#despite being a kotaro account

[kotaromita]

I MADE A PROJECT SEKAI VIVID BAD SQUAD NPC PERSONALITY TEST IF YOU WANNA KNOW WHO YOU'RE MOST LIKE BASED ON A SET OF VERY SPECIFIC 20 QUESTIONS!!!

TAKE IT HERE!!

[raemoriendi]

I’m smack in the middle of a spontaneous rewatch, so do you wanna hear my batshit zombie land saga theory?

(yeah you do, here we go)

so, this guy —

is obviously not who he says he is. mysterious idol producer who spent enough time in hollywood learning makeup sfx skills that makes zombies regularly look like normal living teenage girls, who then despite his apparent egregious talent with a makeup brush, returns to his very small and little known hometown in japan? who happens to also figure out how to bring back girls that have been killed by the Saga curse?

yeah, we as the audience are set up to know there’s more to him that meets the eye. especially with the flashback to him as Sakura’s pre-death classmate, Inui, which I am mentally chewing on like a dog with a bone.

(like romero here.)

but!! while I don’t have a lot of proof, and I'm working from the anime alone (not the manga that came out after or Zombie Land Saga Gaiden), due to my own weird special interest in funerary practices, I have a theory about what he might actually be:

Kotaro either is or was at some point, a mortician, or a yukanshi/nōkanshi.

(putting this under a cut, because it gets long, and also for some s1 and s2 spoilers.)

this initially occurred to me in season one, episode two, when we first saw Kotaro putting makeup on Sakura before a show in the back of the van, specifically applying a flesh-colored putty with something that looked like an offhand spatula to the big scar in the middle of her forehead. You can see it at the timestamp 14:11.

this reminded me of something called Embalmer’s Putty, which is used in the embalming process (or a general process of touching up the decedent minus chemical preservation) to fill in wounds for a viewing, visiting hours, or any gathering where the deceased’s loved ones might want to see their body for a last time.

here are screengrabs from two different funerary equipment companies showing what embalmer’s putty looks like and what it can do:

embalming putty can be already flesh-toned so as to look like living skin, and thus blend in with the mortician’s final product: making the deceased look more lively and at rest, restoring their dignity and giving peace of mind to the bereaved who want to see them off.

this process is actually really well summarized here, in this article from Regal Casket company:

if Kotaro was trained as a mortician or funerary cosmetologist, he would be trained to do exactly what he does every time he helps the girls get ready: making them look alive, healthy, and most importantly, lacking any visible mortal wounds that could upset their living audience. The girls themselves remark on how he makes them not only look like their old selves, but at times even better than before. this is exactly the type of skill set he would need to cultivate if he was preparing bodies for a last moment together with the deceased's loved ones, so they don't remember the celebrant as they were when they died, but how they looked in life.

keep in mind also that if Kotaro really had learned his makeup skills in Hollywood, he would have learned how to apply wound makeup/sfx to in-tact, healthy, living skin to make it look dead or wounded, not the other way around. makeup artists, even special effects makeup artists, are not taught how to work with dead or decaying human skin.

on top of this, a regular special effects artist would not be trained to fill grave injuries or mortal wounds, because their canvases are all living, presumably healthy people with no major injuries, who are able to go on movie sets and act for hours and hours at a time.

Kotaro wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) even be using the same kind of makeup that would go on living people, because dead bodies, obviously, are often room temperature at most when they’re being prepared for viewing, if not colder due to being held temporarily in cooling storage to prevent decay. funerary cosmetics are specifically formulated to account for this lack of temperature in a dead person, because makeup spreads differently over cold skin as compared to the warm skin of someone alive. trying to put on regular makeup, even special effects makeup, would look more than off - something Franchouchou is definitely keen to avoid if they want to keep their cover. (Or wanted to, before the storm aftermath of s2.)

some other points of interest that (to me) can be read to support this theory:

Kotaro drives a black van. while not a hearse (or “funeral coach” as the industry sometimes calls them) it’s still the right color to blend in to a funeral procession if needed, and large enough to store necessary equipment for services, viewings, etc.

Kotaro is always in a suit except when he's bathing or sleeping - specifically, a dark-colored suit. Even when the man was in a full depressive episode by the beginning of s2, he still kept his suit pants and dress shirt. It serves the purpose of being seen as a (semi-)competent idol producer who’s always ready to make a deal for his band, sure! but if his day job when he don’t see him (going away “on business” like during the episode Sakura had amnesia) it also suits him working in the somber, subdued environment of a funeral home. (minus the shades, red vest, and dried squid in his pocket. those are likely just part of his persona for Franchouchou's sake.)

Kotaro had to become familiar with resurrection magic somehow. Who’s to say he couldn’t come into contact with it during his work at a funeral home or as a mortician, something that would keep him adjacent to death and its sacred rites and practices? possibly from a young age, considering many funeral workers can start an apprenticeship or internship in their late teens? Wouldn’t that make more sense contextually than him just stumbling across it in a library, or randomly in a magical encounter in a world where zombies exist?

Kotaro coughing up blood at the end of s2 might be the Curse, but it might also be the stress of managing Franchouchou on top of the stress of his day job. these positions can be highly taxing emotionally and physically, as one needs to be a steadying presence for people on some of the worst days of their lives, and while embalming isn't as much of a thing in Japan (to my knowledge), exposure to certain chemicals from the restoration process over time has proven to be hazardous to one's health.

“okay, rae, maybe,” you’re saying. “but some of these are still kind of a stretch.”

this is where I get a little more speculative, but bear with me:

from the brief glimpse we have of him as Inui, and based on the translation of “Inui” and “Tatsumi” being opposite directions (northwest and southeast, respectively), we know that Kotaro wasn’t always this brash, loud idiot producer we know today. there was apparently a point in high school where he was very shy, and was maybe friends with Sakura, or at least acquaintences.

what if Inui was so shy and soft-spoken because he had grown up in the world of funerary traditions? many funeral homes are often generational, handed down from parent to child as a family business. someone accustomed (or maybe just exposed) to death that early might have some reasons to be kind of quiet and withdrawn.

this might also account for how he knew about the other dead girls of Franchouchou before Sakura. if one of his parents or even his grandparents were handling Saga’s deceased, he would have had an opportunity to hear about the accidents that killed them before the news spread as widely, encounter them in the restoration stage as dead bodies (depending on when they happened and if he was alive yet), and even seen their makeup applied by his predecessors if he was allowed in the prep room, or at least hear their recollections of it after the fact.

we know that he’s descended from Kiichi, Yugiri's love interest from when she was alive, who was a young man dedicated to seeing Saga's return after it merged with another region and lost its name. we also know he's being mentored by the immortal bartender Jofuku, who's said to be Saga's living embodiment, and supposedly is or is based on a wizard from mythology who discovered the Elixir of Immortality. while Jofuku is a likely source for the magic of necromancy, and maybe even selected the girls he wanted resurrected, it would make sense that people involved with Saga's dead were in contact to some degree with the man who is Saga itself, especially since the ZSL fandom wiki has noted that Saga's Curse in current times has manifested as a low birth rate and aging population. if there are more dead and dying in Saga than there are living, a family funeral home would be kept quite busy, on top of all the random accidents that the Curse causes to cut down people who would bring Saga recognition or prosperity.

so let's try this on for size: Inui grows up in a family of yukanshi/nōkanshi, who prepare the decedents for customary otsuya -- a wake held the night before the funeral itself, meant to give the living bereaved a last night to spend with their late loved one. his family likely also participates to some degree in the funeral ceremony itself (osohiki) and the cremation (kasou) before the ashes are interred. (I got my info on Japanese funerals here, as imperfect as it may be.) Inui learns about the historical funerals of Saga's famous dead that he wasn't around for through his family's experiences or through their ties to Jofuku. He begins training to take over the family business maybe as a teenager, this peculiar adolescence maybe leaving him a little more reserved than his classmates.

it might also give him the chance to practice his proficiency with music composition and his instruments -- song selection is a not-small part of modern funerary practices. maybe his family encouraged him to learn to write songs and play so he could perform at funerals? his stage fright evidenced in other episodes would shut that down pretty quickly, of course, but maybe this interest in music is how he becomes friends with Sakura to begin with, as evidenced by the clip of the CD exchange.

but then Sakura is killed in a terrible accident and his world turns upside down. it's bad enough that he's grieving, but then her body might come to his family's funeral home to be prepared for her ceremony and interment. he sees this lively, determined girl he admired dead and cold on the prep room table, her beautiful face ruined, and it's just not fair. how can his heart not break?

maybe he goes to Jofuku and demands to know what the old man knows about bringing people back, and the Curse. maybe he's less direct, but seeks the knowledge of necromancy for himself, with his family so close to death for so many generations. he continues his training for ten years, learning all he can about how to make the dearly departed look like themselves again. look better than themselves, even.

when the Zombie Land Saga Project is in the planning stages, living in a funeral family might give him access to or secondhand knowledge of where all the girls' ashes are interred. eventually, his line of work gives him the opportunity to collect however much he needs from each for the magic to work.

he knows it can, because even though Jofuku himself has never died, Romero has, and has been successfully brought back at some point. he's a little weird and not the prettiest, but he's still very much a dog.

ten years later, when the spell takes hold and his undead Saga champions resurrect, he knows how to make each and every one of them look like their old selves again.

he does Sakura's makeup first, just to see his old friend again as he remembered her.

we know how the rest goes from there, but this is my overarching theory that explains Why Kotaro Tatsumi outside his relationship to Sakura, but also how he could come up with Zombie Land Saga outside of just being a citizen of Saga himself.

anyway!! apologies if this was scattered, I wrote it in dribs and drabs throughout the day, but it's been gnawing at me for a minute. if there's anything canon I don't know about that completely obliterates this theory, then just call it an AU, and if this has already been agreed on in other parts of fandom, just call me fashionably late.

if you've read this long, you're a sweetheart <3

[raddogakito]

It's disgustingly early in the morning. Akito tends to get up disgustingly early in the morning, though, so Kotaro has forced himself to do the same. Despite surely being hungover, Akito's been waking up at the crack of dawn to run for quite some time, so regardless of the fact he'd much prefer to sleep in, his body is awake. Kotaro is also exhausted. He didn't sleep since he was sure he'd sleep through his alarm if he did. But whatever. Akito was ignoring him and he had no clue what was going on and he was frustrated and he only had one idea so he was going with that.

Despite the fact he's unsure if Akito will even see it before potentially coming outside anyway, Kotaro texts him.

KM: hey come outside

@kotaromita

AS: what the fucj AS: why are you outside my house wtf

Kotaro waved when he frantically pulled back the blinds. He fucking waved. He was outside his house at (he checked his phone) 5:36 am. And waving at him. What the fuck.

Running some quick calculations (that'd probably be wrong) he had maybe three hours before Toya woke up and realised he'd been abandoned. Not accounting for the fact it was technically a school day. Didn't Kotaro have school? Oh, right, Kotaro has no life. ...okay that was mean. Being mean was how he got into this mess in the first place. He'd have to make this quick if he wanted to get through his usual circuit.

