#got some Akira flashbacks from this sequence

[silvadour]

[radwolf76]

FLASHBack: Week 89 [First-Class FLASHBack] - Japanese Cartoon

Time for another First-Class FLASHBack, where we talk about the more prolific and influential Flash animators of the early web. This month, we're going to be looking at another offering from Homestar Runner. As mentioned previously, the Brothers Chaps drew on a wealth of 80s and 90s pop culture (and even a dash of the 70s, absorbed from pop-culture osmosis from their older siblings, as well as the influence of older decades from the fact that syndicated broadcast television reruns mined content all the way back to the Golden Age of Hollywood). One example where this 80s/90s pop culture overload really shines is in Strong Bad Email #57, Japanese Cartoon, posted on 6 January 2003. James F. asks Strong Bad what he would look like as a Japanese Cartoon, and what it'd be about. Strong Bad goes on to describe himself in a chibi big-eyes/small-mouth style (except when the mouth is open, when it goes ridiculously huge), reminiscent of a helmetless Mega Man. With blue hair. You gotta have blue hair. (WARNING: TV Tropes link.)   The show itself consists of him in space flying around in cool poses, an allusion to how many animes of the 60s-80s would rely heavily on a library of stock sequences for fight and transformation scenes, to pad out a show's run time (and sometimes that stock footage would get abused even further by US editors who needed to make up for runtime lost to localization censorship). The English is clearly dubbed, with mouth movements not even close to matching. Strong Bad's anime counterpart, Stinkoman, has a voice that sounds like voice actor Cam Clarke, who while best known for being the voice of Leonardo on the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, also voiced on several prominent 80s anime dubs, including the roles of Max Sterling and Lancer on Robotech, Dirk Daring on G-Force, and Kaneda in the original dub of Akira -- at one point Stinkoman even breaks out with a line, "You're just a kid!" that echoes Kaneda's dismissal of Tetsuo's interest in riding his bike at the beginning of the movie. (The name "Stinkoman" was a reference to a line from another Strong Bad Email, Island, which may have been a take on the old 90s Sierra-Online/Dynamix Screensaver, Johnny Castaway.)  

Now, it's important to note that television was not the only vector for introducing anime stylings and sensibilities to Western audiences. The shift of video game console market dominance to Japan after the video game market crash of 1983 meant that many titles would originally be developed for the Japanese market first and then have to be localized for the US. One such title is Rad Racer for the Nintendo Entertainment System, originally Highway Star for the Famicom. The Brothers Chaps lifted one of the songs from the Rad Racer soundtrack for their hypothetical Stinko Man K 20X6 anime. The anime's name is only revealed in an easter egg accessible by clicking the words "japanese cartoon" during the end credits -- using X to obscure a year was a gimmick that the Mega Man titles were particularly known for (but also occurred in Metroid as well as the Mother/Earthbound series). Inception-like, there are easter eggs within easter eggs here; clicking "japanese cartoon" a second time would bring up a clip of Homestar Runner watching Stinko Man K 20X6.   For the final layer of the easter egg, under Homestar's TV are a collection of VHS tapes, one of which is labled "NES Endings". Clicking that tape brings up a pop up window that shows the ending to Rad Racer. Subsequent clicks on the pop up cycle through the endings to a bunch of video games: Castlevania 2, Mega Man 2 (furthering the connection between Stinkoman and Mega Man), Super Mario Brothers 2 (The US version, which began life as the wholly unrelated title Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic), Hoops, Ghosts n' Goblins, Blaster Master (with a sketched on label and arrow calling out "Blue Hair"), The Legend of Zelda (whose credits provided the inspiration for some of the made-up names in the Stinkoman credits), Metroid (Samus is a girl?!?), Jackal, and Rygar. The world of 20X6 and Planet K would become recurring elements of the Homestar Runner site, and eventually the Brothers Chaps would even make a full Mega Man clone starring Stinkoman. Another subtle video game connection is the fact that the little mushroom clouds around Stinkoman's head when he laughs were inspired by Animal Crossing. Surprisingly, the indie video game I Wanna Be The Guy was NOT an intentional reference to this Flash, despite featuring a "Kid" who's motivation is "I Wanna Be The Guy"; the creator does acknowledge in his FAQ that he and his friend Eric who helped him name the game had probably seen this animation, but claims any influence it had was a subconscious one. (Fun Fact: I cosplayed as The Kid from I Want to Be The Guy at DragonCon one year, and almost got into hot water with con security over my gun prop.)   That's all I really have for this week. Next week, we'll go from badly dubbed anime, that staple of after-school weekday cartoons, to something a little more Saturday Morning.

[vrainsrewatch]

episode 6 thoughts

i think i mentioned this earlier, but aoi zaizen became my favorite ygo girl throughout watching vrains. i’m extremely excited to look back upon how that happened. i also have a lot to say this episode lmao, so buckle up.

but first,

CR at it again with fucking up the subtitles, lmao. sister-in-law. how did you get that from step-sister? anyways though, this episode starts off pretty light hearted, with both ai and kusanagi poking fun at yusaku:

and i think while it’s funny, it also says a lot about his relationship with kusanagi.

yusaku doesn’t hide the fact he’s not interesting in making friends, or even really having small talk with anyone. he doesn’t remember shima’s name this episode despite talking to him, what, like 3 days ago? and they’re in the same class and everything, and school has obviously been on for awhile if the duel club is getting stuff from aoi’s connection to SOL. 

however, kusanagi is close to him. though yusaku only uses the words ally or acquaintance, kusanagi clearly thinks of him as a friend. i’d actually argue that he thinks of him as a little brother. iirc there’s a part where kusanagi talks about how he wished jin could be like yusaku - resilient against his trauma and, while a damaged individual, still fighting. that’s an aspect of kusanagi that i feel like people don’t talk about, but i don’t fault him for feeling that way. he was, what, 14 when jin was kidnapped? he gave up his entire life to try and help his brother afterwards. no matter how much he loves jin, and no matter how pure that love is, i think it’s pretty human to, in your weaker moments, hold some resentment.

i love the fact that vrains shows this with kusanagi’s teasing remarks. yusaku doesn’t say much to it, but you kind of get the feeling kusanagi has teased him before about this kind of stuff. it shows a lot about their relationship and how comfortable they are with each other, even though they only met through a mutual cause.

we also get this shot of yusaku, when he’s in front of the duel club:

his eyes do that anime-eye thing, when you’re having a lot of emotions. aoi’s do it later this episode when she’s upset, and i love that they did this for yusaku. duel club. we know, for a fact, that little yusaku loved to duel. it was clearly his favorite hobby, and he clearly liked making friends through it if the flashback to his kidnapping with ryoken is anything to go off of.

but as i talked about, he no longer sees dueling like that. he only sees it as a means to an end; as life or death. but here, right in front of him, is proof dueling could be more - or less. it could just be a hobby again. 

it’s behind a closed door, though. one he won’t - can’t - open on his own. right now, it’s still too early for him to think about it. he’s still got to get to the bottom of how the hanoi are connected to the lost incident, and to find the one who saved him, all those years ago. 

aoi is honestly really observant when she wants to be, and i liked the reveal in s3, but i would’ve loved for her to know sooner rather than later tbh. i think she had it all there, after awhile, but couldn’t accept it.

moving on into aoi analysis, though:

clearly, this happens a lot. she doesn’t even respond to it. she probably wonders why it even bothers telling her, anymore, because he’s never home. that must hurt. 

when she was little, after their parents died, akira was all she had. yes, they live in this beautiful apartment now, and she’ll want for nothing material wise ever again, but in turn, she’s lost the thing she cares about most: her relationship with her brother. no wonder she wants to prove herself so badly to him. no wonder she wants him to take her seriously - if he believed she could take care of herself, then they could be on equal footing, and could be brother and sister again.

these caps perfectly illustrate that point, and also, sets up really nicely for the akira vs playmaker duel imo. this shows that while akira truly does have good intentions, he doesn’t understand. he doesn’t understand how after everything he’s done for aoi, she’s still unhappy. he doesn’t understand why aoi risks his position at SOL tech by bouncing around in LV as a charisma duelist. he thinks it’s all an act, and yeah, it kind of is, but she has fans. she clearly finds some enjoyment out of being blue angel - probably because it’s giving her affection that she’s been missing since her brother sold himself out to SOL.

and likewise, with the akira vs playmaker duel, akira doesn’t understand why yusaku can’t just go live a normal life and put all this behind him. or why he can’t trust akira to handle it. it’s a great set up for both akira’s development and aoi’s.

seriously, though, i know people have talked about this to death, but god, no wonder she goes so hard for miyu later in the series. miyu was probably her last actual friend, after her brother went on to be a big shot in SOL. if every single person approached me with ulterior motives and i could never tell if people actually wanted to be around me or my connections i’d get pretty depressed, too. even if we literally don’t get a mention of miyu until almost 80 episodes in, i would bet that aoi’s been thinking about her every so often. probably dreams of her sometimes like we see her do before she partners up with aqua.

and no wonder she’s blue angel. even if it’s a fake persona, at least people like it genuinely. they don’t know blue angel is connected to SOL. they like her dueling because it’s fun and she’s fun.

i don’t have too much to say on the rest of the episode, but i love how awkward yusaku gets about all the shit getting said about playmaker lol. he doesn’t really care, not really, but watching him get a tiny bit flustered is kinda cute lol. he’s still a teenager LOL.

OH and the spectre/aoi sequence. still love that. it was nice and creepy and also a great more fleshed out introduction to spectre’s character. he’s always entertaining to watch and i can’t wait to get to their duel.

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Devilman Crybaby, Episodes 1-3

And so we begin! In which I dive headfirst into a maelstrom of madness with a shockingly solid core, balancing light and dark in equal measure. This is gonna be a good one, folks.

Light and Dark

There can be no darkness without light. Ask any storyteller worth their salt about writing dark, tragic, fucked-up stories, and they’ll generally give you some form of that answer, because it’s more often than not true. The success of any narrative steeped in cruelty, inhumanity, moral ambiguity, or any such depressing conceit is in large part dependent on how well it can balance that darkness out with kindness, compassion, and hope. If you want to make your audience care when the world gets fucked, you have to give them something recognizably human to care about that stands to be lost should the worst possible scenario occur. Just look at the start of the DCEU with the likes of Batman v Superman for an example of how utterly disastrous not following this maxim can be. It’s a tricky balance to pull off, but at it’s best, this fusion of hope and hopelessness forms the backbone for some of the most powerful stories of the modern age. Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Last of Us, pretty much everything Gen Urobuchi has ever written (check out my Psycho-Pass binge for an example of just how fucking good the Butch is at writing dark stories in this vein), these are all tales of horrible thing happening in an unfair, fucked-up world, but the reason they stick with you is that all of them give you a reason to care for the people trying to survive such hopeless situations. That’s what separates slop like Future Diary from the kinds of masterpieces that define a generation.

Thankfully, not only does Devilman Crybaby understand that fundamental principle of dark storytelling about as well as I’ve ever seen it pulled off, it’s entire thematic thrust is centered around that clash of light and shadow. From the very first moments, the psychedelic imagery of its banger OP, the haunting opening sequence of spiritual annihilation, and the main characters setting up that dichotomy in explicit flashback terms over a dead cat’s body (”The weak ones die.” “You’re wrong!”), this show wants you to know right up front that it’s intention is to explore humanity’s capacity for both good and evil. It’s a story of extreme violence and brutality, often uglier and nastier than most other anime even dare attempt, but it’s all centered around an unmistakably human heart, pumping purifying blood through the noxious body it supports. I can absolutely see why this show become so popular; there’s something almost hypnotic about the way its better angels (pun intended, of course) shine through the chaotic whirlwind of blood and sex plastered across its surface. For as short a show as it is, Devilman Crybaby is already proving to be one hell of a heavyweight contender. So let’s dive in a bit deeper and see what makes its mechanism tick.

Human Heart

If there’s one aspect of Devilman Crybaby that above all others stands as proof positive for the strength of its construction, it’s the Devilman himself, Akira. He’s the symbolic weight of the show made flesh, a devil’s body with a human heart that strives to keep it in check. And from the second the reborn Akira struts into school with his new, edgier physique, the show does a fantastic job of selling you that dichotomy. Even in this new form, Akira’s a genuinely good person! He may enjoy the indulgence of everyone’s newfound admiration for him, casually flirting with his fangirls (”I don’t do kids.”) and milking their towel-based erotic fantasies of him for all they’re worth, but there’s never a sense he’s being skeevy or condescending about it. He’s still got at least a relative sense of humility, never going so far as to rub his superior status and skills in everyone’s faces; he even pulls himself short after that ridiculously batshit running stance to finish the race upright, and he doesn’t seek to draw attention to himself in the aftermath. Sure, he indulges his admirers because he enjoys the attention, but he does so in a way that entertains those he indulges as much as it does him. It’s a mutually beneficial circle of casual celebrity worship, and at the center of it is a genuinely cool dude making life genuinely more fun for the people latching onto him.

I can’t overstate how beneficial Akira’s well-established humanity is to this show’s overall tone. A character of this nature, who starts out as a wimp before gaining superpowers, could so easily tilt into assholery and toxic macho posturing, losing what made them relatable in favor of making them power fantasies (looking at you, every modern isekai ever). But the balance is honestly kind of perfect, and as a result, we genuinely care about Akira and his struggles. There’s a great moment shortly following his transformation where he makes Ryo promise that if his devil side ever takes over, he’ll shoot him before he loses control of himself for good. It speaks volumes as to the mindset both Akira and the show as a whole are approaching the dichotomy of human morality. Akira is, above all else, a good person thrust into a murky, chaotic world, and he’s going to fight to keep that morality no matter how blood-soaked his path becomes. That will likely prove an increasing challenge in the face of Ryo’s trigger-happy, pessimistic sensibilities; his partner in crime is all too willing to machine-gun anything, living or otherwise, that may threaten their ultimate goal, no matter what sins such actions heap upon his head. Knowing how this show ends, I can’t pretend I’m expecting a hopeful outcome. But considering how well this central conceit has been established, I can’t wait to see the road it takes to get there.

Devil Skin

Of course, I can harp on the importance of light in dark stories all I want, but the darkness itself is important as well. And thankfully, Devilman Crybaby does not skimp on that front at all. With Akira’s humanity serving as a grounding focal point, the plot and style surrounding him is allowed to go completely batshit crazy in all the most blasphemous ways possible. It’s status as a Netflix Original definitely comes in handy here, as the freedom of restrictions that platform provides allows Devilman to lather on all the bloodsoaked insanity it can dream of; and with Masaaki Yuasa at the helm, it can dream of a lot. This is the first of Yuasa’s directorial works I’ve seen, but I’m familiar with his style of sloppy, stretchy, exaggerated animation, and the scenes of demonic chaos he dreams up are the stuff of giddy nightmares. Bodies contort and explode in showers of multi-colored blood, proportions warp to match the twisted intensity of each moment, and everything is lathered in so many levels of heavy metal sheen as to make a Black Sabbath album cover look like a mellow indie rock jam. Akira rips apart a snake demon lengthwise at the end of the first episode, and the tension of the animation makes it one of the most gristly, deliciously wet and tactile moments of slaughter I’ve seen this side of Elfen Lied’s opening scene. And yet, there’s even some subtlety to this madness at times; the thematic motif of light and shadow is used visually to separate the foreground and background of many shots, casting striking tableaus of the separation between human and monster. Even something as simple as a car ride at night takes on deeper meaning, casting Ryo in deep shadows only briefly illuminated by the flashes of the passing streetlights. Bottom line, you all weren’t lying about how utterly spellbinding this show’s presentation is, and I’m enjoying the hell out of it’s satanic, off-kilter sensibility.

