say that with such utter certainty. “the next conflict will be our last.” cue me flipping through the BnHA table of contents and trying to determine just how far along we actually are here, because this is veering dangerously close to Final Battle signaling, and like, ALREADY?? TOMURA ARE YOU JUST BEING THEATRICAL OR ARE YOU FOR REAL OMG. motherfucking DARK LORD’S LIPS curling into the WICKEDEST FUCKING CRESCENT I’VE EVER SEEN, fuck me

(ETA: it occurs to me on readthrough #2 that “the next conflict will be our last” could be interpreted to mean him and All Might specifically. like, the last conflict between the two of them. and that might very well be true, and would not surprise me at all. shit.)

fjsgk now Ujiko’s talking about research. and quirks!! glkjlkl

fully expecting the camera to cut to some NOUMUS any second now oh my god. also trying not to think about how crazy ominous that fucking chair looks. and how many people this maniac has probably strapped down to it and done god knows what to them. hey Horikoshi you know what, I’ve had just about enough of this dark shit, can we please cut back to my kids now I’m feeling too unsettled. goddammit

anyhow of course we are NOT cutting away, and Ujiko is continuing to talk about quirk evolution, and now segueing into a speech about that quirk singularity thing. -- which he apparently named?? wow

is he actually going to do something to Tomura? holy shit?? this whole time that they’ve been talking about this “power” I’ve just been assuming it was something external, like some other handy dandy villain resource that AFO’s just been sitting on or something. this is not where I expected things to go. didn’t he just get an upgrade??

anyway so here’s a brief summary I just wrote up of The Past Six Months of BnHA:

Deku: [gets a new quirk]

everyone: bruh. Horikoshi really out here giving Deku AFO Powers while Tomura just sits around starving to death on a couch. what the heck

Horikoshi: [powers up Tomura to the point where he can destroy anything just by it being in contact with something that Tomura happens to be touching] [has Tomura use this power to level an entire city]

everyone: -- oh. okay, you know what, never mind --

Horikoshi: [gives Tomura an army of 100,000 people] [also gives him command of 11 extremely lethal and nigh-unstoppable killing machines, just one of which was almost enough to take out the number one hero, LITERALLY THE STRONGEST GUY THE GOOD GUYS CURRENTLY HAVE IN RESERVE]

everyone: okay we’re sorry we get it you can sto --

Horikoshi: APOCALYPSE IN FOUR MONTHS!!!

everyone: WE GET IT WE’RE SORRY PLEASE

Horikoshi: [GIVES TOMURA ANOTHER POWER-UP]

everyone: [curled up in fetal position sobbing]

starting to think the mangaka might be the actual final villain here. hmm

anyway. so I guess we have four months until Tomura ascends to Actual Godhood and proceeds to rain hellfire down upon the world. what are you all gonna do with your four months. I personally have a lot of stuff to binge, but knowing me I’ll probably just waste all my time reading fanfic while youtube videos play in the background which I’m not paying any attention to. what am I doing with my life

oh were we not done hyping him up? there’s more??

(ETA: I got so caught up in the OFA comment I didn’t pay attention to Tomura becoming a beautiful decayed butterfly in this exquisitely creepy panel here. but damn.)

-- HOLD THE FUCK UP. does Tomura know about One for All??? because I was under the impression that AFO hadn’t told him? this would change a lot if he knew this entire time, holy shit?!

aaaaaaaaand exactly one panel later Horikoshi is all “no he didn’t know calm the fuck down” lol

okay then. so he didn’t know, and he’s only just finding out now. well tbh that’s still worthy of a smiling crying emoji face though :’) this is fineeee

shit here we go oh shit

-- WAIT, SO WE’RE JUST CUTTING AWAY FROM THEM? NOW YOU CUT AWAY? YOU GET WITHIN INCHES OF CONFIRMING THE FUCKING ALL FOR ONE FOR ALL THEORY AND THEN IT’S JUST “ANYWAYS HERE’S ENDEAVOR” YOU KNOW WHAT, HORIKOSHI, I --

just. come on dude. AFOFA 2019! let’s make it happen! dammit

sigh, so looks like it’s back to the admittedly-still-epic “Hawks passes down secret information about the villains to Endeavor” plot. I guess we’re not exactly hurting for good plots all around. I may complain but honestly we are spoiled

so Hawks is saying that he actually doesn’t know the specifics of the villains’ plans yet. well shit

apparently his feathers can only pick up sounds from short range, and the villains keep escorting him away whenever they get to talking about the good stuff. well at least that explains that potential plot hole from last week. Hawks’s feathers may have a short range, but Horikoshi’s plot hole caulking gun can fill in leaky plot holes from fucking miles away. amazing

ffffffff

don’t mind me I’m just sitting here fretting about Hawks continuing to be in mortal danger and risking his life to gather information in a race against time against the end of the world. Horikoshi out here piling up stakes like a freaking vampire hunter

but in the meantime, everyone please stop what you’re doing for a moment to look at this absolute unit of a bellhop slash security guard

apologies Lord Vader he was just trying to get to the dining hall. my bad. as you were

and holy shit I hope you enjoyed that light comedic break because two seconds later Re-Destro has dropped in to fixate Hawks with one of those Lightly Menacing Smiles he’s so infamous for. so that’s just fucking great!

HAWKS WATCH OUT FOR YOUR FINGERS

omg. imagine, a showdown between the two stealth murder MVPs of the series, Yotsubashi “Sleeper Hold” Rikiya (yes I did have to look up his real name just now) and Takami “Tag Em And Bag Em” Keigo. true, RD may no longer have legs, but he didn’t need them to choke out our little mouse buddy now did he? anyways speaking of which I just remembered that I fucking hate Re-Destro and I honestly hope Hawks does kill him. it’d be pretty easy to fit him into a bag too. he’s basically just a torso and arms now

oh sure Horikoshi go ahead and spring this on me after all of that ranting why don’t you

by the way does Re-Destro have Robot Legs now, or

looool he does

I will say this for Horikoshi, he knows my weaknesses. more robot limbs please. either badass or memeable ones, either is fine

meanwhile I skipped over this panel of Hawks and Twice being buddies in order to get to the legs, and shame on me for that. let’s go back

Twice is a genuinely good guy and I hope Hawks can tell. I wonder how fake this smile is. I feel like it’d be easy to relax around Twice regardless of how tense you are about your secret spy mission which could go south at any time. anyways this is wholesome

and now we’re cutting back to Endeavor who is taking his sweet time reacting to this whole thing. Endeavor can you fucking chill with the poker face already geez

okay wait, what

are you serious?! I fucking can’t with this lady. “now make sure to throw these children directly into the line of fire! it’s good for them and builds character!” I’m sorry, I thought this was the Hero Public Safety Commission, not the Putting Juveniles Directly Into Harm’s Way Commission?? at least change the acronym to something more appropriate then. Heinous Pathetic Soulless Cowards. just a suggestion. jesus

anyway so for a moment I got confused as to whether this was implying that she’d told Endeavor about Hawks’s undercover mission. but it seems like he’s still unaware. shouldn’t be too long before he puts the pieces together though at this rate

lol in the very next panel, even

meanwhile you’re just sitting on your ass reading a book! FUCKING DO SOMETHING ALREADY, ENDEAVOR

so he’s thinking that the “preparation” part of Hawks’s message is referring to the interns. let me back up a sec and write down the entire message as he’s read it thus far