He shoved open the door (he'd apparently forgotten to lock it last night and presumably Ena'd too) and headed down to where Kotaro was waiting, supremly befuzzled.

[theanticool]

What a tournament! Wrestling has consistently been the most entertaining Olympic combat sport and it was really on display in this year. Some really crazy matches in the freestyle portions. Big dramatics.

Japan has really built up that wrestling program. The women came through and did their thing like they always do. Won 4 of the 6 gold medals available in women's freestyle. Despite having their best wrestler get upset in the first round of 50 kg (Yui Susaki). And then they got two bronze medals in the divisions they did not win. Crazy levels of dominance continue for them. But they also won 4 gold medals in the men's divisions, which is a huge shift for them. They had Kenichiro Fumita and Nao Kusaka win gold in Greco-Roman. Then in men's freestyle, they had Kotaro Kiyooka and Rei Higuchi winning gold as well with Daichi Takatani earning silver but beating Team USA cornerstone Kyle Dake in the process. 9 finalists in 18 weight classes. Just crazy.

As for Team USA, it was really a tale of two halves. The women showed up and showed out. Two gold medals for USA women's team with veteran Sarah Hildebrandt avenging her bronze exit in 2020 to win gold here. Another legend of USA wrestling in Helen Maroulis takes home her third Olympic medal, taking a bronze. Plus the coronation of one of the most dominant women in the sport, 20 year old Amit Elor. We also had 20 year old Kennedy Blades make her final to take home silver. The future for the women's wrestling team is extremely bright. I'm just saying, now is the time to enroll your daughter/niece in wrestling.

For the American men though, heartbreak. For the first time since 1968, the men's team did not take home gold. Spencer Lee came up closest, making the final but leaving with a silver medal. Kyle Dake was upset in the semifinals and was forced to settle for another bronze. 4x NCAA champion Aaron Brooks made a great account of himself. Took home bronze after losing his semifinal bout with literally 5 seconds left on the clock. Kyle Snyder and Zain Rutherford came up short in hunts for bronze. Just a really tough year. Team USA will need to regroup heading into the 2028 Olympics in LA.

There were other really big stories too. The biggest, Mijain Lopez getting his record breaking 5x Olympic gold medal for Cuba and cementing himself as the unquestionable GOAT. Just an insane reign of dominance from the Cuban heavyweight. Then leaving his shoes on the mat to signify retire. Just a perfect way to ride off into the sunset. Geno Petriashvili of Georgia, finally getting that Olympic gold on the third shot. For those that don't remember, he came up short in 2020 losing to Gable Steveson at the very last second. Relative unknown Akhmed Tazhudinov continuing to breakout after showing up and dominating in 2023, this time for Bahrain as Russia is banned from Olympic competition. Hassan Yazdani wrestling with the injury heading into the final at 86 kg. Jersey boy Sebastian Rivera getting a bronze medal for Puerto Rico! Taha Akgül retiring after another bronze medal.

Just an amazing tournament overall.

For anyone who may have tuned into amateur wrestling for the first time this year for the Olympics and find themselves becoming a fan, you can follow some of your favs later this year because the non-Olympic world championships are being held in October!

October 28-31, many of the men and women you saw wrestling for a gold medal will be fighting for the right to call themselves a world champion.

Would tell you about amateur boxing but that is a huge mess right now.

[linkspooky]

The Todorokis and the Shimuras...

The Shimura family is the set up for how we are supposed to judge the Todorokis. They were the original broken house that fell apart. Everything in Shigaraki’s flashback, informs Dabi’s flashback later. We see the same abusive dynamics repeating again and again, and yet nobody learning from them. @logicalbookthief wrote almost a week ago and it turned out to be near clairyvoyant to this weak’s chapter. 

Interesting that Dabi, Shigaraki and Toga all internalized the idea they’re “bad” or “not good (enough)” as children. Interesting how rather than discouraging this idea, the adults around them reinforce that they don’t deserve the care a “good” or “perfect” child would be entitled to, by seeing their pain and doing nothing to help.

Shigaraki and Dabi are established as foils precisely because, they ar both children who, literally no matter what in their household, kept trying to be good heroes. However, every adult around them treated them like they were the problem, that they were at fault for what went wrong in the household, no matter how hard they struggled to be good they were labeled as “bad children.” They’re the scapegoats of their household, and as they grow into adults they become the scapegoats of society. “Do you really want to be a hero?” is asked to both Shigaraki and Dabi, they can’t be seen as good

Because it’s easier to divide between good children and bad children, good victims and bad victims, then for the adults to actually try to fix their mistakes. That would mean admitting that they might be the problem too. In order to enforce this, they even lift up other children as “good children” creating golden childs, and because they didn’t react as strongly to the abuse then it puts Tenko and Toya as the ones to blame for not trying to be good enough. It’s Toya’s fault he became a villain, unlike Shoto who tried to be the hero of his family despite all of his abuse. Toya must have never really wanted to be a hero in the first place.

1. Tenko and Toya were good boys

If Tenko and Toya were not forced to carry the blame for how their household went wrong. If one actually looked at them as children, it’s easy to notice what good children they were, actually.

When Kotaro punishes Tenko for playing hero again he assumes he was just not listening to his rule, and trying to cause trouble. However, when Nao asks him why he was doing it, we learn his motivation, Tenko didn’t want two bullied kids to be left out.

Tenko is five, so he doesn’t really have like a developed personality yet, but a lot of the positive qualities Shigaraki displays as an adult are all their. 

Tenko always follows his own dream, no matter how much the adults around him try to discourage him. His desire to be a hero is that strong. He has the same quality that Deku is constantly praised for. 

Tenko is also, extremely emotionally intelligent. He realizes that his father is the one in the wrong for always picking on him, and that his parents are siding with his father and not him by reassuring him of his father’s good intentions. Your father has a reason for always forbidding you to be a hero. Your father means well. Everyone puts, Kotaro’s good intentions, and Kotaro’s well being over Tenko’s. It’s Tenko’s fault for provoking him, it’s Tenkos’s fault for not giving up on his dream of being a hero. 

It’s interesting how Tenko and Toya almost come from seemingly opposite households. Tenko comes from a friendly household where he has an extremely close relationship with his sister, where his grandparents are almost always comforting him and doing fun things with him, and yet he still feels smothered by it all because nobody wants to tell Kotaro off, so his emotional needs are neglected. Tenko spends a lot of his time with his family, Toya spends time mostly isolated from his mother and father and yet, they both feel rejected fundamentally from the household dynamic.

It’s because no matter what at the end of the day they are the scapgoat for their household, it doesn’t matter what Tenko and Toya’s actual emotions and intentions are, because they’re perceived as thebad ones. We as the audience see Tenko’s sensitivity, his care for others, his desire to be a hero, but his family labels him as a troublemaker for... having the same dream every other five year old kid his age as. Tenko and Toya aren’t really allowed to make mistakes, or be wrong about things like normal kisd would because they’re not really normal kids, they’re “the problem child” or the “problem” of the household.

It’s not just that Tenko was abused, it was that he was abused in front of everybody, and not a single person tried to help.

He could have stopped if anybody in his family did anything but watch, but in that moment they didn’t. Of course it’s hard to stand up to an abuser, that’s only human, but not only did they leave Tenko to cry alone afterwards, they also created the atmosphere where Kotaro was constantly apologized for, and Tenko was constnatly blamed, which eventually led up to this.

Tenko is not a bad child, Tenko is five. The story repeats for Toya, I don’t think the adults around him realized what an amazing child Toya was. 

He’s just as hard working as any other kid at UA. Isn’t that the motto? Plus Ultra? Always put the effort in and be willing to break yourself to be the best. That’s what Bakugo is taught, that’s what Shoto is taught later on. They always have to be willing to push themselves to their limits and surpass it.

Yet, for doing what any other kid did, Toya is punished. It’s not his father’s fault, it’s Toya’s, because Toya just can’t give up. Literally nevermind his fact that Enji taught him to think this way, that literally every other kid his age is taught to push themselves to be a hero, no it’s just something wrong with Toya. Toya’s the one who won’t give up, and there’s nothing Enji can do to make him give up.

Let’s ignore the fact that Enji is also. you know, a liar. Having more kids to replace Toya isn’t for Toya’s sake, it’s for the sake of Enji’s dream. Enji doesn’t do what’s best for Toya’s welll being like ever, he gives up on Toya because Toya won’t surpass all might so it’s pointless, he continues making kids until he gets one with the quirk he wants, because, that’s what his goal is. Enji’s goal was never to have a family or be a father, it was to get an heir with an ideal quirk.

Yet, Enji is given the benefit of the doubt that he’s doing this for Toya’s sake, and Toya isn’t. Toya is just the proble child causing disruption in the household. It’s Toya who won’t give up on the training. 

Except once again, by seeing Toya as the bad child they’re missing out on what a good child Toya is. Look how hard he tries, look how he doesn’t give up, even when everyone around him tells him his dream is impossible he keeps on struggling agaist impossible odds. Is it wrong for a disabled person to want to run a marathon? Is it wrong for a person in a wheelchair to want to play basketball? Yes, Toya’s quirk may have gotten in the way of him being a hero, but there were ways Enji could have accomodated his disability, supervised him, taught him how to become a hero without hurting himself.

Except, Enji was never ever interested in any of those things. Enji didn’t care about Toya’s dream. Enji didn’t even care about Toya besides the fact that Toya could be made to carry his own dream.

Toya’s extremely hardworking, dedicated, and also intelligent as well. When he was a kid he was capable of comprehending that it was wrong of him to attack Shoto. He realized that in the household he was being abused. A thirteen year old was even capable of understanding that Enji SHOULDN’T be able to get away with what he’s doing. 

Like everyone goes on and on about what Toya says about his sister and his mother this chapter, but no one mentioned the fact that  Toya was right. Toya had the correct political take. An abuser should not be allowed to keep his job as a hero like this if he’s going to treat his family this way. Just like a hollywood producer who abuses women shouldn’t be allowed to keep their job if they’re using it to take advantage of others.

Toya confronts his mother for the fact that she’s failing him as a parent as well. That’s not Toya being misogynist towards Rei, he’s telling her the truth and holding her accountable. Yes, Rei is also a victim, but Toya is thirteen he doesn’t understand that. All he understands is that he’s being neglected by both parents. I mean, look at how Rei sees Toya. Look at how the scene is framed visually. This is Rei’s flashback of Toya it seems like.

She paints him like an incrediblly disturbed child.  As if Toya is the disturbance in the household. As if he’s the bad one. As if he’s the one causing the problem. As if, if he just gave up his dream of being a hero then everything would be better.

