#do people still read Yotsuba&? i miss it so much ;_;

[kad00dle]

Marge Simpson voice: I just think they're neat

[faebriel]

i’m in the midst of death note brainrot (again) and would love to hear your thoughts on misa’s character

I WAS LITERALLY SAYING THE OTHER DAY TO MY PARTNER THAT I CAN FEEL AN AUTUMN DEATH NOTE REWATCH COMING ON..... maybe maybe maybe

misa is so freaking fascinating to me!! maybe next death note rewatch will be an extra special misa focus edition 🔍 she's just so fucked up in such a fun way that tbh i kind of feel is a missed opportunity, especially in the latter half of the story (the anime at least - haven't read the manga). she's so self-centred and i love that for her. her motivation to be kira pours from her own heart. while light has never personally suffered at the hands of crime afaik, misa very much has - both her family's deaths and her own being attached. her devotion to the cause is not just for the sake of saving the world but for saving herself, back on that night. it's like this vicarious way she can get back at "criminals" because she couldn't prevent her own family dying. it's ground into her!! that is the kind of experience you can't just shake out of her!! you can set misa on any path away from kira and i truly think she would barrel right onto it because the existence of kira gives her those warm and fuzzy feelings of retribution or maybe even safety that just like, filters right into her obsessive love for light

i like that even though she's clearly devoted to light, she's still an independent operator (well as much as the writing allows at certain times. eyeroll). i think light's whole attitude around "managing" her approach to being kira is so fkn illustrative of the derision with which he views a lot of people lol. there's something so interesting about how he views misa as impulsive and emotionally driven, so she's deranged, but obviously he is different even though their core beliefs are the same. like you might be using strategy but your goal is the same. idk

YOTSUBA ARC MISA AND POST TIMESKIP MISA ARE SO SPECIAL TO ME PERSONALLY. yotsuba arc because i'm like. oh my god the fact that she is not given ANY narrative space to either literally or metaphorically beat L's ass is a fucking choice BUT the fact that her dislike of him seems to come out as purely petty spats while he and light are chained together is so fucking funny. hater arc, but also, you could write a 9k character study unpacking all of this. it all kind of loops around to this iron-clad optimism that everything is somehow gonna turn out alright... and at that point in time, she doesn't even know how much shit she's gotten herself into. i do really really love that moment in this arc where misa gets her memories back after visiting the tower (when matsuda falls off a balcony. you know the one) but light doesn't have his and L is not even clued into what's happened. and light so so so wants to catch kira and clear his name and misa's sitting there like :)) like, i know she's gonna conspire to give light his memories back ASAP because that's The Plan but come on that brief glimpse in time is so fun and for misa her access to the death note & shinigami is such an important and consistent bargaining tool in her own survival. it was cool to see her have a monopoly on it, no matter how brief

they're so fucking worsties

there's definitely something to say here about her relationship with rem too but honestly i'm gonna have to go back to sources on this one. for me i've always kind of felt some parts of the fandom try to bend rem and misa into the "cute background lesbian couple" template that so many fandoms run on and i'm like. mate. you're not selling me. rem loves misa but misa is just too awful and/or deranged for all of that. i've always kind of felt their relationship was tragic in part because misa didn't fully understand the depth of rem's love for her / took it for granted until rem died. but again, i need to go back to sources

OH and this is getting long but i have the softest spot of all for post-timeskip misa. she is so me and my husband by mitski core. her life is falling to shit around her. her lifespan has been quartered. and she gives up her memories!! her knowledge of the death note has always been her key to survival and light sweet talks her into giving it up and this is the bit where i start hollering and screaming. and from then on, she doesn't even realise how much shit she's in. it's not just that she's in a failing engagement. it's that her fiance has wrung her for everything she had to give and she is being left to the wayside. her suspicion that light is having an affair is almost framed as comical but it's all she fucking has!!! she loves him because it's all she has. she has to choose between light and kira like this is some cosmic fucking joke and she cheers on light apparently trying to catch kira because she loves him. because what else exists in her memory from the last five years of her life???? FUCK

post-timeskip misa is genuinely fucking tragic to me because like. through the sheer power of sweet talking light manages to entirely defang her. she's lost rem. she has a book, she has the eyes, but she uses them solely under light's discretion. and then she gives up her memories because light asks. and like she is 100% a terrible person with the whole mass murdering thing but that kind of adds to it in a way. you get me

[13eyond13]

Well. I want to bring up about death note manga a bit. Do you think second half was good as the first one?

I think everything up to the Yotsuba arc in the manga is the best part of the manga and pretty difficult to improve upon storywise. I find the Yotsuba arc pretty fascinating too from a character study perspective, but I think it drags a bit sometimes and focuses too much on the ins and outs of the Yotsuba Group itself. And it maybe relies on withholding information from the audience a bit too often in order to maintain the suspense too, which can start to feel a tad cheap and gimmicky or tiresome sometimes if overdone.

The successor arc of the manga isn't as much my favourite as the L arc, but I think it does get overlooked more often than it should because fans are too upset about L's death to continue. Almost always when I'm talking to more casual fans about it they are mostly only familiar with Death Note because of the anime, and almost always they say they either stopped watching it after L died or didn't like it as much after he was gone. And I honestly don't really blame them for thinking the story goes downhill after L's death when they haven't also read it, too (even though I know some people still love and prefer the successor arc just because of the anime as well). I don't always find the successor arc as entertaining as the L arc not just because L is my fave, but also because it's way more spread-out between various distant groups with everything done mostly over the phone. It increases the showstopper theatrics with explosions and missiles and raining money down on crowds of people, but I think the real magic of the series comes mostly from the intimate and more mundane little moments between the characters rather than anything more showy and action-packed like that. And Light becomes a lot more serious and closed-off and less weirdly funny as a character to follow at times in the successor arc than I think he was before the time skip, so if you aren't feeling emotionally invested in the other characters and their fates as well then it can seem like way more of a tedious slog sometimes.

But that being said, I felt that the manga did a much better job introducing the new characters and making me care about them a bit than the anime did, and I think the successor arc introduces a lot of interesting worldbuilding and new settings and aesthetic stuff to the story that I would be sad to have missed out on too — like the way Team Kira evolves to include Kiyomi and Mikami, and Wammy's and the LA mafia and the SPK. I don't think the story would have felt as epic and satisfying and interesting and complete to me if we hadn't seen Light carry on for years after L's death, both continuing to build his dream world while also acting as L and playing several different competing roles at once. And I honestly don't think L winning instead of Near would make for a perfectly satisfying ending for me either, because in my opinion L's death was a good and effective dramatic choice. I think Near has the more sympathetic circumstances and motives, and that L was never really meant to be seen as "the good guy" or the embodiment of true justice that we should all be rooting for to win.

Overall I always recommend people read the whole thing all the way through at least once, but at the same time I also feel like I personally probably don't really want to wade through that much heavy dialogue myself again, either. And it definitely can be depressing and disturbing at times too, so I can understand why some people just don't feel up to it because of that as well.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

But the thing about Light and L is...

Even though I’ve heard Ohba and Obata are homophobic (as I understand it, much of Japan is still pretty conservative), Rem loving Misa was a thing. But then again, you could have argued that Rem’s love for Misa wasn’t necessarily romantic. I think it was moreso later adaptations (that were kind of out of the creators’ hands) that made it romantic. Though maybe that was always their intent with them. I think maybe it was. I hope that it was.

But despite all of the subtext with Light and L--and there is a lot of it--I don’t think they ever meant for it to be implied that they were in love or anything like that.

Though I do think the story tries to tell a “in an alternate universe, these two would be the best of friends, so it’s sort of sad that they aren’t here” tale. 

Because for one thing, many have said that Ohba has come out and said that if Light never found the Death Note, he would have ended up working with his father and would have eventually met L and the two of them would have been friends for real then.

But I’ve seen others say that Ohba just said that if Light never found the Death Note, he would be a detective, working alongside his father. And maybe people just assumed that his line of work probably would have put him in contact with L eventually then, etc.?

In the manga and anime, L says that Light is the only friend that he’s ever had. But in the “How to Read” it’s revealed that this was a lie on L’s part, to try and manipulate Light, and that he actually probably thinks some pretty nasty things about Light/Kira. However, after this, the How to Read mentions how in the Yotsuba arc, Light and L develop a strange friendship and work well together. 

And in the manga, Light ends up thinking about how he got “too emotional with L” (and he let things progress too far, and he must hurry and kill him, then).

The fact of the matter is, that Light and L have a fascinating dynamic and relationship. They’re each other’s equal (in intelligence) and opposite (they’re written as each other’s perfect Foil). And they’re also sort of a mirror of each other.

And the fact of the matter is, Light misses L after he dies. He’s far too bored without him. (And though it’s not written by Ohba, and many see it as OOC, L seems to miss Light in the “L Change the World” novel, which is essentially an alternate timeline where Light dies before L).

And both see the game they play with each other as the most fun they’ve ever had.

Despite all the lies and mind games, too, their relationship with each other is their most genuine one that they’ve ever had.

And adapters and fans alike see how interesting this dynamic is, as both add things that weren’t in the original canon (in terms of “canon”, the drama and musical perhaps being the biggest offenders).

But the anime has a scene where Light, where his game is up, is asking all of the people who’s worked for him (even those who have died at this point; pretty much anyone) to be there for him, as he’s being shot to death. And while it was probably just a hallucination on Light’s part, the person who ends up being there for him in his last moments is L. Edit: And there’s sort of a moment similar to this in the drama. When the building Light’s in is burning, the Death Note is burning, and he is burning. And he thinks that if it all ends here, and he can’t create his perfect world, then he killed his dad and L for nothing. First he flashbacks to his dad, and then he flashbacks to L.

There’s also something to be said about the handcuff that connects them for part of the story (L uses this as a means to closely monitor Light’s actions). He says that while he and Light are connected to the two cuffs, they share the same fate... and this actually ends up being true. Because, while the manga/anime takes the long approach here (though other versions have Light die right after L does), L being alive--and keeping things interesting for Ryuk--was what was keeping Light alive. As soon as things become uninteresting to him, he writes Light’s name in the Death Note.

Something also of note, is that when many fans say that, “Man, in another life, these two really could have been something together, but it’s just too bad”, they often seem to put Light at blame for it all. But L’s pretty fucked up and shares the blames as well.

So, yeah... I don’t really know what the point of all of this was. But Light and L are super super interesting. And while I don’t really think they were at all intended to be seen as romantic, so many people (including me) can read into that for a reason... it’s all of this above stuff.

[osakaso5]

IDOLiSH7 End Of Year Story 2020: A Stage of Celebration

Every Day is a Good Day Part 1: Standby

Part 2

Otoharu Takanashi: Tsumugi, Banri-kun. Happy New Year!

Tsumugi Takanashi: Happy New Year.

Banri Ogami: Happy New Year! It's a pleasure to be working with you for another one!

Otoharu Takanashi: We haven't even celebrated yet, and we're already back at work!

Otoharu Takanashi: We got through BorW and wrapped up the previous year, but there's still much to be done.

Otoharu Takanashi: I want to take care of what still remains as soon as I can, and I'll need your help to do so.

Tsumugi Takanashi: What still remains..?

Banri Ogami: As soon as possible..?

Otoharu Takanashi: Yes. There's something we've yet to fully go through with.

Tsumugi & Banri: ........

Tsumugi & Banri: Our TRIGGER impersonator show..?

Otoharu Takanashi: Exactly!

Otoharu Takanashi: We even learned the dance for that first anniversary party,  but we haven't had the chance to   show everyone our moves!

Tsumugi Takanashi: I guess not!

Banri Ogami: I'd completely forgotten!

Otoharu Takanashi: We might as well throw a big New Year's party and make our debut there!

Banri Ogami: Alright! I'll be counting on you, Tenn!

Tsumugi Takanashi: And I'll be counting on you, Ryu.

Otoharu Takanashi: Good, you're both raring to perform. However, we  won't be doing a show as TRIGGER.

Tsumugi Takanashi: We're not? Then who..?

Ogami Banri: Re:vale, maybe? Am I going to play Yuki, since I'm the tallest..?

Tsumugi Takanashi: Yuki, you're such a hunk..!

Banri Ogami: You always were quick to get to work, Momo.

Otoharu Takanashi: No, we're not doing Re:vale either. I gave this more thought than that.

Otoharu Takanashi: We have plenty of great idols right here, in our own agency.

Otoharu Takanashi: It would be wrong of us to pretend like we're idols from any other place!

Banri Ogami: So..!

Tsumugi Takanashi: We're impersonating IDOLiSH7!?

Otoharu Takanashi: Precisely!

Kinako: Myu myu~!

Banri Ogami: But there's seven of them. We'll need more people.

Tsumugi Takanashi: And if we ask people from our staff, they might feel forced to do it...

Banri Ogami: The newer employees would probably have a hard time refusing a request from the president, the president's daughter, and a long- time veteran...

Otoharu Takanashi: Don't worry about numbers. Plenty of people from various third parties have offered their help!

Tsumugi Takanashi: Third parties?

Banri Ogami: Like who..?

Otoharu Takanashi: Helper number one!

Otoharu Takanashi: Sosuke Yaotome, from Yaotome Productions!

Tsumugi & Banri: ........

Tsumugi Takanashi: The president of Yaotome Productions agreed to help us..? Really..?

Otoharu Takanashi: Yep! When I called him, he was all like, "Yeah, totally! Let's get crackalackin'!"

Banri Ogami: I don't remember him having that type of personality...

Tsumugi Takanashi: I don't think he'd ever use words like "crackalackin'"...

Otoharu Takanashi: Helper number two!

Otoharu Takanashi: Our friendly neighborhood soba delivery man.

Banri Ogami: Ah! The guy who looks just like Yaotome-kun!

Tsumugi Takanashi: He'll probably be a good dancer! Did he really agree to help us?

Otoharu Takanashi: As soon as I asked him! All he wants to know is whose parts he'll do, and what song we'll perform!

Banri Ogami: He sure sounds motivated!

Tsumugi Takanashi: That he does! How exciting!

Otoharu Takanashi: Helper number three!

Otoharu Takanashi: Iori-kun and Mitsuki-kun's father!

Tsumugi Takanashi: Their who!?

Banri Ogami: Sir, are you sure you weren't hounding him to do it..?

Otoharu Takanashi: Of course not! He said that after all we've done for his sons, he'll help if the situation absolutely demands it!

Otoharu Takanashi: And he said we could help convince him even further by ordering a bunch of Christmas cakes.

Banri Ogami: He doesn't sound very excited to help at all...

Otoharu Takanashi: I'm sure it'll work out. Finally! Our last helper!

Otoharu Takanashi: Iori-kun and Mitsuki-kun's mother!

Tsumugi Takanashi: No...

Banri Ogami: Now I'm sure you did something to force them into this! If they're both helping us, who'll run their bakery?

