#everyone send me money so we can have more ways to kill kaito

[kaitohateblog]

i am actualy rly excited to cover venomania and curruption cuz i might get to monetize them ^____^

[dissidia-writeblr]

Dissidia Writeblr September 2020 Week 5!

This is the final prompt! I hope you enjoy it! Please finish the prompt whenever you can! After you finish your piece, I’ll write a finale for your character or characters in the POV of one of the original characters to wrap up what happens to them!

Tagging: @tcstu

@ratracechronicler: Liath smiles slightly and stands up after looking around first. “Thank you. I want to find my friends. They probably came here. I need to find them before the Chikara find them. It was a trap. Also...” She frowns. “I might need to try to get my magic back. They took it away, which means they can give it to someone else. If they can get all our magic, they can start the cycle over with new victims. Would you be willing to help me?”

After Lily accepts, Liath starts walking purposefully in one direction. She grins at Lily. “We always had a place where we would meet up in secret. A safe place. If they’re anywhere, they’ll be there.”

Liath leads Lily to a ruin, and she gestures for her to come inside. She pulls up a loose floorboard and pulls out papers with a grin. Some of the papers look fairly new, while others are yellowed with age. “We passed notes back and forth. And we even treated the cycle as a game for a while, to get our minds off of what was going on. Then Tess found out some info about the Chikara, and we couldn’t ignore it anymore. She still hasn’t told us everything she knows. She wants to make sure that if they ever capture us again, she’ll be the only one punished for how much she knows. But still, we know enough.”

Before she can say anything else, a group of ten people enter the ruin, and when the woman with ginger hair sees her, she runs up with a grin and hugs her. “Liath! You’re okay! How did you get away?”

When they break apart, Liath gestures at Lily. “She saved me from them, Kyra.”

Kyra bows her head at Lily. “Thank you so much. We owe you for your help.”

They discuss strategy, but before they can really decide on anything, a lone man walks into the ruin. He has the black and white wings. He smirks at them but then frowns. “Where’s the last one? There are only nine of you here.”

Kyra glares at him. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

He sighs. “No matter. Even with just the nine of you, our plans will go smoothly. We’ll just have to torture you to find the last one.” He gets into an attack stance as light and darkness dance along his skin. 

As more Chikara show up and the Liath and the others also activate their magic, with light or darkness dancing on their skin, the fighting starts. One of the Chikara rushes for Lily, and after a little bit of fighting, she smirks at Lily. 

“Why are you aiding these traitors? They are causing the destruction of this world. And...” She laughs. “we do know all about the magic of this world. If you help aid us in capturing these traitors, we’ll help you get home immediately.”

What will Lily do?

@onmywaytobe: Mostly the same prompt as Lily’s, except Owen and Cam are already with Kyra and the others. When the fighting starts, a different Chikara approaches Owen and Cam with the same offer. What will Owen and Cam do?

@maple-writes: Sitara and Zeth lead them out of the city as Zeth makes a call, and they don’t run into any trouble. After they fly back down off the mountain, the shadow of an airship shows up over them. Sitara turns to them with a smile.

“Thank you so much for letting me study your tech! I’m sorry about the officials of Torr. I’m going to have Zerith, the captain of this ship, send you to Velaris. No one will follow you there. It’s abandoned. There won’t even be any of the beings. You’ll be safe. And here.” She pushes a packet of paper into Richard’s hands. “This is all the information I have on your tech. I also wrote down how to fix your broken tech as well. I hope this helps!” She grins as a ladder comes down from the airship. 

A woman with an eyepatch over her right eye climbs down the ladder and smiles at Sitara. “Where would you like me to take them?”

Sitara pulls out a pouch of money and hands it to the woman. “Velaris. They need to get away from here.”

She laughs. “Wonderful! I’ve already sent others over there to get away as well. They’ll at least have company.” She looks over at Richard and Volt and bows her head. “My name is Zerith, and I’m the captain of this humble vessel. Let’s get going.”

Zerith drops them off in a forest in a continent with many different ecosystems right next to each other. As Richard and Volt walk through the forest, they come across a ruin where there seems to be people fighting inside. They distinctly see people with black and white angel wings fighting against humans. Do Richard and Volt go toward them?

(If they do, one of the Chikara will approach them with the same offer as the others. So, if that happens, what will they do?)

@sheabutterskyes and @ravens-and-rivers: Scarlette and Pier try to fight their way out, but before they can escape, Chial shows back up. Everyone freezes, and Kaito stiffens as she walks up to him.

“You liar!” She slaps him, and very faintly, Scarlette and Pier can see some kind of darkness show up on his skin. “You’re working for Marea, aren’t you?” She glares at Scarlette and Pier. “I’m going to make sure you can’t escape.”

She hits a button, and someone appears out of thin air. Chial points at Scarlette and Pier. “You will capture them again and kill the guard.” The person flinches, and she looks over at Scarlette and Pier. Chial smirks. “Unless...they just want to turn themselves in without a fight.”

The woman squeezes her eyes shut. “Please. My magic...is deadly. If I accidentally hit you with it, you’ll die in three days. There’s no way to stop it.” Her eyes change to dark purple, and she flinches as purple flames dance along her skin.

What will Scarlette and Pier do?

[curejunereblogs]

An Extensive List of Phantom Thieves (怪盗)

but first the criteria:

The boundaries for what makes a thief a phantom and whether it's different from a gentleman thief are wobbly

We can't really just allow everyone who calls themselves "kaitou" to qualify, because there's Kaitou Sai from Nogami Neiro who is a serial killer which is A Very Bad Thing. most good examples of thieves have a "no kill" rule

If we set that they have to steal for Good Reasons, we cut off Kaitou Joker, who is very much a phantom thief, so we have to allow "thrill of the chase" as a valid-ish reason for stealing. no bonus points though, it just not instant disqualification

I found that "sends a calling card" is a good rule to stick to so I trimmed my original surprisingly long list based on whether I know for sure they send announcements or cards or letters or such. If you don't say "come and get me" to your target, you're pragmatic, a realist and also a coward

Which led me to a conclusion that to be a proper phantom thief, the main thing you should be after is the spotlight. You have to steal the show. Otherwise you're just a thief, maybe a gentleman, but not a phantom. Contrary to the name, you have to be seen. Good phantom thieves have a give-and-take relationship with their audience - they take the treasure, and give back a performance or some other form of entertainment (or purpose in life in some cases).

The following compilation doesn't include: books, hentai, eroge, BL, things where i couldn't translate the title into English, the ones that don't send calling cards(as far as i know) and in general a bunch of media i most definitely missed

Phantom Thief Hall of Fame:

- Kaito Kid(1987), Kaitou Saint Tail(1994) and Kaitou Joker(2007) are all brilliant examples of the genre, and if you don't know any of them, they all have a bunch of passionate fans each and they can all be googled really easily

- Joker and his gang from Persona 5(2017); i'm consiously placing him in the second/fourth place because even though he's really cool, very popular and is The phantom thief to a lot of people unfamiliar with the genre... he doesn't have a tophat (his persona is not enough)

- ... I'll just mention that Lupin the 3rd(1967) exists and go on

- and of course, Lupin III and about a quarter of all phantom thieves are in some way based on Arsène Lupin(1905) by Maurice Leblanc

- ex. there was a french-canadian cartoon about Lupin called Night Hood(1996)

- Cat's Eye(1981), cited as an inspiration for Saint Tail, is about a trio of sisters who steal stuff in order to get closer to their dad and it's epic

- Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne(1997), like Saint Tail, doubles as a magical girl series and is about magical stealing and the clothing is eastern and the manga swerves into weird territory in the end but it features one of the precious few phantom thief & phantom thief romances

- King of Bandits Jing(1995), while doesn't have the aesthetic, has the weirdness, the charm, the calling card (i think) and is generally cool enough to steal his place on the list whether he’s a phantom or not

- The Acrobat/Man of Twenty Faces(1990), also known as Akira Ijyuin; charming child somehow without most of the problems the CLAMP protagonists tend to suffer from

- Phantom R the titular Rhythm Thief(2012), a great example of a dancer show-off, has a dog

- The Black Rose from Ashita no Nadja(2003) is a tuxedo mask-esque character

- Kaitou Kiramekiman(2000) is a cool retrofuturistic-looking duo trying to save the world in a show that is tragically more about their police counterparts Doing Absolutely Nothing because the villains tend to be more popular in that franchise

- Pacricon(1999) takes place in a world where money has been cancelled(?), has a hella cool calling card

- Shadow Lady(1995)... well, there's a lot of fanservice - like, a lot, and it's tiring and i warned you - but there's also some genuinely funny twists like cancelling her heist on live tv just because she didn't feel like doing it. it also got very unceremoniously axed

- Kaitou Alexandrite(2006) owns/co-owns/frequents a bordel so there's some nsfw to be seen on occasion but it's tolerable and could be described as tasteful i guess. she stole someone's voice once. it also features one of the best identity reveals

- Chat Noir from Granblue Fantasy(2014) is a fighting unit; he has a "calling card" skill and i think that's beautiful

- Phantom Skye from Harvest Moon DS Cute(2005), a not-very-secret character, is an absolute cheese but it loops right back into being charming

- Kaito Rousseau(2006) for Nintendo DS, where a tiny thief boy is horrible at going unnoticed unless he disguises his face as whatever you draw on your ds screen

- Mask DeMasque from Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations(2004) is a thing?

- Sly Cooper(2002) is known as Kaitou Sly Cooper in Japan so he fits the bill

- PxP(2006), short manga about a girl thief in high school

- Sweet Kaitou Vanilla Moon(2010), pastry-themed phantom thief? hell yeah!

- Kaitou Reinya(2010), a short comedy that is not to be taken seriously but you might get a few chuckles from it and i don't regret giving it a second chance (warning: cartoonish animal abuse)

- Cat's Eye(s)(2010), a remake of the original tale of three sisters with different PoVs

- Kaitou Jack from Nishikida Keibu wa Dorobou ga Osuki(2013); it's a gag manga about a cute phantom thief boy and an old man detective that acts like a schoolgirl around that boy. ... I'm only mentioning it here because I like Jack's costume and "i'm-SO-done-with-this" faces and it's mostly intended to be funny. mostly.

