#he still looks better in the manga but definitely better than he did in s1 😭

[sunasbabie]

IM SO EXCITED FOR KAIJU NO 8 OMG MY MAN NARUMI IS HERE 😭😭😭

[namimikan]

sugar apple fairy tale vol 2 / episode 5-8 comparison thoughts:

-it's so interesting that kat is only mentioned in a couple of lines right at the beginning of the light novel -- he asked for anne's help and gave her a cape in return. whereas the anime is like. let's dedicate the fifth episode to them meeting each other and working together, bc kat thought anne broke his sugar candy, whereas anne is thinking five steps ahead on how to catch the true culprit. in the author's notes of the light novel, the author states that they met three days after vol 1, and she wrote what happened in another magazine. and i'm like. i want to read it. (might want to reread the first manga too tbh, to see if kat makes an appearance there.) but also: challe immediately making cat puns, much to kat's dismay. that's challe's twisted sense of humour for you!

-the anime also skips people wanting to take advantage of anne's money situation. a lady in lewiston wanting to pay less than the original offering price, the innkeeper being inconsistent on charging prices bc he wants to buy challe. i can see why the anime cut this, but i... hm, i do like the reminder that people do see anne as a fool, and will try to take advantage of her, even tho she will speak out against it. and also that anne is unusual to most people who are like 'well, she obviously owns the fairy, why would she be friends with it?'. also just. challe offering to sell himself to make money. oh man. yeah, no wonder anne is horrified, and challe just doesn't get why. no wonder they cut that part.

-it's a definitely harder to tell how much time has passed in the anime, yeah, it's snowing but. i like that the light novel states 'two months passed since book 1'.

-there's something about the rollercoaster nature of jonas&anne constantly running into each other that makes me ship them. like they keep trying to avoid each other, but oh no! fate has a plan for them! they gotta keep on meeting! even when both of them are like why did i have to run into you again??? and that's really all of s1/v1-3, that makes me laugh, bc it's different arcs for them every time! and part of me, still wants that au where yeah, jonas was lying about being in love with her to begin with, but... the more he finds himself in these situations with anne... the more he actually is falling in love with her. what is his life!!!!

-(oh i still massively prefer anne/challe, dgmw, but i'm also. i love shipping and what ifs. and anne/jonas is dear to me because of how much it changes throughout the books.)

-i felt so bad for jonas this time around, watching the anime. like it is there in the light novel, that jonas is--kinda desperate and out of his depth, anne looks at him and constantly feels that he seems as if he's cornered, but i really think the anime did a great job at making him succumbing to this pressure and knowing it's a lost cause and making him look wild eyed, but he cannot escape, so he has to throw anne under the bus in order to gain his freedom. tbh, i think jonas is arguably worse in vol 1 than vol 2, bc i just think. jonas getting beaten by the duke, and being like 'I have to get out, I have to escape, I don't understand his feedback, I am creatively drained, anne can do it i cannot, please just let me go' gives him a lot of sympathy points. he's awful, but this time, I think he knows it and feels guilty, but he doesn't really feel like he has any other choice. this time, he does concede that anne is the better sugar artisan, anne can do what he cannot, as opposed to vol 1, bc jonas... why are you spinning such a smear campaign on anne, when you know that's not true! and it's such a contrast when they meet again at the end of the light novel, and this time jonas is not nearly so spiteful. a lot of it is hurt pride, but. i think his actions in duke albarn's castle shook him a bit, like he knows it's a personal low for him, even for him.

-i think i prefer the light novel's aftermath when the duke decides to set free jonas and anne remains slightly more. in both the anime and light novel, lots of people point out that entertaining the duke's delusions is pointless: he's asking for a ridiculous task. it's anne's pride and confidence in her abilities that make her want to see it through to the end. but i slightly preferred that the light novel points out that jonas did look burnt out, and at his wits' end, and it was better for him to go, anne had not reached the wall that he had. the anime... hm, something about anime!anne saying "i don't want to be someone like you, who abandons things halfway" was a little insulting?, but. y'know what. anne in general is nicer to jonas than she needs to be, i don't really blame her for rubbing salt in his wounds that much, and to be a bit bitter that she's effectively trapped with a madman if she doesn't get it right... but. anne wasn't physically attacked like jonas, and i have respect for characters who go 'i've reached my limit, i admit i'm not suitable for this task, it's time to cut my losses and know when to quit'. but i do think part of it is because anne's pride is on the line, and it's her stubbornness that won't let her back down, bc even challe is like. why. why are you still trying to fulfill his request??? but my point: LN!anne seemed more sympathetic to jonas, and i think i prefer that tbh. but i'm being nitpicky, tbh!

-i'm so curious to know why the anime doesn't make it clear that only liz loved challe romantically? i actually do like the ambiguity of it in the anime, bc you don't know how challe feels about liz, but he must have been close nonetheless. but there's no reflection that challe thought he loved liz the same way, and liz shakes her head and says he doesn't -- and that is true, it's reflected in the way how liz and anne are thought about by challe. there's no doubt that liz holds a special place in his heart, but it's not the romantic love that challe so blatantly and obliviously feels for anne. so probably: mystique, the anime didn't make it clear to make challe appear more mysterious, and like. i'm not going to lie, that's so right up my alley too. bc i do like speculating on challe's relationship with both, and i want more history with challe/liz to be revealed tbh.

-(not exactly an kikinukag situation from inuyasha, but i feel like the first time i watched the SAFT anime, i... maybe thought it was the case, in some ways it's pretty neat that the light novels immediately go 'challe has never been in love, he does not even know he is in love with anne even at this very minute.' i also thought anne & challe maybe didn't know that they were in love with each other, both too dense to figure it out, but actually with anne acutely aware of it and thinking she doesn't have a chance, and challe genuinely doesn't realize it bc he's emotionally stunted, their body language is even more of a delight with how these two give themselves away to how they're feeling with this in mind when watching the anime. like the subtext is there, but i just wasn't sure if the characters themselves knew it, bc so often love is foreign and they don't know what they're feeling, why they're feeling and... that's just challe for you! the most touchy-feely one of them both! dear god, anne, you gotta be strong! your mental fortitude is stronger than mine, i tell you that much!)

-i super liked vol 2 for being a dark parallel to what challe/anne could become, if challe disappeared on her, and anne not dealing with it well. but i also like that it's fairly reminiscent of a darker version of anne maybe not coming to terms with her mother's death in book 1. like the william alburn is scary by the end, and tho anne never really gets that bad, but it could have been be a possible future for her, lest she doesn't take care. luckily anne had friends, whereas alburn did not, and let his obsession consume him. but y'know. it was an interesting mirror to think about when reading/watching, and anne does draw inspiration from that as she compare situations when making the sugar candy for him.

-you know, i kinda get why the anime changed hugh's appearance in this arc. tho i'm so sad we didn't get the moment of hugh hugging anne, and challe being grumpy, so hugh teases challe for being jealous, and challe is just what do you mean jealous?? of what? but i get why hugh doesn't steal challe's wing in the anime. challe let his guard down! hugh could have been talented pickpocket had he chosen not to be a sugar master! but it -- certainly was an interesting turn to how hugh keeps challe around for the last third of the story, tho i wonder if challe does try to get revenge at some point? again, not bad, and it wasn't really necessary, but i do think it gives interesting characterization to hugh and his sneakiness, once again.

-the anime might have moved the last section of the light novel for another episode, idk. but i really love the return of jonas and the radcliffe workshop boys, jeering at anne, afterwards. and jonas is just. not into it anymore, too ashamed of what's happened to really continue it. and keith appears and puts a stop to their behaviour!!

again, overall solid adaptation, i enjoy the changes the anime brought, i enjoy the extra detail the light novels gave.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

SORRY THIS IS SO FUCKING LATE I like slept through the past two days oops we anyways…

OOOOOOH that couples costume would be so cute!!!! Wait yuki WOULD definitely eat that up now we’ve fully established yukimira along with tabimira and miraeita wait on that note yukimira flows so well….its also only like one letter off from his actual name which makes sense LOL but truly meant to be

Crying born to be chronically online forced to touch grass but omg FEEL BETTER ngl I haven’t been feeling the best either maybe we’re just linked up like that….but in my head I’m imagining it being like a race between all your fics and which will finish first LMAO (specifically if you’ve seen those TikToks comparing like manga sales or like music streams and it’s like a moving bar chart kinda)

NO FRRRR cmon we just got the yuki nagi rin dorm additional time give us the Karasu Shidou otoya one please…..wait that’s genius if we get the “day before the match” compilation additional time PLEASE 8BIT PLEASEEE that would actually be such a smart way to do it!!! I can imagine they can format it kinda like that one s1 AT where they went through a day in the life at bllk showing the routine and all of team z soooo it’s time to Mira manifest this

Sae being red bean pink has me cackling you don’t even know but we’ve def talked abt this more too but fr where are the red themed characters….why are they allergic to it…….we have so many variations of pink and blue what happened??? Literally left out an entire primary color like

This is still so funny to me you really took “for the plot!” Literally LMAOOOO it’s funny how you word it like the otoya bfb is short LMFOASJA and I mean relatively next to karasus yet but that just had me thinking yk LOL but so true!! I like how you keep the wc flexible to match the plot rather than restrict it because then that can make pacing awk and I know some people do it to save time but I just find it more enjoyable when it’s not restrained like that

Wait that’s so true…..imagine if they did kyoani would be unstoppable…actually I wonder if it’s because they take their time and effort into making it quality that they don’t get signed to the ones with super fan bases so that they can churn out the anime production out super fast to boost sales and whatnot ugh (LMAOO honestly almost every work has its sus moments unfortunately I’ve learned to kinda just filter it out atp if it’s not something super egregious)

HASHAHAH Rin not knowing only he got hit by Shidou and thinking everyone else must be here too is actually hilarious wait imagine if he thinks since he’s in yukis body yuki must be in his doppelgänger and he just spends an embarrassing amount of time looking for himself/yuki trying to figure out why he didn’t get transported into his own body im crying and YUKI KARASU BEEF AGAIN LMAOOO it’s not a miraverse work without that one sided beef

The aegislash arc is actually so original and hilarious your mind is truly a different breed for that I can’t wait to read that arc LMAOO

OMG IKR??? 8BIT did yuki WONDERS he’s GORGEOUS???? Also wait is it just me I thought the animation looked a little bit smoother this time too (Karasu mistreatment smh need some justice for our king) ok but also the additional time yuki was SO. FINE??? Apparently 8BIT loves eitaken

WAITTTT HOW DID WE NOT THINK OF YUKI SHDHSKSH we did him dirty ok but if you actually do decide to repurpose that fic….yukis time to shine….after your reqs and pursuit and oaeu….