Otoharu Takanashi: She said that if it's a matter of life and death, she'll help, since her sons are on our payroll...

Banri Ogami: She was almost definitely refusing, if that's how she phrased it.

Tsumugi Takanashi: You're unbelievable, President. I need to call them later and apologize...

Tsumugi Takanashi: Cake stores are especially busy around December. And so is the soba restaurant, now that I think about it...

Otoharu Takanashi: Yeah... That's true... They did all outright refuse my invitation later.

Banri Ogami: I knew it... They wouldn't have the time, not with Christmas and the New Year...

Tsumugi Takanashi: I guess that means our IDOLiSH7 isn't happening...

Otoharu Takanashi: Don't give up yet! I've gotten new potential helpers!

Otoharu Takanashi: Let me introduce them to you right away! Come on in!

Tsumugi Takanashi: They're already here!?

Banri Ogami: We've got a full cast for our IDOLiSH7 impersonator group..!?

Otoharu Takanashi: New member number 1!

Otoharu Takanashi: Kaoru Anesagi!

Kaoru Anesagi: Good evening.

Tsumugi Takanashi: Anesagi-san..!

Banri Ogami: So you're one of our new members!

Kaoru Anesagi: It's more that I was asked to help by our... I mean, Yaotome Productions' president.

Kaoru Anesagi: I hear your dad was bombarding him with calls for help. Try not to bother him next time.

Tsumugi Takanashi: I'm so sorry about him...

Otoharu Takanashi: New member number 2!

Otoharu Takanashi: Rinto Okazaki!

Rinto Okazaki: Good evening!

Tsumugi Takanashi: Okazaki-san!

Banri Ogami: Did our president ask you for help, as well?

Kaoru Anesagi: I asked him! If I'm going to start the year by making a fool out of myself, I'm taking as many  people down with me as I can.

Rinto Okazaki: I will be made no fool! I've been working out, and taking dance lessons!

Otoharu Takanashi: You're taking this so seriously, Okazaki-kun!

Rinto Okazaki: But of course! As a fellow glasses wearer, I've been focusing on Yamato-kun's parts!

Kaoru Anesagi: So you just went and hogged the leader's role. As for me, I just so happen to have many of Nagi Rokuya's moves memorized, for strictly professional reasons.

Banri Ogami: I could probably pull off either half of MEZZO"!

Otoharu Takanashi: In that case, maybe I should be the other half of MEZZO? You can teach me!

Banri Ogami: So-chan.

Otoharu Takanashi: Tamaki-kun.

Rinto Okazaki: You make a great MEZZO" already!

Kaoru Anesagi: What about you, Takanashi-san? Whose part do you want to play?

Tsumugi Takanashi: I'm not sure yet. Who would fit me the best..?

Otoharu Takanashi: Before that, I have more new members to introduce to you!

Otoharu Takanashi: Kinako!

Kinako: Myu myu~!

Banri Ogami: Kinako! You'll finally get your own debut!

Kinako: Myu~!

Rinto Okazaki: Can she dance?

Otoharu Takanashi: Of course she can. I interviewed her on what she wants to do, and...

Kaoru Anesagi: Wait. You successfully interviewed a rabbit?

Otoharu Takanashi: I can more or less read her vibes! And she wants to take Iori-kun's role!

Kinako: Myu myu~!

Tsumugi Takanashi: So you'll be doing Iori-san's parts. That's great, Kinako!

Banri Ogami: Iori-kun may complain and call her a "fluffy creature"...

Banri Ogami: But he always buys cutesy rabbit stuff!

Kinako: Myu myu~♪

Rinto Okazaki: ......! She's performing the hook to Perfection Gimmick...!

Kaoru Anesagi: What a talented bunny!

Otoharu Takanashi: And now, our last new member!

Otoharu Takanashi: Come on in, so I can introduce you to everyone!

???: Good evening. It's a pleasure to meet you all.

Tsumugi, Banri, Kaoru, & Rinto: ......!

Tsumugi, Banri, Kaoru, & Rinto: Who!? 

- - - -

Tamaki Yotsuba: Stick the chopsticks here, aaand... Okay! I'm done!

Riku Nanase: I'm done, too!

Mitsuki Izumi: Done with what? You guys have been cutting and gluing milk cartons to chopsticks for a while now...

Riku Nanase: Our handmade shuttlecock rackets! Tamaki learned how to make these on a news show he was on!

Nagi Rokuya: Beautiful! Did you draw these pictures on the rackets, as well?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yep! Mine's King Pudding!

Riku Nanase: Mine is kagami mochi! Look, that's the orange, and that's the mochi!

Iori Izumi: You don't need to explain every individual part of it. Here you go, the shuttle is ready.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Awesome! Let's play right now, Rikkun!

Riku Nanase: Are you sure we won't hit things if we play here?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Even if we do, it's not like our rackets and shuttle  are gonna break anything.

Mitsuki Izumi: Ahaha. Just don't hit the rest of us!

Riku Nanase: We won't!

Iori Izumi: Somehow, I don't trust you to make sure of that...

Riku Nanase: Let's do this, Tamaki! Here you... go!

[Tap]

Sogo Osaka: Good morning.

Yamato Nikaido: Good mor...

[Thump]

Yamato Nikaido: ...Whoagh!

Riku Nanase: Aaah! I'm so sorry, Yamato-san!

Yamato Nikaido: What are you two doing..? You scared the crap out of me.

Riku & Tamaki: Playing shuttlecock...

Yamato Nikaido: Play outside next time.

Tamaki Yotsuba: But we were so busy watching all the New Year's TV shows that we didn't have time to go outside!

Sogo Osaka: But you got to fly a kite on the set of that shoot we did the other day. Didn't you like that?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah, but it's not the same thing as shuttlecock! Can't we play a little later?

Yamato Nikaido: Oh wow, did you make these rackets yourselves?

Riku Nanase: Yes! We just finished them, so they're brand new!

Yamato Nikaido: Y’know, the best  part of shuttlecock is hazing the loser. Riku, you're the one who missed, right? That means you're in for a punishment.

Riku Nanase: Are you going to doodle on my face?

Mitsuki Izumi: He better not. We've got a shoot ahead of us.

Yamato Nikaido: I know, I know. I'll draw on his belly instead.

Riku Nanase: My belly?

Yamato Nikaido: It's not like you’ll  be lifting up your shirt on camera.  Now get me a calligraphy pen.

Iori Izumi: Are you serious about doing this?

Riku Nanase: ...Ahaha..!

Sogo Osaka: You're not already being drawn on, are you?

Riku Nanase: I'm laughing in advance..!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Rikkun might start coughing, so you can draw on my belly instead.

Yamato Nikaido: Are you sure you won't start showing off your abs on TV or anything?

Iori Izumi: Are you sure you won't undress in front of the cameras?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Why would I?

Yamato Nikaido: Well, you're young...

Iori Izumi: ...And very energetic, at that.

Riku Nanase: In that case, you should draw King Pudding on Tamaki's stomach!

Yamato Nikaido: King Pudding!? I dunno if I can...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Eek! It's cold!

Nagi Rokuya: Tamaki! I am taking a picture! Whoosh!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Quit making shuttlecock noises!

[Snap]

Nagi Rokuya: OH! Now that is a fine photo. Take a look, Sogo!

Sogo Osaka: Ahaha. He's making such a funny face.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Don't be mean, So-chan!

Sogo Osaka: I didn't mean it in a mean way. It's just so different from how cool you usually are...

Yamato Nikaido: Uh, is this correct? Did I miss something?

Mitsuki Izumi: The beard, maybe? Doesn't King Pudding have one of those?

Iori Izumi: ...A ribbon.

Riku Nanase: Right! His ribbon!

Yamato Nikaido: Like this?

Nagi Rokuya: No, no, no! The king only wears a crown on his head! The ribbon goes around his neck...

Yamato Nikaido: I'll just scribble over that part so it doesn't show.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Hey, that tickles!

Iori Izumi: Must I remind you that his stomach still needs to be in a presentable state for any potential cameras?

Riku Nanase: Ahaha! I've never heard a stomach get called presentable! What does yours look like, Iori?

Iori Izumi: Huh?

Riku Nanase: Is it presentable?

Iori Izumi: Are you seriously trying to lift up my shirt so you can take a peek!? As if I wouldn't notice..!?

Riku Nanase: Yamato-san saw mine!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Plus you were totally looking at my belly, Iorin!

Iori Izumi: That's because you had it out for the whole world to see, Yotsuba-san!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Well, was it presentable?

Riku Nanase: It was fine!

Tamaki Yotsuba: In that case, we can swap my belly out for Iorin's if we need to.

Mitsuki Izumi: With your body types, you wouldn't fool anyone for very long. Ah... I just remebered something. It's about our manager.

Riku Nanase: What about her?

Mitsuki Izumi: She's been looking tired lately. It doesn't seem too bad, but  she did tell me she was having muscle pains all over just the other day.

Yamato Nikaido: Come to think of it, I think the lights were on in the  lesson room when I went to visit the agency late one night.

Sogo Osaka: It feels like Banri-san's been working late for the past few day, too. I'm a little worried...

Nagi Rokuya: Hm... When we are busy, our managers have much work as well.

Nagi Rokuya: Hopefully, they will have the time to rest at our New Year's party.

Mitsuki Izumi: We should make all their favorite foods for them, as a surprise!

Yamato Nikaido: Great idea!

Yamato Nikaido: Fancy takeout and sushi can be nice, but there's something especially relaxing about eating your favorite food.

Riku Nanase: I think she's told me what foods she likes before. I'll try to remember what they were!

Iori Izumi: You do that. Does anyone know what Ogami-san and the president like?

Tamaki Yotsuba: I dunno about Ban-chan. I think he likes birds, so maybe fried chicken?

Sogo Osaka: He did mention that he likes grilled meat. Banri-san's quite the cook, himself.

Tamaki Yotsuba: We've been to Ban-chan's place a couple times, and he always makes us yummy food.

Sogo Osaka: He adds just the right amount of spice, too. And on top of that, he's good at other housework.

Mitsuki Izumi: He told me he lived alone with his dad for a pretty long time.

Mitsuki Izumi: He had to learn how to cook, since his dad was too busy and no good around the kitchen.

Yamato Nikaido: What about the president? Does anyone here know?

Nagi Rokuya: He seems to enjoy meat stew. I hear it was a specialty of the dearly departed Mrs. Musubi.

Iori Izumi: So he likes simple home cooking. Or manager makes great meat stew, too.

Mitsuki Izumi: Home cooking, huh. I'll need to make it have that same homely taste, instead of trying anything new.

Mitsuki Izumi: Gramps, you're gonna have to sweet talk our manager into giving you the recipe.

Yamato Nikaido: Fine. I'll try asking around. 

Riku Nanase: I can't wait for the party! Hopefully, they'll like it too! 

- - - -

[Tic tic tic]

[Ding!]

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Hot, hot! It's done, you two!

Gaku Yaotome: Ooh. The mochi smells great.

Tenn Kujo: Don't eat too much. Mochi is high in calories.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: It's a staple of the New Year's dinner table! You can wrap it in seaweed, put it in zouni or zenzai soups...

Gaku Yaotome: I discovered a really great way to eat mochi the other day.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: What is it?

Gaku Yaotome: Eat it with some grated radish, whitebait, and soy sauce.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: That sounds really good!

Gaku Yaotome: It's the result of lots of experimentation.

Tenn Kujo: You're customizing mochi like it's tapioca pearls.

Gaku Yaotome: Hey, don't call it customizing. All you eat is abekawa mochi, anyway.

Tenn Kujo: Because it's nice and simple. What about you, Ryu? What do you like?

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Kaasa muuchi. It's sweet mochi, wrapped in shell ginger leaves.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Still, I like mochi in all its forms. The pizza style mochi we made the other day was good, too.

Gaku Yaotome: Sure was. Oh, did Anesagi leave this magazine here?

Tenn Kujo: Hey. Don't read magazines while eating your mochi.

Gaku Yaotome: I wasn't gonna. I just wanted to check it out right before eating mochi.

Tenn Kujo: Now you're just splitting hairs.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Ahaha. You're just like my younger brothers.

Gaku Yaotome: Oh shut up, big bro.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Ahaha! Now you're even starting to sound like them.

Tenn Kujo: Heh. That's younger brothers for you. As soon as you give them any advice, they get defensive.

Gaku Yaotome: Ahaha. Must be tough, being the oldest sibling. So, is Anesagi gonna be back soon?

Tenn Kujo: She said she would be.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: It's been a while since we last had a quiet New Year.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: We'll have to go on tour again at the end of January, but at least we'll have some down time before then.

Gaku Yaotome: Yep! Problem is, I have no idea what to do with all this free time.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Same here! Usually, I never run out of stuff to do.

Gaku Yaotome: Maybe I could go buy a grab bag.

Tenn Kujo: They're all sold out by now.

Gaku Yaotome: Really?

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Ah... Looks like this magazine comes with a poster.

Gaku Yaotome: Oh, who's on it?

Tenn Kujo: I told you to leave the magazine alone while you're eating...

Gaku Yaotome: I'm not even eating yet. I just wanna check whose poster it is. ...Here we go!

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: It's Nagi-kun!

Tenn Kujo: Nagi Rokuya.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: He's so cool. I mean, he always was, but he's even more cool now that I know he's an actual prince.

Gaku Yaotome: Whether he's a Northmarean prince or an otaku wandering around Akihabara, he's still the same old Rokuya.

Tenn Kujo: Right. Huh... We're not in this magazine at all.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Anesagi-san did say she'd research stuff that we're not in.

Gaku Yaotome: She also said she'd cut back on spending now that we're without an agency.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Now that you mention it, I guess she did...

Tenn Kujo: ........ You know, I've been thinking...

Gaku Yaotome: What?

Tenn Kujo: Do you think Anesagi-san might be a Nagi Rokuya stan?

Gaku Yaotome: No way. We're the only people she'd ever stan.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: She probably does stan us... But as just an ordinary fan.

Tenn Kujo: Exactly.

Gaku Yaotome: But why would she be his fan, when she's got us?

Tenn Kujo: Do you not like that she's his fan?

Gaku Yaotome: Well, yeah. It makes me feel jealous!

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: I like how honest you can be about these things, Gaku.

Gaku Yaotome: Are you saying you're okay with it, Ryu!?

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: I... guess I am? I like both Anesagi-san and Nagi-kun, and she's free to stan whoever she likes.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: What about you, Tenn?

Tenn Kujo: I...

Tenn Kujo: I'm jealous, too.

Gaku Yaotome: Knew it.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: I had no idea!

Tenn Kujo: Of course I'm jealous. Though I don't feel particularly angry or offended over it.

Tenn Kujo: It makes me want to do something, so she'll only look at us.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: You guys are so cute...

