#he constantly researches about my prefecture

[caged-canaria]

-

[fizzingwizard]

So I’m sure you’re ALL on tenterhooks to find out what I thought of episode 36... the answer is.... LOVED IT!!!! No I really did. If you like Taishiro friendship, this is an essential episode to watch. Doesn’t blow me out of the water, but still just good.

Although Taichi has a big something to do as usual, it’s still very much a Koushirou episode. FREAKING YAY. I have a dozen thoughts about it, and what bugs me the most, of course, is how we needed this episode AGES ago ugh. But we’ve now had two or three episodes in a row that have actually felt like Digimon Adventure, so perhaps all that finger-crossing is working?

They could unravel all that good work in a minute by never addressing it again... or not letting Koushirou show his personality unless it’s his “turn” for an episode from here on... but you know, I will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Pic of the day:

“I don’t like people. But they are occasionally useful.” - 2020 Izumi Koushirou’s life lesson, lmao

*The red strip at the top is about the big earthquake that hit Eastern Japan yesterday. It’s annoying to have it there for the entire episode - usually they only stick around for a couple minutes - but this WAS a large earthquake. It caused many people to lose power. So making sure everyone knows what’s going takes precedence over Sunday morning cartoons. (I’m in Osaka and didn’t even feel it, but my friends in Tokyo prefecture very much did.)

Lots and LOTS of ranting from a rabid Taishiro fan under the cut!

(also I didn’t check for typos so. yeah)

The episode starts right off by assuring us this is a Koushirou episode. We get the trademark Izumi Koushirou floating in the void of space sequence, which is excellent and very encouraging framing.

Koushirou Kenobi: “Use the force, Taichi.”

Taichi: “Use it yourself.”

(the episode in a nutshell)

The initial thing that bugged me - okay, so the kids got separated for the umpteenth time many episodes ago, and since then we’ve stuck to Taichi like barnacles. The only glimpses we’d get of the other kids showed: Yamato running towards something, Koushirou flying towards something while researching the satellite malfunction, Jou in the hot springs, and Mimi at the crystal caves. For Jou and Mimi, I don’t care, because they never tried to move, but Yamato and Koushirou were constantly moving. Yet, in the end, it’s Taichi’s group that catches up with Koushirou, rather than the other way around. It DOES make sense - it seems like Koushirou told them to “meet at the giant gold pillar” because that’s where they needed to be to save the world, so it became the rendezvous point. But it just bugs me because, once again, all the activity is on Taichi’s side. But that’s a minor quibble. The end result is still THIS:

More of the team is together!!! Taichi and Koushirou are together!!! Yaaayy!!!

... the betting pool for how long it will be till the next separation is now open >.>

Poor Komodomon’s long mop dog fur is so dirty. “Fizz his fur always looks like that.” He’s tracking mud everywhere. “Fizz look at his ears his fur is supposed to look that way.” Next episode - everyone gives Komondomon a bath.

So the start of this episode is just a bunch of talking about how dire things are with the satellite situation. I’m not gonna bother translating. Watch the sub when it’s out if you really want to know :P The important thing is, the gold pillar is directly causing the malfunction, no one on Earth can stop the satellite from plummeting to Tokyo, the city is being evacuated, and there are only 20 minutes till impact.

Koushirou has an elaborate plan which Sora adorably sums up as “So, we’re gonna shoot it out of the sky *makes punching motion*”

The crux of Koushirou’s plan hinges on a repeat of how Omegamon saved Tokyo from the missile way back in like, episode 2 or 3. Taichi says, “Yeah, but I barely remember how we did that.” Which is hilarious because I don’t remember either because it was 30 EPISODES AGO. Once again this episode feels like it was meant to happen WAY EARLIER THAN IT DID. It’s just weird to be referencing something that happened 30 episodes ago after everything else that’s happened, AND on top of that, there are many references in this episode and none from later than like, episode 10 or 12. Making this all seem very oddly timed.

I’m not quite sure if, within the story itself, it matters that Taichi “doesn’t remember well.” He also doesn’t remember the Devimon battle where he and Agumon were infected with dark energy. That one makes sense for him not to remember. If that hadn’t happened, I would just take his “I don’t remember how we stopped the missile” to just mean it was so long ago. But together, it’s making me wonder if something else is going on.

Or maybe Taichi’s just been hit on the head one too many times (okay, that seems the most likely of all, haha)

People of Tokyo: Is it Godzilla again? I heard he’s itching to fight King Kong. You know, given how often our city is attacked by kaiju, some might wonder why we haven’t moved away by now. But home is home, ya know?

The group sets up to fly to the peak of the gold pillar. Obviously, without Yamato, there’s no Omegamon. No one points this out, but Koushirou seems very stressed with his plan, and it seems that he contacted Taichi in the first place because he thought “Taichi’s the one who can pull this off.”

After hearing the plan, Taichi shoots him through the heart with another “Koushirou, you’re so awesome!” and YAY I MISSED THIS SO MUCH!!!!!! *sobs*

Then he does his best to reassure Koushirou by remaining positive and determined that they can and will do this no matter how much Koushirou waves. The majority of the episode is them flying up the pillar while being assaulted by enemies trying to stop them, so it’s not like they get to talk about their feelings (lol). But at least we get a bunch of close ups of Koushirou’s and Taichi’s expressions, and that’s how we see this dynamic in play. Yes, Koushirou is the brainy one who made the plan, but he doesn’t have the confidence to take the lead, so he handed the reins to Taichi. As for Taichi - yes he has the confidence, yes he can do it... but he also has absolute faith in Koushirou. So that’s why this episode makes my little Koushirou fanatic heart skip a beat.

First of the enemies is this guy, aptly named BladeKuwagamon.

They’re actually pretty scary! They do real damage. (Blood in Digimon word is glowy unicorn-like stuff haha). Birdramon gets stabbed, but before Sora can get too upset, she just yanks the blade out of her chest...

... and then crushes it into dust with her beak.

Sora: Holy crap, my partner is metal AF.

Forgot to mention earlier but 5 whole minutes of the 20 minute countdown are used up just by digivolving apparently xD Taichi keeps asking Koushirou “how much time is left” and Koushirou’s panic grows more visible with each passing second...

MetaLiffeKuwagemon looks cooler than he is. Supposedly he’s there to bring out the big guns, but to be honest...

... the BladeKuwagamon don’t seem to need the help :P The enemy’s strategy is obvious: isolate each member of the team to prevent anyone from getting to the top. This is why Koushirou’s so stressed: he’s got a plan that is totally reliant on there being a leader strong enough to pull it off AND there being enough backup to protect that leader from the large number of enemies. And Koushirou doesn’t like these odds.

Garudamon gets stabbed AGAIN

Sora: Go on, we’ll be fine.

Taichi: Are you sure??

Garudamon: *DESTROYS EVERYTHING WITH FIRE*

I MEAN HONESTLY! Garudamon is not only my favorite of Piyomon’s evolutions, it’s pretty much my favorite Adventure evolution. Always has been since I was 11 years old. And she (and Sora) NEVER get that credit. Like. Growing up, with US dub Adventure, I interpreted Sora as more of a straight up tomboy than she is in the original. That’s okay, that’s whatever, but what was most important to me was that I saw her as the third “strong” member along with Taichi and Yamato. Those two were clearly in a class above her, but I saw her as being in the same “Taiorato” league. Garudamon seemed to prove that: she was so cool, so powerful, and... yeah, I just always thought she had so much potential to be awesome and never got why it wasn’t used. That’s also why I was disappointed in Tri - like, I liked Soushitsu, but I just wanted more from Sora’s arc. Same thing in Kizuna: I understand Sora’s arc, I don’t hate it or anything - I think it makes sense for her. But since I wanted something different for her all those years ago, it just left me feeling a bit flat.

but enough about other Digimon series :P Garudamon gets to be super cool here and I only hope we get to see more of it in this reboot. I’ll forgive it some of its other mistakes if we do :D

With Takeru/Hikari and Sora isolated by the BladeKuwagamon, it’s up to Taichi and Koushirou alone to race against the clock! Their teeth are clenched, sweat runs in rivulets down their skin, their hearts are pounding in desperation...

Koushirou: Taichi-san! If we don’t get to the top soon it’ll be too late!

Taichi: Just don’t call me late for dinner!

Koushirou: ASDFGHJKL;’ DAD JOKES NOW?? REALLY????????

MetaLiffeKuwagamon makes life that much harder by knocking them against the pillar. However, this is a pillar of data, which enabled the BladeKuwagamon to evolve into MetaLiffeKuwagamon in the first place. Bugs aren’t that bright.

Taichi and MetalGreymon are nearly submerged inside the pillar as a result, and then we get this sequence of red and black. The pillar had been emitting dark lightning, so I started to think... omg... is MetalGreymon gonna get a Dark Evolution???????

.... Nah. That would have made sense, but.... nah :P

Overall I’m glad though, because that would really have turned this into a Taichi episode instead of a Koushirou one.

I’m not personally certain what the point of bringing BlitzGreymon out was. I had figured he would be like, a super fast evolution that would enable them to make it to the top. That would also have turned this into a Taichi episode. But...

... Taichi tells Koushirou that he will have to go divert the satellite because Taichi has to deal with MetaLiffeKuwagamon.