Lecher’s Gaze

And now, it’s time once more for me to dive into the always fun territory of sex in anime and the many ways it can piss me off. Of course, Devilman Crybaby is of a much different sexual proclivity than the usual tasteless, virginal fanservice clogging up anime’s fetid bowels; with that sweet, sweet Netflix freedom and the desire to wave it’s edge flag as high as possible, this show embraces sex, nudity, and all things erotic will full-uncensored abaondon, with enough uncensored nipples and scenes of fucking to give Tumblr staff an aneurysm. It’s filthy and perverse and it makes no apologies for that. And I know I’m going to shock my long-term readers when I say that in my opinion, this was the right aesthetic choice. Hey, this level of degeneracy is far more fitting of Devilman’s general hard-edged sensibilities than most anime’s lazy attempts at shoving boob jiggles and panty shots on screen. After all, if you’re going to go this wild and this grungy in an exploration of morality’s dual nature, being this explicitly sexual only makes sense as par for the course.

See, the benefit of not having to beat around the bush with sexual content is that Devilman Crybaby is allowed to dig into the meat of how people are actually sexual, not how some studio executive thinks fifteen-year-old virgin losers interpret being sexual. Just one moment of that one girl casually humping her friend from behind feels far more true to life, far closer to the playful immaturity with which teenagers actually engage with sex, than pretty much anything else I’ve seen in anime. Sure, it’s still wildly overblown and steeped in bodily exploitation, but there’s a tactility and playfulness to the on-screen orgies that makes the presence of carnivorous nipples that much easier to digest. Plus, it at least has the decency to be relatively equal opportunity about it’s leering eye. Female bodies may still have the majority of screen presence, but there are no shortage of glistening abs offered up for enjoyment as well, not to mention the explicit depiction of Akira’s new and improved bulge. There’s also a welcome acknowledgement of queer couples in the fetishization train, because if we’re gonna be lumping every conceivable body together as camera meat, putting explicit scenes of gay and lesbian sex in as part of the collective just makes sense (not to mention the not-so-subtle gay coding of Akira and Ryo themselves: ”Here, open wide!”). No, it’s not perfect; the extended scene of Miki’s nudity in the back half of episode 3 felt fairly gratuitous and unnecessary, and I’m not sure why female masturbation is regularly presented so bizarrely (were the donkey noises really necessary?). But compared to what I usually get from anime and how easily this could have gone off the rails, I’m exceptionally impressed with the level of nuance and purpose on display here.

Odds and Ends

-”I’d sell my soul to the devil if it made me run faster.” Mood.

-Okay, I was not expect the senile coach to be a frog person. What the shit.

-”And you can clear your history after you watch porn.” aksjdhasd

-Okay, props to you for some of the best Engrish I’ve ever heard in anime, creepy bird-killing professor.

-Oh, that music drop upon Miki’s entrance was awesome. Way to sell the jarring reversal of Akira’s emotions.

-So I’m guessing Akira’s parent’s left him, and he’s hanging by Miki’s family to get by?

-So the original Devilman is a thing in this world? lol.

-I am loving this Greek chorus of rapping vagabonds. Honestly, this entire electro-synth/hip-hop soundtrack is baller.

-Akira radiates massive dumbass energy. “How do I make sure nobody knows my face? Just get up in everyone else’s! Perfect!”

-”He went to a friend’s place.” “He has friends?” askjdhaksd

And with that, we are on our way. I’m already excited to see what else this show’s got in store. See you next time!

[sparda3g]

Gintama Chapter 699 Review

After 10,000 years, this series is free. It’s time to conquer Earth! But seriously, it felt like it has been years since we last have a new Gintama chapter. The last one wasn’t truly the final chapter, but only final to be released in Weekly Shounen Jump. Today, Sorachi is on a mission to finish the series for good with a proper sendoff. What way to make a comeback than delivering a chapter that define Gintama perfectly; hysterical parody, emotional driven characters, and action-packed ride with a gut-wrenching cliffhanger.

By the time you see the color spread, you’ll know we’re off with a great start with Silver Ball Z. It’s remarkable how accurate Sorachi captured the visual work of Toriyama. From the character’s angle to design, it’s well deserved achievement to capture the sensation. Kondo didn’t need alteration though; he’s already a gorilla, so only the style has changed. To make the parody even better, the good portion of the beginning is a recap done in Dragon Ball style.

This is one of the best “previously on” segment that I have ever seen. It’s quite brilliant to take advantage of switching from one magazine to another and start off with a recap to remind the fans what happened while have a good laugh. It’s not only the artstyle that has changed, but even the narration reflects the same way how Dragon Ball has done in the past. All it was missing was the soundtrack. It is gold, or silver, however you want to call this moment. I laughed so hard at Katsura designed as Yamucha, and Takasugi designed as Vegeta. Strangely enough, it captured their character too well. Before the chapter truly begins, Katsura strikes Gintoki with Wolf Fang Fist.

The comedy doesn’t focus only on Dragon Ball parody, but also on Sorachi himself. Apparently, because of more time and switch to Jump Giga, Sorachi is now putting effort to his work with great quality of art, even if it does resort to Dragon Ball. Oddly enough, this seems to be low-key true to other Mangaka, but I digress. Hilarious that Katsura buries Yamucha by calling it a loser role. Rest in Peace, Yamucha. The best part is the ending of the parody. I seriously think Sorachi believes all of it.

Now that Gintama is in another magazine, Gintoki has nothing to worry about. No more worries about One Piece overshadowing him and no more worries about the rising suns that are Black Clover, My Hero Academia, and Haikyuu!!! to overshadow him. He can now overrun the world of Jump Giga, starting with Akira Toriyama’s power. So much so, he pulls the exact same ending shot from Dragon Ball. That is pure gold. Could you imagine if the series did end the same way? We’re going to need Gintama Super then. Takasugi brings the scene back to reality with Galick Gun. Oh how I missed this series.

He does have a point though. If there were silver balls, why bother planning this ambush in the first place? There wouldn’t be any need to sacrifice and nothing will be at stake. Well, thank goodness, it doesn’t exist. We can’t ruin the excitement now. Of course, what Sorachi does best is to segue to a more serious matter from a gag. It’s true with silver balls, life would be much easier on them, but Takasugi has no regrets. He’s thankful that they made it this far with their own hands; no tricks, no magic, just pure talent. All thanks to Shouyo. This is the type of writing I missed from this series. From there on, it’s all action-packed with many things to offer.

I assume with all the time Sorachi has with Jump Giga, he has enough energy to add plenty of details and sequences to the action scenes without wasting so much spaces. Unlike Boruto, it uses the panels wisely for tension and suspense. It’s why the action starts with a bang, literally and figuratively. It’s the Disciples against the cult followers. That panel with all three kicking asses while feeling the excitement is great. Thankfully, it’s not all of the story that was being told here.

Although they reached to the Altana Terminal, the ship that crashed is absorbing the altana. That means Shouyo’s body is absorbing it and soon, Tendoshu will gain a new way for their immortality plan. This does raise the tension higher, now that we establish that they’re on a ticking time bomb. They have to rush all the way up there and when you look at the scene, it’s incredibly difficult. It’s baffling how much people truly desired for immortality this badly. That’s where we receive a really heartfelt moment during the heated action.

While the action goes on as it becomes intense, Katsura begins a heartfelt speech that is shared with others that ties in the morale of immortality and cherish the life you’re given. Even if they were to die, he will have no regrets. It’s hard to say if their reunion was joy or sorrow, but it’s certain if one outlives another, it would be impossible to find another person like them. They have ups and downs, trying to kill each other. Despite all of the troubles, their bonds can’t be severed. It’s the bond that’s worth limiting to. Honestly, I can’t do it justice without the mention of its sequences.

The reason why this was so heartfelt isn’t just because we know their friendship is truly one of the kind or how well-written the dialogue is. It’s the action set piece that drives the emotion home with great sincerity. Not only it was entertaining, but you can grasp the words’ meaning at its best, leaving you feeling really good and emotional. It has great effective use of the flashback panels and the focus view to leave a strong impact. Like how Takasugi holds Gintoki’s hand to show the comradery, the unbroken friendship. It’s so damn good to see this series back again.

Gintoki can relate to the followers on one thing: not wanting to die. He can understand their wishes because he too wants to live long and enjoy the sensation with his friends. The others have their own wish to meet Shouyo. They want to vent out their frustration, but they may never know how much of a beating they will give until they feel satisfied. Not even eternity would do. Those panel shots with all of them enjoying are sublime. That’s how you do friendship. Those three are the best. The one major downside is the old friend of mine: darkness and it raised death flags.

Katsura spots a rocket launcher and push everyone back to dodge. Only he takes the damage from the impact, weakened enough to slow them down. They then gets trapped by both sides of their pathway, which seems like the end for them. While I didn’t think of that, I was a bit worried on what’s about to happen with Katsura injured. Anything goes and that’s what happens next. The explosions erupt from the wall, essentially saving the three from their certain doom. That’s where the other best part of the series comes in: the characters.

It was clear that it was too much for the three to handle all of the enemy alone, which is why it’s a great time to bring back all other characters to the fray. I like how Shinseigumi orders them to comply and if they don’t, then more power to them, because they would love to show their power. It’s not just them, it’s every character that has been around for a long time. It’s like witnessing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Gintama Edition; everyone is here! All it was missing was that theme song from Be Yorozuya Forever. Book it, anime staff!

What makes the scenario even better is how they are reflecting the long grueling journey after being ruled by Amanto for 20 years. They went through hell many times, but the result is paying off greatly. After the war, it made them stronger than ever. It’s no wonder earlier in the arc, it emphasized the growth of the Samurai. No more they will feel fear from them; it’s time to take Earth back. It’s a message that reads, “It’s been a long journey for your favorite characters, but they learn and grow, and when they show the result, the journey ends.” It’s already building for the closure that we have been waiting for.

You can’t do this justice without the beloved main characters. Just when Otae blocks the attack, which by the way is the same shot from the anime preview back in Jump Festa, the two come to save the day. Most importantly, after for so long, they can finally say, “Welcome to the country of Samurai.” The monthly release schedule really pays off for the quality panels like the one with Shinpachi and Kagura. So great to see them again. I got to remind myself how heroine is treated as well as a main character that doesn’t overshadow the protagonist. Yorozuya’s reunion is so close. I can almost taste it.

Characters aren’t great without amusing interactions. Matsudaira and Kondo are cooperating from sky and ground, like the good old time. Despite their political differences, mainly on the marriage, they are great friends. No matter what timeline they’re in, it will always be the Era of Samurai. Hijikata and Sougo work alongside with Shinpachi and Kagura, while she rubs in that Yorozuya is better than Shinseigumi as Sougo denies that claim. Some things never change, but that’s the way we like them.

There is an interesting development regarding with Utsuro. Tendoshu are in the process of gathering the Altana, but they are on the verge of losing their cult. The head leader however is fine with the way things are going. Shouyo’s body is slowly gaining a new heart. That will leave his disciples carrying a spare that wouldn’t destroy Tendoshu’s plan. Now the question comes in: why would the head leader needs to revive Shouyo completely? That’s where things get twisted.

If you have watched the preview from Jump Festa, there was a very strange scene with Utsuro mixed with Tendoshu’s body. It turns out that was true and not only true, but Utsuro has stolen their will. All this time, the plan isn’t for the sake of immortality, but instead, to revive Utsuro under his will. It makes sense considering that they consumed so much blood that they just so happen to control it like it belongs to them. The blood is like a virus, soon it will overpower you and a new mind will be inserted; case in point, Utsuro’s. In short, he has returned. This begs the question. Will Shouyo return as Utsuro with a new heart? It’s quite freaky to see three Utsuros in one setting.

The elevator scene is like a checkpoint for Gintoki and others to cool down and talk for a moment. Katsura does the talking while the other two stay quiet. It’s due to what Katsura said about their people and friends; everyone has grown stronger. They aren’t weak to ask them for a favor, rather fighting to help them. You can say they grew accustomed to be the one helping, not vice versa. Jumping ahead for a bit, Takasugi asks Gintoki for the heart; influenced by Katsura’s words, but not really all bright. They have enemies waiting for them, essentially, this scene become calm before storm.

Shinpachi and Kagura are assisted by Kyuubei and her clan, preventing reinforcements to barge through. It is the series’ way to have certain character to say their words or blessing, starting with her. She wishes to fool around a little longer with Gintoki and others like the good old days. She would be happy if they ruin her marriage interview. How charming.

In the midst of tensed action scene with Gintoki and others at the elevator lobby, Tsukuyo and others fight off the reinforcements to open path for Yorozuya. She gets shot through her leg. Damn. Luckily, Sacchan and Zenzou are there to back her up. Interesting though fitting for Sacchan to encourage Tsukuyo to not to die, unless she is with her lover. Strange use of context about the crotch spot, but the meaning holds the significant value. She’s not planning to die; she will live to see Gintoki again. Sorachi sure knows how to please the pairing fans; I’ll take it. I like Zenzou’s words for him as well. If he doesn’t return, then say goodbye to Jump issues. That’s funny yet heartwarming.

It’s hard to review the segment with great justice with its transition between Gintoki and his friends. It’s worth mentioning because how the scenes greatly complements the segment about what Gintoki has lost and gain. Takasugi wants the heart because he wants him to enjoy the life he can still take back. While that is seriously nice of him, Gintoki’s response is even nicer. He is fine with the way things are, because he doesn’t need to take it back. He got everything there. That includes Takasugi; when they fought alongside, when they fought against each other. That’s Gintoki’s reason to be there; never to lose anything. God, I’m going to miss this series.

The ending is crazy, especially the cliffhanger. Just when we got a teary sentimental scene, shit hits the fan when the explosion erupted by the lobby door. Damn you, Michael Bay! The heart slips out and Katsura is the only guy that can grab it. I was struck when his hand almost reaches it, only to get stabbed by the staff. Damn, that looks bad. Hitsugi sends him down crashing. I don’t know where they landed, but if they are fine more or less, I sense a new battle.

The intensity doesn’t stop as Gintoki trying to hold on the rope, which is ripping his skin. Cringe. Takasugi has to make an opening for them to land, so he jumps towards the door and breaks it, badass style. Wow, that was close. That elevator breakout scene was so damn good. Another scene from Jump Festa happens with Takasugi holding his hand out for Gintoki to grab onto. A couple of panels are used for heartfelt friendship scene as well as tension. It’s all fine and well, until Takasugi’s hand weakens. Tendoshu stabbed him with a sword. That’s where the chapter ends. Dammit, Gorilla…

I know Takasugi is semi-immortal, but the fact is he’s running out of time. If anything, this lessen the time even further. For all we know, this could be his last extra life, so if he were to die again, that’s it. Not to mention, it’s Tendoshu or Utsuro behind him, so the battle will be tough for him, even if not killed. This chapter has set up a death flag for each disciple, one in which has the highest. That’s Takasugi. Will he die here? I honestly don’t know.

