#excluding the romances that happen to be isekai

[mirimangarecs]

“for better or for worse” - eunren & noh hueda

a noblewoman from a humble country house realizes that her entire life is a pre-written book, and that an imminent arranged marriage between a ducal heir and her little sister will lead to her tragic death. she sabotages the engagement in order to save her sister’s life, but ends up married to him instead. they’re both snarky, stubborn, and refuse to fall in love…… unless…………

the couple: these two are my favourite historical romance couple, hands down. they are such incredible shitheads to each other but the bickering always feels like a real, equal give-and-take based on strong personalities. they are quick-witted, hilarious, outgoing, and extremely active participants in their own lives. watching their relationship grow and change slowly is my joy. they’re made for each other

the plot: i adore how realistic and grounded the story and setting are. there’s no magic, no empire-shaking conflicts; just a relatively unassuming marriage between aristocrats and navigating the social and interpersonal challenges that come with it. the story as a whole is well-written and has a fantastic commitment to the victorian style without ever being stuffy. i would kill to be able to read the novel

the art: phenomenal. 12/10. i wish the artist had more work available. it’s crisp, bright, unique, easy on the eyes, and completely refreshing. the panels are neatly organized and fly by like watching a movie. the physical action pops off the screen and the judiciously applied detail panels are gorgeous. i want to eat this art.

also, the character designs: the big fluffy bangs, strong eyebrows, small cute lips, fangs, and boisterous chibi expressions make the characters so incredibly charming and expressive. i’m getting a lot of classic shoujo inspiration and i love it

concerns and criticisms: honestly almost none, it’s virtually flawless, but the ones i do have relate entirely to the ending. like, the final ~5 chapters. which is a matter of taste!! only big big spoilers from here:

the sin of overexplaining:

- we didn’t NEED to have the entire soul-swapping situation explicitly narrated to us, especially after the previous ~3 chapters all but said so. i think it would’ve been more poignant left unsaid with all the clues given to interpret. dillon learned the information in-universe and the audience was tastefully excluded, only for that extremely delicate narrative device to be tossed out the window

it was adeline’s soul all along!:

- this really cheeses me because we just spent so much time with dillon As Dillon. cedric fell in love with her because of who she was, and if who she was was just adeline’s soul in a trenchcoat, then what happens to the moral of the story being positive change, personal agency, and choosing to love someone?

- sure, the “we as souls are so entangled we’ll find each other no matter who we are on the outside” is poetic and certainly has appeal and WAS hinted at, but it just fell so flat for me after dillon spent the entire manhwa agonizing over not being adeline, believing she didn’t deserve cedric because she wasn’t adeline, that she would have to leave him when he meets adeline, and going on such a tumultuous, laborious journey of self-acceptance where she comes to terms with her past life and finally being loved as herself……. only to find out she was adeline all along. she worked so hard to gain her confidence and then it’s just oops! all adeline. idk man

- the way that it leads you to think it’s a traditional “normal modern isekai into a novel” trope and then pulls the rug out from under you is pretty clever

IT’S STILL A 13/10 MUST READ TOP 5 MANHWA 🎉🎉🪅🌟✨ okay bye

[disneywizard]

Disney Wizard Top 10! Animated series for 2019

Yeah, you read that right. This year, I’m doing a full list of 10 shows, instead of a mere 9. Look at me, all double digits and everything.

First a Disclaimer. Steven Universe continues to elude my ability to watch, as well as it’s new sequel series Steven Universe: Future. I want to watch ‘em, but I can’t legally, so I can’t rank them on my list.

Next up, Honorable mentions:

(No images on these, due to Tumblr’s stupid rules on image #s per post. Anyone got another forum I can move to for this list in the future?)

Cleopatra in Space.

I’ll have more to say on this show once it becomes Legally Available in the U.S. next year. It’s not legally available yet, so that’s why it can’t make the cut this year.

Miraculous Ladybug makes the Honorable Mentions this year, not because of a lack of U.S. Availability, but rather because of the HORRIBLE AIRING ORDER ACROSS MULTIPLE COUNTRIES. Seriously, not one episode in any country that airs the show actually aired the EXTREMELY CONTINUITY HEAVY third season in proper order, and it seriously hurt the show, and did irrevocable damage to first impressions of important episodes. It’s not the fault of the show runners nor the writers that this happened, but it did happen, and in 2019...it shouldn’t happen.

The Last Kids on Earth: Great TV movie pilot! Where...where’s the rest of the show?

Young Justice: Outsiders.