- Kaitou Okami-Zoku Shonen(2013), a oneshot about a werewolf who eats people's hearts (metaphorically! through kisses) but is really stylish about it. Think P5 protagonist but alone and a werewolf

- Phantom Thief F's Scenario(2013) is a vocaloid song about a diamond heist on a luxury liner

- Kaitou Le Vin(2014) is about six people stealing wines and it's epic but they can't shut up about wine for one second

- Gaitou Alice(2015) is about a guy looking like Kaito Kuroba going into people's hearts to steal stuff before P5 made it cool. Features amazing artwork but kinda gross stuff closer to the end so it's kind of understandable why it got axed but it has a kind of weird charm to it

- Mystic Thief X from a mobile dating game Miss Detective's Undercover(2017) (i'm scraping for phantom thief content) is honestly excellent at his job. he might only be showing off for one person but damn it's romantic af and i love him

- Kaitou Shounen Jokers(2017) is a sequel to Kaitou Joker, and is directly about the previous protag's kid going to a phantom thief school (i have no hard evidence he sends calling cards but if he doesn’t take after dad i’m-)

- Kaitou Saint Tail girls!(2018), a sequel to Saint Tail, is very cute and has two new Saint Tails working together! i wish i knew more about it

- Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger(2018), live-action series that is a must-watch for anyone who loves phantom thieves because it's a masterpiece of a tv show; besides the three thieves it also features the best police officers in the genre (it kind of has to since they're protagonists too but boy does it deliver)

- Secret x Warrior Phantomirage(2019) is also a live action and it's all about girls stealing enchanted hearts! i actually don't know if they send cards but it feels right placing them after lupinrangers and they're definitely show-stealers

- Kilroy(2018) is a western comic about a guy who broke an unconventional mirror and has to do unconventional repairs

- Kaitou Kamaitachi(2018) has a cute reporter boy and a lot of butterflies

- Destined Memories(2019) is another mobile dating game, there are thieves (called the Crows) in victorian england and they send notices and it's way better at being a phantom thief story than an actual phantom thief story by this company that i'll maybe mention later if i get to compiling a list of thieves that don't send cards

- I really want to put Majo Kaitou Lip☆s(2019) in this category, I want her to send calling cards, but there's like two chapters out so there's still time. The artwork for this series is GORGEOUS and the idol imagery is amazing and i love it so much I just want her to be popular

i might've ignored some phantoms you may have heard about, but 50% i've checked and they don't send calling cards. If they do, additions are welcome!

[luxexhomines]

8, 9, 10, 20, 31, 41, 45, 60! (Is that too much? I'll be honest, I want all the questions on that list answered ;-;)

Ahhh, that’s not too much at all!! I’m flattered that you’d like to hear what I have to say ♡ I would like to answer all of them for you, but for the sake of not clogging up everyone’s dash, I’ll answer just the ones you’ve listed & the ones from lovely anon under the cut! If I get more asks, I’ll answer those, too, but for now, I’ll just keep it to the numbers since a hundred might be too much to scroll through, aha! 

Here we go for the Danganronpa ask meme, under the cut!! Sorry my answers are kind of long; I elaborated quite a bit. Maybe too much.Expect discourse & explicit DR1, SDR2, NDRV3 & DR3 Anime spoilers!

2. Favourite Protagonist?

Does Kaede count? Okay, I figured not... If not Kaede, then for sure Hajime Hinata. He has such spunk, and he’s such a relatable character for protagonist without being flat in the least. He also ends up representing so much more than just the force facing against the killing game and is more than the Ultimate Hope, too. He has real concerns and gets discouraged as a normal person would, which is what leads him to go for the Kamukura Project. He’s the most compelling, by far. 

8. Least favourite character?

I’m not sure if I have an exact least favorite character. I’d probably go with Hifumi or Leon. I’m not as big of a fan of the characters from Danganronpa 1. I also don’t love Maki much, at least if we’re talking canonically. Otherwise, I feel more apathetic toward her, as I do with Hifumi & Leon.

9. Least favourite class trial?

This is hard... I’m actually pretty easily creeped out/am rather sensitive, so many of the pictures/illustrations in the trials make me feel uncomfortable. I might have to say Super Danganronpa 2, Trial 3, simply for that reason. The image of Mikan standing on that stepladder with a paper bag over her head always makes me feel so creeped out. 

10. What would be your Ultimate Title?

I’m not good at anything enough to be an Ultimate, of course, but... Probably Ultimate Fan or something like that. That sounds pretty dumb, but I’m honestly a hugely supportive fan of all the content creators I follow: I send in asks often and always write in the tags, whether it’s art, fanfiction, edits–you name it. When I buy merch, I dm the artist to thank them and take pictures of the merch and post it on tumblr with my raves about how much I love it. Although I haven’t bought that much merch, as of now.I’m also just a generally incredibly supportive person whether online or in real life, so if you tell me about one of your endeavors, I’m sure to support you, ask you about it, and encourage you to update me on it. I thoroughly appreciate people fully and tend to overlook flaws and such. Otherwise, perhaps I’d be the Ultimate Chorister or something like that. 

20. Who do you think is an overrated character?

Kaito Momota. Don’t get me wrong, I love him, but I also loathe some of his actions. When he refuses to believe that the identity of the killer could possibly have been Gonta in Trial 4, I was incensed. Of course, I didn’t think Gonta could really have done it either initially, but because this is a killing game, there will always be extraordinary circumstances, and there’s little you can rely on, as even you yourself are prone to acting in abnormal ways for some reason or other. That’s just an undeniable truth and logic. And the way he wouldn’t talk to Shuichi after that trial was so childish and immature. Shuichi was revealing the truth; Kaito was trying to help him get over the fear of revealing the truth, but then in trial 4 he refuses to believe Shuichi and then won’t even look him in the eye afterward. Like, man up, Kaito. This is not Shuichi’s fault. He’s just the person who delivers the news, not the person who made them. It’s probably his canon developments that make me feel that people think of them too highly. 

31. Is there a character you think who shouldn’t have survived but did?

41. Person you’ve never expected to become a culprit but they became? (Doesn’t include Chiaki)

Kaede Akamatsu. I know, I’m big dumb, but it wasn’t just her protagonist status that warded me off–it was her tenacity and belief in protecting everyone that I thought would never allow her to kill someone, rather than that being the enabler of murder. And, yes, I know she didn’t actually kill Rantaro in the end. But she was named culprit and other than her, I’m not sure who I’d be surprised at. 

45. Unpopular opinion?

I don’t really like KaiMaki that much. Maki’s entire development arc is based on her love for Kaito and him helping her out of being closed off to everyone. I understand needing some extra help, but I resent that she needed help from a man and that she had to fall in love with the said man. I don’t think her arc could even be representative of growth, as she ended up falling back on her assassin tactics to try and resolve the situation herself in trying to save Kaito, which only further escalated the situation. I prefer Harumatsu by far over KaiMaki. Kaede is someone I could see Maki in a healthy relationship with, and someone who can guide her to a better answer for situations or problems. She’s also just as (if not more!) supportive as Kaito and has similarly positive energy without having to be a big idiot or a big strong Manly Man™.

Also, to reiterate from earlier, Kaito is a man baby. I know he’s still a high schooler and, of course, human, which explains a lot of his actions, but I also just find that part of him so difficult to condone–how contradictory he is between supporting Shuichi telling the truth to going to not being able to accept the truth and actively resisting it, and then ignoring Shuichi like a big baby. I would’ve thought of him as someone who confronts the other party, not someone who just has a cold war with the other party like that. Again, perhaps it’s just that canon was written terribly. I quite like Oumota, even though I’m not a huge fan of Kaito himself.

60. Saddest moment?

When Kokichi said, “H-How could a game...that you’re forced to play...be fun....? I had to think this game was fun to survive... I had to lie to myself!” My heart shattered into a million little pieces right then and there, and I cried. I usually don’t cry from media–games, stories, movies, books–but I cried then. Another notable moment was in the Danganronpa 3 anime when Chiaki was trying to escape but died at the end. That was so painful to watch; I think I cried then, too.

69. Choose one character which you would take with you on a trip.

Kokichi Ouma! At least, that’s my instinct. I’m sure he’d be so much fun to go on a trip with–never a boring moment with him around. I’d probably get pretty tired, though, because he’d want to go out to a ton of places and drag me around, and he’d probably also make me buy him a lot of stuff. So if not Kokichi, then maybe Nagito. He’d appreciate the travels a lot, make for an interesting conversation partner, and be considerate about managing time, energy, and money. 

70. Character you would have a sleepover with?

Kaede Akamatsu! Maybe Tenko Chabashira? You thought I was going to say Kokichi again, weren’t you? With him around, it wouldn’t even be a sleepover, so... But with Kaede or Tenko, we could probably do some fun and relaxing activities and have some compelling conversations before we go to sleep. 

100. Opinion on all the Protagonists!

I already went over Hajime in the first question so... Of course, Naegi is a cute cinnamon roll, but apart from that, his character doesn’t hold much appeal for me. I did kind of like him as I was watching the anime, but I wasn’t super attached to him or anything. And, as I stated before, Shuichi feels like a  pretty flat character to me. He’s just... a normal guy who helps out with his uncle’s little detective agency. All three of the protagonists are technically “normal,” even though Shuichi’s supposed to be the Ultimate Detective. The way he describes his uncle’s detective agency makes me think it’s just this rundown little office in some back alley that solves missing pet and adultery cases, so his detective thing is like a hobby. Apart from Hajime, who literally gets talent implanted in him, Makoto’s the only one with a talent–luck, which is very sporadic and works arbitrarily. So they’re all pretty much just your average, run-of-the-mill guys, who don’t even want to be the protagonist of the killing game and take their position rather reluctantly and passively. They have their protagonist statuses thrust upon them.

Now, as for Kaede... She not only actually has an ultimate talent as the Ultimate Pianist and makes references to it by naming piano pieces at times and describing them, but she also takes up the role of the protagonist actively by bringing together a group of high schoolers who are all strangers, attempting a dangerous road of death and despair in trying to escape and takes action toward trying to end this game. She’s basically the first and only protagonist to make a plan toward outing the mastermind before the last trial–in fact, she does so before even the first one has occurred! She makes effort to prevent any killings, not just investigate and deal with them after they’ve already happened. I have much love for her, as you might be able to tell.