Ignoring the fact that, Toya would still be an abused child even if he didn’t react the way he did. If Toya was quiet. If Toya shut up. He’d still have grown up with zero parenting at all. Enji still would have gone on to abuse Shoto. Look at Toya’s reaction in his eyes. Look at the way his pupils shake. He’s being told that if he just gave up his dream of being a hero, the household will be happier, but he knows that’s not true. Toya knows the problem in the household is Enji. If Toya gave up  his dream of being a hero, he’d still be a deeply unhappy individual, he’d just be suffering more quietly. The household would still be an abusive one. Toya in the end, still won’t be parented properly, because, Rei and Enji don’t see Toya as a kid.

Literally all Enji had to do was lift up a finger. All he had to do was walk up to the mountain and talk to him, and he couldn’t even be bothered to do that. Toya was trying so hard to be good, to meet his parents standards, and yet he never would because his parents standards were impossible to meet in the first place. 

“Well, gosh I didn’t know what to say to him it would have been hard.” Yeah, I bet it was hard when he LITERALLY BURNED ALIVE. 

It’s not just the one incident of this though. Enji and Rei both frame it as an oopsie daisy. If only he had been stopped on that one day. And not like, the five continuous years of ignoring him that built up before that point. The fact that he was never really taught how to handle his emotions in a healthy way, because neither of his parents treated him as a child.

However, the narrative of the scapeogat and the good child still remains. Despite the fact that Toya and Tenko were children trying so hard to be good, and all they needed was someone to tell them that. 

When all they wanted was for people to see the good in their own actions, to see how much they were trying, struggling, to be good, because they are the scapegoat they will always be the villain of the family. 

I think it’s amazing that Toya is trying to be good even now. Toya, unlike Enji who only ever cared about the number one spot, is interested in creating a world where heroes are actually taken to task and treated as heroes. Shigaraki cares about people who were similiarly rejected to him, and offers them a helping hand. 

Shigaraki and Dabi are capable of so much good. They still care about the world. They’re still trying to create a world better to others than it was to them. Shigaraki’s goal even shifts from empty destruction, to just, I want to give a world to my allies where they can be free.

Instead of seeing them as victims, they divide victims into good and bad. Shoto is the hero of the family because look how good he turned out even though he went through the same thing Dabi did. 

Is Rei wrong for focusing first on stopping Dabi rom hurting innocent people rather than focusing on getting him the help he needs.

Well, you think Rei would know. That people who come from abusive households. People who are constantly abused. Can lash out and abuse completely innocent people. I’t almost like that’s exactly what she did to Shoto, blaming him and burning him instead for what Enji did.  And it’s almost like Rei didn’t start to improve until she received outside medical help. 

Heroes pretend to protect society, while turning a blind eye to those who they can’t save, who are most in need of their help. They blame bad victims, and uplift good victims to use an example against the bad victims, well why couldn’t Toya have turned out a good child like Shoto.

Man.

It’s almost like. Shoto didn’t burn to death. Because Enji couldn’t be bothered to walk up to a mountain. It’s like letting a child starve to death and then saying “Well, why didn’t this child learn how to cook?” 

They divide the good and the bad and throw the bad out. Well, isn’t it a tragedy that Toya became Dabi. Isn’t it just a tragedy that that child couldn’t be saved. It’s not the five years of neglect, it’s the one day on the mountain that was the turning point for that.

It looks like on the surface that Toya’s family is admitting what went wrong, but they’re really kind of not. Toya doesn’t need to be fought as a villain. Toya doesn’t ned to be stopped. Labeling bad victims as villains and putting them down with violence literally never helps, because that’s thementality that created them in the first place. It was Toya’s behavior that needed to be stopped, he was the thing in the Todoroki household, that made everything else go wrong. If only Toya had not died, then Enji wouldn’t have abused Shoto so hard EXCEPT WE ALREADY KNOW THAT WAS ENJI’S INTENTIONS ALL ALONG FROM THE START. If Toya had lived Enji would have kept on doing whatever he wanted with Shoto, because no one in that house was going to hold him accountable. 

Even now, Enji gets the unconditional support that Toya deserved as a child, that he needs now, just because he happens to be a hero. Certain people are labeled as heroes, certain people are labeled as villain. Good victims are saved and given the support they need, bad victims are violently put down. 

Even Natsuo says this, that he should have just told Toya to stop complaining about the family. 

But aren’t the things the villains saying you know right? That Enji should not be allowed to keep his job. That Enji abused his whole family. Wht would have been different if Natsuo and Toya had their talks? Toya would still be a severely abused child who carried that abuse into adulthood, but he wouldn’t be making a fuss about it? He wouldn’t be loud about it?

It’s suppression over recognizing the victim’s pain. It’s blaming the victims without looking at the cause. The Todoroki family set up Shoto as the hero responsible for saving the whole family because he is the good victim, and as a indirectly, they imply that Toya is the villain in need of stopping.

Once again I return to both the Todorokis and the Tenkos. By refusing to see the good in their children, to see that Tenko and Toya were just children who wanted and tred their best to be heroes and were unfairly punished for it, they ultimately suffocate both children. By labeling them as deviants who need to be stopped rather than victims who they abused, they just, keep suffocating them.

Which is why no matter how much Toya or Tenko may love their families, no matter how much they may sympathize and love their mothers, they still feel denied, suffocated by the whole family. Because their whole family fails to see their good intentions, fails to see who they are as children. They can’t see how much they genuinely wanted to be a hero, and they can’t see how much they were suffering as well, because they’re not good children they’ve alraedy been labeled as bad ones. 

That’s why they ask over and voer again, do you still want to be a hero?

When all they needed to be told was it was possible for them to be a hero. When that was all they needed to hear, they were rejected instead. That’s why they can’t go back either, because they know after all this time their family still doesn’t understand. They’ll be rejected all over again. 

And the scapegoat will remain a scapegoat forever. 

[redphlox]

Tenko's tears; Touya's wounded inner child

As I've mentioned before, crying serves various purposes, two of which include emotional regulation and forming social connections. Tears signal "I'm sad and I need help" and usually elicit concern from others. But, for Touya and Tenko, tears didn't fulfill these needs. When Tenko cried, the adults around him tried to distract him from his pain or change how he responded to his abuse instead of defending him or confronting his father Kotaro. They meant well, but in the end it didn't help Tenko and he felt alone. No one validated his pain; he was seen, but he wasn't helped. The same thing happened to Touya, who was seen crying, and crying, and crying, but his parents refused to acknowledge the root cause of his pain because it would mean facing their own mistakes. His tears, his cries for help, never got him the help he needed and never made him feel better.

Even as adults, Dabi and Shigaraki weren't listened to because they didn't display socially acceptable feelings such as sorrow or regret, and they weren't dealing with their trauma in a socially acceptable way, like crying. Shigaraki told Endeavor, in front of Deku and Bakugo, that heroes only hurt their families, but it wasn't until Deku saw a glimpse of Tenko that Deku decided Shigaraki was worth saving because little Tenko’s tears humanized him and made him relatable.

While this is a turning point in the manga, the way it came about insinuates that certain unspoken conditions exist that need to be filled before victimhood can be validated or someone is deemed worthy of help. Not everyone is equal, and not everyone's pain will be good enough in hero society. This warrants the questions the League of Villains keep asking: who are heroes here to save? Who is it that needs saving? Where do you draw the line? Are villains not people too?

This new plot point of Deku being moved by Tenko’s tears also brings into light how isolating and demonizing it is for Dabi not being physically able to cry. He compensates for this – because remember, crying regulates your emotions, and if you can’t cry you turn to other coping mechanisms for self-soothing – by telling himself and others that he doesn’t care about anything or anyone. He copes with his emotions by smiling and grinning, by not getting too attached. He takes an offensive approach through keeping a distance from people by insulting them and being rude. However, his quirk’s link to his emotions betrays him and exposes his true feelings: his flames became hotter after Twice died and his flames turned white while confronting Endeavor. Dabi, despite everything, still cares and feels deeply.

So, how is Dabi supposed to be seen and understood and saved if he can’t prove that he has feelings if he can't cry? Why would he even want to cry, since crying never helped him? All Touya did from the age of four was cry for help, literally, and yet he was ignored and neglected. It wasn't Shigaraki's words that moved Deku, it was the unintended display of emotion through crying, which is something Dabi can't do even if he wanted because his tear ducts are burnt as a result of being so heartbroken over his father not showing up to Sekoto Peak. The irony is ugly and upsetting to witness – overwhelming feelings of abandonment and worthlessness almost killed Dabi ten years ago and now, when the story implies he desperately needs to cry to be seen, he can't, and therefore he's still alone and will continue to be alone.

But wait – he cries tears of blood, doesn’t he?

I think that if he’s caught in a vulnerable place, if the right people (Natsuo) meet him or if he is finally validated and seen and understood (Shouto), those tears of blood would come out and he’d finally be eligible (as gross as that sounds) for salvation, for understanding, for sympathy like Shigaraki. Feelings serve as evidence to society that villains are human too, and Dabi must first be considered a human. It seems that salvation, like the attention Touya received from his father, is conditional. Touya's wounded inner child and status as an abuse survivor will be the ticket to his redemption IF he can be vulnerable and express his pain physically to the younger generation of heroes, because talking about his past hasn't helped and won't help. Even now, as noted in 304, people still weren't sure why he became a villain even though he literally explained why in his pre-recorded broadcast. Dabi, or his inner child, has to show evidence he is still emotionally suffering because his words won't suffice for society or heroes. Honestly, this framing is personally distressing and frustrating because it pushes a bad victim vs good victim mentality, especially in light of Rei commenting that Shouto, who she burnt and forgave her nonetheless, is their family's hero.

Don't get me wrong. Shouto has done nothing wrong to warrant this suffering, and I think it's great that Deku is determined to save everyone within his reach. This makes sense as his role as protagonist. With that said, it's unsettling to me how drastically different he's reacting to Shigaraki compared to how he responded to Dabi by comparing him to Endeavor and implying Dabi is worse for not trying to be better. Before anyone jumps down my throat, I know Deku intervened because he was worried about Shouto, and that Deku is 16 and young. My point is that the narrative and the writing is setting up a problematic view of victims by having the main character nitpick who deserves to be saved based on this societal construct that people must first qualify or prove themselves. Shigaraki shouldn't have had to show his trauma receipts or be relatable for Deku to want to save him. Shigaraki didn’t even expose his inner child on purpose – Deku caught a glimpse of that without Shigaraki’s intention.

Let me say this another way. Imagine if you had to present yourself as sympathetic to a firefighter, an ambulance worker, or a doctor before receiving their help. It would be unprofessional and highly unethical for these professionals to turn you down because you don't fit the image of someone who needs help, someone who's not "sick" enough, whose house isn't burning hot enough, whose injuries aren't "bad" enough. So why do heroes, as a group of public servants, have these unwritten rules and preconceived notions about what a victim looks like? I understand that people are more likely to provide services if you're nice to them (you catch more flies with honey, etc) and that everyone has biases etc, but this isn't a core value of the helping professions or public servants. It's unethical to discriminate and assign varying levels of care based on how someone treats you or others around them. People in need are people in need, and that's that.