Gaku Yaotome: We're not trying to be cute. This is a matter of pride.

Tenn Kujo: Yes, it is.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: I know. You're cool too, not just cute. But, haha... I guess you've got a point.

Gaku Yaotome: You're too calm about this. Don't you ever feel jealous, or frustrated over this kinda stuff?

Tenn Kujo: You don't feel even a little betrayed by our manager?

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: A little bit, maybe, but I feel like all four of you are mine, in a bigger sense.

Gaku & Tenn: That's pretty big...

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Similarly, I think I both belong and don't belong to everyone else, so I don't really get super jealous.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: So, you felt betrayed, huh? It makes me really happy that you both care so much about Anesagi-san!

Gaku Yaotome: Quit grinning at us. Oh well, if she's got her eyes on other idols, we'll just have to work harder to only make her look at us again.

Tenn Kujo: Exactly. She'll be obsessing over us in no time.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Sure. Let me just put the magazine and the poster away.

[Door opens]

Kaoru Anesagi: I'm home. Oh, what a delicious smell.

Gaku Yaotome: Anesagi.

Kaoru Anesagi: What is it, Gaku?

Gaku Yaotome: We'll keep you satisfied, so don't you dare look at other men.

Kaoru Anesagi: Excuse me!?

Tenn Kujo: Just you wait. We'll steal your heart back, and leave you no time to look at anyone else.

Kaoru Anesagi: What is going on here!? Are you doing some kind of fanservice thing!? Gosh, I'm blushing!!!

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Oh, Anesagi-san. Did you change clothes before coming back here?

Kaoru Anesagi: I did. My other clothes were soaked in sweat...

Gaku Yaotome: Sweat?

Tenn Kujo: On a cold winter day like this?

Kaoru Anesagi: Ah... Um... Forget I said anything!

Kaoru Anesagi: In any case, you're all going to Takanashi Productions' New Year's party, right?

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Yes. We got invited, after all.

Kaoru Anesagi: Then it looks like I'll have to keep working hard... Ouch.

Gaku Yaotome: What's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?

Kaoru Anesagi: I'm just having muscle pains, that's all. Make sure to get plenty of rest, you three. You've earned it.

Tenn Kujo: Leaving again so soon?

Kaoru Anesagi: I need to do some solo excerci... I mean, examinations! Later!

[Slam]

Gaku Yaotome: ...She seemed busy.

Tenn Kujo: And tired...

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: She needs a break just as much as we do, though.

Gaku Yaotome: I know. How about we make Anesagi's favorite foods for the New Year's party?

Tenn Kujo: What foods? And for someone else's party?

Gaku Yaotome: Yeah. Izumi Senior told me they were making their managers and president a big New Year's feast, too.

Gaku Yaotome: I thought we could do a little something for our manager, too.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: That's a great idea! Tenn, do you know what foods she likes?

Tenn Kujo: She said she likes anything with lots of cheese, like cheese fondue. Recently, she's also been into cheese dak-galbi.

Gaku Yaotome: Yeah, she sure has. Alright... Let's do this.

Tenn Kujo: Will we all fit into their kitchen, though?

Gaku Yaotome: Let me ask Izumi Senior. I'll message him now.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Did he tell you what foods President Takanashi and Ogami-san like?

Gaku Yaotome: Meat stew and fried chicken.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: That sounds like the menu of an all-male household.

Gaku Yaotome: As for what the president's daughter likes...

[Phone rings]

Gaku Yaotome: Ah, he replied.

Tenn Kujo: What's Mitsuki Izumi's response?

Gaku Yaotome: He says it's no problem!

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Great!

Tenn Kujo: I guess that means we're all set for our big show of gratitude to Anesagi-san.

Tenn Kujo: I can't wait for the party. 

To be continued...

[mavii-arts7]

Episode 5 Recap and thoughts

Before reading this, I assume you have already watched episode 5 of IDOLiSH7 Second Beat. If not, then I suggest you discontinue reading and go watch it. I am not going to tell you where to watch it. That is something you need to figure out on your own.

Long post ahead

Before spreading the hate for Tenn, please read this.

I am writing this to lay out a few of my thoughts of the mentioned new episode. To those who had played the game, they have pretty much knew what happened and why they happened. But for anime watchers alone, this would be solely targeted to you.

The beginning of the episode has Kujo Tenn of TRIGGER /finally/ entering the Takanashi dorms and is greeted by Yotsuba Tamaki of IDOLiSH7. Tamaki was then given a gift, the Osama Pudding that Tenn had promised from when Tamaki, along with Rokuya Nagi and Nikaido Yamato, helped him get to the concert venue in time for the TRIGGER concert in season 1, episode 4. Tenn then asks where Riku is and Tamaki pointing out the direction. The next scene is when Riku is sitting in his non-lit room and is watching TRIGGER's live, showing Tenn on the screen. There was a knock on the door ---to which Riku responded that he wasn't hungry yet. Still, the door opened and then comes a surprise....

...The pink haired center that was shown on the screen, had appeared before Riku at the door.

It was soreal for Riku to see his older brother in front of him, that he even cupped his brother's cheeks and pinched his own just to check if it was merely a dream or not. Turns out, the latter was the fact. The twins sat down parallel to one-another and you can see Riku's excitement and nervousness to be in front of his brother once again, despite what happened in episode 3. Tenn asks how Riku is and if he likes someone, to which the redhead answered he wasn't sure or he doesn't have. And then Riku asks if Tenn has one as well, to which Tenn replied, that he loves his fans.

(Correction: Riku asked if Tenn likes someone. Then Tenn bounces it back to Riku and then back to Tenn. @.@)

This is the part that gets interesting. Tenn then starts to lecture Riku about keeping a promise to the fans and that it is part of their job as idols, to complete such task despite the worst circumstances. And then Tenn practically threw a bomb at Riku by saying to quit being an idol for the second time. Now I won't narrate into further details but basically, the talk resulted into a conflict. Riku now thinks that his brother never needed him and that he and his family were abandoned by Tenn because of how Tenn realizing that their family's club's performances were affected by the financial crisis that they were facing. Which I assume that some people may agree on Riku's notion.

I am not aiming to be biased. In fact, I love both the twins myself. But mainly, I just wanted to point out Tenn's side, before you say anything bad about him. If you have or have not noticed, the scenes where Tenn mostly appears, and during his moments of having worried and frustrated expressions, even amplifying his voice, are usually being emphasized by the amazing staff within the respective animation studio, that created this anime. I have to say, Orange really did a good job of making this comeback episode and with good animation quality as well. The episode was well-paced in my opinion, although it could come by as fast-paced because of a number of things that happened within this episode alone. They did their best to squeezed it all in. If you have read the story and played the game, you can pretty much feel the same or similar feeling of being in a rollercoaster ride when you come across this particular chapter/arc. So, I'd say this is really a job-well-done!

Back to my point. Tenn's expressions and actions in this episode are given close attention as I have said earlier. Not to mention that scene towards the end, I can almost feel like he's trying to hold back his feelings and even his tears. That, to me, gives an impression that this episode is mainly focused on how Tenn wishes for Riku to understand why he is doing all this, to say what he wanted to say for the longest time. To be honest, I feel pity for him more than Riku. Yes it hurts seeing Riku being told off but if you look at it from Tenn's perspective, you would somehow understand where he is coming from.

For the anime viewers, let's just say that the twins really go awhile back. Let me ask you this; If you were the oldest son/daughter in the family, then you have a sibling that is sickly and then your parents don't have enough funds for your younger sibling's hospital bills, what would you do?

If you think about it, Tenn might have a reason as to why he wanted Riku to quit. Yes he can come across as too strict. People might think that Tenn is being too harsh and inconsiderate by saying that Riku might not have what it takes to survive the idol industry, with his illness and all that. Or that he's being selfish as well. If you think Tenn is in the wrong then that is understandable. But Tenn is just a human character. Yes he may seem perfect, but he does have flaws as a human being. He may have faults within all these as well. And that's what I think this episode is about. Well, I can't blame you for thinking otherwise because I used to think like that as well. I used to say something like "Tenn scares me because he's too strict and he's giving Riku a hard time.", when in reality, as the story progressses, it wasn't like how I initially thought.

All I can say is that, this episode left lots of hints as well. I do recommend you to tune in on the next episodes, it'll become more and more eventful. I guarantee you that. Here's to hoping that the writers will continue on staying true to the plot. Because this is just TOO GOOD to miss out or taken away.

What are your thoughts about Tenn? Feel free to comment and share your thoughts. Although I hope there isn't too much hate on him. But of course, you're free to hate on him if you want but do it for the right reasons. That's all for now. I didn't think this would be a long review. Let's look forward to the next episode together!!

[mikami]

Can you do an analysis of Light in part II

It took me a bit, but yes, absolutely! First, I’ll take this spot to promote casuistor’s early canon Light and Yotsuba Arc Light analyses. I absolutely concur with what is said in them and for a full picture of Light, they’re recommended reading. I can’t claim to know if Casuistor would fully agree with what I have to say about Arc 2 Light now, but I can at least hope that this patches together to a coherent characterization, haha.

Eclipse - An Analysis of 23 year old Light Yagami.

Light in after the timeskip is a little tricky because we don’t get to see a lot of him at his ‘status quo’. Very early on Sayu gets kidnapped and from then on we largely see Light in stress situations which is only minorly conductive to figuring out how he changed at baseline between ages 18 and 23. I will still attempt to do this and establish where life brought him in those five years first of all.

First off, he finished his undergraduate college education. This is a 4 year program, so from spring 2005 to spring 2009, this is part of what keeps Light busy. The other is his two jobs as Kira and as L, each of which must have eaten up a good amount of his time. And yet, Light did at least a minimum of socializing as well:

In the first arc, Light and Takada date for exactly two days and knew each other for maybe a month. There isn’t any space for them to be having these in-depth conversations here - it makes much more sense that Light smoothed things over between them after returning from confinement. It’s not like him to leave a blemish like him cheating on and then ghosting Takada stand uncorrected. It appears they became friends afterwards and only fully lost contact when Takada graduated, around a year before Light did (since she didn’t miss a year due to being a Kira suspect)…. This just goes to establish that during the majority of the time-skip, Light absolutely does keep up his charming good boy public image.

He also keeps Misa reasonably happy - though he does not show her any overt affections, he doesn’t neglect her to a degree she’s uncomfortable with and it’s canon that they are sexually active together. (Elaborations: here and here).

I’m bringing all this up immediately because there is often an assumption that the Light we see the most in the second arc is fully reflective of his attitude during the timeskip, which I think is demonstrably untrue.

Nevertheless, it would also be wrong to say Light didn’t change at all.

For one, obviously, he gets a job. Contrary to popular opinion, Light’s work is NOT just being on the Kira Task Force. When the second arc starts up properly, he’s already been working on the information bureau for 6 months. And this is canonically not just a cover as Light mentions work from it that he was involved with:

So this brings Light up to 3 labor-intense jobs - NPA, L, Kira. Even with task delegating, that’s a lot of work. If there’s just one word to describe young adult Light it’s simply ‘busy’. He’s just so busy.

The other thing that notably changed is his relationship to Soichiro. This change took root during the Yotsuba Arc and spans further and further now. Though Light still looks up to his father, he is no longer hesitant to talk back to Soichiro - likewise, Soichiro often defers to him through this arc. The two of them have become adults of equal standing by now. Soichiro is no longer the unquestioned patriarch of the Yagami family. 

Now, there isn’t a lot of space to examine Light’s adult daily life demeanor in, but the image he gives off in the few scenes we get is that he’s become a more serious and stoic person over his years of being busy and living a double life. The double life aspect is especially highlighted in the brief Yagami family scene.

Though we see Light laugh along with his family, his eyes are obscured in both instances. With Light, this is classically a visual cue towards emotional conflict rather than plain lying. The issue here isn’t that he’s faking it, the issue is that his double life existence is taking some amount of mental toll on him.

At the start of the second arc we are introduced to the setting information that Kira has been gaining more and more wide-spread acceptance across the globe. Yet the Yagami family stands firmly against Kira, not exactly to Light’s delight. In the end, his family members are the prototypical ‘good people’ that he’s making his new world for in the first place. I’ve discussed ad nausea that Light desires his father approval, but his sister’s and mother’s opinion matter to him as well. Above all other people, Light loves his family. Five years of playing charades and listening to them vehemently disagree with his actions have created a sense of emotional disconnect though, which I think is visible in his vacant expressions during this scene.  

Since Light isn’t currently facing any thrilling challenge, I get the feeling that his mentality during this timeframe is a sense of ‘just a bit further until….’. He’s not living in the moment so much as dismissing the moment as temporary inconvenience on his quest towards the ideal he is striving for. (Which isn’t to say I see him as totally emotionally absent. This is just the underlying current.)

And that’s where we have Light at the end of Volume 7. And with Volume 8, he is immediately tossed into great emotional peril with Sayu’s kidnapping. This would be the first big segment you’d need to cover for second arc Light, but it’s already been written out brilliant by casuistor in the second half of this post. The bottom line is: Light changes all his plans to his disadvantage because he loves his sister and wants her safe, hurray! This is relevant to every arc Light really, loving his family is a big constant with him.

How much this all stresses him out is evident in him getting loud and abrasive, which isn’t much his usual behavior. (Again, I’d argue Misa seems surprised by this outburst more than anything - I don’t believe this has been a pattern between them at any point during the timeskip.)

Especially since he goes back to being smarmy as is default with her once the threat to his sister is dealt with.

The other big thing that happens in Volume 8 is obviously him meeting Mello and Near, who are the ones reintroducing struggle into Light’s stagnant life.

The meeting with Near immediately evokes the tension of a battle with L for Light - for Mello, the association doesn’t come until Sayu is out of immediate danger. Either way, for the time being the presence of these two kind of anchors Light. Having something to fight and schemes to do to keep his brain actively engaged tends to be something that makes him thrive.

It’s cool that he himself points out how thematically Mello and Near are challenging him on two different facets of his existence. The fact that it’s a challenge is also what sets this apart from Light vs L in the first arc. Though Light hadn’t initially known it, back then L was the established force and Light was the newcomer and challenger. Now Light is established in both areas and Mello and Near are the ones attacking his existent positions - that’s why he views them as roadblocks to outplay rather than as nemeses. He views himself, from the get-go, as the person with the upper hand - this brand of confidence is only possible because the timeskip existed and made Light get used to this as status quo.

And this about sums-up Light in the first half of the second arc. It’s important to note that as far as Light characterization is concerned the second arc really does segment mid volume 9. His father’s death is an event that changes Light significantly on every count.

I wrote it out before, so in the name of not getting super repetitive, here’s the key elements of Soichiro’s death as far as Light is concerned. 

It was not what Light planned. He wanted to kill Matsuda, he never even considered his father would volunteer.

Soichiro dies while expressing happiness that Light is not Kira - thus cementing once and for all that Light will never and can never attain his father’s approval that he yearns for.