“four months from now / rising to action / until then / will send / signals / in case / of failure / preparation / numbers”

...read like that, it really does sound like Hawks is advocating to get as many soldiers ready as possible. even if that includes actual children. including Endeavor’s own son. shit. I mean, I get that they don’t have much of a choice, but that’s still so fucked up. sure, we as omniscient readers know that Deku is their one and only hope, but they don’t know that. as far as they know these are just a bunch of teenagers with less than a year’s worth of experience that they’re propping up on the front lines. and the plan is then... what? hope they don’t die too quickly?? fuck

Hawks is out here having an argument with me in his thoughts. you wanna play it like that, Hawks? fine

I don’t know what kind of “but” you can tag on to the end of that paragraph that could possibly win me over, dude, but go for it I guess

and we’re finally cutting back to the kids in question now! with Burnin’ casually trying to crush Kacchan’s hopes and dreams

okay but I love how both Deku and Shouto are like “easy there buddy, we got you” and trying to keep Kacchan from having a fucking aneurysm sob. JUST TRY AND HOIST HIM ONTO SOME DUMB SIDEKICKS, LADY. YOU’VE MADE A POWERFUL ENEMY HERE TODAY

oh shit

oh my god. are we going to get our first actual interaction between the three of them that doesn’t consist of them grumbling annoyed introductions at each other and then running off to fight an old fortune teller omggggg

I love how Deku and Bakugou look weirdly intimidated by him lol. Bakugou where did all that “YOU’RE KIND OF A JERK” confidence go all of a sudden

YESSSSSSS

GODDAMMIT, I’M STILL SO MAD AT YOU GUYS FOR BEING ALL “LET’S JUST MAKE THE CHILDREN DO IT,” BUT DAMMIT THEY KICK ASS THOUGH SO I CAN KINDA SEE YOUR POINT

NOW HAWKS IS METAING ABOUT THEM AHHHHHHH

DAMN STRAIGHT THEY WOULD HAVE. BRING ON TOMURA AND ALL OF HIS STUPID POWER-UPS. WOW I’M WEIRDLY HYPED UP ALL OF A SUDDEN WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME

AND FUCKING LOOK AT THIS TWO-PAGE SPREAD AHHHHHHHHHHH

MOTHERFUCKER [WHIPS OUT PEN AND NOTEBOOK] TIME TO ANALYZE THIS BITCH

so Ochako and Tsuyu did indeed go back to intern with Ryuukyuu again! makes sense, she is a top ten hero after all. who’s that with them, though? almost looks like Yanagi from the hair and the mask, but the costume looks different? hmm

I CAN’T BELIEVE IIDA WENT BACK TO INTERN WITH FUCKING MANUAL AGAIN. THIS GUY IS THE BRAN CEREAL OF HEROES. though I fucking love him though so yeah it’s fine

JIROU AND SHOUJI TEAMING UP WITH GANG FUCKING ORCA AW YISS BOYS THIS IS THE GOOD SHIT LET’S GOOOO

KOUDA AND MANGA TEAMING UP WITH WASH OMG. MANGA IS THE ONLY ONE ON THAT TEAM WHO ACTUALLY FUCKING SPEAKS. IS WASH’S SIDEKICK SOME SORT OF BROOM PERSON OMG

A WHOLE FUCKING ACRE OF KIDS HAVE ALL GANGED UP ON THIS CAVEMAN-LOOKING FELLA I DON’T EVEN RECOGNIZE. WHO ARE YOU. DID YOU CROSS OVER FROM THE FANTASY AU

KIRI BACK WITH FG AND BROUGHT TETSUTETSU ALONG FOR THE RIDE HELLS YEAHHHH

KAMINARI AND SERO WITH KAMUI WOODS AND EDGESHOT I’M HYPERVENTILATING AHHH. AND SHIOZAKI TOO!! I’LL JUST PRETEND I DON’T SEE MINETA THERE IN THE CORNER. MIGHT BE TIME TO DUST OFF THE OLD “CANCELLED” STAMP AGAIN BUT WE’LL SEE HOW THINGS GO

WHO ARE MOMO AND TOKAGE AND MINA AND AOYAMA (WHICH BTW IS THE GREATEST HERO TEAMUP OF ALL TIME HOLY SHIT) TEAMING UP WITH!? TELL US. AND PONY AND MONOMA. GODDAMMIT HORIKOSHI

whew! anyway. they’re all still screwed, but by golly that was nice to have that little invigorating breather of life and hope

LOL OH SHIT THERE’S ANOTHER ONE

okay, SOMEONE TELL ME RIGHT THE FUCK NOW WHAT ALL MIGHT IS LOOKING AT OR I’M GONNA LOSE IT. holy shit. he was researching the past users of OFA, wasn’t he? WHAT DID YOU FIND OH GOD. he’s not just upset, he looks one step shy of fucking crying?? did he learn about what happened to Nana’s son and his family, maybe? shit shit shit

so Yanagi is interning with Kendou then? so who was that with Hadou and Ryuukyuu and the rest. one of Ryuukyuu’s sidekicks?

IS THAT FUYUMI (SPOILERS FUCKING YEAH IT IS) AND WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE SHE’S FUCKING PRAYING OMG. it looks like she’s kneeling at a family altar?? like saying a prayer for someone who is PRESUMED DEAD, maybe?? LIKE MAYBE A LONG LOST TWIN BROTHER OH SHIT OUT OF NOWHERE THE HYPE DON’T STOP!!

AND WHY DOES NAO HAVE HIS HAT OFF AND CLUTCHED TO HIS CHEST LIKE HE’S TELLING SOMEONE BAD NEWS. GOD WHAT THE HELL EVEN ARE ALL OF THESE PLOT THINGS HAPPENING ALL OF A SUDDEN. LIKE I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK NEXT

KUROGIRI AHHHHHHHH

WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING TO ERI’S HORN!? DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE THIS?? AIZAWA??? HELLO!?!?

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, TEAM OT3. TIME TO FUCKING SUIT UP. APPARENTLY. WELL ALL RIGHT THEN. [JACKET ZIP] [GUN COCKING SOUND EFFECT] LET’S GO PUNCH ‘EM IN THE MOUTH

y’all. this chapter was like plot whiplash. this went in so many different directions and hinted at so many different things that I’m at a complete fucking loss as to what to process first. but I guess the interns are gonna save us all, somehow. lol okay then

[natsunoomoi]

Finished Main Story of SVSSS....