AUAHSHA HAPPY TO BE OF SERVICE O777 im ngl i think you’re one of the first writers I’ve actually sent a req to before that i fr was exclusively a lurker but im so glad i decided to send that in LMAOO

- Karasu anon

AHAHA NO WORRIESSS i also took a second to respond i’m sorry LMAO i’ve been busy with some blog maintenance (aka coming up with character specific masterlists because i was about to run out of links on my main masterlist and i just wanted to make the specific masterlists before it got too overwhelming…as it is it took me a while to do)

yukimira is such a perfect ship name HAHAHA we have been meant to be since the start basically…no because him in the revenge of the sith anakin costume would EATTT the hair and everything is so perfect he would look amazing literally number one couple’s costume oat for number one couple oat /j omg wait what would the miraeita costume be…LOWKEY HEAR ME OUT shriek and fiona SDKLJFHSDKHJ i think he would eat that up i haven’t actually watched shrek but i just think that he would find that funny (or lowkey he would probably make us go as naruto characters or smth but i haven’t watched naruto either so i couldn’t tell you who) also i was thinking you know what would be a hilarious nagimira costume is gojo and geto because i have dark hair so i could be geto pretty easily and all nagi would have to do would be wear a pair of glasses and black clothes to be gojo so he would definitely be okay with it SKLDJHFS it would be perfect actually

LMAOOOO PLEASE we’re so synced up that we even get sick at the same time i love that for us…please that’s literally the feeling i have rn like i have no idea what’s going to get posted atp it’s torturous ugh but hopefully something soon…hopefully…

YEAHH and we also had the “anri daily schedule” one so there’s def a precedent for that kind of thing we could def get smth like that!! pls i wonder if next episode is the one shidou gets electrocuted (insane sentence to be about a soccer animanga) because if it is we’ll probably get a shidou centric additional time but we could def have otoya and karasu featuring in it!! kinda like how rin featured in the yukinagi one

SAE’S HAIR REMINDS ME OF KIDNEY BEANS SORRYYYY LMAOAOA but yeah i think we have mentioned it before i guess maybe they want to make barou really stand out?? can’t say i’m complaining i do kinda love how distinctive barou’s aura is compared to everyone else it fits with his personality…like there’s no guesswork when he comes on the field you see the red and hear the lion and it’s like yup barou is here to fuck shit up

KSDJHFSDKJ okay the otoya version isn’t SHORT but it is a third of the length of karasu’s version so comparatively it is…yeah i try to let the plot drive my word count (as well as the characters in the sense that a character like kaiser will need a higher word count to feel believable being in love whereas isagi you can write as a simp and it’s like yeah ok he’s just like that) i think the only time i’ve cut myself off is the kiyora one shot i did?? mostly because i didn’t want to keep writing when i wasn’t sure if that was what they wanted from me given that it was a request and i had no idea if i was writing kiyora right (speaking of which though i recently followed someone back and saw an ask on their page that they had answered back in september of someone recommending my kiyora fic to them because they wanted to read a kiyora fic and according to the anon mine captured his character really well i was fr blushing and shit when i saw that LMAOAOA like awww me 🥹⁉️ i was literally just making it up too because i wrote the whole thing before he came out in pwc so it was like doubly validating

i do think that’s a part of it like they’re not trying to please people or go on crazy deadlines so they can focus on quality over quantity SKFHS but agreed almost everything has sus stuff at this point i also just filter it out mentally as long as it’s not horrible (i refuse to watch shows where the women are drawn rlly weird though like i won’t ever watch one piece because WHY are the girls drawn like that)

THE YUKI KARASU ONE SIDED BEEF IS SO FUNNY TO ME i think it’s crazy how it always naturally pops up in all of my work but there’s lowkey zero canon basis?? in the sense that they’re buddies in the show karasu has ZERO beef with him…okay wait this is kinda unrelated but smth that i just thought of is like why IS otoya karasu’s duo partner?? i feel like yukimiya fits way better with him when you look at them objectively and even in terms of play styles the two of them would probably have really good chemistry…anyways obviously i understand tabieita but now i’m like huh i can’t believe karasu isn’t better friends with yuki 🤔 we hardly ever see them interacting i feel like it’s kinda implied that yukimiya was doing his own thing even when he joined them in the second selection (plus he was probably the last to join them knowing him) and even during/after third selection he doesn’t really talk to karasu or otoya at ALL…in shibuya we see him hanging out with isagi and reo more?? and for some reason karasu is with nagi the most??? very random anyways no idea why it’s like that but okay here’s two alternate trios i’d propose: tabishoken (karasu barou yukimiya) and bachira + shidou + otoya (can’t think of a good name for them) i think the vibes there are way more congruent somehow…toss reo in with the first group and give the second group like aryu or smth and you have some MAGICAL combos imo

THE AEGISLASH ARC IS SO INSANE ACTUALLY like when you think about it why are nagi and y/n in their hollyhock rin itoshi era just randomly in the middle of a pokémon fic LMAOOO people might be confused but it happens so late in pursuit that atp they’ll be too invested to leave

ADDITIONAL TIME YUKI WAS SO GORGEOUS actually yukimiya in general definitely stole the show (and GOOD FOR HIM glad to have smth to distract from the typical nagireo bs going on) i do think the animation was better also speaking of which can we discuss igaguri’s random rin fantasy?? AND SHIDOU TOO omg idk why but shidou yelling at igaguri who was in the middle of daydreaming about rin lowkey made me LOVE HIM like he’s so funny (more in an aiku way though and i mean aiku in the early days of the oaeu not aiku now…like he’s a problematic ride-or-die bestie to me who beats up the men that bother me not a character i’m interested in ☝🏻 he sets me up with his magnificent glorious pxg teammate karasu…i tolerate sae long enough to drop in a good word about shidou…that kind of vibe yk)

YUKIMIYA IS LITERALLY PERFECT FOR IT I HAVE NO IDEA HOW WE DIDN’T THINK OF HIM the build he has (plus one v one emperor is so knightly like i said) the devotion and seriousness/maturity but also the lowkey sass?? if i repurpose the fic he’ll be replacing a slightly older/more mature megumi and honestly i think he could pull it off very very well probably better than anyone else in bllk 😩 barou could replace todo who’s another guard (i’ve always said they’re congruent), otoya could replace duke inumaki, karasu could replace yuta (yet another guard) uhhh chris prince could replace prince gojo?? LMAO haha get it…prince…anyways yeah if only i didn’t have sm on my plate the way that that list doesn’t even include hollyhock and peregrine #rip

AWWW I’M GLAD I COULD FREE YOU FROM LURKER STATUS AS WELL no fr i’m so happy you decided to send that req in who would’ve thought we’d end up talking so much just based on that 😭 truly the gift that keeps on giving

[frost-felon]

Thunderclap, Part 2 got me in a grip, for better and worse. Remembered to use a Read More this time.

So, my issues with the character animation on Sukuna? Part 2 delivered¹, though almost in the other extreme, lmao. He's such a prick, and Yuji paid the price via a simplistic frame during one of his most defining character moments. I did actually like much of how they adapted Yuji's breakdown and decision to soldier on, though it felt comparatively rushed to the manga, even accounting for the differences of animation versus the art of manga. EDIT: Having re-read that chapter, they definitely fucked over Yuji. His breakdown is given significantly more pause and elaboration on what he's actually thinking of ("I wonder why I have to be executed." juxtaposed with the answer: Yuji's life isn't worth more than the suffering Sukuna causes, even to Yuji himself.) in the manga, whereas the anime portrays it as if ALL OF THAT happened in like, two minutes in JJK time. Disappointing, as I really thought MAPPA would give that scene the weight it deserves. It's not nearly as much of a sucker-punch low in that episode, at least to me.

Uraume still got cucked, lmao, getting hit with the blur for half of their minimal screentime in this episode. Not as off-putting as last episode's, so I'm hoping to see more attention to Uraume later. EDIT: Having re-read that chapter, Uraume loses the depth-ambiguity in the manga scene.

Mahoraga fight was adapted extensively, which while hardly surprising, oozed a feeling of, "We gotta hype up Mahoraga for later." One thing I really liked was the additional civilian kills, for fleshing out the anime's depiction of Shibuya's liveliness (and then the wasteland it partially becomes); one thing I took issue with were the civilian kills via Sukuna's Domain. Unless my brightness wasn't up high enough, we didn't get to see Dismantle in a way that sticks/is informative and impactful, like how the manga handled it.

I liked how the abominable twink's death was handled. Haruta's characterization seemed notably different from the way he was portrayed in the manga, though. Rough for all eight of his fans.

I felt iffy on the explanations in this episode--some of the vital information seemed to be skipped, not just adapted visually (that is, shown with clever framing/animation-direction instead of narrated). This seemed to come at expense of showing off Sukuna's insight, though the bastard still made a good showing throughout his time in this arc.

Praying that Yuji gets great character-animation for the rest of these episodes. I doubt MAPPA will pass up the absolute state of this lad in the end-chapters of Shibuya Incident, but I need to see how he's handled before that. The way they handled him in this episode has weakened the doubt.

That one still of Yuji that they used twice reminded me of holding-shot issues in the Maki VS. Mai fight and I think part of the defensive against Hanabi in S1. It's just not a compelling enough frame to stay on for so long, especially compared to how the manga showed changes in Yuji's expressions in each panel. It definitely didn't deserve to be used twice, though the part showing his fingers rising to grip his head was nice. Actually groaned when they held on it again. I'm aware that budget/time-constraints likely played into why the scene was adapted this way.

