#god bless the funimation dub

[an0n-1o1]

[floatingcatacombs]

So Help Me God, Lucky Star Is Actually Good

12 Days of Aniblogging 2024, Day 5

As someone who was hard-filtered by the choco cornet during my first attempt a decade ago, some part of me still finds it hard to accept, but I now believe Lucky Star to be a great anime. Veneration is in order.

The real miracle is that I was probably watching the same upload both times. For whatever reason, Lucky Star has been on Youtube for as long as I can remember, in perfect HD quality. Unlike other anime uploads, which persist only through a widespread game of DMCA whac-a-mole, uploads of Lucky Star remain untouched, as if divinely blessed. The one caveat being that you will be watching the dub.

Some background is in order, for the archaeologists and the young. This is a “cute girls doing cute things” anime, which aired at the peak of the “moe boom” in "2007". Market forces had shifted away from the hypermasculine gorefest that was the OVA era and the psychodramas of the late 90s to early 2000s. Now the people demanded moe. Anime girls became ever more neotenic and proportionally compressed until their default designs resembled the chibi and super-deformed sketches you’d previously only see in gags and parodies. The cuteness of the characters themselves began taking absolute precedence over plot developments, as more mundane and relatable settings grew in popularity. It was a perfect storm and generated unfathomable profits for the studios willing to cash in on it. Exactly why this all happened is up in the air, and everyone you ask will have their own answer, guided in part by their own emotions. Weebs with old-school taste view the moeboom as a monstrosity that ate the entire industry for a moment there, from which it never truly recovered. Cultural critics and psychoanalysts will be sure to point out how the artists and directors were knowingly pandering to lolicons by accentuating the innocence and purity and youth of the girls through their designs and demeanors. The more business-oriented might point to how the genre lent itself to heavy merchandising through viewers developing attachment and loyalty towards specific characters, and the later success of idol anime being built directly on the backs of CGDCT.

But watching Lucky Star in 2024, that's not where much of my focus goes. Mostly I’m thinking about whatever the hell is going on with Konata’s gender.

You see, Konata has all the traits of a stereotypical male otaku from this time period, transposed onto a moe girl. That’s it. It’s brilliant in its simplicity. If you’re the type of person to put on Lucky Star in the first place, it’s impossible not to feel a sense of kinship, regardless of your gender. She’s the kwasatz haderach of weebdom.

Konata is the obvious star of the show, and the whole anime would fall apart pretty quickly without her. Her best friend Kagami can be fun, but her snappy personality only works because of her chemistry with Konata framing them as a comedy duo. The other two girls in the main four are kind of nothing, conceived of as helpless by design to appeal to people who are into female helplessness (I can and will judge). There’s a bit of meta charm to Miyuki because she’s being actively pedestalized as a moeblob by Konata herself, whereas Tsukasa’s whole deal can just feel downright patronizing at times.

Between calling her friends moe to their faces, dishing out otaku-based insults left and right, and emotionally leading on Kagami, Konata is a bit of a shitlord! She’s got a real dirtbag voice in the dub, which absolutely helps sell her character, especially compared to the universally shrill Japanese voice acting. It is very, very rare that I watch dubs, but I considered Lucky Star’s survival on Youtube for this long to be a sign, and it mostly paid off! It does its best to treat cross-cultural references as totally mundane which goes a long way for the atmosphere, and the casting thankfully predates the Funimation monoculture that got to dubs a few years later.

Of course, in this day and age, “having the traits of a guy” more often than not means something. It’s impossible for someone like me not to want to poke. And what I propose is that Konata is a lad.

Let’s jump over to some other anime to illustrate my reasoning. One of my favorite games to play while watching CGDCT is “Which girl in this anime's main group is transgender?” It's important that this question cut both ways. Bocchi from Bocchi the Rock is something of a modern classic when it comes from transfeminine headcanons, due to her sublime mixture of hypercompetency and anxious failgirl patheticness. But I've honestly always thought that she makes more sense as a closeted transmasculine character. Hear me out. The boy band sketch, the intimidation around Ryo’s somewhat androgynous demeanor, her insistence on wearing her party outfit with a fake mustache for a liiiitle too long, until someone asks her what’s up with that and she panics…. It’s as if she views herself as a guy on some level, but has no idea how to integrate this into her psyche, and certainly does not have the mental and social acumen right now to work through it sanely. Poor Bocchi.

Sometimes, you even get series like Hidamari Sketch, where my question actually has a somewhat official answer: Hiro was conceived of as a boy who wanted to be a girl. Though this idea was ultimately shot down by the mangaka's editor, it still seems like fair game to parse Hiro as a trans girl when going into the series.

But I digress. With regards to Konata’s gender, what seemed like simply a tomboy’s gap moe back in 2007 now feels like a signal that Something’s Up. We know she plays the same bishoujo games as her dad and projects onto the male protagonists. She RPs as a boy in MMOs, and in-game-marries a guy playing as a girl. Her anime taste skews heavily towards the male demographic, and she's also familiar enough with shounen ai to tease Kagami about it with specifics. But she also expresses comfort, maybe far too much comfort, with her role as a short and cute high schooler capable of being objectified by the otaku gaze. There’s something going on, and that something makes her a crazy power fantasy for people in pretty much every position of the great web of gender, cis and trans alike. Konata as The Divine Moe Androgyne. Seeing the Macross Frontier crossover figure that fuses her with beautiful girlish boy Alto Saotome only furthered my conviction in this.

look at them

Anyways, Konata is clearly genre-aware and uses this to torture her tsundere bestie. Kagami, being what she is, will never admit to anything ever regarding romance, but it seems pretty likely that she’s in love with Konata. The OVA practically spells it out by depicting a particularly psychosexual dream of hers. The Lucky Star mangaka is famously against pairing off his characters, but even he admits that Konata and Kagami have a one-sided love. Most importantly, HE DOESN’T SPECIFY WHICH WAY. While definitely the less likely option, it would be extremely funny if it turned out that Kagami’s tsundere mixed signals were actually just genuine confusion and disinterest, and that Konata’s joke-flirting was real and unrequited all along.

The mangaka may not be interested in shipping, but the staff at Kyoto Animation working on this show were Trve Yuri Warriors. The animation director even drew them married, with Kagami as a butch in a suit and Konata her femme (Maybe I need to re-evaluate my gender takes, but also, dressing as a girl is clearly still a sex thing for Konata). Sakamoto Kazuya, I hereby award you the title of Furtive Himedanshi.

KyoAni understands the importance and hilarity of leaving those two unfulfilled, and goes all in on the underclassmen instead. Konata’s sickly younger cousin Yutaka is introduced halfway through the show, a plot development which immediately threatens to break everything. The background moe concentration of Lucky Star is already at somewhat dangerous levels by default, and throwing in even more childish designs can quickly make things feel uncomfortable. But they thread the needle and it genuinely turns out fine. Yutaka quickly befriends Minami Iwasaki, a butch kuudere who instantly and silently vows to Always Protect Her. Their dynamic would be just as passive and unaddressed of a crush as Konata x Kagami if it wasn’t for their pervert friend Hiyori, who constantly draws art of them as takarazuka couples. She exists in a state of perpetual agony and self-torture from of the shame of shipping her buddies in secret, even if they probably are gay. Obviously, I think she’s great. She and Konata only get a few scenes together but it’s so funny to see how they’re two sides of the same evil pervert lesbian coin, with shame as the dividing line.