So yeah, I did that. I still really liked the story overall. Some parts are a bit problematic in a way, but also in a satisfying way that is complex and I think can refer to some real life relationships and complexities of that because not all relationships fit nicely into the little boxes and labels that we make and that’s my take away from the ending.

-Don’t like the in-story “original author” still, but also don’t dislike him as much as I did when I started the story now that I got more of his perspective. MXTX posted all of this for free not thinking it would go anywhere really, but it’s true that some people do have careers where they make a living off of their webnovels and fans buying chapters, so that pressure is there. I’m sure that because MXTX is also a fan of D. Gray-man, she’s aware of the similar pressures that even mangaka at JUMP face. Like BLEACH basically ended early because it fell out of popularity with the fans just as Airplane mentions happens to some novel works. To be fair, BLEACH also lifted an entire plotline from another popular supernatural manga including carbon copies of the lackeys of the villain for that arc, so some shade was also deserved. Like Yukio is just Amanuma Tsukihito with a PSP instead of an arcade system or Super Famicom. D. Gray-man itself has also been on hiaitus several times due to health concerns and such. Same as Hunter x Hunter and other prolific manga. The pressure is real and some ways the original author is kind of a mood. He’s also still a huge coward and that’s annoying.

-I feel worse for Shen Jiu than when I did when I was just reading his backstory off of the wikis and stuff from just wanting to see Shen Qingqiu’s beautiful face. Like I felt bad before, but after knowing more and witnessing some sentiments that would have been gut punches if Shen Jiu had heard them, I feel so bad for him. I don’t condone what he did, but I also get it and wish I could hug him. Basically about the same level of thought as I put into how much I like Emet-Selch, but I think overall in the end I love Emet-Selch more because the 5.3 patch update for FFXIV broke me. Man, that MSQ. Like I’ve never been opposed to liking villains and always thought some villains were cool. Like my sister worships Sephiroth from FFVII for instance, but like I was never really into Sephiroth’s motivations in that he’s cool, but his identity crisis didn’t quite strike me as like actually 100% believable that torching Nibelheim and trying to rescue Jenova was justified or a natural reaction someone in his position would have. I like him more than Cloud cuz Cloud is a hot fucking mess of a person and he’s overall just cool, but as a villain his motivations didn’t resonate with me.  A lot of people also really liked Kefka because he’s just straight up insane and like chaotic evil, but that kind of evil just isn’t compelling to me. Emet-Selch though straight up broke me and I thought about him for like months after the initial end of Shadowbringers when you do the fight with Hades. His story is ripe with meaning and nuance and the Tales from the Shadows stories adding more nuance and color to his eternal living torture of seeing remnants of people he cared about constantly without a break or a way to really “forget” and heal. That just stuck with me because I’ve lost people in my life too, and I remember what that was like and how hard it was to even live the day after let alone the following few years. I remember it well even today because it fundamentally changed me as a person, but I was able to find some relief and escape from music and entertainment and going out to have new experiences and travel. Emet-Selch could not, so his story really broke me internally. I bring this up just to make a comparison because I love Shen Jiu as well, but for nowhere near as dramatic a reason as I love Emet-Selch.

Spoilers under the cut

Okay, so since I was just talking about Shen Jiu, and maybe it’s partly because I actually find him to be gorgeous as well, but just reading his story did genuinely make me sad. I found his child form to be a little bit jaded already only because he was an older child already by the time he was bought by the Qius. When Yue Qingyuan was parting with him through the door he was being kind of manipulative there for extra sympathy initially, which isn’t really great. How severely the brother beat him though was hard to take. It was so extreme, like wtf? And perhaps the part where Qiu Haitang said that he’d been “freed” and the part where he was engaged seems to be true-ish, but yeah her brother is kind of really fucked up in how he still talks to him even though he is supposed to be his brother-in-law soon? Like what the hell. But like, the summaries of what he did online and even what Haitang had said also made it sound even more cold than it was. Like once he got going yeah, the onslaught was kind of cold. But he still had a moment of shock where like he didn’t really realize what he’d done right away and needed a moment to process. But after that it was like, well, it’s already done and people came to try to help the young master and he had to get out too. So the other people on the way out after that don’t sound nearly as consequential and it was really striking that not only did he not attack Haitang, but he spared all the other women in the house. Like Jesus Christ, were *ALL* the men in the house including the male servants and other slaves they had assholes to him too? Just, wow. But we don’t get a lot into what else happened there, but if the head of the household is bad and hurts him, it’s believable that other people join in just as Ming Fan joined in because Shen Jiu was complicit in allowing Binghe’s suffering. Really key though is the commentary of both the young master and his first evil master about his age. 

That is such a huge chip on his shoulder because everyone keeps bringing it the fuck up. Including Qingge in another memory later on when he’s already Peak Lord. I know they don’t like each other, but that was really mean. I realize Qingge probably doesn’t care and that was the point to throw salt in his wounds because they don’t like each other, but seeing how much it affected him by him breaking his fan with his hands after hearing that. I’ve had people do similar to me where they make an insensitive comment to try to hurt you without understanding the actual circumstances. My sister did that to me once and I reconciled with her for a bit, but decided not to talk to her anymore again because of some other bullshit with her friends being childish. But when she did similar to me, I never really forgave her for it either. My story is not nearly as dramatic, but basically I had quit a job where I was being bullied by coworkers at the start of the recession and I was looking for jobs, but no luck with anything I was qualified for even though I went on a few interviews. There actually weren’t many listings posted around that time, so I would only be able to find a couple to apply to and by the time my sister came home I’d be playing games to pass the time cuz I was bored out of my mind waiting for something to happen. So then we got in an argument for I forget the initial reason anymore, but she brought up how I “wasn’t looking” for a job and just seemed to be “being lazy” and I just got so pissed and yelled at her that she had no fucking idea what I was doing everyday and that I am looking and there isn’t anything fucking there. I also lost it and threw a stool at her. I’m not proud of it, but I totally get the mood of what it feels like for someone to use something that you are struggling with as a negative to throw in your face even though you are trying *SO* hard to do your best. I especially don’t want to hear that from someone who gave up on their desired career that they were actually good at and making a decent living at for money and also can’t tell when their friends are kissing up to them and crossing a line and won’t stand up to them for being shitty people. Teapot meet kettle, and don’t throw stones if you live in a glass fucking house. I don’t like low blows like that. 

My personal family issue aside though, I felt a lot of empathy for Shen Jiu in that moment. Seeing how he interacted with Binghe on their first meeting after that though, like I was sad for Binghe too, but I can also see where his misunderstanding happened on top of his insecurity. I also kind of wonder if Qingge’s comment also kind of encouraged this situation to happen.  I still like Qingge because he makes up for it a lot later, but yeah that was fucked up.