As of now, it seems like the manga is on route to support the League's complaints by supplying evidence that their disillusionment with society isn't unfounded - even Twice, who died crying at the hands of a hero part of the older generation, was not considered a person before he was considered a villain. But maybe if he had come across a hero from the younger generation, someone who recognized his tears as human despite his criminal record, he wouldn't have met the fate he did. It seems that the older generation of heroes don't take tears or emotions into account, which is why Tenko and Touya were shrugged off. But the younger generation will go out of their way to help anyone who needs help, but only if they prove themselves or make themselves sympathetic.

[gdwessel]

Golden Week Begins: NOAH Majestic Night 1 - 4/29/2022; STARDOM Cinderella Tournament 2022 Finals - 4/29/2022; AJPW Champion Carnival 2022 Final Set; Dragon Gate, TJPW, DDT, Osaka Pro, More

Golden Week has begun. The annual week of holidays always has a lot of pro wrestling going on, so let’s just get into this special post.

Pro Wrestling NOAH

NOAH returned to action for the first time in nearly two weeks, with the first night of Majestic 2022 from Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan. This was the “N Innovation” part of the event, with a lot of outside wrestlers coming in from the USA, Mexico and Australia. Possibly the most talent from outside of Japan on a single show since the pandemic started. Jushin Thunder Liger was a guest on commentary for this show.

Majestic 2022 - 4/29/2022, Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan (ABEMA)

Ikuto Hidaka [Perros del Mal de Japon] d. Kai Fujimura (Shawn Capture, 6:37)

Slex d. Yasutaka Yano (Business Bomb, 8:37)

Kotaro Suzuki [Perros del Mal de Japon] TLD Yuya Susumu [STINGER] (20:00)

NOSAWA Rongai, Texano Jr. & Super Crazy [Perros del Mal de Japon] d. Tadasuke [Kongo], Hajime Ohara [Kongo] & Shuji Kondo [Dragon Gate] (Texano > Tadasuke, Road to Texas, 10:46)

Hair v. Hair + Loser Must Change Name: Hao d. Nio [Kongo] (Tatsumaki, 16:03)

Extreme Tiger [FREE] d. Seiki Yoshioka [STINGER] (Tijuana Lock, 11:31)

HYO, SB KENTo & Shun Skywalker [Z-Brats] d. Daisuke Harada, Alejandro & Junta Miyawaki (Skywalker > Miyawaki, SSW, 25:00)

3-Way Elimination Match: Ninja Mack [GCW] d. Dragon Bane [IWRG] & Alpha Wolf [IWRG] Order of Eliminations: - Bane > Wolf, Twister Bane, 15:47 - Mack > Bane, Ninja Bomb, 18:03

GHC Juniorheavyweight Tag Team Championship: Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway [STINGER] d. Atsushi Kotoge & YO-HEY (c) (Ridgeway > Kotoge, Stretch Muffler, 33:41) - Kotoge/YO-HEY fail their 3rd defense - Ogawa/Ridgeway are the 50th champions

GHC Juniorheavyweight Championship: HAYATA [STINGER] d. Eita [Perros del Mal de Japon] © (Headache, 28:08) - Eita fails his 1st defense - HAYATA is the 49th champion

Eita doesn’t even last his first defense, which makes sense, as he is not a NOAH-contracted wrestler, despite the fact there is a lot of Dragon Gate talent nowadays (Z-Brats and Eita today, Masaaki Mochizuki and Don Fujii on tomorrow’s show). Daisuke Harada v. HYO in a singles match will happen on 5/14/2022 in Yokohama.

HAYATA declared he would usher in a new era of NOAH. I hope that’s good, what with attendances not great (1585 reported today), and everyone associated with their English social media accounts being gotten-to weirdos (to wit, getting into it with one of my oldest friends in puroresu internetting, over them misspelling it as “Ryuguku” on a meme edit yesterday).

Is this the first time Texano Jr. has appeared in NOAH? It would appear so. I know he is no longer in AAA since last year, so he is freelance as of now. Ninja Mack said he wants to become the GHC Junior champion. It’s good to have goals. Alpha Wolf is also known as Hijo de Canis Lupus.

Nio of Kongo lost his hair, and also now will lose his name, following defeat to his former Kongo stablemate Hao. Slex is an Australian wrestler; he once wrestled Kazuchika Okada in Sydney.

The GHC Heavyweight title match has now been confirmed, as Kaito Kiyomiya will in fact be Go Shiozaki’s opponent in the decision match main event tomorrow at Ryogoku. That will be on Wrestle Universe. As a reminder, an utter piece of human filth is in a featured match on this show facing Masa Kitamiya, so be warned.

- 4/30/2022, Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan (Wrestle Universe)

Slex & Kai Fujimura v. Alejandro & Yasutaka Yano

King Tany, Muhammad Yone & Akitoshi Saito [Funky Express] v. Manabu Soya, Tadasuke & Hajime Ohara [Kongo]

NOSAWA Rongai, Eita, Texano Jr., Kotaro Suzuki & Super Crazy [Perros del Mal de Japon] v. HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway, Seiki Yoshioka & Yuya Susumu [STINGER]

Kazushi Sakuraba & Kendo Kashin [Sugiura-gun] v. Masaaki Mochizuki [M’s Alliance] & Don Fujii [Dragon Gate]

Masato Tanaka [M’s Alliance] & Daiki Inaba v. Renee Dupree [FREE] & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. [FREE]

Masa Kitamiya v. Michael Elgin [FREE]

GHC National Championship: Masakatsu Funaki [Kongo] (c) v. Simon Gotch [FREE]

Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge, YO-HEY & Junta Miyawaki v. Dreagon Bane [IWRG], Alpha Wolf [IWRG], Extreme Tiger [FREE] & Ninja Mack [GCW]

Naomichi Marufuji [M’s Alliance] & X v. Yoshiki Inamura & Kinya Okada

GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Takashi Sugiura & Hideki Suzuki [Sugiura-gun] © v. Kenoh & Katsuhiko Nakajima [Kongo]

GHC Heavyweight Championship Decision Match: Go Shiozaki v. Kaito Kiyomiya

STARDOM

The winner of the Cinderella Tournament 2022 has been determined, on a show that also featured several title matches, including the World Of Stardom championship.

Cinderella Tournament 2022 Finals - 4/29/2022, Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

3-Way Match: Ami Sorei [God’s Eye] d. Mai Sakurai [Donna del Mondo] and Waka Tsukiyama [Cosmic Angels] (Sorei > Tsukuiyama, Brainbuster, 4:19)

Future of Stardom Championship: Hanan [STARS] © d. Hina [Queen’s Quest] (Backdrop Hold, 6:26) - Hanan succeeds her 5th defense

Cinderella Tournament 2022 Semifinal: Koguma [STARS] d. Hazuki [STARS] (Jackknife Hold, 6:17)

Cinderella Tournament 2022 Semifinal: MIRAI [God’s Eye] d. Natsupoi [Donna del Mondo] (Miramare, 8:17)

Trios Gauntlet Match: Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa & Unagi Sayaka [Cosmic Angels] d. Giulia, Maika & Thekla [Donna del Mondo] and Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani & Lady C [Queen’s Quest] and Ruaka, Starlight Kid & Momo Watanabe [Oedo Tai] and Mayu Iwatani, Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo [STARS] and Saki Kashima, Rina & Fukigen Death [Oedo Tai] Order of Eliminations: - Iwatani > Lady C, 4:06 - Watanabe > Iida, 5:11 - Kid > Sayaka, 5:01 - Maika > Ruaka, 3:35 - Nakano > Giulia, 7:19

High Speed Championship: AZM [Queen’s Quest] © d. Mei Suruga [Gatoh Move] (Azumisushi, 13:06) - AZM succeeds her 2nd defense

Cinderella Tournament 2022 Final: MIRAI [God’s Eye] d. Koguma [STARS] (Miramare, 11:45) - MIRAI wins the Cinderella Tournament 2022

World of Stardom Championship: Syuri [God’s Eye] © d. Himeka [Donna del Mondo] (SyuSekai, 21:24) - Syuri succeeds her 4th defense

MIRAI wins the tournament, and afterwards challenges her stable’s leader Syuri to the Red Belt. Mei Suruga asked to form a team with AZM following her defeat in the High Speed title match.

STARDOM have a whole Golden Week Fight Tour coming up starting Sunday, with a big show on 5/5/2022 from Fukuoka Kokusai Center that will feature three title matches, as well as an elimination match between Donna del Mondo v. God’s Eye. I’d type it all up here but my day has already gotten away from me.

All Japan Pro Wrestling

The Champion Carnival 2022 Final is now set, as we had the end of B Block today.

- 4/29/2022, Aichi Nagoya Congress Center

Shuji Ishikawa & Takao Omori d. Shigehiro Irie & Ryo Inoue (Takao > Inoue, Boston Crab, 7:42)

Black Menso-re d. Konaka = Pale One [666] (5:44)

TAJIRI & Yusuke Kodama [TOTAL ECLIPSE] d. Atsuski Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO [NEXTREAM] (Kodama > HAYATO, Mad Splash, 9:41)

Jake Lee, Ryuki Honda & Hokuto Omori [TOTAL ECLIPSE] d. Shotaro Ashino, Hikaru Sato & Dan Tamura [Evolution] (Lee > Tamura, D4C, 11:50)

Champion Carnival B Block: Takuya Nomura [BJW] d. Kuma Arashi [TOTAL ECLIPSE] (Ground Cobra Twist, 11:05)

Champion Carnival B Block: Yoshitatsu d. Suwama [Evolution] (6:54)

Champion Carnival B Block: Kento Miyahara [NEXTREAM] TLD Yuma Aoyagi [NEXTREAM] (30:00)

Yuma Aoyagi advances to the Final after drawing with his stablemate (and Triple Crown Champion) Kento Miyahara, but also will face off against his former stablemate in Jake Lee. That will happen on Wednesday, 5/4/2022 from Korakuen Hall.  No other matches have been announced as yet.

Shuji Ishikawa announced he will challenge for Runaway SUPLEX’s World Tag Team Championship, partnering with Kohei Sato on 5/14/2022 in Sapporo, which will also have an All Asia tag title defense on the card.

Final Champion Carnival 2022 standings:

A Block Lee: 8pts (4W 0D 1L) ***WINNER*** Ishikawa: 6pts (3W 0D 2L) Ashino: 6pts (3W 0D 2L) Irie: 5pts (2W 1D 2L) T-Hawk: 5pts (2W 1D 2L) Honda: 0pts (0W 0D 5L)

B Block Aoyagi: 7pts (3W 1D 1L) ***WINNER*** Miyahara: 6pts (2W 2D 1L) Nomura: 6pts (3W 0D 2L) Suwama: 5pts (2W 1D 2L) Yoshitatsu: 4pts (2W 0D 3L) Arashi: 2pts (1W 0D 4L)

Dragon Gate

The Gate of Passion 2022 tour continued today.