I was both really pleased and really surprised. Because, again, now what’s the point of BlitzGreymon...? Why did we need a new Agumon evolution? There’s no particular reason why they couldn’t have just isolated Taichi with the enemy the same way the others were and had him tell Koushirou to keep going on his own then. They did do that, but first they gave him a new evolution. Why? Just because it’s cool?? I assume that must be the reason but we don’t even see BlitzGreymon fight xD It’s... it’s weird. But whatever.

Taichi: Go, Koushirou!!!!! You can do it!!!!!

Fiz: *dies a thousand brilliant deaths*

So, Koushirou tells Taichi that he can’t do it - he can support Taichi, but he can’t take the lead. Taichi’s just like that’s wack, dude, of course you can do it. What I LOVE about Taichi and Koushirou’s dynamic is just that: Taichi never sees Koushirou as a weakling. The fact that he’s small, or that he’s brains over brawn, or even that he’s kinda antisocial - those are all reasons an energetic, extroverted kid like Taichi might bully, or at least think poorly, of Koushirou.

But Taichi values Koushirou. He knows how hard he works and is impressed both by that hard work and his talent. What’s more, he doesn’t see Koushirou’s brains as his support system. The whole time Koushirou’s thinking he’s there to support Taichi with his plan, Taichi was thinking, “I’m here to support Koushirou’s plan.” That is SO, SO important. And that’s why I LOVE this episode. The one thing the reboot seemed to really understand, that hooked me from the start, was the way it just GOT Taichi and Koushirou. They each support and follow each other, while each feeling like the other is better than them. Ugh I could like, cry over Taishiro now... omg....

Taichi is successful in pushing Koushirou to go on, but of course Koushirou himself is still plagued with doubts. He reflects on how he’s always been fine being alone. He hasn’t particularly wanted friends and didn’t mind not having them, even though adults worried.

(Side note: this is a normal, if kinda rare, personality trait. I have it too. I always score Koushirou on “what Digimon character are you?” tests too lmao. Just like some people feel the need to be surrounded by others at all times, there are those whose social needs are very very low. I’m one of them. There’s nothing wrong with it except that even those people can get lonely and it’s easy to misunderstand them as shy or snobby. So what I love about Koushirou is, yes he learns to value his relationships more, but also learns to value himself. He is Koushirou: a brainy kid who’s happy on his own, but also happy with friends. While some people, like Mimi, struggle with that aspect of his personality, others, like Taichi, just accept it. To me that’s the best life lesson there is: there are always people who can and will be friends with you. Yes, I’ve lost friends because I just wasn’t social enough for them. But I have other friends who I’ve known for literal decades now. And I REALLY love those friends.)

Koushirou feels grateful that he has AlturKabuterimon, and also that he has Taichi. So... here he is, reflecting on the last time he had meaningful interaction with that great friend Taichi... back in episode three. -____________-

Seriously, this would mean a lot more if this dynamic had been built on continually until this episode...

Koushirou then briefly reflects on each of the other Chosen. Notably, every single solo image of them is from an episode that Koushirou either wasn’t in or wasn’t with them at the moment. Then we get this group image. It’s from EPISODE 12. (I’m actually not sure of the episode number but the point is, it’s from A LONG LONG TIME AGO. I think it’s the swamp episode??) That drives me NUTS. We shouldn’t have to reach soooo far back to find meaningful moments!!! Urk.

Koushirou makes it to the peak of the pillar and AlturKabuterimon attacks the satellite to drive it off course. We see the impression of what looks to be HerculesKabuterimon and I really thought we’d get an evolution - it seemed way more appropriate than freaking BlitzGreymon - but nope.

Oh well. Koushirou still saves the day. The people at home get to see the Crest of Knowledge take over their screens, hopefully giving rise to the idea that a nerd superhero is protecting them. Koushirou is the hero we deserve.

The satellite falls into the water. I was like, shouldn’t that cause a tsunami lol?

... be careful what you wish for >_>;

fortunately people were evacuated soooo things will be okay.

He did it!! He’s so happy! AlturKabuterimon’s triumphant holler is adorable.

Taichi and BlitzGreymon fought hard OFF SCREEN!! OFF SCREEN!! HIP HIP HOORAY! And then we get to see him leaning on Sora T_T could this episode give me any more perfect moments?? Looooove it

So yeah, if you can’t tell, I’m thrilled with this episode. There are just a couple things I would have liked to improve: better animation, at least one palpable heart to heart between Taichi and Koushirou, or just a bit more time spent explictly in Koushirou’s head - but honestly we got something that is pretty darn good, especially for this reboot. I hope we do get more like this, both for Koushirou and for the others. I hope the growth here isn’t forgotten moving forward. I really, REALLY want to see more of that “I lead, you support me - you lead, I support you” mutually beneficial relationship that is the foundation of Taishiro <3

So next week! Mimi’s back and the heads are gonna roll!

Lmao!

My theory that she’s finding crystals to make Crests seems unlikely to be the case now that we know the rocks constract the rock Digimon. But... hey, we’ll find out next week.

Also Taichi’s gonna make this face after talking with Mimi bahahahaha. I can’t wait.

[ibelieveinahappilyeverafter]

Villainous Heroics - Chapter 2

Look, let me give you the short of it. I fell in absolute love with this AU and now I have the full story plotted out to be around eighteen chapters when fully written. I have not written this much in months. It's worth it.

Note - In the original AU designed by @corndog-patrol, Hizashi worked at a McDonald's type place, but I changed that to be a coffee shop for multiple reasons - mostly because Shota is more likely to go for coffee over actual food and because I am a writer of cliches.

                 Click here to read the work on Archive Of Our Own.

                      Click here to read the work on Fan Fiction Net.

If you found yourself enjoying this, then check out my writing commissions.

                                           ⍣ I have a Patreon! ⍣                                            ☪ I have a tip jar! ☪

Summary: Eraserhead is an underground hero who is constantly busy and doesn’t have time to be dealing with new villains - even if they aren’t all that villainous and make the night interesting.

Present Mic is the latest up-and-coming villain in the world and he has a point to prove to everyone out there - as long as he doesn’t keep getting distracted by Eraserhead.

Aizawa Shota is someone who soon learns that there is more to someone than the mask they show to the world - especially when it comes to playing heroes and villains.

Yamada Hizashi learns that there is more to heroics and villainy than he could have ever thought - especially in a world where some heroes still care about those lost in the shadows.

(Inspired and dedicated to corndog-patrol’s Villain!Mic AU on Tumblr.)

                            <<First/Last Chapter>> <<Next Chapter>>

                                                 Chapter Two

Yamada Hizashi knew well what this feeling was. He had never felt it as strong as he did now, but what else could it be? Whenever he was around him, Hizashi found his palms becoming drenched in nervous sweat, his heart tripping into overtime like the beats of an EDM song, and his words stumbling over each other in their rush to get out as quickly as possible. He had known the stirrings of this feeling when he was younger and didn’t know the world as well, but now at a comfortable thirty, he knew this was real.

Hizashi was head-over-heels in love with the hero known as Eraserhead and no one could tell him otherwise! Every waking thought seemed to be filled with that suave, mysterious, and sexy man that was always quick to put an end to the fun of ‘Present Mic.’ It was like Hizashi could think of nothing else these days.

“Oi, Yamada! Get your head out of the clouds and go be cashier!” Startling at the rough voice of his boss, Hizashi hid a pout as he shuffled over to the cash register with a long-suffering sigh. Genius was never appreciated in its own time, he supposed.

“Welcome to Lovely Coffee, how may I help you on this lovely day?” If the customer noticed how unenthusiastic he was, she didn’t comment, only ordering with a monotone voice as she stared down at her phone.

Hizashi sighed and tried to focus his thoughts on work even as they kept straying back to Eraserhead. While he had heard of the hero before his villainous debut, he had never known just how funny the man was. Eraser could kick his ass into next week, had a sharp, dry wit that most people seemed to miss, and didn’t even really seem angry whenever he ran into Present Mic - although there were a lot of insults and mocking, when Hizashi reflected on it.

Well, that just meant it was a challenge to get something else out of him! Hizashi may be a villain, but he was a realistic villain with realistic goals. That meant he wasn’t going to stop until he managed to capture Eraserhead and charm him into a date that, with a good deal of luck, would end in a kiss - maybe two!

The only real problem to his master plan, though, seemed to be the fact that none of his traps ever wanted to work. If Hizashi wasn’t stumbling into them himself, then Eraserhead was disabling them with ruthless efficiency or turning them back around on Hizashi himself. He was pretty sure the police were getting a laugh out of Present Mic being brought in with his own handcuffs stuck on him. 

“Welcome to Lovely Coffee.” Maybe the problem was that Eraserhead seemed to take him too seriously as a villain. “How may I-” Hizashi’s words tangled around a startled squeak as he finally noticed who his next customer was.

“Oi, I don’t look that bad.” The words were light and amused more than anything, but Hizashi couldn’t even respond because Eraserhead was standing right in front of him. What was the statistical probability of Eraserhead coming to the coffee shop he worked at? Low. Those odds had to be very, very low. Right, okay, Hizashi was being stared at. He just needed to act natural.