[writeforwronggg-blog]

Tsuyoi Josei(5560 words)

When I was younger, my mother always told me to honor myself and others equally. She would tell me of her childhood before the adoption of Chinese political systems and the insertion of the Samurai way of life. As a young child, I never truly grasped why she would tell me these things.

Why would my mother tell me of the superiority complex of nearly all men of our time? How she was supremely mistreated by men older and younger than herself, just as every Japanese woman was? Though that’s not a major problem as of now. Not as of 638: the year I became a Samurai.

The Tang dynasty and the introduction of not only an empress of China, Wu Zetian but also Buddhism and it’s empowerment of women on the rise, us women were at a high point. Though there were still major tensions between the Confucian and Buddhist beliefs, Buddhism was a major game changer for the empowerment and belief in female abilities in modern Japan, China, and Korea. We were no longer viewed as the lowest class, but as equals to everyone else(in justified cases of course).

Still, I was not a believer of any religion. I had always believed in people and their own personal morals, versus the morals, thrust upon them to follow by religions for selfish reasons. Yes, selfishness, because although nearly all religions preach the ideals of selflessness, it’s for purely selfish reasons. Every religion, for which I have seen, give promises after promises of reward for being a kind and serving person. It’s fuel for us to be good, but why do we need to be motivated to be decent people? We are all human dealing with the same struggle of life and its challenges, no?

People love to twist the words of good men and women from religions to fit their own agenda, and it’s very warranted because one can not say it’s out of context since most teachings are open to interpretation. How can you say something means one thing, yet when another points out its hypocrisy or ‘plot holes’ you change your words? That truly is religion in its purest form. It’s meant to give people reassurance through symbolism but all it does is turn a heart to the dark side through the idea of a prosperous afterlife or reward.

That is the focal point for me as of now. Being a female Samurai in a country that was so against the idea of women existing as anything more than a wife and mother was strong only a few short years before. 625, the earning of the Tang dynasty’s Tian Ming, was a major milestone for this small town called Chiba, near the rapidly growing city of Tokyo.

I bet you’re wondering about me, who I am, what story I’m here to tell- and the answer is soon to come. First  I should start from the beginning, no?

My name is Otokita Karanaki, daughter of Haruto and Kaito Karanaki. My father, Haruto, was a well known and supremely respected elder in our town, but a few years ago when our town had been raided, and my father killed, the people mourned greatly. As my father had no male heir to his fortune, and the teachings of Cong Fuzi’s “the Master said: When the father is alive, observe the son’s intent. When the father dies, observe the son’s conduct. One who does not alter his late father’s way for three years may be called filial.” But those teachings neglected to speak on behalf of the daughters, leaving me to become the ‘son’. No, I don’t mean becoming a man, simply taking over his responsibilities.

I had no person lined up for me to marry, and my mother was becoming more and more ill every day. The flu had caught up to her, and the physician was frequently gone to other, more wealthy, families. I had two young sisters, only one and two years younger than I, and I was meant to raise them. As most of our society was very judgemental of our lifestyle, I had chosen to raise them as I wished and not into a religion. I used most of my money to try to educate them in European ways and fighting techniques my father had taught me. I was already a low ranking Samurai, so finding time to see them between my duties was difficult and I eventually decided it best to send them off to a school in India.

It’s been years since I sent them off, and not one week have we missed a letter. Though I worry about them greatly, my life here is not on hold. I have a friend, and she’s amazing. Being put in the situation I was, it could be difficult to find someone who would be there for you unconditionally, but she… well, she was there. For everything and anything.

Her name is Ishi and the only way I would ever describe her is strong. She is always supportive, kind, reassuring, and dependant. Oh, how strong she is. As a child, her parents gave her away to a caretaker who would raise her in an abusive home in which hated any girl or woman. She fought her way out of that place and journeyed across the regions looking for somewhere to live. She endured much across the way, many hardships such as rape and other unspeakable woes, and finally made it here where I had found her and taken her in.

I found her along a path, clothes were torn, body worn, and face filled with resilience. She had gone through so much, yet she was still one of the best most understanding and accepting people I’d ever known. She had so many stories she’d kept to herself for so long, some good and most bad, and she was so scared for so long to trust me with them. It had taken a long time and a lot of patience before she could open up to me and when she did I was astonished and even more proud of this girl, woman, I had come to know. Her heart, mind, and soul were beautiful, as was her body.

Her hair, when let down from her usually messy bun, goes down like a smooth black waterfall all the way to her wide-set hips. Her eyes were solotica and utterly beautiful. Her naturally milky-turned-tan skin is as soft as my mother's silk, and her voice was deeply captivating. Anyone and everyone wanted to wed her, but I was looking after her and no one had dared to ask for her hand in marriage if they were not absolutely sure she’d agree and love them. I was not so easy to persuade, especially not with her, and it seemed she wasn’t either.

“Oto? What are you thinking of?”

I looked down, into the eyes of my mother’s eldest friend’s son’s eyes as he examined my stone cold features. Kawa is his name, and he’s been at my side since this morning when I left my home to patrol my small town. He was about 1.8 meters tall and surprisingly handsome, though he is surely the epitome of male arrogance.

I looked at him, thinking of all the times he’s tried to take my hand, and rolled my eyes at him. He looked surprised as if this wasn’t expected of me.

“None of your concern, Kawa. What is it you are following me for, anyhow? Has your mother finally tired of you?” I ask jokingly, earning a small chuckle in return.

“Tire? Of me? Never. I am too entertaining and hard working to bore of. If only you’d see it, Oto,” he insisted, nudging me slightly.

I eyed him suspiciously and took a step away, uncomfortable of our close proximity. I looked out over the small hill we stood on, wondering what Ishi was doing at the moment.

“Do you suppose Mrs.Itō will make that kimono well? I promised to pay very much for it, but Ishi isn’t comfortable with the tailoring process and I didn’t want her to be uncomfortable so I hadn’t given Mrs.Itō the measurements. Will it fit right? I told her it’s similar to me, maybe 40-50 centimeters wider at the hips, about 28 shorter at the legs. Was that okay do you think?” I ranted, slightly happy about tonight’s event.

Tonight, being our last elder’s 82nd birthday celebration would be very extravagant. Every person from the town would be there and there was nothing more exciting to me than a break from my duties. Though I would still carry a few small weapons with me, I would not be actively on duty.

He looked at me strangely, as if he was very confused and suspicious. I rolled my eyes, not expecting a response and turned around to begin heading back down the beautiful hill. He followed short behind but stopped a few minutes later. I did as well, hand on my Katana in case there was danger lurking.

“Why do you care so much for her? She’s just some random wench from off the street. Why would you even-” his sentence was cut short by my katana being held to his throat.

I stood there, mere inches from his handsome face, teeth gritting in anger, and fists clenched around the strong tile handle, hardly aware of his appearance. I could see his surprise, as I rarely lose control of my patience, and tried to calm my rising temper.

“I would do my best to not insult my dearest friend. She is far stronger and smarter than you may believe. She is not a wench and you will show respect when talking of her or face the consequences of us both.”  I seethed, receiving a huff of disagreement and damaged pride.

“Of course,” he agreed hotly, after a few more seconds of violent tension, releasing him and stepping back, “You’re quite a strong-willed woman. The people who doubt your strength have much to come for them.”

I tried not to, really, but I could never stay angry with Kawa. He’s my oldest friend! How could I?

I shoved him lightly, letting out a breathy and quiet laugh. He did the same until it turned into a full-on shoving contest, resulting in him being held down to the ground, arms pinned behind him. He tried to resist, multiple times, but I would only make my grip tighter.

“I surrender! I surrender!” he choked out tiredly. I released him, standing up and adjusting my gauntlets.

“You best remember this, Kawa, the next time you think you will win.” I teased.

I was about to look up, but I was quickly shoved into a tree, arms pinned awkwardly behind me, and Kawa holding my head against the trunk. I was breathing hard, as was he, from the quick action and he leaned in slowly to my covered ear.

“I think I will remember this,” he simpered, “will you?”

It was odd, the way he said it. I’m not used to this, it’s usually foolish flirting and pointless innuendos, but this wasn’t. This was ‘I’m bigger and better than you’ and it wasn’t doing anything but fueling my feminist anger. I leaned into the tree, surprising him and throwing him off balance, and pushed back again making him stumble back. I turned, pushing his back against the tree and used my foot to kick between his legs, making him release his hands so I could turn and elbow his mouth. He turned around, cradling his bleeding lip as he whimpered lowly.

“Don’t ever do that.” I raged, clenching and unclenching my fists tightly.

He looked at me, eyes confused and nodded his head slowly. I relaxed my face and turned back around to continue my walk down the hill. He followed, not as closely anymore, and I would occasionally stop to listen for any loud, troubling noises.

“I’m sorry,” he said once we reached the town again.

I huffed, not impressed, before taking a left down a small alley. He followed again, I walked faster, as did he. Once we reached the end of the small passing I turned abruptly, stopping him in his tracks. I tapped my foot, waiting there silently for him to continue his earlier apology.

“I’m sorry for taking you off guard. We do this all the time though, Oto, why were you so upset?” he asked irritatingly.

I huffed, balling my hands up before taking a calming step backward.

“It’s not that, Kawa,” I admitted solemnly, “it’s the fact that your tone sounded as if you believed you were any better than I. I care about you, but I would never see you again if you truly believed that.”

He was confused. You could tell because his chocolate brown eyes read that all over them. He looked down and back up at me, taking a step forward, and trapping me against the rough wall.

“If you think I believe that at all, then you truly haven’t been paying attention to me. I am infatuated with you. You’re strong and caring and you take in poor, worn strays off the street. You’re determined and stubborn and focused. You’re loving and wise and attentive. You’re a beautiful and independent woman and I love you for that. Damn it. I love you Otokita!” he confessed, surprising me very much.

And then he kissed me. He kissed me so fiercely, so kindly, yet so softly, I could do nothing but believe him. I could tell he felt a spark, fireworks even, but I did not. I couldn’t feel anything from that kiss other than sadness and pity. I kissed back, simply in reaction, and felt horrid.

I could never love him, not truly, not like he did me. I could only think of one thing as this was happening, and it terrified me beyond words. He pulled away, out of breath and sweaty, and smiled genuinely. I simply stood there, shocked and sad, and watched the happiness in his strong features fade. He examined my eyes carefully before stepping back, removing the arm that he had wrapped around my covered waist, and looked away.