The gut punch later was when Qingyuan was seemingly dying and tried to apologize to Qingqiu, but all the words and the things Shen Jiu needed to hear. His years of misunderstanding and not knowing and being in pain and thinking he was abandoned. That was painful. Shen Jiu is gone. We don’t know where he is. Maybe he’s dead. No idea, but those are things he can never know. It’s already too late, and that’s crushing.

I still just really want to know more about Shen Jiu and I feel really sad that there wasn’t some kind of redemption for him or anything. Even if it’s like Shen Yuan going into the recesses of his own mind and finds Shen Jiu locked in a box somewhere so actually the both of them share the same body and he’s just watching in a tiny TV what Shen Yuan does with his body. He’d be really frustrated and would probably scream at him a lot with his screams completely unheard, but at least he’d get to see people liking him more and would be able to hear the words that Qingyuan spoke. I mentioned in an earlier post that I saw a theory about OG Qingqiu transmigrating into Shen Yuan when Shen Yuan takes over his body, and I think that’s possible because Shang Qinghua says that when he transmigrated he was born there and was since a baby? I was thinking maybe it’d be more like OG dies when OG Binghe kills him and then becomes Shen Yuan, but who knows.

I mean, also I just crave more information about him. He’s so unfortunate, and I like wish more went right for him so that he wouldn’t be so miserable. Like when you see a character where their life is just shit on, you just wish that you could do something to take away their pain.

And with that sentiment, that’s also why I found the ending to be satisfying but probably a little problematic. Like Shen Yuan is just a good guy and he has that same sentiment for Binghe just because he’s a poor kid with a shitty hand in life, but he’s also like really clearly not gay himself and not actually attracted to Binghe in that way. To be clear, the book does seem to discourage this kind of relationship in that it works in the way the narrative unfolded, but it isn’t one that would work in real life really. That’s part of the depth of it though. Like SY emotionally cares for him and he even remarks that he feels kind of more like his Dad, but the physical side of their relationship is more on Binghe’s side than his, and he acquiesces to it because he feels bad for him because this poor child has no one. And yeah, fine this works in an actual book that we’re all reading and this works within the system within the book where the MC is in a book himself with really screwed up logic rules, but I don’t recommend this method of getting with someone you like in real life. It will not end well. If someone you like is not into you, emotionally manipulating them and crying and also stalking them until they give their body to you out of desperation to console you is not the road to happiness. You also won’t have a pressure timer of life on earth ending by combining with actual hell to push them into bed with you. The fact that SY resorts to this in desperation in order to try to help Binghe to get control of the demon sword is admirable in the narrative of the story in that he’s doing it because he cares so much about this person and that’s fine, but it’s a red flag if anyone did this IRL and put their wishes aside to appease someone else. There will be a breakdown in the future as one person puts aside their needs for the other one completely. Partnerships that work are healthy and equal. That’s not what this is. In the story, the two characters have an understanding though that makes it fine, but I have second-hand anxiety for the idea that anyone would try to replicate this. This is not normally healthy.

But at the same time, the fact that the characters have an understanding to that is unique to their personal choice is also realistic in a sense that life is sometimes complicated and a similar situation could come about, but it is the choice of the people involved. With constant communication there’s a slim chance that maybe it could work out, but it’s hard. The main level of complexity I’m thinking of is that there’s different ways to care about other people or rather to just feel about other people. Like you can have like an intellectual attraction to other people in that you just like talking with them and you’re good friends with them because of that. You can be romantically attracted to someone, but also not feel sexual attraction too. Of course you can also feel physical attraction to someone, but not really care at all about them emotionally or even intellectually. SY has emotional feelings for Binghe, but it’s more on the parental side or even just human in not wanting him to suffer. If this were a points meter, his values for his emotions and just caring about him would be at max, while physical attraction and even romantic attraction are basically zero. Like he also just like cares about him in principle? Like as an all seeing reader you look at everything and are just like, wtf with this shit? How can one person suffer so much? As empthy or even sympathy you feel for them so then if the other person is more not asexual or aromantic that can trigger some feelings which is what happened between these two characters. The reason I say it isn’t necessarily bad, but some shakiness on execution too. But like say like an asexual person is romantically attracted to someone who isn’t asexual, but they still want to be with them. Like the non-ace person has some needs sometimes and even if the ace doesn’t feel it, because they care about their partner they acquiesce to their partner’s requests because they just want them to be happy. This kind of very personal choice situation I think is really similar to basically what ends up happening between SY Qingqiu and Binghe where SY isn’t really interested, but at the same time cares about Binghe’s well-being so much that he actually just wants him to be happy and reluctantly is okay with the situation. IRL though Binghe would be REALLY FRUSTRATING to be so unreasonably needy and like narcissistically abusive in wanting him all to himself an isolating him from his friends and being jealous of them. In comparison, Wangji and Wuxian are a great deal more balanced in comparison, but I also really like this book for the original idea and the complexity of SY’s ultimate choice because I feel like it’s also a bit more real that some people do make that kind of choice. It’s not healthy or guaranteed to be a success or happy experience, but it’s in the realm of possibilities for the kinds of personal choices people can make because the other person’s happiness is worth the minor discomfort.

Ah, I just have a lot of thoughts about this. Part of it stems from myself being ace also and what that means for me. But also getting to the end, I think Qingge is a fellow ace and also similar to me, just serious about his job and loyal to his crew.

I’ve read some of the extras obviously, but I haven’t delved that deeply into the extra materials.

Oh also, I laughed so hard when Mobei-jun just tossed Shang Qinghua over like a chicken. It said like a chicken and it was hilarious. XD Like imagining that panicked sound of hucking chickens in Ocarina of Time.

Oh and ho-shit the alt punishment system came up for SY Qingqiu for screwing up his points. Got to live through half the process of becoming a human stick very painfully.

I guess part of me is still kind of just wondering how Binghe grew to be SO needy. It’s to an unnecessary degree, but I guess without any real emotional or social guidance in the Endless Abyss that could happen?

Zhuzhi-Lang though is a really frustratingly annoying character, but I also like him at the same time. I’m confused by him.