“N- No! I didn’t mean- It was just- Sorry!” Well, at least he wouldn’t be mistaken for his villain persona since his hair was down and he was wearing his regular prescription glasses with the hideous, bulky frame. He also couldn’t seem to get two words out. “How may I help you?”

The man’s eyes trailed to the board behind him and Hizashi couldn’t stop a wince at how sleep deprived he looked. He knew Eraserhead worked nights primarily, but did he ever sleep? His eyes were bloodshot and worryingly red and the bags under his eyes were the size of the sun. Maybe it had something to do with the man’s quirk? Hizashi didn’t know much about Erasure, but he had certainly heard stories considering the prefecture he lived in.

“I’ll just have a black coffee in whatever size is the largest.” Oh, jeez, Eraserhead really didn’t sleep any, huh? He also didn’t seem to have any sense of taste whatsoever if he was asking for black coffee.

“Of course. No problem.” Grabbing a cup, Hizashi glanced behind the man. While there was no one behind him waiting to make him do this, this was still a great opportunity. “What’s the name for the order?”

“Aizawa.” Scribbling the name out with a marker, Hizashi tried to hide his success. While he didn’t know the man’s first name, now he knew that Eraserhead’s name was Aizawa. It… was a good name. Giving his name also proved that he didn’t know who Hizashi really was. “Can I add espresso shots?”

“Oh- Yeah! Definitely.” Really, Hizashi supposed that was unsurprising. The man looked like the walking dead. Hizashi hoped that the other would be able to take a nap, soon. “How many-”

“Six.” Eraserhead - Aizawa - looked him dead in the eyes and didn’t even blink at Hizashi’s expression - which was pure and utter terror.

“S… Six? You, um, you do know-”

“I know.” Right. Okay. Sure.

“Of course, sir. I’ll get right on that.”

While Hizashi would have been delighted to use this opportunity to get more information out of the man, he’d wait until next time they met as hero and villain. Right now, he was a poor barista who was behind on his rent, and Aizawa was a sleep deprived man who had ordered six shots of espresso in his black coffee. Hizashi was only mortal.

                                                                ::

A few nights later proved to be his next fated run in with what would one day be his star-crossed lover. Hizashi had done his research this time, though, and had been ready for every possibility - except for the manufacturer of his latest trap to be a pile of shit.

Caught up in Eraserhead’s scarf and thoroughly unable to move, Hizashi tried not to thank the man for punching him – he at least took some solace in the fact that his brain-to-mouth filter wasn’t completely broken. He also had some solace in the fact that before Eraserhead had shown up, he had dealt with a couple of gang members that were known for beating up teenagers who wouldn’t join them.

“You’re a horrible villain.” The two were face to face and Eraser looked honestly flustered, trying to catch his breath as he pushed his goggles up to rest on his forehead. Hizashi supposed he had put up a bit of a fight, this time, where he was still high off adrenaline from his first fight and the fact Eraserhead had joined him when the gang had started getting a little too pissed.  

“Does that make me a good hero?” The question slipped out before he could stop it, and he almost wished he could take it back as soon as it was out - almost. He was too curious as to how the man would respond to really want to take it back.

“No. It makes you a nuisance.” Ah, well. Hizashi could at least say he was expecting something like that - of course he was. Him? A hero? It was the funniest joke he had ever heard. A part of him that had never quite let go of that dream, though, felt utterly crushed. He quickly hid it with a wide smile.

“Ouch! You wound me, Eraserhead!” It hurt - reminders like that always hurt - but, well, the show must go on.

“I wish,” Eraser muttered, kicking at Hizashi’s heels to get him moving. Hizashi dodged the kick as he started walking, frowning at the man as he did so.

“Hey, hey, these are some high-class leather boots, you know. Do you know much time and money boots like this cost?” Dodging another kick, Hizashi decided that for as in love as he was, Eraserhead was still a little shit. “C’mon, I helped beat up some known thugs, can’t you take it easy on me?”

“You also started a bar fight earlier and threw three people out a window.” Staring for a long moment, Hizashi finally shook his head with a frown.

“I thought it was four?” He could have sworn it was four… Oh, right. “Ah, right, the fourth one was me.”

“Mm. You also robbed a thrift shop.” The look Eraserhead gave him was full of judgement. “There was a jewelry shop right next door, you know.”

“Yeah, but good people work there. The owner of the thrift shop isn’t. He’s a dick who says he’ll sell you back something at the price he gave to you for it, and instead he jacks up the price by almost ten thousand yen.”

“Is that why all his papers and receipts were on fire when I got there.” Was that amusement? Hizashi swore that was some amusement in Eraser’s tone. “That’s illegal, you know.”

“Well, I am a villain.”

Not even an hour later and Hizashi was being handed over to the police in the area, waving at Eraserhead as he was cornered with some paperwork. “Good night, Eraser. I’ll see you next time!”

“Please don’t.” There was what could have almost been a smile on the man’s face as Hizashi let himself be pushed and pulled towards his usual holding cell, the officer guiding him shaking her head.

“You know, if you need help, there are places you can get it - programs and opportunities that you could take part of.”

“Mm, no, I’m good.”

While a few of the cops, like Shelly, were sweet and genuinely concerned about those who deserved it, some of them were utter assholes who were villains in their own right. Hizashi made sure to remember who those were and let them know just how ‘annoying’ he could be when they were on duty.

The ‘regulars’ in the holding cell were much the same way. Some of them were nastier than any villain could be, but a good deal of them were just people down on their luck or in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“How’s your love affair with that hero of yours, Mic?” Swooning into the cell as soon as he was uncuffed, Hizashi clutched his heart and collapsed onto an uncomfortable metal bench.

“I’ll never recover, Lydia, I swear it. Eraserhead is my true love and soulmate and I’ll never be able to do without him again.” The woman snorted and laughed, tired expression leaving in favor of an honest smile.

“You’ll get him. Soulmates always find a way to make it work, after all, yeah?” As Lydia talked, she shifted to hide a younger girl behind her better, Hizashi frowning at the action. “Hm? Oh, Lucy. It’s her first night. Not a good one, either.”

The girl, Lucy, looked to just barely be in her twenties with a shirt a size too small and shoulders and midriff uncovered and bare to the world. Hizashi could easily see why the two were pressed into a corner of the cell, Lydia’s gaze sharp and angry on any man that got too close or let his gaze linger for too long.

“Let me tell you about bad nights,” Hizashi groaned, pitching his voice higher and aiming for dramatic as he stood up with a stretch, fighting with his jacket before getting it off. “I almost thanked him for punching me.”

“You are a wreck, aren’t you?” Lydia stared at the jacket as Hizashi held it out, only taking it when Hizashi gave a smile. “A sweet one, though.”

“Oi, oi, there’s no such thing as a sweet villain!” As soon as the jacket was around Lucy’s shoulders, the girl lost some of her tension, looking at him with a slow smile. “You’ll vouch for me, right, Lucy? I’m the meanest villain on these streets!”

“The absolute worst,” Lucy nodded, voice quiet and small as she slid her arms through the jacket and tucked it around her.

“See, Lydia? You worry so much and yet Lucy here is going to be stronger than me.” The two girls looked at him and Lydia finally gave a sad smile, shaking her head.

“Baby, what are you doing playing villain?”

Before he could answer, there was a tapping against the side of the bars, drawing their attention. “Alright, Present Mic, get over here and make your phone call.”

“Finally! Here I thought you guys were ignoring me, too!” Hizashi pouted and hid his unease at Lydia’s question as he bounced over to accept the burner flip phone, dialing up the number of his boss. “How long am I here for, this time?”

“Two days, at least.” Shelly crossed her arms, looking like a disapproving mother. “More if the owner of the bar and thrift shop press charges.”

“They won’t.” Probably. Shaking his head, Hizashi chatted an excuse as a message that his boss would hear tomorrow morning. Hopefully the man didn’t fire him, but a suddenly out-of-town trip to see his dying grandmother was probably a good enough reason to miss – besides, Jamie could use the extra hours he would be giving up.

Two days would at least give him enough time to think over his latest run-in with Eraserhead and the words that were now stuck running through his head.

You’re a horrible villain.

Baby, what are you doing playing villain?

Such a villainous quirk… Who would ever make you a hero?

Ah, well… He was doing this for more reasons than just ‘playing villain.’ Besides, if he had to be a villain, the least he could do was have a little fun with it.

[mellifluous-division]

Theory about Ramuda’s Past: Former Drugger?!

There have been quite controversial reactions toward a certain headcanon about Ramuda’s past. So please allow me to present the translation of the original text and my additional research to English HypMic fandom.

(It IS a long post. I suggest reading this post on PC)  

Q. Does anyone have an idea on whatever the Ramuda’s fault is? Headcanons are welcomed too.

A. There is a high possibility that Ramuda was drugging.

One of popular street name for cocaine is ‘candy.’ Ramuda always carries candies with him and licks them constantly, so I’ll call that fairly suspicious. Also, one of the effects of excessive or prolonged use of cocaine is hallucination. The distinct effect of Ramuda’s hypnosis mic is a hallucination too. Though the specific example of that hallucination is not revealed yet, I think they’re related.