“Do you… do you not feel the same?” he asked shyly, shoulders held firmly as a shield from my soon to come words.

“I-I-I...I cannot. I am so sorry, Kawa! I-” I didn’t finish that sentence as he turned away and walked determinedly.

I stood there solemnly, confused and angry and scared, as I filtered through my thoughts. I brushed over them all before straightening up and returning to my job.

==================

After the rest of my duties that day, I decided to go to Mrs.Itō’s shop to see if she finished the kimono I commissioned. I was outside of her small bright shop, merely looking at the cute calligraphy her 12-year-old son had made for her. One of the small window signs read ‘Kamotos- 3 yen’. I smiled lightly, remembering my sisters when they were his age. They had been obsessed with the new lessons on writing and calligraphy. It was the highlight of their week and they would practice whenever they had the chance.

“Oto? Oh, okosama, why are you not coming in? Come, come!” she gushed, broom in hand, and a bean-sack filled with needles in hand.

I smiled lightly, glad that Mrs.Itō has never judged me. She was always so kind to me and my family and was never a displeasure to be around. She radiated grace and honor, along with love and welcome. She was what I’d always imagined my grandmother had been like. It’s how my mother spoke of her, and I had no choice but to believe that.

“Mrs.Itō, what a pleasure,” I crooned, “I’m only here for a moment, the celebration is tonight and Ishi and I are in need of our kimonos. Are they ready? I have the 6 yen right here”

I reached into my small sack wedged between my armor and pulled out the cloth-covered coins. She smiled, nodding and taking me to the next room that was covered head-to-toe in cloth and fabric. I saw so many bright colors that worked so well together, something she had quite the eye for.

“Right here, okosama.” she said, smiling and holding out two burlap covered dresses, “Would you like to see yours?”

“Of course,” I agreed, watching as she lifted the cover.

I was in awe. Simple, unadulterated awe.

“It’s…”

“-Beautiful?” she chimed lightly.

I nodded, thoroughly surprised by the dress in front of me. The dress was covered in embroidered pink flowers that shrunk in size the farther up they got. The fabric was a black and pastel pink gradient, black being at the bottom. The obi was on top of the dress, a thick and wide black ribbon with pink floral lace bordering it. It reached past my feet, opening to show my ankles and the detailed black-bordered-pink silk on the inside.

It was far more than I had paid for and I was so grateful for the hard work I knew she had put into making this dress. I could only bow, arm resting on my back and the other holding the sliding weapons on my belt.

“Words cannot describe the great honor I feel for your hard work on this masterpiece.” I compliment sincerely, head still bowed.

She chuckled, setting the dresses down carefully and resting a hand on my shoulder. She sighed, bringing her soft hand to grab my chin lightly and lift me up.

“It’s only what you deserve, okosama. Do not underestimate what we, as the people of Chiba, appreciate of you. Tonight is not only to honor our elder, but also the work of our strongest warriors. I know at times you are judged, but the Elder thinks very highly of you and asked for me to do my best work on you two.” she explained, bringing a few tears to my eyes. I quickly wiped it before smiling and standing up straight.

“Thank you, but I must go. I should see you tonight then, yes?” I asked, reaching for the dresses.

“Of course,” she replied, giving me a farewell and leading me to the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ishi? I’m home and I have our kimonos!” I announced, closing the wooden door behind me as I headed into her respective room.

She was behind her partition wall, probably changing. I heard a squeal before I saw a half-naked Ishi running towards me and tackling me. I laughed along with her, glad the bed was behind me and pushed the stout girl off of me.

“I see you’re excited,” I tease, getting a giggle in return, “Would you like to put on your dress?”

“Of course! I am so excited for tonight’s event! It’s been ages since we’ve had a real time away from the tensions lately. Please tell me you’re coming tonight!?” she begged, turning on the bed on her knees to sit on my lap.

I chuckled, stroking her soft black hair and looking at her beautifully cheerful face. I nodded, she squealed, I laughed, she hugged, I hugged. We sat there for a good while, holding each other comfortably while she played with my messy helmet hair.

“Did you hear about what this party is for, Oto?” she asked genuinely, continuing to play with my frizzing hair.

“I did, from Mrs.Itō no less. It’s very reassuring. Do you know why I became a Samurai, Ishi?” I asked.

She sat back up, arms sitting on her lap and shook her head, truly interested.

“When my father died, and the town was so scared, I left my house. I went up to the hill I always did and sat there, wondering, crying, and mourning. While I was doing that, I hadn’t noticed the lanterns floating. It was the tradition- every and anytime a person passed, the people who cared about them must light Chinese lanterns. It was a new tradition at the time, just learned by our people from an immigrant, and the town’s people loved its symbolism. Well, while I was looking at those brightly lit white lanterns, I noticed the atmosphere hadn’t truly changed. I could still feel the pain those people were feeling, the fear. I knew we had never had the best protection in Chiba, but this had shown me how important it was. All that fear, that pain, could have been avoided had we had a Samurai devoted to protecting this small but beautiful town. I never wanted those people to have to face that fear again, not if I could help it. So hearing how these people truly care and appreciate and respect my position and duties truly brings me to tears.”

I meant every word, every spilled syllable, every emotion that leaked through. It was true, and  I wanted to share that with Ishi because I had come to a realization that I would always want her in my life. I never wanted her to be married, I never wanted her to be taken from me. It hurt to think that she could consider another person over me. Why? Why did that scare me? Why did I care?

“Oto?” she asked shyly, eyes glossed over, “You’re amazing, you know that?”

I smiled, tossing those thoughts away and she smiled back, rubbing her eyes to make the tears go away.

“As are you. Let’s get ready, shall we?” I asked, cheerfully standing up and turning to get her dress from the pile.

I handed it to her, watching as she removed the burlap to see the almost exact same dress as mine. Hers was a pale yellow and light blue, with blue being at the bottom. Her eyes grew wide in awe, a wide smile growing on her beautiful face.

“This is...Spectacular!” she gushed, turning the kimono around to see the back.

She rushed behind her partition to get changed as I went to mine to change as well. The dress fit me perfectly, the only thing I needed to do was tie my ribbon and do my makeup

“Ishi? Can you tie my ribbon?” I asked, knocking gently on her door.

It soon opened, revealing a gorgeously dressed girl. Her hair was pinned in a beautiful braided bun with pieces of hair systematically placed on her face. It had the chopsticks I had bought her for her birthday last year in the back, placed accordingly to hold her hair.

“You look amazing.” we both said together, resulting in us both laughing hysterically.

“Ribbon?” she asked, handing me her own yellow-laced-blue ribbon. I smiled before raising an eyebrow and handing her mine.

“Of course, turn,” I said, wrapping the ribbon around her slim midsection, grazing just below her breasts and tying in the back a beautiful bow.

“My turn,” I say, turning so she could do the same.

“There, now we’re both properly dressed. Makeup?” she suggested.

I smiled, nodding, and turned to head to my room where I kept our supplies. We did a simple Kabuki look with blue eyes for herself, and pink for me. I turned to her, finished with my look, to see her applying her mascara. Her face was stretched in the funniest way, causing me to giggle quietly to myself to not mess up her application.

“All done. I already took care of your mother. She’s eaten and is resting right now. If we’re back to check her before midnight we should be okay. I’ll go get my gloves and you can go powder the shoes.” she told me, standing up and walking out of the room oh-so-gracefully.

I got up and did as she said, waiting for her to come outside as I tapped my foot impatiently. When she finally came outside I gave her a raised eyebrow and she chuckled, standing close to my side as we left for the center of town where the celebration was at.

“You look spectacular, let’s hope your makeup stays put in this heat.” she joked, a smile growing by every step closer we get.

“Same for you, but you’d look beautiful either way.” I coaxed.

Though the makeup was covering most things, I’d imagined she’d blushed by the way her shoulders tilted, if that makes any sense. I hadn’t mentioned to her that I brought my Tanto with me, a small dagger used in honor, tucked into the side of my ribbons where it was blocked from sight by my arm.

As we got to the area it was being held, you could hear the sound of a koto and shakuhachi being played. The people were all gathered, conversing with each other, eating the sushi and other foods being served. I smiled, looking over to see that Ishi was smiling brightly at the colored lanterns hung above the town square.

“They dye the glass,” I tell her, pointing at the man who did its shop, “it’s a technique the English use in their Catholic churches to make window paintings.”

“That’s beautiful.” she says, now noticing the food, “Let’s eat! I’m starved.”

I chuckle, following her as we pick up the wooden plates and pick food. I followed her to go sit at a table with some of the acquaintances she’d made over the last few years. After about an hour or two, I saw Kawa walking toward our table.

“Otokita, may we speak in private?” he asks, looking far more professional than I’m used to.

I look over to see Ishi giving him an unreadable look and I agree, excusing myself. We walk a few meters away, behind all the set tables and a few rows of trees. He stopped, turning to look at me and giving me a coy smile. I cross my arms grumpily, tilting a hip out and staring at him.

“So, you don’t love me,” he said, smirk not wavering.

“Yes, and I apologize.” I agree sympathetically, nodding my head and looking over his shoulder, back to the table I was at to see Ishi missing. I look out to the dancing area and see her swaying with a young man about her age.

Jealousy.

“Well, I think we can fix that. You just have to see what a great husband I will make for you,” he says, drawing my attention away from my girl.

“What are you talking about, Kawa?” I ask, confused.

“You say you cannot love me, but I think you can,” he reached out, grabbing my hand in his and holding it there, “We already have a connection, you just need it to strength.”

I was shocked, to say the least, I hadn’t expected this from him and I was so confused.

“Kawa, you don’t understand. I can’t love you because I don’t have room.” I say as lightly as possible, trying to release my hand.

“No, no,” he chuckles, pulling my hand back towards himself, “You have room. I accept your duties, I know they come first. I can be secondary, I don’t mind”

“Kawa, you’re really not getting it-” I was cut off by his lips on mine, invading it and making me angry.

I shoved him off of me, turning him around with the Tanto held to his throat. I got close to him, almost touching his nose with my forehead and looked up into his frazzled brown eyes.

“You. Aren’t. Getting. It.” I say through gritted teeth, “I don’t have room to love you because I already love someone.”