The only other thing I’m like confused a bit about is like, so the 4 sects that are depicted with Cang Qiong Mountain being the top one are like the great four sects, but like...where are they? I’m just asking because of the kind of meta general landscape of what cultivation and Taoism is like some of the events that happen I would think actually would call down some interference from actual Heaven. Like in the classic lit, whenever there’s huge disturbances down in the Human World, like the Heavenly Palace and like the Jade Emperor are like, “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?” and go send people. I find it really hard to believe that such a disaster as the combining of two realms would be ignored by the armies of Heaven and like Nezha, Erlang Shen, and other notable actual deities up there would come down and be like, “The fuck you guys doing down here with these shenanigans?” Also, Journey to the West is like one of the most like influential books in the canon of Chinese lit and is regarded as literally one of the Four Great Classics. But none of these fools in these “great four sects” know how to stamp a floor and call up the local deity to tell you what the hell is happening in Jinlan City instead of sending your disciples to die? Sun Wukung did that at like every damn city and then also threatened to beat them if they like weren’t doing their job properly. Those minor deities are on the payroll for Heaven, so like...use them? Like I feel like they would know this too because like the ultimate goal for cultivation is to be able to become an immortal and end up on the payroll? I know Qingqiu is supposedly like mid-level or something, but like I think they should like know-ish where they’re going? Like in the future they would become one of those minor gods making records? Are they like not high enough to even talk to them? Maybe not, but I do think like Nezha, Pagoda Bearer Li, or Erlang Shen would definitely come down and be like, “Hey, what’s going on?”

Also like, Shen Jiu isn’t a great character and how he treats his disciples is bad and what he did was bad. But like, also, what is the standard to judge him really? Like Nezha was a dick when he was a child too. When he was 3 he went to a river and was swimming and liked killed all the fish and then a dragon prince came out and was like, “WTF? Why are all the fish dead?” and then Nezha instead of answering him kills him and guts him and then takes his tendon home to turn into a belt. Then like his Dad gets a complaint from the Dragon King like, “Hey, my son is dead! Your son did it. Hand him over so I can kill him or I destroy your town.” So then Nezha’s Dad goes to talk to him and is like, “What’re you doing?” And then Nezha answers him and tells him exactly what he did like it was no big fucking deal that he killed the local Dragon Prince and made him into a belt. Obviously there’s an argument and like Nezha basically rage quits his life and is like, if you’re so concerned about this bullshit I return this body to you and kills himself to cut off his ties to his parents. He was a rude little shit. Then he went into his Mom’s dream and threatened her until she built him a temple so he could get prayer requests until he could be reborn again. His Dad found out and wrecked the temple, so then he went up to go find his master who had him be reborn using lotus flowers. After that after being reborn, Nezha’s first order of business was to go back to his family and try to kill his own father for fucking up his temple and chased him down EVERYWHERE until other powers in Heaven, decided to send down Nezha’s older brothers with a pagoda to give to their Dad that would trap and burn Nezha everytime he tried to murder him. Is this better or worse than what Shen Jiu did? This is an actual god that people worship. A quite prominent and very famous one. Nezha is also one of my favorite deities and I had a huge crush on the Nataku from Fujisaki Ryu’s Houshin Engi manga who has mostly the same backstory as deity Nezha, and I just loved him in high school. He was a good guy. What are the standards here people? I don’t think anyone in any story in China can really judge someone like Shen Jiu doing an understandable level of murder as a response to trauma and severe abuse when they worship a deity that suffered nothing and tried to commit patricide and had a severe disregard for other life. In the cultivation world, potentially, this could be their future boss. I think arguably, he could be worse than Shen Jiu, but he’s a canonical real deity.

The above tirade for me is like a thing I feel like I would have said if I was in the position to be alive in Jinlan City and wanted to defend Shen Qingqiu cuz WTF.

Further, I’m a huge fan of Jigoku Shoujo and Enma Ai did much the same after her cousin saved her from being sacrificed, the villagers found out, buried her a live, made her cousin help bury her alive, and then she came back as a vengeful spirit and set the whole village on fire and killed everyone except maybe her parents who had their souls as prisoners by Enma himself? Can’t 100% remember. But like, on the scale of characters I like that have done terrible things, Shen Jiu is actually relatively low and under some people that are good guys.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 128: He’s Hired

Previously on BnHA: Deku’s bizarre attempt to make Nighteye crack a smile resulted in abject failure. Never one to give up that easily, Deku appealed to Nighteye’s All Might otaku side instead. Surprisingly, this attempt was convincing enough that Nighteye agreed to give Deku a chance. That is, if he can pass a test consisting of “swipe this stamp out of my hand within the next three minutes.” Deku powered up full cowl and gave it a go, but as it turns out, Nighteye’s quirk lets him literally see the future and predict what his opponent will do next. So. That made things a bit challenging. Nighteye declared that Mirio should have been the successor to One for All instead of Deku, and that it was the one decision he didn’t agree with All Might on. Rather than getting down on himself, Deku got fucking fired up and charged at Nighteye again with the intent of proving that he -- the successor All Might chose -- is worthy as fuck.

Today on BnHA: Deku tries to beat Nighteye’s foresight with speed, but has no luck. As a last-ditch effort he starts throwing random shit at him, but Nighteye still manages to dodge and Deku ends up slamming into a wall. Nighteye announces that the three minutes are up, and berates Deku for getting sloppy in the end. Deku says he was trying not to damage the vintage All Might poster on Nighteye’s wall. Nighteye is all “...” and realizes that Deku purposely went out of his way to avoid wrecking any of that sweet All Might merch, even while bouncing around Gran Torino style. This actually does win a chuckle from him, and Deku ends up being hired. Nighteye reveals that he planned to hire him all along, because he thinks that by showing Deku “the real world” of the pros, he can convince him to give up OFA. Deku accepts the internship. The next day, he and Mirio go out on patrol and run into an adorable little girl who, spoiler alert, turns out to be on the run from none other than this arc’s main villain, Overhaul.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 155 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

before we get started, I would just like to say that when Bakugou Katsuki, the most arrogant boy who ever lived (and someone not particularly known for his great fondness of Deku), learned that All Might had chosen Deku as his successor, he did not think, “well then All Might was fucking wrong.” actually, he immediately started questioning whether everything he’d ever believed was wrong instead, and subsequently accepted Deku for the first time ever. because that’s how real All Might bros do it, Nighteye. you punk

anyway

Deku doesn’t know how far Nighteye can see into the future, so his plan is just “attack him really fast and a lot”

he’s mad lol

incidentally, the title is “Boy Meets...” and honestly my TGIF-raised brain is gonna be really disappointed if it’s anything other than “world”

(ETA: I really don’t know what this was referring to. the most accurate title would be “boy meets traumatized little girl”, but that’s probably not what he was going for?)

so Nighteye’s accusing Deku of being a Gran Torino ripoff, and yeah, he’s got a point

he says that so long as the conditions are met, he can see everything Deku is going to do, no matter how far into the future it is. surely there must be a limit though, but okay

he says in two minutes’ time, Deku will be doubled over in grief, “neither seal nor paper in hand”

lol now I’m trying to think of scenarios where this could be the case and yet Deku still wins. ...

and now Nighteye is commenting on how frustrated Deku seems to be

he says the first thing he should have learned from All Might is that heroes should never show worry or doubt

ugh he’s so goddamn smug. but also tbh I can see why

come on Deku you need to deliver here

oh my god

for a minute I thought he was crying here. Deku, bud. deep breaths. don’t let it get to you