At the chorus of Ramuda’s solo song “drops”, there’s this certain line: ‘I drop my drops, Magical lollipop.’ There is a Russian animation called ‘LollipopЛеденец.’ It features a lime green fluorescent lollipop-which is most likely to be inspired by Krokodil-and a boy who eventually gets addicted to it. If you value your mental status, please do not search it, especially at 1 am. But it’s scary even at 11 am In general it resembles Coraline, especially the acceptably-cute character designs, but the animations is way more creepy: the boy loses AN EYE, AN ARM, and A LEG, and EVENTUALLY THE ENTIRE VILLAGE GROWS ADDICTED TOWARD IT.

Isn’t that same for Ramuda? He might look cute, but in fact he’s the most suspicious one… maybe that was too harsh comment. Ramuda is described as ‘would happily share the candies with anyone who gives him a pat on the head.’ In fact, there was an incidence in one station from Chiba prefecture, around the June of 2012, of somebody distributing the candy with drug. Maybe Ramuda was responsible for distributing drug-candies.

1) Krokodil is a street name for desomorphine. As its name suggests, it’s a morphine analogue. It was first synthesized in 1932 in Switzerland under the brand name Permonid. Its use was terminated in 1981. However, later in 21st century, the illicitly produced desomorphine was wide spread across Russia under the name Krokodil. It’s ten times stronger and three times more toxic than THE heroin. Because of its high acidity(PH less than 3), it causes gangrene, or rotting/infection of the soft tissues. The skins would became black/green and scaly, and eventually the dead skin will fell off in one piece. In fact, that symptom is where the name krokodil-крокоди́л, Russian for crocodile-comes from. Both Russian and English word come from the Latin word crocodilus.

2) Go to HypMic official site, and click to Jakurai’s character page. If you enlarge the photo, you’ll be able to notice the band of dots on his left wrist that looks like a rash. It might be a symptom of drug withdrawal, or the needle scar. What if Ramuda offered some drug, or even secretly drugged Jakurai? Those red dots are only shown in the official image from the homepage. Sure, it might be just some graphic issue, or the directors revised the story at some point; every character’s backstory was renewed at some point beforehand, so that’s a possibility.

3) If this drugger theory is correct, as mentioned earlier, it is likely that Ramuda was on cocaine specifically. Cocaine can induce an ecchymotic, or bloody, rash. I mentioned Jakurai’s suspected rash earlier. There are many ways to ingest cocaine: insufflation, injection, and inhalation. The chronic insufflation, or snorting, can lead to a loss of the sense of smell. The sense of flavor is a combination of taste and smell perception. In fact, contrary to popular belief, the sense of smell has more effect on the flavor than that of the taste. Cocaine has a bitter, strong chemical flavor that numbs the drugger’s sense of flavor. Even though Ramuda is constantly licking the supposed *candy*, he won’t be actually enjoying its sweet taste.

4) Cocaine stimulates the dopamine system. It is a system known to be responsible for the sense of pleasure. It’s not incorrect, but it’s also responsible for the sense of ‘reward’ and ‘wanting.’ When dopamine level rises, you subconsciously desire more of that pleasure, so you’re driven to concentrate on whatever you’re doing. And it also contributes to creativity. Pleasure, concentration, creativity… I’ll call that an another reason for Ramuda to drug.

5) If cocaine has a strong, disturbing taste, then how can it be produced as a candy? I bet it’s something about chemistry, but I chose physics, so here’s my guess: cocaine resembles a salt in appearance. If it was mixed with other ingredient, it would be difficult to distinguish it from the actual sugar. Plus, if the candy is frozen, then the eater won’t notice the dissonance of the flavor, because the ice temporarily numbs the tongue, therefore the sense of taste too. 

............Well, to be positive, at least he wasn’t on heroine

If HypMic world was set in America, I’ll bet my hypnosis mic that Ramuda first met Jakurai at drug addict rehab center anyone wanna write a fanfic about it?

[cool-prince-arsw-shoutarou]

I have finished translating the first part of Domonet’s interview with Arisawa Shoutarou! Thanks for proofreading my masterpiece, @akiyomitsu! Without you I wouldn’t achieve this great work.

The original Domonet interview part 1 can be found here.

「He’s at 120% in character when on stage」Actor  Arisawa Shoutarou’s  acting and pursuit of the role 【Recommended Figure vol 19】Part 1

Domoplus, a series of interviews introducing men of interest, had the chance to interview the actor Arisawa Shoutarou who is known for his active roles in various stages such as Izuminokami Kanesada in/from the Musical Touken Ranbu. Arisawa Shoutarou, who will be performing as Ban in the upcoming stage adaptation of “Nanatsu no Taizai,” in August of this year, talked about the opportunity to aim at the actor’s way/path and how to face the preparation for his upcoming role.

Full interview under the cut!

The hero that he admires, his inspiration to become an actor

��� What inspired Arisawa-san to become an actor?

I came out to Tokyo from Hyogo Prefecture and ever since I was a child, I have been looking for someone to look up to like some kind of a hero. I love the dramas, Kamen Rider and Sentai Mono, and from then on I had that feeling of admiration. Time has passed really fast from there, I quit the extracurricular activities I have been doing on the way,「What should I do from now on?」is what I’ve been thinking that time. My mother brought me an advertisement flier for an audition,「Why not try this kind of work?」she told me.

I was longing for a hero and I liked television, so I was definitely interested in the actor's job before, but I couldn't quite pinpoint it. Then, because my mother recommended it to me,「You can aim for such a job.」, she said. I feel like I was being holding myself back, and from then I decided to never do work halfway, and to do it seriously. I was checking/searching for offices and agencies by own, sending my profile.

— So you had an edge and started working in your current agency?

Now that you mention it, I have sent a lot of documents, so it’s hard to know, right? I didn’t receive any contact (from the offices he applied to). And it was very regrettable, so I thought 「For now, I will go to the capital (Tokyo)」, and moved to Tokyo after I graduated from High School.. At that time, I still didn't know anything about the basic of acting, so I told myself, 「What I should do first is not to enter any office/agency」 so I decided to attend a training school in Tokyo. I think that what I learned from there is connected to my work now.

Being an actor, I met the new me

―  Since you have debuted as a full-fledged actor in 2015 for Hyper Projection Engeki『Haikyuu!!』as Kunimi Akira, you have performed various characters; which character have left a (big) impression/impact to you?

I often look back at the characters I have played and thinking which one of them has the impression of, 「I was able to find a good role」 or「This role is very impressive」 – I can’t decide easily. However, if there’s a role that step up among the rest, it is definitely Izuminokami Kanesada from  Musical『Touken Ranbu』.

And later I played as a high school student - Nakamura Kazuhiro for Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy who’s experiencing a painful Junior High School 2nd year Illness (puberty), but I enjoyed that role very much. He’s wearing white gloves, and saying that there’s a “Dark God” living under the gloves. This kind of behavior (behaving in a way characteristic of teenagers going through puberty, esp. by being overly self-conscious; 2nd year of junior high sickness) is something I can’t really like. There was a time that even I was also like that, 「I want to say cool words too」. (Laughs)

However, it was a work that made me feel like I was a Junior High School who’s going through this phase too, although I didn’t show it. Besides, they seems to do a lot of stupid things, the message of the story was also very strong, and it was good that the audience enjoyed it as well. It became a turning point for me.

―  When a character’s personality is completely different from yours, do you consider it more interesting?

It is interesting.  It also makes me realize,「Even I have a side like this」and I think it’s one of the privileges of being an actor. Sometimes I think about that, there’s a lot people who have not yet express their own nature/personality….. (Laughs)

― Are you hiding it, or are you not even aware of it? (Laughs) By the way, you played a character that is so different from you – have you experienced being influenced by your character?

It is only during the period/process of being involved with the role. For example, with Izuminokami Kanesada, Hijikata Toshizou’s (manly) sword, I have a feeling that I have become the “Ora, ora” type. Because I was told that I have a very gentle personality, well it is not only his “Ora, ora” personality but also his short-temper nature. Now I think  that this is a place that is somehow strange. But now I am in front of my next work, I am just being myself.

When you stand on the stage「 You have become the 120% of your role」

― In making a role, What kind of preparation does Arisawa-san care (the most) about?

I got involved with many 2.5D works, but at first I thought「Because it is different from my own personality、I just have to shake away (from my own self) and perform.」But, I started noticing that it was not the case.

When I stand on the stage, the thing that I have to keep in mind is that I need to be 100% of the role but I think I don’t need the part, 「What I would do if I were you」 – if you put emotions and gestures like, 「I think this is what/who you are」 it will become like I’m just being "myself", and the result will be the same no matter what/which role you play. That’s why, 100% is not enough,「I will stand on the stage as if I am in that position – 120%」I have that concept inside of me.

―To get 120%、certain preparation is necessary but what kind of thing are you doing specifically?

Although it is kind of unexpected for me to say, I do not read scripts that much. Of course I read them as part of my preparation/role making at the very beginning, if it’s about history I will do my own research and have my own base. From there, I always challenge myself「Let’s act like this」and try various things I thought myself like, how to talk and act natural and become familiar with the role, the feelings that I will also propose to the director. So I think in my own way, I try to make a lot of suggestions to the director until the character is final/settled.

