#does Madoka count if it makes you cry?

[blackbackedjackal]

Ohh your taste in anime sounds like mine. Not really a fan of shonene but sometimes one will hit different, and I really online like psychological/thrillers/horrors too!

What psych/thriller/horror stuff would you recommend?

Yu Yu Hakusho is prolly my favorite Shonen. The final 2 seasons aren't like, amazing, really niche plots. But like EVERTHING up until the end of the Dark Tournament is baller and that's at least 50 episodes.

I love sharing Another with people just to see their reactions lol. It's like, the anime version of Final Destination (it gets grim as hell sometimes) BUT it's really well written and executed.

Shiki is super slept on. The art style's not everyone's cup of tea but really interesting characters and the stakes (teehee if u know <3) feel really high for both main parties involved.

Death Parade is SOOOOOOO unique and fun and interesting. Love a lot of the characters and plot and worldbuilding they gave. It's short but it's really good.

Biased towards Hellsing & Hellsing Utimate solely for Integra but the show itself is a problematic fave. It's gorey, it's gritty, has a list of content warnings a mile long (like please do your research if you decide to watch it, like even I have to skip scenes), but I can't be mad at a show that has a biracial milf lead who kills n*zis. Queen shit honestly.

Hell Girl I haven't watched in a long time but I remember really liking it a lot. Mononoke as well, just stunning animation <333

Parasyte. 10/10 TOO MANY TEARS like lord. It was a lot better than I expected.

[rainy-day-coffee]

hi... how about head cannons about the dorm leaders with a magical girl mc from either the puella magi magica madoka, magical girl site, magical girl raising project or princess tutu universe please?

I'll be doing Magical Girl Raising Project for this one! I’ll be using the abilities found in the anime since I’m not creative enough to think of any myself. The personalities of the characters themselves have nothing to do with the abilities I chose, they’re their own person! This is written as platonic! I hope this is alright!

As an extra note, this was a really interesting topic to write about. I enjoyed it! I actually just binge watched this anime for this request! It was quite good, I might pick up the light novels!

Warning: Mild mentions of gore; spoilers for Magical Girl Raising Project(?)

Dorm leaders reacting to a Magical Girl Mc

A new game has been released! Customize your own Magical Girl and work hard to defeat monsters!

Granted a 1-in-10,000 chance to be a real-life Magical Girl, the unfortunate souls who agree to the contract are unknowingly pulled into a world of bloodshed. All Magical Girls are expected to collect Magical candies through acts of helpfulness. Whomever is at the bottom of the ranking list by the end of the week is greeted by death. That is, if they can even make it that far.

Magic: Swimming through objects as if they were water - the objects do not affect the user as they pass through them.

He’s never heard of an ability quite like yours! It isn’t teleportation--it’s literally going through objects, ignoring any kind of barrier. It sounds impossible. Understandably, he doesn’t believe you until you show him.

Please refrain from popping out of random places in an attempt to scare him. He doesn’t want to be on edge everyday, the stress he has now is more than enough.

He’s curious about the whole situation. Just how and why did these “people” wrap you (and others) into such a terrible contract? How is it possible to grant these special abilities onto otherwise magicless people? Unfortunately, you most likely don’t have answers for those questions.

Sadly, Riddle doesn’t know of a way to help you out of this. The library may have some information, but the chances are slim nonetheless. He can offer assistance in candy collecting instead!

Something always seems to be going on at his dorm, it would help him greatly if you were to keep an eye on everything and everyone. He knows it isn’t much, but every little bit counts. You have his full support.

Magic: Entering the dreams of others - the ability to pass through the Dream World, granting access to the dreams of those who are currently sleeping.

He’s extremely annoyed. He doesn’t understand what’s happening. He’s only seen you a couple times before, so why do you seem to plague all of his dreams?

In his dreams, you move so vividly and in-character, it baffles him. Dream versions of people can be accurate, but never to such an extent each time. He’ll confront you about it soon enough. He has no evidence of what you’re doing, however vivid memories of dream-you push him to demand answers anyways.

Highly uncomfortable to know his dreams, his usual safe place, can be invaded by a person. He demands that you stop. You can go bother someone else, he doesn’t need that kind of help. If he sees you in there one more time, he may have to resort to other methods to get you to stop.

In regards to earning candies, unless you ask him specifically for help, there isn’t much he can do. You can always help Ruggie out with chores around Savanaclaw and you’ll be set. It’s a good deal for both sides, you can earn some candies and Leona can finally sleep comfortably again.

He finds the system you’re stuck in deplorable. Unfortunately, he can’t get you out of it, but if you ever need extra help he can always have Ruggie find one or two ways to get you those extra candies you need.

Magic: Hearing the thoughts of those in need - with enough training, the user can pinpoint the location of a person. Additionally, they can hear thoughts apart from cries for help.

Your special magic interests him greatly. He already has a good pool of information of all the students, but being able to hear their most inner thoughts is something truly amazing. No amount of research could easily give him those kinds of details.

He has the twins watch over you for a bit, gathering as much information as they can about your situation and what you go about doing.

Given the circumstances, he doubts he can rob this ability of yours through a contract. This does however present an amazing opportunity.

This could blossom into a wonderful partnership. You need to collect candies, and he’s always willing to accept requests from those “poor” souls who need help. By helping him, you can meet your quota! The rules never did mention what kind of help you were limited to offer after all.

He pities you, nothing can be done about your situation at the moment. You can rest assured though, you’ll never be at the bottom of the leaderboard with him around!

When time allows it, Floyd and Jade will be busy poking their noses where they don’t belong. The mascot that appears when you’re around seems to come from that phone you use. If they can see it, then that means these beings have made a mistake somehow. Is it possible to find a way to free you from this through that?

Magic: Transforming into any biologically living being - the size and shape of the creature do not matter, anything is fair game.

When he first discovers your special magic, he’ll be amazed! Transformation magic isn’t exactly easy, so being able to turn into whatever creature you want sounds like a lot of fun!

He’ll be begging you to turn into a wide variety of animals. Can you please turn into a tiger? How about an elephant? Maybe an alpaca? This could go on for hours if you don’t stop him.

Upon learning the darker side of the Magical Girl world, he starts to cry. He knows the world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but this is too cruel. You didn’t know you would suffer this way. They should have at least given you all the information beforehand. Better yet, they shouldn’t be doing something so awful in the first place.

Because he finds it hard to keep secrets from Jamil, he ends up telling him about you. He then needs to convince Jamil that you aren’t trying to get him killed.

He goes around asking if people need help. He wants to do everything he can to ensure you survive. Money can’t get you out of this game, he’s tried to use it but that mascot that follows you around always refuses it.

Kalim doesn’t want you to die. Just thinking about it makes his head spin and worry bubble. It wouldn’t be his fault if you died in the first place, but the guilt would consume him entirely.

Magic: Freely manipulating sound - the user can generate sound from anywhere and even recreate the voices of others. As an added result of this ability, the user has enhanced hearing.

Vil won’t forgive you if you decide to mimic Epel’s voice so he can escape. He may be evading his lessons for now, but Vil will find a way to drill them into him later on.

He never would have thought such a thing was possible. This terrible fate you’ve had forced onto you makes no sense. The beautiful power you’ve been given is nothing compared to the price. He doesn’t blame you, he blames whatever is doing this. 

If such a game exists in the world of Twisted Wonderland, he’ll use his influence to dissuade people from playing. Vil will do this behind the scenes of course, his public image has to remain intact.

He actively requests your assistance. For example, helping his dorm improve their instrument playing--your impressive hearing can detect small mistakes they need to work on. Apart from this, he regrettably can’t offer more help.

Hone your abilities and work with what you have. He knows you can prevail. Please take care of yourself as you move forward.

Magic: Receiving one futuristic tool a day - the ability to randomly pick one useful tool out of 444,444,444. The tool breaks down and is no longer of use after a day passes.

He’s in awe. A real life Magical Girl! To think they could really exist outside of anime! Just what kind of world did you come from? Forget living in a world where magic is common, Magical Girls are on a different level entirely! Curiosity gnaws at him, but given how shy he is he won’t approach you with questions himself. Ortho is more than happy to ask any questions for him in his place though!

Once he finds out you’re one of those Magical Girls, he feels a tad sympathetic. You really got the short end of the stick in life didn’t you? He knew the possibility was there, that trope is not uncommon, but a small piece of him wished it wasn’t the case.

He supposes your special magic can be compared to gacha luck. You never really know what you’re going to get. Unfortunately, in your case you can’t even calculate rates for good rolls.

If you’re willing to let him, he’ll happily take apart the tools and gadgets you get from your daily pull. One of those future items should help him create even better machines than he can now! And even they can’t, disassembling and reassembling objects he’s never seen is a thrill in and of itself

If you happen to hear a small tip from Ortho or someone else about an issue occurring around campus, it may or may not have been Idia. He has eyes all around the school, spotting problems is quite easy.

He’ll be rooting for you from the sidelines. You’re a protagonist in this story, he hopes you can make it through to the end.

Magic: Extreme regeneration - being able to recover from any wound so long as a portion of the user’s body is left.

Mortified when he finds your body all mangled and bruised after a rough “accident.” Malleus is ready to destroy whoever or whatever did this to you. He cares about you greatly, the very thought of seeing you in such a state makes his stomach churn and pure rage wash over him.

Once you explain your situation, he can grasp enough to understand the major gist of it. He doesn’t quite know what a “Magical Girl” is but obviously it isn’t something good. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be in such a terrible situation.

To know that you can take care of yourself in the face of danger, makes him relieved. Although he doesn’t like the idea of you getting hurt at all, a healing ability is always wonderful to possess.

While you earn candies, Malleus will be working on a way to free you.

Even if these beings who granted you this ability are “all-powerful,” his magical capabilities are among the top in all the world. Perhaps, he can start by politely asking for answers from the leader of this group. If that seems to fail, killing off that mascot seems like a good place to start instead.

[cornflowercanine]

things i learned today

-washing dishes- oh i shouldnt hold this knife 8y the sharp part of the 8lade

WHY THE FUCK DOES THE AC K33P TURNING ON -realizes the heater, a seper8 thing in this house, is on- ah.

card8oard in the oven is a fire hazard.

the paper pl8 i put in the oven a few days ago that turned yellower/8rowner than it was and was hotter than 8oth the 8owl AND the pasta on top of it, this was my first time using an oven afaik 8tw, was may8e, not such a good idea, and also a fire hazard

>

if you run out of ingredients to make a recipe, turns out, the recipe does not vanish from existence, and you can still make it again when you have the ingredients again

if your eyes are dry from crying from laughter it still counts as though you were normally crying

that one video with the anime girls and l33kspin and one of them has a guns. is madoka and i know the characters now

it won't literally physically harm you to eat cold pizza if it's already cooked

my soulfriend is moroplatonic

[mangaycompany]

do you have a favorite rare pair? if so, would you mind writing something that would induce me (and maybe others) to ship these? (I need more rare pairs content TT)

anybody who's ever talked to me at least once knows exactly what i'm going to say

i absolutely LOVE bantai / 万太

bantai isn't AWFULLY rare in the japanese fandom (it's kinda rare but i know worse, like jutai which i also really love), but it's INSANE how little people actually consider it in english :sob: i myself know exactly 4 people who are into it and it breaks my heart because i'm the only english speaking artist who contributes to the tag ever

before i start talking about it more, i'm going to link you to some things

the ao3 tag (in which 3 whole fics are by yours truly <3 they're bad though),

the pixiv tag (my favorite artist is hn, whose works i especially love because of their warm light-hearted stories, as well as their interpretations of the characters (i love how they tend to write 万>太 and 万>(<)太, you don't see banri be the one pining very often and i love it)),

my very self-indulgent spotify playlist (it might not be all that accurate but it's based on my own personal interpretation of characters, keep it in mind :'D)

anyway, time to talk to what just GETS me about this ship

initially i didn't think about it myself, because ANY banri ship will always be overshadowed by sehhyo/banju, but sometime in august last year i realized their dynamic is actually quite interesting

i love this rivalry air the two have developed, it's not quite like the rivalry banri and juza have going on, this one feels much more casual and like something best friends would have going on

there was something that touched my heart in act 3; when taichi confessed about his betrayal, banri was the first one ready to forgive him; he was the one who was willing to open up in order to make taichi feel more comfortable sharing his portrait with everyone

mankai stage

bestie behavior

and they kiß

headcanons

in canon, their bond might seem a little one-sided (we can't have everything :/ ), with taichi being always all over banri about how cool and popular he is, but trying to expand on that thought, i like to think banri's grown too used to taichi's compliments; the moment taichi switches to fawning over juza, something clicks in banri's brain that makes him annoyed with the whole world for the entire day

when they get together, it's something very new for both of them; taichi's never been in any relationship, he doesn't really know how to act around banri and fails to not make a huge deal out of it, due to his hopeless eagerness mixed with personal insecurities, it might keep their relationship stagnated and frustrasting for the first few weeks, he wants to do more and more couple things very badly but is worried about communicating it to banri (he doesn't know why, he can't name his fears really) / banri has been in relationships before, with people of all genders, so you'd think he wouldn't stress out about his new boyfriend all that much, but it's very much not true; he's been in so many relationships and yet this is the first one in which he genuinely fell in love with the other person. he's always found it difficult to be vulnerable and open up to anyone else, but it's something he'll have to overcome for his and taichi's sakes

each of them teaches the other important things; banri teaches taichi to be more confident and to not rely on strangers' opinions so muh, taichi teaches banri to be open and that it's okay to rely on your closest friends

you know banri gets Really jealous when taichi pays any attention to juza (and he obviously does because he looks up to him), but what you wouldn't think is that when taichi realizes it, he starts doing that on purpose just to get attention from his bf

you'd think it'd be hard for these two to keep their relationship a secret, but for the longest time, nobody even suspected a thing; for at least half a year, the only person who knew about them was omi, and it's only because he's taichi's roommate so Of Course He'd Find Out

i feel like they're a kind of couple in which they don't really Talk about their feelings (like love and insecurities) unless things truly require it (banri doesn't want to for obvious reasons, taichi doesn't want to pile it onto banri and make him feel like he HAS to also); for a long time they had a thing going on without even clarifying if they're really dating or not. they rely very strongly on their personal love language, which consists wholly of nonverbal love declarations such as small touches and meaningful glances

because of that, banri probably hadn't even said the word "love" long into their relationship (which must have made taichi cry like a baby when he finally did)

anyway

there's a Lot More on my mind but i'm very bad with words sorry

some other rare ships i love:

太九 [taikyu]: taichi/kumon (very soft and light-hearted :) high energy)

十太 [jutai]: juza/taichi (obvious for taichi's fixation on juza, very soft and delicate kind of ship)

十咲 [jusaku]: juza/sakuya (bond over shared love for acting, very warm and shoujo-esque kinda feel)

丞誉 [tasuhoma]: tasuku/homare (opposites attract, learning to understand each other, thriving off bonding over misunderstandings)

天十 [tenju]: tenma/juza (starting off with private acting tutoring, ending up with... developing a crush?! 😳 light-hearted and sweet, probably has the entirety of summer troupe trying to get tenma to make a move)

ships i'm not sure if they count as rare pairs and i dont feel like checking rn but i feel like i don't see them enough

万九 [bankyu]: banri/kumon

真円 [masumado]: masumi/madoka

東誉 [azuhoma]: azuma/homare

一臣 [kazuomi]: kazunari/omi

志九 [shifukyu]: shifuto/kumon

咲太 [sakutai]: sakuya/taichi

莇椋 [azamuku]: azami/muku

i hope you'll consider at least some of them :) thank you for your time reading this mess of a post

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Dear 'Anime Bad' Anon: I Want To Help I pity your situation, so please have a list of weebshit that isn't moeified, or wherein the cutesy art-style serves a greater purpose. (Note: though they won't be soft marshmallow uguuuu, they may still have issues in other ways. Some may have aged badly with regards to how society views or portrays groups or beliefs, some may have upsetting content and dark themes, and some may simply not be to your taste. Note: Anime is a genre, not a monolith, and the disparaging stereotype that it's all cute girls uwuing over their brother s-s-senpai!!! is as much of a disservice as saying all western movies are just vapid cash grab superhero movie sequels with no inegrity or thought put into them. There are indeed a lot of superhero movies, but they're not all identical schlock (megamind vs venom vs kick-ass),  but even more than that, there is a wealth of creative endeavor just beyond the veil of Marvel's cape: just as there are plenty of good anime if you dig past the isekai high school harem wish fulfillment genre that no one wants to keep making but people keep making because it prints money to a very small demographic of the animation equivalent of a mobile game whale thereby allowing this frankly quite-small industry to work on engaging and worthwhile series where the budget permits, Regardless,)

Mushi-shi: -Pros: gorgeous animation, tranquil vibes, episodic stories so you can cram in an episode between classes or on your lunch break. highly recommended by the literal-who typing this out. -Cons: some themes or stories may cause emotional distress, learning to tell apart Urushibara Yuki's characters is a learning curve.

Baccano-Pros: meticulously-researched 20s-and-30s-era mafia violence with a hint of the supernatural, as a treat, told anachronistically with flair and jazz music. practically made to be binge-watched. the novels are finally getting translated into english as well. -Cons: lots of characters to keep track of, fair bit of blood and violence, some scenes or themes may be upsetting, lots of jumping around between different time periods. See Also: Durarara, another series by Ryōgo Narita with a ton of characters and a plot with more threads an overpriced sheet.

Cowboy Bebop-Pros: incredibly well-regarded, space bounty hunters are cool, episodic series that slowly takes on a plot towards the end, fantastic animation, scoring, and even dub work.  -Cons: some scenes or themes may be uncomfortable, some parts have not aged quite so well, the smart doll version of the main character is ugly, you're gonna carry that weight.

Trigun-Pros: starts lighthearted, develops an increasingly investing plot as the series goes along. fictional westerns are cool. this world is made of love and peace -Cons: some scenes or themes may be upsetting, and probably will be. gun violence is naturally present, but that ain't all of it.

Hellsing (standard or Ultimate. or Abridged)Pros: vampires killing nazis. the original adaptation isn't bad, the second adaptation (ultimate) is generally viewed as an improvement. abridged is a youtube parody version that was so popular the voice actors reference it in convention interviews.Cons: a Lot of violence, even trending to the gorey side of things. Uncomfortable Themes Everywhere, but it's a horror-tinged action series about killing nazis, so that's to be expected. 

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood-Pros: while the original anime was quite good, the second iteration is a large improvement. does to alchemy what naruto does to ninjas: It's Basically Battle Magic. the plot starts on a strong note and doesn't let up from there. -Cons: there are distressing scenes and themes that may or may not be tolerable to the viewer. there are moments of cheesecake and even an occasional joke or a moeblob here and there, and it's not all doom and all gloom all the time, but this doesn't detract from the abject horror-despair that comes to permeate this series as it progresses. finally understand why people on the internet respond so negatively to the name 'nina'! 

[Mod: many more recs/reviews under the break, worth reading for those who like more obscure anime and animation]

Grave of the Fireflies-Pros: you will remember how to cry. it's a good reminder that one country's 'triumphs' often come at the expense of another country's people.  -Cons: this movie is incredibly dark, do not watch if you are in a bad headspace. see also: Barefoot Gen, a similar tale but this time from the perspective of an actual survivor from Hiroshima.

Michiko to Hatchin-Pros: an actually diverse cast of characters tangled up in a messy and very humanizing story, interspersed with Shinichiro Watanabe's particular flare for adventure. -Cons: some scenes or themes are very likely to be distressing. can be tricky to find, too.

Mo no no Ke (not the ghibli movie, though it is also quite good.) -Pros: incredibly unique art style and pacing that draws heavily from japanese theatre traditions, every screenshot is wallpaper-worthy. -Cons: may cause motion sickness. it is a psychological horror series, and one that does not need blood, nor gore, to cause visceral emotional response in the viewer. scenes and themes will be distressing- as really, that's the point.

Tokyo Godfathers-Pros: a transwoman, a (self-identified) homeless bum, and a runaway teen girl find a newborn in the baby on christmas. incredibly wholesome, somehow, and grounded in reality, with wonderful animation from the tragically late satoshi kon. -Cons: it is grounded in realism, and sometimes, people are dicks. mild transphobia warning, too, but in-universe- the transwoman herself is portrayed with kindness and allowed to be her own (wonderful!!!) person. still, viewer be mindful.

Kino no Tabi (the first series is my preferred, the second is shinier but lacks emotional impact- in my onion.) -Pros: mostly episodic, very unique series that can be gritty where it counts and kind where it matters. -Cons: some scenes or themes might be disturbing. finding it's not easy, either, and unfortunately, i don't think the novels are being translated right now, either.

Spice and Wolf-Pros: it's mostly about economics. there are shenanigans, a harvest god, and a slowly burgeoning romance, sure, but it's still mostly about economics. -Cons: there are moments of cheesecake and comedy, and moments that may cause distress to the viewer. it may or may not be to your taste.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica-Cons: yeah i know, it's moeblobs.  -Pros: you're gonna watch 'em die, though, in case that may interest you. it's quite a good subversion of the magical girl genre overall. somehow volks hasn't made an MDD of anyone from the series and i will never understand how that didn't happen.

Wolf Children: Ame to Yuki-Pros: watch a family grow together as a newly-single mother does her best to raise her twin children after the tragic loss of their father.  -Cons: keep tissues handy. certain scenes or themes may be uncomfortable.

Lupin III (Red Jacket, Ghibli, and the new 3D animation are all A+) pros: heist comedy elevated to an art form before half (or more!) of the people reading this were born. the english dubbed series that used to air on adult swim is a treat. cons: this franchise started in THE SIXTIES, so naturally, some shit has not aged well. certain series (fujiko mine) are darker than others in themes and material. the 3d movie that released recently is an excellent starting point.

Samurai Champloo-Pros: breakdancing samurai, a fascinating roster of characters, and a superb soundtrack by the tragically passed Nujabes. -Cons: it was made in the weird era of the transition from analog to digital animation and so the /series master/ was animated at a painfully low resolution, so even if there's a bluray out there (I haven't looked,) it will be an upscale, which doesn't always look the best. as well, there are scenes and themes that may make the viewer uncomfortable here and there.

The Works of Studio Ghibli Oh, I'm sorry, Ponyo too suffused with childhood wonder for you? My Neighbor Totoro not depressing enough?  In addition to the infamous Grave of the Fireflies, Studio Ghibli has made a wealth of movies that aren't aimed squarely at the kodomo (children's) sector. -Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: climate change existential dread, the movie -Castle in the Sky: government obsession with obtaining weapons of mass destruction destroys everything beautiful, the movie -Pom Poko: human-caused deforestation and urbanization is destroying the natural world and all that live in it, the movie -Princess Mononoke: industrialization will be the death of everything beautiful in the world, the movie, with a side of sometimes everyone (and no one) is the villain when everyone is simply trying to survive -Howl's Moving Castle: The Physical Manifestation of Depression is a Liquid Ooze, the Movie, also War Is Bad It's not all depressing, but let it never be said that Hayao Miyazaki was subtle. Whisper of the Heart is a good coming-of-age story, Kiki's Delivery Service is a classic, Tales from Earthsea is divisive among fans of Ursula K. Le Guin but I personally liked it. From one studio alone there is a wealth of opportunities.

And that's really the point. These are just some from the top of my head. There are so very many options outside of the cute-girls-doing-cute-things genre that I couldn't list them all if I was here for a week. Or as Madoka Magica so ruthlessly showcases, even series that appear a certain way on the surface might not be what you bargained for once you look into them! These are all (I think) mostly older, mainstream-appeal series that should be easy to track down, too -- there are all kinds of singular animations like The Diary of Tortov Roddle, crowdfunded experiments like KICK-HEART, Masterpiece World Theatre renditions of classic (western) novels that never get talked about, films like A Silent Voice that confront social issues- and of course, series like Rozen Maiden that helped popularize this very hobby!

There is literally an ocean of content to explore from Japanese creators alone, and it opens up even more if you look into works from other parts of Asia- just look at how popular manwha have become, or Chinese animations like Leafie, a Hen Into the Wild! It's a genre unto itself, with all the breadth of content and inter-industry problems that come with it, and without any of the respect that similar art forms have been granted over the years. The way an entire culture's art form is often disparaged, disregarded, and belittled- and by extension, the way most of Asia's animated endeavors are often rolled up into that reductive dismissal along with anime and manga- is honestly Not Great, and there is absolutely a thread of xenophobia that runs through it. The industry has so very many problems (low wages, poor training, overwork of everyone ever, archaic financial modules, the exclusivity and breadth of merchandising necessary to turn a profit and how it leads to consumer burnout and disconnection over time, and yes, the way minors are portrayed not just in anime, but in Japanese media in general- and how much of that is actually bad (some of it is indeed,) and how much if it is cultural difference (I've heard people call the scene where the family in Totoro bathe together problematic because of the nudity, but I've also only heard people say that from the West)

-- none of the actual problems affecting the people who produce this medium are gonna improve when the general response to "animators frequently have to live at home to survive" is "that's what happens when you're a weeb."  It's 5am and I'm gonna point out the problems in the narrative around how we discuss this genre of entertainment because it's important, damn you! Regardless, thank you for coming to my unasked for and overlong TED talk about animation on a doll collecting drama blog, feel free to call me a pathetic weeb etcetera on your way out- but while you do so, might I suggest you also go watch a choice animated series! My current go-to is Bofuri, which is a cute-girls-doing-cute-things moefied isekai series that I refuse to apologize for watching. Be free. (The battle scenes are great and it captures the feeling of learning to play a new MMO with your friends better than most video-game-based anime I've seen in a long, long time. does anyone even still remember .hack? how about serial experiments lain...?)

~Anonymous

[shiny-procrastinates]

(re)Watching Magia Record S1 - part 3

part 2 here

Hello everyone and welcome back to our watch-through of the first season of Magia Record! Last time, we met a trio of Kamihama magical girls, Momoko, Rena and Kaede, and, after Rena and Kaede fighting, Kaede is kidnapped by the “chain monster”, a part of the rumor of the Staircase of Severance. Now, it’s up to Iroha, Momoko and Rena to find and take her back. Will they succeed, or will someone lose their heads? The only way to know is by watching, so let’s get right to it.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record Episode 3

Rather than going back to the plot right away, we are given a flashback of Iroha’s younger sister and two other girls. The brown haired girl has apparently created an eternal motion machine in the form of a toy train, saying something about how adults must be stupid if they never thought of that before, and that toy train proceeds to crash into a pile of books and set fire on them. Good job. 

I don’t want to hear this from a gacha game character. Your original work is even more fragile than this!

The megane girl, Nemu, compares the brown haired girl, Touka’s actions to the burning of the Library of Alexandria (dramatic much?) and the two start fighting, with Ui trying to stop them. They’re just like Momoko’s trio on the previous episode, breaking their friendship up and everything.

Once again, it was Iroha’s dream. You know the erasure really went in on it when even the rug is cut in half.

Iroha’s sister had friends at the hospital, so she could get some new clues if only she could find them.

Floof Momoko.

Before going looking for Kaede, Momoko and co. drop by Kamihama Mirena-za, aka. the Coordinator’s. I tried searching if Milena constellation was actually a thing, but the only thing I could find was that there’s a Galileo satellite named Milena. Huh.

The Coordinator had a client, but she’s done right away. We learn that the Coordinator’s name is Mitama Yakumo, but still have no idea what she actually does.

Besides not having a sense of personal space.

Momoko explains that Iroha’s not there to get adjusted, whatever that means, and asks if Yachiyo is there yet. Who’s this Yachiyo though?

Aaawkward.

To no one’s surprise, I guess, since I already said it, but this girl is Yachiyo. And she absolutely ignores Iroha. Rude.