This chapter was long but that’s expected for a month worth of content. With that said this was a hell of a return. There was a hilarious parody that this series is known for. There were tons of great action with plenty of fun moments. Characters were stellar as usual with believable motivations and relationships. The art is very solid, worth taking a time off. The ending was jarring with a cliffhanger that can make a person skip a heartbeat. It’s Gintama. I don’t know how many chapter we have left, but I will savor this as long as I can. The next chapter can’t come any sooner.

[cosmicqueen10]

The Top 5 things I’ve seen this October

Hey guys.

I wanted to get into the horror mood this month so I thought I’d watched some new anime and gameplay of the horror variety. And then I decided to do another list of my top favorite ones from 5th to 1st. Now, this is just my opinion so don’t criticize or flame me.

Now, for anyone interested, read on.

#5 - Hellsing (Original Version)

Yeah, I know there’s Hellsing Ultimate but I’ll watch that later when I can. Now to be honest, this one I just breezed through because I was half invested in it. 

Vampires I like but what I don’t like is not being intrigued enough to really look through every single aspect of the show to understand the full extent of its value. I thought there’d be some fling between Alucard and Seras but it’s pretty much a master/pupil thing. And really, the plot was never resolved at the end, probably saving it for the sequel. Mostly everyone dies, Intergra is locked up and may become a vampire by Alucard too, I don’t know. I’ve seen some images of Ultimate and I may get answers from it, and I found out that Alucard may be another version of Dracula. And he’s a girl. Yeah, I’ll watch that sequel soon to make sense of it all.

So, to be short, this wasn’t bad ... but I hope the sequel helps my feelings on this franchise get better.

#4 - The Devil is a Part Timer

This is more magical and humorous instead of complete gore, but that doesn’t mean it’s not intriguing. To see the devil; the embodiment of evil, in such an amusing way, is something that got me to watch it in the first place. And at a parody of McDonalds no less.

The plot was good, the art style is great, the action sequences didn’t drag on for filler sake, it was all smooth sailing. Of course, the romance was a tad not there for Maou and Chiho and just joked at only for it not to go anywhere. And after just now looking up stuff on the light novels and manga, it looks like Maou and Emi were meant to be and it goes way deeper than that ...

But most of the gang staying is like them moving on from their past lives to start anew is fine by me, them all being silly and acting like actual humans, for Maou being not just an evil being but someone who does anything to protect his people, friends, home, it gives him some humanity.

Again, anime just brushes the surface. But even so, it’s still good stuff.

#3 - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (Video Game)

Now, i wanted to watch the anime but after seeing reviews on how the anime does a terrible job at representing the game, I decided to watch the gameplay instead. Luckily, I found a gameplay playlist by a Youtuber, John Wolfe, with his girlfriend Kimmy as they played the whole game and their commentary made watching the whole, dang long story tolerable. That prologue though, so long!

The art style was what attracted me first. The plot is apocalyptic themed and such, some of the characters I tolerated/weren’t half bad/had common sense. Like Kyoko, Byakuya, Sakura, Chihiro, and a bit Makoto (even if he’s kinda half baked).

Monokuma is the symbol of despair in this game which is cute but also creepy, and it doesn’t end. John and Kimmy have a playlist for the sequel which I will watch later on. Twists, turns, and the real mastermind in this is cuckoo! Overall, this is worth the journey.

#2 - Devilman Crybaby

Oh gawd, the mature setting is set on high for this one. Just mature beyond belief.The art style/animation is so anime-esque but still new all the same. But when it comes to horror, the usual case of demons and the devil, I will watch it.

Akira became my go to guy in this. He may have fused with the demon Amon and became Devilman but he was still a good guy. And being caught up in this war with demons cost him his family, his friends, his love Miki, and worst of all, finding out his best friend Ryo is Satan all along. The whole plot of demons being humans succumbed to the worst of emotions and wiping out the human race to control Earth and then wage battle against God, it was all Ryo’s plan.

And yeah, the mature stuff with sex, drugs, violence, scenes of cannibalism from a kid (oh gawd that shocked me) and a duel to the death between former friends ... only for Akira to die. Everyone dying really, great characters like Miko and Miki, the rapping guys (even though one of them was a traitor) and Satan looking like an angel when actually he’s the devil. But Akira, cut in half, and Ryo embracing him as he cried for the first time as God wipes out all life on Earth again ....

And there it ends. The last few episodes were hard to watch. So much drama, and blood, and tragedy. It all ends. Such a good anime, but tragic ending. Just like Infinity War. T-T 

#1 - Castlevania (Netflix)

Now this has everything a scary, horror story should have and more. The Dracula theme, vampires, demons and all that but also magic, gripping action and a plot that comes all the way through. Season 1 got me interested, Season 2 took it all the way home.

So much blood, gore, language, some humor and relationship feels here and there, epic battles and a good ending that leads to a new beginning. Trevor was a badass with the joking and whip lashing foes, Sypha being one of the best magic users I’ve seen and being so clever and powerful, and Alucard being calculating and with a purpose to end his father’s war.

Showing flashbacks of Lisa’s capture and Dracula as he was before they met added more to how they were, so good. Also flashbacks for newcomers Isacc and Hector, plus Carmilla as to how they became who they are in the show and where they ended up in the end. The addition of more vampires was fine, even though it all ended with good old fashioned bloody brawls.

The chemistry between Trevor and Sypha was so cute! The relationship between Trevor and Alucard was that of crude amusement whereas Alucard’s relationship with Sypha is something else entirely. The final clash between the trio and Dracula was one of pure epicness and ending with Alucard making the final blow at the same time Dracula realized he was killing his own son; Lisa’s greatest gift to him; making him accept that he was already dead when Lisa died. Peace was restored, everyone went down different paths, and the ending made me shed tears.

In short, it was everything I hoped it would be and more. Not just good, but great. Is Season 3 coming next? Who knows? But what I do know is that this is the best thing I’ve seen this October.

And that’s it. I hope you enjoyed. And until next time, bye guys.

[sleemo]

16 Fascinating Revelations About the Making of Star Wars: The Last Jedi

— io9 | Dec 19, 2017

The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi is much more than a bunch of pretty pictures. Buried in Phil Szostak’s 256-page book are some fascinating insights into the production of the film. And while we highly recommend you flip through yourself, we picked out our favorites.

1) One of the earliest pieces of art for The Last Jedi was actually supposed to be in The Force Awakens. Designer Doug Chiang painted an image of Luke’s X-wing underwater in February 2013, but it got cut from that movie, and was used in TLJ instead.

2) A storyboarded version of the opening shot would have panned down from the crawl to reveal what at first looks like a huge planet, but was actually going to be the top of the tank Finn is recovering in.

3) The opening battle scene of the film wasn’t always directly after The Force Awakens above D’Qar. But choosing the location informed the design of the First Order’s Dreadnaught. The top was always flat, to allow for Poe’s heroics, but guns were added on its bottom, in order to fire at the planet below.

4) The Resistance bombers were a very early idea and a nod to how George Lucas was influenced by the planes of World War II. Also, while you may not be able to see it in the movie, some of the bombs have messages on them like “Hi Snoke” and “Han Says Hi.”

5) An early draft of The Last Jedi had Finn as the pilot of the bomber with Paige Tico, until writer-director Rian Johnson struck it down. “If Finn witnessed Paige’s death and didn’t know she was Rose’s sister that meant there would have to be a big scene after he found out,” Johnson says in the book. “If he did know Paige was Rose’s sister, there would either have to be a big ‘I saw your sister die’ scene, which I didn’t want to write and the movie would have come to a full stop to do, or he would be an asshole because he would never tell her. So ultimately it felt really right as a set-up but I realized there was no wood to burn in terms of a pay-off.”

6) There was a piece of concept art that would have had Rey abandon the Millennium Falcon in the waters of Ahch-To because she couldn’t find a place to land.

7) For Rey’s costume change after Han’s death, an early design had her directly influenced by the smuggler, with a short blue jacket and brown pants with red marks down the side.

8) The character of Rose came about because Johnson originally had Poe traveling with Finn to Canto Bight, “and it was so boring,” he says. “It was just these two dudes on an adventure... I realized I had to come up with something else. Finn needing somebody else to go with who would actually challenge him and push him and contrast with him was where Rose came from.”

9) The codebreaker storyline on Canto Bight was also much more complex in early drafts and designs. Originally, Finn and Rose were going to find him playing keyboards accompany a lounge singer. He was there “casing an insectoid warlord known as the Butcher of Brix” from whom he planned to steal “the blood jewels that finance his murderous regime.” The three would go on a journey to find a backpack with thieving tools, only to get caught on the roof and Finn and Rose put into prison.

10) Late in the design process, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said that the design of Canto Bight didn’t feel “Star Wars” enough to her. So the team scrapped everything and ultimately drew inspiration from early Ralph McQuarrie drawing’s of Jabba’s Palace.

11) The whole Canto Bight scene originally started with Rose and Finn breaking into a clothing shop to put on fancy clothes to blend in. However, Finn would’ve put his tuxedo on backwards, and everyone was going to laugh at him.

12) There was a bathhouse sequence on Canto Bight that was designed and shot but not used in the movie. It’s not entirely clear how it would have played into the film, or why it was cut, but it seems like it may have been another elaborate, lavish location for the fathiers to smash through. It was a steamy place complete with aliens in all manner of dress, lounging around and sweating.

13) Before DJ was in the movie, Finn, Rose, and BB-8's arrival on Snoke’s ship started with several different gags. One was them following a trail of lint into a laundry room. Another was an homage to Han and Chewie running into a mass of Stormtroopers on the Death Star, except this time, all the suits would be empty.

14) At one point, there was a line in the movie where Snoke mentioned his gold slippers.

15) The three flashbacks in the film, which are an homage to Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa, were one of the final things to go into the script before shooting. Johnson saw them as a way to give Rey more emotional impact when leaving Ahch-To, by having Luke initially lie about what happened between him and Ben Solo.

16) The Art of lists the various dates of the movie’s production, allowing us to put together a fascinating timeline of how it got made—and how early work began on it;

• January 9, 2013 - The first visual meeting about new Star Wars movies • May 16, 2014 - The Force Awakens begins filming • May 27, 2014 - Rogue One director Gareth Edwards’ first day at Lucasfilm • July 2, 2014 - Rian Johnson’s first day at Lucasfilm • August 2014 - The basic story for The Last Jedi is in place • November 12, 2014 - A production office for The Last Jedi opens in Burbank, CA • March 4, 2015 - The first draft of The Last Jedi is completed. • April 20, 2015 - Rian Johnson and his team present the film and early work to Disney executives. • July 29, 2015 - The second draft of The Last Jedi is submitted. • August 3, 2015 - Rogue One starts filming. • September 15-17, 2015 - Johnson and his crew capture the first footage for The Last Jedi on Skellig Michael in Ireland. This “preshoot” was to get outdoor shots before the weather changed. • December 11, 2015 - A third draft of The Last Jedi is complete. • December 18, 2015 - The Force Awakens opens in theaters. • February 1, 2016 - The first draft of the shooting script for The Last Jedi is completed. • February 11, 2016 - The Last Jedi begins principal photography. • July 29, 2016 - The Last Jedi finishes filming.

Honestly, we can’t recommend this book enough.

— io9

[neni-has-ascended]

My Adventures and Misadventures with “Nanase Futatabi” (Neni’s Advent Calendar - Day 1)

If you watch Anime, there’s a good chance you’ve watched or at least heard of a film called “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”. There’s also a semi-decent chance that you’re at least somewhat aware that said movie was an indirect sequel to a 1967 Sci-Fi novel of the same name, written by one Yasutaka Tsutsui. However, what’s less likely (but still possible) is that you’ve actually read one of Tsutsui’s actual books before. And what’s highly unlikely is that you’ve read this specific book:

Virtually unknown in the west, in Japan Tsutsui’s most popular work isn’t actually the well-known “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” (時をかける少女). Rather, it’s a short series of novels collectively called the “Nanase Triology”: 

Part 1: “ 家族八景-Kazoku Hakkei ” (”The beautiful sight of family”; officially translated as “What the Nurse Saw”) Part 2: “七瀬ふたたび - Nanase Futatabi” (”Nanase, One More Time”),   Part 3: “ エディプスの恋人 - Oedipus no Koibito” (”Oedipus Lovers”)

I have read none of them. The books are hard to get ahold of outside Japan, and I didn’t think to get them when I was actually in Japan (I’m kind of a moron like that.) Additionally, only “What the Nurse Saw” was ever officially translated, and though “Nanase Futatabi” has a Manga adaptation that can be found in English, that adaptation focuses on exactly the aspects of the story I am not interested in, but I’ll get to that. 

However, talking adaptations, the second book in the series has been adapted. A LOT. There is a 1979 NHK Television Drama aimed at younger audiences, a 1998 TV Drama for adults, yet ANOTHER TV Drama adaptation from 2008 and, finally, a feature film adaptation from 2010. 

Can you blame me for mixing them up!?

Long-time readers of the blog may be familiar with the fact that I’m a huge fan of Japanese vocalist and guitarist Yumi Uchimura and her now split-up band “school food punishment”One of their songs, “flashback trip syndrome”, was listed online as having been written for something called “Nanase Futatabi - The Psychic Wanderers”, which was enough to pique my interest. So I googled the name and read a summary. Apparently the thing was a story about people with psychic powers, featuring a telepathic woman as the lead.

Interest: Sustained. Problem: The thing doesn’t appear to be streamed anywhere, legally or otherwise, which makes it really hard for my self from 2010 to get her hands on it. Problem 2: it’s also Japanese life action, an artform I was thoroughly disinterested in back then, disillusioned by a couple of bad J-Dramas I had seen.

For the time being I put Nanase Futatabi aside, not thinking much of it.

Then, the year is 2017. I am working a repetitive office job that allows me to watch videos by the side, as long as I keep working swiftly as I do (which I do; in fact, I’m the fastest of those working on our current project, by a large margin). This has given me the chance to watch some things I’ve had lined up for a while but never had the chance to check out. After finishing a one-month marathon through the entirety of “House M.D.”, I finally decide “Oh right, there was that Nanase Futatabi thing. Let’s give that a try.”

And off I went.

Telepaths, and Clairvoyants, and Timetravelers, oh my!

I  watched the 2008 J-Drama, purely because it was the first thing that came on when I searched for the title. Later I’d learn that the SFP song that got me to watch the show in the first place was actually from the 2010 movie. Oops. Except not oops, because I don’t regret a thing. I was hooked. The show was incredible, far beyond what I’d expected from a J-Drama. Even despite the obviously low budget, it sold me on everything on screen. It was well-written, well-acted, with interesting, lovable characters and an intriguing plot that just kept thickening and thickening until the eventual climax in Episode 10. And then I cried. A lot. I had to take a coffee break there as to not arouse the suspicion of my co-workers. Then I went back to work and felt empty, because there was no more Nanase Futatabi to watch. 

I needed more of this. Like burning. 