― So while you are practicing, you’re also doing a lot of trials and errors until you get the feeling you are close to the role.

Not only during the rehearsals, but also during the (whole) run of production. The reactions of the audience during the performance is a very big factor for me, many actors have changed since entering the production, which I think is totally natural. Because it keeps going until the rest of the performances. I also think that there’s a difference between the first day and the rest of the performances.

― Will the character be decided by living as the character, and in engaging/interacting with your co-stars?

That’s right. After all, everyone will change (to be their character). I think that’s the good quality of stage plays. Rather than simply creating the character by myself, I think there are a lot of things to learn/get from the other characters/cast as well. Even if I’m performing the same content many times, a different play is seen every day. It’s was only recently that I noticed such things. And it makes (the work) even more fun.

The tension we get from the very first day「It makes me happy and I’m enjoying it」

― So, at what is the happiest moment you have experienced so far as an actor?

There are many, but I personally like the atmosphere of the first day of the performance. Greeting everyone I have the thought of「I’m glad I’m doing it」. I have been into various productions and I can say that the confidence during the opening day is 100% (special), I have my own challenges with my anxiety but seeing the reactions and applause of the audience「I am really glad I did it. (Hearing my name) is a really nice feeling」. That I can only think so during the first day. But of course I am deeply impressed with the rest of the performances however, if there’s anything I feel better during the first day.

― It is also the right moment to show off the role you’ve been recreating for the very first time.

After all, everyone is also getting fired up. Somehow it feels like the same way as when I was attending the school’s cultural festival during my school days, since it almost feels like a one-time thing – everyone is full of energy and very fired up. And I thought something like that will never change (even in stage plays). It is a pleasure to ask the audience to see what we have been working on, then it will eventually deliver a good result, I also have my company’s (quantity of) heat, and I, as always, will do my best.

― On the first day, Arisawa-san is in the state where the tension is constantly rising.

The tension is all around me, the kind of tension that I can only feel during the first day, it’s very fun and enjoyable. It is also a relief when it is ending safely (with no injury). Thankfully, with all the works I did up until now, 「I did not have my morning coffee」never happened but I’m still anxious from time to time.

Facing the pressure and weakness head on, creating a role by exploring

― Even if the role of Izuminokami Kanesada was already mentioned earlier who left a big impression/impact on you – what can you say about Musical『Touken Ranbu』〜 Musubi no Hibiki, Hajimari no Ne〜 that has just recently come to a conclusion?

I spent about three months with the same friends/partners on a long stage of 50 performances. The atmosphere of the group was really good and everyone is always really friendly, so I was feeling really lonely when it was finished. And since I used a lot of physical energy during the performances, after the show I can’t even move from the wings (side) of the stage anymore, I have those kind of thoughts such as, 「Aah…… It seems like I’m going to melt (as it is), I wonder if I can fall asleep like this」「I don’t want to go home, I want to live here (in the theater) just like that」(Laughs)

― So much so that you can run out of energy during the performance。

With a role that has emotions which is very visible, the amount of heat (energy power) is also important, because it was a character that compromise and carelessness is not allowed at all, I performed every show with my full power so when it ended, I feel like I’m an M (masochist) or something because I have the feeling of wanting to do it all over again (Laughs). And since it became part of my life now, even during my day off, I feel like「I will do my best again tomorrow」, and if I I’m free for a week or two, it is more like, 「I do not have any performance (today) , I feel somewhat lonely.」- kind of feeling. Also whenever I wake up in the morning with a jump, I’m like「Uwa, this is bad! I didn’t go to the theater!」 (Laughs). Even during my day off, 「I overslept! 」I’d say with a surprise and will jump (out of the bed).

― It looks like it is imprinted in your consciousness (Laughs)? Although you have said that they (Team Bakumatsu with Tomoegata Naginata) are a good company, was there any impressive episode during the performance period?

As we cherished the time we have with each other, (because we only cared about the time we can be together), we’re always together with someone (from the team) to eat outside.  In local areas, we only have one performance (in the afternoon), sometimes, I go out to watch baseball and six people were beautifully divided into two-man groups of people. Members going out for lunch, members going out for hot springs, and then there’s me and Imari-kun (Nagasone Kotetsu’s actor = Imari Yu) together watching baseball.

It should have been done separately, but for some reason it will end with the six of us all together for dinner and like 「Huh? Who contacted you? 」「Why are you all together? 」(Laughs). We did not plan to gather at all, but it happened and it was a good feeling.

― What kind of scene does Izuminokami Kanesada left an impression?

It was my first time to do such kind of work, it was also my first time with Hijikata Toshizo, was there any person who actually existed – stood on stage? The weight (of the pressure) of the work was there. For the first time I feel like I have something like responsibility since he’s a really popular character and also has a very huge content (Content may be delivered via any medium such as the internet, television, and audio CDs, as well as live events such as conferences and stage performances.)

― After all, did you have any pressure there?

There is. The work itself, every performance, 「Exceeding the previous work」- it is a work that has been continued being told, and I thought we should never break what we have accumulated so far during our time. 「This is so cool」- what I actually felt when I look at the script. In this work (Musubi no Hiki, Hajimari no Ne) I felt like I have to go far beyond the previous works. During the first meeting, I thought it would be a work that could surely be evaluated in the theater word, and with that I felt some pressure as well.

― Although you seem troubled by recreating the role、what kind of difficulties have you encountered?

My last appearance in Musical『Touken Ranbu』〜Bakumatsu Tenrouden〜, the emotions were suppressed too , and for the emotions to be shown (on the table) for the current work – all emotions and pleasures were packed up, that means if he is a light character, then it will come in handy (bitter smile), but since it was not only established by form, I got things (advices) from the people around me, and because of that I have made this role.

Since then, I felt a lot of things to catch up and it was a difficult part. Even if I intend to be angry, you won’t be able to see it. If you do not have (genuine) love for the character’s partner, you won’t look angry at all. We can’t reach that kind of feeling if we didn’t properly established the relationship of each character – so I think relationship with the co-starts are also important. So I thought it would be the hardest thing to get angry. However, it was very unpleasant to become like a dashing brother who is constantly yelling, and there was considerably a struggle, yes.

― Regarding that part, have you reached a convincing point?

I don’t know if this a correct answer, but I think I was able to do it, there’s a sense that I feel like I was able to find an answer within myself. However, I felt 「I do not have my weakness yet」in the scene where I get angry, so I think that it was good in the sense that I have found my weak point.

Arisawa-san who talked about his feelings towards the play while carefully choosing his words and with a gentle tone. From the phrase, 「Tension from the first day (of the performance) it is fun and enjoyable」- I felt the strength of the core and the passion within him. In the second part we talked about watching and aiming for the image – the manner of spending his day off, the story about his part-time job, etc. so please look forward to it!

The second part is now on the work! Thank you so much and I apologized for the long wait, please credit me and Aki for the effort we have both spent for the interview. It was all fun translating, to be honest. Despite him using a very polite structure and all. See you on the second part!

PS: They might have some changes from time to time because I love editing stuff! Sooo....*sweats*

Reference:

オラ(ora) is a slang term, coined by the Japanese “Yankii”. The Yankii are a Japanese group, kind of resembling punks or greasers (if you want to go back that far). They have a very distinct style, demeanor (basically pretty rude and in your face) and most importantly jargon.

Chuubyou Gekihatsu refers to teenagers going through puberty, esp. by being overly self-conscious; 2nd year of junior high sickness.

HIjikata Toshizo is the proud owner of Izuminokami Kanesada.

[noiseartists]

UMBRELLA BURNING FESTIVAL: Italogaze from Rome

I was introduced to Umbrella Film Festival by Sara, their bass player. A pretty good one too!

We first connected around Japanese Shoegaze. I was looking for a Japanese translator to help collaboration with Japanese bands that had little English. After a few short and unfruitful contacts with various people, Sara kindly offered to help.

That was a year ago. We have since worked together on Shojoskip, Plant Cell, and have a few more things in store. We get along well and love Shoegaze. With Nicolas Piere Wardell, we are a team, contributors I love working with.

I did not know she also was a bass player in a band. One day, shyly, I was told so and was very impressed by what I heard. You should be too.

One thing is certain, her bass playing is very similar to mine, a mix of support and melodic lines, trying to find solutions, patterns and varying them. She plays better than I ever did, but the intention is still the same.

And the rest is at the same level, with various influences from great indie bands, mixed with their own approach. 

I invite you to discover Umbrella Film Festival, one of Italogaze best, through this collaboration where they present their music and themselves.

 THE BAND

Some history

"Our band’s birth dates back to 2012. However, our lineup has changed a lot so far.

Sara met Luca Barboni, our former guitarist who left the band shortly after Poems in Braille recording and started to play with the aim of forming a garage band (!). As former drummer Francesco Gangeri joined the band the shoegaze idea came in. Gradually we realized how bad we needed a voice and Edoardo joined too. In 2013 Francesco left the band and was substituted by Marco. Since then, we have been writing and playing a bunch of songs and finally put 5 of them in our first EP.

Our only regret is that we could not tour as much as we would have liked, for Luca left UBF. We have been doing literally anything so far to cope with this lack of shoegaze guitarists here in Rome (as a matter of fact we have been trying out like 20 guitarists so far!), at the moment we’re still trying so hard to find another guy to make guitar sound loud, fuzzy and not so guitar-ishly.