From a yuri perspective, the underclassmen round out the upperclassmen well. We’ve got unrealized, possibly one-sided love, and some unfulfilled hazy feelings of dependence and warmth being observed through a terminally yuribrained third wheel. I’m very satisfied by their efforts here. I expected the yuribaiting to be fairly half-assed, but it’s incredibly fun for the most part, and my goggles are lily-tinted enough that I simply see it as the truth.

Speaking of characters that threaten to shatter Lucky Star, everything surrounding Konata's dad walks an extremely fine line considering that the punchline is that he's a total creep. Miraculously though, things never goes too far, and he even gets some sad and sweet character moments in a episode towards the end.

I was kind of surprised by the visual quality of this show! This is a late SD-era anime, but the Youtube uploads I watched are all full 1080p. How is that possible?  Basically, they threw it into a late-2000’s upscaling program which generally produced terrible results (the Haruhi BDs are famously rough) but works alarmingly well for Lucky Star’s ultra-simplistic, solid-color designs. You start to see jaggies at the edges of character’s hair, and some background detail is blurry upon examination, but in motion it works really well, and I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary at all for the first few episodes. Also, it was entirely animated at 30 frames per second??? That’s why the footage in the Out of Touch Thursday meme still looks surprisingly smooth even when slowed down like that – most of the Lucky Star OP was animated on the ones, so at half-speed you still get 15 frames of animation, as opposed to a maximum of 12 frames from the customary 24. Neat! Otherwise, the increased framerate is largely unnoticeable. Thank God it doesn’t do the jarring 30fps panning that a handful of productions from the mid-2000s are guilty of. Looking at you, Haibane Renmei.

Lucky Star showed up in my life at an important time. I first started putting it on as something to watch during lunch, but it ended up serving a far greater purpose. Lucky Star helped me survive a terrible vacation where everyone immediately got covid and we were fully bedridden the whole time. Having a tablet on hand and the show already sitting there dubbed on Youtube genuinely kept me going. The English voice acting was much easier for my covid-addled mind to parse, compared to trying to follow along with subs, as keeping my head up was already a full-time activity. It was also so much more logistically accessible than having to hunt down torrents or DVDs or pirate sites. I suppose that’s the appeal of Netflix and Crunchyroll, eh? Unfortunately for them, I have far too much of a chip on my shoulder to ever pay for streaming anime.

it was like this minus the stuffed animals because I was away from home ;_;

Lucky Star episodes are typically cozy affairs, but the episode where they visit the KyoAni studio is kind of heartbreaking now. The director of Lucky Star was one of the ones caught in the fire, alongside countless other contributors.

Well, the second Lucky Star director. The first one was unceremoniously fired four episodes into the production after a deluge of complaints and chocolate cornet memes regarding his middling introductory episodes. His current hobby is being racist online.

Lucky Star ends as it begins, with the whole ensemble cast of girls working out how to perform the hectic opening theme. It’s an act of eternal return, and provides some nice closure to the show. CGDCT anime often struggle with capping off their seasons, so it was very welcome here.

Somehow, Lucky Star might go on a list of my ten favorite anime??? Even months after finishing it, this is still hard for me to accept, being a weirdo elitist with antiquated weeb prejudices. But I think it’s true. It’s been fun to observe how Lucky Star’s second life in the 2020s has been split cleanly between “webcore” aesthetic collages with nostalgiabait revisionist memes, and a general critical reappraisal of the moe-boom now that we’re so far away from it. I’m obviously in the latter camp, but I’m here for it. This show was a dive into the deep end for me (I avoid shows from the SD era 2000s like the plague, and CGDCT isn’t my thing unless it's explicitly yuri), and it paid off splendidly. One could even say that it saved me.

[its-a-kasshu-thing]

God bless u and ur Escaflowne content

Thank you, kind soul. Just finished the funimation dub on Sunday and I loved it! Wish there was more 😭 will be watching the movie next but I hear it’s very different and has mixed reviews…

This boy’s my favorite :3 Hitomi kinda broke his heart in some episodes and the ending disappointed me 😑 but he precious must protec

[onepiecesb]

Ooooohhhh god do y’all think I can rewatch one piece by the time this arc ends

[rhysand-vs-fenrys]

Can you recommend top 5 BL whatever (books, movies, shows)? I'm in a mood for no hets and I don't think anyone does WL ...

I can think of 2 things and then... I guess 3 fillers. I will put a ✨️ by the genuine enjoyment recs.

✨️ Heaven Official's Blessing /TGCF (Novel and anime on Netflix (dubbed in English on Funimation)):: A disgraced God is approached by a dangerous Demon King who is known for killing Gods. Strangely, this Demon King wishes only to see this particular God happy and takes care of him with the gentleness of a devout worshipper.

✨️ The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation // The Untamed (Show, Novel, Graphic Novel, Anime):: A heroic young man is changed by war and loss into a powerful icon of evil and corruption. 16 years (13 in the book) after his death, he is resurrected by a madman, reunited with the man he loved in youth, and must solve the mysteries of the past without succumbing to the darkness of the present.

Symantec Error (Show):: A cold but high achieving student is targeted for abuse by an aloof classmate and love blossoms between them.

History 3: Trapped (Show):: A *heavy sigh as I try not to gag at the cliche* police officer falls in love with the gang leader he is trying to bring down. Cliche, not great acting, but the sex scenes are extremely well done, to the degree where it's worth noting.

Be Loved In House: I Do (Show):: A jewelry designer is forced to cohabitate with his insufferable and arrogant boss. As they learn more about one another, love blooms.

The last 3 I put in order of the show rating on Viki. It's disappointing that there isn't more imagination and effort put into them. The plots are aggressively simple and cliche, and -don't spam me with hate- the acting is pretty bad (more so in the last 2).

But you have to appreciate that they're even making the shows and showing love to the LGBT community. Demand for the shows will translate into funding, funding will translate into improvements in talent ability and writing.

And frankly with the writing, I'm not sure that even the most talented actor in the world could have landed the scenes.... but again, a sincere effort was made and hopefully will lead to more in the future.

A couple others that are noteworthy but not quite for this list-

Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun (Novel, but not yet published in English (coming soon though!!)):: An all-powerful evil emperor kills himself and wakes in his own 16 year old body. As he tried to change the past he will learn that those he loved most were undeserving of that love, and those he hated most were the ones he now wishes to hold tightly.

Guardian (Webnovel, and show (but show is 50% less gay because of censorship)):: A special team of humans and demons (aliens in the show) hold the line between their two peoples. Chief Zhao Yinlan and the mysterious Shen Wei are bound by a future one cannot imagine, and a past the other can never forget.