He was mad, I could see it. His hands were pinned so he couldn’t do anything.  I backed away slowly, keeping the Tanto to his throat, and finally removing it when I was at a safe distance.

“You mean so much to me, Kawa, but do not confuse that with romantic love. You doubt me, see me as another woman, another wife to make dinners. I am not that and I could never love or be with someone who expects that.” I said softer this time to make him understand.

“Who is it? Who do you love?” he asks angrily, a hint of sadness seeping through.

“It isn’t important. I need you to know this isn’t hurt you.” I say seriously, deflecting the question I could barely admit to myself.

“I understand. Just know that I won’t give up on you. I will stop the flirting, but know I will never give up on us.” he said sincerely, making me feel sympathy for his cluelessness.

“I understand,” I say simply, turning around and heading back to our table where Ishi was not present.

I gave the tablemates a questioning look and they all smiled lightly.

“She’s gone from the dance floor, okosama. Try looking near the food, she left with that young man. Possible husband?” one of the older women asked.

I smiled shyly, internally cringing at the thought of her marrying. I thanked them before heading over to the food table to see her and the young man sharing a long, slimy, kiss. I cleared my throat, arms crossed angrily, looking at the two.

“Ishi. We’re leaving, say your goodbyes.” I instruct, reaching to separate the promiscuous pair.

She looked at me, anger and regret shining in those beautiful green eyes. She huffed, turning t the young man and whispering something in his ear and giggling. He smiled, resting a hand softly on her wait. I huffed, tapping my foot and flipping the blade in my hand from earlier.

“Goodbye.” she purred to him, sauntering away from the table and towards our table to say goodbyes.

I’m not going to lie, that hurt, but I really had no reason to discourage her behavior. I wasn’t her father, she could canoodle with whomever she pleases. Still, I was angry.

“What was that?!” I blurted, squeezing the Tanto.

“What was what?” she retorted, “It wasn’t any different than what you and Kawa were doing in the woods. I’m not blind, you know.”

I scoffed speeding up my walking since she had.

“What does that matter? It’s none of your business!” I shout, she scoffed, turning her heel and stopping.

“And what’s any different from my situation?” she seethed, puffing her white cheeks.

“Because it is! Who was he anyway? Is he going to ask for your hand?” I ask honestly, anger radiating from me at the idea.

“Kii Wan! He’s amazing, and maybe he will! And I’ll accept!” she shouts, arms flailing as she steps closer to me.

That shot daggers down my spine. I wanted to scream, cry, yell, fight, stab, and most of all I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to kiss her cute face. The face that makes me smile every time I see it.

“Why?” I asked, my voicing cracking slightly as fear crept up my spine.

A single tear. One little tear. It rolled down my face, I could feel it taking some of the makeup with it. I hadn’t cried in nearly 6 years since my father’s death. Not once, but the thought of losing her to some man made my heart ache worse than it ever has. I couldn’t take it, I couldn’t. I had to convince her to stay.

“Oto-” she empathized, stopping before she finished.

“Please.” I cried, “Please don’t do this. Don’t leave me. Am I not enough?”

I sobbed. Sobbed. Actually, truly, sobbed. And she knew. She knew how I was broken. She hugged me, crying just as I am, likely ruining each others kimono. We held each other, tighter than the day she told me her story, and it was bliss. I was broken, yes, but something about this hug told me it wasn’t what I thought it was.

“Otokita, I love you,” she said, staying still as can be, yet still holding onto me just as tightly.

“I love you, too, Ishi.” I emitted with all my heart.

We kissed, on an empty dark road, with ruined smeared makeup, the taste of rice flour invading our mouths, but we didn’t care. Because all thought we would never be able to share our love with the world, we could still love each other. We could love each other until the day we die. Until the day I fulfill my promise to protect Chiba.

“You didn’t really care for that boy, did you?” I asked, regrettably.

“Never, I was simply acting out of anger and jealousy. I’m sorry, Oto,” she mumbled.

As the years moved on, I fulfilled my duty. Kawa accepted that I could never be his and eventually found himself the most beautiful woman he said he’d ever seen. I found that there were many troubles with being, not only a female Samurai but also a bisexual woman in love with another. It wasn’t until 6 years later did my sisters return to take care of my ailing mother. They were happily married to two different and feminist men. The Karanaki name had been carried on through my 2nd niece, and my mother died 8 years later.

I could never regret any of my choices- to raise my sisters Atheist’s, to become both an okugatasama and Samurai, to fall in love with a lost and nearly broken woman. None. It was what led me to my happiness throughout the struggle and judgment of 7th century Japan.

[stuffandsundry]

Arc 1: The Beat Riders

Premise

Most of the early episodes don't need to change all that much, compared to later--

Ah. Shit. I forgot to address my beef with Kaito. ok gimme a sec uhh. Ok. Okokok so here we go. I'm not gonna do this for all the characters because mostly, character introductions are fffffairly okay. Some are better than others but like, they're all at least workable… except. HIM. Kaito, the most out of all the gaim characters, makes zero sense so im gonna throw EVERYTHING out and try to extrapolate something based off of backstory given from Gaiden and canon and a little bit of real riders. Hope it makes sense. So, recap of backstory: Kaito's family used to be decently middle class and he played near the shrine tree, until Yggdrasil came in and bought them out. Kaito's dad didn't really know what to do after losing his purpose in life and turns to drinking/gambling, and they rapidly lose whatever money they had gotten from the corporation, dad becomes abusive, parents kill themselves and Kaito is left at an orphanage and grows up bitter and vaguely traumatized. Gets into a lot of fights at school, is a history nerd, etc. Cool, that's workable. Extrapolation from that for this scenario (oh yeah also, I did say girl now, it's Keiko now)

Keiko rreally hates Yggdrasil. If they had never moved in, maybe her family could have stayed together.

She's always looking for something to challenge her- she saw her family "give up" early on, and she doesn't want to end up like them. Struggle as proof that she's alive? No sympathy for people who've given up fighting, in her eyes.

Related to Point 2. Believes in a fair fight. There's no use in beating down someone clearly weaker than you, and anyone who does that is a coward and a bully. And if you need to lie to someone to beat them, then that doesn’t count as an actual victory. Wants to be acknowledged as the best by her own power.

A lot of pride. Doesn't like accepting help or depending on others/seeming weak. Talks big but also has a lot of like. Self-worth issues, thinks that people have to be "worth" something to be allowed to live, which comes from being abandoned by family so young.

Listen I know that this is a Very Standard anime rival lone wolf archetype but it didn't get to be a standard because it /Didn't/ Work, also I got really attached to Keiko halfway through typing this just let me have this please, I rarely if ever see it applied to girls,

Actually, the soccer episode also gave me the idea that Keiko would be the type of person that just. Rolls with things, no matter how vaguely ludicrous they are. Re: canon soccer episode. What are you gonna do when you get punched in the gut, sending you to an alternate dimension where the city wasn't destroyed and everyone uses the power of the drivers to play soccer? Clearly, become the best damn armored soccer player ever. That's such a funny trait I'm keeping it. It would be such a good source of deadpan comedy. Example: in high school Keiko was a delinquent who got into fights, how did she end up captain of a dance team? Nobody knows. (Most likely: somebody tried to insult her by saying that she couldn't dance for shit and she decided that the best way to rise to this challenge was to… take over a dance team and make them teach her.) Simultaneously zero chill and weirdly chill. Chill about all the wrong things.

Okay, back to plot. Only minor changes for the first 14 episodes, which I'm collecting into an arc--

Instead of Micchy becoming Ryugen, I wanna say that Micchy shows the rest of the Beat Riders the driver he got from Sid ahead of time and Mai sees her chance and asks him to give it to her. Because on one hand, Mai's grateful that Kouta's staying behind because Yuuya's gone missing and Mai isn't sure that she can handle being the final word of authority in Gaim, but on the other, Mai's kinda annoyed that Kouta stayed behind because it's like he doesn't trust her to be able to protect the team. Just because she's doubting herself doesn't mean that he should! She wants to stand on equal level with Kouta, so the driver. Micchy does give Mai the driver, because he cares a lot about Mai.  However, subconsciously or not, he was looking forwards to being the one of the people that the team relied on, so a seed of resentment is also planted here. This colors his decisions in favor of keeping things secret from the rest of the team moving forwards as well.

Within the team, Mai and Micchy more-or-less switch roles, except that Micchy is also finding out a lot of Yggdrasil's-- and his sister's-- secrets in the meantime, so he's still extremely relevant. This way, there's a character arc set up for both Mai and Micchy-- Mai needs to learn that Gaim will follow her (like they did when Yuuya was around) not for her fighting ability or anything, but because she cared about people and wanted to make them happy. Mai realizes that she didn't need to change in order to become a strong leader, because she was already a strong leader and she just needed to trust in herself. On the other hand, Micchy's going to eventually realize that staying quiet about things that upset him is actively working to make his life worse because his friends and family aren't mind readers and they can't tell if they did something to upset him if he doesn't verbalize it. And if his friends and family really, truly care about him, then they'd be upset at THEMSELVES about hurting him, not at him. His secretive martyrdom is a ticking time bomb for everyone.

Ah yeah, one plot change I have to mention here: Keiko doesn't want the other teams to be her vassals because what's the fucking point, Team Baron is the best anyways. (That entire thing was a little. Hm. Idk how much sense it made, man. And it only lasted like two episodes so there was no point to it except to show that Kaito was an asshole even???) So in this 'verse, the reason that she gives Hase and Jo more powerful lockseeds in the first place is because. Gaim is the only real challenger to Baron, which means that theres only one person that she can fight meaningfully and that’s boring as shit. Raid Wild and Invitto still want to fight, they're just lacking the means. The only real surprise is that they come after her with drivers, which she didn't know they had. She has mixed feelings about the sneak attack. On one hand, maybe Hase and Jo are stronger than she thought they were! On the other, those motherfucking SNAKES,

Oh wow I just realized that having Keiko instead of Kaito makes that scene where Mai goes into the forest alone and Baron finds her… really gay. Mai bandaging Keiko's arm and they talk about their childhoods together… Mai remembers that Keiko would always watch her dance and Keiko tells her she was too shy to go up and say hi… Mai's deal wanting to protect those that she holds dear and all that jazz, while Keiko's a cynical SOB. ( By the by, Kouta's not super concerned with Mai being in there until he remembers ah. Mai doesn't have a Lock Vehicle so she can't get out, and the white armored rider is in there, which is when he rushes in like a fool. Except he's on his own while Mai is with Keiko, so it ends up being Kouta who has to get rescued, etc, etc. a lot of early stuff goes this way tbh. Small changes, but overall plot stays same so im not gonna outline it all.)