So I went back and checked out the 2010 movie. 

It was... interesting...? ...Not what I... expected? ....Disappointing? ...It actually made me feel sad that this was the movie that SFP’s music went to. I constantly found myself thinking that ‘flashback trip syndrome’ would have been much better suited as an opening theme for the 2008 TV version (which, incidentally, doesn’t have an intro sequence at all, safe for a quick flash of the title in each episode). In fact, the 2010 film kind of murdered that awesome song for me, but I’ll get to that. 

Let’s finally get to explain what Nanase Futatabi is even about, shall we? I’ll quickly sum up everything that all versions I’ve researched have in common. Please keep in mind that I only know the original novel from synopses I found on the blogs of Japanese people who read it, so my information is second hand and may be inaccurate. 

The Plot

Nanase Hita is a young woman working at an old people’s home, who secretly has the ability to hear people’s thoughts in her head. This power often overwhelms her, since it makes her privy to the most disgusting thoughts of the people she works with. Eventually Nanase quits her job and goes traveling. On the train, she meets a young boy, Norio, who has the same power as her, and has a telepathic conversation with her. When Nanase reads the mind of another young man on the train, Tsuneo Iwabuchi, she realizes that Tsuneo is seeing visions of the train they are in being crashed by rocks after the next station. She realizes he is a clairvoyant and Nanase escapes the train together with Norio and Tsuneo, unable to convince any of the other passengers to leave. Nanase, Norio and Tsuneo decide to travel together. Eventually, they meet Henry, a bartender, who turns out to have the power of telekinesis, and Fujiko Sunadori, a woman with the power to jump back through time (as you can see, author Tsutsui has his favorite plot devies...) The group eventually ends up on the run from an organization trying to catch them because of their powers. There is also a young woman Nanase befriends called Ruri Mayumi (If you have trouble pronouncing her name, just call her “Lapis” - her name literally means “Lapis Lazuli”) who cheers Nanase up in her stressed life, but also ends up in grave danger because of her association to Nanase. 

This... is where things get fuzzy. Where the story goes from here is VASTLY different in all the three versions of the story I know anything about. As far as I can tell, the 2010 movie is closer to the book than the the 2008 TV Drama, but also not completely accurate. I also don’t know how the book ends, but I sure hope it isn’t the same as the 2010 movie’s ending, because that one was terrible. It made me sad, but not in a good way like the 2008 movie did. More in a “You really wasted one of my favorite SFP songs and some perfectly good concepts and characters for THIS?” way.

The better “Nanase”

To explain why I loved the 2008 version so much, while hating the 2010 version with the fire of one hundred burning suns, let’s start at the essentials, namely the protagonist:

2008 Nanase is a complex, interesting, sweet young woman, who truly wishes for the best of those around her, but can also be driven to acts of violence in bad situations. She always fears that she might end up abusing her powers, just as her enemies claim she will, but she maintains a strong will and stays true to her ideals.

2010 Nanase is a manipulative douche with the emotional range of a Version 1.0 Vocaloid, whose concern for Ruri’s well-being comes completely out of nowhere, who psychically stalks and invades the privacy of a guy who clearly isn’t interested in her, who orders her friends to murder people in cold blood left and right and has an unhealthy obsession with a 7 years old boy. Also, we’re clearly supposed to think she’s “sexy” just because she’s being played by Sei Ashina. Personality, what’s that? I can dramatically glance over my shoulder, woooo!

I don’t know which of these two Nanases is closer to the book, but I can’t at all imagine the 2010 one is accurate. You don’t get a bestselling Sci-Fi novel by writing an emotionless robot who orders a black guy to make people’s heads explode. Then again, maybe I underestimate people’s love for gore.

In the 2008 version, Nanase is a lot more relateable, a lot of which is thanks to the fact that (unlike in the book) this Nanase has forgotten about and been blocking out her powers ever since she was a little girl and lived a perfectly normal life, until the trauma of the death of her mother stirs her powers back awake. They also added a subplot about her father, which definitely wasn’t in the book, but I don’t care, because it’s handled so well, especially in relaying Nanase’s need to reconnect to that part of her past. A lot of the show is about Nanase learning to deal with and control her powers, so she isn’t constantly bombarded with people’s negative emotions left and right, and you really do feel her struggle. Norio - who, in this version is called “Akira” for some reason - actually ends up acting as a mentor figure for her in that regard, a role he definitely doesn’t have in the book, but it suits him and adds a dimension to his character. It allows you to understand just how much that little boy has already been through at his age, just because of his powers.

Generally, Akira/Norio is a far more interesting character in the 2008 version. He’s cheeky, clever, has a bit of an attitude and clearly has a way of knowing just what to say to people to get what he wants. The movie version, on the other hand is... a pretty bland male Ingenue. The whole movie, he never raises his voice above a timid whisper, doesn’t do anything that can be described with any adjective other than “d’awwww” and ultimately only serves the plot by being kidnapped. I felt second-hand embarrassment when I thought about what 2008 Akira would say about that version of Norio. 

Then there’s Tsuneo, who somehow can’t seem to keep his name in any two adaptations. Poor guy. In the 2008 version, his name is “Kousuke”, while in the 2010 version, he’s called “Ryoo”. 2008 Kousuke is a young man who has been struggling with the consequences of his ability to see disasters in the near future but being unable to prevent them all his life, and it’s effectively destroyed his self-esteem. He’s essentially a modern day Cassandra: Cursed to see all misfortune before it occurs, while being unable to avert it, no matter how he tries. This actually gets him mistaken for a serial killer for a while during the show. Nanase and Kousuke share a lot of screen time and, though the focus is never on it, a bit of a romance does eventually develop between them, but it’s not distracting.

2010 Ryo, on the other hand, is a satellite love interest for Nanase, who doesn’t do much other than getting stalked by her and shot by faceless stormtroopers. We’re told that Nanase and him have some sort of chemistry, but we never actually see any of that on screen. Thanks. Next.

And then there’s Henry. OOOOOHHH, Henry. In the 2008 version, he’s my favorite character, hands down. the moment he stepped on screen, I was charmed by his energy, optimism, slight clumsiness...Awww, look at him, he’s so adorabru I just wanna hug him, with his big, hopeful eyes and his puppy-crush on Nanase and how proud he’s of his powers, d’awww!!  If you took Goofy’s characterization from Kingdom Hearts and put it in a good-looking Japanese young man, that’s Henry from the 2008 version--- Except... ehhh. there’s, umm... a bit of an... ahhhhhhhh... Gah, I can’t avoid it, okay, okay! I’ll say it. There’s a problem here. And it hurts, because this is my favorite character, but it’s kind of a big one. 

Henry is supposed to be black. That’s why his name is Henry. He’s American. It’s kind of a big part of his character in the book, from what I can tell; his boundless optimism regarding his powers is supposed to come from the fact, that he’s been an outcast right from his birth in America anyway, so having powers now actually makes him happy, because it gives him the chance to do something, help someone, be more than just an outcast victim of racism! In fact, two of the book’s adaptations even got this right, casting actual black actors in the role of Henry, but this is not one of them, which, okay, I guess happens when you’re on a budget in Japan and can’t fly in any black actors from America or something, but then, why keep his name as ‘Henry’? It stands out like a sore thumb, especially because almost everyone else’s names were changed! Was the character so iconic that you just couldn’t bring yourself to change his name? Then why’d you make him Japanese!? I mean, the actor portraying him is great, one of the best on the show, and I wanna hug him, but... The character... is supposed to be............Uhhhh, my head...

But, hey! Guess what?

The 2010 version managed to cast a black actor as Henry! Maybe this is gonna be the one to finally elevate this version about the quality of the 2008!! I mean, who could possibly portray the boundless optimism and loyalty of Henry better than...

... The guy who did gimmicky commercials in intentionally badly accented Japanese for Diet Coke and a phone-service provider SoftBank back in 2006, and basically nothing else. 

I’m out.

No, seriously, this was the best they could get? No offense to the actor, I’m sure he’s a nice guy and all, but he was clearly not right for this role! He barely ever actually emotes (the photo above is more of a smile than he ever cracks in the entire movie, even in scenes when he’s laughing), his speech sounds far more robotic than is reasonable even for a non-native speaker (especially one who’s been living in Japan for years by that point), and he also clearly either received no direction or couldn’t work well with the direction he got, because I don’t buy a single thing he says or does in the movie. He’s less actor and more mannequin pretending to be human being. Come on, guy! There have to be some black people who can act well in Japanese in your range and price-class! At least try to cast someone who isn’t going to turn one of the emotional pillars of your movie into a constant source of awkward laughter from the audience!

At this point, we’re left with Fujiko, who keeps her name in both adaptations and is actually one of the the most fascinating characters in both, the 2008 series and the 2010 film (though, for the later, that’s not saying much.) In the 2008 version, Fujiko is a scientist who used to work with Nanase’s father and develops the ability to time jump by accident. Her driving motivation is her curiosity and need to explore the others and her own powers and figure out their limits, their nature, their origins and so much more. Whenever she’s on screen, she’s asking questions, trying to learn and trying to reconcile her need to know with ethical questions all around her. She’s quite likable.

2010 Fujiko’s occupation is never disclosed, but she’s clearly not a scientist. Her worries revolve mostly of her being unsure if her power is truely time-jumping or actually just dimension-jumping. Basically, she’s afraid that every time she uses her powers she’s basically just pulling a Rick and Morty on the world and leaving the timeline she came from to terribly descend into misery, while she herself escapes to a better one with the passengers of her jump. This causes her to have serious reservations against using her powers, a limitation that is direly needed, since Fujiko’s power to undo anything ever is an obvious game-breaker. This, too, was handled better in the 2008 version: 2008 Fujiko can only travel back a maximum of 20 minutes into the past and overusing her powers will physically exhaust her similarly to Max from “Life is Strange”. This keeps Fujiko’s powers from breaking the plot of the series, while in the 2010 movie, a lack of a limitation of that sort is what ends up causing an ending so groan-worthy, it made me roll my eyes so hard, I swear they almost got stuck there.

Finally, there’s Ruri and Ruri is perfect.

That’s all you need to know. 

Ruri’s backstory is changed a lot in the 2008 version: Unlike the book (and the 2010 movie), where she’s a gambler Nanase befriends in a casino, 2008 Ruri has been Nanase’s best friend since childhood, who works in a beauty salon and acts as her room mate for a large part of the story. Aside from that, the character’s personality remains unchanged: She’s energetic, confident, in-touch with her sexuality, loves to chat and joke and knows how to defend herself and others if necessary.  Saddly, 2010 Ruri doesn’t get much screen time, but the actress playing her nailed the character just as well as 2008 Ruri did, so that’s something (from as far as I can tell; again, didn’t read the book.) Also, while I absolutely adore 2008 Ruri, she saddly gets points deducted for holding the idiot ball pretty tightly late into the series, for no other reason than the plot needing to drive Nanase off the despair horizon and Ruri being too much of a positive influence in her life. Oh well. I still adore her for all the 8 episodes she didn’t act like a moron. If only they’d redeemed her again after her screw up in Episode 9, but the show never really gets around to that... *sigh*

Ruri may seem like a side-character, but her presence is crucial to Nanase’s character. She’s like an anchor maintaining Nanase’s footing in reality and without her, Nanase is quite lost. In the 2008 version especially. Again, in 2010 they tried to go for a similar vibe, but since Ruri effectively leaves the movie after 20 minutes or so, the effect is dampened, which may be part of the reason 2010 Nanase is so much less relatable. Then again, Ruri was too good for her anyway. 

Finally, the greatest sin the 2010 movie commits: The murder of good music.

Remember the song I mentioned? ‘flashback trip syndrome’? Well, the movie uses it. Constantly. I swear, it’s like, the ONLY melody the flick has. It plays all the time, arranged in, like 20 different ways, over every single scene, always... I love the song, and I swear, by the end of the flick, I was SICK of this melody. That’s a crime. A crime I tell you. Especially when you consider that the 2008 version had such a fascinatingly catchy, diverse and haunting OST. I take that any day over two dozen remixes of the same (admittedly great) song. 

Generally, the 2010 movie simply doesn’t have the time to tell any sort of great, interesting story. It’s people appear, get in mishaps, action scenes, end. In the 2008 show, there’s an arc, a mystery. The constant question about what’s “natural” and what “isn’t”, questions about ethics and human curiosity, and whether people who have the ability to manipulate what is most important to other people are allowed to freely use those abilities or have a responsibility to suppress them. Meanwhile, 2010 gives us... Time Travel shenanigans. Yaaaaaay....

As you can tell, I have feeling about this story. Many feelings. And all that after just watching two adaptations and without knowing the source material. Which brings me to my big point.

I wanna read the book.

I just want to know if Tsutsui’s Nanase is as great as the 2008 adaptation leads me to believe or as dull as the 2010 movie would suggest, or somewhere in-between. It’s so frustrating, comparing two versions to each other that are both derived from something else. I WANT to read the original, but as long as I can’t get it delivered straight from Japan without exorbitant shipping fees, my hands are tied.

My venture into Nanase Futatabi is an experience for me. I’ve always been firmly lodged within the games and anime space when it came to Japanese media, and my ventures into literature and live action TV were always quite occasional and rarely lasting. Nanase Futatabi gave me a taste for more. I wanna read Yasutaka Tsutsui Sci-Fi, and I wanna watch more live action Japanese media. I just wanna expand my horizon a bit more. And maybe, one day I’ll even find a way to show 2008 Nanase Futatabi to my siblings with functioning subs, because the ones I found were terrible and I had to quickly switch to Raws.

 Hey. I can dream.

[pendulumprince]

IT’S EPISODE 19. LET’S SEE WHO CAN SCREAM LOUDEST.

SPOILER: ITS ME. IT’S ALWAYS ME.

After the recap/opening

OKAY PLAYMAKER’S GOT FIREWALL AND DECODE ON HIS SIDE OF THE FIELD

HE’S GOT 2000 LP

AKIRA’S GOT 3900, AND THAT CRAZY GUARD DOG MONSTER

BLUE ANGE, KITA, AND SHOICHI WATCH ON IN TENSE ANTICIPATION

GG NOTICES BLUE ANGEL

AKIRA ACTIVATES HIS MONSTER’S EFFECT

BRINGS FIREWALL DOWN TO 1500 ATK

PLAYMAKER PLAYS A MAGIC CARD

TAKES OUT BOTH OF AKIRA’S MONSTERS

AI’S ALREADY BRAGGING

FIREWALL AND DECODE GET ALL THOSE SWEET ATK POINTS BACK

AKIRA’S TRAP IS ALSO DESTROYED

PLAYMAKER GOES IN FOR THE ATTACK

GETS AKIRA DIRECTLY

HE’S DOWN TO 1100 LP

BLUE ANGEL IS HIGHLY CONCERNED

BUT AKIRA’S GOT A TRAP

HE TAKES OUT DECODE

AND

SUMMONS HIS ACE

THE GATES OF HELL OPEN UP??

THREE COMETS FLY UP INTO THE SKY???