Yachiyo and Momoko start talking between themselves about Kaede’s case. (and MItama’s fixing Momoko’s hair. Cute). It seems Yachiyo is well aware of the rumor of the Staircase of Severance. She pulls out a notebook, and Momoko notes that she’s knowledgeable about these things.

Momoko asks Yachiyo to lend them her help, and Yachiyo agrees to do it, since Kaede is in danger, but adds that she won’t work with people who will only be a burden, looking at Iroha.

...not that she’s wrong, but still rude.

Well, I mean, that might make sense when you’re so op, but you don’t have to say it outright!

Still, Yachiyo has a point: it’d be too dangerous to bring along a weak magical girl to a fight with an unknown enemy. So Mitama offers a solution: why don’t they just adjust Iroha’s Soul Gem?

Mitama does a very short explanation of what “adjusting a Soul Gem” actually entails, and this one short screen tells us the rest. It’s basically what let Momoko and Rena do that joint attack earlier. I wonder if this was even long enough on the screen for the people who watched this on tv to read it. 

Momoko says that Yachiyo should have no complaints as long as they do that and Yachiyo is like “yeah, whatever”.

...now that I think about it, what is Mitama doing here?

Continue? Iroha hasn’t sacrificed anyone tho.

...oh, I forgot we don’t get to see Iroha getting adjusted.

So, our girls are now at the rumored stairs at Kamihama University Affiliated School. Leaving aside Momoko and Rena, since they are students there, one has to wonder how exactly did Iroha and Yachiyo manage to get up there without being found. This school’s security is lacking!

While the girls run up to the rumored Staircase of Severance (this is so annoying to write) we see some messages on screen of what I assume are Rena’s classmates, and get pushed some ideas of what friends should be like, all while Momoko tries to cheer Rena up.

Okay, that’s a really narrow staircase. Who decided to put this creepy thing here?

Momoko writes her and Yachiyo’s name on the staircase (and we sneakily learn Yachiyo’s surname is Nanami). The two are reenacting the rumor, so now they’ll make up to draw the Chain Witch out. That is, after they give us their transformation scenes!

While Yachiyo’s themes are water and stars(?), and she has gracious movements, Momoko’s literally burning up and kicking things. Their transformations parallel one another, and yet they are completely opposites. I love it! (but Momoko kicking the sword still takes the cake for me).

Now that I think about it, for all that fire theme she has going, Momoko's not that hot-blooded. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, I guess.

Rena’s transformation focuses on her shapeshifting powers, throwing her through mirrors and with lots of expression changes. It’s not because she’s tsundere, the transformation seems to tell us Rena has lots of faces.

...I also like her DDR routine right at the start, it’s cute.

The theme of Iroha’s transformation is birbs. Rather than telling us something about who she is like the others, I see hers as basically about what she’s doing right now: much like she did by coming to Kamihama, Iroha takes the courage and jumps into the unknown, chasing after a mirage.

I’m always a little bothered with how she falls straight down despite taking impulse when she jumps, but hey, what can you do lol

One of the (many) cool things about this whole sequence is how the bgm is continuous throughout the transformations, only changing a bit to match each of the girls.

That’s not very convincing acting, Momoko. Yachiyo’s is not much better, either. They theorize it only works if they’re really fighting, and Rena says she’ll do it.

Rena starts apologizing, but nothing happens. Iroha says it might be because she’s not saying it from her heart and Rena’s gets upset.

Rena can’t just feel like making up right away, but it’s not like she doesn’t want Kaede to come back. These two seem to have a complicated relationship, but in the end, it’s clear that Rena does like her. Rena starts crying and apologizes for making Kaede be friends with someone like her all this time. Then, the Chain Witch appears.

We get a flashback to Rena flashbacking (confusing, I know) about all the times Kaede apologized to her, while watching an idol show.

Don’t we all?

So, yeah… Rena is a complicated character. (and a Sayuki stan)

Iroha wakes up in Rena’s room for some reason. Clearly-not-Momoko starts a monologue of how no one could ever like Rena.

Rena hates herself, so she wanted to change. She wanted to become someone else, so her wish gave her shapeshifting powers, but didn’t change her, so she still hates herself (considering the implications when this type of wish does work, see Oriko’s Kirika, she might have gotten the better end of the deal.

Kaede calls out to Rena and Iroha and Rena break out of the strange television-exposition-vision-thingy. So the first thing they start doing, naturally, is start bickering again. Great friends! 

Oh look, the weird Kyuubei is back! Like the nice mascot character he is, he’s showing Iroha the way to the main Witch.

Rena and Kaede start to have a heart-to-heart while fighting (the familiars now, not each other).

Familiar: hahaha, that tickles

Rena says their friendship is over once they get out of there, since they were never real friends to begin with, but Kaede doesn’t want that. Kaede says that if Rena’s problem is that she never apologizes, she just did earlier and Rena says that didn’t count, so Kaede replies that then they breaking up doesn’t count either. Nice, Kaede!

Kaede basically says that, yeah, Rena can be terrible, but she likes her that way anyway, so they can continue being friends.

Rena says that Kaede needs to listen to her, she needs to let her apologize too and tells her she’ll do it once they get out.

While they’re doing that, Yachiyo and Momoko climb to the top and knock down the witches’ main body. Momoko then calls for Kaede and Rena to finish it off. Nice VFX there btw.

Rena and Kaede join hands and using both their magic they pinball the witch into the air with Rena's mirrors. Rena launches plant-enchanted copy spears at it and the witch bursts into leaves and dries... Kaede's magic is kind of scary like this.

Oh, how adorable. Aaaand he's gone. 

The witch is defeated and Rena now has to make good on her promise to apologize. But, seems like honestly apologizing is still too much of a hurdle for her so after some struggle she swerves to another thing. Thankfully, Kaede knows Rena well enough and she's fine with this.

Look at them, so precious.

While Momoko and Iroha catch their breath, Yachiyo approaches them and informs them the Witch didn't drop a Grief Seed. In fact, she says that might've not even been a Witch at all. Yachiyo points out it's weird to have a Witch that comes out anywhere whenever the conditions of a rumor are met, in particular since they didn't even feel it's magic beforehand. She warns them that something weird is going on in Kamihama, then leaves in the most dramatic way possible.

Sometime later, our group is back at Satomi Medical Center. Seems Rena has given in and decided to help after all.

Going by the original plan, Rena transformed into a nurse and investigated the hospital. It's pretty cool how her voice is slightly distorted in this little sequence with her undoing her transformation.

No one in the hospital remembered Iroha's sister, but they did remember Touka and Nemu. That means Iroha's memories aren't entirely wrong.

With that, Iroha goes back to Takarazaki for the day, with some new friends and a very small but important step closer to finding her beloved younger sister.

"Sorry for making you my friend."

That's it folks, this was the third episode of Magia Record('s first season)! No one lost their heads... well except that not-witch if we count the bell as it's head, but I think that's just fine for this series, because--

OH WAIT THERE'S MORE

Talking about lost heads, look who's here! I totally forgot this episode had a stinger. My bad.

Kyuubei can't enter Kamihama now for some reason, so he needed someone to investigate the cause for him and contacted Mami as a strong veteran Magical Girl. There are rumors about that someone in Kamihama is gathering all the Witches around to monopolize Grief Seeds, which would explain why the city is infested with them and they being stronger than normal. Mami says she doesn't want trouble with the Magical Girls of another territory, but will investigate whether the current events are due to a Witch or Magical Girl. I like the short cut that shows her from beneath the grating, it's neat. Just have no idea what it's supposed to mean.

!--rant incoming--! (I say, as if this whole post isn't one)

Anyways, like I was saying... writing? Before the stinger disrupted my thoughts, I think it's just fine that Magia Record's ep3 doesn't have any big twists like Madoka. The original had that maybe for the shock factor, yes, but also because it needed it to make clear what kind of story they were actually going for, and that worked great for that show and the time when it came out. But Magia Record is more of a mystery. We don't need it to push the point of magical girl suffering because the original already did that, we need it to give us things to puzzle about, and that it already did with the weird witch of this episode. Could it have made that better? Maybe, but Magia Record also has the problem that it's cast is significantly bigger, so they have to fit those introductions somewhere. So while it introduces Momoko's trio and a bit Yachiyo, it also tries it's best to situate us (and Iroha by extension) as to how Kamihama's magical girl's world is like and what's going on there. It's a lot to juggle and the anime doesn't get the benefit like the game of being able to just put the character's backstory on a separate chapter. I really like character focused things, so I don't mind the anime trying to fit as much as it can in, but I can see how that might turn other people off. That's one of the things that's really a matter of taste I guess.

!--ok, you can come back now--!

One of the visual things I really like in this episode is the effect with the floating kana and kanji on the Labyrinth. I wonder how that was done. It's animated, so I don't think it's part of the background, but then I'm also not sure at which stage of production that'd be put in. It's really neat.

Well, with this, we are done with episode 3 of Magia Record! What will we do next? Who knows! It doesn't seem like Iroha noticed it, but just knowing that Touka and Nemu existed, not even getting their surnames, does not give her any new clues to go with. She barely started and already is at a dead-end, poor girl.

Before jumping off the building, Yachiyo also added another question to our already filled question bucket: what was up with that weird witch? What is this strange thing that is going on in Kamihama? Why are you looking like that at Momoko's team?

As viewers, however, there is only one way of answering all this: by watching. So I'll be looking forward to having you guys join me tomorrow for episode 4! Have a good morning/afternoon/evening!

PS.: The last two episodes had about 30 screenshots, this one has about 40, at this rate by the time I get to episode 13 I'll be taking screenshots of the whole episode...

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Hi! Since you seem to be into a lot of different stuff can you share anime recommendations? If you have any. Have a lovely day!! You seem like such a sweet person

What 🥺🥺🥺 a-awww, thank you so much anon!! That’s so kind of you to say... I’m just a nut crying feels into the void over my obscure faves over here, without a consistent one fandom anymore a;lksfklkfg though I guess now it’s just egg, but thank you! ❤️ I have a lot of anime recommendations I can give, but I don’t know what exactly you’re into, or if you’re looking for anything in particular...? But I can definitely list some!

The big popular ones you probably already know about are My Hero Academia and Attack on Titan, I’ll get those out of the way first. I have my gripes with MHA and it has a lot of flaws that can’t be ignored, but overall it’s a really fun and high-energy and uplifting shounen series that has some really beautiful messages and moments, with a wonderful and touching main duo of main characters, and amazing animation and music; it’s as popular as it is for a reason, it’s just such a feel-good show and I’d always recommend it, even if I do complain about it sometimes haha. Attack on Titan on the other hand, I know hyperbole like this is like ugh really, but I really do mean it when I say it is an absolute masterpiece in the making; the first season feels very run-of-the-mill, typical shounen, which I wasn’t a big fan of like everyone else was at the peak of its initial hype years ago, but the show changes and evolves so much, beyond what you could ever imagine, honestly, and now by this point, when it’s almost at its end (the manga is literally ending a week from today), I can almost definitively say it’s one of the best anime out there. Everything in it is foreshadowed from the very first episode, the puzzle and mysteries unfold so masterfully and it all ties together so well, the story’s themes and the characters are all amazing, the music is GODLY and so is the animation, it’s just perfect, please please everyone watch AoT.

Bungou Stray Dogs is also pretty popular, and is one of my personal favorite animanga of all time; it’s a mystery/supernatural action semi-steampunk series with a huge focus on the characters and some AMAZING found family dynamics, seriously if you want found family for the love of god watch BSD, I love all these characters and their relationships so so much. Season 3 isn’t as good an adaptation of the manga, sadly, but the first two seasons and especially season 2 are absolutely amazing, and I would recommend the manga in a heartbeat as well. Noragami I adore for much of the same reasons, with the besttt found family dynamics and a really great balance between comedy and drama, though with Noragami in particular I would for sure stress to read the manga afterward, because the anime falls short near the end of season 2 and leaves so much unfinished, and the manga is absolutely phenomenal, one that like the rest of these will probably always remain in my top ten manga.

If you like shoujo, Akatsuki no Yona is my favorite shoujo of all time, with - once - again, wonderful found familyyy in a historical setting, really lovely slow progression of character development, and some fantastic action and music. The anime leaves so much unanswered and unfinished so the manga is an absolute must here, but I still just have to mention it because the anime is just so damn good in adapting what it covers, especially combined with the OVAs still waiting for that season 2 *cries*.

Assassination Classroom is a comedy/drama(??) shounen that ended a few years ago; it’s VERY funny and entertaining to watch, with an almost seamless transition into high emotional beats that left me speechless at how invested in and attached I suddenly was, and the ending, I’m not exaggerating, made me cry harder than literally anything else I have ever watched in my life, it is that devastating. Highly highly recommend AssClass yes that’s the nickname, I love it so so much, but be prepared to have your feels hit by a truck.

Free! is a really good sports anime with really great characters, and yes I am saying this completely unironically, I highly recommend Free’s first two seasons; just please for the love of god pretend season 3 does not exist. Run With the Wind is my other favorite sports anime that is CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED, it’s so motivational and uplifting and all the characters are so damn nice and endearing, and it has a fantastic score by the same composer as MHA and Haikyuu’s osts; EVERYONE WATCH RWTW IT IS SO SO GOOD.

Made in Abyss is another anime that is likely to never fully conclude the manga’s story, but the one season and movie that we do have is an absolute animated masterpiece in every imaginable way, so I would be remiss if I didn’t recommend it; it’s haunting and beautiful and very hard to watch at times, but so so worth it. Princess Tutu is, to me, the best magical girl anime of all time, dark beautiful fantasy with a wonderful four main characters and one of my favorite “villain” redemption arcs ever, not to mention one of the best enemies-to-lovers story arc I’ve ever seen. Of course my other favorite magical girl anime is the much-loved Puella Magi Madoka Magica, that is also dark but not without a purpose, twelve tightly-written episodes that wrap up perfectly by the end, with not a single minute wasted.