The Gate of Passion 2022 Night 15 - 4/29/2022, Hiroshima Sangyo Hall

KAI, BxB Hulk & Diamante [Z-Brats] d. Susumu Yokosuka, Genki Horiguchi & Jacky “Funky” Kamei [Natural Vibes] (Diamante > Kamei, Vuelta Finale, 10:11)

Yosuke Santa Maria d. Konomama Ichikawa (Inside Cradle, 7:58)

Kota Minoura, Kaito Ishida & Minorita [Gold Class] d. Takashi Yoshida, Punch Tominaga & Ho Ho Lun (Minoura > Tominaga, R-201, 12:27)

Ben-K [HIGH-END] d. Shachihoko Boy (Spear, 8:08)

Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka [D’Courage] d. Yasushi Kanda & Ishin Iihashi (Dia > Ishin, Double Cork, 11:07)

Kzy, Big Boss Shimizu, U-T & Jason Lee [Natural Vibes] d. YAMATO, Dragon Kid, Kagetora & Keisuke Okuda [HIGH-END] (U-T > Kagetora, Hikari no Wa, 15:04)

Jason Lee, while not getting the pin, wins in his first match as a member of Natural Vibes.

DG run shows tomorrow and Sunday as well, before the first of three livestreamed showed beginning Tuesday, a two-night stand at Kyoto KBS Hall and then Dead Or Alive 2022 on Thursday.

DDT / Tokyo Joshi

Tokyo Joshi ran the first of two nights at Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall earlier today.

TJPW Spring Tour ‘22 - 4/29/2022, Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall

Yuki Aino d. Kaya Toribami (Venus DDT, 6:57)

Miu Watanabe d. Haruna Neko (Canadian Backbreaker, 7:33)

Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta d. Rika Tatsumi & Arisu Endo (Kakuta > Endo, Shidenkai, 11:20)

Miyu Yamashita d. Moka Miyamoto (Attitude Adjustment, 8:25)

Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Raku d. Maki Itoh, Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu (Sakazaki > Kiryu, Toy Story 4, 13:01)

Shoko Nakajima & Pom Harajuku d. Hyper Misao & Suzume (Nakajima > Suzume, Northern Lights Suplex, 12:45)

Nakajima accidentally unmasked Hyper Misao during a hurricanrana spot. Reika Saiki will be retiring on Tuesday from Korakuen Hall, and will have a three-minute exhibition match with former partner Arisu Endo.

TJPW runs one last show before Tuesday’s Korakuen Hall show. In the meantime, DDT held an outdoor street wrestling match, as a last preview before Sunday’s big show in Yokohama

DDT “Just Before Yokohama Budokan! Rojo Pro Wrestling In I-Canal Street” - 4/29/2022, Yokohama i-Canal Street (YouTube)

Falls Count Anywhere 3-Way Tag Match: MAO & Shunma Katsumata [The 37KAMIINA] d. Kazusada Higuchi & Hideki Okatani [Eruption] and Yuki Naya & Yuki Ishida (Katsumata > Ishida, Diving Body Press From Telephone Pole Through Table, 29:08)

DDT does the kind of match that only DDT can really do.

Other News

Osaka Pro ran today, showing off their new title belt that will be crowned on Sunday. They also announced a new Light Heavyweight title that will be determined via tournament beginning on 6/26/2022, with the champion being crowned on 7/31/2022.

Big Japan, 2AW, Michinoku Pro, Kyushu Pro, Diana, SEAdLINNNG, Colega, Sportiva, and several other produced shows all ran today.

More shows happening all through the weekend, and into all next week. See you Sunday.

[incorrectsdkquotes]

Youtuber AU (warning: some spoilers)

(requested by @ladyofthelake13)

AU in which all (or most) of our favorite characters make a living as famous/semi-famous Youtubers/vloggers.

Yuya is a True Crime vlogger a la Buzzfeed Unsolved. Each week she researches old crimes and cold cases, adding in her own thoughts on the case and her thoughts on who really committed them. She started out the channel first as an extra credit project when she was still in pre-law but grew so popular that she started creating videos full time. She earns most of her money through merchandizing rights and by creating her own brand. Every now and then she delves into supernatural-type videos with her adopted sister Sakuya as co-host. Her adopted brother Nozomu helps out behind the scenes with editing videos and doing some camera work. One of the more popular aspects of her channel is when she brings her friends, other popular Youtubers, in as guests. There are even shipping wars among her followers on who she has the most chemistry with.

Benitora is a travel vlogger who travels all around the country trying out different local and specialized food/snacks, showing off various features in the geography and chatting with friendly locals. His prestigious family only allows his ‘frivolities’ under the excuse that he’s going out and building goodwill with the populace he will eventually be in charge of. Tora’s father is the leader of the country, something that Tora himself tries to keep quiet about. To finance his travels, other than the Patreon page he set up, Tora made a deal with his father Ieyasu: he can keep up a steady and consistent view count Tora can keep making his videos. As soon as viewership drops below a certain amount, he has to stop and resume his training to take over leadership. So far he’s been able to keep up his end of the bargain, but the looming future ahead of him is something that he’s never quite able to forget.

Okuni is a beauty vlogger who has inside access to some of the newest products about to hit the market. She regularly reviews the new and upcoming products, shares tutorials for both beginners and those who’ve been using makeup for a while on how to apply the perfect foundation, get expert wingtips, and how to match their particular color pallet for their skin tone. Okuni will bring in her friends, both women and men, to give them makeovers as well as to have them compete in different makeup challenges. So far, the most popular video on her channel is from when she let Hotaru and Shinrei give each other makeovers.

Yukimura’s channel comes across as half family drama and shenanigans and half prank channel. Saizo is largely his go-to camera man, but other members of his family take turns as well, lending to some...interesting footage that almost always ends up in the videos released to the public. Every now and then Yukimura will drop his own political takes into conversation, only to immediately start talking about something else as a distraction. There are rumors that he’s going to be running for public office as a bid to overthrow the current political power. There are also others who discount this theory stating that Yukimura’s not serious enough for the role and actually doesn’t have any interest in politics beyond his ‘hot takes.’ It’s goofy, fun-loving Yukimura, there’s no way. Yukimura himself loves to obfuscate this even further by going on regular shopping trips where he shows off the newest gifts he’s planning to get for his family...usually specifically for whoever’s holding the camera at the time, leading to a lot of back and forth with the cameraperson on exactly why they deserve these gifts in the first place.

Sasuke’s channel is largely an unboxing channel for various toys and other gadgets, usually ones he gets from Yukimura. He’ll also review the items based on how engaging or mentally stimulating he finds them. When Sasuke isn’t reviewing items he’s usually filming himself out in the woods exploring with his childhood friend Kotaro. The two friends run a side vlog documenting skateboarding, biking, and rollerblading tricks and stunts or hiking and camping trips they go on together. A popular series of videos the two friends have that has boosted their viewership considerably involves them showing off various sword stunts and tricks. Every now and then Benitora sneaks his way onto Sasuke’s channel, sharing travel tips and stories. Despite Sasuke repeatedly mentioning how annoying he finds the older man, viewers can’t help but notice that Tora’s never actually cut out of any videos he appears in. Every now and then Sasuke will post gaming videos that he plays with Kotaro and occasionally Tora; despite several requests, he insists he’s not a gaming channel.

Bontenmaru’s channel is almost exclusively dedicated to bodybuilding and workout techniques. Usually these videos include him trying to get his friends involved in working out or acting as their personal trainer. Some of his friends are more receptive to this than others. Whenever a new workout ‘challenge’ comes out, Bon will immediately make a video about it, either criticizing the challenge or pointing out the different ways that the challenge helps develop certain muscle groups. When he’s not making workout and bodybuilding videos, Bon can be found filming drunk hangouts with his friends. There’s a small subsection of his videos dedicated to reviewing workout clothes while trying to promote his own personal brand or workout clothing and accessories.

Akira’s videos are full of DIY tips and tricks as well as testing to see if other DIY videos hold up. More often than not the DIY videos he reviews are hilariously wrong, something he goes out of his way to prove and mock. When he’s not reviewing DIYs, he’s posting Let’s Plays to his channel. Akira is also a popular Twitch streamer, usually co-opting his friends into playing either Team Death Matches or pvps together. He likes to consider himself a cool and collected gamer, which admittedly he is to a degree. Whenever he has to be on the same team as certain ‘friends’ of his, though (Benitora, Hotaru and Akari, namely) he tends to lose his cool. If his friends annoy him too much, though, he’ll just bring them on as guests to try out the end results of his DIY videos.

Hotaru’s channel is about as chaotic and disfunctional as the man himself. His videos are almost completely unedited, excepting for a few special effects for when his brother appears on screen. He tends to get stuck with the label of ‘Travel Vlogger’ flor lack of a better description for his videos, which usually document the various places he finds himself whenever he gets lost. It’s become an in-joke and even a betting pool among his followers on where he’ll end up next with his videos. If he’s not out getting lost, he’s posting videos about random things that he’ll find interesting--various stray cats, an interesting bug he found, or even a few attempted prank videos on his brother Shinrei. For those who don’t get enough humor out of his videos, Hotaru’s twitter account is open and well documented, usually with various out of context posts or sporadic updates on where he is. He is well recognized on the Internet, if by name only, as a living cryptid.

Akari is well known as an influencer, posting her own beauty tips and tricks, local restaurant reviews, and even some humorous videos of her friends doing silly, stupid, and humiliating videos as a result of some kind of blackmail that she has on them. Every now and then her videos turn educational when she offers medical advice on how to treat certain wounds and injuries, usually because one of her dumb friends has that specific injury that she demonstrates with. Akari also has certain Opinions on a certain pharmaceutical company that she absolutely in no way has any connections with. She certainly never worked there at one point, and you can’t prove that she ever did.

Kyoshiro’s mostly known for his editing skills, being the go-to editor for his girlfriend’s sister Yuya’s channel. He has a few tutorials on how to edit videos together, though there are a few videos that are light skits that he does with his girlfriend Sakuya. He did a series at one point that was part tea-review and part gushing about Sakuya. He tries to stay out of the spotlight for the most part, but he’s not opposed to appearing on Yuya’s channel as a guest host...as long as Kyo’s not also guest hosting at the same time. He has a unique relationship with Kyo, where sometimes they appear to be best friends and in other videos as mortal enemies. No one’s quite sure what the relationship is between them, though there have been a few rumors floating around that the two are siblings. These rumors have yet to be acknowledged either way, however.