Soichiro’s statement also implies that he still had doubts about Light’s innocence, even after mock-shooting him in the face and working alongside him for years. Light also learns his father never trusted him fully.

Basically everything Light wants from his father is negated and denied and then Soichiro is dead, leaving Light with no way to rectify things.

We’d established in the early paragraphs of this that a lot of Light acting as Kira was a matter of waiting until his family approves. Soichiro’s passing now makes this ‘until’ an impossibility. And that hurts badly.

Light deals with this by rationalizing everything to the n-th degree. He focuses himself on killing Mello during his father’s death to push the emotions as far away as possible and after that tries to cut himself off from his father emotionally as much as possible. This includes being avoidant to the rest of his family who remind him of the cocktail of unresolved emotions he has simmering below:

And then changes in his rhetoric and candidness about his thoughts are also immediately apparent. I feel like I cap this scene in every second post I write but it’s simply too relevant to ever be left out:

Again, we’re dealing with the hidden eyes visual cue that usually indicates that Light is saying the truth or is very emotionally conflicted about what he’s saying.

So here we have Light fully verbally acknowledging Kira’s evil-ness, to the world, to himself. Soichiro always thought of Kira as evil and how badly that wounded Light is one of the key segments early in the first arc. Now, Soichiro’s stance is eternal, because Soichiro is gone. Light has to acknowledge it as unchangable fact - so he focuses his rhetoric on the idea of sacrifice once more.

This little speech isn’t for the sake of the task force members, it’s Light’s answer to his dead father; Light re-convincing himself of his whole scheme.

None of these are brand-new thoughts for Light, but the timing and intensity with which they surface here is noteworthy.

(Side Note: from this point on, the usage of the hidden eye cue for Light changes a little - up until here it’d been used pretty much exclusively for Light being emotional. Now it is also often used when we see the scene from Aizawa’s perspective, symbolizing his distrust of Light - how he feels he and Light literally cannot talk eye to to eye because Light is lying. The inconsistency in the visual language is kind of annoying, but ah well.)

Further, Light loses his qualms about going against Soichiro’s morals in front of the task force. Now that there is no father there to judge him anymore, he doesn’t put too much care into keeping up appearances. Where in the Yotsuba Arc Light had made plenty clear that he’s his father’s good son who would never use people, he just… totally gives up on this now. Though in front of his father Light always acted out that he and Misa are an actual couple, he now cheats on her without so much as a feigned hesitance.

His excuse regarding Takada is half-hearted at best as well. Of course, this in part just relates to Ohba not putting any care into writing women or people’s feelings about women. But on a solely in-universe level, this is a notable shift in how manipulative Light lets people see him as.

The rest of the task force simply does not matter to him as more than mere pawns - their opinion of him is only important when it comes to threat level assessment. Light’s actual morality chain is gone now.

Light’s characterization during this time-frame is a little tough to talk about because there isn’t a lot of added value, if that makes sense? He’s the Light we know but less. His character change isn’t defined by new traits emerging so much as old traits falling away: Light doesn’t joke around anymore, Light doesn’t bother to hide duplicitous nature as much anymore. And notably, Light doesn’t really get emotional key moments anymore either.

He’s mostly just… this. He’s laser-focused on his plan and his victory while pushing aside any personal elements. 

Only with Takada, he amps up the charm again and acts more like his first arc self, but that’s not a positive statement to their relationship.

To Light, this is solely functional rather than relaxing. He was going to kill Takada along with everyone else who knows of the notebook right after the 28th, rather than keep her around for use. The only one who would have survived this rampage would have been Mikami, solely because he has the eyes and that is still useful.

And with all of this as our baseline, we move into the finale.

Going into the warehouse, Light is, above all, overconfident. In his mind, he’s won before he even sets foot into the Yellow Box. 

When he unfavorably compares Near to L, he’s in truth saying more about himself and his own mindset than he is saying about Near. He took L more seriously, not because L was better, but because he himself was more alert and aware of the possibility of failure. Earlier in the arc, Light even refers to Near as ‘worse’ than L on the threat-scale... He’s lost all of this now. The level of detached scheming he has reached after his father’s death is to the detriment of his maneuvering ability. 

Light now relies on the fact that he’s the established power and views himself as inherently victorious - though Light has always been arrogant, he used to not fully underestimate people this way. He has become complacent in his arrogance - I do think that is related to how dead inside he is generally, too.

So when it turns out that he has in fact been outplayed, he takes it harsher than he ever took any set-backs before. Instead of taking reparation measures immediately, he reacts with disbelief and badly thought out excuses.

Light is fully caught off-guard by his own failure.

He is laid bare in front of everybody. Light has spent the last five years consistently lying to everybody around him, but now he is proverbially naked. This panel uses the same visual language as when Light regained his memories at the end of the Yotsuba-arc. Here and there, a split-up Light becomes more himself. There, the literally memorywiped Light got reunited with his full plans. Here, Light’s masks fall away and he’s only himself in the eyes of himself and the world. 

Sometimes all you can do is laugh (tm).

Now Light finally gets to lay all the justifications he’s always told himself about his actions as Kira out in the open. And this time, maybe for the first time ever, literally every part of him believes in it. Now that everything has fallen away, this self-justification is literally all that Light has left and he’ll cling to it like a drowning man clings to a log of wood.

I think this is really the moment where Light ‘comes together’ so to speak. Masks and excuses conflate with the person, become one on every level.

For a large amount of the second arc Light has been driving on scheme-y autopilot but now his heart is fully in it once more. There is no more ‘until’. He’s justice now, he erased the last fraction of doubt now.... and it doesn’t help him.

Light is fully unified as himself for the first time.

And he’s also completely alone for the first time.

His entire life, Light had people look up to him. He’s always been adored. There has never ever been a situation in which there was truly nobody on Light’s side - not in all of his 23 years, not until now. 

And that’s the one thing Light can truly not believe. The one certainty in his life has always been that people look up to him. Now he’s on the floor, crawling in his own blood, and nobody is his ally. He can’t and won’t believe it.

And that’s why he asks Ryuk for help. And that’s why Ryuk kills him.

At the very end of his life, Light is a scared child. He comes full circle from the time he found the Death Note and thought he’d die for accidentally using it - he’s back to this fear of death, only this time it’s worse. Then, he had hope to change the world in his days before death. Now, he has changed it, and he realizes that’s not enough. Leaving a legacy is not simply not enough.

Light wants to live.

All these years of feeding himself the narrative of self-sacrifice for the greater good... and at the bottom line below all that, what he really wants is to live.

Too late for that.

[cowgrl]

what are u reading rn?

ahhh tysm for asking; i love talking books!!

i’m perpetually reading 25 books but anyway

a promised land by barack obama - well, this one needs no introduction lol. i’m listening to this on audiobook with my mom and it’s wonderful so far, but it’s like a tome and we’re only on chapter 3 so come back 7 months from now when we’ve finally finished it. if you’re going to read this physically, definitely give the audiobook a listen at some point too. it’s just so nice to hear his voice (and i love listening to authors read their own biographies/memoirs anyway)

horimiya series by hero - i’m reading vol. 3 right now and i love this manga so much! slice of life anything is instant serotonin for me <3 hori must be protected at all costs, miyamura has made me seriously reconsider my stance on man-buns (still hate the term tho), and souta is my fav! it’s got a maid-sama vibe but without the enemies-to-lovers element (which is a trope i typically i hate in 99% of media) and there’s an ova adaptation too that i haven’t watched yet but i’m excited

a very punchable face by colin jost - i am slightly embarrassed to say this but this is kind of a thirst read 😳 i mean, i do actually want to read this book but i’d be lying if i said 60% of the reason why wasn’t because i really like colin and snl (weekend update specifically). 

i may or may not have teared up when he was on late night with seth meyers because i love their friendship and i was so excited for this book to come out...i also may or may not have been pms-ing but i can’t remember so we’ll never know! anyway, it’s pretty interesting! his childhood is more intriguing than his adulthood would lead you to believe and i’m still an snl-apologist (yes they’re lame try-hards but they’re MY lame try-hards <3) so it’s nice to read the little snl stories too :-)

the island of sea women by lisa see - this was recommended to me by my favorite co-worker and i’m trying really hard to get through it but it almost put me in a reading slump. historical fiction is probably one of my least favorite genres; i’d much rather read about the real people who lived during that time period than a fictional account. obviously, there are exceptions but in general, it’s just not my cuppa. 

i’m only 100 pages in and i’m struggling so i might end up switching over to the audiobook. i will finish it eventually; i want to give my co-worker’s rec a fair shot and it’s a critical darling -- everyone seems to love this book -- so i’d feel pretty bad if i dnf’d it. i would love to learn more about the real haenyeo of jeju because i am genuinely fascinated and inspired by them! i love women’s history so i’m sure that’s why it was recommended to me. americans are taught very little about the korean war and japanese colonialism so i think it’s going to be an enlightening read for me as well once i really get into it.

how not to get shot: and other advice from white people by d.l. hughley and doug moe - a satirical take on the black experience in america featuring lots of tragic (and infuriating) real events in african-american history but hey, if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. obviously, that’s an oversimplification but it’s a satirical advice book for black people based on the illogical, ignorant, and racist arguments of white people in america; i don’t really know how to explain it beyond that. i have quite a few hughley books on my tbr but this is the first one i’ve read and it’s poignant but i’m laughing a lot too. if you think reverse racism is real you’ll hate it but at the same time you probably need to read it more than anyone 💀

yotsuba&! vol. 14 by kiyohiko azuma - MY RAMPION, MY CHAMPION, MY FAVORITE <3333 kiyohiko azuma is the king of slice of life and you can’t change my mind. this is currently the last volume so even though i checked it out a while ago, i’ve been procrastinating because i don’t want it to end �� (it’s still ongoing though, i just don’t want to finish vol. 14 and not have vol. 15 to start reading immediately after) 

yotsuba is an adorable, hilarious 5-year-old girl navigating the world with her dad and her neighbors and it’s just one of the cutest manga series ever created. nothing’s perfect but yotsuba&! is literally flawless - mr. azuma does not miss!

okay there are a few more that i’m reading but that’s probably enough for now! thank you so much for the ask, anon!

[sweet-popplio]

So for several years I've had trouble being able to sit and read. I felt so guilty for sitting and reading a book for fun instead of working in my free time. I've been stuck in a cycle of "Well if I'm not at work, I need to be working and producing things". A lot of it is the art school I went to and the idea of "well most artists now work a part time or full time job but then when they come home they work on their artwork so they can hopefully build an audience and make art their full time job" so it's just an endless cycle of "YOU MUST ALWAYS BE WORKING".

I've been having to take a break from art for the past year. I still doodle occasionally but haven't done big projects. I'm trying to get back into doing things I used to love doing, like reading manga, novels, stuff like that. Lately the only "fun" thing I've been able to do is play video games but now I get stressed out even playing those. I seem to only be able to play games where I can be creative and show people what I have done, like animal crossing and minecraft. It gives me the feeling that I have produced or done something.

Long post but getting to the point. I'm slowly getting back into reading books again and it makes me so happy I could cry. I missed reading for fun so much. I went to the local library and finally got a renewed card so I've been checking out several comic books and even got a hoopla account so I could read ebooks for free too. I used to go to the library and check out 12 books at a time and finish them in a week. When I wasn't drawing, I was reading. It's been 9 or so years since I've really gone to a library and checked out a stack of books like that. I really missed it. 😭

I also don't feel so bad about reading manga anymore. In art school they would continually shit on manga (unless it was Yotsuba&?????) So I had dialed back on reading manga so much because I would feel guilty for liking them which SUCKS because it was the whole reason I wanted to make comics in the first place.

I also checked out a novel called "The Lonliest Girl in the Universe" the synopsis sounded really good, kind of a sci-fi, romance, suspense book from the sound of it. I used to be able to finish books this size in a couple of hours so lets see if my reading speed is still as good as it used to be! Haha

[silenthillmutual]

Death Note (completed list)

all L/Light, unless specified otherwise.

Top 5:

Best Wishes From a Goddess of Death by The_Maiden_of_Autumn; M (fluff, AU, angst)  Misa Amane is not stupid- oblivious and airheaded sometimes, but definitely not lacking in intelligence. She can see the way Light and L are together, the regretful, sorrowful looks L gives her whenever she speaks to Light. She knows where this is heading; she just doesn't want it to be this way. But she's made her bed, and wishes them happiness, she truly does. Slight LightxL

Cake Crumbs And Bed Sheets by Jenwryn; M (AU, fluff, romance)  An inexplicable and very fluffy AU, written for Australia Day. In which L eats lamingtons and vanilla slice - and has help to fall asleep.

Kanji by sashocirrione; T (fluff, AU, hurt/comfort)  Light is bringing L home to meet his sister and mother, as L is now his boyfriend. But Light can't shake off the feeling that he was somehow tricked into the situation. Fluffy and probably somewhat OOC, not my usual style. Written for Persefone88, one of the winners of my 100th review contest, (started back when I was still running that contest).

(Now And Then There’s) A Fool Such As I by Light It Up; T (AU, fluff)  Knowing he couldn’t miss his first class, L took a deep breath and strode into the hallways, ignoring anyone who tried talking to him. By the time he was sitting at Biology and had his pencil twirling between his fingers, hearing the teacher explaining things he already knew and the girls to his right talking about stupidities he didn’t want to know, L just wanted to vent about how he was feeling. However, he would never do that with someone he actually knew.

you’re a wasp nest by raisuki; M (fluff, AU) But Light was already wandering off, his cane clicking rhythmically as he navigated the halls. He gave L a half-hearted wave before merging back into the flow of people. L was fairly sure he has just been tricked into buying Light Yagami dinner, and he was also pretty sure Light Yagami is the most audacious person he had ever met.

and now, for all the rest!

K/K+

Ambiguity Among Two by Fledgling  [L x Light. Hugging. Handcuffed. Ficlet.] L shuddered at the memory, and briefly, he dug his fingertips into Light's back, willing bruises inside that whispered of sleepless, difficult nights.

Bedtime by Servant Gabrielle (humor, romance) Drabble. LightxL. Sometimes, being handcuffed together caused a few problems.

Candy by Eriko Myoujin (romance) L wants to know if Raito enjoys candy. Supposed to take place during the time Raito has forfeited his memories of the Death Note. A silly little thing written for an LJ community. [LxRaito]

Candy is Dandy by firedraygon (humor) During a latenight investigation, L is craving some chocolate. LxRaito

Duplicity’s a Matter of Fact by lefcadio Light x L. A thunderstorm, an unexpected conversation, and cake.

I’m Glad I Found You by bri-notthecheese (+Misa/Matsuda; romance, friendship) No one would have expected a relationship to blossom between Investigator Touta Matsuda and Model Misa Amane. However, if a friendship developed between them while she was under suspicion and then she eventually decided to let Light go, Matsuda would be the perfect prince waiting for her when she decided that he was who she truly wanted and needed. Matsuisa ftw.