Poco’s Udon World is my favorite fluffy slice of life show; it’s also criminally underrated and SO sweet, it makes me cry every time I watch it with how goddamn precious it is, and I so wish more people knew about it. No.6 is a great short bl romance/sci-fi anime, and Romeo x Juliet is one of my favorite older romance anime, based on... well, the title is self-explanatory.

Mystery is my favorite genre in any media, so I have a lot of these haha. Gankutsuou is a supernatural mystery/drama/suspense/thriller based off the famous novel The Count of Monte Cristo, and it still remains one of my favorite anime of all time; the tension builds so WELL with each and every episode, the story is so gripping and so so tragic, and it always makes me cry by the last few episodes; a very underrated gem (also it has one of the most unique animation styles I’ve ever seen). Gosick is another mystery anime I adore, though it’s more of a slow-burn romance with some episodic mysteries before diving into an overarching plot; it’s actually what I tell people is my #1 favorite anime, just because the Victorian aesthetic is so me, but it’s so unknown that I never really get a chance to talk about it, haha. Mawaru Penguindrum is a mystery/drama/comedy anime that is extremely bizarre and philosophical, it’s honestly impossible to explain without just seeing it yourself alkfglalksdk, but it has a lot of family feels and is extremely touching and satisfying by the end despite all the weirdness, at least to me, so I always try to recommend it, though it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Erased is another fantastic short mystery/drama/suspense thriller, with some really moving moments and wonderful atmosphere and tension; the ending falls a little flat, but that doesn’t ruin how amazing the rest of it is (and I’d also recommend the live-action Netflix version, which has the proper ending from the manga). And I guess I’ll throw in Moriarty the Patriot too when it comes to mystery/crime thriller anime, which I’m still currently watching and is still ongoing, but I absolutely LOVE it so far, more people should be watching and reading it.

I have a lot more I could list too, to be honest 😅 I just pulled some of my favorites from the list on my About page ahaha, and a range of popular known ones to more obscure underrated ones. But I hope some of these suit your fancy, anon, sorry I tend to ramble ALKSDFKLFLSKDF I just wanted to be thorough since I didn’t know if you were after a particular genre or not! I hope you have a lovely day too! ❤️

[mistbornthefinal]

Madoka Magica Aniversary Analysis: Part 4

Unknowing of the Price

(spoilers below the cut)

We open on Sayaka running to Kyousukes hotel room but he isn’t there. The nurses explain that his physical therapy time has been moved up. As Sayaka leaves the recap what we should have figured out in the previous episode. Kyousuke was a violin prodigy before a tragic injury, while he may recover enough to walk he will never be able to play music again. The also praise Sayaka’s dedication to her friend.

On the elevator down Sayaka laments the cruelty of circumstance. She openly considers the prospect of using her wish to heal Kyousuke. Sayaka then wonder that if she did would would she want from Kyousuke in return before berating herself over her ulterior motive. A voice from a future Sayaka laments that at the time she had not idea what it meant to pray for a miracle nor what a miracle ultimately costs. (Cue connect)

At the Breakfast table Madoka stares into an egg yolk and remembers Mami and then bursts into tears. For some reason Madoka parents let her go to school after she breaks down sobbing about still being alive at breakfast. She meets up with Sayaka who is also desperately trying to maintain a façade of normalcy on the way there.

On the schools #Aesthic roof Madoka try to process the whole “secret magical conflict in which one of our Senpai died before our eyes”. Madoka says that since that day the people around her seem like strangers. Sayaka puts that feeling into more concrete words.

“We’re the only ones who know about the witches and Mami-san. Nobody else does. It’s like we’re living in an entirely different world from them.”

Essential even if they never make contracts they still can not return to the world of innocence and ignorance they inhabited in episode 1. Part of their minds will inhabit the world of magical girls and witches regardless. Sayaka asks Madoka if she still intends to become a magical girl, her lack of answer is enough even before the tears. 

Sayaka wonders to Kyubey what will become of Mitakihara with its’ protector gone. He replies that other magical girls will move in to the vacant territory. Sayaka laments that they are likely to be as she perceives Homura only caring for their own gain. Kyubey admits that Mami was a “rare breed” but in his opinion only other magical girls have the right to judge. He then bids them farewell (which is bullsquid he’s there immediately the second Sayaka falters)

After school Madoka is crying at Mami’s now abandoned apartment. She apologizes to Mami for being weak and she leaves behind her notebook of magical girl costumes from episode 2 as a sort of symbolic abandonment of her dreams of being a person like Mami.

Homura is waiting at the entrance of the apartment building. She seem to understand implicitly what Madoka is thinking saying that she is wrong to blame her self for Mami’s death. No one can fault Madoka’s decision not to become a magical girl, Homura won’t allow them to. Walking alongside Homrua, Madoka wonders that if she had been more attentive to her warning Mami might have been spared. Homura replies.

“That still wouldn’t have changed Tomoe Mami’s fate. But I was able to change yours. I’m glad to have save at least one life.”

(counting you chickens a little early Homura-chan) Madoka says that Homura seem like a veteran though not in the same way as Mami to which Homura is evasive. Madoka asks if Homura has seen people die before, Homura has stopped counting. Homura also explains that it will be a while until Mami is declared missing and as far as the world is concerned her fate will never be known. That is the ultimate fate of magical girls their bodies swallowed by the labyrinth with no one the wiser.

Madoka is distraught that after Mami spent so long protecting the city that not even the record of her death will remain. Homura says that it is simply the fare of magical girls who ultimately fight only for their wishes. This is simply the way it is. Madoka say no. 

Even if no one else does she will remember Mami, and Homura as well. Homura’s pain is visible. (this is another one of those scenes that hurts when you come back to it after ep 10)

At Kyousuke’s hospital room Sayaka sits by his bedside while he listens to a CD. She tries to make small talk but the atmosphere is too heavy. Kyousuke is in a black mood asking her if she trying to torture him with all these CDs full of music that he can no longer play. Sayaka tries to console him but apparently the doctors have told him to give up, only a miracle could restore his hand.

Madoka see Hitomi on the way home and immediately notices the witches kiss on her neck. When Madoka tries to talk with her she’s clearly out of it. Madoka decides to go along with her to wherever she’s going as she doesn’t have Homura’s cell and isn’t willing to abandon Hitomi. 

Their destination an abandoned warehouse and they are not alone. This witch is making a big play, a cult mass suicide by means of homemade poison gas. Madoka grabs the bucket of chemicals and throws them out the window, which prompts the witches thralls to go full zombie. Madoka locks herself in a storeroom but that’s not obstacle for the witch (H.N. Elly) herself who pulls Madoka into her labyrinth. 

The artstyle shift takes hold not only of the background but also Madoka herself losing her outlines and being animated in a more fluid style. 

Elly seems to have access to Madoka’s memories as images of Mami are displayed on the ubiquitous TV monitors. Pehaps effected by the witches presence Madoka starts to blame herself for Mami’s death again, seeing the current situation as her punishment for being a coward. The Fammiliars grab her body and stretch it in a really disturbing way. Before they can do too much damage a flash of blue cuts them down, and then slams into the Witch. Madoka flicker bad to the normal artstyle. 

Sayaka is a magical girl, and she makes short work of Elly. We see her victims start to come to their senses. Sayaka tries to wave away Madoka’s concern, but it’s clear she still has doubts. Sayaka turns to confront Homura who has arrived late to the party. It’s clear already that the two of them aren’t going to get along any better than Homura and Mami.

Back at the hospital Kyousuke awakens to stare disbelievingly at his hand, as if there was any doubt what Sayaka wished for. Elsewhere Kyoko complains through a mouth full of food as Kyubey tells her that there’s a new magical girl in Mitakihara. No matter says, Kyoko. It’s nothing a little violence cant fix.

So that’s Episode 4

The last one sort of left us in the lurch and so a lot of this episode just trying to grapple with what happened. The Mentor who help introduce Madoka and Sayaka into this world of magic and darkness is gone, and with her death has recontextualized their relationship with that world and denied them an easy exit. Both Madoka and Sayaka clearly feel an obligation to take up the torch, but at the same time how could they when the cost has been hammered home so brutally. 

Sayaka decides that she going to try to live up to the image that Mami projected, an image that unlike Madoka she never got the opportunity to see beneath. So by the end of the Episode she seamlessly inherits Mami’s antagonism with Homura, and is already hiding her fears from Madoka. I don’t think anyone who was paying attention thought this is going to go well, even if the somehow missed the whole unrequited romance. 

Madoka on the other hand is undecided. The more she learns about this whole magical girl thing the less she likes of it. Already she’s lost her initial dream of heroism represented by the notebook she abandoned at Mami’s apartment. That said she also made her first rejection of Kyubey’s system if a minor and symbolic one. If it’s Mami’s fate to be forgotten Madoka say’s she will remember her forever. Indeed come Episode 12 she will find a way to remember every magical girl who fought and died alone.

[spirithunterscenarios]

Death Mark & Crying Reader:

This is one of those personal projects that I had going on because my anxiety has been through the roof as of late and I'm a crybaby when my anxiety gets to me.

So, this is kind of a character x reader thing.

Yashiki Kazuo:

Seeing you panicking kind of makes him feel panicked, but he pulls himself together.

If you're fine with being touched, he's quick to hold you and rub circles in your back and remind you to breathe.

Breathe, just breathe. Count with him.

Wipes your tears or offers a tissue. He always seems to have a pocket pack on him.

If you need to talk about it, he's more than happy to listen to you. He's always got time and he may have some comforting advice. May be a little hurt if you don't want to talk about it, but he'll let it be. He can't judge.

Touches foreheads with you before kissing your cheek and reminding you he loves you.

Satoru Mashita:

He... isn't good at this, but he tries.

He's the type to ask what you need. It may seem strange, but he knows things could get worse if he assumes.

If it's anxiety, it may come as a surprise, but he knows the 5-4-3-2-1 method.

Like Yashiki, he'll listen to you talk if you want to. He just may not have as much advice as he does though.

Probably lightly pats your head before he takes your hand. This man needs help.

Shuuji Daimon:

Surprisingly good at this, he's used to patients crying, panicking or even going into shock.

He knows multiple methods to help calm someone. Breathing techniques, the 5-4-3-2-1 method, asking you to go through a times table or describe something around you, etc...

He's no counselor but his advice can be sound if you'd like it.

If you don't then that's fine, too.

You can talk about what has you upset or not, he understand if you don't want to speak up. He's patient.

Don't mind him if he holds your hand for a while though.

Shou Nagashima:

He's struggling, but he's trying! He promises!

If you can talk, he'll try that first. He'll probably have a hand on your shoulder or maybe your hand to remind you that he's there but otherwise he doesn't want to be too far into your space.

May even try to give you a piece of bubblegum and ask you to try and blow him a bubble. Maybe get your mind on something else?

May tell you a corny joke or two. Tell you about a cute animal he helped find a home for.

Deflects anything awful you say about yourself with something else.

He's fine if you don't want to talk because he doesn't want to see you cry again, but he does kiss your forehead and remind you that you mean a lot to him.

Ai Kashiwagi:

Hugs, all hugs! If you don't want it, she has your hand in hers the whole time unless you're super against contact.

Reminds you of all the reasons she thinks you're great.

Positive self-talk, she's going to make you say something nice about yourself, too.

Gently deflects every negative little thought you may have.

You want a snack? You look exhausted, so she insists on a break of some form. Crying is hard work!

Madoka Hiroo:

Not the best at this, but she makes an effort.

Breathing techniques are kind of really basic, but please count with her. She's actually really worried for you

If there's a vending machine nearby, she's probably going to insist on getting you a drink. It might lessen the possibility of you getting a headache or feeling tired afterwards.

Holds your hand if you want. She just really wants you to be okay and she's just... Kind of awkward about this.

She loves you and she really hopes you know this.

Christie Arimura:

Very motherly in a way, her voice is soft when she tries to calm you down.

She hushes you if you say something bad about yourself.

For the most part, she just lets you cry it out before she tries to say anything.

Reminds you how much she loves and cares about you with hugs and small kisses here and there.

Eita Nakamatsu:

He's honestly probably crying a little too just seeing you upset, but he does his best!

King of Distractions here, honestly.

Usually he has snacks on him to share with Suzu so he shares with you. Suzu is your friend, too, so she won't be mad.

Cute animal pictures or cool pics of idols.

Wanna listen to a song? He brought a CD player with one of his favorite band albums.

Reminds you that you mean a lot to him and he loves to see you smile.

[desfraisespartout]

Movie ask

Thank you for the tag @chibi-encubierta ! (Yes! My day was good, thank you <3 Even got to see my brother and have dinner; it had been a while since I’ve last seen him. I hope you had a wonderful day as well !)

RULES: Answer the following questions! You can only use each movie once.

- Favorite movie: Bon cop, bad cop (2006)

- Movie that makes your remember your childhood: Balto

- Favorite Tom Hanks movie: Forrest Gump

- Movie that made you cry: Puella Magi Madoka Magica - Rebellion (i sobbed throughout the film)

- Favorite 80′s movie: Indiana Jones -  Raiders of the Lost Ark

- Favorite sports movie: Does Hidalgo count ?

- Favorite comedy: La grande séduction (2003)

- Favorite courtroom movie: Legally Blonde

- Favorite animated movies: WALL-E

- Favorite war movie: ... I don’t really watch those... I’ll change the category for Historic movie : “Louis Cyr : L'homme le plus fort du monde” (2013)

- Favorite horror movie: Heck no... XD

- Favorite gangster movie: Superfly

- Most overrated movie: Fifty shades of Grey

- Movie with the best soundtrack: Kung-fu Panda 2

- Movie you can watch over and over: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

- Most embarrassing movie you love: Camping sauvage (2004)

- Favorite Christmas movie: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

- Favorite sequel: How to train your dragon 2

If you want to, I’ll tag: @eirenare @ruidosdeperro @teefa85​ @thegreatmagiciangal​ @fontasticcrablettes​ @maasimorange​

[dreamy--dolly]

in defense of madoka kaname

inspired by the writing of little-purinsesu and as a member of the madoka kaname protection squad, i thought i’d address some of the complaints i see directed towards this character and talk about why i disagree! granted, the madoka hatred has calmed down quite a bit but at the same time i can’t help but feel obligated to stick up for her

1. she’s a mary-sue

well, let’s observe what the definition of a mary sue is.