Also, EVIL to use "SPECIALZ" there, though I guess that gives us a better idea of what the OP was meant to point to. I still see it as an overall summation of the "Everybody knows that shit's fucked!"vibe of Shibuya Incident. I can't remember what exactly I said when it cut to the ED, but that was a remarkably evil choice, too, to keep it fully-intact.

Also, heyyyyy, Nanami! You look...like you really need to see Ieri. Bet we're gonna have fun with him in the next episode.

¹Rereading the chapters had made me once again appreciate the differences in how manga Sukuna and anime Sukuna are depicted. I miss the bit where Sukuna gets surprise-decked, though the "oh shit" expression he had later in the anime was fun.

Bonus: Tags that didn't age well.

I don't have a whole lot of thoughts on Episode 16/Thunderclap, but man, the changes to how the scenes where Sukuna takes enjoyment in playing with the lives of the 'weak' and the reunion with Uraume suck the wind out of my sails. I have some problems with how MAPPA has adapted the Premature Burial -> Shibuya Incident chapters (Mechamaru/Kokichi, my guy, what did they do to you--), but I was really hoping to see the emotions present adapted in a way that was faithful to the intent of the panels, even if it wasn't the same. And it's like...the expressions were kept, but they were shadowed, zoomed-out, or both. That strikes me as such a loss, since Sukuna is shown to be outright giddy when he's wrecking shit in Yuji's body. Sure, he made fun of Yuji when the latter was made hopeless witness to Junpei's demise, but he hasn't shown emotions like this since Yuji tried to kick Sukuna's ass after calling Sukuna's bluff in Chapter 10/Episode...5 or 6, can't remember. Hell, you could probably argue that even then, he wasn't filled with as much glee. Mirth, perhaps, but this is different.

Sukuna genuinely seems to be elated at having control during Shibuya, even though he knows it will be short-lived. It's not hard to see why--he's Yuji's prisoner most of the time. Whether he admits it or not, he's bound to Yuji's whims, with his only levels of control being: he can refuse to give his power to Yuji, and he's got the Binding Vow that Yuji can't remember. That's it. Don't get me wrong, Sukuna holds a lot of power and control over Yuji, but Yuji ultimately decides if Sukuna gets to feel the breeze on any given day. And in most cases, understandably, he chooses to not give Sukuna that freedom.

So Sukuna getting some time to do whatever without Yuji's interference? You can bet that he's high on life.

And when Sukuna sees Uraume, he appears actually excited. Uraume is, likewise, rather pleased that Sukuna is around. They're doing this at each other in the manga:

Is it so wrong, MAPPA, to want to preserve what crumbs of characterization we can get for either of these two? I know that MAPPA probably won't fuck with a certain Uraume scene later, but damn, I miss the touches on character animation.

Anyways, Yuji will suffer regardless, as Gege intended.

[shinkanefanatic]

I have returned from the dead to talk about season 3

So recently after finally watching the trilogy on YouTube (movies were SO good, especially enjoyed the 2nd) so I decided to rewatch s3 hoping this time around I could follow it a bit better than when I watched it when it first came out. And the consensus after finishing my rewatch is this

While I can say i do understand a few plot points better having seen the trilogy, there are still many things I don't understand that the season nor the movies explained either. Did learn there is a manga for s3 just like the rest of the series but of course no legal, non-virus ridden sites have it available so I can't read it lmao I glanced and it does look like the manga has scenes that weren't in the anime but does that include answers to plot points we didn't get a lot of info on?

While the season sprinkled a little on certain things about, for example, Akane's situation, throughout the season, we never really got anything solid. I'm praying for another season at some point because I REALLY enjoyed season 3. To me I felt the writing was as good in s3 as s1, even with all the unanswered questions

So in short here are the main things I wanted to know and if anyone could explain these if they were answered in the season, my small brain would be foreever grateful

What happened to put Akane in jail and strip her of her job

How did she and Mika meet Kei and Arata (we also got hints she'd met Irie too)

This is probably overthinking on my part and forgive my small brain but rly, who exactly ARE Fredirica and Shizuka because both characters came out of no where and I feel they knew way too much about things, especially Shizuka. Idk it's one thing for the characters to be able to read others in this series or learn about others through their file but something feels different about those 2 compared to the others

How did Shizuka know Akane and when/did they meet? Sure seemed like he knew her well since he made sure to demand her release from jail...

When exactly did Gino and Sugo join Foreign affairs? In the 2nd movie of the trilogy, Sugo turned down Frederica when she scouted him. I mean we assume maybe Kougami coming back had something to do with Gino changing jobs but I feel there's a story there

Did Akane's arrest happen before or after Kougami came back?

When was Mika made chief

How did Yayoi's hue clear so much she was allowed to rejoin society and get a new job and when

This may have been stated in the season but I honestly don't recall: how did Kei's brother rly die and why did it say in the file Irie and them read that Arata's dad killed him?

Why the hell was Kou so hostile towards Kei and Arata? Ok I get Kei cause of him seeing him help Shizuka escape at the one scene. And also Kou kept saying he wanted to be the one to arrest Azusawa but he was soooo freaking pissy with both Kei and Arata, it felt almost off for his character to be so rude...or maybe it's just me lol I mean cause Gino was hella nice to both newbies but Kou, definitely not lmao

Speaking of, Kougami obviously doesn't get along with Mika as shown in an earier scene. There's definitely a story there

This one isnt that important and Im overthinking, but In the scene Arata meets Kougami and Gino, he focuses his gaze on JUST Kou. Assuming Arata personally knew Akane, did he know about Kou from Akane beforehand?

And I'm sure I have more questions but right now that's all the comes to mind. So yeah if anyone else understood something I didn't or explain some of these of these to me, I'd be very happy lol

[saiangelo999]

T.v./Dramas Consumed '22

Part 2

Succession

I believe I watched season 1 and season 2 this year or late last year. Either way, what a crazy show. I cannot believe that some of the gifs I've seen on this site were from ACTUAL scenes in the show - I thought they were shitposts. Especially the insane emails Tom sent Greg... god still can't believe that was real. My favourite part so far was when Connor Roy gave the speech at Mo's funeral. Truly nothing made me laugh so hard watching this show. It is interesting to note how the tone of the show changed from hardcore drama to comedy as the show went from season 1 to 2. Also how dare Kendall be like that - I can't believe how much I either pity/love or cringe/hate that man.

Our Beloved Summer

I love how realistic this show felt, how the flaws of each character was shown and the character growth that they go through in this show. The acting was stellar, the soundtrack was good and I enjoyed the pacing of the story. I enjoyed seeing the main characters clean up their messy relationship and make amends with the past in order to move on. Their relationship was truly the driving force of the show and because they both were so fleshed out as characters it held my interest and I was invested in them reconciling. I definitely enjoy this genre of slice-of-life/romance and felt this show did it quite well. I am surprised I enjoyed it so much as I've never been into the second-chance romance trope.

Archive 81

I did not know that this was based on the podcast, but the trailer looked interesting so I checked it out. While the premise was initially very intriguing and I really enjoyed the visual effects, the story left a lot to be desired. It definitely devolved into madness that made no sense very quickly. I don't want to think about it any longer...

Sasaki to Miyano

Loved the manga and look forward to an epi each week. I am enjoying the manga, but the same scenes don't hit the same as they did in the manga imo. I'll see if it is more impactful as a binge later on.

Update: Finished the anime and I'm glad there is more in production! I think the anime felt a bit slower than the manga, but last 4 or so episodes really hit the emotions for me. I feel like it got better as it went on!

Re-watch: The Disasterous Life of Saiki K. Still love it.

Given

I just binged the whole show and man, this show really got the budget to do the story justice! The songs were all such bangers!! I don't know how anyone could wait every week for one episode. I wonder if there will ever be a second season, if so, I'll look forward to it!

Tokyo Revengers

I binged this show and while it was addicting, it was also somehow very unbelievable and disappointing to me. I was excited for a time travel shounen but this show was not as dark or captivating in the subject matter as erased nor as heartwarming as naruto. It was a fun watch with a few interesting characters, but I ended up hating the main character by the end of the anime. This show will probably fade in my memory... The ending on a cliffhanger was a stroke of genius to encourage people to read the manga though.

Re-watch: Gokusen (2005) - Absolutely holds up! What a show! It's so campy and fun while about moving forwards despite hardships. A great pick me up show. Can't believe how much Oguri Shun has changed since back in the day.

Tokyo Ghoul

Wow did they change the sequence of the story so much in the anime vs the manga. Stopped at epi 10 to get caught up with the manga before finishing the show off.

Update: Finished s1 and watched two episodes from s2. They really changed a lot from the manga, but imo the manga was way more impactful. Though, I do like the foreshadowing in the anime. I got so pissed with the decision in season 2 to just make Kaneki say 'I'm going to join Aogiri Tree' as if its not what he is fighting against until volume 10 of the manga...

Juvenile Justice

This show showcased such interesting cases involving children who commit crimes and wrote the main character to be the most unlikeable and difficult to sympathize with character ever. Her decisions especially in the last 2 episodes pissed me off and I couldn't even focus on the cases anymore. Her character was so stupid and absurd that I felt absolutely no sympathy when she suffered and was stabbed for overstepping her jurisdiction. An interesting concept but terribly written main character who was constantly positioned as morally superior (even though she was extremely prejudiced) that ruined any possibility of a decent execution. Of all cases you want the audience to sympathize with, you really put in the gang rape case at the end and try to defend those kids? Fuck off.

One Punch Man season 2

Just started it and am enjoying it! I found it hilarious when Saitama ran into Garou and Garou picked a fight against him and he just KO'd him and continued shopping.

Update: I finished it and while I enjoyed most of the Garou related story arcs, this season as a whole was not as enjoyable as s1 for me.

Kotaru wa Hitoragashi

TW: abuse (child, domestic, dating), child neglect

I watched both the jdrama and the anime and man its sooo sad but soo adorable. It has a great balance of just heart wrenching and adorable and heartwarming. Absolutely love both adaptations, I enjoy the 'new' scenes of the anime as well as the wholesome interactions from the drama. It made me cry a lot, but I loved it! Only watch it if you can stomach difficult topics.