By all rights this show SHOULD be my #1 slot. Like...it’s not even a contest. If you asked me what the best show I watched in 2019 was, it was Young Justice’s long awaited third season. But unfortunately, my rule for this list is “Animation is for Everyone”. Due to graphic violence and implied sexual content, I cannot put the show on the list, much as it pains me to exclude it. I struggled with this decision all year, but I made the rules for the list years ago, for my own personal integrity, I won’t change them now, just because I don’t like them anymore. I’ll be posting about “adult” animated series soon. I have some thoughts that I want to share.

The list proper:

10) The Deep

After a two year long hiatus, my favorite adventure series returns. The story of the Nekton family, and their long hunt for lost Lemuria finally comes to a close...just in time for some new mysteries to arise.

Available on: Netflix

9) Fast & The Furious: Spy Racers

I hate this show. It has NO business being as good as it is. Because annoyingly, it is. It’s very good. I have no interest in the movie franchise it came from. I think I saw one movie from it, at a friend’s house. I don’t remember anything that happened in it, I just remembered that I thought it was stupid.

But this show manages like able characters and an engaging plot line, that requires no knowledge of the movies that spawned it, so...it ended up being good, to my eternal chagrin.

Available on: Netflix

8) Legend of the Three Caballeros

Honorable Mention from last year, now a legitimate part of the list. The system works. This amazing show is fun, funny, and I wish there was more of it.

Available on: Disney+

Our first ever Disney+ Show! Yay!!!

7) She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Two seasons of this show came out this year, continuing the trend from last year, and...

They’re magnificent.

Seriously. Watch this show. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Available on: Netflix

6) Carmen Sandiego

I said most of what I needed to say about Carmen early this year. She’s great.

Available on: Netflix

5) The Dragon Prince

This show still feels like what would happen if Game of Thrones and Avatar: The Last Airbender had a beautiful secret love child together. Magic, mystery, romance, political intrigue, dragons, jelly tarts, this show has it all.

Available on: Netflix

4) Amphibia

Described by several of my friends as ‘Frog “isekai”’ this fun little series aired its entire first season in one month, and it was delightful. A Thai-American girl named Anne gets sucked into a world of Sapient Amphibians and has to learn to live with them. It’s mostly slice of life stories, but it’s extremely well done, and I love every moment of it.

Available on: Disney+

3) Green Eggs & Ham

This is my sleeper hit this year. This show is EXTREMELY well done, and I cannot say anything more about how good it is without spoiling stuff for you. Bring snacks, you will get hungry watching it.

Available on: Netflix

2) Ducktales

This reboot of the classic 1987 series continues to be the quintessential how-to guide to make a successful reboot of a show. “Whatever Happened to Della Duck” is an incredible bottle episode.

Available on: Disney+

1) Infinity Train

The number one show of the year, and the first time that a non-Netflix or Disney show hit my #1 spot. This show about loss and grief is as relatable to kids as it is adults. I cannot recommend this show enough to anyone. It’s a beautiful, well written, amazingly brilliant show. Plus it has corgis. Who doesn’t love corgis?

Available on: Cartoon Network App (I know, I’m sorry, but this show IS worth the pain of that app)

There you go. Until next year my friends. Disney Wizard wizzes out!

[illia-ast]

Storiess I want to write....

…but haven’t gotten to yet.

Tagged by @lunarosewood23 , thank you for the tag hun!

Tagging @desimirffxiv, @pjarox, @primalvessel, @umbralich, @iris-ymir, @thevoilinauttheory, @voidwife, and absolutely anyone and everyone that happens to peep this post while you’re scrolling along. Say I tagged you!!

I am also going to put most of this under a cut because there’s tons spread across all the characters. I have lots of ideas and wants but absolutely little to no energy. This excludes RPs  because then it would just be a mountain of people I need to reply to and want to bother.

For Illia I would like to write some stuff from her childhood and her current life. For her I really like cozy stories. I would also love to convert some of the rp between @desimirffxiv and I of Illia and Desimir. It’s such good fluff with just the right amount of angst. Also of her meeting @styrlona and some of their interactions because I love them both. 

For Styrlona I absolutely want to write about her parents, her uncle, and her childhood and teen years. 

For Lucienne I would like to write her younger years in the forest terrorizing the chocobo hunters, being captured herself and their attempting to tame her, her run ins with voidsent due to her high concentration of aether. Her in Ishgard tending chocobos and being a bit of a horror for the nobles to interact with for their birds. Her and Uto getting along and cavorting about. 

For Rhiannon, her childhood on the First and growing up with those dreams and her time with the fae. Her interactions with Ensetsu and Tomoe with them sort of living together. (Rhia’s gone a lot, he cares for her home and she allows him and Tomoe to live there.) The whole plot thing with him looking for his sister Uto, Rhiannon can see future events (usually disasters) but she can’t really find Uto for him. Her wandering around finding books for Tomoe.