We have never given in to this loss, recently Edoardo has decided to put his hands on a guitar and start singing and playing until our man appears. We are still confident he will!"  

Band composition

The line up is:

Edoardo Lelli – vocals, guitar

Sara Massiah – bass

Marco Scarcelli – drums

"As said above, our songwriting process is deeply rooted in the rigging. Most of our songs, including Poems in Braille tracks, were created starting from an improvisation we had recorded (yes, we have a bad habit of recording basically any rehearsal we do).

We would listen to the recorded material later at home, isolate some interesting sections and study our single parts. Then the effective process is kick-started: it could take weeks, months or just a couple of rehearsals until each part is composed, lyrics are written and everything is fine-tuned and arranged as a whole.

However, this is not the only way we compose. Sometimes one of us steps into our cozy studio with some kind of draft, a good riff or vocal line in mind, so everyone starts playing along and if we still like it when we listen back home the song is launched.

Either way, it’s a meticulous process, each of us is quite hard to please and we definitely cannot stop until everyone is satisfied."

 Personal anecdotes…

"If you google UBF you can read of somebody who claims that our name has something to do with the murder of a prostitute, but please don’t trust him. We can say "it’s wrong!"

 Music that is important to them

"We have quite different music tastes. Obviously, we share the love for the 90s Shoegaze scene (Slowdive, MBV, Ride, Swervedriver, Pale Saints, Drop Nineteens etc.) and broadly for the 90s sound we grew up with (Smashing Pumpkins, The Verve, Nirvana, Placebo, Deftones, Foo fighters and so on).

However, Edoardo is more into the 80s alternative scene (The Cure, Joy Division, Bauhaus, Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, Depeche Mode, The Smiths), experimental music (Brian Eno, William Basinksi, Harold Budd), Berlin years Bowie and songwriters (among which Nick Cave and David Sylvian), while Marco doesn’t mind Britpop bands as well as heavy stuff like Tool, SunnO))) and Einstürzende Neubauten.

As for Sara, recent dream-pop artists (The Bilinda butchers, Wild Nothing, Beach House, Radio Dept.) and various groovy-yet-not-that-pop bands are essential (i.e. The Smiths, Interpol, Warpaint, A Perfect Circle, Phoenix, The xx, Japandroids, just to name a few)."

 Why the name of the band?

"Marco: I guess Sara knows better where does the UBF name historically come from. I personally like to consider it a joyful refusal of protection from any kind of weather condition. If it's rainy, then let's get totally soaked. And when the sun hits... she'll be waiting.

Sara: If you really ask me, it came up randomly while I was making research for my Bachelor’s degree thesis. I’ve been studying as a Japanese linguist, so one day I came into this photography book and while flipping through I read about some kind of traditional local festival they hold in Kanagawa prefecture, which is called Soga no Kasayaki Matsuri (namely, the Soga’s Umbrella Burning Festival).

They commemorate a historical event, the attempted murder of a feudal landlord by two young warriors belonging to the powerful Soga family whose father had been deposed. It was a matter of honor, so the two brothers were busted and taken to death but at the same time, their act was seen as a supreme gesture of filial piety. That night, on their way to the landlord’s shelter in the woods, they had burnt their paper umbrellas as to light up their way, therefore it seems that every year since then the local community celebrates by making a huge pile of colorful paper umbrellas which they burn at nightfall in the fourth Saturday of July.

Actually, this medieval revenge story has quite nothing to do with shoegaze music, but I found the photo of those burning umbrellas pretty evocative and fascinating. I showed it to my band fellows and we agreed upon this curious name.  "

 WHAT is your music about?

"Marco: I guess the sound part, detached from lyrics, is about contexts, and space/time. I really like when guitars don't actually sound like guitars. We rig up a lot when we meet and play, so we are just stuck and focused on what's going on in that particular moment, and we crave to do what seems to be magic instead of just what has to be done. We are looking for a giant, howling, and yet invisible ghost. We know it knows that we are there, the only way to catch it is to record its voice.

Sara: Well, about that ghost… I guess some of us just call it creativity. Rather than specific messages or stories, our aim is to suggest some kind of emotional landscape. While playing, we are constantly trying to reach a particular climax, which doesn’t necessarily mean the wall of sound (well, it does mean that more than often though). It’s some kind of emotional peak, the release of something we probably could not express any other way.

We like to think that our audience, especially those longtime Shoegaze fans, are able to grasp it and relate, but personally, I consider this aspect a nice side effect better than a specific aim of the songwriting process. Our music is a pure expression, secondarily the more can relate to the product, the better.

Edoardo: Sara has already said it perfectly: our aim is to set up emotional landscapes. Apart from that, a peculiar aspect of our work is that there's often something hidden or intentionally left unclear so that the listener can give its own meaning to the music or to the lyrics. I guess this is some kind of natural approach to us, as we tend to use ourselves as the test subjects to the evocative power of our songs.

Talking about lyrics writing process, what I'm always looking for is to go beyond the limits and create some reaction in a hypothetical listener. More than telling stories, images depicting. The verses I prefer are the ones where sensitivity and fury collide giving birth to something different, could it be bittersweet or fascinatingly disgusting. I think As Everything Falls Apart is a good example of this approach."

 THE MUSIC

Why we like them

The influences: Pale Saint, Ride, My Bloody Valentine! All drips into UBF' music.

The basslines: The line on Losing myself again is a killer, and the rest is as good

The voice: It is rare in Shoegaze and Dream Pop to hear powerful yet melodic voices. Edoardo pulls this out beautifully.

 Poems in Braille, EP, May 2016

1. Intro  02:14

"We were looking for a short track to work as an introduction to both the mood and the sonic landscape of the EP. We just wanted it to tell the listener something like “This is where we’re going to be for the next 20 minutes. So get ready and let yourself go.” We’re very satisfied with the result, as we think we’ve reached that aim pretty well."

This intro brings a vast palette of sounds. Some part reminds me of Ride's Grasshopper, some of some Japanese bands. A great introduction for the listener.

2. Track 5  02:52

"Track 5 is Umbrella Burning Festival’s take on the classic Shoegaze song: it’s straightforward, melodic, blurry and psychedelic. It’s a bad trip, both musically and lyrically."

This song reminds me of the first Pale Saints album, Comfort of Madness. Edoardo vocals are on par with Ian Masters. The title, track 5, for the second song is quite nice as it misleads the listener.

3. Stargazer  05:24

"When thinking of Stargazer an image always comes to mind: floating in space. Sonically speaking, this song places somewhere in between the space rock of The Verve's first album and the dream pop of Cocteau Twins."

The start of the song is also in the sonic universe of the same Pale Saints album. It is a calm song. It invites you to contemplate de sky full of stars, building tension slowly, without exploding. Subtle.

I love the title. In the 90's, I played often with a band called The SIgh. One of the best I heard. They had a song called Skygazer.

4. Losing Myself Again  05:12

"Losing Myself Again is a bipolar song. In the first part, with its in-your-face attitude, it's still lucid; in the second part, where it's pure chaos, it goes completely crazy."

This song has one of the best basslines I know: round, powerful. It is like getting into a warm whirlpool of sound.

This song has psychedelic sire to it, in the way it pulls the listener into it, both physically and mentally, and keeps you there, happy in the sonic chaos you are surrounded by.

Edoardo's voice adds a great intensity to a song already intense in all the right ways. I love this song.

5. As Everything Falls Apart  07:30

"This is the most intense track in Poems in Braille. Its slow, sinuous pace is meant to be trance inductive as if it was conceived as the soundtrack of a collapse."

In 2017, my favorite album was Camille Claudel 's eponymous album. This song could belong in this album in so many ways: the sound, Edoardo's voice and voice melody that so much like Frederico's, the intensity and trance-inducing. To understand, just listen to the following song. It is difficult not to find similarities. Did I say they were my favorite album of 2017? Maybe a hint as to why I love UBF too.

 THE ENVIRONMENT

Tell us about the artists you have worked with

"We have had the pleasure to mix and master our EP at WAX Recording Studio in Rome, which is run by Alessio Pindinelli who happens to be the talented guitarist of La Casa al Mare. I guess many of you Shoegazers around the world know his band and we are really thankful to them."

 The band's presence on the web

Social media:

Facebook

YouTube

Listening / buying their music:

Bandcamp

Soundcloud

 Other bands

"Marco: I saw Human Colonies live set last year, and it was really good. Out of the ItaloGaze scene, I MUST recommend you all Musica Per Bambini, BRUUNO, and Lantern.

Sara: I absolutely agree upon Human Colonies. Then if you’re into alternative genres and don’t mind some Italian vocals I would say Verdena is a good band to discover. I grew up as a teenager and a musician with their music. Their second album (Solo un grande sasso, 2001) has some Shoegaze influences too. And if you’re looking for something closer to the shoegaze classics, with lyrics in English and sharp riffs, my suggestion is In Her Eye. Even though I’ve discovered them not long ago I love their works (especially Borderline, 2015). I’m looking forward to their upcoming release (Change, off on June 1st) since I’ve listened to the launching single Closer to me.