AND THERE’S THAT FREAKY BITCH NOW

AT 0 ATK

AI IS TERRIFIED OF THIS MONSTER

BUT AT LEAST HE KNOWS 0 ATK= A PAIN IN THE ASS EFFECT

AND AKIRA ACTIVATES IT

IT GAINS 1500 ATK FOR BOTH MONSTERS IN AKIRA’S GRAVE

SO IT’S AT 3000 ATK

PLAYMAKER SETS A FACEDOWN, ENDS HIS TURN

AKIRA TAKES HIS

GOES IN FOR THE ATTACK

PLAYMAKER ACTIVTES HIS TRAP

EQUIPS IT TO FIREWALL

SO FIREWALL ISN’T DESTROYED

“BUT YOU STILL TAKE DAMAGE!”  AW DAMN THERE IT IS

PLAYMAKER’S DOWN TO 1500 LP

AKIRA ACTIVATES HIS MONSTER’S OTHER EFFECT

SUMMONS A TOKEN

AND HIS ACE GOES UP TO 3500 ATK

AKIRA SETS TWO FACEDOWNS

PLAYMAKER TAKES HIS TURN, AND

AKIRA IMMEDIATLY ACTIVATES HIS TRAP

AND WHATEVER MONSTER IT’S EQUIPPED TO

CAN’T BE DESTROYED BY BATTLE OR CARD EFFECT LMAO OKAY

And… apperently…

When there are monsters next to all of his ace’s links…

He can send his ace and all those monsters to the grave

And deal damage

"equal to the equipped monster’s ATK”

Ah ha

Ha ha ha

WHAT A PAIN IN THE ASS

AI IS MAD

I AM TOO BUDDY

He and Playmaker talk things over…

PLAYMAKER ACTIVATES A SPELL FROM HIS HAND

IT ALLOWS A MONSTER IN DEF TO DEAL PIERCING DAMAGE

AI IS SO HAP

AKIRA, NOT SO MUCH

PLAYMAKER GOES IN TO TAKE OUT AKIRA’S TOKEN

AND

AND!!

AKIRA ACTIVATES HUS TRAP!

AND IT BRINGS DAMAGE DOWN TO 0

THE TOKEN IS DESTROYED

HIS MONSTER GOES BACK DOWN TO 3000 ATK

PLAYMAKE ENDS HIS TURN

AKIRA TAKES HIS

IT’S A MAGIC CARD

AND APPERENTLY THIS ONE’S CRAZY??

IT’S GONNA “STOP PLAYMAKER’S STRATEGIES”?

HE PLAYS IT

AND…

IT’LL PROTECT HIS MONSTERS FROM BEING DESTROYED IN BATTLE OR BY CARD EFFECTS

SO HIS ACE LITERALLY CAN’T BE DESTROYED AS LONG AS THOSE TWO CARDS ARE ON THE FIELD

AKIRA GOES IN FOR THE ATTACK

TARGETS FIREWALL

IT ISN’T DESTROYED, BUT

BY THAT MAGIC CARD’S EFFECT

DAMAGE DONE BY A TINDANGLE MONSTER IS DOUBLED OMGGG

SO PLAYMAKER’S DOWN TO 500 LP

AKIRA SPECIAL SUMMONS A TOKEN

HIS ACE GOES UP TO 3500 ATK

AKIRA ENDS HIS TURN

“OH NO~!” I FEEL THAT, AI

Playmaker goes over all of Akira’s traps and magic cards

As well as his entire strategy

AI IS SLIPPING OUT

“Stop panicing. Are you really an AI?”

OH, IS THAT MORE FORESHADOWING VRAINS?!

“You’re fine if he breaks apart our passionate friendship?”

“There is no friendship between us.” LMAOOOO

“You’re colder than an AI.”

“I don’t need warmth from people. Why don’t you act like an AI and explain the cards?”

Okay but technically, Ai isn’t a person? WAS THAT A TRANSLATING/SCRIPT GAFFE OR WAS IT MORE FORESHADOWING

“FINE! I’LL TALK LIKE AN AI! ‘Stupid’ is a forbidden word. Our odds of winning are less than 5%—“

“No, our odds are much lower. But I’ll say one thing. If you’re worried that I’ll lose, you don’t need to. Because I definitely won’t lose. Not until I uncover the truth with my own hands.

This deck contains my feelings for the past ten years. I will find the truth."

SORRY FOR ALL THE QUOTES THIS WAS JUST AN A+ SCENE

PLAYMAKER TAKES HIS TURN

DRAWS

He looks at what card he drew…

Sets it facedown

Ends his turn

Akira thinks this means he can’t do anything

BRUH. DON’T BE SO IGNORANT. YOU DON’T KNOW HOW WILD THAT CARD IS.

“Looks like you can’t do anything. But that is your destiny. Stop your revenge. Let me handle this, and return to your normal life. That’s what’s best for you.”

Omg you should know you can’t reason with this dude

“Go to school. Talk about the future with your friends.”

Okay I distinctly remember this from the preview last week, how Playmaker just can’t bring himself to do all that mundane shit.

“The days of youth are irreplaceable. Spend it with your friends. You’ll cherish these memories in the future.”

Okay but, he’s not wrong

Blue Angel continues to watch…

“By being obsessed with the past, time is passing you by. Don’t let happiness slip away right in front of your eyes.”

Okay, he’s REALLY not wrong.

But we know Playmaker’s gonna come in with some angst-filled counter

“Just like I did…”

Um what you mean

“BROTHER!”

AHHH BLUE ANGEL IS HERE

COME TO TALK SOME SENSE INTO HER BRO

AKIRA IS SHOOK

Alright, now SHE wants to hear what happened 10 years ago

Don’t we all.

Blue Angel tells Playmaker how much Link Vrains has chanced since he came around

She doesn’t know what she’s dueling for anymore, but feels like finding out about the incident might give her some purpose

CMON AKIRA

SPILL THE BEANS

WHAT. DID. SOL. DO.

“… I’ll tell you what happened.”

“An incident occurred ten years ago. It’s called the 'Lost Incident’. Six children went missing one-by-one. A certain organization kidnapped them.”

GG jumps in

“Yes. And one of the six children is…”

“No way! Was it you, Playmaker?”

“Stop it, Zaizen. I don’t want others to tell my past.”

SO

PLAYMAKER’S GONNA CONTINUE THE STORY INSTEAD

“After we were kidnapped, we were imprisoned separately."

FLASHBACK TIME

Playmaker wakes up in that cold white room

With the warm, likely artificial light of his Special Person shining down on him

And in front of him was the VR headset

“The room contained nothing, except for VR equipment. The VR showed a duel arena. We were forced to duel there.”

AND EVERYTIME HE FLIPPING LOST

HE’D GET ELECTROCUTED AND SLAMMED UP AGAINST THE WALL

Okay so

There was a black screen in front of him

It’s… some sort of organic looking sequence

IT’S AN EYEBALL

A GIANT EYEBALL

AND IT’S GROSS

Okay so he’d be given food

“We could only eat, sleep, and duel. This repeated everyday.

Everything was based on dueling. If we don’t win a duel, we don’t get to eat.”

WHO DID THIS.

WHO.

“When could we leave? How long could we live? We just kept dueling, because we knew nothing.”

Blue Angel looks ready to throw up. “How horrible… who would do this to children?”

SHOICHI IS SO. FUCKING. ANGRY. HOLY SHIT SON TAKE A DEEP BREATH.

“No one told us where we were or how long we’ve been held captive.”

And Akira jumps in. “But half a year later, the incident suddenly ended.”

Okay, back to that room

Yusaku’s knocked against the wall for the umpteenth time

A screen appears before him

That eyeball is watching

And…

“You can go home. You gave it your all.”

AND

THAT’S WHEN THE DOOR OPENS

AND THE PARAMEDICS RUSH IN

So the kids were rescued

“But no one knows the culprit. The incident was covered up, so the media didn’t raise a fuss.”

“Brother, do you know Playmaker’s identity—“

WHY WOULD YOU ASK HIM THAT HERE

But they don’t

“Because the country’s S Rank protection program protects the victims information. Playmaker’s identity isn’t stored there.”

“Zaizen, do you really think we were saved? We weren’t saved! I have the right to know what the incident’s mission was.

First, that incident tore my life apart. I’ll learn the truth and reconnect my life that was torn apart!

Second, that incident deeply hurt us and our families. Some still haven’t recovered from the shock. I’ll learn the truth for them and their families!

Third, during those hellish days, when my heart was about to break…”

AHHH, IT’S HIS SPECIAL PERSON

“Three. Don’t forget to think of three things. Three things to live. Three things to go home. Three things to defeat the enemy. By thinking, you can still live.”

Okay, but. WHAT ENEMY.

“Who are you? Where are you?”

“I’m beside you.”

“You’re locked away, too?”

“You can go home. You can go home soon.”

“I can leave?”

“So don’t lose hope. Think of three things.”

Okay, back to the present

“Whoever kept encouraging me wasn’t among the rescuees. If he’s still captured, I have to rescue him! The incident from ten years ago hasn’t ended for me!

Zaizen, I don’t have what you talked about. Since my life was cut short, I have no future to talk about with my friends, or irreplaceable moments.”

“So I guess I’m not your friend…” Don’t worry Ai, y’all are gonna get there.

“After the incident… to heal the wounds in my heart, I received treatment for years. I also tried hard to forget that incident.

"But no matter how much time passed, I couldn’t forget.”

SO HE HAD TO RECIVE THERAPY AND WAS STILL PLAGUED WITH NIGHTMARES AFTERWARD.

“Those horrible memories were burned into my eyes, feasting on my heart. It became my flesh and blood that I couldn’t dig out.

“When I realized that, I decided to face my own destiny. If you think revenge is worthless, that’s fine. But there are things I am destined to do to move forward.

"I investigated the incident and found something. The Lost Incident had another name: Hanoi Project!”

SO THAT’S WHY HE’S FIGHTING THE KOH

Okay okay, that makes sense

Akira jumps in

“I see. But that’s the extent of your knowledge.”

“What do you mean?”

“The name of Hanoi Project’s mastermind is in this data."

��WHO IS IT?!"

Lmao, love how the episode ends there

Preview time!

So Playmaker and Akira continue to duel

Because the motherfucker doesn’t wanna name the project’s mastermind, for soME REASON

[placetobenation]

April 13th, 1990 from the Tokyo Dome.

A combined WWF, AJPW and NJPW supershow?! Yes indeed. Mostly. Sort of.

For reasons I can’t quite explain, this felt like a festive stocking filler of a show to review, so this my gift to you – it’s better than nothing, eh? Let’s get to it. 

First of all, some context courtesy of the Wrestling Observer (by way of Scott Keith’s great Observer Flashbacks):

On 29 November 1989, the revived Universal Wrestling Federation – headed by former New Japan Pro-Wrestling talent Akira Maeda – ran a Tokyo Dome show which broke the records for fastest sell-out and biggest ever gate in Japan. NJPW founder Antonio Inoki was humiliated by this and booked a Tokyo Dome show for the following February which was to feature four reigning world heavyweight champions – Vader/NJPW, Hulk Hogan/WWF, Ric Flair/NWA and Larry Zbyszko/AWA. They weren’t able to book Hogan, however, and the mooted Muta vs. Flair match was cancelled at the last minute, with Flair citing political pressure from Turner Broadcasting System.

Flair’s cancellation, combined with the threat posed by the UWF led to a surprising and unlikely alliance, as New Japan and rivals All Japan Pro Wrestling agreed to trade foreign talent. The deal was facilitated by the man who deposed Inoki as NJPW President, Seiji Sakaguchi, and led to the Tokyo Dome show on 10 February being co-promoted, with the card ultimately featuring the debut of former sumo wrestler Koji Kitao vs. Bam Bam Bigelow, Masa Saito beating Zbyszko for the AWA title and Vader defending his IWGP title in a brutal match against All Japan’s Stan Hansen.

Meanwhile, Vince McMahon had booked a WWF show at the Tokyo Dome for April and a few weeks later (reported 5 February 1990) held a press conference with All Japan owner, Giant Baba, to announce that it would be a joint show with both AJPW and NJPW. It was christened Wrestling Summit soon after.

The advertised card was modified in places, most significantly with regards to NJPW’s matches, two of which took place at the show, but neither of which made it to tape. This was because the show’s television broadcaster, Nippon TV, was home to All Japan and therefore unwilling to promote a rival wrestling company. (Note: there may well be fan-cam recordings of those matches, but I couldn’t find them.) Because of this, the show has since become thought of as joint WWF/AJPW venture only and the two companies have enjoyed a fruitful working relationship ever since. Wait, that’s not right. More on the fallout later.

The opening match (AJPW: Dan Kroffat, Doug Furnas & Joe Malenko defeating Samson Fuyuki, Tatsumi Kitahara & Toshiaki Kawada) wasn’t shown either, so we skip that and match No.2 (NJPW: Jushin Thunder Liger beating Akira Nogami) and go straight to…

Kenta Kobashi & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Jimmy Snuka & Tito Santana

Kobashi, in red trunks and still looked like a teenager, was already drawing a decent reaction from the crowd. He and Santana went back-and-forth for a couple of minutes, with Santana dominating, but Kobashi hit back with a springboard crossbody(!) and made the tag to Fuchi, who unloaded with right hands then scored an enzuigiri to set up Kobashi’s missile dropkick. Fuchi then delivered the same to Snuka, who was tagged moments later. Kobashi earned a two-count with a crossbody out of the corner and followed with one from the top-rope, then Fuchi was in to dump the blown-up Snuka with a backdrop. Tag made to Santana, who ran wild with dropkicks and a leaping forearm, then he scoop slammed Fuchi to tee up Snuka’s Superfly Splash for the three-count. Snuka looked rough here and messed up a couple of things in the brief time he was in the ring, but it was otherwise a fairly decent tag match. I certainly got a kick out of seeing young Kobashi’s flashy offence. **

Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs. Tiger Mask II

Bret Hart vs. Mitsuharu Misawa! This should be amazing (spoiler: it is not). Tiger spent the opening minutes controlling the arm, then dropkicked Hart to the floor and fooled him with a dive fake-out. Hart charged straight into an armdrag before a crucifix earned two and it was back to Tiger controlling on the mat. Hart fought to his feet and reversed Tiger’s crossbody for two-count before cinching in a chinlock, but after a couple of minutes of that a rope-running sequence allowed Tiger to catapult Hart into the turnbuckle and it was back to the arm once more. Hart countered a second crucifix, scored a couple of elbows then applied another chinlock when it threatened to get interesting. Tiger powered up, landed a spin kick and flattened Hart on the outside with a plancha. Back in, Hart reached the ropes from a cross armbar then feigned a knee injury from a leapfrog to take control. Backbreaker from Hart for two, backslide counter by Tiger for two, then Hart threw Tiger to the floor before bringing him back in for a Russian Leg Sweep.

Tiger fought up from of a third chinlock to hit a scoop slam, but Hart delivered a nasty inverted atomic drop and suplex for a two-count. A fourth – fourth! – chinlock was applied, then abdominal stretches were traded before Hart missed the middle-rope diving elbow and Tiger connected with  a diving crossbody for a near-fall. Sternum-first turnbuckle whip and just as Tiger hit a running crossbody the bell rang to signal a 20-minute draw. I can’t recall seeing Hart dog it quite so obviously in a singles match. He was the one (very obviously) calling the match, which barely got out of second gear before being put back in a rest hold. A month later Misawa would be unmasked and in June he would beat Jumbo Tsuruta in his first Budokan main event – this was no young boy in the ring with Bret and it’s embarrassing in hindsight that he treated him as such. Bret + Misawa = 4/10 (no, seriously, it’s a two-star match).