For Elspeth, it’s mostly snippets about  her life, past and present, and her work.

Uto is the alt I want to write for most. Her childhood, leaving Sui no Sato, fighting in the war and traveling to Eorzea with the refugees, her just being lost and exploring the continent and enjoying the land, and her eventually finding the land of snow and ice and just being amazed before she meets the people. Escaping with her life and then just spending her time being a nuisance to the nobles and knights while helping the poor and downtrodden. 

I would also like to write for Ensetsu and Tomoe in conjunction with her as they’re siblings and grew up together. Their differences in opinions and outlooks. How they change and grow in their time leaving Sui no Sato. Finding a way to eventually get them all met back up together.

I also have two WoL’s that have extensive ideas that I’ve rarely shared. A more happy-go-lucky-that-gets-pretty-dark Highlander woman and a more withdrawn-and-quiet-but-later-pretty-savage Keeper woman. They both have their own lives, reactions in the storyline, fluff and angst and romance and maybe smut if I ever figure out how to write it. I also planned on an elezen man that would be a WoL alternate to the Highlander woman for plot purposes. 

I also have a shameless self-insert Highlander that’s for an isekai style playthrough and no I’m not sorry in the slightest. I absolutely love her. (Need to make a party for her because just yoinking in random adventurers for shit doesn’t make sense long-term and you need travel friends for reals.) That’s more for art and comics and screenshots, but some journals would make the list in there.

[natsspammityspamspamham]

Dino Watches Anime (Jan 13)

With the snow outside and cancellations everywhere, I have more time to kick back, relax, and not do anything. Seriously, playing out in the snow and being an absolute bum is my specialty.

Dropped

Darwin's Game 

It just seemed like Mirai Nikki but updated to smartphones instead of flip phones and with a new interface and system. Seriously, it’s like someone watched Mirai Nikki and went “I can remake this and rake in the money”. The animation wasn’t good (according to our local sakuga geek, there were less than 10 animators who worked on the 40 min premiere because of the inhumane conditions of the studio which adds to the yikes), the soundtrack was great (but I won’t watch a show just for the soundtrack/seiyuu cast), and overall, I felt like I didn’t want to put myself through a show like this.

Uta no Prince-sama

I couldn’t do it fam. I watched two episodes and nearly cried on the inside because it felt like Kiniro no Corda but with a new bland face with new bland characters. I never watched either of these fully. I tried to watch just for the seiyuu (*ahem* Miyuki Sawashiro), but imagine having your life hobbies made into an absolute joke by a character who can’t even read music and is in the composition department while her main song of choice is “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and the ikemen around her and swooning over it and writing their own songs for her. The guys all have the same faces too! They’re triangle heads that can only be differentiated by colour palette. I’m telling the difference based on voices at this point. I don’t want the ikemen, but I would like people to be into my music too ya know! You may think that I’m dropping this anime purely out of spite for the story and characters, and you’re damn right I am. 

Seasonal Stuff

Pet

This is this close to being dropped, and I don’t mean for the strong BL vibes. It’s a little cringy but not that bad (I’ve watched a lot of cringe straight romance and to me it’s all the same). It just feels so poorly constructed right now. The universe just hangs by a thread with characters I feel ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for. Everything in this anime feels so cheap. I’m giving this one more week before I give it the axe.

Rikei ga Koi ni Ochita no de Shoumei shitemita 

Okay, this anime is stupid, but we all went in knowing it was going to be very stupid. You’ve seen the screencaps. You’ve seen the cliches. Now get ready to have a pretentious science spin on it as if you haven’t seen these scenes a million times before elsewhere, and the characters (at least one of them) know it. The art... it’s present. I mean, character designs are giving the guys of Reddit what they want (especially with Sora Amamiya being really popular and singing the OP along with voicing the main character). Yuuma Uchida is also there. Nothing really worth noting here except “stay in school kids so you can become a pretentious science kid with no people skills!”

Dorohedoro

I might just watch this anime in place of “Pet” because this anime has a much brighter outlook and despite being CG genuinely looks better anyway. It’s the horror that I wanted to fill the void with (since Pet genuinely isn’t scary or innovative). Everything was pretty good with the first episode! I’m looking forward to seeing more!

From here on out, the rest of the seasonal list are the ones I look forward to the most! Get that head lizardman!