I feel like we’re seeing more and more impatience in him since that fight with Kacchan. he has more drive than ever lately

oh shit now he’s grabbing hold of a bookcase. well Nighteye did give him permission to use whatever

interestingly, this is the first time Nighteye has had an even remotely surprised-looking panel

now Deku’s hurling the whole fucking shelf of books at him lol

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

lol he’s apologizing, “but you said you didn’t care what happened to the room”

oh SHIT everyone DEKU IS USING HIS BIG HERO BRAIN

it seriously wouldn’t surprise me if he was never actually quirkless and it turned out “Big Hero Brain” has been his real quirk all along

OH MY GOD HE’S SO CLOSE

he’s fucking screaming “I AM ALL MIGHT’S DISCIPLE”

but Nighteye closed his fist and whipped his hand out of the way in the nick of time. goddammit

but he can’t attack though! he promised he wouldn’t. so Deku, just keep him on the defensive

Nighteye says whatever he sees didn’t change. Deku losing? I guess?

what the

not going to lie, this gave me Yamamoto flashbacks. fucking ouch

somehow, even though he just brained himself, Deku’s saying he can still fight

but Nighteye cuts him off and says the three minutes are up. well shit

I guess all we can do is hope Nighteye saw enough of Deku during those three minutes -- and whatever additional future-seeing that he also did? -- to pique his interest in taking him under his wing after all

come to think, every single one of Deku’s mentors thus far has dismissed him on first glance. even All Might initially wrote him off. Aizawa was this close to expelling him on the first day. Gran at least had a little faith in him because he trusted Toshinori’s judgment (even though he acted like he didn’t lol), but even he was surprised by what Deku was actually capable of. so I suppose it’s only fitting for this pattern to continue

-- oh wow

are you telling me that you gave yourself a fucking concussion because you didn’t want to risk damaging this asshole’s vintage poster

and now Nighteye’s realizing that Deku left all of his All Might shit intact

he seems surprised? something else you didn’t predict, huh

wow now he’s so impressed that the whole fucking art style changed

(ETA: so this is one of those chapters that Horikoshi wasn’t able to finish before it initially ran in Jump, which seems to happen every so often. Fallen Angels released an updated scanlation using the volume scans, so I’ll use those whenever possible.

here’s the remastered version of this scene, for starters

I like how remastered Deku has upgraded from sighing to cursing. it suits him much better. you know when people say “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed?” this is the opposite of that. he’s not disappointed. he’s mad. I think it does an even better job of showing how much he really wanted this, and how hard he’s been pushing himself.)

well. there’s that scene that Nighteye foresaw, I guess

I don’t know why, but all of Nighteye’s standing around and predicting stuff only to suddenly get surprised now at this juncture makes me really want to see him star in a cereal commercial. “Sir Nighteye, you can see into the future but can you see why kids love Cinnamon Toast Crunch?” “hmm. [examining a piece of cereal] its wrinkles are approximately 0.6 mm.” “NO YOU STUPID FUCK, IT’S CUZ THERE’S CINNAMON AND SUGAR SWIRLED OVER EVERY BITE!!!”

like, can’t you just picture it though

anyway. look what Deku made him do

(ETA: for some reason Horikoshi added shading to his face but took away the speech bubble saying “kuku.” so just to clarify, this is indeed a laugh)

that was a chuckle y’all. because Deku is just so fucking ridiculous

now Mirio and Bubble are barging in all, “pardon us.” and again the art style has gotten all sketchbooky. is this Nighteye’s quirk vision?? or just Horikoshi taking artistic license because he feels like it. who can say

(ETA: yep, once again, this is just what happens when the mangaka doesn’t have the chapter done by the deadline)

lol omg

“I like him now”

fuck me look at Deku’s face though, I’m fucking dying

he’s all “BUT I DIDN’T PASS YOUR TEST?”

and Nighteye’s all “[finger wag] ah, but I never said I wouldn’t hire you if you couldn’t”

do you know, I actually went back to look at it. and I guess, technically it’s true. but he sure did fucking imply it lol

anyways, Mirio knows what’s what

what the fuck, now Nighteye says he already made the decision to hire Deku the moment he heard he was coming there

is he full of shit or is this true

but he says it doesn’t mean that he’s acknowledged him yet

he says that the people aren’t waiting for a faint light, but a dazzling one. and he intends to make it clear who is suited for that power, even if it means going against All Might’s will

you know, even if I don’t agree with him, I have to admit that dazzling light line is pretty good

anyway. so Deku understands that Nighteye intends for this to be his first taste of the “real” world, with the expectation that he’ll realize he’s not cut out to be the next successor after all and will voluntarily give up OFA. since the only way it can be passed on is if he willingly transfers it to someone else

haha lol. fat chance of that

anyway!! so Deku’s clutching the stamp and says he would be honored to accept the internship offer

and now we’re cutting to day one of the internship. wow. that was fast

(ETA: how is it that the pacing in this arc began so efficiently, and then ten chapters from now we literally spend 15 whole pages entering a fucking building. wtf happened)

they’re setting out to do patrol and surveillance. who are they surveilling?

Deku lucked out, he gets to go with Mirio rather than Nighteye’s condescending ass

fucking look at all this shit Mirio is wearing that’s just going to come sliding right off the instant he quirks too hard

(ETA: you’ll hear more ranting about this in chapter 139, but it sure is some bullshit that Mirio gets a special costume woven from his hair or whatever and Momo and Hagakure can’t get the same thing. that’s very convenient indeed)

Mirio what does your chestplate say? it looks like “1,000,000” but that’s so weird lol

Bubble explains to Deku that Nighteye’s office is in the middle of an investigation -- !!

holy shit, that’s right. Nighteye’s agency was investigating Overhaul!

“odd actions”, like meeting up with Shigaraki Tomura and blowing up one of his main guys. odd stuff like that

Bubble’s explaining that “Chisaki” (whom I’m just gonna keep referring to as Overhaul even if Deku doesn’t know his villain name yet) has started reassembling the yakuza groups, and that they recently made contact with the League of Villains

Deku’s all “the League of Villains?!” yeah, you know the guys. kidnapped your boyfriend, creeped on you at the mall, etc.

apparently they haven’t been able to get direct evidence of him plotting evil. wow, really?? his quirk isn’t exactly subtle

but Nighteye says they can’t treat them like villains until they get proof of criminal activity

well then, putting Deku on the job is the right fucking call, let me tell you right now. bad guys love to do evil shit around this kid. you’ll have your evidence before the day is out

semi-unrelated side note, have you guys heard Overhaul’s theme from the OST? because it’s fucking sick. like, if you’re looking for kind of a Naruto-meets-trap-beat vibe, this is your fucking jam right here

(ETA: honestly his theme is too good for him. he doesn’t deserve such a badass theme)

anyway so now we are cutting to a group of people, and then to two panels of people’s feet

who even knows who these people are, but one of them is barefoot

it looks like a little girl...?

what the

ohhhhhhh dang

okay, so. I recently couldn’t resist AO3’s siren song and did some careful fic scouting. I was very careful, so I’ve managed to avoid pretty much anything potentially spoilery thus far -- except for one thing. I know that there is a little girl character named Eri. I don’t know who she is or what’s her deal but I know she exists. and she’s a little girl

so like. is this her...?

by the way Mirio is fucking oblivious huh. just continues to walk along with his heroic patrol posture, totally unfazed

awww

Eri’s kind of adorable??