“a type of character who is depicted as unrealistically lacking in flaws or weaknesses.”

hmm... i can’t really say the same for madoka. in terms of weaknesses, she has several.

she has low self worth, first of all. it’s how kyubey tries taking advantage of that in order to get her to become a magical girl. he exploits her weaknesses, promising her power and rewards in exchange for her becoming a puella magi, all while madoka is unaware of the consequences.

she’s mentioned that in terms of outside of being a magical girl, she doesn’t really have any special skills and considers herself to be painfully average. and... honestly i can see where she’s coming from. she does express interest in drawing and art as seen in episode 2 when she doodles her magical girl outfit, but i’d interpret it as much more of a hobby as opposed to wanting to make a serious career in art. while mami has her baking skills and sayaka has her passion for music, and hitomi’s in a bunch of extracurricular activities... madoka doesn’t really have anything to make her stand out from the rest. i feel like people forget that average does not equal good or incredible in regards to skill sets.

she’s also very trusting. she mentions in the 100 questions blurb (i think you can find that on the wiki for pmmm) that she has a weakness for cute things. in spite of finding that easy to relate to, that is a weakness. she trusted kyubey because of his cutesy appearance and almost became a magical girl several times in the anime’s main timeline, trusted mami and if it weren’t for the fact that mami died she would have sold her soul for cake.

while madoka’s definitely considered average and starts out as an audience surrogate, she develops into her own character and demonstrates some flaws that legitimately do hinder her throughout the series.

2. she’s useless.

first of all, there is a reason behind this, being that homura erased the timeline where madoka ever became a magical girl. in episode 10 she’s shown to be perfectly capable of handling herself against witches and even mami. it’s mentioned that for madoka being a magical girl was enough, because she felt as though she had a purpose and that she seemed happy to put herself in danger as long as she was able to save other people.

and in the main timeline she wasn’t entirely useless. in episode 4, she was able to prevent hitomi and others from carrying out a mass suicide. this was even when she wasn’t a magical girl - a fourteen-year-old without any sort of experience in combat or the like was able to prevent a mass suicide by herself, so she deserves credit for that. 

i should also add that even though what happened in episode 6 was an accident, madoka was trying to help sayaka by throwing her soul gem away. she didn’t want to watch her friend suffer or get killed in a fight, and didn’t know what else to do. that was also the point when kyoko started to become less aggressive towards the group.

3. she’s whiny and a crybaby.

...and?

first of all, as someone who is rather emotional and finds herself liable to crying more often than she’d like, i find this rather insulting.

but moving my personal bias out of the way, madoka has very, very legitimate reasons to cry. in the past week or month or so in the main timeline, she has:

- seen her mentor get killed by a witch rather brutally (episode 3) - almost been witness to a mass suicide (episode 4) - seen her best friend almost get killed by another magical girl (episode 5) - realized that her friend was essentially a walking lich and that she’d hurt sayaka trying to help her (episode 6) - seen sayaka overwork herself into a berserker rage and nearly pass out (episode 7) - got into a fight with sayaka regarding her reluctance to become a magical girl (episode 8) - found out that her best friend who she’d known from childhood died (episode 9)

and that’s not even counting the other timelines! in timeline 3, madoka was subject to a nightmarish sequence of sayaka morphing into a witch as well as watching the magical girls straight-up lose their minds over the revelation that they’d eventually become witches.

she’s fourteen years old. as someone who’s a teenager i can confirm that teenagers and children will not always have the most emotionally stable reactions to horrifying situations. madoka is a scared kid being put in life-threatening situations on a consistent basis. i for one think she has very, very good reason to cry.

so to pop this rant into a box and wrap it up with a pretty red bow, madoka kaname is not the useless whiny crybaby people claim her to be. her reasons for getting upset so often are justified, and she’s more complicated and flawed than people give her credit for. i’ll admit: not everyone is going to like this character, but at the very least i hope you take these defenses into account.

thanks for reading, and have a nice day!

[overlordmilkuwu]

name: Tia (its my nickname) star  sign: Pisces height: 5′7 middle name: Thicc bitch

put  your  playlist  on  shuffle.  what  are  the  first  7  songs  that  pop  up ? Yellowcard ~ Lights and Sounds Madoka Magica - "Connect" (FULL Opening) | ENGLISH Ver | AmaLee LUIGI'S MANSION THEME (Trap Remix) 【C91 Trance】 Taishi - bluefieldcreator [Phant] 99 Problems/Points of Authority - Linkin Park Jay Z Code Vein Jukebox Song (Home Base) [Vamps - In This Hell] KINGDOM HEARTS METAL ► Vanitas Theme (Enter the Darkness) | Guitar Cover grab  one  book  nearest  to  you  &  turn  to  page  23.  what’s  line  17 ? Fanfiction counts right? “S-sorry,” Red says, a slight tremor in his voice. “I just realized… I think I recognize this place.”

     Kintsukuroi    

Kaenith

ever  had  a  poem  or  a  song  written  about  you  ? There’s a friend of mine whose constantly singing about how big my boobs are. does that count?

when  was  the  last  time  you  played  air  guitar  ? 2 years ago

who  is  your  celebrity  crush  ? What’s a Celebrity? does it taste good? what’s  a  sound  you  hate  /  sound  you  love  : The sound of babies crying. It fucks me up so bad that I can’t be in the room. It is a nightmare when people bring their crying babies into my workplace and I can’t leave to avoid the sound. As for a sound I love. Underwater ambience. I can’t word it any better than that. I just like imagining I’m underwater and just sinking to the bottom of the sea floor without the fear of not being able to breathe. I also really like whispering and peoples voices. I’m an ASMR junkie. Sue me.

do  you  believe  in  ghosts  ? Wholeheartedly yes. I’ve even got some living in my house, It’s really freaky...

how  about  aliens  ? Yes and they absolutely terrify me. But not as badly as zombies.

do  you  drive  ? Yes and I absolutely hate it. See below.

if  so  ,  have  you  ever  crashed  ? When I had my first car. A spider flew into my face and I ended up crashing into a cement mailbox. It was bad...

what  was  the  last  book  you  read  ? The Disgaea 3 manga. Second volume.

do  you  like  the  smell  of  gasoline  ? I grew up around it as a kid. So I don’t mind it but I don’t want to inhale it all day.

what  was  the  last  movie  you  saw  ? Sword art online ordinal scale.

what’s  the  worst  injury  you’ve  ever  had  ? When I was still in elementary school I was playing with my best friend at the time and I tripped in the middle of the street and broke my chin. I have a baby scar left over from it.

do  you  have  any  obsessions  right  now  ? Besides roleplaying. Gaming, Yanderes, Kingdom hearts, Disgaea, Final fantasy and Code Vein.

do  you  tend  to  hold  grudges  against  people  who  have  done  you  wrong ? Yes but getting angry and holding grudges makes me physically Ill, So I tend to bury my issues with said person until an issue arises. Or I just avoid them like the plague. It’s usually the latter.

in  a  relationship  ? Yeah with my waifu Patchouli Knowledge.

Tagged by: @praetorium-ventum​ Tagging: Whoever wants to do this.

[ghostmartyr]

SnK 116 Thoughts

tfw all of Yelena’s problems can be solved with murder.

So another chapter, another month of having zero clue how any of this could possibly be fixed. You’ve got Marley, you’ve got Paradis, you’ve got unhappy Eldians on both sides, you’ve got a century of brain washing going without an answer, you’ve...

Ugh.

Let’s just... let’s do this by character, I guess?

Pieck gets first billing as Best Girl.

Wants her father to have a bright future.

Holds Gabi’s hand.

good, pure

Knows Marley’s fucked up.

Knows Zeke’s fucked up.

Does not approve of Falco’s underage drinking.

Probably should have just shot Eren.

Wants happy Eldians.

Trusts her comrades.

Eren.

Make everyone in the world angry.

Especially his friends.

If they aren’t angry enough, try harder.

If anger isn’t an option, despair is good too.

Do punch them in the face once optimal anger achieved.

Do not trust literally anyone.

Do not use Gabi’s name.

ever

her name’s brat now

Do get along with cult.

Do search for brother.

Do lock up all best friends in the world so that in the event of an airstrike they’re all extraordinarily screwed.

Profit.

(Eren, until further plot developments explain what is going on in that head of yours, your plans are stupid.)

Yelena:

“You would all be much happier if you just accepted that the world would be better off without your bloodline and helped out with us eradicating it.”

“Also I have found God and he’s a baseball furry and his little brother.”

Zeke:

Thinks everyone should die.

just everyone

him too

a lot

To which Paradis has responded:

CAPTAIN ELDIA: CIVIL WAR

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

Further alcoholism can’t make this worse.

“How could we have known that putting all of our eggs in the basket of this woman who keeps shooting bad eggs with her boss who makes a habit of throwing eggs would end badly?”

What I keep coming back to, and keep not having a good answer for, is why in the fuck is this all such a mess? I have made Code Geass and Madoka comments largely in jest, but considering how reckless Eren is being with his public face and international politics, it starts to feel either intentional or careless.

None of his friends are backing him at the moment, barring Jean’s confusion. He’s broken Mikasa’s heart, and Armin and Connie’s trust.

He’s nominally allied with the Yeagerists, but he’s gone to zero effort to be friendly with them. He goes along with Floch’s ticking clock of a schedule, but since leaving his jail cell, he’s been very clear that his only allegiance is to his aim of finding Zeke.

Yelena offers up the rumbling as a way to continue to defend the island before all the Eldians expire, but Eren and Zeke have made the entire world remember the terror of titans. If they ever were willing to forget that one little island, no one is anymore.

Zeke himself believes that the forces of the rest of the world will be at their doorstep soon. Marley’s come first, but the world Yelena describes, where the rumbling deters all further violence against Eldians while their lives slowly end, is a fantasy. There are too many angry voices inside and outside the walls now. One dominant display of force is going to convince the world to leave Paradis alone?

The last time everyone chose to forget Paradis, Paradis came to them and murdered people indiscriminately.

Sure, no more children will be born to become titans.

Eventually.

In the meantime... at absolute best, the Eldians inside the walls go back to being unable to leave the safety of the walls. The titans continue to keep the rest of the world out, and them in.

Only now everyone inside the walls knows that there’s a world outside.

It is much easier to keep people contained when they think they have nowhere to go. Lock all of Paradis back behind their walls, and they’ll eat each other. We already see the Yeagerists. That’s just one group of angry people. With Zeke’s spinal fluid being used to manipulate their entire military, there’s the obvious proof that their government is perfectly fallible.

Paradis has spent years trying to spread out of their box.

The rumbling, at best, crams them back in it until they all die, only opening when every last one of them is gone.

Thanks for being the voice of reason, Jean.

Not to mention that the rumbling itself hinges on the continued consent of the royal line, and a future Founding Titan and royal heir not deciding that this is all stupid and maybe they should use their power a different way. If you keep the Founding Titan and someone of royal blood alive to the end of Eldians, there is always going to be some wiggle room.

All it takes is one Founding Titan touching a royal heir somewhere down the line. Eren and Zeke aren’t unique in their roles. Their work can always be undone.

Yelena’s defense is that certainties can’t be counted on in any country, and it’s true, but she’s so enamored with the possibility of Eren and Zeke’s joint power that she seems to overlook how they won’t be the last holders of that power.

That’s the literal text of the plan.

For Eren and Zeke to not be the last people who can wield this power.

...

Well, you’ll probably be dead before you’re directly confronted with all your plan’s problems, so who cares anyway?

Eldians don’t die out peacefully in this strategy. They will die knowing that their existence is such a blight on the world that the only solution anyone could come up with for peace was to wipe them all out.

“I don’t trust Marley. I want Eldians to be free. But... I trust those... I’ve fought alongside.”

One of my primary complaints about the Marley arc was that the things the protagonists of that arc were fighting for were impossible. They could be good people doing bad things. They could be sympathetic. They could have moments of happiness.

They weren’t ever going to win.

That hasn’t really changed, but I like how Pieck puts it. The people who have been in the trenches with her won’t be so quick to abandon her or their people. It isn’t perfect. It’s still horrific and fucked up and an impossible longshot for Eldians to have any kind of future no matter how this pans out.

But Pieck believes in her friends, while Eren’s tossed his in a dungeon.

Somewhere, in the light of that trust, there can be a path to hope. Maybe.

Fuck Marley, though. The fact that they have the tools and the people to derail an atrocious injustice doesn’t change that they have made themselves into monsters and Eldians their slaves. As antagonists, the Warriors are engaging, but Marley as a greater body continues to just be... wrong.

Yelena’s right to say that the end of titans would free Marley from the chain of violence they’ve been perpetuating, and that is so much more noble than I would care to recognize.

Yes, of course it’s much better if people no longer have the ability to turn other people into slaves and set them loose like rabid dogs on the world.

But if you were going to pick a side of the population in need of elimination, the people who have chosen that path seem far more worthy than the people who are abused in its wake.

(I refuse to talk about Marley without saying Fuck Marley. Fuck Marley.)

Going back to the Eren, what we have is a situation where both of the loudest plans are not good. But Eren’s been content enough to follow along with his brother’s Not Good plan, despite everyone around him having permanent question marks over their head at his intentions.

Zeke’s plan is too destructive for it to go the way Yelena describes. For Zeke, who sees death as a release anyway, that isn’t a concern. For anyone who actually wants Eldians to be okay before they die out, and isn’t blinded by their own fanaticism, it is a concern.

Giving Eren the benefit of the doubt, because someone trying this hard to be a dick probably has some kind of reason, and none of the stated ones make sense, this shouldn’t be a plan that aligns with what he wants.