A Business Proposal

I absolutely love this trope-y drama that uses every rom-com cliché in the book but does it effectively. I love the characterizations of the main cast and everyone's chemistry. This show is unabashedly FUN and I can't wait for more! I hope they maintain their tone and continue to emphasize the lighter more comedic aspect as it continues.

Update: Although I did feel the momentum slowly come to a stop when the characters got together, it was an enjoyable watch nonetheless!

Anne with an E

Rewatched/finished season 3 of the show. I am glad that although the show unfortunately got canceled (stupid bc of how good it was), I am glad most plot points had some form of closure by the end of the season. The residential school arc was very historically accurate and although a brief glimpse into the intergenerational trauma it showed on Kha'kwet I felt like it was handled with care. Its a deeply disturbing part of Canadian history with effects lingering now, and I don't think erasing it from Canadian history and media or sanitizing it is the right approach, so I'm glad it wasn't the case here.

Spy x Family

Ongoing. So adorable and I am really enjoying the antics! Finished the show. I felt like as it went on it was not giving me the depth I wanted to maintain my interest. It was charming, but not interested in watching more.

Meitantei Suteihomuzu/ Detective Stay Homes (2022)

So apparently it is only 2 episodes even though they teased more at the end. I can't believe its over!! It was a very interesting drama with a very interesting format. I enjoyed the story and though it felt like the plot was concluded, I thought it would start a new mystery in the next episode.

My Liberation Notes

WTF is this show. It speaks to my soul. Absolutely love it so far. The chemistry between the 'worship couple' is insane and nearly makes me scream. I love the slice-of-life aspect and I find so many of the characters and situations to be so relatable. I feel like you can really tell that this show was written by women the way the characters are all characterized, how the male leads are written and esp with Mr Gu. I love how unhinged the characters are and how many layers they all have. I have no idea what to think with the ending of episode 10. Also, I wouldn't call this a melo at all... its realistic but also so funny. I like the overall vibe of the show and am cautiously optimistic to see more.

Update: Finished the show! Mildly disappointed with the ending but I enjoyed the overall experience.

Heartstopper

I absolutely loved this show and am excited to see future seasons! I knew I'd like it since reading the comics and hearing such high praise for the show so honestly not a big surprise. All the actors did so well, love the filmography and you could feel the love for the story in the production of the show. Can't wait for more bittersweet moments!

Shoujiki Fudousan

This show is better than I expected. I am really enjoying the show so far.

Update: Finished the show and I enjoyed it! It was humorous and heartfelt. I very much liked how the show ended the relationship between Emimoto-san and Nagase as it felt very in character. Learned a lot about how the real estate industry works too.

[transsexualhamlet]

predictions for yuumori s2 (as a manga reader)

No matter what happens, this is probably gonna end up aging badly, but i’m hyperfixating and I’ve decided to make it everyone else’s problem so I’m going to predict where they’re gonna go with s2 of moriarty the patriot (keep in mind i’m writing this as of episode 2) and what I think would be the ideal scenario, in the likely situation that this is the last season.

So we can tell a lot about what they’re going to cut/include from the opening and ending, and the first two episodes. 

Observations/Conclusions:

-moneypenny and most likely von herder are gone, already evidenced by the first 2 episodes, which is :( but understandable bc there’s only so much space and they’re definitely cutting the arcs where they would be important

-so that means no moran backstory because duh, there’s a point in the backstory and i see value in it, moran slaps when he’s not being an ass lmao, but again, time constraints

-no matter what I can’t see them keeping in the like, child hunting thing 2 electric boogaloo, even tho it did further Fred’s and Louis’ characters, since they’ve previously cut out stuff considering them and. You know. That’s how it be.

-You can see they’re including jack the ripper arc (considering, jack is in the opening) and I have faith that they can downsize the arc without butchering it if they do it right. This is good that they’re keeping it in, considering it’s one of the... main arcs not involving milverton that advances the plot.

-Major thing we can tell is that, yeah, Milverton is nowhere to be seen. It seems like this would fuck things up bad since he’s like, the only kind of “main villain” we get here. But honestly? I agree with that. Fuck Milverton. He has no character or motivation and is like my one and only bone to pick with the manga. He’s just there to suck ass and create plot convenience?? I don’t like him and he never needed to be there if he wasn’t at least going to do something interesting. I support the anime cutting him.

-That DOES fuck over their ability to do the white knight arc, since, well, milverton is the cause of all of that. And this is the one thing I really don’t know what they’re going to do with that to connect jack the ripper directly to the final problem. I can’t predict that, but I do think there are ways it can be done that won’t be Awful.

-So considering that, Mary’s arc is definitely axed, which doesn’t bother me that much since by that point i so impatient for gay people and really didn’t care about watson’s fiance even tho she is a lovely lady. For anime effect, she does not need an arc, though I could see them having her show up a few times so watson doesn’t seem too gay either lmao.

-They’re definitely shooting to end with the final problem, considering without it there’s no big culminating event between moriarty and sherlock, which is obviously the big sell. And well. It’s. Um. The final problem. 

The season says it’s slated to be 13 episodes, since s1 didn’t have enough time for 12. I honestly think they can manage it all, if they play their cards right. 

Outlook:

This whole potential situation does sound familiar, I’ll point out that I just arrived here after the shit show of the promised neverland’s second season. But I don’t think it will get bad like tpn did. Because in Moriarty, they could afford to cut things because there are many stand alone and disposable arcs, whereas tpn really shouldn’t have, since they pretty much all contributed later to Major Main Character Plot Things. And the important points of the arcs that they’ll probably cut can actually be written into existing ones without looking like plot convenience, in my vision of it.

Honestly, I’m pretty optimistic for moriarty, it works better for this kind of adaption than in a lot of other manga that end up getting these most likely two season adaptions. I’d love to get those arcs for the servant’s and other character’s developments of course, but trying to stick that in when there’s really only time to focus on the main characters would suck up time better spent on really getting deep into the main storyline. Even if there are less characters, in a situation like this a streamlined and nuanced story will look elegant, whereas shoving as much content as possible into a few short episodes makes everyone cringe.

The situation does end up looking like the promised neverland, but it has a chance to be significantly less fucked considering,,, well,,, tpn is an insanely low bar, and they will hopefully not make the promised neverland’s same mistakes of Shove Seventeen Plotlines Into One Episode After Realizing Belatedly They Actually Needed Those Parts.

Obviously I don’t know what will happen, and this will be outdated by sunday lmao, but my projection looks something like this for 13 episodes to conclude the show.

Predictions:

(Episodes 1+2: A Scandal in the British Empire)

Episode 3: I’m very anxious for 3 considering this will probably make or break my opinion on the anime. Ideally, this episode would wrap up the scandal arc and go over the whole James Bond thing, it could be pretty baller and fit well into an episode. But though there’s plenty of Irene in the opening, there’s no sight of Bond, so considering anime as a whole is fucking transphobic, they might try to change it, twist around bond’s words or just, gloss over it altogether. If they cut it, they might have time to squeeze in another arc but I don’t think they honestly need to? With what they seem to be keeping in, they’ll have ample time to get to everything, and it would be shorter anyway considering the smaller amount of servants. 

Here, we do definitely need to cover Sherlock’s “receiving the name of the lord of crime and deciding to burn it and find it out himself because he’s extra”, no matter the status of irene/bond’s gender. If they do that right and possibly change a few things so it’s more important, this could play into them moving forward his whole discovery of their secrets.

Episodes 4-7: These will most likely cover jack the ripper arc. There’s a lot to go over here, and I’m confident they can cut it down, because tbh Moriarty is pretty long winded for a manga and cutting things is good to an extent. This covers most of the major expansions on William’s ideas and plans, and definitely has the holes to stuff in more of the points made in the arcs that will be cut out. Though I have my reservations, they could plausibly take most points in white knight and integrate them into here.

Episodes 8-10: These are the ones that are going to take the most work and probably be the most changed. They should finish up the ripper arc in 7, give or take a few episodes, and then here, If Sherlock has a little more figured out from episode 3, he can look deeper. I think it’s honestly a good idea for the one to discover the Incriminating Records to be him, as it again gives them more connection. There needs to be some other reason Moriarty’s secrets are in danger of getting leaked to the paper, but I’m sure they can put something together with scotland yard or something, or even like, Mycroft. I see that. But if that happens, then we can spend an episode or so on the merchant of london, aka little liam commits girlboss, which can be woven into the idea of everything Coming Out.

Episodes 11-13: Final problem. I see this going mostly unchanged, up until 55. Truth is they’ll probably end up cutting something but hmm. I don’t know. They should keep the fred stuff in, since they’ll cut his other development. They should keep the squad asking sherlock for help, since they cut the other parts that highlight the crime squad’s care for him. But I think they could montage most of the William Goes French Revolution On You Hoes, even the part where the kids come in front of one of them, if you see what’s going on right. But everything can proceed as in the manga pretty smoothly, I think, it all makes sense if they put it together in 7-10. You know, you got somehow, the worst case happens, and boom, scandal, final problem enacted. Killing spree. William reveals he’s been emo this whole time but it’s too late now. Everyone scrambling to catch up with his damn plans. Gay boy knocking on 221B with a fucking love letter. Shit gets found out. And then... well, yuh.

Disclaimer I still don’t know everything about this, bc I cannot find a translation of 54, only the raw with no context, and I know there’s content after 55 but I can’t find that either. But I’m sure as hell an english major and can understand where things are probably going. I don’t know what’s involved at that point, and if there’s some plan detailed to save him or something. That’s the main thing I don’t know, and if there is one detailed of course that kind of changes everything, but for now I’m going on the assumption that 54 is “sherlock runs to the bridge and yells at liam to stop being a dramatic whore while london burns around them and the murder squad watches anxiously with mysterious intent, until it is chapter 55″. (IF Y’ALL HAVE THE ENGLISH PLEASE HMU) They better not TOUCH anything in 55 or so help me god.