Deku’s apologizing to her -- “my bad, that must have hurt.” even though she ran into him. always so damned smooth, Deku

she looks really upset though

ohhhhhhhhhhhh shit

hahahahahaha OH FUCK

okay so I immediately have several questions and several more immediate concerns. is she related to Overhaul?? is she a hostage? are those bandages around her arms for a reason??

(ETA: MOTHERFUCKER DON’T GET ME STARTED. THIS IS THE MOST FUCKED UP THING I’VE READ IN A MANGA SINCE NINA AND HER FUCKING DOG)

she seems really scared and I think it’s because she thinks she’s about to get in trouble with Overhaul. and like, I don’t fucking want him to come one step closer to her lol. and I wonder if Deku’s hero instincts will prevent him from letting her go back with him

no wonder they had that whole “we can’t treat them like villains without evidence” thing. so now this becomes a case of “do I compromise the investigation in order to protect a scared child from potential abuse even though I’m not sure?”

and I think there’s only one answer to that question, particularly for Deku

well buddy, good luck with that internship

 bonus:

 just some random end-of-volume stuff

apparently Stain placed 29th in the character popularity poll. can you believe he got 25 fucking votes while Best Jeanist got only 22. I don’t fucking understand people

8 people voted for Bakugou’s mom and these people are good and smart and handsome and I like them

somehow Yoarashi got only 14 votes. I seriously thought he’d be more popular than that. I guess that’s what happens when you cross Todoroki and make him fail the provisional license exam. I still love you Yoarashi

the 23 people who voted Mineta as their favorite character should be automatically placed on a sex offender registry

Aoyama only got 17 votes and it’s a travesty. unappreciated in his time

and there is a fantastic page where the remaining class A kids who finished outside of the top 10 get to do their own cosplay two-page spread. sans Mineta, which is even better

Tokoyami is just. I have no words

somehow Mina even managed to work that 90s leopard print into her damn ren faire outfit. this girl will not be fucking deterred

what the fuck is this prototype Mirio hair

what a fucking liar. don’t act like you didn’t fully intend to give him the Tintin hair the entire time. are you trying to avoid being sued or what

(ETA: so is this why Mirio has a different hairstyle in every single flashback? can this be considered a running gag? because it’s amazing)

lastly, Nighteye apparently has green hair just like Deku, which I did not see coming. All Might what is it with you and green haired apprentices

(ETA: somehow I keep managing to forget this fact and it always surprises me lol)

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 007: Costumes and Comforting White Rice

Previously on BnHA: Aizawa had everyone do fitness tests. Turns out superpowered children are very talented. Deku broke his finger.

Today on BnHA: COSTUMES. AND A GUY NAMED LUNCH RUSH

Notes: As always, all comments not prefaced by an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 11 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.

so the title is “costume change”, ooh I’m intrigued

All Might is helpfully rehashing the shit that just went down in the last chapter in case we missed it or weren’t paying attention

basically “Deku fucked up his finger but it was actually somehow the coolest thing ever”

right away Izuku is still crying his gritted-teeth pain!tears, so the unbroken streak continues!

aw Ocha is really happy that he did well and now won’t get expelled

I think Bakugou is broken

[waves a hand in front of his face] you okay there pal. deep breaths. it’s going to be all right

and now he’s fucking launching himself at Deku, presumably with the intent to beat the living shit out of him, oh dear

but teacher’s not having that shit

OH MY GOD AN ACTUAL EXPLANATION FOR THE MAGIC SCARF

YEEES THIS IS HOW WE DO THINGS IN GROWN-UP MANGA! WE EXPLAIN OUR PLOT HOLES LIKE ADULTS

THIS IS SUCH A FUCKING RUSH GUYS

also these panels are hilarious

voop

god bless, the logical explanations for everything just keep on coming. now EH is explaining that the reason he always looks so fucking shake-and-baked is because he has to maintain eye contact in order for his powers to work. I love this, it explains so much. the goggles, the eye drops, the creepy intense staring. and it’s such a good handicap for what would otherwise be an insanely OP quirk

just. thank you jesus. thank you oprah winfrey. thank you tom cruise

do you know, so far I haven’t had a single plot thing to complain about in this entire manga series. (except maybe the whole “surrounding community somehow doesn’t notice the beach cleanup happening right under their noses for ten entire months” thing.) can they possibly keep this up?

“is your finger okay?” “yeah.” NO

HGUMNANAA A FLASHBACKKKKKK A BAKUDEKU FLASHBACK. HOLD ME. I NEED TO SIT DOWN

they’re so cute they’re so fucking cute. Izuku following him around fanboying about quirks. Baku saying Deku’s probably won’t be as cool as his. trampsing along through the woods catching bugs. using the nicknames

and now Baku is FREAKING THE FUCK OUT because he’s been the special one all this time and now Izu finally has a quirk too. like, he seems pissed off, but also strangely threatened. like he’s really nervous that Deku might all of a sudden outshine him. once again, I am speculating if there are possibly secret self-esteem issues. I know it’s too early to be theorizing and I’m just going to look like an idiot but I CAN’T HELP IT. Deku is so good and pure and kind and smart, like he has everything going for him, but because he didn’t have a quirk, Bakugou could always rest assured that he was still better! but now DEKU HAS A FUCKING QUIRK. that’s like the ONE thing he solidly had on him and now the gap is narrowing by the minute. hmm. hmmmmmmmmm

disclaimer, he’s probably just an asshole and I’m projecting character development onto him that doesn’t exist sob I know

BUT MAYBE NOT?????

anyway we’ve apparently seen all we needed to see of these tests, because Deku sums up the rest of it in a couple of summary bubbles. “after this we finished up and I hung in there but it sucked”

yay now the results. which sad son of a bitch gets kicked out I wonder. it’s occurred to me that it might not be anyone and EH might just have been fucking with them, but you never know

HAHAHA

[SLAMS HAND ON TABLE]

NOT TO TOOT MY OWN HORN BUT I CALLED IT AND I’M A FUCKING GENIUS. [drinks a glass of water too fast and chokes]

this motherfucker is such a troll

Izuku appears to be phasing into another dimension from the shock of this news. meanwhile this smug-looking girl with a ponytail standing next to him is all like “I already fucking knew”

you know what, smug ponytail girl, ANYONE can say that AFTER the big reveal. the real MVPs are the ones who saw it coming a whole entire page before it actually happened, so you can shove it okay

and now Eraser Head is saying “we’re done here”? but I want to see the rankings, damn it

(ETA: funny how in the anime he shows the rankings first thing and THEN all the rest of this goes down. somehow he’s an even bigger troll there.)

and he finally takes pity on Izuku and sends him to the nurse’s office. you really shouldn’t need a teacher’s permission to go see the nurse, but I guess it’s the thought that counts

and there we go! rankings. so Izu’s all the way down at the bottom. and surprisingly Bakugou is not quite at the top? AND WHAT’S THIS?