Unless his plan renders what everyone else does irrelevant. Unless the world seeing him as needlessly aggressive and cruel is more meaningful than being kind to the people he loves most in the world.

Look, I’m sure it’s more complicated than that, but until I stop finding it amusing and a more stable idea than half the other stuff my head’s concocted, Eren’s fucking Zero. Of the Code Geass way.

That happy ending was a fairy tale that shouldn’t have worked, too.

My other theory is that Eren’s going to unmake the world in a way that will permanently destroy him, and he needs his besties to not be near enough to fight him on that.

But all I really know

is that I just want an AU where Paradis rejoins the world as people instead of monsters and find allies and solve Ymir’s Curse without sentencing themselves to death.

And none of these idiots with their dramatics come anywhere close to that. The Survey Corps’ been left crying in a corner while Godzilla shoves them into a locker and kicks over their Lego tower. Godzilla, indeed, appears to be going out of its way to destroy as many Lego towers as possible, so whenever the Survey Corps starts moving, they will absolutely step on a Lego while Godzilla tells them it’s for the greater good.

To be fair, this is probably what happens when a handful of people have enormously powerful plot magic that can put the entire world in danger, and they don’t feel like being diplomatic.

It still leaves me in a permanent state of could you have maybe not? with regards to the choices being made. Because at this point so many horrible choices have been made that it’s pretty obvious that other horrible choices are going to get a full commitment to try to dig out of the grave.

Connie wins for the greatest #mood of the chapter.

In a funny way, we’ve wrapped right around back to the initial premise.

Tiny, powerless humans facing impossible odds.

Only this time, the hero of that story might not be on their side.

Fighting titans never worked for any of Eldia’s enemies. Until technology outside the walls started to advance far enough, no one ever could do anything except fall in the face of titans.

But a tiny band of humans locked away inside the walls looked at all these enemies right outside their gates, and decided that they were no reason to stay inside for the rest of their lives.

They decided, even if it got them all killed, these were obstacles worth fighting.

I can’t object to the story landing back here, but it is exhausting. Everything is in disarray. The possibility of a happy ending isn’t in any of the winning outcomes for any of the presented sides.

Also until canon says otherwise, I’m going to interpret the 104th’s reaction to Armin’s tears as all of them wondering why the fuck Armin’s face does that when he tries to lie.

Jean is not impressed.

Maybe just because you’re not supposed to agree with sterilizing everyone you’ve ever known, but for now I choose to believe that Jean, who last used a knife when trying to make friends out of enemies, really thinks Armin should be better at this.

None of you are good at this.

Try not to get bombed.

And because I’m me and can’t let it go, this chapter continues the trend of Historia’s new status of a plot mcguffin instead of an actual person.

You could literally replace her with that rocking chair and the story told so far this arc would not be impacted.

It’s becoming strange enough that I’m very sure something is going on, because Isayama doesn’t treat his characters like furniture, and more to the point, her entire arc that the anime just butchered is a direct answer to the euthanization crap.

Not addressing that feels like a cop-out. Among the other problems with literally everything the story has said about her role. Something’s clearly up, but that doesn’t make the situation any less aggravating. I mean sure, maybe her showing up would ruin the Drama because she already has her answer to someone trying to destroy her but but but

Lastly, I am glad Mikasa gets speech bubbles. I am also glad that Jean and Connie care for their buddies. And that Armin is so blunt about “he made Mikasa sad so I hit him.” And that Connie’s anger has calmed into Connie’s sadness. Even if I do not care for Connie being sad.

Somehow, you four might just live.

...

Please?

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Episode 4

Heyo! Sorry for the radio silence, I got moved to a longer morning shift at work this week, kept on getting home and falling asleep straight away. Now where did we leave off? ...oh. Right. Mami. *deep breath* Alright, PMMM. Do your worst.

Someone’s running? Wait, is this Kamijo’s (fancy) hospital room? Why is the bed empty? Oh, Sayaka! How are you… yeah, not even going to bother asking how you feel after seeing Mami get eaten, jesus christ. Anyways, Kamijo’s in Physical Therapy, so she can’t see him. So Sayaka just walks away as the strings start, we see Kamijo actually in Physical Therapy struggling to walk (so the accident not only messed up his ability to play music, but even to walk), and the nurses confirm that even if he is able to walk again he’ll probably never be able to play the violin. *checks time* and we’re only one minute into this damn episode. Where the hell is the cheery magical girl slice of life show I was promised?! And Sayaka’s in the elevator, wondering why it was Kamijo that got hurt. Her fingers are fine… “Why couldn’t it have been me instead of Kyosuke?” Well. Looks like someone’s got some survivor’s guilt from the Mami incident bleeding over to another injured person. Sayaka? Sayaka, listen to me. Are you listening? Ok, look. YOU ARE A MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRL. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BE HAVING THESE THOUGHTS. THESE ARE NOT HEALTHY THOUGHTS FOR ANYONE TO HAVE. YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW. But of course she can’t hear me, and continues to beat herself up, wondering what Kamijo’s reaction to her healing him would be. (I assume she’s not in the right frame of mind to consider that it would likely be along the lines of “Holy crap what the hell just happened.”) No! Sayaka, no, stop that! You are not ‘a horrible person’! Stop feeling guilty about things that are absolutely not your fault! Whoa, what the hell? It’s still the original intro? … How dare you. How dare you, PMMM?! You spring that last episode on me, and then you just pull up this poppy little sequence of lies and act like nothing has changed? You still show the three on top of the damn radio tower! Episode 4: Miracles and Magic Are Real Ok, nope. Sorry, but I am too angry at PMMM to continue tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow, but damn it show, you can’t just have all of the sadness and then bring up a bright cheery intro and title like that, and pretend you’re still cute and not secretly enjoying my crushed innocence.

*one angry sleep later*

*Watches Intro Sequence of Lies* Ok, I think I’m back into the requisite ‘wanting to hug and shield these precious babies from the horrible writers’ mindset. Lets get to it! The Kaname house! Still as Modern Art-esque as ever, I see. The family is all in the kitchen and… oh. While Father is cooking in his apron and Mother in her business attire is cleaning the little boy’s face, Madoka is… just sitting there. Not talking, not touching her food just… slightly hunched over, looking down. Looking at the egg yolk. Yellow like Mami’s improbable hair- no don’t show that scene again she’s twitching uniform poof GUH. Madoka just got snapped out of it when Mother tells her to hurry and eat, otherwise she’ll be late for school. Guh. I know that there’s no way for the family to know, but school probably isn’t Madoka’s biggest concern right now. And Madoka can’t even take a bite of her breakfast without breaking into tears. Father can only ask if it tastes bad, or something. … I know that on some level I think that’s funny, but it’s kinda far down under the weight of this middle-school girl having flashbacks about seeing her friend get eaten alive. Who can only barely talk about how it tastes good and she’s alive to eat it. Cut to the road to school, Sayaka is being surprisingly talkative today, mostly at Hitomi while Madoka is being very quiet. Well, not verbally, but she does shoot a mind message to Sayaka who asks if they can talk about it later. In class the teacher is talking about marriage and relative ages for some reason, I suspect this isn’t part of the intended lesson. And Homura is glancing back at the girls. I honestly can’t tell what she’s thinking. “Good, looks like they were scared off?” “It’s sad that their friend died, but now there’s no-one in my way?” “Mwahaha, my evil plan is going perfectly?” Up on the wide open rooftop again, the girls are talking about how different things are now. “It feels like we’re in a foreign country or something.” The non-magical girl parts of their world are still the same, but it feels so… distant now. And that’s because no-one else knows about the witches. Or Mami. (Wait, sudden thought. Mami lived on her own in the apartment. And it was implied that she was an orphan from the car crash. Who’s going to notice that she’s gone? Her landlord, if she was renting the apartment? Maybe the school when she doesn’t show up? Are there no other friends or family who would notice?) Oof, loaded question now. “Do you still want to be a magical girl, even now?” They don’t have an answer. I don’t think I have one either. And now Madoka’s crying (nooo, don’t do that) and saying she know’s it’s “selfish” to back out now, but she can’t go forward. She’s scared. Middle-school girls, remember. Mami really was kind to make them understand the risks. Would have been better if she hadn’t died as an object lesson, but maybe it can still help them. Yeah, what is going to happen to Anime City now, show mascot? I mean, the Protagonist and Sidekick are pretty set on Refusing the Call, but that still leaves witches running around. Kyubey says that with Mami gone, other magical girls are likely to move in and hunt the witches. I’m torn between curious at seeing outside magical girls moving in and jockeying for the territory, and thinking that Homura isn’t likely to let that happen. Maybe there are a few more conveniently-placed Grief Seeds in the future… Whoever ends up here, at least they should deal with the witch probl- WHOA WHAT “But I think the only ones who have a right to judge their actions are their fellow magical girls, who bear the same destiny as they do.” What the hell, Kyubey? You may be right, but that’s a rather hefty statement to use against two girls grieving over a friend. Well. It seems that Kyubey is leaving to search for other girls to contract. That’s… rather mercenary of you, Kyubey. You’re just going to leave what I can only assume is a day after Mami’s death to find another magical girl? I understand the witches need to be fought, but that’s colder than I thought you’d be. I’m not sure what to think right now. Well, at least he’s apologizing for getting them involved to this point. Goodbye, Rabbit-Thing. I’d say goodbye, but I honestly have no idea if we’re going to see you later. Seriously, I have no idea. I mean, we’re four episodes into a twelve episode show, and I don’t think the other two-thirds are going to just be about our two characters walking around school while having PSTD flashbacks. But then again, I didn’t call the last episode, so who the hell knows.