Kyo’s channel isn’t actually run by him. Every video that appears on his channel is something that one of his friends made and then uploaded for him. These videos usually take the form of boasting Kyo’s skills (usually made by Akira or Akari) or as group hangouts with his friend group. There are a few that were made by Yuya that are typically along the lines of “look what this guy did now” that are pretty popular and technically give Kyo the title of ‘influencer.’ Kyo is also known on the Internet as a type of cryptid, though not to the levels of Hotaru. Instead, he’s known as the kind of person you want to emulate, who men either hate or want to be like and who several women wish to date. There’s some speculation that Kyo may already be in a relationship with someone (typically Yuya, though she refuses to say anything about the subject). There’s some talk that there may be open warrants out for his arrest, but so far nothing about his alleged crimes or the man’s whereabouts has come to light.

[shimurah]

he is first seen alone among pieces of figures representing the root of his trauma. the broken house bits, the hands & the buildings.

the home is ruined and its broken parts scatter. its symbolism quite clear; the home that pushed tomura to break. bearing his father's abuse in a home that despite understanding how wrongful that is, did nothing to stop it. by not stopping the abuse, by nobody reaching a hand to hold kotaro accountable for his misdeeds, by nobody reaching a hand to help the one in suffering, it had built an environment that continually drove tenko to the edge. he can endure such cruelty only for so long before he breaks apart.

just as the hero society. sidelined abuse and eyes turned blind in neglect, mindfulness yet no act to put an end. allowing atrocities to occur, marginalizing people not fitting their agendas and standards. ironically abominating people for things they cannot control. conditions that in time slowly forced its people to crack.

the barbarism tomura is meet with, for which his father, as well as the other adult family members, are responsible for, ultimately provoke his mental collapse and quirk outbreak. he violently kills them all, pronouncing to have found a release in the act- though after the adrenaline rush withers away grief settles in its place.

he is extremely disturbed by it later. as it's worthy to note how he was able to destroy the entire bodies - save for the hands - in mere seconds, by one touch alone, a thing he can only accomplish once his repression starts slowly decreasing through the MVA arc. by repressing his memories and sorrow, he had been pressing back the capability of his quirk.

the same guilt that made him think not being extended a hand when he most needed was a punishment for what he had done. what tomura did was fight back his abuser. he is 'punished' for having opposed his abuser. if it sounds familiar look no further because it is indeed a connection with the hero society.

striving to oppose and overcome the abuser makes the victims evil. tomura successfully resisted his abuser so there was no help for him. deku, on the other hand, never tries to fight his injustice. eri never harms chisaki. shinsou never starts a revolution against the hypocrisy amid the favorable 'good' hazardous quirks and 'evil' hazardous quirks. and the narrative rewards them; giving them caring mentors, places to achieve their dreams, saving them from their monsters. it sends a simple message.

bnha depicts victims fighting their abusers remarkably poorly. originating from hrksh consciously choosing who represents the victims and the means they fight back, painting it in a negative, inhumane light. the 'good' victims are awarded, the 'bad' victims are punished. determining that if you take the permission to punish your abusers yourself, even if they undoubtedly deserve it, you are ultimately a monster. one should quietly await aid from the heroes, even if it may never come, which in lots and lots of circumstances occurs. by all existent means, that sounds like bullshit but regrettably, both bnha society and our today's society operate based on that.

in the recent chapters, deku reacted to the violence he was meet with. wearing an expression often held by the villains, he showed himself fitted of just the same vehement as tomura. the same grimace tomura faced his abuser and the heroes this arc with. they're not responsible for their circumstances. circumstances push for reactions. they wouldn't have needed for reactions if not for the cruel circumstances which could have been prevented. such conditions are not a part of some destiny; they are not ineluctable. reactions cannot be avoided, but if there is no such situation to react to, there is no reaction.

how many could have easily been avoided if not for their inept system? how many lives were lost due to their deliberate disregard and narrow criteria? that begs for questions related to the future shimura encounter.

it's noteworthy how the last time had tomura be approached by two of his beloved after having shown him amidst torn fragments. both of who note of his pain. hana expresses her regret at taking a part in the last conflict. nao asks a question linked to the origin of the conflict, then observes his scars. this is what tomura deeply wishes for; to have his pain seen and understood. the reason he still insists on pouring his heart out for heroes who will nonetheless march away the same way.

tomura grips on AFO because AFO showed up on time to stretch a hand. the AFO who had never belittled tomura's suffering in tomura's eyes. the AFO who understands. of course, we know that is not the whole truth and i believe tomura himself is not so blind. it's sad how the only person willing to acknowledge his pain is the man who wants tomura to suffer. AFO makes himself be what tomura deep down needs while he is still prosecuting his aim and molding tomura to fit through it.

kotaro swiftly makes his arrival, resulting in tomura's entire demeanor shifting, a reminder of his responses to varying conditions. again, once he destroys the image of his father he drastically changes. if in the beginning, the care of his mother warmed his heart into a depiction of small tenko, the presence of his father stirs the violent instinct in response to the abuse. his hair, too, gains more details; the lines being placed at great lengths, the space between white, a representation of what was to be. kotaro being decayed to pieces brings the rather dismayed white-haired tomura. and with that, comes AFO.

nana's line directed to tomura is something very ironic. he had not forgotten them, as his pain simply would not allow him to. even when his memories were in a blur, the lasting reminder of them never wilted. how could tomura deny the existence of nana shimura when his entire life is intensely entangled with her. his whole existence had not once been able of denying her.

i have said it again and again, for deku nana is a blessing, for tomura she is all but that. will nana manifest as a help to tomura for once in his life? should the act of her sympathy be portrayed as wrong, if it is to happen? tomura walked away last time into the hands of AFO, will it be so again?

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 11/15/19

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 5 | By Reai and Suki Umemiya | Seven Seas – We actually get a welcome reminder that Iris is a “reincarnated into an otome game” heroine in this volume, something that’s mostly been ignored aside from her accounting skills. But when her younger brother tries to apologize to her for what happened at school, her Japanese self wants to forgive him but the “Iris” part of her just can’t. It’s well handled. Elsewhere, Iris is going around looking into Yuri and also threats to her kingdom, and it’s starting to get her into trouble. She’s also falling for Dean, despite trying to have nothing to do with romance again. We end with a cliffhanger involving excommunication! Still a lot of fun—I’d love to read the novels. – Sean Gaffney

Anne Happy, Vol. 10 | By Cotoji | Yen Press – This final volume doesn’t really “wrap up” the main plot—there is no magical anti-bad-luck MacGuffin that can fix things. We do get a very small flashback of their teacher which shows that she had perhaps worse circumstances than the rest of them, but has learned to keep happy and carry on, so to speak. Which is the moral of the series, really—smile even though life is bringing you down. Hibari is the one who needs that lesson here, as a chance at a family reunion is once again fouled up by her parents’ busy lives. That said, we do see here that luck can also be changed through determination, which is nice. And is that some slight yuri at the end? Anne Happy was never anything but fluff, but it was highly entertaining fluff. Good ending. – Sean Gaffney

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 10 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – Well, I did it. I persevered to the end and finished Dreamin’ Sun. To the end, I never was fully convinced by the relationship between Shimana and Taiga, and that includes the big finale here, in which the gang is able to get Taiga’s dad to stop meddling in his son’s affairs—we never really get a good explanation why Taiga has remained under his thumb for so long—and thus Taiga is able to go to college (alongside Shimana) and finally pursue his dream of becoming a teacher. They also get married and I must boggle at the detail that they do so after having only kissed once, two years ago. I don’t expect realism in shoujo romance, but I guess my credulity has its limits. I did like Zen and Saeko, though. In the end, this never came close to measuring up to orange. Oh well. – Michelle Smith

Durarara!! re: Dollars Arc, Vol. 5 | By Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Aogiri | Yen Press – Izaya is setting up his plots again here, when he’s not fighting with his sisters, but the real villains this time around are Ruri’s psycho fans, who bat Shinra bloody and also attack Anri. Fortunately, she is saved by her two best frie3nds. Unfortunately, one of them, Mikado, is revealed to now be the leader of the Blue Squares, much to Masaomi’s horror. You know all this from the light novel and the anime—once again the manga gets third place. Still, some of the fight scenes are good, and if you’re looking for a manga version of the story, this is that. Damning with faint praise. We’re still only up to book eight or so, too. You really should try the light novels, which have now finished. – Sean Gaffney

Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 3 | By Natsuki Takaya| Yen Press – The first chapter of this final volume once again irritated me for burying me in next-gen cast all at once (along with Hiro’s sister, who again is not a main character so gets to be seen). It gets better as it goes along, with a serious look at not letting your parents’ abuse become your own fault. Sawa, it turns out, is connected to the Sohmas in a far more serious way than she remembered, and one flashback scene verges on terrifying. (Shiki says “she slipped on snow,” but that’s not what we see.) Notably, the situation is not resolved—she’s still living with her mom in the end—but then, we also learn it didn’t resolve itself for the Furuba cast either—Ren is making Shiki’s life miserable, because she’s like that. As such, this justifies this spinoff’s existence—barely. – Sean Gaffney

Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 3 | By Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press – In this final volume, we learn more about Sawa’s psychotic mother, including that she had some involvement with the Sohma family in the past. When Sawa asks about this, with much dread, Mutsuki reveals the full story and that everyone knew who she was all along. In fact, Shiki was central to this past event and, with Ren continuing her reign of terror he felt kinship with Sawa and worried about what had become of her. The Sohmas were indeed trying to help her, but they were also trying to help Shiki, too. In the end, this did come around to being genuinely compelling and I wish there were more, because as Sawa notes, she still hasn’t made it out of her horrible situation. If only we could’ve been spared one last appearance by Takei-sensei. Sigh. – Michelle Smith

High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World!, Vol. 5 | By Riku Misora and Kotaro Yamada | Yen Press – The start of this book gives all the fanservice that four was missing and more, as we get naked massages before a bath. Half of this is tolerable, as Ringo tries to find it in her shy self to go on a date with Tsukasa, and we get her tragic past, which (surprise!) involves a lot of child abuse. The second half involves making more medicine since the penicillin isn’t prevalent enough—time for sulfa drugs. Sadly, there’s an evil doctor who’s in the way, so our heroin doctor, um, lobotomizes him? And this is presented as good and/or humorous? Yeah, OK, I’m out. This was a mildly entertaining take on the isekai fantasy with an entire group of OP geniuses, but what the hell? – Sean Gaffney

An Incurable Case of Love, Vol. 1 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – Several of Enjoji’s manga series are now available in English, but An Incurable Case of Love is actually the first that I’ve read. Five years ago, Nanase was inspired to go into medicine after meeting an attractive and accomplished young doctor in the hopes of meeting him again. Unsurprisingly, Tendo’s not quite the person she expected him to be when she finally gets the chance to work with him. In reality, her idealized prince has a harsh and exacting personality. Even though Nanase’s original motivation for becoming a nurse was perhaps less than pure, and while it may not be immediately obvious to some, she really does take both herself and her chosen profession seriously. Had it been otherwise, I don’t think I would have liked the manga, but the first volume is a largely enjoyable start to the series and I’m always glad to see more josei being translated. – Ash Brown