But as to after 55, things are going to be different. Besties, I’m an optimist, but there’s no way they’ll make a season after this. It does appear that they’ve mostly wrapped up, and they’ve gotten through what Big Revals they plan on doing. The shit hinted from the beginning has happened, and there probably won’t be enough to create another, unless the author plans on fucking shit up again, which I don’t approve of. There are a few things still left unsaid, like, Liam’s real name and everything, but if it’s supposed to be important, things that small can 100 percent be written into this.

And as something that’s intending to finish up a story, depending on what manga canon really is (BESTIE I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS) they might change it. There’s two options, a bittersweet/hopeful and a tragic one, but either one will end up open ended, because of my extensive knowledge of 2 season animes with significantly longer mangas. (done badly: tokyo ghoul and tpn, done well: owari no seraph and mob psycho) Either we have it like well, oh damn, everything was destined to be Sad but well you’re with him now you’re probably dead, but you know there’s something hinted at and you don’t know for sure so that’s the catch. So you get a vague and bittersweet but possibly hopeful ending. OR something that takes,,, whatever ends up happening in the manga or whatever the plan is and turning it into an epilogue infodump.

I can see either going well depending on how they handle the messages of the story. But yeah, as far as to my extent of the understanding of the show, that’s how it’ll probably go, and what my opinion of how it should is.

To What Extent Will The Gay:

You know, this is my ideal scenario within these time limits, but you know they could always go The Wrong Direction if the anime team took a look at some of the later chapters and went “holy shit this is a bit too gay” and try to axe some of the sherliam content, which I wouldn’t put past any corporation.

In the case that they do, I see lot of good shit going. They’re clearly trying to do the final problem, so they obviously can’t cut out 55, which is good :). But though 55 is clearly, uh, really fucking homosexual, the most romantic shit goes down in 53, as far as I can tell? (keeping in mind i still haven’t found 54′s english version, if anyone would like to direct me to a translation, that would be LOVELY.) I unfortunately can see them cutting Liam’s letter almost entirely, and that kind of scares me.

You know, even if i’d hate and slander them for it, cutting out james bond would be something i would understand. But messing with sherliam would fuck them over, not just cause that would be awful, but like, because it’s like... kind of the main point.

So I’m not really too worried about them messing with it, mostly because the content itself is holding them at gunpoint, sherliam holds the whole plot structure in place, especially if you’re shooting for final problem. And even in the manga they never, like, actually say they’re in love with each other even tho historically gay lovers would probably call each other “friends” lmao so it’s not like they have to greenlight gay sex or anything lmao it’s just Very Romantic (No Homo)

And apart from that, yuumori has actually been pretty decent to the gays so far?? Damn shawty, they certainly haven’t toned down the gay yet and it’s clearly their main source of fans, and what they’ve decided to emphasize in both openings and a significant portion of the s2 ending. We’re all here for it, and they’re catering to it, so I can at least give you that.

[franeridart]

Anon said: i dont know what blue lock is but that art you just posted is making me interested lol

AHHHHH please getting people interested in it is all my life is about lately hahahaha it’s a sports manga about soccer! Kind of!! Definitely has all the good sides of sports manga, but it’s also different enough from the usual sports manga that I know people who aren’t huge sports manga fan who loved every second of it, please do give it a try if you find yourself with the time for it! It’s such a cool manga!!!

Anon said: I don't even like BNHA anymore, haven't for more than a year, but your blog still has me shipping the characters somehow. I live for your KiriBaku content (and your KamiJirou stuff, when you post it!)

Gosh, I’m glad I can make you like them still!! It’s such a compliment, honestly ;A; <3

Anon said: so i was looking through your art and stuff and was wondering "hey i wonder if theyve ever drawn voltron stuff" and tbh, i didnt expect you to have

To be fair, if you checked it means that at least a little you thought it was possible lol I haven’t watched anything past s1 of it though, so the chances of me ever picking it up again are less than zero

Anon said: You... are one of the loves of my life... and also the main reason I check tumblr everyday lol.

Anon!!! You’re gonna make me blush here!!!!! ;;;; thank you so much!

Anon said: i started reading bluelock because of u and now im obsessed soooo,,,,, thanks!❤️😭

SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT!!!!!

Anon said: Hii, do you have a Spotify account? If you do, can you share it? I really like the songs u use on your arts, and I would love to see your Playlists Sorry if it's already on your FAQ, I didn't find it And sorry for my bad English ps. I LOVE YOUR KIRIBAKU ARTS THANK YOU

I don’t! I listen to all my music from youtube, because I’m that kind of person lmao happy to hear we share music tastes, though! And thank you so much!!! <3

Anon said: What's your favorite arc of ToG both story wise and art wise?

SCREAMS I don’t know!!!! I’ve been thinking about this ask since getting it I have genuinely zero clue I love all arcs so much for so many different reasons!!!!! The first that comes to mind when I think about it is the workshop battle arc, because I love Viole with everything I have and the whole arc (plus the build up to it too!!) hurts in the most wonderful way, but then I keep thinking about it and I realize there’s so many character I live for that don’t appear in it - I love the floor of death arc SO MUCH cause for one, there’s nearly all my favorite characters in it, and also because it’s such a good, dynamic arc?? everything that happens is so much fun and interesting?? also Hockney is there, and Urek is there, and Garam is there, and the Hell Train gang is all there, so!! AH and the hell train as a whole is so damn good (the dallar show???? my whole soul rests in there, Khun’s trust in Bam!! the coin flip with rachel!! Bam’s whole everything!!!!!!!! GAH) but my fav part of it has to be the hidden floor?? because!!!!!! it’s perfect from start to end, everyone in it is wonderful, Bam’s growth in it!!! GODS! My favorite scene in the whole webtoon is in the hidden floor arc, it’s how much I love it - THEN THERE’S YAMA and the whole arc there is so so SO good too, and the latest arc!! how good is the latest arc!!!!!

so yeah I can’t pick - art wise I think it goes without saying that SIU’s art has only gotten better, so the closest to the newest update you go the more I like the art.... though, my favorite Bam is still the short haired one from the Hell Train arc haha

Anon said: Oh, wow, how stupid of me. Like 2 months ago, I sent you a message telling you how much I loved your work... and I didn’t see it on your page, or anywhere else. Finally today, I discovered I had an inbox where you answered me... 🤦‍♀️... I still love your work, by the way...

AHHH yeah I always answer off-anon asks privately! And thank you so much for still liking my things!!

Anon said: Have you read the last haikyuu chapter? How did you feel about it?

I’ve reread it at least twenty times and then I went and reread the whole of the last game again and it’s been three weeks and I’m still thinking about it more or less constantly and feeling giddy happy about everything that manga has ended up being, genuinely one of the best manga I’ve ever had the pleasure of following till the very end - that’s how I feel about it <3

Anon said: I really like looking at your art it’s so therapeutic it’s wonderful please keep drawing I want to support you on Kofi and patreon and yet I am broke please just know I love u very much ok bye

Ahhhh it’s okay anon! I try to keep as little completely unavailable for my followers as I can, and I’ll do my best to keep drawing! Can’t promise the fandoms will always be stuff you care about though haha

Anon said: This is my FAVORITE art blog. Is blog even a word that ppl use anymore?? Idk but anyways your kiribaku gives me life and cures my depression so ily and thank u

I’m so so happy to hear that! Thank you so much!!! TTATT <3

Anon said: just now realizing your oc looks like the human version of kamakiri

To be fair the only thing they have in common is the green mohawk, but I get where you’re coming from! I was very happy when Kamakiri’s official colors came out exactly cause he makes me think about my boy, after all xD my love for Kamakiri is definitely biased, in that sense haha

Anon said: Just wanted to let u know im very gay for ur oc giulia that is all thanks

Anon I’m gonna cry I’m so glad you like her!!!!!!!!!! She’s one of my oldest OCs out of that group, it’s always so thrilling to know people like her ;A; <3

Anon said: I really like how you draw kirishima’s hair

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!! I have a lot of fun with it, though it does mean it ends up being kinda off canon more often than not haha

Anon said: hi! just a random question but how’d you come up with your name?

Fran is my name! Erid comes from Eridan from homestuck! Art is what I try to do! And that’s the incredibly interesting story behind my screen name haha

Anon said: Heya, so i sent the ask about the person who i suspect either heavily referenced or traced your art (i sent another ask about this tho im not sure if it went through) anyway, it was posted by ****************** you'll know it when you see it i think

Ahhhhhh sorry for how long this took me to answer, I went to check and it’s!!! fine, I mean, would have preferred if they had credited but I don’t think it was completely traced so I don’t mind too much, I used to copy art of people I liked too back when I was first starting, after all haha

[snkpolls]

SnK Episode 65 Poll Results (for Manga Readers)

The poll closed with 318 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Manga Readers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll, click here.

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RATE THE EPISODE 309 Responses

Overall the episode was a hit with viewers, with the majority ranking it a 4 or higher. Over half of all respondents rating it a solid 5. The hype is real!

I thought this was a great episode. A lot of hype moments and the CGI worked for me, for the most part. Looking forward to the next episode!

All around exceeded my expectations if mappa keeps this up this will go down as the best anime in history

Chef's KISS!!! 10/10 episode, i was extremely hyped the entire time. 

It was amazing and I hope MAPPA keeps up with the same quality for future episodes

Amazing episode really hype

I thought the voice acting was amazing! :)

Great episode, not perfect but neither was WIT. No adaptation is perfect. This was fantastic.

It was pretty good just maybe good have been done better but I’m just happy it was done at all.

I’ve lowered my expectations to rock bottom at this point

An enjoyable time.

I think it was great! I was very excited and left me wanting more tbh

It was a very good episode!! I'm so happy to see the survey corps again!

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MOMENTS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 310 Responses

Mikasa’s reintroduction to the series takes the largest piece of the pie, with 31.6% enjoying the scene the most. In second comes the coordinated attack from the Survey Corps against Porco, with 14.8% feeling that scene really brings the hype. At 10.3%, Levi’s first appearance in the season takes 3rd place, and with 9.7% is the overall fight between Eren and the War Hammer Titan.

Ackermans ran this episode as they should. They're on a whole different level. 

Why isn't the Sasha-Gabi moment in the list of favourite moments? That's my actually favourite moment. Gabi seeing Sasha through the fire and smoke, Sasha's reflection in her eyes...chilling.