Word of Honor (Webnovel, and show (again 50% straighter bc censorship)):: A man who became an assassin on behalf of his prince realizes he serves an evil master and initiates a process that will lead to his own death within 1 year. After leaving his home, he meets, befriends, and slowly falls in love with a powerful outlaw king. Together they must try to reveal to the world a corrupt autocracy and avenge past wrongs.

[hyena-frog]

What is tgcf? The art you're reblogging is so pretty im curious

Oh boy, where to start. Well, for starters, it's one of my current obsessions, if it wasn't already obvious. 😅 The art in this fandom is SO pretty, I am constantly blown away by the talent.

TGCF = Tian Guan Ci Fu or Heaven Official's Blessing

It is a Chinese novel (a very, very long one) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (MXTX), who also wrote Mo Dao Zu Shi (MDZS, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, or The Untamed, which I'm also obsessed with). It's currently being translated into English by Seven Seas Entertainment as multiple volumes. It's been adapted into a donghua/anime that's available on Netflix with a new English dub on Funimation (season 2 later this year!!!), an ongoing manhua you can read in English here, and a live action version is currently in production. The genres are fantasy (specifically xianxia so there are some tropes I needed to research because I was unfamiliar, but I feel like tgcf is easy enough to understand even without it) and danmei, which is the Chinese equivalent of BL (so it's canon gay!!).

The basic plot summary is: Xie Lian, once a beloved crown prince, ascends to godhood for the third time in 800 years and is now the laughingstock of heaven due to various unfortunate circumstances during his previous ascensions. He goes to the human realm to solve mysteries on behalf of heaven and to try and gain believers (gods gain their powers through the number of their believers). He meets a mysterious ghost king who you discover has known Xie Lian for far longer than he lets on. You gradually learn about their backstories, and they solve conspiracies and corruption in heaven.

This novel manages to be incredibly romantic, tragic, and comedic at the same time. I can't stop thinking about it. There is so much more I could explain about it but that would take forever. If you like fantasy of the ghosts and demons variety, as well as conspiracies and interesting politics, fascinating characters, and gay romance, then I highly recommend this, and the other novels by MXTX (also currently being published in English).

This video is a pretty good intro if I'm not explaining very well.

[singing-telegram]

God bless Funimation for Sk8 the Infinity's English dub

It is golden

[ae0nx]

FRUITS BASKET S3 EPISODE 1 + 2 RECAP!

Yayyy! Season 3! Finally! I’m hoping this season will make me understand/sympathise with Akito and maybe even Shigure a little bit more because... honestly? My opinions on episode 2?... I might get some flack for my opinions on them...  😬

But, first: I’d like to appreciate how on the Funimation app we got a little interview/message from a few of the english dub VAs! Specifically Colleen Clinkenbeard, Jerry Jewell, Eric Vale, Ian Sinclair and Brina Palencia (Akito, Kyo, Yuki, Kureno and Isuzu). And it was nice seeing some of their opinions of the characters they play and how much they’re emotionally invested in the story. (Ian’s such a nerd ‘I wanna see giant mechs later this season’ 😂 - I lowkey stan him lol)

You should definitely check it out if you’re interested in what they would have to say!

ANYWAYS, let’s get into it...

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EPISODE 1

I really love this depiction of the original zodiac and how you can just tell from the tone of the scene how desperately the God of the Zodiac was clinging on to these connections that they had with the participants in the banquet. How much they clung on to and loved the cat... Also, interesting how Tohru’s narrating this scene... almost like she can relate to the desperation of wanting to keep things the same... but we’ll get to that later. But also, Tohru is a God

This new opening is beautiful, I love the way that camera moves around the still illustrations and how the general tone just hammers down that... this season is gonna be some real shit lol (which makes me nervous for the opening for the second half 😳). It’s so warped and the general blue, grey and black tone that follows around every Akito scene we get in the anime has bled into every scene in this opening concerning the rest of the zodiac. Almost... like something is decaying. It’s great, it’s just very sad lol. I love the song tho, issa bop.

One of my favourite things in stories is when we get a bigger villain than the ‘pronounced’ villain of the story. Ren’s introduction through a manicured outstretched hand towards Kureno and Hatori is so weirdly gross in what it insinuates (especially when you apply her connection with Shigure) but again... I wanna know why she’s such an asshole to Akito specifically besides the bad mental health management within the Sohma compound. I have an inkling of what it is through memory of the manga, but like Akito and Shigure... I just wanna understand why.

Also, Ren is gorgeous and I’m sorry for simping. 

I mean... she’s kinda got a point? She just didn’t need to be so mean about it lol. It’s pretty clear that the connection the zodiac have to each other is real and something they cannot control. BUT, wouldn’t it be easier if this connection wasn’t perpetuated by outer circles of the family and if Akito herself wasn’t so cruel about it? But, I guess Akito - through her relationship with her mother - kinda doesn’t know how to genuinely show love and affection. (Which brings me into my thoughts of how the manga ends and how I kinda... have a few problems with it which I will get to... when that comes lol)

Lol - weeeeeeeee! (flashes back to Tohru being yeeted into the river). Is this a part of Akito’s god-like powers?!

Again. She’s got a point! They’ve both got a point. But, they’re both the source of the problem. It’s really painful to see two mentally ill people duke it out. This whole institution is just rotten.

- I am super curious about what Akira’s relationship was like with the zodiac and if it was just as dark. I’m gonna assume it slightly already was, as the exclusion and degradation of the cat curse is already dark in itself but maybe the rest of the zodiac were just fine with how things were? I dunno if we actually will get the full backstory of Akira and his zodiac but I’m definitely intrigued

Ok, but if four crying children came up to me after I’d just consummated with my partner to reach out at my stomach chanting ‘we’ve been waiting for you’. That would disturb me and scar me for a while too so... 😂. I know it’s supposed to be ethereal and spiritual but... dude, wtf lol

...I don’t like how much I’m into Ren being such a Villain™  😅

- Akito being seen as a crying child by the older zodiac members has always been interesting to me because yes, they could see her as that through mainly the age gap, general empathy and the way she sometimes irrationally acts out. But, also the depiction of Gods being seen as children having tantrums has being reflected in many different beliefs and myths (especially Greek Mythology) and I just like the fact that this all powerful, all knowing being would be compared to a child. It gives you a different perspective on power.

- Is the paper note in the CD case that Kureno gave back to Tohru an extra addition or was it always there?...

Mannnn... I really wanted Isuzu to fuck shit up after seeing Tohru so upset but... *le sigh* (outfit’s still on point)

But, I’m so glad we get an equal Ethereal Goddess to save Tohru! HANAJIMA! We love her, we stan her. <3

- ‘Tohru will be in my custody’ 🤣 I personally think Hana’s bluntness was a kindness in her conversation with Yuki because if I found Tohru upset? I’d automatically start firing metaphorical shots at everyone in that house

- Shigure fearing Hana makes me sleep better at night <3

Hana’s just like ‘hmm... sounds like someone I know... 👀’ I’m here for this parallel between Tohru and Kureno in the hopes that Tohru doesn’t ever get in as bad a situation as Kureno. Ahhh... Kureno... (Also, Laura Bailey was killing it in this scene as always)

- Hmmm... there’s something terribly poetic about Kyo saving Tohru’s scarf from oncoming traffic... but also, Kyo can’t help himself aha

KWEEEN! I love this look for Uo, it’s very Kyoko. I already said this in Season 1 but I STILL need to get wool-lined jacket. Outfit Appreciation goes to her - 3.5 stars.