THIS IS A NAME I RECOGNIZE. THAT’S DISCOUNT ZUKO BY GEORGE 8D

please be introduced soon, I’m excited to meet you

no idea who that person is at the very top. but hey good for them

hey guys. guess who ships All Might/Aizawa ever since their rivalish history was established in the previous chapter. [points to self]

so this is good stuff

look at this shade being thrown back and forth. or rather, EH throwing shade and AM struggling to throw it back but he’s too much of a straight arrow for it to really work lmao. “april fool’s day was over a week ago”

also oh shit last year he threw out the whole damn bunch. those guys must have SUCKED

oh my god now All Might is smugly confirming that EH likes Izuku too

hey guys here’s a closeup of All Might’s reaction to this:

you like krabby patties don’t you squidward

my boy Izuku out here accumulating mentors like... something... that accumulates a lot

that’s right, he has TWO whole mentors. what a legend

I got really confused for a second when the following panel said Izu was going home after the first day. even though I know it’s not a boarding school, I somehow tricked myself into thinking it was for a sec

oh hey it’s Iida. he wants to know how Deku’s finger is

lol he didn’t remember being healed last time. thank you for that, information bubble

I’m serious, it’s not essential information but it helps the series to remain consistent with itself, and it shows that the mangaka so far is remembering even minor details like this, and I’m honestly really impressed

Horikoshi Kouhei is the author. just looked it up. I gotta remember that. Good job so far Horikoshi-sensei. also he’s apparently younger than me?? nice to know that some of us millennials are out there crushing it at least

oh snap Recovery Girl cautions him that if he keeps getting hurt he’ll eventually run out of stamina and die. wtf. is “stamina” really a finite resource like that? can’t he just get a good night’s sleep and replenish that shit

I’m genuinely wondering how long him not being able to control his powers is going to be an issue then. I’m starting to think not that long. at first I thought it would be a very slow process, because if he got too strong too quickly it would be bad for the story. but on further reflection, it’s really the other way around. there’s only so many times he can be the only guy without any powers and trying to figure out what to do before that shit gets really old. basically right now he’s TOO nerfed

“I thought Iida was scary but he’s actually just super-serious.” he’s very nice for a 40-year-old trying to hang out with a bunch of teenagers. I’m sure you two will be good friends

Ochako!

Iida’s calling her “Infinity Girl” since she threw the ball so high it registered as “infinity meters” on Aizawa’s scale. I wonder if this name will stick, cuz I like it

haha Ochako doesn’t know Izuku’s actual first name and calls him Deku. he was listed as “Izuku” on the results board, though. you could hardly fail to notice that, since he was in last place. she just wants to call him by the cute nickname. fucking sly move there

hmm apparently he doesn’t like the name Deku? or he’s just trying to play it cool with the Girl He Likes

(ETA: now I know the whole sad story of “Deku” and its various meanings. I wonder just how much work Horikoshi put into selecting this name and its kanji)

like he said, he fucking loves that name

“it’s like the Copernican Revolution” hahaha what. a quick Google search confirms that this was the whole shift from people thinking the sun revolved around the earth to realizing it was the other way around. I completely fail to understand what this has to do with the situation of Deku letting Ocha call him “Deku” because she thinks it’s cute. this metaphor is beyond my fucking grasp

(ETA: I must have been tired or something because it’s obviously just that he’s done a 180 from hating the name to embracing it. still a weird analogy but whatever.)

ohhhhhh here come the feels ready or not

SHIELDS UP. IT’S THE PURE, GENTLE HAPPINESS OF A BLOSSOMING SHOUNEN FRIENDSHIP. THE PROTAGONIST’S FIRST FRIENDS EVER. NO, I MUST BE STRONG, DAMN IT. DAMN ITT

oh what the fresh hell, All Might

first the training!! ten months! grueling!! then the entrance exam!! fighting a bunch of giant robots! not having the slightest clue about how to actually use his brand new powers! then the first day of school!! you think you’re finally safe, but NO we’re going to have a trial that may possibly expel you! but he somehow makes it past that too! surely he’s in the clear NOW, right? he has to be?? but nooo, the SECOND day of school, THAT’S when tHE REAL FUCKING TEST BEGINS, FUCK

WHAT THE FUCK IS THE THIRD DAY GOING TO BE. THE END OF THE WORLD?

lmao Mic teaching them English

lmaaaaao everyone is bored out of their fucking minds except fucking Izuku, that FUCKING NERD

the school chef is a sentient humanoid vacuum cleaner named Lunch Rush

nice try with that gimmick there Lunch Rush, but you’re no Best Fucking Jeanist

“the white rice is comforting, so I go with that!” fucking damn, Deku. maybe try branching out just a little

by the way, Izu is narrating all of this like it’s already an established routine, but isn’t it still just the second day? or was All Might just talking out of his ass before about that “real test”

omg

it’s All Might’s class. don’t tell me this was what he was talking about when he was going on about the “real test” fjksj

PROFESSOR LOCKHART. PROFESSOR GILDEROY LOCKHART IS THAT YOU

yet again they talk about how differently he’s drawn sob I can’t

everyone: [turns and winks at the camera] WE KNOW WE’RE CARTOOOONS

what is this pose

gri gri gri

“today’s activity is [holds up a card that says BATTLE] BATTLE”

UNIFOOOOOOORMS

I MEAN COSTUMES

YEEEES. I’VE SEEN DEKU’S COSTUME IN TUMBLR POSTS. I WANT TO SEE HIM WEAR IT YES PLEASE

HERE WE GO

-- PFFFFFFT

Bakugou looks... I’ll let you know when I stop laughing

Ochako looks like your standard Marvel heroine really but the two little buttons on her chest give it an extra dash of cuteness

Iida looks like a fucking super sentai with that helmet

Yuri on Ice, Mickey Mouse, Kermit the Frog, and Tall Guy with Pterodactyl Arms look fine, I guess

do not fucking tell me the chapter’s going to end before we actually see Izuku

...

the chapter ended before we actually saw Izuku

I’m going to kick you you stupid chapter

there isn’t even a bonus character bio at the end, it’s just a thing about all of Horikoshi’s assistants. good for them, I guess, I know they work fucking hard and they’re doing a good job so far

guess what I’m going to do. “read the next chapter.” yep