THE CGI CONTINUES TO BE A POINT OF CONTENTION. BE HONEST, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE EXECUTION OF CGI SO FAR THIS SEASON? 309 Responses

In general, the fandom appears to be understanding of MAPPA’s usage of CGI, with 38.2% being completely unbothered by it, 20.1% feeling that while it’s not ideal, it could be much worse, and 18.8% not particularly caring for it but not faulting MAPPA for it either. A handful of people just wish that there would be more appreciation that it’s getting animated at all, while others continue to be a bit salty about the usage of CGI this season.

Did people forgot the god-awful Colossal titan's CGI from WIT? Well, I didn't so I wasn't surprised by the same level of CGI in Eren's scene (thankfully just one of them). I rarely have issue with CGI in SnK except for truly awful looking ones so like couple of times in the season, usually. 

I honestly wouldn't even know there's CGI if everyone wasn't complaining about it. I honest to god can't see where they use it.

It's mostly fine

I thought the war hammer titan looked AMAZING, the only CGI that looked odd was the scouts in the background, but that’s really it...?

A few sore spots (e.g. Erens titan looked kinda off this ep), but it's not season-ruining yet. 

CGI Titans >>>>>>>> CGI Survey Corps

It works fine for titans that already look somewhat mechanical (Armor, Jaw), but it looks incredibly awkward for the others, to the point of taking me out of the story. 

Sometimes great sometimes shit

Maybe I've been spoiled by studio orange and the previous seasons, but I know for a fact that they can do better. This is not a new anime, this is the final season of one of the greatest anime of all time, so yeah I expected much better CGI, it was poor and unecessary.

i think it’s gr8/unnoticeable,,,,,like we all put up with the colossal titan in s1-3 lmao

Some Titans like Eren and Beast look a little weird but I just really like how they made effort to make it blend with the art style. Maybe if they had found a way to cut the animation down to 12fps it might not look so bad? Anyways I think it’s good for what it is, MAPPA is doing their best!

I barely noticed it. The animation looks BOMB. Top 5 episodes of the whole series for me and BEST action episode of AOT easily.

I'm always going to prefer 2D but I understand why they're using it. Still sad about what could've been if they were given enough time to work on the season. Definitely going to lower my expectations.

My dumbass wouldn't even notice, I just want to see the pretty people

I think the CGI for the Titans is completely fine. It's the CGI for the Scouts that was a bit off putting for me. Still, not enough to ruin the episode. And if we continue to get animation of this standard I will be fine with it. 

At this point after episode 7 onward eventually AOT CGI is going to be worst than EX-arm's CGI 

I love it because it makes the titans scarier and more eerie? I also miss the 2D ones because they feel more natural. Overall, I think it's fine!

I think the CGi is well executed (for the most part), I just don't like that they had to use it so much.

It's a great job. They manage to execute it very well and go to a normal animation when it's needed. It doesn't bother me tbh

HOW WAS EREN’S ROOFTOP SWAN DIVE? 309 Responses

Eren’s dive in the anime was a bit different than in the manga, but it seemed to get a few laughs out of the fandom, so we asked you all to rank it. 58.3% felt it was the most beautiful dive to have ever dived, while only 5.5% think Eren really needs to work on his form. He did his best.

WHICH RETURNING CHARACTER’S ENTRANCE WAS YOUR FAVORITE IN THIS EPISODE? 310 Responses

Mikasa stole the show this episode, with 53.5% enjoying her entrance the most. Levi wasn’t too far behind though, with 29% of respondents hyped over his return. 11.6% were very happy to see Sasha again, while smaller chunks were glad to see Jean and Connie.

They massacred my Jean-boy’s entrance 🥲

WHICH RETURNING CHARACTER HAS THE BEST MAPPA-STYLE GLOW UP? 304 Responses

We got a more colorful and evened out pie for this question. Overall the largest chunk, at 24.3%, are enjoying MAPPA’s take on Eren’s iconic “hobo chic” look. 21.1% think Sasha looks the best out of all of them, while Mikasa trails just behind her at 20.1%. 16.1% are grateful for Connie’s design, leaving 9.5% favoring Jean, and smaller handfuls appreciating MAPPA’s take on Levi and Floch.

Chubby Floch

Here I am watching the trailer all over again because that's probably the only way to see Jean animated handsome and with his actual manga face. MAPPA what happened?

Levi has a thicc ass

I’m a big fan of all the time skip character designs, it was hard to pick just one favourite :) 

Jean looked stupid... Floch too but that's not important.

OG characters designs feels a bit off to me. I understand why they use CG for some parts and I have mixed emotions about it. I hope they won't rely on it too much on the upcoming episodes.

#ITSTIMEMIKASA WAS TRENDING ON TWITTER BEFORE THE EPISODE AIRED. ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW MUCH DID IT LIVE UP TO THE HYPE? 304 Responses

One of the most anticipated scenes of the Marley arc was the return of the Survey Corps and the way Mikasa paves the path for their reintroduction. The fandom appears to be very happy with MAPPA’s execution of the scene, with 60.9% of respondents rating it with a 5, with 27% rating it a 4. 

EEEEEEEEEEK MIKASA

Mikasa! Mikasa! Gosh love her!

im so glad mikasa is back owfejgrnrkdfs

MAPPA INCLUDED FILLER AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EPISODE OF WILLY HESITANTLY DEPARTING FROM HIS TEARFUL FAMILY. WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE ADDITION? 310 Responses

The series isn’t known for having too much filler, but typically what filler does exist seems to be appreciated by the fandom, and this was no exception. 56.8% of respondents were happy for a little more fleshing out of Willy’s character (also learning that those kids were his!) and being able to sympathize more with him. 19.7% appreciated the more sympathetic addition until they remembered he was willing to throw Liberio under the bus for his plan. 13.5% are appreciative of any and all additional Willy content. A small amount didn’t like the filler and would rather have had MAPPA put their effort into other things. 

I liked it. Got to see more of his fine ass. lmao

Don't add extra 2d animation if You can't even handle what's in the manga

It would've been better to show before he was dead. Fleshing him out after the audience already know he's dead doesn't hit as much imo

Wasn't one of the scene itself, but then again I'm always interested in scenes I haven't seen yet.

I am so grateful, willy for is one of my favourites and omg we got to see his family and how is he a lovely papa 😭💕 I can't ask for more bless you MAPPA🤘

fuck them kids

Why should we feel bad for him? He tried to unite the world against Paradis. He got what he deserved.

this was a benefit. as manga readers, we had time to know willy. anime onlies will only ever have these 2-3 episodes and it was very humanizing

How is that possible that Tybur little kids in few seconds were louder nad more chaotic than THE WHOLE CITY DURING THE ATTACK??

It's very regrettable he left so many children fatherless because of what he chose to do. Really saddening..

I’d have rather seen more of the manga animated 

I knew why they added it, but I (personally) think willy is crud. Not mad it's there tho!

He did his duty as a Tybur to the very end. Honestly I wish he could have lived longer, he’s a really compelling and interesting character.

I feel like some viewers have carelessly misunderstood Willy because of that scene in the carriage. They're like 'wow, he really hates and shames his own people huh?' but at the beginning of the episode we all saw his abundance of children. Would it not have been extremely contradictory if he had truly wanted the extinction of all Eldians and then at the same time did the complete opposite by mass-reproducing a small army of Eldian children? Maybe that's why that scene was added to the start of the episode, to keep people away from mischaracterising him. Unfortunately, this may have simply been missed or overlooked by some. 

they should had polish the damn episode instead of fillers.

Loved it! Mappa is killing it with the episode additions 

Reading the manga, I truly didn't even consider the possibility that these were Willy's children because he is so obviously a ~*bachelor*~. Like, it didn't even cross my mind that those children weren't his little nieces and nephews because he is suuuuch a Theater Gay. Nothing can change my mind.

Wait a minute, are these the kids in that ending slide from season 3?

IN THE ORIGINAL CHAPTER 101, MAGATH IS THE ONE WHO ADVOCATES FOR KILLING EREN INSTEAD OF EATING HIM (IN CONTRAST TO HIS SUBORDINATE KOSLOW) AND NOTES THAT “THE AGE OF TITANS IS OVER.” IN THE ADAPTATION, MAGATH INSTEAD ADVOCATES FOR EATING EREN, NOTING THAT KILLING HIM WOULD ONLY PROLONG THE PROBLEM. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CHANGE? 305 Responses

A minor dialogue change didn’t seem to have much of an effect on nearly half of respondents, with 47.5% saying they’re indifferent to the change. 43.3% like the change much better, feeling that it works a lot better with future story developments and makes more sense. A handful didn’t care for the change and felt it tampered with Magath’s overall characterization. 

I think the change was logical and more consistent with the story, but I'm naturally skeptical of any AOT manga-to-anime change.

I forgot this.

It ovewrites the flaw of Magath's original plan. Even if I think its unfitting of him, it makes sense.

I'm not sure what I feel about it. Kinda like how they added Falco having a dream back in episode 1. For now, let's just see.

I suppose the new change is a little contradictory because Magath dislikes Marley’s reliance on Titan power and rather just wishes th ey had prowess in other ways. 

Realistically eating him makes more sense for them to eat Eren so they gain control of the Founder but I think Magath accepting the age of Titans is now done for is more in character.

It obviously makes more sense logistically, but I think it's important for Magath to stand opposed to Marley national policy on this front, like, symbolically.

BETWEEN UDO AND ZOFIA, WHO WOULD YOU HAVE LIKED TO SURVIVE TO RECEIVE MORE STORY IN THE MANGA? 304 Responses

Though they are minor characters, the anime seems to have made some of the fandom a bit more fond of them. Still, 38.5% wouldn’t change anything about their fates, stating that they were necessary for Gabi to develop further as a character. 28% would rather neither of them died and are curious about how they would have developed if they lived to see another day. 23.7% say if they had to pick only one of them, it would be Udo due to his relevant commentary. A handful leaned toward Zofia, wishing they could have learned more about her. 

Udo. But at the same time Isayama can barely handle all the characters that are still alive so Udo probably wouldn't get a lot of screen time anyway.