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable, Vol. 3 | By Hirohiko Araki| Viz Media – One of my initial exposures to Araki’s aptly named manga series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure was actually through a tangentially-related work, Rohan at the Louvre, which features the character Rohan Kishibe, a rather intense genius manga creator. Rohan made his first appearance in Diamond Is Unbreakable, so I’ve been looking forward to his introduction since I started reading the series. His debut happens towards the end of this particular volume, following several other short story arcs including one, much to my delight, that proves any manga can indeed be a food manga. This volume has a fair amount of humor to go along with its strange brand of horror and absurd action, too. As a whole, this part of the series comes across a bit more episodic and perhaps slightly more comedic than its predecessors. I’m enjoying Diamond Is Unbreakble in all of its glorious ridiculousness a great deal. – Ash Brown

My Hero Academia SMASH!, Vol. 2 | By Hirofumi Neda| Viz Media – I don’t think I reviewed the first volume of this gag series spinoff to the famous shonen manga, but that’s a shame, as it’s really well handled. The gags are personality-based, and the series is not afraid to veer totally away from the source material when needed—half the sports festival is different events, and some battles that don’t lend themselves to gags are omitted. And then there’s Gran Torino, who does not live up to the adorable tsundere granddaughter teaching Izuku in his dreams. There’s a lot of great Uraraka stuff here, for her fans, and a lot of great Yaoyorozu gags as well, though her fans may be a bit annoyed at how socially inept she’s shown to be. Basically, this is hilarious. – Sean Gaffney

Our Wonderful Days, Vol. 1 | By Kei Hamuro | Seven Seas – Given the cover art and the magazine that this ran in, I was expecting that I’d be reading about the lead couple on the cover. And I am, and they’re both cute—I like the fact that, despite having the “serious black-haired girl” personality type, Mafuyu is the only one whose grades are bad. But I’m actually more drawn to the other couple, Nana and Minori, best friends to main girl Koharu, who live in an apartment together to attend school and behave exactly like a married couple without actually being one. How yuri this will get is still unknown—so far we’re still at “I may like her”—but if you like your slice-of-life high school with a dash of sweet and cute, this will put a smile on your face. – Sean Gaffney

Shortcake Cake, Vol. 6 | By suu Morishita | VIZ Manga – I really loved how this volume of Shortcake Cake portrays Ten’s reaction to Chiaki’s surprising confession. She tries to let him down gently, and is upset about hurting her friend and conscientious about not leading him on. It’s not played for the drama of a love triangle—it’s just sad. And yet, she still does like Riku very much and wants to let him know that her feelings have changed, but now the Chiaki situation has made everything more complicated. Some really cute scenes ensue, but actually most of the volume takes place in Ten’s head as she worries and overthinks everything. We’re halfway through the series at this point and, though it seems like she and Riku will officially get together in the next volume, that’s a lot of time for things to go wrong somehow. Man, I love Margaret shoujo. – Michelle Smith

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san, Vol. 2 | By Honda | Yen Press – The second volume of Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-san is much like the first, with Honda covering more aspects of the bookselling business, including the talented distribution chief with a knack for anticipating what will sell, dealing with “harmful publications,” wholesalers who never supply as many copies as are requested, the difficulty in promoting books that are receiving high-profile adaptations (particularly when bonus items feature popular idols), and dealing with a customer who happens to be a yakuza. It’s pleasant, but I was kind of bummed to learn that after Honda published the chapter about customer service training, she got in some trouble with her bosses and now has to get their approval for everything she writes and worries about being fired. That’s a shame. – Michelle Smith

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 4 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that this series was going to end with the next volume. The reason for that is a very surprise mutual confession between our two leads, something which I was not expecting to happen for at least a dozen more volumes. It is really well handled, though, and shows that these two shoujo protagonists are actually smart enough to pick up on signals. We also get some backstory for one of Zen’s two guards, Mitsuhide, who is asked by Zen’s older brother to watch over him and therefore must gain the trust of someone who doesn’t trust very easily—and even when he does, he seems to be betrayed. Zen and Shirayuki are very good for each other, and I’m excited to see where this goes. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 4 | By Sorata Akiduki | VIZ Media – This volume almost feels like a final volume, what with Zen and Shirayuki affirming their feelings for one another and their determination to stay by the other’s side, come what may. The final page seems to suggest a happy ending. Except this is volume four and there are 21 volumes so far. Maybe this was the point where the series changed magazines? In any case, it’s a very nice volume, with Shirayuki showing her willingness to act in Zen’s stead when his station prevents him from doing so—and giving us a glimpse of the upbringing that led to her always trying hard and being independent—as well as a revealing flashback to six years ago when Zen’s friend betrayed him but he found a new person to trust in Mitsuhide. I really enjoy this series! – Michelle Smith

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 11 | By Rei Toma | Viz Media – There’s some gorgeous art here, which is good as it may take the mind away from the fact that this is really drawn out for a finale. The basic premise—send Asahi back and the water dragon dies—is obvious, despite Asahi’s protests, and you get the sense that the other gods will eventually do something about it, but it does take forever to happen, with lots of longing pages with no dialogue. Also, how does Asahi return to her normal life so quickly? Still, it’s a happy ending, and the last two pages of the “afterword” 4-kon section make up for it with a hysterical deconstruction of why the Water Dragon won the romance war and Subaru did not. Despite not quite sticking the landing, this was a very good series. – Sean Gaffney

By: Ash Brown

[kotaromita]

Based on the CYBER SNIPER set and @kusanagi-nene-official-mods' cyber apocalypse AU, I designed a Kotaro in the same universe!

Rather than offense focused like Akito, Toya, Nene, and Emu are in the set, I wanted to keep in line with his tendency to flee from conflict and give him an EMP multi-tool for the sake of disarming any enemy for a chance to run and hide.

More details below!

Following the apocalypse he’s become hyperfocused on protecting Takato and stockpiling supplies. With people he knows he doesn’t hesitate sharing whatever he has at the time so long as Takato is safe and well taken care of.

He is unsure where his parents are and spends any time he isn’t scavenging or hiding looking for them and anyone else he recognizes. He’s incredibly lonely despite willingly isolating himself for safety most days. He’s perpetually worried about Akito and Kohane.

Because of his habitual hoarding of necessities he was once ambushed and robbed. In the struggle his wrist and numerous bones in his hand were broken. It was painful constantly and unable to heal properly so with Akito’s help he amputated it. He was able to take a split-hook prosthetic off of a casualty of the apocalypse. It’s too small for his upper arm so he can’t wear it for long periods of time without discomfort.

In a roleplay with @hellsaoyagi he and Toya sang together and reminisced.

Interacting with @kusanagi-nene-official has led to the two of them becoming allies in their situation, although they don't often have the chance to interact in person due to their differing goals.

More information about the AU you can get from primarily Nene's mod and maybe the people running the Emu, Toya, and Rin accounts that are also associated with the AU! I'm just trying my best to mesh with the world they've created. It's so much fun putting Kotaro in lots of different AUs since, what with him having no cards and alternate outfits, I have almost complete freedom, hehe.

Lastly, this is basically how I envision his prosthetic!

Just imagine a more high-tech version of this, what with the colored bits being lit up and so on.

[linkspooky]

Aizawa and Kurogiri

Edit by @inumaqi​

In the latest chapter we see Aizawa’s heartfelt attempts to get through to Kurogiri. To speak to his friend and search for him somewhere inside of the shambling corpse spewing black mist that might be all that remains of him. However as genuine as Aizawa’s feelings, and his pleas are towards Kurogiri they are most likely going to fall on deaf ears. Not because the power of friendship is fake, or no trace of Shirakumo remains inside of Kurogiri, but rather because Aizawa himself cannot accept his friend for who he is now. MORE UNDER THE CUT. 

 Gran Torino’s attitude towards Kurogiri is indicative of Hero Society as a whole and how Hero Society is never going to be capable of saving anyone in the league of villains as it is now. 

It does not matter who they were, or what their circumstances were. Even if they were directly created by the failures of hero society, once they become villains it no longer matters. They are no longer seen as fully three dimmensional people, just enemies to be put down. 

Shimura Tenko’s situation is literally the direct failure of both Nana’s poor decision to abandon her child, and Gran Torino and All Might following their word never to look after Kotaro and his descendants, and because of that both Kotaro and Tenko’s entire lives were destroyed by All for One. Yet, despite being directly responsible through negligence for Shimura Tenko literally being kidnapped as a five year old and raised by a villain Gran Torino insists that at the end of the day Shigaraki Tomura is just a crimminal and therefore completely responsible for his own actions. 

Those that are blind to the faults of hero society cannot see how people are hurt by hero society. They even speak of Kurogiri like he’s under brain control like they cannot possibly imagine why he would ever turn against hero society of his own free will. 

Shigaraki is not an abused child. He’s just an emo punk ass. He’s a problem to society. They don’t view Shigaraki as a person just the danger he represents to other people. Therefore, they cannot possibly conceive of why Kurogiri would have any kind of lingering attachment to Shigaraki. 

We as the audience know that the league of villain are all people, who despite being heavily flawed also have their good sides. They are capable of fighting for their friends, and have people they love as well. We’re introduced to two sides of Shigaraki Tomura’s personality. First, we see the violent manchild he is, lashing out at the world around him, volatile, unstable, constantly in pain. Then we meet Shimura Tenko. 

Tenko who is this constantly anxious kid, a crybaby who even though he’s literally constantly being punished by his father, stands up to bullies, and still wants to follow his dreams even in a household where everybody is dead against him becoming a hero. We’re introduced to a kid who’s a strong parallel for Deku, someone who cannot stand to see others be left out, because he also knows what it feels like to be alone even in a household surrounded by people and continually reaches out to others even when he himself wants to cry. 

Then we realize that Shigaraki is still that person. No matter how warped he became from his childhood self, that’s still the core of who he is. Shigaraki will always take in the outcast, he’ll accept them even when they’re not strictly useful. When twice failed to create a double of the Quirk Bullets, Shigaraki did not throw him out. 

The Tenko who will always reach out the outcast even when he himself is in pain, even when he wants to cry is still there. The Tenko that cares so much about other people’s feelings because he knows what it’s like to have his own feelings trampled on. 

He is neither Shigaraki Tomura the destructive brat who just wants to hurt others as a form of lashing out. nor Shimura Tenko the one who stands up to bullies and accepts the outsiders for who they are, but rather he’s both at once. He’s both an incredibly violent and emotionally unwell person, and also a kind one who always reaches out to others who are similiarly lost just like him. That’s the form Shigaraki’s victomhood takes, and it’s incredibly complex, ugly and hard to swallow. He’s the monster All for One made him into, and at the core of his being he’s still a victimized child. Neither of these traits cancel out the other, but hero society in its rush to categorize people as hero or victims will never understand the whole of Shigaraki. 