Edoardo: Speaking of Italian music, I would suggest Verdena (especially Solo un grande sasso), our friends La Casa al Mare (This Astro is such a great album – listen to M and tell me I'm wrong!) and Port-Royal from Genova (I've listened to their 2009 album Dying in Time at least a thousand times!)."

 Thanks to

Our friends and families. Mervyn Peake. Modulated reverb. 2290.

[imagine-that-haikyuu]

i feel like this is cheating but i can't help it, would it be possible to request (short, because i'm not an asshole) character analyses from you in the future? if not no worries, i'm just such a sucker for meta and i really like your style haha. i'll try to be specific so you'll have an easier time writing it. i mean it's basically headcanons without the head so it's just... canon. yeah that was not the smartest sentence i've ever written and i'm not proud of it sorry

i know i said that i’d do tsukki for this meta, but i started rambling about keishin in chapter 255 in a post for the other blog and halfway through writing it, i thought it would just best for this. also because you asked for something short and the tsukki meta will be long. since we haven’t seen as much development from everyone’s favorite coach as we have from tsukki, it seemed like a good opportunity to highlight some subtle hints that furudate-sensei’s been giving us that something is in the works

and also for me to ramble about my husband

so that being said, there are spoilers past season 3 of the anime since this is about the latest chapter, 255

if you like what i do and want to show your support, consider supporting me on ko-fi!

- admin rachel lauren

Never underestimate my ability to hyperfocus on Keishin in every chapter, but chapter 255 has me beginning to think we’re going to get some development from him in some capacity, and perhaps regarding his relationship with his grandpa.

I’ll never stop talking about how Furudate-sensei is a very smart in crafting their stories and bringing what may seem like minor details or throwaway lines to attention again many chapters later, so I think it might be fair to assume that some parts of 255 are hinting at something important to come for Keishin. Even if this ends up being nothing more than speculation on my part, it’s still something that might be interesting to think about for the rest of the Nationals arc.

Right after using Karasuno’s signature weapon against them, Inarizaki rubs salt into the wound by reading Kageyama and successfully blocking Hinata. Like the great coach that he's proving himself time and time again to be, Keishin of course is going to try and ensure that this doesn’t get to them and lead to mistakes later on.

Something any good coach would say to his team, right? Though, in retrospect, I’m not entirely sure this was directed just at Hinata and Kageyama, but also to himself. Shimada and Takinoue’s comments from the next page are what tipped this off as a possibility for me:

This chapter contained very little comedy (as expected given what’s happening in the match at this time), but this would have been the time for sensei to demonstrate exactly what Takinoue is saying here. We already got something similar from Daichi after Oikawa’s first serve in the second official match against Seijou.Given that it’s been a very long time since that chapter was published, it would have been fine to pull that gag again without risking it feeling cheap or stale. The fact that sensei didn’t go down that route is an interesting choice, and even more so that they felt the need to have Shimada and Takinoue note this for the reader. If it wasn’t going to be important at some point, it would have never been mentioned. I say this with confidence because it happens again and again with other characters in this series. Furudate-sensei has an incredible knack for setting up important plot points by making them seemingly minor details far before they’re even needed. (Whether or not they include these things knowing they’re going to utilize it later or including it and realizing later that it can be incorporated into the story is beside the point. It doesn’t matter when those things come to a writer so much as if the writer can and does find/create an appropriate time to remind the readers of it).

Regardless, I’d say this highlights very well how much Keishin has grown as coach just in the three months since the Miyagi prefecture finals, let alone from when he first started prior to the Nekoma practice match. He was very much a rookie coach in the beginning; he’d show his frustration and helplessness through a bit of a temper whenever the boys were backed into a corner and he couldn’t immediately think of a solution.

Now, we’re getting some wonderful examples of how differently he’s handling his position as a coach. He’s spending more of his free time researching and strategizing not only to minimize the anxiety from not knowing exactly what a powerful opponent is capable of, but also to minimize the anxiety from not knowing how to combat them. Chapter 253 gave us this gem:

And in earlier chapters right before Nationals, (I don’t remember which chapters exactly and I don’t think screenshots are entirely necessary for them anyway) there are very sweet moments where he instills confidence in Kinoshita regarding his serves and Kageyama’s abilities as a setter among other things. More recently, Asahi’s flashback in 254 really drives this point home.

But I digress. Back to the “calm on the outside” panels from 255. Unlike before, we see Keishin not lose his cool outwardly. It’s safe to say that he’s learned that a team’s morale can hinder on how their coach is feeling. While he may have been outwardly worried in the past during time-outs, one of the boys was there to assure everyone that things were going to be okay. But he can’t rely on that happening every time. While the boys are fantastic at motivating themselves and their teammates, they’re still high school students: they’re going to look to adults they trust for guidance in times of doubt. Keishin becoming a more mature coach is absolutely necessary for Karasuno to hold it together on the national stage. 

I’d argue that a good part of this, too, comes from the fact that Ikkei is in the hospital again at this point in the manga. Given that he seems relatively close to his grandpa--however odd it may be to have your relationship with your grandfather be a rivalry--this is probably weighing on Keishin enough to affect his disposition in the middle of a match. Chapter 247 has a very ominous moment which makes me believe that Ikkei is a huge component in Keishin trying to dry behind his ears a little while at Nationals.

We know he’s talking about Karasuno here, but having that blank, black panel show up right after he learns from a relative informing that Ikkei’s condition is not getting better is incredibly unsettling. His grandfather as his motivation before was markedly immature, with Ikkei constantly taking jabs at his grandson and Keishin reacting to them mostly out of mild contempt and because of his competitive spirit. Now, it’s’ easy to see that this shift in tone also shifts the nature of Ikkei as his motivation. It’s less of a matter of wanting to beat his grandpa and more so wanting to continue the legacy his grandfather left before his retirement, that his grandfather can look at Karasuno and know that they’re in capable hands, and that he is a coach worthy of leading a team at the national level. And god forbid the man dies--because sports manga aren’t immune to character deaths (Area no Kishi, anyone?)--Keishin would certainly want his grandfather to pass being proud of him and of Karasuno.

Keishin can only be a proxy for sensei to explain strategy to the readers for so long. I think Shimada and Takinoue are better suited for that because they’re spectators as much as the readers are. While a flashback to the Neighborhood Association trio’s time in high school would be ill-timed at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a different type of development for Keishin in the coming months. I’d be more surprised if we didn’t, considering what I mentioned earlier about sensei’s storytelling style. If it doesn’t happen now, it’ll happen eventually. And if not I’m flying to Japan and personally giving sensei an earful after I thank them first.

[putschki1969]

Kadokawa: Wakana’s Personal Interview  ✧⁺⸜(●′▾‵●)⸝⁺✧

A translation for all of you ❤ DO NOT REPOST THIS on other sites! This is a public post so if you want people on other websites to read it, just link to THIS post!

Please credit me when you use parts of these translations! => http://putschki1969.tumblr.com/

Disclaimer: It’s been 84 years....Oh God, I am so sorry, I can’t believe how long it took to finish this interview. Please forgive me, Wakana!!! I translated 「Keiko’s Personal Interview」 as well as 「Keiko’s Eye」 a million years ago. Then I decided to translate 「Hikaru’s Personal Interview」 too, which was also finished AGES ago. Of course I also did 「Hikaru’s Eye」 :P. For some reason, I lost all of my motivation after that and then I got distracted with other stuff. Only recently I was reminded that I still hadn’t translated 「Wakana’s Personal Interview」. @vagabon80 was kind enough to provide some extra motivation which pretty much made me finish this in record time XD 「Wakana’s Eye」 will follow soon. Sorry I made all of you wait so long, I hope you’ll still enjoy reading the interview (even though it’s quite old by now).

As always, be aware that I am by NO MEANS fluent in Japanese (tbqh, my Japanese sucks), English is also not my first language. I put a lot of effort into this but still, there will most likely be mistakes in my translation. I sometimes take certain liberties because I am just not a big fan of super literal translations. I think it can really interrupt my flow of reading. So yeah, I’ve tried to make it sound as natural as possible. But don’t worry, I am trying VERY hard to stay true to the original meaning.

Check out all my other translation HERE!

Personal Interview – Favourite Things – Wakana (Bessatsu Kadokawa/別冊カドカワ)

“I wanna become a person that isn’t afraid of being who they are”

Wakana charms people with her amazing singing ability and her almost translucent voice. In private, she enjoys reading and watching movies, intellectually she is incredibly curious; when she loves something she will become deeply absorbed in it, she will investigate it thoroughly with the “temperament of an otaku”. I became increasingly fascinated by this lively girl, whose voice is completely different to her singing voice and who kept laughing cheerfully throughout our conversation

“I think none of the things I have done so far have been a waste of time”

- With this section’s interview and pictures I’d like to show the private side of Wakana-san. Therefore you brought some books which we could use as props for our pictures.

“When I thought about what to use, I was pretty undecided because there are so many different things I am doing at home but I ended up choosing my hobby ‘reading’. I really love books! For today’s occasion I thought it would be best if I was photographed with the books I am currently reading.”

- Whose works are they?