Takako's thing is a lot more. Okay. Bear with me here. I feel she'd def be far more defensive than Takatora was, because she's got a lot more to prove, and she's pretty isolated-- again, handing out the drivers wasn't her idea, and she's not getting the respect someone else might get at her job level, it's really stressful but Takako's kept going because the people around her-- Ryumi and the other scientists-- say that this is all going to work. Enter Akira. (YEAH. YOU HEARD ME. KAZURABA AKIRA DESERVES A BIGGER ROLE FUCK YALL)

Akira works for Yggdrasil-- she used to be part of a subsidiary, but her last project just got wrapped up, and she was reassigned to Takako's division as junior project manag-- what the fuck. Oh my god?? Is THIS what Yggdrasil's doing? WAIT THAT'S HER LITTLE BROTHER, SHE RECOGNIZES THAT SUIT. If you have Akira and Takako working together I feel that a lot more is viable here, you could compare and contrast Akira's ideals and Takako's. You can def. challenge Takako's ideology that a little risk and loss now is worth the gains that studying Helheim will grant in the future. Akira can act as audience substitute, basically. She's here to yell "SUPERVISOR KURESHIMA, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, WHAT THE HELL" as takako eventually realizes that… possibly… maybe Akira has a point. She's spent so long chasing the company's bottom line she forgot things like, you know, empathy. The problem is, does she realize this too slowly to do any good? Also, what does Ryumi think about Takako's convictions wavering?

So while we're getting introduced to the main players of the Yggdrasil corporation through Akira, the Beat Rider side asks the questions: Who made these drivers, and why give them out to us? And whats with the strange forest? Which eventually leads us into the Christmas game, and the Yggdrasil base camp incident. Kouta learns considerably less than he did (seriously, how did those scientists not get suspicious) but he does learn: this forest is called Helheim, the scientists here work for yggdrasil, and that the Sengoku is the scientist in charge of this project. And then they realize that kouta isn't a yggdrasil employee and raise the alarm except oh no, that’s the moment that the inves attack and suddenly they have more to worry about. Again, minor changes. Kouta sees his sister at the Yggdrasil base but doesn't get the chance to talk to her, everything else can basically go as it did… incluuuding Hase.

Okay. Hase.

Here's how this works. His driver gets broken, okay, fine. Jo doesn't abandon him right away. Even if he's kind of an aggressive musclehead, they've still been working together for a while. But she's not enough to fight alone, and Hase can see that it's really only a matter of time before Jo's goodwill runs out. So he eats the fruit! And does not turn into a monster right away. Instead, it gives him the power that he was looking for this entire time-- he is able to fight on even level as the rest of the armored riders, even though his belt is broken, and it looks like everything is okay. With this, some of the other Beat Riders are considering eating the fruit too. Why's everyone so worried anyways? Besides, they look delicious… however, Micchy points out that Yggdrasil handles the fruits with the utmost caution, and that just because there are no visible harmful effects doesn't mean that they aren't dangerous, etc.

Kouta and Akira also sit down to have a talk about the driver over dinner one night-- they've both been kind of keeping secrets from each other. Akira tries to convince Kouta to stop using the driver because she knows that it's dangerous but isn't sure if Kouta knows that (remember, last time she saw Kouta using the driver in person was Episode 2 shenanigans) -> Kouta shows his sister that yeah, he knows that this isn't a joke, but he wants to help people like she raised him to do. Right now, they need the drivers to fight. Akira relents because he's right, but promises him that after the immediate crisis is over, they're going to have to have another talk about this. Kouta plans to bring his sister to the Gaim garage so that she can brief everyone on everything she's overheard in her the short time she's been working as Takako's assistant, but that'll have to wait until the weekend when she's free. Meanwhile, important stuff is going on in the rest of the city. Show that the beat riders have been losing their audience because of a sudden string of disappearances in Zawame (caused by ppl eating the fruits), and the police are encouraging most people to stay home. Not a lot of people are willing to go outside anymore-- they're scared, and rightfully so. Inves attacks are growing more frequent.

This is pretty frustrating for most of the Beat Riders, especially because people are telling them to break it up and just go home too. More and more Inves are showing up, too… And then some official or something shows up one day and says that until ZPD solves the mystery of the disappearances, the stages are going to be closed. And this is when Hase snaps. See, Hase has been using the belt for a while, so he's built up some immunity to the Helheim fruit's effects. (He doesn't lose it immediately like Yuuya did) But it's still not enough. He'd been acting erratically. More aggressive, recently. And today's the last straw. Hase gets into an argument with the official, it starts getting ugly, Jo steps in between them and…. Hase transforms into an Inves. People are taking pictures of it and everything-- even though the Beat Riders Hotline shuts down the live camera feed quickly, its not fast enough. And Hase goes after Jo. Kouta and Mai run over to pull him off of her and he runs off and everyones going???????

Hase holes up in a warehouse somewhere and mostly transforms back except for hand and he's terrified, he doesn't know what's going on. Jo finds him first and yells at him HEY WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT, DUDE which, while totally understandable, does nothing for Hase's stress levels. He transforms into an Inves and runs out onto the street, where the others, still searching for Hase, stumble onto him. They end up fighting near Charmant and Oren comes out to see what the fuss was all about, he ends up joining the fight. Hase's lashing out in fear and pain but also he's putting civilians at risk, so the Beat Riders are forced to fight him even though they're well-aware that they can't just like, do a murder. Meanwhile, Keiko gets cornered in Helheim by Youko and Takako, and she is captured. Takako leaves halfway into the battle because she gets word that they've tracked down a Beat Rider that became an Inves and she has to take care of it ASAP. Kouta, Mai, and Jo are still fighting Hase (and also Oren, who doesn't really know what's going on and is trying to kill the inves) without actually trying to fight Hase when Takako shows up. She tells them that that Inves is no longer human and tries to put an arrow right through him, with intent to kill. When the smoke clears…

Jo falls to her knees, because she protected Hase. In the shocked silence afterwards, Jo tells Hase to run. She doesn't know whats going on! And maybe Hase can be kind of a jerk sometimes, and really annoying, he's still her friend, and she doesn't want to see him die. Hase regains some degree of control over his transformation and he backs away, runs off. Takako tries to go after him but is blocked by Kouta, who tells them to get Jo out of there and he'll handle the white armored rider. Spoiler alert: he can't handle the white armored rider, but he bought enough time for the rest of them to get out. Kouta is taken in by Yggdrasil.

I think this is a good place to stop for now, so I'll do more later. Okay, see you around!

[pokefan531]