“I’m sorry.” Aw no. We’re at Mami’s door. And Madoka’s ringing the bell. I don’t think anyone’s going to answer, honey. Inside the theme’s picked up by bells as Madoka’s silhouette puts her notebook of magical girl costumes on the table, before she starts to cry again and apologize for being so weak. She leaves Homura. Now is not the time. Stay away from my babies. Wait. What’s going on? “You’re blaming yourself too much for this, Madoka Kaname. No one could criticize you for anything you’ve done. And even if they did I wouldn’t permit it.” Um. What? Where did this come from? With Mami and Kyubey gone, do you not see Madoka as a threat anymore? Where did this ‘permit’ stuff come from? Ah, ok. Homura knows that Madoka’s realized the danger now, doesn’t need to make heavy-handed “back off or your family gets it” threats anymore. Huh. I… did not see this coming. Homura and Madoka are talking, and instead of Homura being all spooky and mysterious she’s… actually being calm. Mami didn’t heed her warning, but Madoka’s safe from the danger now. “I was able to change yours (fate).” This is actually a really impressive twist. Sure, Homura may still be focused on her own power, but it seems she can tolerate others if they don’t interfere in her plans. If Madoka’s not going to make a contract, then she really isn’t a threat to her ambitions. It’s one thing to deal with people who mess up your plans, it’s another to target innocents. And Homura seems to not want to cross that line. ...maybe I was a little too quick to put Homura on the List? But then again, Madoka’s the protagonist. If Homura’s up to what I think she is (summon the Flying Thing from the vision to increase her power), then I doubt Madoka’s going to just stand by even if she’s scared now. Which would interfere with Homura. Welp, whatever will come later, at least now Homura’s being less overtly evil. Let’s enjoy it for now. Now that the two are talking, Madoka’s taking the chance to ask Homura about her time as a magical girl. Has she seen death like yesterday? “Yes.” “How many?” “Too many to try keeping count of anymore.” Aaand creepy music’s back. Madoka’s wondering about Mami’s apartment, and wow that’s rather blunt, Homura. Mami had no close relations (orphan confirmed). It’ll be a long time before anyone other than our characters notice she’s missing and file a report on her. ...wait, wasn’t she a student at the school? I’d think the attendance officer might have something to say about that. Aw, and since Mami died in a labyrinth her body stayed there. So even when a report is filed there will be no one to find. “In this world, she will simply remain a missing person forever.” I get that she was your rival and thus in your way, Homura, but could you show a little tact? Madoka just lost a new friend in a gruesome way. “That is the end that all magical girls meet.” And we’re back to the Philosophy of Homura that I’m gathering: Magical girls are rivals for power and thus obstacles to be removed. Non-MGs are to be warned away from the path, if they contract then they are obstacles, but if they do not then they are no threat and can be tolerated. And now I’m remembering that it was Homura placing the Grief Seed at the hospital that resulted in Mami’s death. Not sure if she thought she could deal with the resulting Witch before any bystanders got hurt or just didn’t care in order to ‘remove’ Mami. Back on the List you go. Madoka’s crying again at Homura’s frank descriptions. Mami fought to protect the city, not just gather Grief Seeds. And to have her ‘reward’ be obscurity… Homura’s talking about that being the cost of the Wish, that it can’t be helped. “I won’t forget… I’ll never forget about Mami!” Yes. YES. You tell her, Madoka! Screw Homura’s bleak outlook, you’re the Protagonist! So what if Homura is an experienced Magical Girl who defeated the Witch that killed your friend. Homura backs down in the face of Madoka’s optimism, saying something placating about how that will make Mami happy. “I envy her.” Wow. Ok, this episode is making me rethink my opinion of Homura. I mean, I still hold her earlier threats against her and that she caused Mami’s death, but we’ve seen that being a magical girl is no cakewalk. Without anyone to talk to like Mami had Kyubey, she “You too, Homura!” What. “I swear I’ll never forget you either!” Homura. Homura, the all-loving Protagonist Madoka is offering you friendship. This is your chance to not go and summon the Flying Thing. Please, pull a Viral, you can still join the good girls. Homura has a very blank face. I don’t think she can process this thing humans call “friendship”. Aw. She just clenched her fist. She isn’t going to go for it, is she? “You’re too kind for your own good.” Yup, she’s back to being the mysterious lone magical girl. Hairflip, warning that being kind in this Urobuchi world may lead to greater tragedy, and away she walks. Madoka’s left standing on the bridge. Back at the hospital! Sayaka’s visiting Kamijo again, who’s listening to “The Girl With the Flaxen Hair.” Good taste! We’re getting some character development as Sayaka talks about her listening to classical music, how she was taught by Kamijo. Daw, that’s cute and explains how they met. Wait. “Are you torturing me?” What are you ta- Oh. Oh no. We know that Kamijo’s injured and can’t play, and probably will never play again. We saw him crying the last time Sayaka visited him when he listened to music. Sayaka’s been trying to cheer him up, but instead it’s just highlighting that he can’t perform what he’s listening to. Ouch. Kamijo’s freaking out now as he’s yelling about he can’t stand listening to things the accident has barred him from following again, he smashes the CD player and there’s blood on the sheets, Sayaka’s grabbed his arm and he can’t even feel the pain of the cuts. Sayaka’s trying to calm him down, saying that someday they’ll find a treatment. “They said that I had no chance of ever performing again.” Whoa. Ok, whichever doctor said that to a patient is in dire need of remedial training, and secondly this is a super high-tech and advanced city compared to our own, you can’t just say “Oh, there’s no way that technology could ever solve this current problem.” Science doesn’t work like that, it keeps going until somebody finds a solution. “He said that with current medicine, it just wasn’t possible.” Right, that’s exactly my point! Current medicine sucks, it’s the medicine of tomorrow that is awesome! Hold up. “Not until the day miracles or magic start existing in this world.” Ah. AH. She’s going to do it, calling it now. Sayaka’s going to Wish for a treatment for Kamijo’s hand and become a Magical Girl. And then Sayaka becoming a MG will prompt Madoka to help her friend, and the two will become the new protectors of Anime City. And then Homura will get ticked, and the show will continue. Oh boy. “Miracles… and magic… are real!” Title drop! And Kamijo’s probably thinking that Sayaka’s trying too hard right now. If you only knew, boy… Kyubey! You’re back! I guess I underestimated you, good to see you again. Let’s get to Wishing! Later that night, it seems Madoka’s walking around bummed that Homura didn’t want to make friendship bracelets. Hey, it’s Hitomi, the NPC friend of the trio! How are you doing? Wait, what’s with the blank look and sudden gong? And the tattoo on her neck AAAAAAH IT’S A WITCH’S KISS NO NO NO Hitomi’s speaking in an airy voice, going somewhere “far better than here”. Yeah, she is totally mind-controlled. Damn it, we need Sayaka to make that contract and help out Hitomi now. Wait, now she’s telling Madoka to follow along. Madoka, no. You have no powers and a Witch is clearly involved. Flag down a cop, and tell them that you think your friend is high on something, get them to detain her. But whatever you do do not follow! Great, you’re following the the prancing hypnotized girl to “somewhere better”. Isn’t the whole point of Witch Kisses to drive people to their labyrinth’s for suicides and murders? Madoka, you following along is less than useless, you’re only putting yourself in danger. Leave and get someone else! Call Sayaka, there’s no way you don’t have her phone-number, tell her to call the cops while you follow from a safe distance. Hell, yell for Homura! “Hey Mysterious Transfer Student, my friend is being controlled by a Witch! Follow us if you want another Grief Seed! And, you know, don’t let innocents die?” Ooooh crapbaskets. There are more people, a lot of Shufflers around them now. And now Madoka’s beating herself up for not having Homura’s number. Ok, maybe I’m being a bit unfair, you only just realized she wasn’t planning to kill now that you’ve renounced the power. Now they’re inside some sort of warehouse, as a man mutters about how he couldn't keep a factory running. CRAP the gate just shut. Madoka’s trapped in a building full of Shufflers and presumably nearby a Witch’s labyrinth. I believe the technical term for this is FUBAR. Why is a lady carrying a bucket? And setting the bucket down? What is she pouring into the bucket, and why does it look like this other man has a container of gas? Flashback! (colors are a big contrast to the green of Creepy Factory) Mother is teaching Madoka to differentiate between two sorts of bottles, “or the results could be fatal.” Aw crud, whatever these chemicals are causes a fire or toxic gas or something, right? The entire factory of Shufflers is going to die. (Homura, Sayaka, pretending-to-be-dead-for-some-reason-but-really-alive Mami, anyone?) Madoka rushes forward OUCH she just got struck in the midriff by psycho Hitomi, preventing her from getting closer. She tries to warn that the chemicals are dangerous, and Hitomi’s all “Uh, yeah? That’s the point, we’ll die and go to a new world.” Heaven’s nice and all, Hitomi, but you aren’t supposed to take shortcuts! The Shufflers’ are applauding Hitomi’s witch-induced speech, Madoka breaks free and grabs the Death Bucket, throwing it out the window. Yes! Wait, no! The Shufflers’ are pissed, and going full-on zombie as they chase her. Window’s locked, got to find another way door! Get in get in get in lock it whew. Ok, she’s stuck in some sort of closet, but at least the Shufflers can’t get her. Wait, NO! Art’s going trippy, weird sounds and music, WITCH! Madoka’s in the Labyrinth! Sayaka, Homura, ANYONE! Trippy TVs in the background, monochrome angle-fairies grabbing her, she’s screaming and her artwork’s going all wobbly JEBUS she just got ripped apart! … What the hell is wrong with this show? Mami the Awesome dies in Episode 3, and the title character dies in Episode 4?! Wait, it’s still going. Flickering lights, MADOKA! She’s not dead, I don’t think, she’s just drawn without borders now and part of me is impressed with this art style even as the rest of me is screaming in horror that Madoka is trapped in the Labyrinth. She’s stuck spinning around as the angel-fairies shows televisions with Mami’s final battle, their conversation, and her death. This is hell. That’s the only way to describe it. Madoka’s stuck on her own, floating around helplessly as she’s tormented by Mami’s fate. She’s calling herself a coward and liar, thinks that this is a fitting punishment, NO. NO NO NO. Screw you, Witch, you let Madoka go right now. The angel-fairies are pulling her again, she’s screaming again, I can’t Blue light? Lasers? Madoka’s free and the Witch Computer With Wings got smashed, Madoka glitched back to her standard art form and is looking around in confusion. Sayaka?! Sayaka in a cape, moving incredibly fast smashing up the larger angel-fairies, guess that answers the question “did she become a Magical Girl”, I think she’s using a sword as she slams the Witch into the ground and suddenly Homura and she looks pissed. Aw crap. It’s like I thought. If the girls didn’t contract then she would tolerate them, but now Sayaka’s become a Magical Girl. Homura’s new territory is being competed for again. Hitomi’s on the ground as are all the other Shufflers, Sayaka’s apologizing for taking so long to get there. Hey, that’s the outfit from the poster! Madoka is understandably worried about Sayaka becoming a Magical Girl, but Sayaka’s brushing it off and saying she did pretty good for a first Witch battle. Aw crap. Homura’s here, back in the shadows. Sayaka calls her out for being late to the party. Cut to Kamijo, I’m guessing the doctor’s about to come in and apologize for doubting the scientific method. Or Kamijo will just raise his hand and curl his fingers. Oh. Um. So. Sayaka just wished for his hand to be healed. Aw crap. Ok, look, I know it sounds bad when I say that, that I’m making light of a musician regaining the ability to play. But. This wish was shown to heal fatal injuries in Mami’s case, so we can assume that it would be powerful enough to heal a ‘lesser’ injury like Kamijo’s, where his life wasn’t at risk. My question is this: would the wish have worked for a general cure to be discovered, instead of just instant inexplicable healing? That way it could have a reasonable explanation for the doctors and could be applied to other people. This case has just one person benefit, it can’t be replicated (unless another girl makes a contract), and now the doctors are going to be trying to figure out what the hell happened. I know I’ve got the privilege of an outside view, but to me this seems a shortsighted use of a Wish. But of course, it makes sense if we think about Mami’s warning, about using a Wish for another person. Sayaka may not really mean for it to heal the argument between her and Kamijo, but I don’t think he’s going to make the leap in logic that the girl who was talking about miracles and magic earlier was the one who healed him. I… don’t see this ending well. Wait, new person? Eating a burrito or something. Kyubey, hey! Wait, why are you talking to the Food Person? Aparently she heard that “Mami had bought it”, that indicates an outside Magical Girl moving in on the territory. Great, another competitor, I’m sure Homura will love that. Hey, red hair! (I’m sure Tephi liked seeing that) And sharp teeth for some reason. Yup, confirmed for magical girl. Who is now chewing out Kyubey for telling her that the territory is now taken. Oh, so that’s what he was up to between leaving the girls and going back to Sayaka. Aaawkward. Well, Food Girl is annoyed that the territory has been claimed. (Name of Kyoko). And oh shit she’s going to “put the new girl out of commission.” Aw crap, now Sayaka’s got two MG’s going after her between Homura and Kyoko. Wait, sudden flash of smile and word “permanently”. Well, I guess I can’t fault you for confidence. I mean, I’m pissed that you’re targeting my babies, but I’ll give you that. End of episode and driving credits music! Ok, now that my emotions are slightly better than last time, let’s take a closer look. Driving music, glitchy silhouette of Madoka walks past one of a short-haired girl who I think is Sayaka, then a long-haired girl (Kyoko?), Mami sitting down (I miss you, shortest ship ever), another silhouette who- turns and reaches out to Madoka? Wait, is that Homura? She’s the only other MG we’ve seen, so I guess so, but why is she the only one to move? Cut and now Madoka’s form is running then disappears into the distance, an eye opens with a curled up Madoka as the pupil, then fades into a facelike thing before it all fizzled out. Illustration of Madoka in her MG outfit, voice-over of Sayaka getting excited about being a magical girl, taking up Mami’s role as protector of Mitakihara City. Argh, but that title! “There’s No Way I’ll Ever Regret It” Argh no why. Well. I have thoughts on episode, need to really think about Homura’s character development and the impact of this new girl (who Kyubey brought here, I’m not sure what to think about that), but there’s one thing I need to say before I end this section. I WAS RIGHT! Yes, being a magical girl has its risks, and now Sayaka has to deal with an annoyed Homura and this Kyoko girl. BUT. I said it before, the Witches are still out there, and not being a magical girl means that you have no defenses, as we saw with Hitomi. And being a potential contractee like Madoka may be even worse, she could see what was going on but was still trapped in the labyrinth and would have died if Sayaka hadn’t become a Magical Girl and saved her. If last episode was “Why Not to Become A Magical Girl”, then this episode was “Why You Really Do Have To Become A Magical Girl”. Do I have my problems with Sayaka’s Wish? Yes, and unless we get some information next episode to explain that my interpretation is completely wrong about not being for general use then I don’t see that changing. But becoming a Magical Girl in and of itself, getting the power to defend herself, Madoka, Hitomi, and other innocents? That I can wholeheartedly approve of. 

[recentanimenews]

OPINION: It's Easy to Sink Into These Fantastic Long-Running Anime!

  This article written by Nick Creamer was originally published on April 6, 2020

  Hello everyone, and welcome back to Why It Works. Is there some show you've been planning to watch, but have always felt too intimidated by its sizable episode count? Do you feel like you've already missed the conversation, and thus can't quite bring yourself to start the first episode? Well, I'm here to tell you that although I've often felt the same way, I have heroically fought through those feelings, and discovered something important: When you fall in love with a long-running show, you get to savor that love for a long, long time. This week, I’ve got a pile of recommendations in that vein, celebrating shows whose formidable length might make them seem somewhat intimidating. Let’s dive into the Long-Running Binge List!

    First off, any discussion of bingeable anime must start off with the most bingeable show I’ve ever seen: Hunter x Hunter. Originally written by Yu Yu Hakusho's Yoshihiro Togashi, Madhouse’s 2011 adaptation of Hunter x Hunter remains one of the most exciting, expansive, and eminently watchable anime I’ve ever experienced.

  Hunter x Hunter's first arc introduces us to a quartet of young men who are all trying to pass the “Hunter Exam,” which involves surpassing a wild series of fantastical obstacles, all while contending with the deadly instincts of their fellow competitors. From there, Hunter x Hunter telescopes into a sprawling series of ambitious arcs, many of which fuse its sturdy action fundamentals with other genres entirely. There’s a big crime drama arc, and even a war arc that ends in an epic castle siege. All through these wild adventures, Togashi’s excellent character writing and best-in-class understanding of tactical action keep every episode fresh and exciting, making the whole show play like a bag of chips you just can’t stop reaching into. If you want to start watching anime in the morning and then suddenly look up, wondering where the sun has gone, Hunter x Hunter is my top pick.

    Of course, if you’re feeling really ambitious, you could always take on the grand prize of binge-watching, the nearly endless One Piece. One Piece can certainly seem intimidating to watch — I mean, it’s closing in on a thousand episodes, so the road is clearly a long one. But having recently dove into One Piece's manga myself, I’ve discovered that when you’re in the thick of it, the scale of the story ahead doesn’t really matter. One Piece is constructed as a series of adventures taking place on a sequence of distinct, creatively designed islands, meaning that its individual stories aren’t actually too unmanageable.

  And as it turns out, there’s a reason One Piece has lasted this long — the story is just incredibly fun, bursting with charm and unique characters and inventive fight scenes. It’s not about catching up; the glory of One Piece is that it’s already full of exciting adventures, a story that has been delighting millions for decades now, and which always finds new ways to reinvent itself. Haven’t you ever felt the pain of reaching the end of a show’s existing episodes, and knowing you’ll have to wait to see even one new episode? With One Piece, that pain is literally hundreds of hours away, and in the meantime, the existing story is brimming with emotional peaks and aesthetic wonders, an adventure narrative that urges you to come along and join Luffy’s endearing crew.