Zofia. I didn't care about her while reading the manga, but in the anime she was more unique. I liked her stoic voice a lot. Zofia and Gabi should have switch the places. 

None cus i don't like Gabi

Both or neither. One would be just a third wheel to Gabi and Falco. I would love to see more of Udo and Zofia but I think their deaths were important

Udo and zofia's deaths hurt so bad. I didn't particularly care for either of them when reading the manga but i grown attracted to them in the anime. Udo's in particular breaks me. He was such a energic kid and he... got trampled to death. I'm just...

Neither. Both were serving an enemy nation and deserved what they got.

They weren't important to me so I don't really care

OPINION ON HOW THE ATTACK ON LIBERIO WAS PORTRAYED? 306 Responses

47.1% of respondents didn’t want to pick sides, stating that the attack was tragic in both mediums of the story-telling. 25.8% felt that it was much more devastating in animated form alongside the sound, music and voice acting. 18.3% felt a bigger impact while reading the manga. 

Both versions are devastating, but Manga hit harder bc I just was so confused and couldn't stop trying to figure out wtf Eren was doing and why. Watching it knowing what I know made it somehow more devastating and yet also more palatable (bc I have a better understanding.)

It was more devastating in the manga. Especially Udo's death scene 

I think I have to wait until the battle is over. So far it's alright.

Loved it

It gave me more emotions in the manga. 

They got what they deserved

It was far more devastating in trailer 🙄

WE FINALLY HAVE A NAME FOR LADY TYBUR - LARA! THOUGHTS? 307 Responses

One of the few characters left with no name after the large guidebook released a few years ago, Lady Tybur was all we could call her (aside from fan-given names). Now she has an official name! 26.7% found it neat that we finally got this official detail. 25.4% feel that now they can finally sleep at night. 17.6% are forever grateful for the name drop and hated waiting so long for it. 15.3% don’t care at all and 11.7% feel this confirms that Isayama is a fan of Tomb Raider.

Not what I was expecting and wasn't expecting her to get a name. At least people can stop calling her Emma or those other dumbass meme names.

Cool. Next up: names for the Blouse kids, right? Right right?

I'm not kidding when I say I literally jumped up and screeched "SHE HAS A NAME!!!"

she didn't need it. she was the mysterious lady t. 

Lara was more lucky than Traute, who got more panels in the manga but her name was mentioned only in the guidebook. 

Still died

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 306 Responses

Of all the shots in the preview, 45.1% of respondents were most looking forward to Levi’s staged attack on Zeke. 17% favored seeing Mikasa assist Eren, 15% were most looking forward to seeing Falco emerge from the basement to see the carnage outside. 10.1% were stoked to see Pieck enter the battlefield. The episode has aired as of the publishing of these poll results - we hope these scenes lived up to the hype (even though we guessed one wrong lol).

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

I enjoyed the episode very much. I felt that the CGI was handled fairly well given the time restraints. However, there were a few instances where it was a bit jarring like Eren eating Willy, Eren pulling the WHT's cord, Mikasa landing on Eren, and Jean climbing up on the roof. Also some of the CGI models looked a bit weird for the scouts. I'm hoping some of these issues can be improved on in the Blue-ray version. Overall, these issues were noticeable but didn't take too much away from my enjoyment of the episode.

As much as I don't like the CGI, episode was great.

Just that it was fantastic and I can't wait for the next one!

The music is top notch. I love it. Especially the new version of XL TT near the end

After re-visiting the trailer we got for this season, it's just....saddening. Everyone was wondering how Mappa was gonna animate AoT and after seeing that trailer, all that effort by the animators, I thought "it's in good hands!". Now that we're getting the episodes and it's underwhelming. I don't blame the Mappa animators at all and cgi is unavoidable at some moments. But whoever are the higher ups who said "animate this in the shortest amount of time" ARE the assholes. It's so upsetting for this anime and the workers of it to be brought down like this :'(

Continuing to enjoy the pictures on the page come to life in the anime.

It was pretty amazing, I was waiting for so long to see this part animated! Aaand I'm so happy I got to see again the scouts! (expecially Connie, my personal fav)

Erwin should had lived instead of Armin, so Erwin can nuke Marley dropping from a blimp

I really liked it! I don't understand all the critics about the animation. It looks really neat and smooth

the SC backlit in that final scene was sickkkkk

It was different from the manga, but all the differences just improved the storytelling and fleshed out the people in Marley. Well done, MAPPA!

aaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

I’m just grateful Mappa actually gives a shit about adapting the story properly. That alone makes this season a 9/10 for me cause that’s rare to see in the anime industry these days.

THE OST WAS FIRE

Gabi's voice acting was amazing this episode ! Also, it feels good to hear the ODM gear sound effect again. The CGI didn't keep me from enjoying the fight, we got awesome camera movements and good choreography, I'm very hopeful for next episode ! Also best boy Onyankopon might appear soon ?

I seriously do not know why people are complaining. It was amazing! Can't wait for the next episodes, it's going to be action-packed and intense!

I don't know if I liked the episode or not. I usually prefer manga so even episodes I like I prefer their manga versions but there is something in off with the episode and usually, Titans fight are more excited but this one Nah it was not at all. War hammer was great in animation it served a better understanding of its powers but the fight, in general, was like boring?? idk maybe because I am a manga reader so the titan power/character's introduction was not as thrilling as they were when I've read the chapters. anyways, there is still more of the attack on liberio in the next episode so I'll give my final thought when we conclude the arc

I really enjoyed and the CGI doesn't bother me.

I think the reason Attack Titan looks a bit off is it looks a bit thinner! Warhammer looks amazing because it's a true copy of the manga. If Attack Titan was a bit buff, I think nobody would have that much of a problem. Overall the chapter is amazing!

as much as i adored everything else i must admit... what is wrong with the character design? what happened to everyone's jaws?? i think jean, mikasa and pieck were the worst drawn. in the manga, they look flawless. 

I just hope we would get actual discussions in the sub instead of circle jerking or bitching about the cgi/ost etc.

The soundtrack was epic as hell

Mappa is doing a good job, with the little time they had. But sadly, they had the capacity to do way better and I will always regret this situation. And the Jojo memes on Mikasa are on point: in that specific panel, she looks ugly and unlike her cute face in the manga. For the rest of the episode, she's well portrayed

I think this episode is a taste of what is to come. It’s one thing to read still, silent pictures of complete devastation, and it’s another thing to hear the explosions, the screaming and crying. Seeing the blood painted red instead of black and white. When Eren rumbles the world, more people will realize how evil it is, how completely irredeemable. Less people will be #teameren once they get to see it in the anime. I can’t wait to see what MAPPA has in store.

So many nice details in the battle that weren’t there in the manga, the war hammer animation was particularly great

I feel bad complaining, but this was the first episode of the season that has disappointed me at all. Every other episode I feel has elevated the manga. I don't want (and never expected) to be that person, but the CGI, especially on the humans (WHY??) was so awkward it was distracting. We also lost a little bit of expressiveness from Eren, which is kind of a big deal when there's so little from him to begin with. 

Soundtrack was lit!!!!

It is what it is. But after I finished the episode I went back to watch the trailer and got sad that the season just isn't going to look like that. It's not bad by any means and I understand that these are people, not robots working on this with an extremely tight schedule. This entitled fanbase is super embarrassing with it's behavior and harassment of the people working on it. I kind of hope the final arc doesn't get animated now because these people don't deserve it. 

Awesome! I was a bit distracted how the pacing was, cutting a bit weirdly from one episode to another, but I really enjoyed it!

That closeup of Eren's Titan after he nom'd Willy is NUTS. 

It was emotionless and almost boring. The sound director keeps fucking up big time. I didnt feel anything close to the hype I felt watching the Armored/Colossal reveal animated. There were no exciting goosebumps, or tears. Nothing. Also the CGI was terrible. There were good things, but I expected much more for suck a climatic episode

It was a good episode after all, graphic was ok but i think that if they continued with the same titan 2d animation of first episodes and maybe changed a bit some sound it would have been waaay better. Still a good episode imho

The episode was very average. I'm not trying to complain, I know that the anime is mostly for anime-onlines, while we have a manga, but I expected better. I imagined the titan fight to be smooth, but in reality both - WHT and AT - moved like two, fat elephants. In the manga I felt that WHT was fast like a wind. In the anime Lara was slow, she looked like she had a hard time to even hold her hammer. The moment between Eren and Mikasa was disappointing. In the anime when Mikasa was upset about Eren's actions, he was completely unfeeling, while in the manga we see him being full of emotions and almost crying. I know he will turn into a cold bastard but MAPPA shouldn't dehumanize Eren so much now. I was surprised by Connie's glow up. MAPPA has done better job with him. In the manga he still looks like a kid, while MAPPA made him more mature-looking and masculine. That's good for underrated Connie. I'm grateful for the scene between Willy and his children. This way he feels more sympathetic and isn't ""just a guy who declared a war and was eaten by Eren"". 

I really like how the warriors and Marleyans seem to be getting a somewhat equal amount of screen time as the scouts have gotten after they've come into the picture. I hope this helps to make clear for the anime-onlies that understanding the experiences, emotions and the development of the other side is just as important as understanding those of the scouts/Paradis.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 279 Responses

Thank you again to everyone who participated!

[mysterylover123]

Does Bones have a BKDK ‘agenda’?

mysterylover123 

The speculation I’ve seen so far about why Bones cut the flashback from the TodoBaku scenes in Chapter 164/Episode 79 is because they were ‘so preoccupied with BKDK in the new movie that they forgot about Bakugou’s development with Todoroki”. Which does raise the question, does Bones indeed have a BKDK shipping agenda of some kind?

The idea of an anime studio preferring a pairing and adding in tons of extra material to bias fans towards it is an absolutely founded suspicion. Clamp putting out official homoerotic art of Suzaku/Lelouch, that foot wash scene Madhouse added to Death Note between L and Light, Pierrot pretty obviously liking SasuNaru and Naruhina and throwing in tons of extra material for both; Studios do do this. They prefer certain pairings and they play them up. So does Bones have a BKDK agenda? 

The answer I’ve found on examination is a resounding “YES”, but Ive preserved my ‘let’s find out’ tone of writing for the rest of the examination.