Yuki’s Story Chapter 89 - Yuki’s Spying

Chapter 89 A month later, Yuki and Minoru are hanging out at the game room after school with Leon and Oka. Yuki: I've been getting better grades since the embarrassment. My average went from around 80% to 90%. Minoru: Having study hall really helps. Yuki: Yeah. Oka: So how is it like to be a normal average school girl here? Yuki: It's been fine. I get to do more things and less worry about the whole popularity thing. Oka: So even after you made that speech, you're still unpopular? Yuki: Not really. I'm still get some attention. It's just that I haven't attend anything special lately. Besides, Team Phase still got their attention. Leon: How? Yuki: They're been doing things I haven't done. They have shown that they do charity events and donate money, or what I think is make believe. Minoru: Remember that they got connections with the principle, and having such events like that will make them look better. Oka: Wow. I can't believe you found out that the principle really helps them out. Yuki: Oh yes. I would like to do after school events again, but it's almost winter season, and I kinda want to take a look around the school on my own time. Just for a discovery if I happen to find one. Leon: I see. Minoru: Have you tried Aki and Ren's Cafe club? Leon: I haven't yet. Oka: Me to. Yuki: After we play the next round, we will go there. They continue playing games in there, and later, they arrive to the cafe. Aki: Hey guys! Yuki: Hey girls! Ren: We're serving more thing on our menu. Minoru: Nice. Yuki sees the three guys and walks to them. Rukio: Hey Yuki! Yuki: Hey guys! She sits on a table with them. Kaito: Anything in your mind? Yuki: Yes I do. You've been seeing what Team Phase has been doing lately? Nako: Well, they made an charity event last week and it was their second time. Kaito: Yeah. Do you guys think they really are doing charity work? Rukio: Nah. I don't buy it. Yuki: Yep. You are right in my mind. Nako: Do you have any plans? Yuki: Well, I do know where their warehouse is. I want to sneak a way in to listen to their meeting. Rukio: Well, isn't that risky? Yuki: I've done that once during my suspension. That's how I found out their schemes. You guys could come and help. I know their passcode to get in already. Nako: Smart girl. Although, I don't want to get caught. Yuki: You don't have to go inside. We'll do that tomorrow. We just gonna leave right away when school's over and you guys can be in my car. Kaito: Your new car for your birthday? Yuki: Yes. You guys get to be in my sports car and dream about it. We'll park far from the warehouse. Rukio: Cool. We're in. The next day after school, Yuki drives and left the parking lot near the school and later arrive near the warehouse. She parked a bit far. Yuki: All right boys, let's do our plan. They all got out, and closed the doors. They are dressed with ninja outfits. Yuki: Nako and Rukio, look at any road to see if any of you see a white car coming. Nako: Ok. They both went to be in a hiding position and both watch one part of the road. Yuki: Kaito, we're going it. They both are running to the warehouse. Kaito: You sure they don't have cameras? Yuki: I looked around once and they don't have them. They went by the door. Yuki: Here it goes. She puts all the codes on the pad and the door opens. Yuki: Let's go. They went it and lock the door. Both went inside the big area and starts finding a hiding spot. Yuki's phone made a chime and starts seeing a text. Yuki: Nako sees the white car coming! Kaito: All right. Yuki: Make sure your phone is complete silence. Yuki hides in one of the boxes and covers herself inside and looks at the small hole to see. Kaito hides in one of the corners that is unlit, and hides behind the fat pipes. Outside, Nako and Rukio went elsewhere in the same area to be unseen. Nako: They made it. Rukio: Good. So now what do we do? Nako: She's gonna send us her private stream. We could wait by the car. She give me the keys. Rukio: Cool. Inside the warehouse, Yuki sees Team Phase coming in. Hiroshi: We got some money from the kids today. Kaname: Yep. Those fools really believe we got contact with hospitals and schools. Hiroshi: Yeah, and we can split the money into six. For us and the principle. A while later, they have an important plan. Lila: Since we got a couple of plans, let's pick who's our next target to pick on. Mizuro: Will it be one of Yuki's friends? Hiroshi: Yes. Mizuro: Then I want it to be on Retasu. She took our files before. Kaname: I still am against Rin. She smacked me twice. Lila: Remember it can't be Minoru. Yuki would kill us. Hiroshi: Right. It's no secret we're picking on Yuki. Touko: Yeah, but most of her friends aren't kind to us. I want it to be on one of her teammates, Lia. Oh, maybe also that geeky girl. What's her name? The shy one. Lila: Eru. I don't think she's ever done anything wrong to us. She's just an awkward girl who doesn't talk, so we'll leave her out. Touko: What about Minoru's friends? Lila: The blond and the brunette? Maybe. Kaname: I think we should check out what Rin is doing. Hiroshi: So what we gathered is Rin and Retasu, and maybe few of her other friends. At least a few of them have gone against us. Mizuro: Oh yes! Hiroshi: Besides that plan, we still close to rule the entire school. So far, we have all the information for all students from the files. We got them digitally, and the only thing left is information for the staffs and all the blueprints that the school has. That way, we will have full control and we can play make believe all we want, and all of their personal secrets will be uncovered. Touko: Oh yeah! Lila: Totally! Hiroshi: Yeah. Let's go get food. We're starving. Kaname: Sure! They are leaving, and Yuki is texting Nako and Rukio. A minute after Team Phase left the building, Yuki and Kaito left their hiding spots and meet up by the door. Kaito: Wow. What a meeting. Did our friends see them leave yet? Yuki: Rukio just texted me they saw the car leaving. Kaito: Good. They left the building, and went inside the car. Yuki: Good job guys. I saved the stream and we can eat on a buffet near my job place. Rukio: Awesome! Nako: I'm starving. They left the parking spot and flee. The next day, Yuki went to her homeroom and sees Eru with her new robot toy. It is a human figure colored in lavender and controls it with her phone. Yuki: Wow. She takes a look at it while everyone is around watching it. Yuki: Eru. Did you built that? Eru: Actually, I programmed it, and made the design. She presses a button and have the toy wave to her classmates. Rin: So cool! Leo: It's pretty cute. Eru: Thanks. Yuki: Is that for a school project? Eru: I actually wanted to volunteer a science fair next week. I want to show everyone that I have talents for programming. Yuki: Cool. Can it do jump flip? Eru: Sure. She presses the button and the toy does a jump flip. The kids starts clapping. Minoru: Wow. You sure are gonna make the science fair a great show. Eru: Yeah. I...I can't wait. Kaname is also around Eru, and listens what she says. She then leaves the classroom and finds Hiroshi. Kaname: Hiroshi! Hiroshi: Did you got something? Kaname: Yes. Eru is showing off her new robot toy for the science fair next week. Hiroshi: Hmm... We got events coming up. Neither of us are attending to science fair. Kaname: But won't that take away our attention? Hiroshi: We got ideas. We're doing fortune telling event this friday. Kaname: Oh yeah. We shouldn't be worried. Meanwhile, Yuki talks to Minoru about yesterday. Minoru: So they're still gonna do their thing. Yuki: Yep. They got parts of the school's files, so they know our information. Minoru: Us? Yuki: Every kid in school. Minoru: Unbelievable. What are we gonna do? Yuki: We'll just stay normal for now. I'm not sure what's next, but I'm gonna warn our friends because they are gonna target one of them at a time. Minoru: Oh boy. Later during lunch, Eru is playing around with her robot toy. Leon: Can you make it fight? Eru: I put up fighting techniques while programming it. She presses the button, and starts doing fighting moves. Her friends are happy to see it in action. Minoru: Wow. What got you into programming? Eru: I play a lot of video games and I wanted to make my own games. I studied programming for couple of years, and this toy proved my skills. Yuki: That's awesome. Rin: So, what is Team Phase gonna do to us? Yuki: Let's just say they're gonna pick some of us. Leon: Oh. That's unsurprising. Minoru: We know that was coming. Yuki: Yeah, but this is serious. They can come up any moment and do some other trick on us, like exposing my...bear. Rin: Right. The next day, Team Phase are doing a fortune teller event by the main entrance of school. Touko and Mizuro are on their seats, having a glowing crystal ball. Kyanna comes in and went by Touko. Touko: Welcome to the Dual Fortune Telling event. We can see information about you with just a globe. Kyanna: Okay. Just tell me what you know about me. Touko: All right. Under the seat, she puts her left foot on a button and triggers the light of the crystal ball. Touko: Behold, the information is coming to my mind. She lets go of the button from her foot, and both wear a witch hat with wigs to hide the wireless earbud. In the other room, Kaname tells Touko about Kyanna's information from school's information. Touko: Kyanna D. You're a Virgo. You moved to Japan since the beginning of junior high, loves attending sporting events, strong grades on history, weak at language arts, and is a very passionate person on her goals. You are likely gonna get grade point average of around 3. Kyanna: Wow! How did you guys do this?! You know about my grades and stuff. Touko: We got really great crystal balls and we both went strong with our spirits. Kyanna: Cool. I'm so happy to hear my happy future! She runs out with excitement. Minoru comes up and went by Mizuro. Mizuro: Minoru? What are you doing here? Minoru: Well...I wanted to try this out. I see Kyanna was happy. Mizuro: Okay. I'll do yours. Mizuro's earbuds are connected with Lila from the other room. Lila: What are you doing? Should we let you do Minoru?! Wouldn't he tell Yuki about this? Mizuro breathes really big. Mizoru: We gotta what we gotta do. Let's see. A crystal ball is lit, and Mizuro waves her arms on it. Mizuro: Bring me the information from this boy. The crystal ball becomes unlit. Mizuro: Minoru Tamara. You're a Piscis. You started out rough in this school. The teacher was really mean to you that you switched to other class with Yuki. You are really good at math and graphic designing, weak at language arts, a really nice person, and is well know for being Yuki's boyfriend who helped you to be more respected. You will soon be granted with gpa of around 3. Minoru: Okay... He walks away. Mizuro: Well, we can't keep away from them. Right, Touko? Touko: It's our job to be natural! Minoru runs to Yuki by the back of the school Minoru: Yuki! They're doing fortune telling events. I tried to see what they're doing. They know about my information about myself in here from freshmen to senior! Yuki: I knew it. They're using our school information. Minoru: They're using crystal balls and it's only light inside. Yuki: Wow. I'll take a look by far. Meanwhile, Touko is doing Eru. Touko: Eru Hibika. You're a Cancer. You moved here last year because you got picked on from your last school, and you're really strong at mathematics and programming, weak at socializing, wants to make video games, and a really nice girl who wishes she has more experience with others. I sense in the future, you're gonna fill those experience and you are gonna be happy. Eru: I see. Yuki comes and looks at the event with lines. Yuki: Yep. That's what got them attention. They really did it. Few of their friends comes to Yuki. Leo: Hey Yuki! They know about my background story from freshmen, and I'm gonna get a GPA of 2.5! Kyanna: Well, I'm gonna get 3. They know what class subject I'm good at, and least good at. Lia: Was it language arts? Kyanna: Yes. I'm not 100 percent on the Japanese language though. Lia: Me to, but my weakest subject is history, and they know! Leo: How did they got that magic? Kyanna: You should try it, Yuki! Yuki: I don't want to. They start hearing people chanting Yuki. Yuki! Yuki! Yuki! Yuki looks at Touko and Mizuro with people around, chanting. Minoru: Do you have a choice? Yuki: No. I'll go. Kyanna: She says she's coming! People are cheering for her to come. Touko: Finally! Mizuro: Here goes. Yuki: I see you got some, quite amount of audience. Mizuro: Are you sure you want to do this? Yuki: Go ahead. Mizuro lits the crystal ball. Mizuro: I request to bring the information on Yuki to my mind. The ball starts turning off. Mizuro: Okay. Yuki Koriyama, you're a Virgo. You got really great talent since you came here as a freshmen, and started that popularity. You are great at gym and sports, weak at history, often performs sporting events, and really helped many people here. I also know that you can be a troublemaker. You got suspensions, detentions, and fights. In the future, you're going to live in a happy life. Yuki: ...I don't believe it. You know my grades? Mizuro: I see you're currently on GPA of 2.6. Yuki: I'll get to the bottom of this. Touko: On what? Yuki: This whole thing. Knowing our grades and all. Mizuro: Hey! We're just fortune tellers today. Yuki: And next time you both will be cupids the next day. Yuki leaves. Mizuro: Hey! That's a great idea! Touko: How are we supposed to be cupids then? Yuki walks to Minoru. Yuki: It's definitely the school's papers. Minoru: Yep. Later during lunch, Shirou is waiting at the wall for Rin to come. Suddently, he sees Kaname coming next to him. Kaname: Rin's pretty late, isn't she? Shirou: No. I just got here. Kaname: I know Rin's supposed to meet you. Shirou: And that's none of your business. Kaname: Hey! I'm not butting in. I'm just here to ask you out. It will be just you and me. Shirou: Could you hand with your buddies instead? Kaname: No. I'm just in love with you. That's all. Shirou: Gross. I'm dating Rin, creep. Kaname: She doesn't have to know. Shirou: Get out! Kaname: Let's make out! Shirou: NO! Kaname gets really close to him, and Rin suddenly appears, seeing Kaname getting too close to Shirou. She tries to kiss him, and Shirou pushes her away. Rin: What happened?! Shirou: Rin! That freak was trying to kiss me and acting so weird! Rin: You're okay? Not hurt? Shirou: No, but I'm creeped out! Rin: HOW COULD YOU! Kaname: He's trying to kiss me, and threw me down to the ground. Rin: Stop lying! I know how much of a evil person you are! Kaname: Well. I was trying ot get you jealous, but you both are fools! Rin looks at Shirou. Rin: Can you hold my lunchbox? Shirou: Sure. Rin: Thanks. She starts running to Kaname and pushes her to the ground and starts fighting. Kaname: AHHHH!! Rin scratches her. Rin: HOW DARE YOU TRIED TO RUIN OUR RELATIONSHIP?!?! A while later, Team Phase are at the student room. Kaname enters, with a messy look on her hair and clothes, and few scratches. Hiroshi: Woah. Looks like the plan didn't turn out well? Kaname: Rin has a hidden angry kitty personality on the inside! Touko: I believe that. Hiroshi: Well, we're still gonna pick on each one by one. It may be risky, but we also need to make the plan more elaborate. Kaname: Thanks for the tip. I'll just eat my lunch then. They continue having lunch.