“It’s 『Masquerade Hotel』 by Keigo Higashino-san and part 2 of Miyuki Miyabe-san’s series 『Solomon’s Perjury』. They are two of my favourite authors, I think I would pretty much read all of their published work. Of course I enjoy the suspense and mystery solving part but what I really love is the way both Miyabe-san and Higashino-san describe their characters. The main characters in Higashino’s works are always spot on, they are very relatable. I can’t really explain it but I often get the feeling that his books are truly capable of pleasing the reader. Miyabe-san is great at depicting the inside of people, it feels very real, I get the impression that she just writes whatever she wants and whatever comes to her mind. I think Kajiura-san is a lot like that as well but that’s just my personal opinion *laughs*. I think they are strong woman who do not stray from their beliefs. They are people who pursue the things they wanna create, the things they wanna express.”

- Do you mostly read books when you are at home?

“Recently, I have really been addicted to Western TV shows! I recommend the cop show 『GRIMM』 which is full of suspense, very intriguing and heavily inspired by Grimm’s Fairy Tales! I also watch a LOT of movies. I am a big fan of the actress Meg Ryan.”

- She does a lot of romantic comedy, right?

“I love it! 『City of Angels』 is among my favourites! It’s about an angel called Seth who falls in love with a surgeon called Maggie who is played by Meg Ryan . Due to him being an angel, he doesn’t realize he is in love at first. When he asks one of his angel friends, »There’s this tightness in my chest, I wonder what it is...?« he gets the answer, »That’s love what you are feeling.« From then onwards, the love story of Seth and Maggie begins...it’s quite a sad story but I still love it very much, I’ve watched it multiple times. I have this habit of watching my favourite scenes again and again. I am quite the maniac when it comes to things like that *laughs*. At one point in 『City of Angels』 Maggie just won’t believe that Seth is an angel, in that moment the two of them become very distant. But then she reconsiders her thoughts and realizes that Seth wouldn’t be capable of lying to her. There’s a scene that follows where Maggie says, »I can’t see you but are you here right now? Please, can you stay by my side tonight?« The song that’s playing in the background in that moment is truly beautiful! Just by watching this scene, I feel like I can fall asleep easily *laughs*.” [Note: The song Wakana is referring to is “In the Arms of an Angel”]

- The song fits perfectly.

“I love it so much, there are no words *laughs*! Aside from romantic-comedies, and that’s something our fans already know about me but I should still mention it here, I really love 『Jurassic Park』, 『Back to the Future』 and all works by Ghibli.”

- Yeah, those are well-known facts *laughs*

“Hehehe *laughs*! Ah! Right now, if someone were to ask me where I would really like to go in Japan, I’d reply ‘Fukui’.”

- Because...?

“I wanna see the ‘Fukui-Raptor’ of course! *laughs* A dinosaur fossil was discovered in the Fukui prefecture, it’s the first time that an entire skeleton of a carnivorous dinosaur could be reconstructed. It’s a holy ground for every dinosaur fan!”

- Ah, I see!

“Speaking of dinosaurs, recent research suggests that all dinosaurs may have grown hair. Like, they seemed to have had real feathers....For us fans it’s really...well, there are many mixed reactions...” [Note: Wakana has mentioned this in one of her B-Pass interviews in case this sounds familiar to anyone]

- It’s a complicated feeling, right?

“That’s true *laughs*. Even if they are like that, I just love imagining them in a certain way and coming up with many wild ideas. I also enjoy seeing things from a different viewpoint and getting different ideas when it comes to manga, novels and films. I am constantly thinking, »I wonder what’s gonna happen next?« and I try to find out all by myself *laughs*. I talked about it earlier during our interview for my ‘Spiritual Message’ but ever since I was in elementary school I was in a chorus group, I really loved the Shiki Theatre Company and all I did was sing. Then, I also became interested in manga and oil-painting, during my time as a junior high school student I was lucky to become the head of our art department. I imitated the styles of painters such as Renoir and Millet. I used tons of paint trying to create bumps and unevenness *laughs*. I remember sitting by myself during the summer holidays, drawing oil-paintings while listening to Hide’s 『Pink Spider』. Then of course I also took lessons in rhythmic sports gymnastic and by the time I came into middle school I also started with vocal music, afterwards I’d take gospel lessons...my mother taught me how to play the piano. I was scolded if I didn’t practice as often as possible *laughs*.”

- So your mother was your first music teacher?

“Yes, she was. Once I had entered high school I really started to concentrate full-time on my singing so I ended up abandoning everything else I had been doing halfway through...I feel very grateful for my musical education because once I became a part of Kalafina, I needed to be able to read musical scores and that was something I had been taught. But still, thinking back, I feel like none of the many things I have done have gone to waste. This is just a little story but one of our songs is called 『lapis』 and while we sang it, I was able to imagine it by thinking back to my time in the school art department, where I had once come across a certain blue, this particular shade of lapis lazuli. I think Kalafina is a classical-pop group. We each have our own genres and we all bring them together to create our music. Such as it is, I add a sense of classical music to Kalafina with my high voice and I think that I am assigned to my position simply because my family provided this environment ever since I was a child. Right now I think I have reached a point where those parts can’t be developed any further within Kalafina.” [Note: I am really not sure about that last sentence. I don’t know how to translate it so I just wrote this. But meh, take it with a grain of salt.]

“As part of Kalafina I want to convey enjoyable music, an enjoyable voice, an overall enjoyable time.”

- All right, are there any songs or vocalists that Wakana-san is paying attention to aside from Kalafina that is?

“Someone other than the artists I aspire to be like, if I had to think of one, that would probably be...Masamune Kusano-san from 『Spitz』! I really love his voice! One day, I would love to sing together with him, it’s one of my little dreams. Then of course I’ll often hear a voice on the radio or on other media and I’ll think, »Oh my God, what a gorgeous voice!!«, »Who the heck is this?« I’ll be immediately intrigued. Then as if my life depended on it, I’ll memorise as many lines from the lyrics as possible and I’ll try my best to search for the song, I’ll also ask all of my friends about it. I won’t give up until I find it *laughs*.”

“My fortune-telling note described me as »not being able to just take the simple and easy route due to an otaku temperament«”

- Hearing this story, I feel like you are naturally very determined and fixated on things?

“Hahaha, I really have the temperament of an otaku, I totally believe that about myself *laughs* It even says so in my fortune-telling, it said »stubborn with the temperament of an otaku«!”

- Fortune-telling? *laughs*

“Yes. It’s not like I 100% believe in it but I find fortune-telling quite fun as a sort of entertainment *laughs*. Keiko and Hikaru are always like, »Oh, that fortune-telling note you brought us was really interesting«, everyone gets super excited about it. Recently I’ve been really into the very popular »Hoheto-fortune-telling«. I totally recommend it to you *laughs*! If you search for it online, I am sure it will come up at the top; it uses your birth date to tell you your fortune. The results are unexpectedly accurate and a little too real and harsh if you ask me. By the way, I got the same results as Kajiura-san. It described us as »not being able to just take the simple and easy route due to an otaku temperament«. When I told her about it, she said, »That makes sense! I always want to be as thorough as possible!« To which I will reply, »Yes, Sensei is really quite like that. Always contemplating and worrying whether or not it’s okay with this or that kind musical scale, then deciding it’s not sufficient, there are three voices after all...« It is very demanding music after all. We ourselves can do our best simply because we can see and feel that music, those specific chords, within Kajiura-san. I often want to understand the feelings that go through Kajiura-san’s head, when for example, she decides to add a sharp to a note. All three of us think like that. We will ask ourselves things like, »Why do only this melody line and the center melody work together like this?« One of us will come up with a suitable answer, something along the lines of, »It’s the best way to make use of the upper and lower harmonies!« The three of us will have conversations like that all the time. Keiko is also the type of person to be very stubborn, she has a strong fighting spirit, she will always see things through till the very end. Hikaru does things her own way and at her own pace but she is very hard-working and determined as well, she never gives up. All of us can get extremely fired up. It’s like a bonfire! Daily, we are adding fuel to it.”

- This combination of otaku temperament, fighting spirit and relentless persuasion in one’s own way is really strong, right?

“We are truly a very passionate group *laughs*!!”

- Now, to conclude our interview, I’d like to ask what kind of woman Wakana-san would like to become in the future?

“It’s kinda vague but for the most part I would just like to be more cheerful and kind. I wanna keep being a part of Kalafina forever. But I also love cooking...I LOVE cutting onions *laughs*, having that in mind, I think I would also love to pursue cooking seriously and become a great wife. One day I’ll start thinking about a future like that but right now all I want to do is convey an enjoyable voice, enjoyable music and an overall enjoyable time as part of Kalafina.”

- What are your goals for 2015?

“I think it would be nice if I could live as honest and natural as possible, maintaining the status quo, no, scratch that,  I don’t wanna maintain the status quo, I want to grow. As Kalafina, I want us to make a lot of progress. And as a human being, I would just like to become a person that isn’t afraid of who they are. No matter what, it’s gonna be very hard...to live more freely...ugghhh...maybe it’s not a good thing for me to do things more freely...”

- I am sure it will be fine!

“It will be fine because Keiko and Hikaru are there for me. They will surely provide some sort of regulation, »STOP Wakana! You may do as you please till this point and no further!« *laughs* The three of us will continue to do our best in order to become stronger women.”