Runway de Waratte 

At first, this doesn’t seem like something that would come out of Shonen Weekly, but it inspires a good message about being who you want to be even with limitations if front of you. You have a girl too short to be considered a model and a guy who designs fashion without having the money to pursue it further. I know nothing about style, but I do know things about being short! Maybe that’s why I have such a soft spot for it...

ID:Invaded

This anime gets more interesting as we go along. I’m all into murder mysteries and things like that, and with the sci-fi mixed it, I checked to make sure I was up-to-date with this one. Each episode gives a new mystery with more details outline our jaded and imprisoned detective’s motives and backstory. I wasn’t sold on the character designs at first, but once you get over that hurdle, it’s all good. I like the psychological aspects of it too!

Kyokou Suiri 

Ever wish you had a female protagonist who was upfront about her romantic motives? Ever wanted to watch a show involving youkai? Here’s the show for you! Plus, her character design is so cute. Mamo sang the ED for this anime too. The animation is great, the story looks amazing (read ahead a few chapters in the manga), and this is one of my most highest anticipated anime for the season!

Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun

Here’s one of my favourite pilot episodes! This anime left such a strong impression on me that I went straight to my non-otaku friends going, “You’ve gotta see this guys”. The art style is consistent with the manga, and according to the not-so-quiet manga readers, we’re in for a really good anime. 

All the characters in this anime are also adorable and really simple-minded on the surface. Hanako-kun being a boy is a really funny twist on the local urban legend (I’m one of those kids who never dared to say “Bloody Mary” in the washroom so what can I say?)

Recently Completed

Hana to Alice: Satsujin Jiken

Remember Aku no Hana? This is what happens when rotoscoping has a bit more budget. This anime was slow, a little cringy, but it felt really real. The voices felt real, the characters felt real, and the story felt... mostly real. I don’t regret watching this movie art style and all because I think it captures a bit of the exaggerations of being a teenager (rumours blow up like balloons)

Sennen Joyuu

Satoshi Kon really has a certain way of telling stories. I’ve watched Perfect Blue, Paranoia Agent, and Tokyo Godfathers, and while this didn’t have as strong of a punch as the latter, this film was still strong. It shows a story of a young maiden’s resilience, perseverance, and undying love... all things I can’t relate to... but it was good!

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo

This show was a trip. You thought it was a fanservice anime until things got really heavy. This anime was funny, it made me feel things with the themes it took on, and it made me remember that the best girl doesn’t always have to win to be a good anime. The art was cute and sweet, the voice acting was so fricking funny (according to the cast, the improv wasn’t always included but the ones that were left along with the dialogue were pure gold), and the story was exceptional for an anime which seemed to have no base whatsoever. And plus, this had something a lot of anime don’t... A CONCLUSIVE ENDING. Give this anime a watch if you haven’t. It’s melodramatic comedic romantic teen drama at its finest.

Orange

Speaking of melodramatic romantic teen dramas, here’s another one that fits that bill! Minus the comedy, more suicide, and far less cohesive plot. Imagine throwing letters into the Bermuda Triangle and having your 16-year-old selves really reading those letters. I was wondering how they were going to explain sending their letters to the past, but they should’ve come up with better BS than that. Aside from really bad plot holes, this anime was alright. It was slow... really slow. I finished this whole 13 episodes plus the movie in about 2.5 hours after trimming the slow recaps. 

The art was alright. The story was slow, but near the end (excluding the last episode and the movie) it got really heavy. It hit close to home. I struggled with suicide for years, and I felt what this character felt. Certain lines of that dialogue just hit hard. It was depicted in a way that didn’t feel as romanticized. He wasn’t saved by just one person, his trauma didn’t go away just like that, it took a group of friends and planning to help him realize that there was more to life then just regrets.

Would I recommend this? I mean, it was recommended to me, but I’m not forcing this anime on anyone... not because of the themes but because it was darn boring and cliche 70% of the time.

Still Watching

Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

Same things apply as previous entries

Hunter x Hunter (2011)

My brother expected me to finish this a while ago but I put it on the back-burner because the number of episodes seemed daunting. Everything else is good though.

Sousei no Onmyouji

I only watched the first episode.

Boku no Hero Academia Season Four

Same things apply as previous entries. It seems like the Overhaul arc will end in the next episode or two (depending on how much they milk this).

Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu

Groundhog Day but isekai. Seriously, this is a pretty big staple in terms of big isekai. Everyone’s fighting over who’s the best girl meanwhile Subaru is trying his best not to die every five minutes. Seriously, Subaru is a champ and what I’d want out of a Mary Sue isekai protagonist. Get em Subaru. Prove to me you’re not a car.

This will be me for the next few days because it’s getting colder where I am so watch me slip on the ice and die!