Greg “The Hammer” Valentine vs. The Great Kabuki

Valentine’s music was “She’s Got The Look” by Roxette. I have no idea why. Anyway, Valentine – who was cosplaying as the untaped Riki Choshu – started strongly with elbow strikes until Kabuki replied with closed fists, which referee Shane McMahon decided to let go. Double-arm suplex from Valentine for two, then knife edge chops and a sort of rudimentary Jackhammer for another two-count. Kabuki managed to fling himself into the tree-of-woe, from which he was released by Shane O Mac, only for Valentine to stomp low. Kabuki blocked the figure-four, though, and applied a Boston Crab until Valentine reached the ropes. More elbows and a scoop slam from Valentine, followed by a shinbreaker and much mocking of Kabuki’s mannerism, but Kabuki had the last laugh as he small packaged Valentine for the three-count. This was fine and Valentine’s efforts to garner heat were appreciated. *1/2

Big Boss Man vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts

Despite both men being babyfaces at the time, Boss Man worked heel here, catching Roberts early on with a spinebuster then working on the back. This continued in uninspired fashion for several minutes before a chinlock was applied and Roberts tried gamely to get the crowd into it. Nope. Boss Man went to the top-rope after delivering a scoop slam, but the diving belly flop missed and allowed Roberts to make the comeback with punches and the short clothesline. Something went awry with Roberts’ knee lift, but no matter, as the DDT connected moments later to give Jake the win and Damien made a post-match cameo. Boss Man’s offence – which was the body of the match – was awful in every respect. Not good at all. 1/2*

Next up was an IWGP Tag Team title match in which the champions, Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto, successfully defended against the challengers, Masahiro Chono & Riki Choshu. Sounds like a good match on paper. 

Jumbo Tsuruta & King Haku vs. Mr. Perfect & Rick Martel

Perfect and Martel first dealt with Haku then went after Jumbo, who quickly turned the tide with a jumping knee to Perfect. The commentator loved that one. Haku took control with a nice shoulderbreaker, then a double-team clothesline enabled Jumbo to lock in the abdominal stretch. Martel interfered to break the hold, allowing Perfect to fire back with stomps, punches and the rolling neck snap. A big scoop slam from Jumbo brought in Haku, whose flipping senton missed the mark, bringing in Martel for the first time. A pair of scoop slams and a series of elbows set up the frankensteiner(!) for a near-fall, and after a brief flurry from Perfect, Martel was back in with a slingshot splash, but a second attempted frankensteiner resulted in him being dropped into the turnbuckle. Haku couldn’t make the tag, though, and a double-team slam allowed Martel to lock in the Boston Crab. Now it was Jumbo’s turn to interject, but all it led to was Perfect tagging in for an abdominal stretch of his own. Suplex from Martel and a knee drop for two, then an eye rake and scoop slam, but Haku got his knees up on the diving splash and he finally made the hot tag to Jumbo! Back body drops and scoop slams all round, then he and Haku whipped their opponents together, Jumbo nailed Martel with the jumping knee and the Backdrop Hold got the win! A very basic layout, with Haku imperilled for the majority of the match, but Martel and Perfect’s offence was nice and varied and the hot tag to Jumbo worked a treat. Good match. *** 

“Macho King” Randy Savage (w/ Sensational Sherri) vs. Genichiro Tenryu

Nice bird’s eye view of the ring as Savage entered the ring – they should use that again. Savage got a couple of punches in before taking a powder and posing on the turnbuckle, then Tenryu flipped out of a suplex and floored Savage with chops to a big reaction. Sherri’s distraction saw Savage briefly gain control, but Tenryu nailed a clothesline, back body dropped Savage to the floor and followed with a crossbody from the apron! Sherri got involved again, allowing Savage some respite and drawing huge heat, which was amazing to watch. Back in, Tenryu blocked Savage’s charge and scored an enzuigiri, but Savage hit back with a clothesline and punches before pushing the referee to the mat.

Another clothesline got two and one more sent Tenryu to the floor where Savage struck him with the double axe handle from the top-rope. Sherri twice gave Tenryu a smack behind the ref’s back and a second diving axe handle in the ring earned a near-fall, then Savage headed up top and the diving elbow hit the mark! One, two, no! A third axe handle was blocked, but Tenryu couldn’t get the powerbomb and Savage scored a diving crossbody. He seemed to tweak his knee off that, which gave Tenryu the opening for one more enzuigiri and this time the powerbomb connected! One, two, three! This was wrestled at a great pace and, thanks to Sherri, benefitted from plenty of heat. Savage dominated, Tenryu showed fighting spirit and it was certainly a sign of respect that he kicked out of the diving elbow drop. Really good match. ***1/2 

WWF World Heavyweight Championship 

Ultimate Warrior (c) vs. “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase

Warrior was fresh off beating Hulk Hogan for the title at Wrestlemania VI and had been world champion less than two weeks at this point. This had initially been advertised as an Intercontinental title match.

DiBiase attacked Warrior as he was playing to the crowd, but Warrior quickly brushed him off, sending him to the floor with a clothesline over the top. He proceeded to demonstrate his strength from a few tie-ups, then a criss cross led to a big shoulder block, but DiBiase avoided the attempted flying clothesline and took control. The crowd started chanting something every time he punched Warrior and he got a big reaction for clothesline and two-count. No idea what that was about. Snapmare and a fist drop and another massive reaction for a suplex. What is going on? Piledriver from DiBiase! That got two despite Warrior’s foot being under the rope, then it was time for the champ to make the comeback with a bunch of clotheslines, the flying clothesline and the big splash to retain his title in under 7 minutes. The bizarre crowd reaction made this relatively entertaining, but there wasn’t much to it otherwise. These two would have a far better match on the fourth edition of The Main Event later in 1990. *1/2

Demolition (Ax & Smash) vs. Andre the Giant & Giant Baba

Demolition were the reigning WWF tag champs at the time, having beaten Andre and Haku (aka The Colossal Connection) at Wrestlemania VI, but this is a non-title match because… well, look at the team they’re facing.

Baba began by shoulder blocking Smash and chopping him a few times before tagging in Andre. He was looking rough, bless him, but was mobile enough to stand on Smash before missing an elbow drop. Ax and Smash tagged in-and-out a few times, taking turns at clubbing Andre until he was able to roll over to the corner and bring in Baba once more. Baba trampled Ax, but Demolition quickly took control in their corner, choking him behind the ref’s back. More chops from Baba, and a spinning neckbreaker(!) saw Andre return to manhandle Ax. It all got a bit out of hand, with Baba interjecting and nailing a big boot to Smash, and Andre capitalised with an elbow drop for the (sort of) three-count. Not a good match by any means, but that was to be expected. Still, Demolition flung themselves around and the crowd enjoyed it. *

Special Dream Match

Hulk Hogan vs. Stan Hansen

This was due to be Hogan vs. Terry Gordy (despite Vince McMahon initially pushing for Hogan vs. Dusty Rhodes, according to Dave Meltzer), but that was before Hogan lost the WWF title. Supposedly, neither Baba nor Gordy were pleased with this development and so the match was changed on the day of the show, with Hansen replacing Gordy out of self-interest or selflessness, depending on who you believe. 

An even opening exchange saw Hogan demonstrating some technical prowess with double-leg and drop toehold takedowns, then they traded slaps and eye rakes until Hansen threw Hogan to the floor. Hogan fought free and managed to ram Hansen’s head into the ringpost, busting him open! Back suplex in the ring for two, then Hogan targeted the cut with punches and stomps before locking in an abdominal stretch. Knife edge chops in the corner sent Hansen to the floor again, where he was punched over the guardrail and slammed onto a table! Hogan posed in the ring, then brought Hansen back in for a two-count and delivered more chops in the corner. Finally, Hansen was able to block a charge and he bulldozed Hogan with a shoulder block.

Outside, Hansen smashed Hogan in the head with a chair and now Hogan was busted open too! Hansen drew cheers by rolling him back into the ring for a two-count and proceeded to wail on him with punches, then a brief sojourn to the floor saw Hansen use his bull rope, but back in, Hogan nailed a running elbow. The leg drop missed, but Hogan connected with a running crossbody(!) for a near-fall, then pushed Hansen off and nailed the Axe Bomber! One, two, three! What a great match. I’d go as far to say it was one of the best of Hogan’s career. Aggressive brawling, double colour and a clean finish. What more could you want? ****

The usual Hogan schtick to close and we’re out. 

The Aftermath

The UWF held what was to be their final show at the Tokyo Dome on 1 December 1990. This came after many months of issues between UWF President, Jin Shinji, and Akira Maeda over the direction of the company, as well as being a consequence of the general economic downturn in Japan. Maeda would go on to form shoot-style promotion Fighting Network RINGS, while a third iteration of the UWF – Union of Wrestling Forces International (UWFi) – would run until the end of 1996, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Only weeks after Wrestling Summit took place, Genichiro Tenryu left All Japan Pro Wrestling. Backed by well-known spectacles makers Megane Super, Tenryu would become the figurehead of a new promotion named Super World of Sports (SWS), who spent big and quickly built an impressive roster.

In October 1990, WWF representatives JJ Dillon and Akio Sato visited Japan and made a deal with SWS for a working agreement (AJPW having been given only a courtesy meeting and NJPW unwilling to meet the WWF’s terms). WWF talent began wrestling semi-regularly for SWS in December of that year and continued to do so until May 1992. A month after that, SWS held its final show in tumultuous circumstances, with talent splitting off into several new promotions. One of these was Tenryu’s WAR, with whom WWF held a joint show in September of that year. Beyond that, WWF ran four house shows across Japan in 1994 and… that was it for a long time. They didn’t return until 2002.

Tenryu’s departure from AJPW led directly to the push of Mitsuharu Misawa, which in turn would lead to the most prosperous time in the company’s history, and despite their absence from the footage, the likes of Hashimoto, Chono and Liger would bring about similar incredible success for NJPW. Coupled with the demise of the UWF and later SWS, this meant neither company was desperate enough to co-promote for the rest of the decade, and they wouldn’t run another joint show until 2011/2012, when they and Pro Wrestling NOAH organised a pair of events in response to the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. 

Final thoughts: A preposterous one-off event in the middle of an extraordinary time for Japanese professional wrestling – of course it’s a recommendation. Even at its worst, this bizarre spectacle is thoroughly entertaining. Clearly it’s not a high quality show, with the Misawa/Hart match a notable disappointed, but there are couple of very good matches here that would be worth seeing even if isolated from the occasion.

[shidoukanae]

VRAINS Mystery Masterpost 2.20

Full list: Here Previous post: Here

Okay, hmm, this episode. Up until the very end I was afraid that I wasn’t going to have anything to question. And, then, the last five minutes happened and wow oh wow. It was a very touching episode in regards to Akira and Aoi but it was also the start of what seems to be several subplots threading apart and to eventually return together...

-So okay this rainbow mark/pattern/symbolism is interesting because this is not the first time this emblem has been shown. The picture above is episode 20. The one below is from episode 2 and the one below that is from episode 7. Whether it has any significant impact I’m unsure of but it’s interesting to note this rainbow pattern only seems to appear when Playmaker hops back on his board after either: A. being knocked off of it or B. is making an escape. 

You can suggest it’s a “stabilization mechanism” to keep players grounded to their boards but, if so, why haven’t we seen the same thing happen to Ema when she got back on her board? Why haven’t we seen glimpses of Blue Angel and Go getting this same “stabilization mechanism” to keep them from falling? You would think if they bothered to put it under Playmaker’s feet than they would keep it consistent with Revolver or Blue Angel or Go or whomever but, not really. 

It kind of makes me wonder if that rainbow pattern will have any meaning or if it’s some subtle clue/foreshadowing to someone bigger and larger later on (like an advanced civilization beyond just the VRAINS, the mark of "destiny” that only technology can detect, I don’t know) or if it’s just a nice aesthetic touch.

-Okay, wow. What. I mean, we knew beforehand that Dr. Kogami was in a coma but now it’s implied that he actually might have legitimately died O.o

Like, if it’s taken metaphorically (Dr. Kogami is dead in the mind only but not in the soul that inhabits the VRAINS) then it makes sense but, literally (as in he really died not just comatose-died but really, really died, that would need one hell of an explanation. I’m not sure which the show was trying to imply - before this episode, it seemed more metaphorical. 

After this episode, however, I’m beginning to feel like it’s more literal because the show is trying to make an impact on the viewers and that impact is more lost on those who are aware since episode 3 that, Dr. Kogami was, yeah, dead. 

Regardless, it could have also served to give Yusaku and Shoichi the information they need to approach IRL Revolver (since it’s likely that, if Yusaku can’t find out what happened from the dude who’s dead what happened in the Hanoi Project Yusaku’s gonna try to contact the next best person in line for information: Dr. Kogami’s relatives. Aka, his son. Aka Revolver himself) and been more to shuffle information from the audience to the characters at this point.

-Yaaaay, the magical seed of despair that will apparently plunge the VRAINS into chaos and despair. What will it do? Nobody knows yet for now~

That aside, I’m interested in how this is described as a “seed” that will bear “fruit”. That’s usually a light reference to a tree and maybe even mythology. I immediately was thinking of Yggdrasil, the “World Tree” and the forbidden tree of Adam and Eve. However, I don’t quite think either tree holds much relevance to what is being said. Instead, I dug around and what I found feels more relevant than either of those two commonly-known mythologies regarding trees. Rather, it seems to correlate well with the myth of the banyan tree.

From Listverse (source: http://listverse.com/2014/03/24/10-amazing-legends-of-mythological-trees/):

“The banyan tree is the type of tree that the Buddha sat under, according to some legends, but its mythological significance goes even deeper. While banyans are real trees, there are many beliefs that persist to this day regarding their magical nature. One story tells of a father who had his son take a fruit from the tree and look at the seeds inside. The boy was then told to open one of the seeds and tell his father what he saw inside. He explained that he saw nothing, and his father explained that from that nothing, the banyan tree sprang forth.In the story, he uses this as a lesson to explain how so much life and greatness can come from so little. 

However, the tree has truly mythical powers beyond just its prodigious size. The belief persists among many today that the banyan’s roots never stop growing; they continue down into the Earth and lead to a truly eternal tree. Much like a phoenix arising from the ashes, if a banyan tree is hacked down, the legends say it will use its powerful roots deep below the ground to return to its former glory.”

Already, there’s a parallel between the myth of the banyan tree and VRAINS with having a father and son associated with both a seed and a fruit. I’d say that’s pretty interesting. What’s more is that, even though the tree is associated with immortality, it is also associated to death as well. 

(From: https://rgyan.com/blogs/the-banyan-tree-its-mythological-significance/): 

“The banyan tree is considered as the symbol of immortality...it symbolizes longevity....Banyan is also associated with Yama, the God of death....while the Banyan represents the latter, it is like the soul, neither dying nor renewing. The Banyan represents one’s spiritual aspirations. It is said to be immortal or Akshaya, and can even survive Pralaya or the destruction of the world...