<3<3<3 Friendship is magic!

- Megumi is such a good egg as always! From him going to get Uo to him being so wise with his outlook on love and how it takes time to really flourish. The best!

- This whole episode ends really nicely from Tohru’s return home and Kyo washing and returning Tohru’s scarf and Yuki being happy to see Tohru and Shigure being somewhat decent. It was nice to get a bit of relief after the tornado of emotions

Also, this was a nice screencap! Even Kyo is smiling!!! :))))

EPISODE 2

*takes sip of wine* ...ok.

👀... later lol

This scene really highlighted how Tohru is starting to see Shigure and the whole zodiac curse in a new and darker way. For the first time, it felt like Tohru was a little bit more guarded around Shigure and I hope they delve more into this season. Her description of her feeling around the curse being like a ‘dark well with no bottom in sight’ is pretty spot on. Ugh.

Aw! Is this the last we’re getting of Small!Momiji?! I love them :3 (Momiji’s shorts look a little shorter too, like he’s growing out of them ahaha)

- I haven’t found the Yuki fan club funny since their first scene in the anime but their poor disguises made me chuckle

- Yayyy! Kyo has an obsessive fan club too? ...Yay?? 😅 haha

- ‘I won’t kill them but they can go to hell’ why is Kyo speaking like me?! 😂

The fact that we got a scene of Yuki kinda admirably looking at a group of friends (boys and girls) playfully physically interacting and he unconsciously reaches out to Machi almost like he forgot about the curse? Heart eyes... 🥰

Again. Relatable. 😂 God, Yuki. You really are an airhead. Bless your soul. <3

And that look says it all. Damn. Kyo’s sense of hopelessness is heartbreaking but I still stand by it being understandable considering his circumstances.

Kyo freaking out about Tohru being visually upset was super cute but I couldn’t even appreciate the fluff because the whole scene had such a morbid tone to it, despite it being so visually romantic:

KYO’S FACE!!! 💔 Ahhh, my emotions!!!! Also, that shot from Tohru’s perspective under her bangs is great.

- Poor Mitsuru, I’d ask for extra pay just for dealing with Shigure’s ass.

Hahah - what a great metaphor!

- Now that Shigure’s ‘true form’, so to speak, has been fully exposed all his comments that are supposed to be teasing come off so much more awful. Him insinuating Mitsuru wasn’t ‘upper class’ enough for Ritsu was awful

COLLLDDDD. AS. IIIIIIICE. But seriously, Shigure this whole episode was cold in many different ways but I definitely felt this personally since I’ve been told something like this by a family member before... 😕 Also, it’s just gross how both Shigure and Akito are taking their own personal issues and mistrust of each other out on to other people. The curse and the institution behind the curse complicates a lot of feelings for sure, but there’s a difference between wrong and right and I get the general feeling that they both are just using the muddy waters to their advantage. Although, I feel like Shigure is taking more advantage of this than Akito but I’ll get into that in a bit.

- There’s also something about this episode that made me sympathise a lot more with Kureno in a more understandable way. But, it also makes me question the ending of this whole story and the resolutions that happen and what life for the whole Sohma institution/family looks like after the curse has broken.. I guess, I should read ‘Fruits Basket Another’ after this, huh?

😳... Shigure is so petty, man. Really?!

So...

I hate this relationship. I’m sorry. I know there are loads of people who like this relationship. And I’m still giving myself space for the show and the story to convince me why it’s worth it. But... I really don’t like this relationship. It’s so toxic. In so many ways. And in a weird way, this scene made me feel a LITTLE bit more for Akito than Shigure. It feels like Shigure gaslights everyone in his life but none no more than Akito, herself. I hate the fact that he keeps saying he loves her while hurting her or disregarding her. You know, almost like he’s treating her like a child. But on the other hand, I hate the fact that Akito has lowkey gaslighted herself into thinking she can treat people however she wants because she is ‘God’. I understand this is part of the way she was brought up and it seems like life in the Sohma compound has been very isolating for her so there’s been no one really to show her better (or have the confidence to show her better). But, at least I can be a little bit more sympathetic on her side than Shigure’s. I dunno... it’s just all very ugly and toxic and I’m hoping that it’ll turn around somehow.

I just hope it’s not one of those relationships that are ‘so good cos it’s so bad’.

...I’ll briefly talk about the ending theme to end this on a good note lol:

I really like this ending! I dunno if they’re gonna have two endings and two openings for this season but this ending definitely feels like it should’ve gone in the second half as it’s almost spoiler-y? But, then again what anime opening and ending isn’t packed with spoilers lol

All the illustrations are gorgeous, I’m assuming they were drawn by Takaya-sensei herself as it seems very much in her current style of artistry but my favourite illustrations are definitely the ones shown above! <3

---------------------------------------------------------

Ahhh! Fin! Sorry, about this one being super long and you probably having to scroll past a whole lot on your dash 😝 As usual, I had a lot to say. I’m open to hearing from people who actually like Shigure and Akito’s relationship btw, it’s just that everything before and episode 2 just really didn’t sail the ship for me, personally. I do want to understand! Haha

See you soooon!

[medea10]

My Review of Konosuba

(Short for: KonoSuba - God's Blessing on This Wonderful World)

How did I get into this anime? As you all know, I’m being an absolute lazy-ass when it comes to Isekai animes and have only gotten into the recent hits as of 2019. I already finished the suffer edition and the struggle edition. Let’s check out the light-hearted, wonk-fest! But before that…

Let’s go back to the mid-1990s and rewatch the first episode of Yu Yu Hakusho. We all remember Yusuke Urameshi sacrificing his life in order to save a child about to be hit by a truck followed by being told that the child would have survived regardless if Yusuke interfered or not. So dude just wasted his fucking life for nothing! Let’s amp this trope up to 483 with the way our main lead in Konosuba dies. Kazuma Satou was on his way back home from purchasing a video game when he noticed a girl about to be hit by a car. He pushes her out of the way and yada, yada, yada he’s dead!

He is now in a limbo setting, standing before a goddess named Aqua who tells Kazuma that his death was absolutely meaningless. Not only would the girl have survived, it wasn’t even a car, it was a slow-moving tractor. And Kazuma didn’t get hit by the tractor, he suffered a heart attack due to shock, followed by pissing his pants, followed by doctors, family, and relations laughing at Kazuma’s humiliating experience. And then he dies!

Aqua tells Kazuma that he has two options. He can either go to Heaven or be transported to a fantasy world (much like a game) and try to defeat a demon king. Choosing the fantasy world, Kazuma is given the opportunity to take an item with him on his travels. Now at this point, Kazuma has been annoyed by this goddess’s attitude towards him and decides to be a dick. So Kazuma chooses Aqua to be with him on his journey. Sucks for Kazuma however, because Aqua is useless! And unlike the video games Kazuma’s used to, he and Aqua must do manual labor and pay off expenses in the first town. So they might be there for a while.