    But maybe action doesn’t thrill you. In that case, I’d recommend some comparatively reasonably-sized shows in a variety of other genres. First off, Chihayafuru just concluded its third season, which solidified its position as one of my favorite sports anime of all time. You’d think a show centered on a niche card game based around the famed One Hundred Poems wouldn’t be particularly accessible, but Chihayafuru illustrates the mechanics of its central sport with remarkable efficiency, and from there, it’s one tactically thrilling tournament after another, as Chihaya and her teammates gather strategic weapons, hone their abilities, and fight to become the best in Japan. Featuring a vivid ensemble cast, and absurdly stuffed with tournaments that you always want to watch for Just One More Round, Chihayafuru’s episodes tend to fly by with almost worrying speed.

  But perhaps instead of action or sports excitement, you’re looking for something more slow-burning, perhaps with more of a character drama focus? In that case, I highly recommend March comes in like a lion, which centers on a young man named Rei who’s attempting to find his place in the world. Rei is actually a professional shogi player, but his matches aren’t really the central focus of March; instead, this story is about his efforts to rise out of depression and escape from an unhappy home life, assisted by a trio of sisters who help run their grandfather’s sweets shop.

    March can be harsh and painful at times, but also incredibly warm, and its rich cast only becomes more endearing as its episodes spiral on. March encompasses a vast spectrum of emotional conflicts, ranging from depression and familial obligation to bullying, professional pride, and aging with grace, and it handles all of them with insight and empathy. It’s quite simply one of the finest character dramas around.

  Finally, I’d like to recommend one more personal favorite, and another show whose length can make it seem a bit intimidating: Bakemonogatari, along with its various sequel properties. Bakemonogatari centers on Araragi, a boy whose recent altercations with a vampire have left him uniquely attuned to the supernatural. Araragi does his best to act as exorcist for the people around him, but in the world of Monogatari, hauntings always have a psychological origin — and you can’t dispel your internal demons without truly facing them. Merging urban fantasy and psychological drama, Monogatari offers visual spectacles and piercing character studies in equal measure — and because it’s constructed as a series of distinct “cases,” individual stories only tend to run for three or four episodes, making it easy to watch in bite-size chunks.

    Alright, well, that’s basically everything I personally like to binge-watch! Frankly, I wish I had more to share; it's wonderful to find a new long-term anime project to dive into, and I'm always on the lookout for more shows that give me that unique thrill.

  I hope you’ve found a show or two to check out in my recommendations, and please let me know all your own favorite binge properties in the comments!

      Nick Creamer has been writing about cartoons for too many years now, and is always ready to cry about Madoka. You can find more of his work at his blog Wrong Every Time, or follow him on Twitter.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Guest Author

[gzw1689]

For the "let's talk animes!" ask meme you just posted, can I ask all of them? XP If not, then #4, #5, #13, #14, #15, #16, #27, #35, and #36. If that's still too many, then I guess just pick whichever ones you want to do out of the #s I mentioned.

I might actually just do all of them at some point, haha. But I think for now, I’ll do the ones you asked, and maybe the rest of them in a later post, if/when I feel like it. (Also, there were two #4s. I only did the second one, since that was similar to #5, which you also asked.)

This got really long, so I’m going to put it under a “Read More”.

4. best ending of an anime you’ve watched

For this one, I’ve decided to go with Shirobako. The series follows Miyamori Aoi, a production assistant at an anime studio. The plot is divided into two main arcs, and each one shows the studio working on an anime series. Alongside the main plot, we also see four of Aoi’s friends pursuing other kinds of careers in the anime industry.

It was actually the second-to-last episode, but I found it to be one of my most satisfying experiences watching anime. To describe it in vague terms from my memory, after a major problem with their currently developing anime reaches near its breaking point, the director of the anime (who is also one of my favourite characters in the series) takes more proactive action to resolve the issue. This serves as a rather exciting resolution of the central conflict of this plot arc, and a high point in the director’s own character development. The episode also ties up the rest of the character and career development of Aoi’s friends in a way that really moved me (I seriously almost started crying). That was probably one of my favourite anime episodes of all time, and the episode after that just nicely wrapped things up.

On another note, I just want to say that I really appreciated Shirobako for the way it portrays the work of storytelling; not just in the nuts and bolts of it, but for its philosophy on it. Around the time I was watching it, I was really bogged down by a lot of the bitterness and cynicism I see when people talk about stories and the work behind them. In Shirobako, there was some of that in the form of things like executive meddling, jaded employees, and people who value commercialism over storytelling. And it also went into some of the problems related to the professions, like how stressful and messy things can get when you’re overworked on a tight schedule, or struggle to communicate with the people you’re working with. But the overall core of the series is that, despite all of the problems, these people are driven by a passion to tell stories and make people happy.

That said, from what little I have read about the real-life Japanese animation industry, I do think animators especially get a pretty raw deal in terms of working conditions and payment. So admittedly, Shirobako comes across as at least somewhat idealized. Even while acknowledging that though, the series still really spoke to me.

5. worst ending of an anime you’ve watched

The big one that came to mind here was Glasslip, which–like Shirobako–happens to be another P.A. Works series. The thing is, the reason I chose it is because I couldn’t even tell you what happened there. At some point (maybe even after the second episode), I started to find the story of that series incoherent and extremely hard to follow. And not in a “this is above my head” or “I didn’t give this enough of my attention” kind of way (which is maybe how I felt about something like Serial Experiments Lain). Ultimately, I just found the whole thing confusing, and the ending didn’t really help matters. In the end, I didn’t really get much out of the series at all. That said, I did think it looked pretty nice, though I think that has more to do with me liking P.A. Works’ character and background drawing style.

When initially considering this question, I kind of wanted to choose an anime that I generally liked where I felt disappointed with the ending. The thing is, I couldn’t really think of any, and if there was one, then I just really couldn’t remember the ending (I’ve watched a lot of anime, and it seems I don’t really have the best memory of a lot of them). So I guess Glasslip is just the superlative example of “ending that disappointed me to the point that I couldn’t even remember it”.

13. favorite one shot (1 season) anime

I’m not really sure what the definition of a “season” is. If a series goes into two cours (like Spring into Summer) without stopping, does it still count as one season? Or is it only allowed to air in one cour? Maybe I’ll answer for both.

For the former definition, I’ll go with Welcome to the N.H.K. It’s been a little over four years since I last watched it, so I might not remember it too well, but I do recall it leaving a rather profound impression on me. From what I remember, it really delved into the effects of extreme social isolation, the mental health issues it can inflict on a person, and how these things can affect one’s ability to function socially and in society. For me, this has been the most resonant portrayal of this kind of story so far. It can be very sad and disturbing at times, but it also has a sense of humour about it. And in the end of it all, I remember coming out with a sense of hope.

As for the latter, I chose The Tatami Galaxy. It’s also been about four years since I last saw that one, but I remember it being a bit more cerebral and exploring the sort of existential issues that come with being a young adult that’s struggling to find purpose. It also does something that I find really fascinating, which is cyclical storytelling (that’s what I call it anyway; I’m not sure if there’s a real term for it). If I remember correctly, almost every episode begins at the same point in time, and shows the unnamed protagonist making a different choice that leads to the events of the rest of the episode. Almost all of the episodes reach some sort of unsatisfying conclusion, and the goal of the series becomes somehow breaking the cycle. I can’t recall exactly how it did that, but I remember being pretty happy with it in the end.

14. favorite completed (multi seasoned) anime

I’ve chosen Mushishi for this one. In my inbox is a question you sent me for another ask meme: “what’s your favorite thing about Mushishi?” I’m going to answer this here, if that’s okay.

It’s been a while since I’ve watched an episode (and I actually think I still have the last one or two episodes to complete), but even so, I think it’s a little tricky to pick just one thing. There are quite a few things I like about Mushishi. Its subdued mood aided by the soothing music which can subtly give way to calmness, sadness, or happiness. The art and animation which bring the world of its stories to life in a vivid manner. Ginko’s value and appreciation of life in all of its incarnations, and his philosophy that everything in nature has its place and purpose (at least, that’s how I remember it).

But I think I’m going to go with its storytelling style, or at least how I perceive it. In a very succinct manner, each episode presents us with some sort of problem, often involving how humans and nature interact. And as each story leads up to its conclusion, it often gives us a very complex and nuanced way of looking at the thing, which often leaves me in contemplation by the end of it. I think it’s really neat that the series is able to do that in each twenty minute episode.

15. favorite on going series

I’m going to say Monogatari. That one’s still ongoing, right, haha? I actually still have to catch up on the latest part(s) of the series…

I think you and I like Monogatari for rather similar reasons (the complex psychology of the characters and their development, among other things). But I just want to add that it really appeals to me as one who studies books and loves dialogue. A lot of the story happens through conversation, which is a kind of thing that really appeals to me. And while the visuals definitely enhance and add meaning to the experience (as I’ve seen described in numerous Tumblr posts, including yours, if I remember correctly), a lack of attention to them–which happens when I read the subtitles–hasn’t necessarily gotten in the way of my understanding of the story.

That said, there is a lot to these characters, and sometimes it takes a while for the concepts in the series to sink in with me. And since my memory of these things isn’t necessarily the best these days, it can be a bit tricky for my memory to retain every important thing that’s happened so far. And when I watch newer installments without the best memory of what happened before, it makes the experience feel rather incomplete. That makes me a little hesitant to go back into it directly with Owarimonogatari part 2. So although I do want to know what happens next in the story, I’m a little torn because of this and the fact that I want to watch other anime and explore other stories as well. Recapping myself on everything Monogatari would be kind of a commitment, and I’m not sure if I’m necessarily in the mindset for that right now.

16. animes you wish had another season

Puella Magi Madoka Magica, definitely. If not another season, then maybe another movie or something. To my knowledge, the most recent installment of the series is Rebellion, which kind of left things off on a dark note and appeared to leave itself open for a sequel. I guess my take on this is that, if this is the end of the story, it kind of feels unresolved and like a contradiction of the more hopeful feeling that the original series left us with. I suppose I can come to terms with that if that ends up being the case, but I would be happy to see another installment imbued with a bit more hope, or at least maybe some sort of middle ground.

It’s been almost five years since then, and from what I can tell, it seems like there may be plans for a continuation of the story, but they seem to be rather vague. I hope it doesn’t end up becoming a situation like Half-Life 3 or the next Tool album.

27. which anime universe would you like to live in/be a part of

This is kind of a tricky one. I definitely wouldn’t want to be in any sort of action series, because I don’t like fighting and I don’t want to be in danger of dying LOL. Ruling that out, it mostly seems to be series in more real world settings (especially high school), though I suppose each one has its own take on the setting and subject matter. Hmm…

I think I’ll go with the Musashino Animation studio in Shirobako, and its admittedly somewhat idealized take on office work and the anime industry. I really like storytelling and entertainment to the point that I studied a form of it for much of my university career, and I’d love to work on something artistic as a sort of behind-the-scenes person that’s not really in the spotlight. Sure, it definitely comes with its stress and pressures, but I would be happy to try and work through them, and hopefully they won’t wear me down.

I was also thinking of New Game!–a video game company work setting, which I’d say is more lighthearted and comedic compared to Shirobako–until I realized that it might be rather awkward for everyone with me being the only male there, haha.

36. least favorite animation style (NOTE: I decided to answer 36 before 35 because I wanted to end with a more positive answer)

Before going into my answers for these next two questions, I wanted to say that answering about animation styles was kind of tricky for me, because I’m not sure if I really respond to animation styles as much as I do to things like drawing and art styles (character designs, backgrounds, and whatnot). Although animation isn’t necessarily a thing that draws me to a series in the first place, maybe it can be sort of an “icing on the cake” for an anime that I like, if that makes sense. So some of the anime I like doesn’t necessarily have the “best” animation, I suppose. All that said, I answered these questions with all elements of art and animation in mind, so hopefully the answers are satisfying.

Going into my answer for least favourite animation style, I’d have to go with the style that was used in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann by Gainax and Kill la Kill by Trigger.

I think I sort of understand the appeal of this kind of animation, as it feels very lively and energetic, which matches the tone of both of these series. In the end, I guess this is more of a personal taste thing for me, because I sometimes find it rather goofy looking in a way that I find somewhat off-putting. The combination of over-the-top elements in both of those series mostly didn’t work for me, and the animation was one of them. That said, I can’t honestly call it “bad” animation, and looking through the gifs, there were a few that I genuinely kind of liked. Some examples:

Gainax, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007)

Gainax, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007) (note: this is one that I thought looked okay)

Trigger, Kill la Kill (2013-2014)

Trigger, Kill la Kill (2013-2014) (note: this was one that I kind of liked)

That said, from what I can tell, Little Witch Academia seems to use a similar style. I haven’t watched that one yet (I’m planning to), and I kind of wonder how I’ll respond to it there. I found the OVAs to be somewhat entertaining, and the overall idea of the series seems to be more up my alley. So maybe if I like it, I might warm up to that style.

35. favorite animation style

Taking into account what I said at the beginning of my previous answer, I’d describe the kind of animation that I think I tend to respond to as sort of “crisp” and “detailed” in its drawings of characters and backgrounds (I can’t really think of better words). The most illustrative examples I can think of for something like this are ufotable, much of Kyoto Animation from Hyouka onward, and Shinkai Makoto’s works. I imagine that this kind of style is really expensive and time-consuming, but in my opinion, it ends up looking really really nice. Some examples:

ufotable, Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel I. presage flower (2017)

ufotable, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (2014-2015)

ufotable, Kara no Kyoukai: Fukan Fuukei [Overlooking View] (2007)

ufotable, Kara no Kyoukai: Satsujin Kousatsu (Go) [Murder Speculation Part 2] (2009)

Kyoto Animation, Hyouka (2012)

Kyoto Animation, Hyouka (2012)

Kyoto Animation, Hibike! Euphonium (2015)

Kyoto Animation, Hibike! Euphonium (2015)

CoMix Wave Films, Byousoku 5 Centimeter (2007)

CoMix Wave Films, Byousoku 5 Centimeter (2007)

CoMix Wave Films, Kimi no Na wa (2016)

CoMix Wave Films, Kimi no Na wa (2016)

Hopefully that gives some sort of idea of what I mean.

So I guess that wraps things up for this one. Hope anyone who read this enjoyed it!