“Just as a hermit cannot raise a family or support a household and only has spiritual aspirations. The same way, the banyan tree represents the spiritual aspirations; free from materialism...They reject the flesh in search of the soul alone.”

So, right there alone, we have Dr. Kogami’s aspect of being both “immortal” and “in death” which is almost how eerie that the show aligns itself in a kind of cohesive manner considering this legend. 

-back to Kusanagi. I’m not gonna say much here except the sequence of events that happened below suggests that Kusanagi may have, at one point in time, been involved with SOL or have even known someone who worked there.

Case in point:

(^) Shoichi seems to be having a flashback moment to the front of SOL Technologies’ business. The screen fades out from picture 1 to picture 2 and then fades in to picture 3. This suggests Shoichi has at least some form of familiarity with the company or at least has the front view of it registered in his mind for god knows what reason. 

-Okay, so, the “whistleblower”. My mind immediately jumped to Shoichi on this one but, as we don’t have enough information on how involved, if any, Shoichi was with SOL I’m gonna say it’s possible that this “whistleblower” is someone new. It could be Kitamura, sure, because we can see him easily backstabbing Akira well enough so why not the good doctor too? But, again, it’s hard to say anything concrete about this assumption.

What’s more, it’s rather interesting that it’s made a point for the show to say “hey, Dr. Kogami did this incident all alone but, because of a whistleblower, SOL kicked him out because he was a bad, bad human being”. This suggests that, while SOL Tech might have been aware of what was going on, and condoned such behavior. 

Whether or not they have anything to do with Dr. Kogami’s death, however, is still up in the air. Dr. Kogami suggested he purposely presented himself as being dead in the first place. So, it’s now possible that SOL might not be as “evil” as we thought after all and the attention of “antagonist” was only shifted from Hanoi to SOL momentarily and now returned to Dr. Kogami who, at this moment, screams more “antagonistic” material than anyone else.

-Also, the scenery where Dr. Kogami and Revolver stand is not only beautiful but ominous too. Like it looks like some kind of sewers placed at the bottom of a giant-ass spiral staircase with a giant pit that goes God-knows-where. If we go back the to the tree myth, it might be possible that what was planted in the depths of this mysterious area is a tree that will shoot out of this cylinder space and into the “outside world” of the VRAINS. Slight prediction there, but it definitely feel like something’s going to come crawling out of that pit - tree or monster or something much worse.

For now, however, it seems we’ll be waiting for explanations....

[dragonkeeper19600]

Fruits Basket Observations

I reread Fruits Basket this month. One of my favorite things about this manga full of favorite things of mine is that every time I read it, I realize something new about the story and its characters. Apparently, this was one of the goals that Natsuki Takaya had in regards to Fruits Basket, that it would get better the more you “bite into” it (she actually compares the series to a cuttlefish in that regard), and I think she pulled it off due to all the amazing Fridge Brilliance moments that come from rereading it. 

With that in mind, here is my list of random thematic and character-based elements I’ve never noticed before, as well as little moments that slipped under my radar the first time I read the series:

A lot of traits about Akito’s character, including her real gender and her primary motivation, are foreshadowed early on in more minor forms. For example, the main character is a girl named Tohru, but in Japan “Tohru” is a boy’s name. “Akito” is also a masculine name. Tohru and Akito sharing masculine names not only emphasizes their status as foils, it also sort of foreshadows Akito’s gender in a way, since there’s one other example of a gender-blender name in the story.

Matoko’s character also foreshadows Akito’s internalized misogyny. In Volume 7, Matoko fumes that she hates all women, including the other girls in the Prince Yuki fan club because they’re all “her enemies” (in that they’re potential rivals for her love for Yuki) but then admits to herself that the flaws she sees in others are only reflections of the flaws she sees in herself. 

Finally, in a really interesting example, the anime’s opening theme, “For Fruits Basket,” finishes with the line, “Let’s stay together, always.” “Staying together always” is revealed to be the true nature of the curse, since it forces people to be together forever regardless if they want to or not. Because of this, the song and opening sequence become unexpectedly sinister when viewed by someone who’s finished the manga.

What’s even more bizarre is that in the anime, Akito is doomed to die young, and Tohru is able to get through to him by noticing his loneliness and fear, which no one else ever acknowledged. This was exactly how Ren got Akira to fall in love with her in the manga. This is especially odd because Natsuki Takaya had nothing to do with Akito’s characterization in the anime, meaning that this is either the mother of all coincidences or she actually got the idea from the anime. Considering Ren is a villainous character, this may even have been a deliberate potshot at the anime, which Natsuki Takaya reportedly hated, though this is just wild guesswork at this point.

A lot of characters who share some kind of connection or matching qualities have similar names. This is actually pointed out by Kyo when he notices his name sounds pretty close to “Kyoko,” but it’s far from the only example. Matoko Minagawa and Makoto Takei have similar names and are both high schools one year above Yuki who are obsessively in love with him. Ren and Isuzu not only look alike, but Isuzu’s nickname, “Rin,” sounds pretty close to Ren’s name. There’s also Mitsuru and Ritsu, whose similarity becomes even more pronounced when Mitsuru’s name is shortened to “Mitsu,” as it often is. And, finally, Kyoko’s maiden name, “Katsunuma,” is pretty close to the name of her husband, “Katsuya.” 

On that note, Ren mentions at one point that she’s always hated Rin “instinctively.” While some have pinned this on Ren’s simple dislike of children in general, the fact that Rin looks like Ren hints at another explanation. Shigure mentions in Volume 20 that if Akito expressed her true gender, she’d look just like Ren. Because Rin also looks like Ren, perhaps when Ren saw a little girl who resembled her, it reminded her of her own hated daughter. In other words, Ren and Akito both hated Rin for the same reason (because she looked like someone they hated.)

Shigure and Akito totally banged in Chapter 101. They start kissing, with Shigure pulling on Akito’s tie, then it fades into a flashback, and when we cut back, Akito is in bed, topless, and Shigure is pulling a blanket over her. They totally went at it doggy-style, yo. This may have been obvious to other people, but I was pretty innocent-minded as a teenager (shockingly), so this flew completely over my head.

In that same chapter, it’s implied that Shigure actually sleeps around a lot, since when Akito prodded him for sleeping with “that woman,” he honestly didn’t know who she meant until she clarified she meant Ren.

Hang on, does this mean he banged Mayuko? I... Shit, I think it does.

When Kureno rescues Rin from the cat’s room, she’s wearing Akito’s clothes. Looks like Akito (or maybe one the maids) has been dressing Rin in Akito’s robes. 

Rin probably has some kind of crush on Tohru, and I’m not just saying that because of her stated desire to “run crying into her lap.” In Volume 23, when Kyo sees Tohru comforting Rin, he murmurs that he has “guys and girls as competition,” and later in the same volume, when Haru and Momiji are speculating on how happy Tohru and Kyo will be together, Rin sullenly comments that Tohru should break up with him. If this is true that means that both Rin and Haru are bi and attracted to people other than their partner (since Haru confesses in Volume 3 that Yuki was his first love and also comments that he “likes Kyo, too.”)

The birth of his little sister Hinata is what motivates Hiro to tell Kisa and Haru the secrets he’s been keeping from both of them, since he desired to “be someone who can really protect her.” Hinata innocence created a sense of urgency for him to mature, and he felt that properly communicating crucial information about his and other people’s feelings was an important step towards that.

When we see Hanajima immediately after Tohru’s accident (in Chapter 124), her normally neat braid is really loose, with huge strands of hair coming out of it. Considering how deep her love for Tohru is, her getting injured must have hurt her pretty hard. 

In the last panel of the same chapter, a large rabbit plushie is visible in Tohru’s hospital bed. Since Momiji had already skipped school to visit Tohru early that day, it can be inferred that he gave it to her. Takaya is pretty consistent about drawing it afterwards, too, since Hanajima is shown carrying it when Tohru checks out of the hospital next volume.

Even though Ayame seems to be the loud, transparent type who proclaims to the heavens every thought that crosses his head, he actually manages to keep three major secrets during the course of the manga: Akito’s true gender, that he’s dating Mine, and that Mine knows about the curse. Ayame might be more cunning than we give him credit for. 

In Volume 15, Yuki recalls when he first met Kyo, Kyo angrily shouted that “someone as rotten as you ought to do us all a favor and just disappear!” Much later, in Chapter 126 (Volume 22), during his meeting with his father, Kyo recalls that his father actually shouted that at both him and his mother. Thus, Kyo as a kid was just repeating to Yuki what he heard his father say at home.

Hatori was dreading having to dance with Ayame at the next New Year’s banquet in Chapter 95. Well, it looks like Hatori lucked out because that dreaded dance never happened (as that was the last New Year’s before the curse was broken completely).

The story has a bit of a bookend structure with several events from the first few chapters repeating in the climax. For example, a landslide buries Tohru’s tent in the first volume and causes Tohru to fall from a great height in Volume 21. In both cases, the landslide is a presence that is catastrophic but also signals a beginning. In the Volume 1, the landslide is what indirectly causes Tohru to live in Shigure’s house, whereas in Volume 21, Tohru’s fall causes Kyo to return to her and begin to realize the depth of his mistake in turning her away. 

In a similar way, Akito’s confrontation with Tohru outside Shigure’s house actually mirrors the famous scene where Tohru runs into the woods after Kyo’s true form. In both cases, Tohru is trying to comfort and talk down another character who is reacting to her violently, slashing her with claws in Kyo’s case and with a knife in Akito’s. In both cases, the violence is a way to mask pain and distress, however, the situation is ramped up in intensity in Akito’s case because while Kyo actually loved Tohru and wanted to drive her away because he thought her respect for him was gone, Akito was murderous in this scene and actually meant Tohru harm. The scenes also contrast in that Kyo is a monstrous presence, with a huge, misshapen form and terrible smell, while Akito is more divine, appearing in human form and literally being possessed by God. Both represent monstrous dangers mixed with human pain, but Akito actually becomes the more terrifying monster because of the blame and spite she hurls at Tohru.

Kyo at no point actually told Tohru he loved her before she fell off the cliff. No wonder she thought he dumped her. 

In the fable of God and the Zodiac at the end of Volume 22, God has identical facial features to Akito. Also, while God is consistently referred to in gender neutral terms (always being referred to as “God” or “that person” by the narration), the cat is referred to with male pronouns, meaning the spirit of the cat is itself male. Considering the cat before Kyo was also a man, this may mean that every person possessed by the cat is male, though this is again speculation.

The breaking of the curse seems to be random, with characters abruptly being freed without any kind of prior warning or clear trigger, but a comment from Shigure in Chapter 108 about “small chances and changes that have accumulated” leads me to think that the members of the zodiac forming relationships outside of the zodiac, or even outside of the family, increases the chance that it will be broken. Though the weakening of the curse over time made this possible, it was outside influence, and the zodiac members’ increasing willingness to defy Akito, that caused it to weaken more rapidly. The curse begins to break rapidly once Tohru realizes she is in love with Kyo, going from no one having their curse broken in years to Momiji and Hiro being freed one after another.

So, what was the “change” that caused Kureno’s curse to break? Considering how old Kureno, and Akito, were at the time, and considering that Kyo’s mother died “when he was three or four,” according to him, my guess is that Kureno’s curse broke either as a result of Shishou taking in Kyo, or, my preferred possibility, when Kyo met Kyoko, since Kyo mentions that her comment of, “That sounds pretty lonely,” once she learned Kyo’s situation felt to Kyo like “forgiveness.” If that’s the case, then Kyoko’s friendship with Kyo formed the first major fracture, and Tohru unwittingly (at first) continued her work by growing close to the rest of the Sohma family and giving them the courage to defy their oppressive environments.

Finally: reused character designs. Shigure is the spitting image of Colonel Hil, the main antagonist from Natsuki Takaya’s previous work, Tsubasa: Those With Wings, and Kisa’s mother also bears more than a passing resemblance to Kotobuki, the series’s protagonist. Finally, as Takaya herself points out, Ritsu’s mother’s character is wholly recycled from a bit character from the same manga.

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 8/6/18

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 1 | By Koyoharu Gotouge | Viz Media – Well, that escalated quickly! Tanjiro, an earnest young man helping to support his loving but struggling family, returns home one day to a gruesome scene of blood and death wreaked by demons. One of his sisters survived, though she is now destined to become a demon herself. Desperate to save and protect what remains of his family, Tanjiro turns to the life of a demon slayer. The more I read of Demon Slayer the more I had the feeling that I had encountered parts of the story somewhere else before (except perhaps for Tanjiro’s superior sense of smell). But even so, it was an engaging first volume. Even if a series seems to be relying heavily on well-established tropes and familiar training montages, done well it can still be a great read. Demon Slayer might be one of those manga, but it also has the potential to be more. – Ash Brown

Devilman VS. Hades, Vol. 1 | By Go Nagai and Team Moon | Seven Seas – In addition to being a sequel to Nagai’s original Devilman story, Devilman VS. Hades is a crossover with the Mazinger franchise. To some extent, Devilman VS. Hades can be read as a standalone work—the most critical information needed to follow what’s going on is included within the series itself—but some basic familiarity with Devilman and/or Mazinger doesn’t hurt. (Fortunately, several incarnations of both franchises are readily available in English.) In Devilman VS. Hades, Devilman has literally fought his way through Hell to free the souls of those he holds most dear, unleashing a horrifying new apocalypse in the process. Devilman, Akira Fudo in his human form, must now face enemies old and new while navigating the grotesque and hellish landscape. Devilman VS. Hades is only three volumes long so the first understandably moves along at a fairly quick pace, but at the same time it can seem bizarrely unfocused. – Ash Brown

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 7 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – So, yeah, the prodigal lawyer dating the high school girl was never going to be a popular decision, and when you throw in the house basically being used as a dormitory for troubled souls, it’s not hard to see why Fujiwara’s father has decided to come in and bust it all up, since Shimana did not listen to his wise counsel an go away forever. That said, he’s an obstacle rather than a dad, and so we’re not thinking about how to appeal to his better nature, but how to surmount him. As for Shimana and Fujiwara, well, if nothing else his emotions are getting more immature when he’s with her—which may not be a bad thing. This is no orange, but it’s still good enough to keep reading. – Sean Gaffney

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 7 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – I can’t make up my mind whether I want Shimane and Fujiwara to succeed as a couple or not. Complicating this is the fact that neither of them can seemingly make up their minds, either. It’s totally reasonable that there’d be a lot of fluctuation and vacillation in a teen romance, but coupled with the swift pacing of this series, I just end up with a serious case of shoujo whiplash. As it stands, Fujiwara’s father seems determined to split them up, and Fujiwara is attempting to fall for Shimane and is sure that he will, given time. Meanwhile, I thought it was kind of interesting to see why Fujiwara’s friend, Miura, might’ve agreed to interfere on Fujiwara’s father’s behalf. I don’t really believe the series will end with Shimane heartbroken, but I’m not convinced this relationship will bring her happiness, either. We shall see. – Michelle Smith