Observations by Asidian L does some unconventional observations. Too bad he can't convince himself it's for the good of the investigation. Light x L.

Out of Focus by Chiba.Kun (romance) [LightxL] Written from Light's POV. Oneshot. Not much to it. When the two are handcuffed together, innocent desires surface. I apologize for the crappy summary.

Sleepy Chains by WellspringIsSuperLame (romance) In which a tired Raito becomes rather suspicious of Ryuuzaki. Random little one-shot, LxRaito fun.

Starlight by subdivided (drama, romance) AU manga ending, LLight, one shot. The Kira case is declared solved before Light can regain his memory. He and L leave the party early, for a garden under the stars.

Sweeter Than Sugar by Manwyn (romance) LxRaito. L offer Raito one of his treats... AN: Sorry i'm not very good with summarys.

What I Lay Down by mleeph (romance, drama) Love comes in percentages, but sacrifice is a matter of absolutes. Thus, L comes to a realization at 1:19 in the morning. [Raito x L ]

G

3:19 Am by Tierfal (romance, drama) This is really not the time of day at which Light prefers to discuss their respective revelations. 

Bad Habits by domo (humor) Light hates it when Ryuuzaki bites his nails, Ryuu just wants to know if Light is gay or not.

Bananas by Tierfal (humor, romance) Best. Idea. EVER.

Cake by Desmenn

Confused "No thanks. I'm fine like this- confused."

Counting the Coffee Drip by NOT_TOWA_WAKASA (fluff) Light is a blind man who loves to count. L finds him curious, and wades through the holiday season to visit him wherever he may appear.

Dance With Me by dotti55 Light wants talks L into trying a new experience.

Easily Entertained by Tierfal (humor, romance) It's an important distinction.

First & Final by overdose I watched the most emotional Death Note scene in Death Note history. (I've only made it to L's death) So, I decided to do something with it. Kinds sucky and rushed.

The First Noel by OctaviaPeverell (romance) Because L loves Christmas desserts and Light can't get enough of handcuffs!

Four Minutes of Solitude by Tierfal (humor, romance) L tries to take a break, the operative word being "tries."

Heaven-Sent Hypocrisy by Tierfal (romance, fluff) Somebody up there was looking out for him.

mellifera by alharper He sleeps beside you, spare hand curled around the chain, six feet of arrogant beauty and ruthless intelligence softened and hidden.

Oh So Smart by Zanganito (+Misa/Light; fluff, angst, humor, hurt/comfort) Misa decides to have movie night! During the film, Light makes a few unwelcome realizations and is moved to tears. L takes advantage of the opportunity to mock him relentlessly. Set just after the conclusion of the Yotsuba arc.

On A Boat by Tierfal (humor, angst, romance, hurt/comfort, AU) Light is considering throwing himself over the side and trying to drown.

Perilous by Tierfal (humor, romance) It's just another evening… until it's not.

Perverted by Tierfal (humor, romance) It's all about the contingency plans.

Provocation by Jenwryn (humor) "I would not provoke Watari-san if I were you, Light-kun."

Resolved Tension by norestforthewckd (fluff) Light Yagami does not like Ryuzaki. Light Yagami is a very big liar with a bit of a soft spot for a certain man.

Sub Finem by RatatoskMode "...I still can’t believe that this is the end. No, it’s more like I don’t want to believe it. The only person I deemed worthy of taking my life was L himself, but to go this way is pathetic." Light Yagami is dying, and he's visited by a familiar ghost of his past.

The Taste by Tierfal (romance, AU) It makes perfect sense.

Will You Be My Valentine? by TabbyCat33098 (AU, fluff) L has been getting mysterious presents all day long, presents of a...how do you say? Romantic persuasion. What is going on? Who's sending these?

Word Play by CuteCat213 (AU, fluff) Remarkable: worthy of attention; striking. L bit his thumb and watched Light. His boyfriend certainly was striking. And he was sure Light wouldn't mind; there had to be at least six other things more creepy than watching his boyfriend sleep and tying to think of words to describe it.

T

Antioxidant Properties by remarks Rivals getting hot and bothered (mismatched socks and a kiwifruit).

Are you Lonesome Tonight? by Light It Up Their time apart had scarred the both of them. There were days someone would mention that High School relationships didn’t last long, or that when two people started dating at a too young age, they always ended up drifting apart. Those days were when L was the most vulnerable, and Light made sure to spend the night with him, whether at the Yagami house or at L and Watari’s.

The Boy’s Too Refined by sabriel75 (AU) The notorious detective, Sherlock Holmes, takes too keen of interest in Light and L's affairs. He suffers a concussed head for it. Light loses his innocence. Both were bound to happen sometime though as far as John Watson and L were concerned.

Caveat Emptor by Tierfal (humor, drama) In which there are shopping trips, sarcasm, backhanded compliments, dark rooms, big guns, bubble baths, trauma of every sort, and detailed fantasies involving cake - lots of those. Let the buyer beware indeed. L/Light.

Cherade by lefcadio Light x L. When you're handcuffed to someone, insomnia takes its toll in one way or another.

A Different Decision by phoenixjustice Maybe a world free of criminals and ran by Kira would truly be a better place.

Fevered by Ivydoll (Mello/Near; romance, drama) MelloNear. When Near's illness jars the boys' comfort zones, they lose some of their control and experience a slight tilt towards one another.

Fidgeting by Tierfal (romance, fluff, AU) "Don't squirm."

From the (Very Private) Notebook Of... by Shayheyred (humor, crack) Probability that L is a dork: 100%

The Ghost Inside You by slightowl In which Light must learn to cope with an undead roommate. (An LxLight ghost story.)

Giving And Taking by Jenwryn (AU, romance) AU. The Kira case is closed, and L had promised himself he'd make a move on his partner-in-crime-solving but... there's too much to risk losing.

grow old or something by youremyqueen The afterlife is a bit like normal life, in that it's completely dull.

Lay Your Hands On Me by Light It Up (AU, fluff) Of course, though, it was only seldom that Light remembered that. He couldn’t care less about when he’d leave this small, crappy apartment, not when every now and then he could catch scenes and sounds so enticing from the man he’d been in love with for about a year and a half.

Love Tonight by Light It Up (AU, fluff) Light looks at him with tears in his eyes, blinking a few times to force them back. Almost shyly, he nods, so L reaches up to brush away a stray tear from his cheek. “It’s your birthday, you idiot,” Light explains then, hugging his knees as close to him as he can.

Never Forgotten by metal goat (angst) Raito can never seem to forget L, no matter how hard he tries... LRaito, some RaitoMisa. Spoilers for Ch.58. Shounenai. Oneshot

The Plan by strange_isle (drama, AU) Light's scheme was both devious and elegant. Too bad it's gone awry. Now in the aftermath, L demands answers, but Light's not exactly in the most amenable of moods.

A Pocketful of Posey by Edmondia Dantes Redux (drama) Ashes, ashes, we all fall down. Light/L.

Sour Candy by Edmondia_Dantes On the taste of apples and sugar.

Special Quality by Tasogare Nagisa (crack) We are all defined by that one special quality; if only we knew what that quality was...

Sweet Things by Light it Up (AU, fluff) Their relationship had started just before the Kira case was closed. Light confessed to the detective that he was the assassin, and when he thought L was going to handcuff him and send him to prison, where he would wait for the jury to decide when his death sentence would take place, L had instead kissed him. Although he could never be completely sure of it, Light guessed that the fact that he was crying when he confessed was the factor that made L’s mind up.

Sweetest Decay by Fantastical Queen Ebony Black (Mello/Near; angst) Letting you get the better of me. MelloNear [Spoilers for chapters in the 90's]

Taste by Hikaru R Kudou (humor) Shounen ai, Raito and L. A conversation between the two over breakfast. Raito: "I happen to like them that way. Is my taste bothering you?"

Unreliable as the Mind by Ramasi Losing and regaining his memories doesn't make Light's already complicated feelings for his opponent any simpler; and L might have even less scruples about killing someone he loves.

What you’ve always known by Devilinthebox (hurt/comfort, angst) Light comforts L about his body image. L tries to put distance but needs the comfort. He lets some defenses down (Request)

White Sepulcher by World’sOnlyConsultingTimeLady (angst, romance) L's rationality falls on an ordinary, dull night. L/Light one shot

Winter Wonderland by Light it Up (fluff, AU) What Light didn’t mention, was that he was extremely sensitive to the cold. He had never gone out during the Christmas holidays because when he was very little, he had come down with pneumonia after staying out on a windy day, so his parents never allowed him out again.

World is Mine by Light it Up (fluff, AU) Given that information, it’s quite obvious that Light lost, and the idea L had was certainly the most embarrassing thing Light has ever heard in his life. His cheeks are read in the mirror, and he turns a few times to look at himself from every angle, his heart pounding against his chest. This is so not a good idea, and he’s sure L just wants to see him like that to laugh at him, but God, Light has to admit that he likes what he’s seeing.

M

Almost Oblivion by Serria L knows that Light doesn't close his eyes at night for fear of waking up as Kira. L, on the contrary, won't rest until that transition is complete.

An Apple a Day by hyperRme (romance, crime) ...but if the doctor is cute forget the fruit. L turns this into his motto when he is forced to see doctor Raito because of his sugar only diet. As he pursues the doctor, L learns that the murderer he is trying to catch is pursuing Raito’s life.

At Night by Vehuel (PWP) Things that happen at night should stay between the two of them. Secret, and covered in darkness.

Chance of Circumstances by wordbombs (romance, humor) Sometimes all happiness takes is a change of circumstances. L/Light, fluffly lemon meringue AU one-shot. Answers- What if Light was a Wammy?

Choose by reaperlight (AU, fluff, angst, humor) Light isn't too fond of Valentine's Day. As it turns out neither is L...

Control by mmmdraco From the 3 Sentence Ficathon: Death Note, L/Light, control

Daylight The Light Does Bring by Jenwryn (romance, fluff, AU) The detective rolls onto his side, displacing Light's trailing thumb, and stares up at the younger man.

Guilty until proven Innocent by Callicanios (mystery, romance) Kira has emerged, the great detective L sets out to stop him. Only thing, Light is not Kira. Due to the explicitly of the chapters beyond chapter 14 the rating will be changed to M. LxLight

Softly Now by Jenwryn (romance, AU) The apartment is laced with the smell of fresh paint, and L has flecks of blue upon his cheeks.

Somnambulism by reaperlight (crack, humor) Light does not appreciate L’s sense of humor.

Submission by lichenglie “I think you forget, Light Yagami, that I am just as childish as Kira is,” he says, “and I hate to lose.”

Water, water, water by Devilinthebox In the bath, they forget they’re a detective and a suspect; they remove these identities along with their clothes, layer by layer until there are only the handcuffs left. And them; facing the other in the eerie calmness of their bathroom. At least, it’s how Light sees it.

E

Anger Before Bliss by mannysue (angst) L was depressed. Depressed that his deduction was wrong. Light is very much not pleased by this change in L's demeanor. He decides to take action.

Bang! by youremyqueen Written for the second death note kink meme, prompt was: in bed with a fully loaded gun.

by night we go naked, by day we go blind by youremyqueen Written for the second death note kink meme, prompt was: sensory deprivation.

Can’t I Even Dream? by Light It Up (fluff, smut) They didn’t kiss; it was more like breathing each other’s air, being as close as physics allowed them to. Sometimes Light wished they could just freeze the world and stay in a moment forever, just enjoying their own company and that instant when their bodies were in perfect synchrony, hips meeting at every precise thrust.

Clean by FayJay Set during the period when Light had given up the Death Note, and didn't know he was Kira.

Dirty by FayJay Set during the period when Light had given up the Death Note, and did not know he was Kira. (Sequel to 'Clean', but can be read as a standalone.)

Interested in Learning More by Shadow_Of_Quill Light isn't asexual. He just has... unusual interests. And Ryuuzaki is very observant.

Intermission by Shiraume What happened right after the infamous fight in Vol 5.

Just Before Sunset by Evilchuckles (romance) Perhaps they don't want to remember. Perhaps it's enough to be happy.

Linked by Shayheyred The chain is not what connects them

Low of Solipsism by Light It Up (AU, fluff) Even after six months of them dating, Light still wondered what it was about L that drove him so wild. Before him he used to be a quiet lover, rarely making any sounds more than a moan here and there. That being said, it’s easy to understand that Light was surprised when they first started touching each other and he instantly became vocal.

Playing the Part by Vector L was alone in his intent stare at the monitors.

Roundabout Truth by Ramasi Light is furious when he's kept in chains after he regains his memories; he has no choice but to try and figure out L further.

See Me by Shadow_of_Quill (AU) Light sometimes thinks he'd give anything to have someone see him for who he really is.

Something to Think About by dotti55 Having moved to The Wammy's House together, L and Light share their first Valentine's Day together, and make some discoveries about their relationship and their future together.

That Night by sashocirrione L and Light have a hotel-room encounter that is not at all accidental. Complete but open-ended.

Time Out by epkitty (fluff) They were handcuffed together for how long???