Kazuma ends up with two more members in his crew including a witch named Megumin that uses explosive magic and a masochistic crusader named Lalatina Dustiness Ford (or Darkness for short). But don’t get too excited! Megumin’s magic can only be used once a day, wiping away her energy. And while Darkness has a mean sword, she misses every time with it. So yeah, this is a rag-tag team of useless dopes. Let’s watch the wacky misadventures of Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness as they go on missions, drink until they puke, explode castles, and steal underwear.

Yes, Kazuma occasionally does this.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Crunchyroll has been able to bless the masses with an English dub. Can’t let FUNimation have all the Isekai hits. So far it’s been alright and I’m hearing more Erica Mendez and Cristina Vee. All good things here! Plus it gives me a chance to hear the voices of Kazuma, whom up to this point I have minimal time listening to either person who plays him. And annoying as Aqua may be, Faye Mata does a really good job with that range Sora Amamiya set in the original. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Kazuma is played by Jun Fukushima (known for Naruko on Yowamushi Pedal and Makoto on Fruits Basket 2019)

*Aqua is played by Sora Amamiya (known for Touka on Tokyo Ghoul, Chizuru on Rent A Girlfriend, Miia on Monster Musume, Yachiyo on Magia Record, Akame on Akame ga Kill, and Elizabeth on Seven Deadly Sins)

*Megumin is played by Rie Takahashi (known for Emilia on Re:Zero)

*Darkness is played by Ai Kayano (known for Alice on SAO: Alicization, Menma on Anohana, Nana on Golden Time, Ryouko on Food Wars, Itsuwa on Index, Yukika on My Love Story, and Mayaka on Hyouka)

ENGLISH CAST: *Kazuma is played by Arnie Pantoja (known for Watchdog-Man on One Punch Man and Kanbarry on Re:Zero)

*Aqua is played by Faye Mata (known for Rin on Love Live, Aluminum Siren on Sailor Moon Stars, Yukako on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Pt. 4, Frederica on Re:Zero, and a bitch on Shield Hero)

*Megumin is played by Erica Mendez (known for Ryuko on Kill la Kill, Haruka/Sailor Uranus on Sailor Moon S [redub], Raphtalia on Shield Hero, Retsuko on Aggretsuko, Nico on Love Live, and Emma on The Promised Neverland)

*Darkness is played by Cristina Vee (known for Homura on Madoka Magica, Rei/Sailor Mars on Sailor Moon, Mio on K-ON, Sakura on Fate/Stay Night UBW, Kotori on Love Live, and Kanaria on Rozen Maiden: Traumend)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Darkness is best girl, don’t at me!

SHIPPING (sorta): Can we just all agree that Darkness is just a sober version of Cheryl from Archer?

Whoever ends up with her will end up choking her either because she tells you to or she annoys you with her masochistic nature! I seriously do not know how you want me to turn this shipping discussion into anything other than a comment about a bitch getting choked.

ENDING TO SEASON ONE: Kazuma has been able to get a little good luck in his other world as he was finally able to move out of the stables and into a house with the rest of his crew. Although, it didn’t come easy! Then again, what has in this series? In the final episode of the first season, all of the adventures of the town were called to take on a scary foe. Up to this point, we’ve seen these guys take out mutant cabbages and an idiot dullahan. Today we’ve got…

A giant, mechanical spider!

Why do the stupidest stories always rely on a giant, mechanical spider? Kazuma and the rest were able to stop the spider from moving. However, this monstrosity is set to explode and the impact could take out the entire town. Darkness wants to repay the town for all it has done for her and her family. The adventurer men want to repay the town because of all the succubus taverns they love. And Kazuma just wants to continue his journey so he can take out the demon king. Now, because Megumin already used her explosion magic for the day, she’s down for the count. But she was able to do it a second time thanks to Kazuma transferring some magic from Aqua through his spell and with a little help from Wiz. The day is saved, Kazuma and his crew got a hefty reward, and then Kazuma is immediately charged with treason for sending the evidence to a higher up and it exploded.

Believe it or not, but a lot of these quests end with a giant middle finger to them. Almost like Curb Your Enthusiasm!

EPISODE 11: The special episode that followed came with some more misfortune for Kazuma. A trip to Wiz’s shop ends with a choker around Kazuma’s neck that’s going to strangle him in three days if his wish doesn’t come true. So to figure out what Kazuma’s wish is, Kazuma has all of these girls fulfill his greatest desires in the hopes of one of these humiliating tasks will release Kazuma from the choker.

As you can guess, because this is an OVA, it will be filled to the brim with degeneracy compared to the television series. Fuck yeah it was! Kazuma used this opportunity to use Wiz’s tits as comfy pillows, have Megumin play “Strip Rock/Paper/Scissors” with Yunyun, have Aqua fetch him food, and watch Darkness jiggle her breasts. Even when he thought he was at death’s door, he uses this special time to tell each girl with him at this dramatic moment that they are nothing more than tits and ass. All except for Aqua! No love for her. Not even a pity erection! So when the spell on the choker was released due to a simple wish, Kazuma was then killed by Aqua and quite possibly everyone else and Kazuma was sent back to the goddess chamber as he learned a powerful lesson.

Don’t ever do that again!

Damn…Kazuma died 3 times so far in 11 episodes. Subaru got you beat by a country mile. He’s probably looking at you like, “You damn, lucky dumbass. I got frozen, shanked, stabbed, sliced, maced, and eaten by bunnies”.

SEASON TWO: As I mentioned at the end of season one, Kazuma is charged with treason and usually that comes with a death sentence. Unfortunately for Kazuma, his unintentional crime was against this big, fat, smelly noble who has many higher-ups wrapped around his finger. The townspeople can’t really help him out otherwise they’d risk being charged as well. And you have a prosecutor wanting Kazuma’s head on a pike not only for the major charge, but for being a pervert. The writing is on the wall, Kazuma is screwed. However, thanks to Darkness (and her family lineage) she was able to take one for the team by saving Kazuma (for now) and have that big, fat, smelly noble do God knows what to her. Also, the kingdom repossessed a lot of things from Kazuma’s crew.

So they’re worse than “square one” at this point. They’re at “square -57” with how much debt they’ve all accumulated.

ENDING TO SEASON TWO: Things are starting to look up for Kazuma and his crew. They were able to abolish their debt, got the treason charges lifted, and they were able to gain back some respect around the village. So what better way to celebrate then to go on a bit of vacation. The gang decided to head off to another town for some rest and relaxation. Unfortunately, the town they spent their time off at is full of religious wackos. And what I mean by religious wackos, I mean WORSE than Jehova Witnesses, Evangelical Christians, and the Heaven’s Gate cult all rolled into one.

…Okay, I’m obviously embellishing here. I just really fucking hate all of those ones I just mentioned. This cult is so fucking annoying! At every turn they’re trying to convert Kazuma, Megumin, and Darkness into their fold.