Durarara!! re: Dollars Arc, Vol. 2 | By Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Aogiri | Yen Press – I will note the biggest disappointment in this volume right off the bat: because it’s compressing events so much, it cut the bit with Shizuo using a car as cover by kicking it along in front of him, a highlight of the anime. Other than that, this is a decent adaptation, though I think I’d give the anime adaptation the higher marks. I did like seeing how just because the runaway Akane has been “retrieved” by her father does not mean that the problem is solved—Narita is good at showing that childhood trauma can stay with you forever and is not easily fixed. Especially in DRRR!!, where everyone is sort of broken. This moved way too fast, but is otherwise good. – Sean Gaffney

Fate/Zero, Vol. 6 | By Gen Urobuchi, Type-Moon, and Shinjiro | Dark Horse – I’m not sure why we had a year’s delay between the last volume of Fate/Zero and this one, but I’m glad we’re back with it, even if it continues to be a very bleak war. That said, nothing is too depressing as long as Alexander the Great is in it, and going from the discovery and destruction of the room filled with dead and tortured children to a three-way drinking discussion between him, Saber and Gilgamesh is mood dissonance of the finest kind. It was an excellent discussion, and reminds readers who are familiar with the original Fate series just how messed up Saber’s vision really is. As for the cliffhanger, will Tokiomi actually do something? GASP! Not for the squeamish, but excellent. – Sean Gaffney

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, Vol. 6 | By Rin Mikimoto | Kodansha Comics – This is a relatively serious volume of KMatSoM, which means we get very few SD-faces and no discussions of butts. It makes sense, given we’re up against some things that could spell trouble for this burgeoning relationship. No, not Shu; she’s taken care of fairly quickly by the classic shoujo tradition of the heroine just being far too nice and sweet to be horrible to. No, the main issue is Funny Bone and their past with Kaede, and the apparently death of someone in Kaede’s past—which he starts to tell Hinana about as we close this book out. I expect we may be entering whole volume flashback territory next time, but we’ll see how it goes. Does this mean no butts in volume seven either? – Sean Gaffney

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 31 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – To no one’s surprise, Alibaba’s financial renaissance is running into serious trouble after a strong start, as Sinbad is not about to let him get the Kou Empire back to its former strength. Alibaba can try to avoid the rumors and come up with new and more fascinating items, but it’s more interesting seeing him meeting up with old friends, some of whom have gotten married and had children. Of course, the two most important friends of his have been missing for a while… and we finally catch up with them, and see that Aladdin has finally grown up all the way. He’s got his hands full trying to deal with Arba and her ability to possess people and take them over. Will we finally see them reunite next book? Signs point to yes. – Sean Gaffney

Murcielago, Vol. 7 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – We’re taking a break from serial killers to deal with terrorist organizations long thought dead, but the output is the same—lots of gore, lots of dead people, this time mostly in the Diet and the police, along with a few innocent bystanders. Kuroko is trying to deal with this, but she’s a bit upset—yes, it looks like she’s actually worried—that Chiyo is finally moving on from her. She’s probably right to worry, and I’d say she should try to better herself except this is Murcielago. The main reason to read this series remains the gratuitous violence and the action sequences, and yes, there’s also a sex scene near the end, featuring Kuroko and the girl from the very first volume’s extra chapter stealing an escort girl and having their way with her. Sleazy and it wears it proudly. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 14 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – I really like how Bakugo’s rage issues are shown to be a major issue that he needs to resolve, but they’re also not something that makes him a villain or means he can’t have hopes and dreams. He gets frustrated at Izuku’s drive as much as Izuku was chasing after his strength, and so the two are now even more “fated rivals.” They’re also given confinement for a few days, meaning, oh no, Izuku is behind in classwork. He also gets introduced to a few third years, whose powers are fun and also strong, and the school explains that due to the villains growing in power (indeed, we meet the next Big Bad here as well), it’s time for internships! Can Midoriya and his still-learning quirk make the grade and get him work?. – Sean Gaffney

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 2 | By Kagiji Kumanomata | Viz Media – I continue to be quite entertained by this series, though its lack of any real plot or characterization makes it a bit harder to review. The reader needs to accept that the Princess’ various antics to get a good night’s sleep are going to verge on the cruel and awful every single time, but given that most of the demons that she abuses for their functions can resurrect, it’s clearly meant for humor. We branch out a bit from pure sleep this time, as she enters an athletic competition (being in shape leads to better sleep) and suffers from—horror of horrors—dry skin! I shudder to imagine anyone taking this seriously, but as a giant goofy “what horrors will she commit next” series, it’s fantastic. – Sean Gaffney

By: Michelle Smith

[cocaughany-of-niahlism]

Dragon ball GT... is better than Super

I think it's safe to day that most fans of Akira Toriyamas magnum opus, dragon, and subsiquently Dragon Ball Z, would say that it's follow up Dragon Ball GT ( Or Grand Tour from the opening theme ) is pathetic in comparison to it's elder series.

While no one will deny GT was a horrid example of when a creator is pushed out of the project for the sake of sales, after the success of DBZ and it's abridged counterpart Kai, Toei Animation who owns the rights to Dragon Ball wanted a new series that would bring Dragon Ball back to its American popularity during the 80's. However Toriyama who had spent most of his life working on the series wanted little to do with it. Aside from supplying some character designs, landscapes, and a few technological devices in the show. Toei continued to work on GT and to this day you can still fun some reruns of it on Nick Toons. Alas however GT was abhored by fans most calling it the death of dragon ball, until it's rise in popularity again with the battle of God's movie that serves as a precursor for the newest edition to Dragon ball, Dragon Ball Super.

Dragon Ball GT became infamous among fans quickly, most critiquing the rushed stories, flat characters, the loss of Toriyamas superb art, annoying characters, long drawn out filler and our main character Goku being turned back into a child. This along with the side characters of dragon ball who got some attention by the older shows but virtually none in GT. Fans were livid at Toei for allowing their beloved series to die as it did. Until years later with the fam and critical smash hit. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of God's. God's of gods put simply is amazing classic dragon ball. It introduced new characters that fans cling to immediately, showed fans an absolute peak to gokus abilities and gave major promise to a fan favorite character Vegeta. So naturally with the announcements of another new dragon ball movie Dragon Ball Z : Ressurection F as well as talk for a new Dragon ball show. Fans were overjoyed.

Okay so now that we have a basic idea of what GT and Super meant for the Dragom Ball franchise, what makes one worse than the other? The answer is not one thats going to n openly accepted by fans of the series but super didn't learn a single thing from GT. Dragon Ball Super would have you believe it's setting out to solve the problems DBA had, it would have you believe that it's meant to be an apology for GT even going to far as to set super before GT so it might erase it from Dragon Ball cannon. Supers first two arches, are terrible. Some of The animation looks as if it could have just as easily been done by a third grader, the first two arches of super also essentially steals the plot from Battle of God's. Though stealing is a hyperbole it reuses the same story as before but without the interesting dialogue and stunning animation. Ressurection F was... there by it was significantly less changed from it's movie counterpart to super. For better or worse, from there supers plot continues to build on the idea set in super that the universe Goku and friends have lived and dough in is only one of twelve in Super we meet others from different universes and theyre... bad... okay I'm dropping the formal argumentative essay shtick. Supers newly introduced characters for the most part are shit. Caulifla and Kale the only two female sayains we see fight in the show are meant to be hallmarks of support for womens rights, but they're bland. Caulifla is just a twerp, despite that I can kind I see where they were going with her. ' What if we had a Goku, but instead he was a girl.' Sounds like a decent idea, by in practice she just comes off as a brat. Only using thee people around her to get stronger and win.

Speaking of terrible character in Super, Kale is probably the worst example of this. Now I'm gonna say something a bit mean but.. KALE IS JUST FUCKING BROLY SHE'S LITERALLY JUST FUCKING BROLY. Which again sounds like a good idea, emphasis on sounds, in execution Kale has no character outside of her weird incestual crush on her sister. Now I can hear the argument that I simply don't like these characters because theyre female or strong female rolemodels, to prob that isn't the case I'm gonna shit on Jiren and Cabba. Jiren is a wall, and Cabba is so underused ( as are all the universe six sayains, and hit.) He doesn't really have a major character trait. I'm serious research super and tell me he isn't just a wet piece of paper flapping in the breeze. The Only moment Cabba gets is when Vegeta bullies him into becoming a super sayain. Jiren on thee other hand had a whole flashback sequence to explain his character. SUPRISE HE'S AN ORPHAN WITH A TROUBLED PAST THAT MAKES HIM WANT TO BE STRONGER. Honestly I didn't realize I was watching naruto. Jiren reminds me way to much of sauske, and any time a characters personality reminds you of sauske.. theyre usually not developed well.. or expressed well. Granted super has had some good moments but in comparison to GT it's not nearly enough.

In conclusion I fucking hated super because they refuse to focus on characters or ideas that are interesting. I mean there's a whole episode committed to Krillin trying to help in a battle royale between all the universes... by it doesn't even matter because he's eliminated really fast. NOT TO MENTION GOTEN IS GIVEN LITTLE TO NO SCREEN TIME WHY DO PEOPLE HATE GOTEN? WHY I ASK YOU!

[gwynnew]

'Star Wars' and 'The Wizard of Oz': Back in 1977, People Couldn't Stop Comparing the Two

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on Tatooine at the beginning of ‘Star Wars’ (Photo: Getty Images)

Do you sense a disturbance in the Force? Maybe that’s because May 25 will be the 40th anniversary of the original Star Wars’ release in theaters in 1977. To celebrate this auspicious occasion, we’ll be posting Star Wars stories all month, including choice vintage interviews, original videos, and some of our favorite pieces from years past. Just keep coming back here all month to see what’s happening in our galaxy. 

How would you describe Star Wars to someone who’s never seen it? It’s not unusual for actors on a press tour to compare their movie to other beloved films, in hopes of getting audiences into the theater. But when Star Wars — Episode IV: A New Hope was first released in 1977, there really hadn’t been another film like it. So when the actors were asked to describe the film in interviews, they found a comparison that might not occur to modern audiences: the 1939 musical fantasy The Wizard of Oz.

Dorothy (Judy Garland) in Kansas at the beginning of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (Photo: Everett Collection)

“It’s sort of a combination comic book, fairy tale, Wizard of Oz — there are so many different elements in the movie,” star Mark Hamill told an Australian journalist at the time when asked to describe A New Hope. 

Mark Hamill compares ‘Star Wars’ to ‘The Wizard of Oz’ in a 1977 interview:

“Every scene is in some way reminiscent of a scene in a film that we all loved before,” Carrie Fisher told the BBC in response to the same question. “Like in High Noon, there’s a bar sequence, only this time it’s with monsters instead of Gary Cooper. And you’ve got The Wizard of Oz — we have a robot that looks sort of like the Tin Man.”

It wasn’t just the cast who made the association. Along with more obvious genre comparisons like the space serial Flash Gordon and 2001: A Space Odyssey, references to The Wizard of Oz come up over and over again in the earliest Star Wars reviews, including those printed by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Time, The Guardian, and The Chicago Sun-Times. “Star Wars is a fairy tale, a fantasy, a legend, finding its roots in some of our most popular fictions,” wrote critic Roger Ebert. “The golden robot, lion-faced space pilot, and insecure little computer on wheels must have been suggested by the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.”

Watch a fan mash-up of a ‘Wizard of Oz’  trailer soundtrack with footage from ‘Return of the Jedi:’

There’s no doubt that The Wizard of Oz was one of many films that influenced George Lucas’s space opus, a far-reaching list that also includes the work of Akira Kurosawa, World War II dogfight movies, Metropolis, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and several classic Westerns. The MGM musical was also a touchstone for Lucas’ collaborators; concept designer Ralph McQuarrie, for example, told Making of Star Wars author J.W. Rinzler that the Emerald City helped inspire the look of Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back. As for the thematic similarities between The Wizard of Oz and Star Wars, the list is substantial: Both are stories about a teenage dreamer raised on a farm by an aunt and uncle, who journeys to a strange land full of wondrous creatures; whose companions include a furry creature and a metal man; who must use his or her inner resources to defeat a black-robed dictator, and so forth. As the official Star Wars website has noted, Wizard of Oz parallels continue into the prequels, the series The Clone Wars, and The Force Awakens.

Luke with Chewbacca, Obi-Wan, and Han Solo aboard the Millennium Falcon in ‘Star Wars’ (Photo: Everett Collection)

But the connection between Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz goes deeper than similar plot points and villains with unusual taste in headgear. The reason Lucas’ fantasy evoked The Wizard of Oz for so many people is that both films created immersive, dazzling fantasy worlds that expanded audiences’ understanding of what was possible in a movie. Both films boasted special effects that were so unprecedented, viewers literally had no idea how they were made. Both played with genre conventions in unexpected and delightful ways: Star Wars was a Western in space with an orchestral soundtrack, while The Wizard of Oz was a children’s fairytale elevated by Broadway-style character songs and a unique story-within-a-story structure.

Fans who fell in love with Star Wars during its first theatrical run wouldn’t necessarily have seen The Wizard of Oz on the big screen (though Oz did return to theaters several times prior to the VHS era). However, they almost certainly grew up watching the classic movie, which was broadcast annually on network television from 1959 until 1991. And for many, Star Wars brought back that childlike wonder they experienced watching The Wizard of Oz as actual children, along with the giddy sense that the world onscreen was as real as the one they lived in.

Dorothy with the Scarecrow, Lion and Tin Man in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (Photo: Getty Images)

Now, Star Wars stands beside The Wizard of Oz in the pantheon of films loved by moviegoers of all ages. And the world of Star Wars has become immersive in a way that The Wizard of Oz, for all its onscreen dazzle, never could: George Lucas’ vision of an ever-expanding story continues to be realized in sequels, prequels, merchandise, and other media, not to mention the future Star Wars theme parks that will enable fans to literally enter Luke Skywalker’s world.

Cloud City in ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ (Photo: Everett Collection)

In some ways, it’s surprising that The Wizard of Oz never expanded into a Star Wars-style mega-franchise, since the novel it’s adapted from had dozens of sequels. But despite many attempts over the decades to extend and re-invent the story — including 1985’s Return to Oz and 2013’s Oz: The Great and Powerful — no movie has managed to fully re-capture the magic of Judy Garland and her co-stars dancing down the yellow brick road. The 1939 film, with its famously disaster-filled production, was lightning in a bottle. The Force ultimately surpassed “there’s no place like home” in the popular imagination because George Lucas figured out how to bottle lightning.

The Emerald City in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (Photo: Everett Collection)

Back in 1977, the cast and crew of Star Wars could only dream that their “little space movie,” as Carrie Fisher often called it, would resonate as powerfully for audiences as the place somewhere over the rainbow. It has done that and more — and when George Lucas opens his Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, Wizard of Oz and Star Wars memorabilia will be displayed side by side.

Carrie Fisher Flashback: What She Told Us About That ‘Empire’ Kiss in 2015 (‘There Were No Tongues!’):

Read more from Yahoo Movies:

How Carrie Fisher Helped Create the ‘Star Wars’ Legend

The ‘Star Wars’ Cantina Scene: The Out-of-This-World Story Behind the Galaxy’s Favorite Dive Bar

How the Famous ‘I Love You/I Know’ Scene From ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ Really Came Together