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 5/28/20

Dr. STONE, Vol. 11 | By Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi | Viz Media – Balloons! Yes, Dr. STONE is taking it upon itself to do something it does best, which is show off the gorgeous vistas of this not-really-that-explored future Japan it takes place in. And that means hot air balloons. It also means speedboats! But alas, just because Senku is a scientist does not mean he can cook. So they use some of the last remaining fluid to un-stone a butler-cum-chef-cum-everything, Francois, who is flamboyant and also a lot of fun. There’s actually some really good humor in this volume as well, be it the reporter getting her camera and its undercutting right afterwards, or Senku’s Einstein impersonation. This remains one of the essential Jump titles. – Sean Gaffney

Dungeon Builder: The Demon King’s Labyrinth Is a Modern City!, Vol. 2 | By Rui Tsukiyo and Hideaki Yoshikawa | Seven Seas – After wrapping up the cliffhanger from the first volume (he names his first monster girl, which gives her the power-up (and bust expansion) she needs to win), the cast gets down to the nitty-gritty of what he wants to do: build a city, not a dungeon, which feeds on positive emotions. Of course, there are a few problems. Location, labor costs, the neighboring demon lords, and of course Marcho’s impending death, which she seems to have accepted more than Procel has. This remains sort of mid-tier manga—not interesting enough to stand out, but the pages turn easily, and you could do worse. Also, brilliant pun for the back-cover blurb. – Sean Gaffney

Éclair Blanche: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart | By Various Artists | Yen Press – The second of the Éclair anthologies to come out over here, this one seems to focus more attention on love that is already in bloom when the story begins than love that we see the start of. There’s a nice mix of funny, heartwarming, sad, and generally melancholic. Some highlights are “Azalea Corner,” about a minion’s crush on the arrogant ojou she follows; “The Unemployed Woman and the High School Girl,” which should be awful but is by Canno so is cute instead; and “That Summer Won’t Come Again,” about a girl trapped in her sister’s past who bonds with a senpai and learns to swim again. There’s good and not-so-good here, but overall well worth buying. – Sean Gaffney

Éclair Blanche: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart | By Various Artists | Yen Press – This is the second Éclair anthology, but aside from two continuations, all the stories here are new. The quality varies, and it seems the better stories are in the front. The first story, Fly’s “Flowers in a Storm,” sets the tone for bittersweet, ambiguous endings with the tale of a first kiss that comes too late. There are also several stories about unrequited love for a friend who loves someone else, be it another girl, an idol, or a guy. Kabocha’s “Though Summer Won’t Come Again” is a standout, about a girl who assumes the senpai she’s developed feelings for prefers her older sister, as everyone else seems to. Unfortunately, I found the stories toward the end of the volume to be less enjoyable, particularly the final one, which includes the most awkward teacher-student embrace I have ever seen. Still, I will read the next installment when it comes out! – Michelle Smith

I Didn’t Mean to Fall in Love | By Minta Suzumaru | Futekiya (digital only) – Yoshino Kiritani is a beautiful 30-year-old salaryman who happens to be both gay and a virgin. With no relationship prospects on the horizon and wanting to finally have sex, he goes to a gay bar, meets a charismatic college student named Rou, and sleeps with him. The back-and-forth that follows between these two guys is so well done. Rou is a notorious playboy with a hot-and-cold routine he has employed many times to manipulate his conquests into falling for him and confessing their feelings. He tries this on Yoshino, even though he’s actually serious about him, but it doesn’t work. Self-effacing Yoshino genuinely thinks Rou wants nothing more to do with him, forcing Rou to face the seriously scary prospect of rejection by declaring his feelings first. There are a few explicit scenes, but they serve the characters and story well. Highly recommended! – Michelle Smith

Love Me, Love Me Not, Vol. 2 | By Io Sakisaka | Viz Media – First of all, a word of advice to the author: don’t sink people’s ships in your author’s notes, OK? Secondly, this continues to have the strengths of Io Sakisaka titles—it gets teenage love in a good way, has characters who are likeable but clearly flawed, shows gradual character growth, and has clean, easy-to-follow art. She’s still trying to balance out the idealistic girl with the realistic girl, though it may be leaning towards the former. Sadly, it also contains what’s always been one of this author’s big weaknesses to me—I like her series but never love them. Each volume is fun to read and I’d call it good, but it’s never going to be tops in my favorite shoujo manga lists. It’s not life-changing the way a Yona of the Dawn is. – Sean Gaffney

Ping Pong, Vol. 1 | By Taiyo Matsumoto | Viz Media – Ever since Matsumoto was a guest at TCAF in 2013 and spoke in depth about the series, its development, and how it fit into his overall career, I’ve been desperately wanting to read Ping Pong in English. When the excellent anime adaptation came and went soon after and the original manga still hadn’t been licensed, I didn’t expect that we’d ever see it translated. But it is actually here! The first of two beautifully designed omnibus volumes. And I am absolutely in love with Matsumoto’s Ping Pong. Ostensibly a high school sports manga, Ping Pong spends very little time explaining the ins and outs of the game even though table tennis is essentially omnipresent; instead, the series devotes its attention almost entirely to the characters themselves. With strong psychological elements, in part the work’s themes explore talent, motivation, and self-determination, all supported by Matsumoto’s distinctive and spectacularly dynamic and expressive artwork. – Ash Brown

Prince Freya, Vol. 1 | By Keiko Ishihara | VIZ Media – The land of Tyr is threatened by Sigurd, the empire to the north. Our “wimpy and weak” heroine, Freya, happens to be the spitting image of Prince Edvard, who’s just been poisoned by Sigurd, and so takes on the role of impersonating him to protect her country. Alas, Freya’s performance as Edvard (and characterization in general) is inconsistent and in a way that doesn’t seem intentional on the mangaka’s part. Sometimes she boldly and capably takes action, sometimes she just cries. In my notes I wrote, “This ain’t no Basara,” prompted by a panel in which Freya is making an extremely insipid face because of something sappy her love interest has just said, but then something super dramatic and unexpected occurs and… well, now I’m cautiously on board. It may turn out to be fluffier than I would like, but I will at least give it a couple more volumes. – Michelle Smith

The Quintessential Quintuplets, Vol. 9 | By Negi Haruba | Kodansha Comics – There’s less swapping in this one, but the one time there is a swap it blows the reader out of the water. I suspect Ichika’s popularity took a nosedive after this volume, as her ideal of “all’s fair in love and war” is taken to a somewhat cruel conclusion. She’s not even the thirstiest of the quints, as both Nino and Miku are trying to make their feelings for Futaro as clear to him as possible. Meanwhile, Yotsuba is trying the opposite tactic, saying that she’ll support whichever sister that isn’t her he picks, showing off a core of self-deprecation that we’ve seen before, but never to this level. And then there’s Itsuki, who seems to have forgotten she was supposed to be first girl. Great harem antics. – Sean Gaffney

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, Vol. 9 | By Yu Tomofuji | Yen Press – I missed reviewing the eighth volume of this, for some reason; I’m not sure why. It continues to be quietly sweet, with a heroine who perhaps leans a little too much towards “can save everyone by the sheer power of being really nice.” That said, nice can only go so far, and when she discovers a country that’s being blackmailed into slavery, nice becomes determined and fierce. There’s also some tortured romance at the start—the king’s chief bodyguard and the princess’s attendant clearly are headed towards each other, but there are a few steps back here before we can move forward once more. I admit that I’d likely enjoy this more without its central conceit of animal people, but oh well. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 7 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – I admit I was a bit more surprised than Shirayuki was at the identity of the leader of the Lions of the Mountain. That said, it does remind us that Shirayuki is another one of those great “shoujo heroines who underreacts to everything,” which can be quite amusing when done right. That said, this volume is when the series transitioned from the quarterly DX to the main LaLa magazine, and as such much of the middle part is taken up with introducing new readers to the main cast and the situation. This includes an amusing “personality reversal” chapter where Mitsuhide starts acting like a chivalrous knight. the book ends with the implication that their love is going public. How will that go? Great shoujo. – Sean Gaffney

Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina, Vol. 1 | By Jougi Shiraishi, Itsuki Nanao, and Azure | Square Enix – This is a manga adaptation of the first fourth or so of the light novel, and it’s a very good adaptation. I will admit that Elaina is a lot more expressive than I was expecting… her delivery in the novels is somewhat cool… but it makes sense given the manga’s visual medium, and she’s cute. This volume shows off what we’re going to get from now on: some cute fluffy stories, some melancholic stories with deaths, some stories of Elaina having to extricate herself from a situation, and some backstory showing how she came to be wandering. The final story was one of my favorites in the book, and it’s the best one here too. A nice adaptation. – Sean Gaffney

By: Ash Brown

[sugurushimura]

Could you do a headcannon of the yotsu's views on women? If its not too difficult for you.( Not that we both don't already have an idea of what to expect from this headcanon)

haha, yeah, we do have an idea for some of them - but there definitely is some wiggle room for headcanons here, for some more than others.

first of all, the only interaction we get between the yotsus as a whole and women are the model scene and misa’s interview. there’s also higuchi and misa’s date. other than that, the only time any of them even mention a woman other than misa is a brief mention of a rival’s mistress in their introduction chapter, and higuchi saying that he misses his ex in the anime. that’s pretty limiting. this is going to get a bit long, so i’m slapping the rest under a cut!

during the model scene, we can kind of divide the yotsus into “sleazy” and “not sleazy”. namikawa, mido, shimura, kida, and hatori don’t really go out of their way to talk to anyone; kida and hatori are married, so it makes sense that they’re not too interested in skimpily-dressed young women. mido and shimura talk to the models but don’t seem nearly as interested as some of the others, and some dialogue from the prior scene implies that they’re only going along with this to keep an eye on matsuda. then there’s namikawa, who just kind of… stares uninterestedly out the window.

we’ll get back to those guys later; the ones that really stand out during this scene are higuchi and takahashi, who just go the fuck to town. they both are very obviously interested in misa, and the way that takahashi reminds higuchi to share definitely does feel like… you know. some high-key objectification there. they get pretty physical with at least a couple of women each, and takahashi, damningly, is married. and he has a child, no less! both of them are noticeably drunk here, so it’s might not be representative of how they normally behave - takahashi definitely isn’t normally bold enough to tell higuchi what to do - but it’s at least a big ole red flag that they probably view (attractive) women as primarily objects to get saucy with. it’s not like they say or do anything violently misogynistic, but is there some bias there? yes. very obviously.

(i do want to say that i headcanon that takahashi and his wife are in the process of separating, but this isn’t implied in canon anywhere and it doesn’t change the fact that he’s kind of sexist.)

ooi is kind of in the middle here. we see him getting very close to one of the models, but he only ever stays with one, and doesn’t say anything as iffy as takahashi or higuchi do; the only dialogue we hear between them is ooi talking about how great and awesome yotsuba is. is he about to offer to be her sugar daddy? possibly. is he also probably more on the “hot woman = sexy time” side of the spectrum here? yeah, i’d say so. it isn’t quite as overt as the other two, but yeah, there’s some bias there.

also notably, misa states that three of the men interviewing her asked for her number. we know that one of them is higuchi, so two out of ooi, mido, and shimura asked for her number, too. one of them was probably ooi. the third one is… harder to figure out, because neither mido or shimura really seem interested in her outside of the kira thing. since the next time we see shimura he’s trying to incite the other yotsus to bring down kira, you could headcanon that he asked for her number because he thought it would be useful to be in touch with her somehow?? but the headcanon that i’ve adopted (read as: stole from lev and luna) is that takahashi asked him to get misa’s number for him. either way, not very telling about his views on women.

to comment a bit more on higuchi, i definitely don’t think he’s a violent, “get in the kitchen” kind of sexist. from what we see of his date with misa (before they get to the kira stuff), he seems like he’s generally pretty nice - i mean, even when drunk he promised to treat her right, and during their date he just seems like he’s trying really hard to impress her. imo, higuchi is very much in the Nice Guy category of sexist dude… he thinks that women are weak and need to be protected, and he’s big on chivalry because he wants to appear more attractive. (and then he contemplates killing misa, so clearly that doesn’t reach very far.) he does seem to respect and defer to rem, though, so maybe this only applies to human women or women he finds attractive? or maybe rem just never bothered to tell him her gender and he never figured it out? who knows.

this is where we get to the more headcanon specific stuff!

shimura, right off the bat, was raised by a single mother. i don’t headcanon that they had a good relationship, but it’s still likely that he had more prominent women than men authority figures in his life when he was younger. because of this, i think his outlook is different than a lot of the yotsus, and he’s more predisposed to pay less regard to gender. similarly, kida’s parents were both science teachers, so it seems like he was raised in a more … balanced? household in that regard. i definitely don’t think he’s super liberal in some other ways, but i think he’s similar to shimura as far as women go. 

i headcanon both mido and namikawa as trans (mido as a trans woman, namikawa as a trans man), and i don’t think either of them are overtly sexist. they mostly interact with people through work and most of their coworkers are men, so i don’t think either of them… talk to women that often? i don’t think either of them are attracted to women, either, so they’re pretty much limited to family members and a few acquaintances (mostly through work). there’s nothing really offensive to note here, though. they’re fine.

hatori probably isn’t too bad, either. there’s not a lot to go off of here; he’s married and faithful to his wife, he shows no interest in misa at all, etc. his parents weren’t married so he was primarily raised by his mother, but i also don’t think his mother paid much attention to him, although that’s just a personal headcanon. as an adult, he’s part of a pretty traditional family so he might be a bit traditional in some ways, but i don’t think he’s consciously biased against women. he’s just kind of… an average dude. he’s fine but probably has some unintentionally bad takes. at the same time, though, i don’t think he’s too staunch in his beliefs either way, and he definitely respects his wife, so…? i’d say he’s pretty alright.

[thatonekawaiigirl13]

Who Said Death Was Easy? [Death Note] Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-one: Matsuda

Matsuda’s POV:

“I love you,” the male actor, Hideki Ryuga, professed to Misa. “So, please, don’t tell me you’re going home now. Instead, say you’ll stay by my side.”

Hideki Ryuga’s hands found their way to Misa’s shoulders. He started to lean in for the kiss when, all of the sudden, the blonde turned her head towards the camera crew, “uh, hey, Mr. Director, I can’t do this! There’s someone I love, Light Yagami! Can we maybe cut the love scenes, please?”

“Wha-? Wait a second!” the director’s eyebrows furrowed together, “where is this coming from all of the sudden?!”

“Can’t we just, like, fake kiss or something?” Misa whined.

The director threw his hands into the air, “you’re kidding! You can’t expect us to make a movie like that!”

“But, if I say no, then it’s a no. Okay?”

Matsuda closed his eyes a moment. Admittedly, he was only half listening to Misa’s antics. He was mostly focused on the fact that the Yotsuba Group’s Tokyo office was only a block or so away from where they were filming Misa’s movie. They had been filming for several days already, and all he could think about was, if only he were more brave, he could directly attempt to infiltrate the building.

All I want to do is help the investigation...

The young policeman let out a depressed sigh, thinking back to when he had attempted to lift the tension in the room during the double date.

“It’s nothing. Matuda’s being stupid again.”

“That’s his speciality.”

He hung his head, I want to help the investigation, but so far, I haven’t been able to do very much…

No, Touta Matsuda! You can’t think like that! And today’s Friday!

He thought back to the chief’s words, “...I noticed that all the deaths that are beneficial to Yotsuba appear to be concentrated around the weekend...they all seem to take place between Friday night and Saturday afternoon.”

The chief said he didn’t want to be dead weight...well, like the chief, I also don’t want to be dead weight, either! No, I can’t be dead weight! I want Ryuzaki and the others to see how beneficial to this case I can be! I don’t want to just do coffee runs and file papers for them. Matsuda took another sip of his coffee, Light and Keiko are both younger than me, but yet they’ve been able to contribute so much more to the case than me. They’re younger and a lot more talented than I am...no! Again, you can’t think like that! It’s time to stop moping around, Touta Matsuda! If you want to show your skills, you can’t do that sitting down. It’s time to take matters into your own hands!

Matsuda jumped from his spot on the park bench. He dumped his empty coffee cup into the nearest trash can, then took off in a sprint towards the Yotsuba building.

You can do this, Touta Matsuda! You can prove your worth!