Oh wait, it gets better! This cult worships the goddess Aqua! And of course our favorite idiot Aqua was using this to her advantage. That is until a priest didn’t believe her, starting a chain reaction with the townsidiots all leading up to them chasing Kazuma and crew out with pitchforks and fire. Apparently, Aqua did a big no-no by purifying the hot spring water and now it’s just regular water.

Unfortunately at that same time, a general to the dark lord was in area poisoning all of the water in this town. Yeah, this guy is serious trouble since he’s on a higher level than Wiz (back when she was working under the demon king). But he’s a slime and works with poison. In this world, Kazuma doesn’t stand a chance. Surprisingly, this battle went well (albeit Kazuma dying inside the slime), but we got to see Aqua at her baddest of ass. Now you’d think the town would be grateful to Kazuma and his team for ridding them of a demon king general. Hahaha, never trust religious nutjobs! They still found fault with Aqua purifying their hot springs and they were thrown out.

In the 11th episode (or second side-story), Kazuma thought he was meeting a new fan in town. So he regales her with tales of his expoditions to woo her. Turns out the girl is a new member of the local tavern and one of her jobs is to listen to useless adventurers to boost their morale. And this girl was totally not digging Kazuma. I think this hurt Kazuma more than all the times he’s died in this series.

MOVIE: We head off to the land where Megumin and Yunyun were born and raised. While there was some miscommunication into if the town and their families were in trouble to begin with, trouble sure found Kazuma and the gang once they arrived. Another general of the demon king ends up causing quite a stir in the town. Sylvia was extra hard to take down in this story. Just when you thought she was dead, she returns from death’s door and brings the poison slime from season two and the dullahan from season one to wreck havoc all across the land. Luckily, Kazuma, his crew, Wiz, Yunyun, and the rest of the townspeople were able to put an end to Sylvia and her cohorts.

But man, Kazuma got some really shitty deals in this movie. His trashy and perverted reputation isn’t any better. Megumin’s father wanted to kill him. Megumin’s mother locked Kazuma and Megumin in a room together in hopes of doing the nasty, was messed with by a chimera of two genders, and was killed in a gruesome way that even the angels had to throw up when they saw the state of Kazuma.

On a positive note, Megumin seemed to have grown a little with this adventure as she was even thinking of putting her explosive magic on hold and give a whirl at other options. But she still gave a giant explosion that’s worth 120 points.

Konosuba was amusing. Definitely worth a few chuckles! I know it won’t be for everyone as comedy in anime can often be hit-or-miss. But the combination of characters with many quirks, the animation, the setting, the tasks, and misunderstandings, you’ve got yourself an anime version of Curb Your Enthusiasm. So…yeah, not for everyone, hit-or-miss! But in the big five isekai animes, this one is a little more light compared to some of the others. Overlord can get quite gory. Shield Hero will anger any sane person to a point of madness. And Re:Zero is just a misery blanket! Konosuba is that light-hearted comedy where sometimes the main protagonist dies horrificly in battle, but will return like Kenny from South Park. So if Shield Hero and Re:Zero depress you, maybe you might need a break with the silly, zany antics of Kazuma’s crew in Konosuba.

Results may vary on your views of Aqua.

If you would like to watch Konosuba, the entire series is available on Crunchyroll. That’s the first season, second season, both OVA’s, and the movie in several different languages!

Okay, let’s pick our next Netflix, Crunchyroll, or Amazon exclusive!

Alright! An anime like Black Lagoon if it involved gay boys! Banana Fish time.

[darthsuki]

Alright, apparently it’s time for another anime review since I just finished watching through Akatsuki no Yona (Yona of the Dawn in english releases). 

Watch on Funimation | Watch on Crunchyroll

Watch the sub for FREE on funimation’s youtube channel (playlist here)!

Short version: This is an extremely well-written story. It combines a complex plot with very lovable and distinct major and minor characters throughout. Yona starts as an ignorant, cowardly and meek person, but over the course of the series learns not only how to be independent and strong, but also how to be the leader that her friends and country need her to be.

The antagonist of the series is extremely morally gray, up to the point that even I don’t know if I can fault him--even Yona questions it when she comes to learn of all the shortcomings of her father in how he ruled the kingdom and the suffering brought upon its people.

Also?? Pretty gay, like, without explicitly being tagged as a queer series. I’ve only seen the english dub of the series (and it’s seriously amazing, love the voice acting) but if it’s anything like the original voicing then it’s hella gay. Several characters talk about their romantic feelings for others that uh....there is literally no heterosexual explanation for. 

Longer version (with as few spoilers as possible)

I went in with the understanding that this was going to be a bishie anime (ie, containing a bunch of pretty boys). Though it certainly follows with that aspect, I was pleasantly surprised to find a great sense of depth within the series as a whole--each character has a role to play and I honestly loved the dynamics between each and every one of them.

In short, Yona is the princess of the Kouka Kingdom and the daughter of King Il. She is turning 16 and soon comes the expectation of marriage so that her husband will take on the throne--but there’s one little problem: Yona has a very deep crush on Soo-Won, her cousin, whom she has known and been friends with since childhood. Though her father forbids her to marry him (so don’t worry, someone has sense enough to question it), Yona decides that her heart is set on it--until one night she walks in to find her father murdered by the same man she wanted to marry.

From there the series gets quite complex, far more than I would have expected of an anime filled with hot guys who the creator definitely made hot with purpose. Yona is tasked with seeking out the four Dragon Warriors, people who have the blessing of the four dragons from many generations before who had protected the first king of Kouka. She is accompanied by Hak, a childhood friend and also her guardian who has sworn to protect her.

Right away you’ll likely be annoyed by Yona, as she’s everything you’d expect of a spoiled princess--she’s loud, bratty, impulsive and without understanding of the world beyond the palace. Over the course of the series, however, she is forced to confront her shortcomings and learn to be someone who can take care of herself, but also rely on the help of her friends--she becomes very mature over the course of the 24 available episodes and you can tell that this series was written by someone who understands the mind of a girl going through these hardships, moral dilemmas and questions about herself.

Since this is a bishie anime of course, there’s also the male characters accompanying her. Each one of them is wonderful as a character, and their interactions with one another is heartwarming. A stupid detail that I like in the series is that the word ‘love’ is used so often between one another--whether it’s friendship, family or actual romance, nobody pulled punches when they said that they loved other people, and it really made it seem more heartwarming to see these sorts of genuine interactions.

In fact, I was surprised to see how un-filtered these character interactions were? There were so many times that I saw or heard something and turned right to my fiance and just said ‘that’s so gay’ because it honestly is. Soo-Won has made it explicitly clear that he feels romantically for both Yona AND Hak, to the point that me and my fiance are genuinely curious if he just straight-up wants a polyamorous relationship with both of them.

The dragon warriors are just as interesting, and there’s even another companion named Yuun that, while around Yona’s age, seems to be very content with his gender ambiguity? There was a moment, for example of several, where a character referred to him as ‘a beautiful girl’ and he simply rolled his eyes and said ‘i’m a beautiful boy, get it right’--I’m still not sure how to feel about it (if I’m reading way too deeply) but it’s very different from other series that would otherwise make it into some joke about gender presentation--it was refreshing to say the least, and something I found more amusing and cute than offensive.