Next Chapter: The Lookout Yuki and her friends are in the lookout to check what Team Phase are up to. They know that they are gonna pick each of them one by one. Who's gonna be their target in the next chapter? Tune in next time!

[recentanimenews]

Raphtalia and Filo's Voice Actors Explore Their Shield Hero Relationship

This piece was originally published on WebNewtype and is republished on Crunchyroll News with permission from KADOKAWA. 

From The Rising of the Shield Hero

©2019 Aneko Yusagi, KADOKAWA/Shield Hero production committee

  Be sure to read Part 1 of the interview!

  The Rising of the Shield Hero is a currently airing popular TV anime series. In the second half of our interview, with Raphtalia voice actor Seto Asami and Filo voice actor Rina Hidaka, we’ll be focusing primarily on episodes 18 and 19, particularly in regards to the relationships between Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Filo.

  Starting in Episode 18, the fight against the Pope begins.

  Seto: From the very moment he first appeared, I just knew there was something going on with him (laughs).

  Hidaka: That attack (Judgement) was foul play!

  Seto: It was really strong. That’s the power of the believers of the Church of the Three Heroes, and for better or worse, it gives you a real sense of just how strong the power of belief is.

  Hidaka: The Pope is strong too, but it reminded me of just how incredible Filo is. Before the first attack came she said, “Put a bunch of shields above us,” and tried to protect everyone. If she hadn’t realized, I’m not sure what would’ve happened to everyone.

  Seto: It was very admirable of her to try to protect everyone.

  Hidaka: Yes it was. Not just her own comrades, but she even tried to protect Motoyasu and his crew as well. It really made me think, what an amazing girl.

  In the same episode (18) there’s also a fight with Motoyasu, but in Episode 19 the four heroes combine their powers.

  Seto: In Episode 18 it was like, “Motoyasu, you again?” (laughs). Naofumi finally stepped up to open his heart and meet him halfway, and he starts attacking because of his ridiculous misunderstanding that Naofumi has killed Ren and Itsuki. Even though Naofumi even tried to confirm with him, “Did you see it with your own eyes?”

  Hidaka: Motoyasu did say, “Ask your own heart.”

  Seto & Hidaka: Like he has the right to say that! (laughs)

  Hidaka: Motoyasu can really get on your nerves a lot, but there is a bit of a comedy element to it, so you can’t completely bring yourself to hate him.

  Seto: In Episode 18 Filo sends him flying after all. And he screams, “Aah~!”

  Hidaka: That was a line that [Makoto] Takahashi-san fussed over and recorded multiple versions of, so we were looking forward to seeing which one they ended up using in the anime.

  Seto: It makes you look forward to seeing Motoyasu every time because you wonder what kind of performance Takahashi-san is going to give.

  Hidaka: Motoyasu tends to get involved with Filo a lot, so I also look forward to it for that reason. I anticipate it every time like, what kind of interaction are they going to have, how is Filo going to beat him this time? (laughs) It was satisfying seeing Filo kick him and send him flying with all her might.

  In Episode 19, Naofumi gets to unleash the anger he’s been living with up until now on Motoyasu and the other two heroes.

  Hidaka: You get the impression that Motoyasu is hopeless just by looking at him, but the other two are relatively hopeless in certain aspects as well. For the moment they’re working together, but seeing the four of them interact makes you wonder if everyone really does feel sorry for the mistakes they made (laughs).

  Seto: Ren is very hero-like, and yet there is something disappointing about him. Since we entered the second season there’s been moments when he’d listen to what Naofumi had to say, and it heightens your expectations now that they’re finally fighting together. But then seeing Naofumi make these good comebacks again him, you can’t entirely trust him yet.

  Hidaka: Since the relationship between Naofumi and the other three heroes isn’t a straightforward one, I hope viewers will look forward to the types of interactions they’ll have from here on out.

  Seto: You know, I’d like to try living like Motoyasu.

  Hidaka: Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?!

  What would living like Motoyasu be like?

  Seto: The kind of living where, despite causing Naofumi an insane amount of grief, when he realizes he was wrong he’s able to easily switch gears and say, “Oh, so I was wrong.” Almost like the concept of pain is foreign to him.

  Hidaka: True, he does force everyone around him to go along with what he’s doing, so I guess in a way you could call it a happy way of living life. I was surprised he never once thought he was in the wrong when he was the one who falsely accused Naofumi but then had the audacity to say, “You sure are unlucky, Naofumi, to have been falsely accused like this.”

  Seto: Normally you’d feel guilty and remorseful for your actions. I think he’s pretty thickheaded. But I do feel like there are some times in life where that thickheadedness is crucial, I just wish he’d learn to differentiate a bit.

  Hidaka: Being thickheaded makes things easier for him, but it’d be better if he were someone who could show others consideration.

  Seto: It’s pretty complicated, isn’t it!

  How is the current relationship between Naofumi, Raphtalia and Filo?

  Seto: With Melty added into their mix, I feel like there’s a greater sense that they’re a team than there was when it was just the three of them.

  Hidaka: I now feel like Naofumi and Raphtalia are more mother-like and father-like. During Episode 7 at the hot spring, they had a relationship that was more like two sisters fighting over their father’s attention, but as the episodes progressed Naofumi and Raphtalia became more like a married couple and Filo has started to feel more like their daughter.

  Seto: I also kind of feel like Raphtalia has matured. The most surprising thing was in Episode 14 where she warns Filo about her table manners. She got mad at Filo for her messy way of eating. It made me think, she’s really become an adult. But… I also thought, aren’t you getting a little too mad over this? (laughs)

  Hidaka: It’s understandable though, it was someone else’s house after all. But, I do get the impression that Raphtalia has become more mature than she was before.

  Seto: From Raphtalia’s point of view, Filo and Melty are both younger than she is, so maybe she wants to look after them.

  Hidaka: She’s also finally speaking her mind to Naofumi.

  Seto: Although she swore allegiance to Naofumi as his sword, lately Raphtalia has started to show a motherly side (laughs). The number of times she gets exasperated and says, “Naofumi, this wouldn’t happen if you weren’t so…” have also increased. But I really love the position where she’s at right now where she’s like, “I’m the closest one to Naofumi so I need to be the one to understand him the most.”

  Hidaka: That might also be why she feels so uneasy about Naofumi trying to return to his original world. It’s painful seeing how lonely she acts when Naofumi hints at going home.

  Seto: This journey can’t last forever, and the more happiness she feels now the more terrifying it becomes to lose that, I’m sure. Most likely, I’d guess that Filo feels the same way.

  Could you tell us what episode or scene has left an impression on you?

  Hidaka: Most recently, in Episode 16 the battle with the Tyrant Dragon Rex was just so amazing. The way Raphtalia ran forward had so much impact and realism it felt like I was watching a film version. It made me worry that the animation staff were overworking themselves.

  Seto: I think this every time, but the visuals in Shield Hero are beautiful. The battle scenes are impactful, the girls are adorable, it’s just really fun to watch.

  Hidaka: Raphtalia and Filo will continue to get stronger from here on out, so I think their battle styles will change again. I’m looking forward to how that will be depicted on screen.

  Seto: This is off topic of the story, but I love the ending song for the second season. [Chiai] Fujikawa-san’s song and the animation are amazing. The screen changes almost like it’s a picture show with drama in it. After continuously fighting, they need money so everyone is selling things, but it looks almost like Naofumi is saying, “People won’t come because they’re intimidated by my appearance,” so he sleeps inside the carriage. That’s the kind of story I picture. I watch it every time thinking, the warmth from this song and these visuals are amazing.

  Hidaka: Raphtalia is really cute in it too. It makes your heart squeeze looking at her.

  Seto: The rain is falling when she’s in front of the flower shop and suddenly you think the rain has stopped but it’s actually Naofumi using his cloak. That scene really makes your heart squeeze.

  Hidaka: The opening by MADKID is also really cool, the visuals are fast-paced, I’ve watched it so many times. Shield Hero really has amazing music and visuals, which makes me really happy as someone who is acting in it.

  The story has finally reached its climax, but can you tell us anything of note that happens from Episode 20 onward?

  Seto: Something I think everyone is interested in is the mysterious character that appears in the new opening. In the future they will, of course, be heavily involved with Naofumi and his gang, so I hope everyone looks forward to what kind of character they’ll be.

  Hidaka: This character takes a completely different position from those you’ve seen up until now, so the way they interact with Naofumi is also completely different. I hope you’ll all look forward to seeing them!

  Interview / Article by Daisuke Iwakura

  TV Anime The Rising of the Shield Hero

Staff: Original - Yusagi Aneko (MF Books The Rising of the Shield Hero / Published by KADOKAWA) / Original Artist - Seira Minami / Director - Takao Abo / Series Composition - Keigo Koyanagi / Character Design & Chief Animation Director - Masahiro Suwa / Animation Production - Cinema Citrus / Cast - Kaito Ishikawa as Naofumi Iwatani / Asami Seto as Raphtalia / Rina Hidaka as Filo / Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Ren Amaki / Makoto Takahashi as Motoyasu Kitamura / Yoshitaka Yamaya as Itsuki Kawasumi / Maaya Uchida as Melty

  The Rising of the Shield Hero Anime Official Website

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  Buy the Original Light Novel of The Rising of the Shield Hero at the Crunchyroll Store.

  Buy the Comics of The Rising of the Shield Hero at the Crunchyroll Store.

  Watch The Rising of the Shield Hero on Crunchyroll

  See the original article at WebNewtype.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com