/meanwhile/

Light’s POV:

Would I really punish evil-doers if I could kill just by seeing a person’s face and name? Is that what I would do if I had that sort of power? I admit, there are a lot of people that the world could frankly do without, but...I don’t think I’d become a murderer just to change the world...surely, I wouldn’t do that, right? No! Light, you’re thinking too hard about this. There’s no way one could murder so many people and not have any memory of it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Keiko running a hand through her hair. He looked over at her, watching as she read over the paper in front of her, and attempted to ignore the pang in his heart. There was no denying that he missed her.

But...because of Misa, my relationship with her was ruined...she caused a misunderstanding and messed things up between us. Keiko breaking with me might have hurt, but the fact that she no longer trusts me, thanks to Misa and this whole ongoing investigation, hurts me the most...and L.

Light looked over at the raven haired detective, L was dangling her right in front of me during that stupid date I was forced to go on. Knowing L, he’s can’t be romantically interested in her...so what was his motive? Was it all just a test? Well, that wouldn’t be too surprising, but if it was a test, it was a rather cruel one. Though, I suppose if his goal was to find out how I truly feel about Keiko, he surely accomplished that. well….I suppose it makes sense he’d want to test me on that. He wants to know if I truly loved her or if I was merely using her. I can understand that. But even so, Light thought back to the way L had intimately placed his hand on Keiko’s chin and let out a sigh.

Why would he touch her like that?! Logically, I know there’s no way that L would ever gain feelings for anyone, and I know that Keiko would never fall for someone as weird as him, but still, thinking about the two of them together upsets me. I don’t even want to think about that, not even hypothetically, it’s crazy and-

“What’s wrong, Light-kun?” L questioned, breaking through Light’s thoughts.

“H-huh?”

“You were staring at me,” L replied matter-of-factly. He was nonchalant, holding a plate of strawberry cake out in front of him. “Wait a moment, you’re annoyed because I’m the only one eating cake at the moment, aren’t you?”

“What?” Light was aghast. “No, that’s not it.”

What the-? Where’s this coming from? He had to know that I was thinking about him. Surely he’s just trying to annoy me on purpose right now.

“Here,” the detective held his plate out in front of Light. “I didn’t touch it yet. You can have it, if you’d like.”

Light shook his head, holding his hand out in front of him, “no thanks. That’s really not it, Ryuzaki-san.”

L sighed, “fine. It’s your loss, really.”

He was about to take a bite when his computer screen lit up with the letter ‘W’.

“Ryuzaki-san,” Watari called out.

Keiko’s POV:

Keiko, who had been trying to tune out L’s latest antics, gave up once she heard Watari’s voice projecting into the room.

“Yes?” L answered, “what is it, Watari-san?”

“Detective Eraldo Coil has just received a private request to investigate and reveal the identity of L.”

Eraldo...Coil? I remember hearing that name before...wait a moment…

“Wait a moment, isn’t Eraldo Coil the man who’s supposed to be the next greatest detective after L?” Keiko wondered out loud as she stood up from her chair. She walked over to where the monitors were sitting, taking a spot near L.

I’m still a bit upset with him...but I want to know what’s going on...once again, there goes my pride…

Light’s father crossed his arms, “who on earth would send such a request?”

“The man who sought out Coil’s services was identified as Masahiko Kida. Kida is the vice president of the rights and planning department of the Yotsuba Group,” Watari announced.

“So it is Yotsuba…” the chief muttered.

“If they want to know L’s identity then…” Keiko started, then she trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

Light, however, finished the sentence for her, “if they want to know L’s identity then they probably want to kill him...they just need the name and face to do it.”

I couldn’t imagine a world without L, Keiko looked over at the raven haired detective. She bit her lip, deep in thought, despite how much he teases and frustrates me, I can’t deny that I have feelings for him. I wouldn’t want to live in a world without him around...personal feelings aside, he makes things more interesting. And, through working with him, I’ve managed to improve on my own investigative skills. Whether he realizes it or not, he’s taught me quite a bit.

“This isn’t good,” the chief let out a sigh, “we’re already shorthanded...and now we have to worry about Coil, too?”

L swiveled his chair around to face the rest of the Task Force. He glanced at everyone in the room, his gaze lingering a little while longer on Keiko as he said, “it’s alright...you don’t have to worry about that.”

Don’t worry?! How in the world can he say something like that? Kira’s going to great lengths to try and kill him! I might ‘hate’ him, but I certainly don’t want to lose him!

“The detective known as Eraldo Coil...is me.”

Keiko’s eyes widened at his sudden confession, what?!

“It’s quite simple, really,” L started, through bites of his cake. “Three of the world’s greatest detectives, L, Coil, and Deneuve….they’re all actually me. It’s been in my experience that people who try to find me usually fall for this.”

They’re all him? That’s impressive, you never cease to amaze me. Keiko almost smiled, then remembered she was supposed to be mad at the detective. Dammit! This is exactly it! He frustrates me, then makes it impossible for me to stay mad at him for very long...but that being said, I suppose it won’t be too long before he annoys me yet again...

“As expected, you’re always a few steps ahead of everyone else,” Light commented.

L picked the strawberry off his cake, “I’ll give you this strawberry if you keep this a secret.”

When no one took the strawberry from him, the detective turned towards Keiko, extending the strawberry towards her.

“For you,” he said simply.

Why’d he decide on me? Keiko wondered, a blush filling her cheeks, but she took the strawberry from him anyway. I almost doubt it, but...if this is some form of a late apology from him about the double date fiasco, I’ll take it. Though, he still has a long way to go to fully apologize.

/short timekskip/

“...and that’s what I was thinking as far as a game plan,” the detective announced.

“Alright,” the conman, Aiber, said after a moment. “So you just want me to get close to him? Well, leave that to me.”

The woman, Wedy, took a drag of her cigarette, “and you wanted me to breach the security systems and override the surveillance for Yotsuba’s Tokyo branch?”

L nodded, “yes. At this point, it’s safe to assume that Kira and Yotsuba are connected in some way. We are going to investigate Yotsuba to determine who currently holds Kira’s power, and if there’s more than one person who possesses this ability...the most important thing is that we cannot let anyone from Yotsuba figure out that they are being investigated. That being said, it would be wise not to act impulsively out of panic or haste. And definitely don’t take matters into your own hands.”

“Ryuzaki-san,” Watari’s voice cut through the room for the second time that day, “I have just received an emergency signal from Matsuda’s belt.”

L closed his eyes a moment. “Where is he?”

“It appears that the signal is coming from within the head office of the Yotsuba Group.”

“Well, I’m disappointed, but not surprised…Matsuda-san, you idiot,” Keiko heard the detective mutter. He turned around to face the rest of the Task Force, “alright...well...looks like I need to rethink our strategy so please, disregard everything I just said.”

“Mogi-san,” the detective looked over at the policeman, “may I borrow your cell phone, please? Yes...thank you very much.”

Keiko watched as L dialed Matsuda’s phone number then placed the cell phone on speakerphone.

“H-hello?” Matsuda tentatively responded.

“Yo! Matsui! It’s me, Asahi! It’s been a while, buddy!”

Uh. What? Am I hearing correctly? Did...did...the detective...just say yo? And...buddy?

“Oh, yeah. Uh, it sure has, Asahi!”

“It doesn’t sound like you’re out right now. Come on, it’s Friday night! Are you really home already?”

“Yeah, I’m home already…”

“So, you by yourself, then?”

“Yeah, I’m by myself...what’s up?”

The detective held the phone by his chest for a moment whispering, “it sounds as though Matsuda was acting alone...Misa Amane must not be with him.”

“Sooo,” the detective started, talking to Matsuda once more, “dooo you wanna, like, go out drinking tonight?”

Keiko had reached her limit. Despite the situation, the girl had to stifle a giggle at the ridiculous way that the detective was talking.

I know this isn’t the time or the place...but...he’s always so serious all the time...and to hear him talk like that...it’s hilarious. I doubt I’ll ever hear him speak those words again.

“Huh, right now? Oh, sorry. I’ll have to pass on that for tonight.”

“What? What’s the matter? Don’t tell me your wallet’s in trouble again.”

“Yeah, that’s right, haha. I’m in big trouble with money, you know me way too well, Asahi. I’m totally broke right now.”

Upon hearing that Matsuda was in trouble, Keiko sobered up, Matusda...what’re you doing right now?! We leave you alone with Misa Amane to shoot a movie for only a couple days...and you get yourself in trouble...

“That’s too bad. Guess I’ll just have to drag you out some other time, then. See ya, buddy. Speak soon.”

With that, L hung up. He turned towards Light, “could you please call Amane-san?”

“What are you planning on doing, Ryuzaki-san?” the chief questioned.

“Well…worst case scenario, if Masuda-san dies, our suspicions against Yotsuba Group would be confirmed...however, I don’t think they’ll kill him right away. That being said, let’s just watch the situation for a while.”

/slight timeskip/

The ringing of Light’s cell phone broke through the silence. Light fished the phone out of his pocket, “it’s Misa…hello, Misa-chan...wait...listen to me. You’re not with Matsuda-san at the moment, are you?...I figured as much…h-huh?”

Light removed the phone from his ear a moment, “she said she's getting a call on her work phone from Matsuda-san!”

The detective glanced over at Keiko’s ex-boyfriend, “please, tell her to place the phone so that we can listen in as well.”

Light nodded, instructing Misa to do as L said.

“Misa Misa!” Matsuda’s voice filled the room, “when you’ve finished filming, please come over to Yotsuba Group’s main Tokyo office! It’s still tentative, but there’s a chance you may be able to appear in their commercials!”

“What?” was Misa’s rather shrill reply, “are you for real?! That’s amazing, Matsui-san! So that’s what you’ve been up to. Don’t worry, we’re wrapping up filming soon…”

“Great!” Matsuda replied, “it’s just a short trip by taxi.”

With that, Misa’s phone call with Matsuda was finished, and Light hung up the phone with Misa as well. The Task Force, Keiko included, looked over at L, who was deep in thought.

“We may be able to save Matsuda-san,” the detective announced after a moment, “however, we won’t be able to do it unless we have Misa Amane’s help...Light-kun, I’m sure she’ll listen to you, right? She did say she was willing to do anything for you. And…” L’s dark eyes met Keiko’s, “Kagami-san, we’ll need your skills as well.”

M-me?! Keiko’s heart pounded in her chest.

“I know you’re probably still upset with me, Kagami-san...and I’m truly sorry for upsetting you...but we really need your help...I really need your help. You’re the best person to oversee the task I have in mind. I need your skills...perhaps….can I count on you?”

He’s….sorry? He...needs my help? The world’s greatest detective is counting on me? And he apologized? She carefully inspected him, he’s serious...I haven’t seen L looking this serious in a while...

Keiko nodded, looking into the detective’s eyes once more, “yes. You can count on me, Ryuzaki-san.”

/timeskip/

Keiko tugged down on her mini skirt for what she felt like was the hundredth time that night. Unfortunately for her, the reception party had yet to even start. To make matters worse, the crop top she was wearing was showed far too much cleavage for her taste. With her midriff and long legs exposed, the girl felt like she was almost naked.

This is probably the most scandalous outfit I’ve ever worn in my life! And to think, it’s for something like this...

Upon hearing the door starting to open, Keiko got in position with the other girls from Misa’s agency.

Looks like it’s go time! She plastered a smile on her face, Keiko Kagami, you can do this! L’s counting on you to make sure everything tonight runs smoothly...

“Good evening!” The girls from Misa’s agency, and Keiko, chimed once the men from Yotsuba had entered the room. Keiko noted that there were eight of them in total, all dressed to the nines in black business suits.

Eight executive members...if Kira is truly someone from Yotsuba Group, then it’s highly likely that it’s one of them...

“We’re all very pleased to meet you all,” Misa walked over to the group of men, a wide grin on her face, “tonight we’ll all be entertaining you. There’s food and alcohol served on the living room table. I hope you guys will let loose and enjoy yourselves.”

Matsuda gave an awkward laugh, running a hand through his dark hair, “y-yes. Please have fun everyone!”

L’s POV:

L surveyed the scene through the hidden cameras, all according to the plan so far…just a little while longer, and it should be time for Matsuda to be getting a hold of me...

He watched as Misa leaned over, whispering something to the man sitting beside her. The detective identified him as Reiji Namikawa. On the other side of Misa sat Suguru Shimura, who took another swig of alcohol.

“Man, Suguru started, leaning in towards the blonde, “you girls really know how to throw a party, this is heaven.”

“Hmm,” L muttered to himself  as Misa gave Suguru a flirty grin, “she appears to be pretty good at this out of thing.”

However, how’s Keiko holding up?

The detective scanned the room for the girl, who was sandwiched between a pensive-looking Shingo Mido and Kyosuke Higuchi, who had been raving on about their company’s previous successes.

“Oh, wait,” Keiko started, taking an empty cup out of Higuchi’s hands, “before you go on, this is a celebration, you should have more to drink.”

“Thank you,” Higuchi winked at the girl, his hand finding its way to her inner thigh. He rested it there while she refilled his drink. “If a pretty lady tells me I should drink some more, I’ll certainly do it.”

Upon seeing this, L’s eyes narrowed at the man, anger burning through him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Light stiffening up as well.

I’ll be keeping an eye on you, Kyosuke Higuchi...you’d better watch yourself. If you attempt to go any farther, I’ll somehow make you pay for it later on.

Although it was only for a brief second, the detective had noticed how Keiko froze up at Higuchi’s touch. However, she had quickly regained her smile, pretending that all was well.

Despite the front you’ve put up, I can tell you’re more than uncomfortable with the situation...I’m so sorry to be putting you through this, Keiko Kagami, but you’re the only one available with my trust that fits the role and can make sure that the plan runs smoothly. Please be patient, it’ll only be a little while longer.

As if on cue, Matsuda slipped up from his spot on the couch. He slid with drunken steps towards the door, slipping Misa’s cell phone off of the table and into his pocket, “‘s’cuse m-me, I need to go to the restroom.”

Despite his sudden announcement, the room continued on with mindless chatter. No one was paying any attention to Matsuda. The detective watched as Matsuda took his chance to leave the room. He ran down the hallway into the bathroom, locked himself inside a stall, and then punched in the number for the Task Force.

“Ryuzaki-san,” Matsuda said through the phone, are you watching?”

“Yes.”

The detective watched as the young policeman breathed a deep sigh of relief, “look I’m so sorr-”

“That’s not important right now, Matsuda-san.”

“You’re right...listen to me, the eight men who came here had a meeting to determine who they would get Kira to kill for them.”

At this, L heard a gasp from Light’s father. Both the detective and Light, however, remained expressionless.

“I heard them say it clearly,” Matsuda went on, “there’s no doubt in my mind, they’ve gotta be behind this. One of them is more than most likely Kira.”

“Yes, you’re probably right...but, if you overheard them, then they should be trying to kill you.”

“I-is there anything I can do?” Matsuda stuttered out.