In terms of plot and conflict, I was extremely surprised to find it way more complex than I’d ever expect of an anime of this genre. Soo-Won is, in short, a very morally grey character. Though he did murder the late King Il, Yona learns later in the series that her father’s rule had put much of the kingdom’s people into sickness, poverty and misery--she begins to question if what Soo-Won did was a good thing, and it’s a humbling moment to see a protagonist begin to see the perspective of what we’d see as an antagonist.

Did I mention how much screen time Soo-Won gets? Because he gets a lot, at least as a supposed ‘antagonist’. He’s showcased to be a genuinely good ruler, intelligent and headstrong--it’s a little misty for WHY he killed the late king outside of to take the throne, but there’s some mystery going on about his father, King Il’s brother, and his death. Either way, I’m left genuinely questioning Soo-Won’s place as the new king right along with Yona, as she has seen first-hand the ills her father had done to the kingdom and how she can go about making those things right again. 

It almost feels like Yona and Soo-Won are both protagonists, we’re just watching Yona’s version of the story and only occasionally get to see Soo-Won’s, and I’m really happy for how it’s written and paced out.

Also?? Very gay. Soo-Won is pretty explicit that he loves Yona AND Hak, and that he ‘want[s] to rule with the two people [he] love[s] by [his] side’ (his words, not mine). This isn’t a one-time gag either, there’s a LOT of subtext and sometimes straight-up-text for those very biromantic feelings. As long as you can get past the fact that Soo-Won and Yona are first cousins (don’t know why they couldn’t have been related in some other non-familial way but go off I guess) it’s a very interesting dynamic between the characters.

The four dragon warriors? Also gay, so gay, or at least they were given heavy enough subtext that I’m 300% sure that the first four dragon warriors were part of this huge poly relationship with the first king (of which Yona is a descendent). The dialogue is very explicit and very....open? Like I swear, compared to how censored and filtered older anime was, this is....really nice, honestly, and combined with all of the other amazing aspects of the series (story, character development, plot, pacing, design, MUSIC OH MY GOD THE MUSIC) I can absolutely see why nearly-everyone has rated it five stars on both crunchyroll and funimation.

Like, for real, if you haven’t seen it yet then you totally need to go see it--I swear to god it will surprise you in the best way possible for a bishie adventure anime.

[otakunerdgirl94]

Bless Chris Sabat for this. Bless his soul.

While I’m at it bless the BNHA dub cast because is so clear they love this damn show and my god do they have some funny shindigs with their characters voices. Bakugous outtakes Iida sating “BEGON THOT” and the list goes on and on

[pinerzebra]

Legend of legendary heroes season 3

#LEGEND OF LEGENDARY HEROES SEASON 3 UPDATE#

#LEGEND OF LEGENDARY HEROES SEASON 3 SERIES#

The best episodes of The Legend of the Legendary Heroes! He gets acquainted with Sion at the Roland Royal Special Military Academy and with time, the two of them become very close friends.The BEST episodes of The Legend of the Legendary Heroes Every episode of The Legend of the Legendary Heroes ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. He bears the Alpha Stigma ability which is apparently one of the four curses passed on to humanity by ancient Dark Gods.

#LEGEND OF LEGENDARY HEROES SEASON 3 SERIES#

Ryner is another main character of the series who has a natural magical talent, but he always seems a bit too lazy and unmotivated. But his biggest weakness is that he is never able to choose the lesser between two evils. He is a genius when it comes to war tactics and usually gives up on short-term benefits to achieve his long-term goals. Ryner is his closest friend and he is loved by everyone who is close to him. But even at a young age, he had a very strong sense of justice and had vowed to change the corrupt world that he lived in. Because of his lowly birth, he was initially hated by his half brothers. He is tall, has long silvery hair and is usually seen with a very sincere look on his face. He is very loyal to his nation and has the noblest goals of bringing prosperity to his people. Sion is one of the three main characters of the series, who takes everything very seriously. The Legend of the Legendary Heroes Characters Sion Astal Along the way, Ryner also learns a lot more about his Alpha Stigma ability. Determined to be an asset for his country, Ryner embarks on a journey with Ferris Eris, a well-known beautiful swordswoman, and the two of them hunt down all the relics of legendary heroes. Later, Sion ends up becoming the king of Roland and since Ryner is one of the few people he trusts, he asks him to search for all the relics that can further help the nation. He joins forces with his best friend, Sion Astal, who is also a fellow survivor and the two of them set out to bring more order to their nation. There was a time when he used to be one of the best students at the Roland Empire’s Magician Academy, but after losing many of his friends in a war, he promises himself that he’ll do everything he can to make the world a more peaceful place. While it might seem more like a blessing to him, for the rest of the world, it is a curse that brings destruction and death to the ones around him. Bearing this ability allows him to analyze all kinds of magic through his eyes. ‘Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu’ revolves around a young mage named Ryner Lute who possesses the mighty Alpha Stigma. The Legend of the Legendary Heroes English DubĪs of now, the English dub of ‘Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu’ is not available on any official anime streaming platforms, but you can still watch it on Funimation with its original Japanese audio and English subtitles.

#LEGEND OF LEGENDARY HEROES SEASON 3 UPDATE#

Even so, if we get any confirmation regarding ‘Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu’ season 2 release date, we will update it here in this section. And now that it has been close to a decade since it first premiered, there are little to no chances of it being renewed. Moreover, since Zexcs-creator of -’ Chrome Shelled Regios‘- is a fairly low budgeted anime studio, it isn’t known for creating sequels of any of its anime shows. However, the sales of its first season haven’t been all that great. Now as far as the rating of its first season is concerned, ‘The Legend of the Legendary Heroes’ is slightly above average on most anime platforms. Apart from this, the anime also has a Special episode titled ‘The Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Iris Report’, which released on Oct 14, 2010. ‘The Legend of the Legendary Heroes’ season 1 premiered on Jand with a total of 24 episodes, it ended on December 17, 2010. When is The Legend of the Legendary Heroes Season 2 Release Date? With that said, if you have seen its first episode, here is everything you need to know about its next season. It’s certainly not an anime that would suit everyone’s taste, but it is worth a shot. On the upside, what makes it an enjoyable bishounen is its top-notch animation and nicely depicted characters.