Aizawa genuinely cares about Shirakumo, even in his current form of Kurogiri. He still cares for his friend even knowing the sins he must have committed as Kurogiri. However, the bottom line is Aizawa is never going to be able to offer the same understanding that the league has already given to Kurogiri. Aizawa loved his friend for who he was, and for the traces of him that still remain present, but Shigaraki accepts Kurogiri for who he is right now. 

Shigarki is the central victim of the manga. He’s connected to the rest of the league. He’s even paralleled heavily to Kurogiri. They were both taken in by All for One at a young age, and both of them have been manipulated by him for a long time and were only saved by him to fulfill a purpose. They’re both ultimately tools to the man who took them in and are loyal to. Shigaraki has even now allowed his body to be tinkered with to the same degree that Kurogiri has in the past. They have both also been by each other’s side the longest, especially if Kurogiri’s sole purpose for being taken in was to raise Shigaraki. 

Shigaraki and Kurogiri are also both people who have gone by two different names (Shimura Tenko, Shigaraki Tomura) and (Shirakumo , Kurogiri). They both experienced the ‘death’ of their original selves. They both continued living on even after their own funeral. They are both former aspiring heroes who were turned into villains by All for One’s machinations. 

What Aizawa realizes is that both Shigaraki and Kurogiri are the same type of person. They are both people who could never leave a stray alone. They’ve bothspent their entire lives taking care of the outcasts. Those too dangerous to save. Those too problematic to save. Those who saving only brings in more risk and harm for others. They save the people that hero society would otherwise forget. 

Aizawa sees this quality in Kurogiri because he knew Kurogiri as Shirakumo, and he recognizes his old friend. However, Aizawa himself would never see this in Shigaraki. Even though Aizawa is a caretaker of children he would never noticed what a damaged and traumatized child Shigaraki is. However, they have essentially both gone through the same thing, Kurogiri and Shigaraki both died and were resurrected by All for One with their original personalities still in tact, if Aizawa cannot accept Shigaraki then he cannot accept Kurogiri as well. 

The point that Horikoshi is trying to show us with these people who fell through the cracks, these former aspiring heroes fallen to villainry, is that there is a reason they became villains in the first place. “Fallen” as they are, the children who once wanted to do good and become heroes are still obviously there inside of both of them. Shigaraki and Kurogiri cannot grow up because the world currently as it is would never let them grow up. That’s why Shigaraki wants to destroy it. 

Even the way Aizawa talks about Shirakumo’s death, he kind of implies it’s Shirakumo’s own fault for acting too recklessly. Not the fault of say, hero society for putting a teenager on a dangerous internship when the adults should have been handling the more dangerous elements like this. 

There’s this insistence on personal responsibility in hero society. That Shigaraki must have wanted to become a villain, therefore it doesn’t matter if he was an abused child taken in by All for One. Aizawa himself while being a very compassionate person is still a part of that society. 

Aizawa’s response to Shirakumo’s freak accident of a death was not that perhaps it’s a bad idea to put children into these circumstances into the first place, but rather an emphasis on individual responsibility. If Shirakumo had simply thought things through, if he had been more powerful, then he would have simply avoided the fallen rocks and continued living. Aizawa thinks if he can teach students adequately to be responsible personally for everything and account for those situations that they’ll never be put into harms way. 

And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with personal respnsibility, but people like Gran Torino take it too far. Obviously, Shimura Tenko must have wanted to be evil at five years old. If he were a good child he would have somehow resisted fifteen years of manipulation from literally the world’s most powerful evil genius. 

But Aizawa knows that his teaching of indvidual responsibility only works up to a point. That people can’t do everything on their own, that they will inevitably need someone who pulls them along, and someone to rely on. People are not saved by punching a villain in the face, people are saved when somebody notices that someone else is in trouble and reaches out to help them regardless of the circumstances. People are saved by people like Shigaraki or Deku who will reah out to help the outcast that cannot help themselves. 

Aizawa himself has been damaged by hero society as well. He’s traumatized by the loss of Shirakumo. Which is why he can’t see the inherent flaw that allowed Shirakumo to fall through the cracks in the first place. The attitude that lets children take on full villains, that even now is letting the Hero Commission do shady things like consider all of the students as a backup army in case the heroes were to fall. 

The same people that never allowed Hawks to have a life of his own, and instead coerced and raised him to be a hero since he was a child, and then even after taking his whole childhood away by making him be a hero, kept him under their thumbs and made him their expendable spy for the league and made him dirty his own hands. They forced him to be a hero, and then didn’t even allow him to stay the kind of hero who saves others that he wanted to be because they needed him to kill someone to infiltlrate the league. That shows how much the hero regards the ethics of using children. 

Aizawa genuinely loves his studets, but he’s also trusting them with these people because he can’t perceive the flaws. He can’t see how Kurogiri is suffering under the system, how Shigaraki is suffering, and how he himself is suffering. 

Which is why Aizawa’s pleas will ultimately fail to reach Kurogiri. Yes, he knows his old friend is still there in Kurogiri, but he also completely fails to accept the person Shirakumo has become as Kurogiri. There is already a person who has made a deep connection and brought out the best of Kurogiri as who he already is now, and it’s not Aizawa, it’s Shigaraki. The reason Kurogiri is still kind like Shirakumo was is because he had Shigaraki to care for and bring it out of him by continually treating Kurogiri like a person. What Aizawa wants is to return to the past and become heroes again. Shigaraki will accept Kurogiri as he is now, even as a villain. Aizawa denies who Kurogiri has become, but Shigaraki has already accepted him at his most broken. 

That is why the league of villains saves the people who the heroes never could save. 

[recentanimenews]

Fall's Biggest Mystery: Who Is the Voice Actress of the Legendary Tae Yamada?

One of the surprise delights of the fall season so far has been ZOMBIE LAND SAGA. Following the misadventures of the recently deceased and confused Sakura Minamoto, Sakura finds her unlife as a zombie is a bit more complicated than her life before death: she lives in a weird mansion with other zombies, a seemingly cute but monstrous zombie dog, and a manic and mysterious man claiming to be a producer, Kotaro Tatsumi, who states that with his group of zombie idols he’ll save Saga from an unknown danger.

Sakura doesn’t quite know what to make of things, and neither do the other girls once they’ve awoken to their new zombie (un)lives, but so far it’s involved some of the most hardcore headbanging ever seen and an epic rap battle that even senior citizens enjoyed! There’s also been gunshots, de(and re)capitations, stage fright, and the looming mystery of what, exactly, is up with Tae Yamada?

When we first got a glimpse of ZOMBIE LAND SAGA, we frankly had no idea what to expect. As the show moved closer and closer to finally airing, we knew even less, and Mamoru Miyano’s usual antics didn’t help the matter any. What we ended up with so far is a musical comedy featuring zombie idols, with gorgeous animation and Mamoru Miyano being, well, Mamoru Miyano. After episode 2 aired, however, many fans in Japan and abroad started to notice something curious about the list of voice actors: The Legendary Tae Yamada’s voice actress is simply listed as “???”!  

    While the first episode had few voice actors listed because the rest of the girls had yet to “wake up”, Tae remains un-awoken, and this seems to be for an unknown reason in regards to revealing her voice actress. Voice actors have been credited in the past for voicing somewhat “non-vocal” lines, and even the zombie dog, Romero, has a voice actor in character voice actor Yasuhiro Takato (the voice of Artemis in Sailor Moon and Nezu in My Hero Academia), so the fact that Tae’s voice actress remains a coy mystery is seemingly very intentional. The official Japanese ZOMBIE LAND SAGA Twitter account even sent out a picture of the full cast, with a suspicious “Tae” face over an otherwise unidentifiable woman, and posts featuring the cast of ZOMBIE LAND SAGA are conspicuously 6 women posts, despite there being 7 zombie idols  (with the cast even mentioning in one that they might have a “surprise guest” soon in upcoming social media posts…)!

  【放送まで】 後1時間　▶AbemaTV／AT-X 後1時間半▶TOKYOMX／サンテレビ 後2時間　▶BS11 準備OKですか？ 皆で一緒に楽しく観ましょう！という事で「ゾンビランドサガ～放送を見ながら叫べ！～」企画を開催します♪ 湧き上がる感情を #ゾンビランドサガ で投稿！ 叫びまくってスッキリしましょう♪ pic.twitter.com/XsgBh1M8he

— ゾンビランドサガ_TVアニメ公式 (@zombielandsaga) October 4, 2018

Anime fans love a good mystery, so Japanese fans have already started trying to figure out who Tae’s voice actress might actually be, even starting a twitter hashtag, “#山田たえCV”, to try and post theories and hunt for clues about who the Legendary Tae might actually be. On some Japanese blogs, fans have started to consider a few possible ideas, trying to discern who the voice actor could be from what small hints (or, at least, suggested hints) that we currently have. So far, there are a few prevailing theories:

  1) Tae’s voice actress is from Saga, or at least, from Kyushu, where Saga is located.

2) Tae’s voice actress is a famous or legendary voice actress, as a newer or younger voice actress wouldn’t benefit from being a secret.

3) There actually is no voice actress, and Tae will remain voiceless.

    Of the three theories, as mentioned it isn’t unusual for voice actors to be listed for roles that are “non-speaking”, like Romero, or other animals with “voices” in anime, such as Toradora’s Inko, voiced by Saori Goto. This would mean that keeping Tae’s voice actor a secret because she will remain voiceless isn’t very interesting, because that’s just what she’ll sound like throughout. Also, even in episode 1, when all of the girls had not yet “woken up”, they still had their voice actresses listed, but Tae had the same ??? notation. That leaves 1. and 2. as the most likely possibilities to who could be voicing the mystery Zombie 0 of the group. It also bears minding that the anime has so far placed some decent attention on Tae, as her antics (losing her head in particular) have given her the most screen-time of any of the girls other than Sakura so far; it seems like they want us to be invested in Tae, so that when she does wake up, we’ll be surprised! But who could the voice actress be? Frankly, there’s just far too many amazing and legendary voices actresses that could be Tae, and that isn’t even taking into account the idea that she may not even be a legendary voice actress, but a celebrity of some type!

It seems that ZOMBIE LAND SAGA is intent on being a show that keeps its secrets close to its vest for the entire season, surprising viewers with every new episode and using its comedic setting and ideas to take idol anime in a very different direction than normal. The shift between episode 1 and 2 certainly helps make that much obvious, as I doubt many of us were expecting a freestyle rap battle that touched on the concept of life and living in the moment from a zombie! As for Tae, we’ll have to see just where this goes, and how meta the ZOMBIE LAND SAGA team want to be about things; I for one will be keeping an eye on their social media updates in between episodes for any hints or surprises!

Want to try out your detective skills? Who do you think Tae’s voice actress could be?  Let us know in the comments!

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Nicole is a features and a social video script writer for Crunchyroll. Known to profess her love of otome games over at her blog, Figuratively Speaking. When she has the time, she also streams some games. Follow her on Twitter: @ellyberries 

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com