“Luckily for us, you’re still alive. I believe that there is a way to save you...but listen to me very closely, you must die before they kill you,” the detective announced.

“What?! R-Ryuzaki-san-!”

“As I said,” L interrupted, “listen to me very carefully…here’s what you’ll have to do…”

Keiko’s POV:

“...and that’s how our company is still expanding, even today.”

Keiko internally gagged, how much longer is he going to talk about himself and the company? How big is his ego?

Luckily for Keiko, Higuchi had removed his hand from her thigh as soon as she handed him back his cup. However, he still made it a point to unnecessarily brush up against her while going on and on about Yotsuba.

He’s absolutely disgusting and full of himself, but I can’t break character despite how uncomfortable I am...L and the others are watching from afar. I can’t let them down, she looked over at Misa, who appeared to be having fun herself, how does she do it? I have to admit, Misa’s a natural at this...I’ve been having to follow her lead this whole time.

The sound of someone slamming the door open interrupted her thoughts. Keiko looked over towards the source of the sound.

It’s Matsuda! He’s back! Thank goodness! That must mean that it’s time to put the plan into action!

Keiko watched as the young policeman stumbled back into the room, his face flushed and his speech slurred, “heyeveryone. Maaaaan, I’m sodrunk.”

He commanded the attention of everyone in the room, waving his hands around as he walked towards the balcony, “is everyone havin’ fuuun? ...thass great, I’mso glad.”

“What’s he doing?” someone called out as Matsuda slid the sliding door, stepping out into the cool night.

“I have it! The thing you’veall been waiting for! It’s the Taro Matsui show!”

With that, Matsuda started to position himself on the ledge of the balcony.

“What’re you doing?! Suguru called out, jumping off from his spot on the couch in concern,“get offa there!”

“He’s insane!” another Yotsuba executive chimed in as Matsuda fully stepped up on the ledge.

“Yaaay!” Misa’s shrill voice rang out against the crowd forming by the balcony, “you can do it! Go Matsu!”

“Yeah, go Matsu!” Keiko cried out as well, though her heart was pounding like crazy in her chest.

I know I have to trust L but...what if something goes wrong? No, no, you can’t think like that. Everything will be okay.

“But he’s drunk!” Reiji motioned towards where Matsuda was currently balancing, “and that’s dangerous!”

“Iss alright,” Matsuda shot everyone a grin, “Ialwaysdothis.”

That being said, the young policeman took a couple drunken steps forwards, arms balancing him out at his sides. Once that was done, he attempted to balance himself, hands first, on the ledge. He was only successful for a couple of seconds before plunging down into the dark of the night, letting out a scream as he did so.

As soon as Keiko heard the thud on the ground, she scrambled towards the window, double checking to make sure everything went according to plan. She breathed out a sigh of relief when she noticed that the body laying on the ground didn’t quite fit Matsuda’s body type.

Thank goodness. It isn’t him...which means everything went according to plan...now it’s time for phase two.

Everyone around her was in a frenzy, but Keiko and Misa headed towards the middle of the room, ready to command their attention.

Misa cupped her hands around her mouth. “It’ll be okay!” she announced, “the agency will take care of this.”

“What? But-” Reiji started.

“Just leave this for us to take care of,” Keiko interrupted, “as Misa-chan said, the agency will take care of this. You should go, everyone.”

“It’ll be okay,” Misa repeated, “we’ll handle this. But, please, still be sure to consider me for the commercial!”

“You don’t need to tell me again,” Mido said, walking over towards the door, “if they say they’ll handle it then we shouldn’t worry. Anyway, we really should get going. Just think, if the press sees this, they’ll have a field day. It’ll be bad news for the company’s stocks.”

With that, the executives of Yotsuba took their leave and Matsuda’s life had been saved.

[yourhealthmattersblog]

There are many side personalities

The incredible manga will bring you back to childhood!

kindaichi 37sai no jikenbo is an adorable story regarding the daily life of Yotsuba. She is a charming little woman who interested concerning everything. Also the most basic points can come to be an outstanding adventure for Yotsuba. This is genuinely among the most effective in its categories, a slice of life manga.

kindaichi 37sai no jikenbo follows Yotsuba, a 5-year-old lady, her family moved to a brand-new community, living beside them is a normal family with three children. Seems simple, however very interested. The tale of kindaichi 37sai no jikenbo is nearly the day-to-day live but presented masterfully, in mix with the very great artwork design. The art is consistent with fantastically practical wallpapers, as cars, houses, area formats, or which you name it, really came as a shock. It is the heart of this manga. It makes these adventures of Yotsuba a lot more funny, beautiful, and also childlike. It advises me of my childhood when every little thing is simple and colorful. You discover points by yourself, curious regarding the celebrities, the pets, and also whatever around you. As well as lots of short stories of kindaichi 37sai no jikenbo will bring you back to your memories.

I think the only thing that I missed is the history stories of the various other personalities. Yet there's no need for it. The only thing when you pertain to this manga is Yotsuba, you simply want to see her day-to-day tasks. Simply cool and also loosen up. Yotsuba plainly showed us our childhood, when you're still innocence, curious and also scare things. I simply wan na return, as a result of the story is so relatable. An additional component which even more enriched her personality is the basic truth that she's still having fun with most of the old products or early stage games. Nowadays, children simply take a rest and also have fun with their phone or computer all the time. These old games, old balls, paper airplanes are what they missed out on. Kids nowadays do not play outside even more like our generation made use of to. Which's unfortunate.

There are many side personalities like Yotsubato's dad, Yousuke Koiwai, that works an unidentified job in your home, and also his friend, Jumbo the florist with a blossoms shop, and Yasuda, as well as etc. The tale does not focus on the progress, however the writer demonstrates how they live, exactly how they treat other people. And also tsumi to kai manga - the writer has done a fantastic job. Although there are just stories regarding day-to-day activities, still no one will certainly get tired when reading this. And also the simplistic facial expressions of Yotsuba herself suffices to make you laugh.

Finally, this tale is an unforgettable experience. The tale, the art work, as well as the characters, whatever is superior. They're combined with each various other to provide us many funny tricks, as well as being really relatable to the viewers also. The scarcity of personality's history tale and connection advancement of these side personalities might be a downside, but the heartfelt, amusing, and also joy are the most significant things this manga has. Suggest to any person having a passion in the slice of life, or possibly much like to review manga online in the spare time. Please visit https://allaboutmanga2016.wordpress.com/ if you like to know more related details

[radedneko]

Top Graphic Novels of 2020

I read a ton of graphic novels this year, and they were almost all wonderful.  Middle grade graphic novels are hitting it out of the park and I spent well over an hour narrowing this list down to just 11 series/titles.  When possible, I chose series, and all but one are new reads to me this year.  There’s no number one title/series here; everything’s just in alphabetical order.  

The Avant-Guards by Carly Usdin and Noah Hayes: This series absolutely hasn’t gotten the recognition it deserves.  No, it’s not earth-shattering literature, but it’s well-done and I look forward to reading each new volume.  I don’t even like basketball and I would happily read about 30 games play-by-play to see more of these characters.  It reminds me a lot of Giant Days and Questionable Content in ways I can’t quite explain. 

Azumanga Daioh/Yotsuba&! By Kiyohiko Azuma: Yes, these are both old and are not even a single series, but Azuma’s work kept me going during the quarantine and I couldn’t in good conscious leave it off this list. Do yourself a favor and re-read these.  She also wrote Sailor Moon doujinshi, which...is exactly what you would expect it to be given the humor in her official works.  

Class Act by Jerry Craft:  Did you somehow miss Craft’s Newberry-winning New Kid last year?  Go read it.  Now you’re ready for the sequel, which does not disappoint. I’m predicting this one also racks up the awards; it deserves it.  I’m not even going to bother summarizing it; just read it.   

Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang: No really, I don’t like basketball.  But this made me care about the (real) people involved in this school’s hunt for athletic glory.  I would probably automatically put anything by Yang on my best-of lists, since every book he writes is gold, but to make me learn basketball terms and care about whether some kids throw a ball into a hoop? Yang is a genius.  If this doesn’t win some major awards, I’m going to be pissed.  Go read a real review of this, then pick up the graphic novel. 

I Know What I Am: The Life and Times of Artemesia Gentileschi by Gina Sicilano: This was the very first book I read in 2020, and it’s still stuck in my head.  It shouldn’t be surprising that an artist’s biography has beautiful artwork, but I could look at any panel in this book for hours.  I had no idea who Artemesia was before reading this (you probably don’t either) and spent way too long looking at her pieces during and after reading this.  As a biography, this would have been an impressive read, but as a graphic novel biography, it was a visceral experience.  Read this even if you dislike graphic novels or art history; you won’t regret it.

Komi Can’t Communicate by Tomohito Oda: I am also jumping on the Komi bandwagon.  It’s fun, humorous, gives you the feels, and plays with manga tropes.  It’s also notable for having a character whose expression of gender isn’t played for laughs; everything else about their personality is, but Najimi is one of the most popular students at the school despite refusing to adhere to any form of gender binary.

Our Dreams at Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani: Even if this series wasn’t great all-over, I would have still included it in my list for this simple fact that this is the first manga I’ve ever seen with an explicitly ace character.  But is a great series in all aspects.  The art style is unique, the characters are all explored in as much depth as you can expect for a four-book series, and it ends on a good note, even if everything isn’t tied up into neat, little bows.    

Satoko and Nada by Yupechika and Marie Nishimori: This short series is slice-of-life but with the twist of exploring religious and cultural differences between two study-abroad students who end up roommates in America.  It’s never heavy-handed despite the fact that it was absolutely created to teach Japanese people about Islam and I’m honestly sad it only has four volumes.  Take the afternoon and binge-read them all.

The Way of the Househusband by Kousuke Oono: There is a reason why this series has been on pretty so much every best-of list.  It’s laugh-out-loud funny, heartfelt, and weirdly, has taught me laundry tips.  I can also say that it’s my mom’s favorite graphic novel series. 

The Witch Boy books by Molly Knox Ostertag: When I said middle grade is hitting it out of the park, this is one of the series I meant. Class, gender roles, race, friendship, and more done well for a middle grade audience in a series masquerading as a magic adventure?  I didn’t have this kind of quality when I was growing up and I am slightly jealous that today’s kids do.  I also can’t wait to see where this series goes.    

Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama:  This won an Eisner, with reason.  This series may be the most inventive fantasy I’ve seen in years, and the artwork is just beautiful.  I’m completely hooked on the storyline, with hints of lore handed out between lovely character development and critters I’d love to see in real life (brush-buddy?  I want 20).  If you haven’t given it a go, do so immediately. 

[osakaso5]

Tenn Kujo i7 Roman Rabbit Chat Part 2: An Elite Soldier!

Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Tenn: Takanashi-san, good work. I heard the details of our escape game. Also, Gaku told me IDOLiSH7's division into smaller teams.

Tsumugi: Good work, Kujo-san!

Tsumugi: You'll be solving puzzles to find Panda Stones hidden in the park, and when you deposit them into the altar near the goalsite, you'll be able to escape the park!

Tenn: I think the rules are simple enough.

Tenn: But as I thought, Riku and Iori Izumi were put in the same team.

Tsumugi: Both their characters were students, so...

Tenn: Seeing as how I'm still being treated like some mother-in-law, I'm not planning to offer them my help. Iori Izumi is smart, isn't he?

Tsumugi: Yes, he's very intelligent..!

Tenn: Got it. In that case, I'll leave them be. I'll look forward to being their enemy.

Tsumugi: So you still haven't made up... ><

Tenn: I'm at least reading them, you know.

Tsumugi: You mean Riku-san's messages?

Tenn: His latest one says: "I bet you'll look cool as an elite soldier, Tenn-nii".

Tsumugi: I'm sure Riku-san would be very happy if you replied every now and then..!

Tsumugi: I'm sure his student character will be lovely as well, so if you could just tell him that..!

Tenn: I know it'll suit him.

Tenn: We've been working together a lot lately. I'm doing it as a personal precaution, too.

Tsumugi: Kujo-san...

Tenn: I'm just being a workmate to him, as usual.

Tenn: Well, since Re:vale's participating too, the project quality should be on the higher side. I'm not particularly worried. 

Tsumugi: Re:vale's characters were playboys. Their costumes will probably be sexy Japanese style outfits. 

Choices/outcomes:

1. Were you interested in any other roles?

Tenn: Can Tamaki Yotsuba understand his character's nobility? In an earlier program, he said "Don't rich people wipe their sweat with money? I feel bad for their hankerchiefs".

2. Do you think you’ll be able to escape safely?

Tenn: Obviously. Who do you think we are? We're sure to take first place.

3. I look forward to the attractions of Panda Nameco Village.

Tenn: It's owned by the same group as Panda Nameco Land, right. In that case, the park should be even more enchanting than we can imagine.

Tenn: By the way, did you hear about my dinner with Mitsuki Izumi?

Tsumugi: I did! You ended up on the same show, and had a chat in the staff's wrap party. Mitsuki-san said he's already film buddies with Gaku-san, but he hopes you and he could become dinner friends!

Tenn: Normally I'm quick to excuse myself from wrap parties, but not when Mitsuki Izumi was there. It seems we have similar tastes when it comes to food.

Tenn: He told me about a delicious tofu shop.

Tsumugi: Mitsuki-san's been really into boiled tofu lately. He was surprised that you liked it, too!

Tenn: Tofu contains good proteins and fats, but it's still low in calories. Tofu burgers and donuts with tofu are delicious.

Tsumugi: They must be good diet food, too..!

Tenn: Sure. Are you concerned about those sort of things?

Tsumugi: Yes...

Tenn: Japanese women worry too much about diets. You should be fine the way you are right now, Takanashi-san.

Tsumugi: I have some unseeable problem areas!!

Tenn: If you're that worried, then why not have Mitsuki Izumi teach you about food?

Tsumugi: Right... I haven't had the time to cook for myself lately, so I'll ask him when I have more time.

Tsumugi: By the way, did you manage to talk about your experiences as fellow older brothers?

Tenn: So much that we had to stop halfway.

Tsumugi: That much..!

Tenn: I came to the conclusion that because we act like we completely understand each other, we've avoided really talking about anything.

Tenn: I'll reply to his messages until the escape game starts.

Tsumugi: I'm glad to hear that..! Riku-san will be very happy.

Tenn: The Izumi brothers are shouldering too many complexes.

Tenn: They should both learn to look at themselves in more objective terms.

Tsumugi: I see...

Tenn: Also, I value Mitsuki Izumi. When he's able to stand on stage, accepting both the warm and cold words of his fans with a smile, that is.

Tenn: Which is exactly why I hope that the stage he yearns for won't end up destroying him.

Tenn: He has what Riku's missing, in that respect.

Tsumugi: Thank you so much for talking with Mitsuki-san... Even I learned a lot.

Tenn: I'm still lacking in plenty of areas, myself. It was very motivating.