[thoulgyu]

AX Kaji Yuki & Yamashita Daiki fanacc [you can ignore this]

Hello, I haven’t posted on here in like months but I’m just posting here for my own memories. You don’t have to read this but twitter doesn’t let you pin more than 1 post so I don’t want to forget my wonderful memories ;___;;

-

AX DAY 1 AUTOGRAPH SESSION WITH DAIKI I did not get into the autograph session with Daiki since tickets got released and my notifications did not notify me le sigh (i’m upset they let some people go get signs after they were done lmao, they literally told us to leave the area when it started so???)

but, I was able to get some interactions at the end of his signing uwu... I was cosplaying as Camie for day 1 (BNHA, spoiler, if you don’t read the manga) but when Daiki was about to leave, he turned to my side (there was like no one there at that point) and he saw me and my friend there!! He gestured with both of his hands to his head (referring to my Camie hat) and recognized who I was cosplaying immediately ;;;; I’m glad he knew who I was cause I think a lot of people didn’t know, since Camie’s hero costume is pretty.. bland and plain.. so it looked like it could be anyones (someone thought it was from Fate uhM..) but yeah i’m uwu cause he looked so happy to see the cosplay too and he was just like ‘ah!!’ (especially since she’s coming up so soon uwu, ma girl) some girl part of funimations???? or daiki’s staff? i’m not sure but she also took a pic of me and i’m starting to regret the pose i did LOL... hopefully it’ll never be seen uhm; but the staff was also like smiling and talking to daiki (b/c camie???? I HAVE NO IDEA I’M JUST ASSUMING) then he got out of his seat and he started waving at me and my friend and i’m just dead okay bye- he’s so smol btw

-

ANYWAYS AX DAY 2 AUTOGRAPH SESSION WITH KAJI-KYUN This!!! I was lucky enough to actually get a ticket!! When I checked the eventbrite page, all of them were already sold out!! but the first session apparently wasn’t put up yet so I was refreshing the page the whole time and.. ta-da TT^TT....

Kaji’s fansigning was very simple tbh, I saw him so many times during AX, WHAT A BLESSING.

Firstly, we went to the Nanatsu no Taizai panel!!! I’m surprise there weren’t more people since Kaji was attending, or did some not know? :c Though, it was a small room and I guess people weren’t attending if they didn’t watch it?? I don’t know... But yes, KAJI IS SO BEAUTIFUL YOU GUISEEEEE, he was in white and gosh darn it, he’s just amazing, they did a manga reading with him too and i’m so grateful to Kodansha and Funimations (even though ticketing for autograph sessions were such a damn mess)

Okay, after we booked it back to our hotel to get changed and stuff cause we just looked like trash since it was just a panel before.. but yes! we changed, booked it to the booth in the exhibit hall and everything was just overwhelming.. we lined up pretty early, but we let the line go first cause we didn’t know what to do or say; turns out I didn’t say anything at all anyways... things did not go as planned but IT’S A-OKAY.. I was dressed up as Ochako (yes if you seen that photo that they tweeted from the autograph session, there is me(me). 

When it was out turn, I went up first and oh lord it was so awkward with Bryce, I’m so sorry my dude, I don’t watch dub so u h m....... but hELLO KAJI!! My poster got moved to Kaji’s side and I STARTED PANICKING YO- Kaji was like “Oh, Ochako~” and I just sorta just.. died.. cried... panicked.. a little.. just a little inside.......... yes that was the end of me basically. All hell went loose and I completely blanked out and literally just went “you’re so handsome uwu” in a whisper; I wonder if he even heard me oops, then he says “thank you~” (i don’t remember if he said this in English or Japanese tbh...) but I do remember I answered back in Japanese >: and yes, that’s it, I SHOULD OF SAID SOMETHING BUT NOTHING CAME OUT OF MY MOUTH god dang it janet.

[recentanimenews]

Funimation Streams Chinese Animated Series Heaven Official's Blessing

  Funimation officially announced its first ever Chinese animated series with the upcoming debut of Heaven Official's Blessing, a co-production by Bilibili and Haoliners Animation League that's based on the wildly popular Chinese fantasy novels by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. 

  The donghua series' stream will kick off on October 30 with English subtitles in the following territories: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, with Mexico and Brazil to follow this winter.

  Those who want to check it out in English-dubbed form will be able to do so when the dub launches sometime in 2021. 

    An earlier promo from Bilibili: 

    Here's the official synopsis:

HEAVENS OFFICIAL’S BLESSING tells the story of former Crown Prince Xie Lian, who, after 800 years of “Cultivation,” a practice to attain eternal life, supernatural powers, and incredible levels of strength, finally ascends to heaven. However, he is soon banished back to the mortal realm due to an unfortunate string of incidents. He then runs into San Lang, the Ghost King, who later becomes Xie’s loyal follower. An extraordinary adventure stars as they learn the truth about the gods in heaven.

  Source: Press release 

    -------

Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. You can read his webcomic, BIG DUMB FIGHTING IDIOTS at subhumanzoids. His new comic starts in 2 days! Follow him on Twitter @Moldilox. 

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[wendychuu]

I CANT WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIE DUBBED GOD BLESS YOU FUNIMATION 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[craveanimeblog-blog]

Crunchyroll Removing English Dub of Isekai Quartet

Crunchyroll announced on Thursday that it will remove the English dubs for The Helpful Fox Senko-san, Strike Witches: 501st JOINT FIGHTER WING Take Off!, Isekai Quartet, and Million Arthur Season 2 on August 9, 10, 11, and 17, respectively.

Update: Funimation has additionally announced that the subtitled versions of the above four series are also no longer available on FunimationNow, although the dubbed versions are still available for the shows that featured dubs. Additionally, Funimation removed the subtitled version of the first 13 episodes of YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world. from its streaming service.

The crossover project is scripted and directed by Minoru Ashina, Minoru Takehara acts as character designer and animation director with Studio Puyukai animating the series. The story is a bit simple, but definitely opens the door for cute shenanigans as a mysterious red button pops up in each of these worlds and pressing it brings them together. The "Isekai" in its title refers to a subgenre of fantasy anime in which a normal human is brought into a fantasy world through magical means, and each of these series are major examples of this genre as they have sold more than 16 million copies in print altogether along with popular anime adaptations for each of the series.

Although the Crunchyroll catalog has seen some major boosts from Discotek Media lately with classic series such as Kimagure Orange Road joining their streaming library, fans are still seeing some of the last after effects of their ended partnership with Funimation. The ended partnership brought about a major library shift for both streaming platforms, and while Funimation has not announced its own recent shifts in relation to these series, it seems more English dubs will be leaving Crunchyroll soon.

Crunchyroll has announced that the English dubs for four series will be leaving the streaming service throughout August, and includes Isekai Quartet among a few others. Here's the full breakdown.

The Helpful Fox Senko-san - August 9th

Strike Witches: 501st JOINT FIGHTER WING Take Off! - August 10th

Isekai Quartet - August 11th

Million Arthur Season 2 - August 17th

These four English dubs are also available on FunimationNow, and this announcement has led to the fan speculation that their respective English subtitled releases will be leaving Funimation in August as well. But this has not been confirmed as of this writing, so all fans can currently do to prepare for the upcoming shift is to be sure to work through these English dubs in their Crunchyroll queue before their respective removal dates.

If you have never head of Isekai Quartet, it was one of the fan favorite releases of the Spring 2019 anime season. A special anime crossover featuring characters from four of Kadokawa's biggest light novel anime adaptations -- Overlord, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-, Konosuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World!, and Saga of Tanya the Evil in cute chibi forms, you can now find it streaming on FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll. A second season has been confirmed to be in the works.