Well, let’s start with the OPs and EDs, the first original contributions Bones was able to make in the adaptation. “The Day” does indeed have a long sequence focusing on them, but it’s not unreasonable given the content of S1. “Peace Sign” doesn’t include anything in particular, nor do ED1 or 2. ED 3, “Sora Ni Utaeba”, does have a scene of Kacchan meditating about Deku and getting mad, then blasting towards him at the end and the match-cut with his eye. But this is pretty minor, and fits episode 2.24. ED3, “Datte Atashi No Hero”, is the first time an OP or ED appears to have an agenda of shipping these two, hardcore. LiSa’s song is, according to her, about their relationship, and the Fantasy AU ending has the mutual understanding shot at the end. But it also has smiling prince Shoto, Dragon Kiri and Uraraka greeting Deku, so other ships get a nod too.

“Odd Future” has very little, though one could interpret the snow behind Deku as meaning something romantic. “Update” does include the lines ‘love’ over and over again in the final shot where they stand together watching the stars, but others are there as well, like Shoto and Ochako. Aside from the symbolism of DVK2 in OP5, the rest of S3’s ops are pretty light on BKDK, as was Polaris and ED6, and our current OP too. However, ED7 did have those mirror shots of them brooding in bed, and growing up.

So yes, the OPs and EDs do have a lot of emphasized shots between them. But nothing too crazy. Let’s get into Filler, movies and changes to episodes now.

Season 1 features no filler and no overt tweaks to any episodes; the only bit of added on BKDK I can think of is Deku blushing as a kid during the flashbacks in DVK part 1. Nothing too dramatic in Season 2 either, as the filler ep is about Tsu and nothing is particularly altered from the manga, besides throwing in the Kabe-Don in Katsuki Bakugo Origin. OK, that’s a big besides, given the sexual implications of that in anime culture. Season 3’s filler ep has Bakugo challenging Deku to a swimming contest, but there’s also a bit of TodoDeku and KiriBaku and IiDeku extra teasing there, so again, nothing like a pure bKDK-based agenda.

The 2nd filler ep of S3 has a little BKDK, as does the film, but nothing overt. The film has a bit of KiriBaku agenda, given all their scenes together, and throws in extra TodoBaku (the first bit of extra TodoBaku, alongside Episode 58, that they tossed our way). S4 gave us Deku’s soft smile at Kacchan’s antics, and contemplating on the retake arc last ep, indicating that Bones is indeed including little nods. And now there’s Heroes Rising, though that one was Hori’s idea.

My theory is that Bones does kinda like the ship, but that they have started including more and more BKDK because of how popular it’s getting. Winning the Tokyo Tower contest for the film, the 12,000+ fanfics, the unceasing winners of the Popularity Polls….my guess is Bones knows how popular BKDK is, so they’re adding in more fan service of it. But they were adding in little bits since Season 1 (The cherry blossoms, the smol Deku blush), so saying they have a bit of a BKDK agenda might…not be inaccurate. They do throw in a bit of Fanservice for other ships too, like Izuocha, KiriBaku, Tododeku, and even TodoBaku a little.

But aside from the popularity of BKDK…I think it’s also the key relationship of the series. Everything at it’s core is about them, they’re the main characters and the main focus, so it doesn’t seem too silly to slip in lots of them. But they’ve never had trouble tantalizing other pairings before this, even if they always added more to BKDK than the others. So I don’t think they cut TodoBaku’s scene just because they like another pairing better. I mean, that wouldn’t make much sense anyway.

But that is what started this discussion, so now we come to the real main question. Is Bones downplaying TodoBaku for BKDK? Certainly, BKDK is the only platonic pairing in canon that they’ve slipped quasi-romantic fanservice into in the anime (the blush, the cherry blossoms, the kabe-don, all things that have more romantic implications than anything done with Tododeku or Kiribaku). This needs another closer look.

In Season 1, Bones doesn’t especially play up Todoroki, or his future significance. No extra glances that aren’t in the manga, no closeup shots on him when he’s not the subject of a scene, etc. S1 is pretty much a straightforward adaptation of Chapters 1-21, no filler added, no noticeable agenda either way. In S2, that remains the truth for most of the season. I did notice that Bones makes some small changes in season 2 to the framing on Bakugou in a few scenes, like In Episode 25 where he’s made to look especially menacing Pre-last match, or Episode 27 where Jeanist physically restrains him (not in the manga). I’m not sure what agenda that might push, if any, as far as the ships go.

The season added in a scene of Bakugou tutoring Kirishima, which is in one of the Light novels and not the manga. They also, of course, as I mentioned above, added in the Kabe-don in Katsuki Bakugo Origin, as well as that entire alleyway sequence. The filler episode has a small scene between Deku and Todoroki that could be read as shippy. But yes, in S2, Bones doesn’t add in any extra, non-manga Todobaku.

The drama CDs and Smash, interestingly enough, do. Neither seems to have a lot of Todo/Deku, but they sure like slipping in TodoBaku subtext. There’s 2 drama CDs where they get stuck together by villains who want to scandalize them with compromising photographs, and multiple Smash comics joking about how their heated interactions come off as sexual tension. Of course, Smash has fanservice for pretty much every ship at some point.

In S3′s filler ep, Bakugo does yell at Todoroki “you too” after challenging Deku. It’s pretty minor, but it’s new stuff. Everything for the rest of the Training Camp arc is manga-canon and straightforward, as is the hideout raid. No real playing up of any one pairing over the other. The PLE arc adds in some filler that does seem to be hinting at a slight Todo/Momo agenda, since it has her wonder ‘what would Todoroki do’?, and indeed if Bones has a Shoto Ship leaning in any direction, it’s probably that one. But nothing extra added to BKDK or Todobaku that wasn’t in the manga already.

Episode 58 and the movie, however, do add in TodoBaku scenes. Their same usual dynamic from before, of course. Bones seems to see TodoBaku as essentially, how a lot of the fans see them: Bakugou antagonizing Shoto and Shoto’s reaction being an unbrideled ‘meh’. They do depict them working together in the film, and having a secret grin - though that grin has to do with BKDK a little. In context, Baku is being soft that Deku and All Might won, Shoto sees it, and smirks, making him tsun-tsun. 

S4 did add an extra scene in Filler ep 3 where they talk about their future plans. There’s an adjusted reaction from Deku in the next ep, where he smiles fondly at Katsuki. The new OP also doesn’t show Todoroki and Bakugou together, alone in any of the shots of them; they’re always separate, brooding about their own problems, when this OP could’ve been a good time to show them together.  Outside of crowd shots, they don’t share the screen.

So yes, all in all, the conspiracy theory idea might not be so far off. Bones definitely does include little nods to BKDK that make it even shippier, and does seem to be downplaying TodoBaku a bit, at least more so than the Drama CDs. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, since at least unlike Naru/Hina vs Naru/saku, it’s unlikely to actually influence the series’ content - there is no actual love triangle here to be played up or played down, just fanon ships. Still, it is noteable.

[millennium-puzzle]

I just noticed i finished s2 without even noticing XD

Kinda weird how this season ends with a random duel between two villains, specially comparated to s0 and s1 that ended with the main characters against a completely new villain, (man i miss s0's monster world, it was so great)

Anyway comparated to my previous reviews where i commented every character in existence i will do only my TOP 10, as the characters are becoming always more fleshed out, also i'm sticking to anime only because if we had to consider manga too it would very different to say at least:

10) Shizuka/Keith/Ryota:

Minor characters that i thought were really cool and deserve way more attention by the fandom AND the marketing team

#SerenityforDuelLinks2020

9) Isis (or Ishizu i really don't know)

Tecnically she isn't really my kind of character, but her "serving my family and protecting its tradictions vs making my own choices and helping my siblings" conflict is really interesting and something that should have explored more

Maybe even have a character arc revolving Isis realizing she always had way more benefits from her clan thank her brothers that were abused by it and that if she couldn't turn her back to the family like they did, she shouldn't judge them for it at least

8) Rishid

Ranking him higher than Isis because Big Sibling Solidarity and his amazing character design

His character is very simple but well made (which is better than 80% ygo characters): a family-less guy that disperatly wants to protect and by loved the people he consider as such

He is not perfect and is still a criminal that supported Malik's worst behaviors, but we were given enough information on this guy to make us say "yeah i get him why he would do that", which is pretty much why we all love him

Again, i wish we were given more information about his personality and desires beside serving Malik, but uh, i guess that's what headcanons become handy

7) Yami Bakura

Definitely a weird placement for a character who is absolute mistery, i know

He stands out as the only major villain that doesn't dies or gets reformed, without giving us any idea of what he is or wants

He just fucks around some eps and then gets his ass kicked, but never too much so he re-appear the Next Season, which is a hint that he is going to be the ending villain

Along him being a complete expy of Devilman's main villain which really gives away he is going to be the final boss too, let's just say, if you have read Devilman you could correctly guess Bakura was going to be the Big Bad Behind Everything the moments his winged hair appears

That was kinda useless uh? Why do i put him so high tho?

Well why not? He is absolutely hilarious as character, he has incredible powers and yet acts like an harmless twink, he is an idiot and imcompentent in everything beside saving his own ass, one of the sassiest and hammiest characters (which is really something coming from ygo), literally waits Malik to tell what to do and depends on him despite being a dick to him, is the gayest and cutest boy, and we don't talk enough how ground-breaking is having the main villain being dashing beautiful man, specially comparated to the avarage looking main characters, i know it's Ryo the "beautiful one" but they were clearly designed together which along TKB, Diva and Malik means TK really made "beauty" a common villain trait which is really awesome honestly

Oscar Wilde wishes he could make all his villains pretty young men

6) Yugi

I know it's kinda bad putting the main character right outside the TOP 5, specially how underrated he is as shonen MC, but he really gets overshadowed by Yami Yugi most of the time

The plot revolves around YY and his memories, the villains are always after YY, YY does most of dueling and this is a card game anime, most characters like Jounouchi and Mai are motivated by YY, Yugi is definitely imporant and all but he always gets sidelined to be YY's counselor and occasionally the writers remember he is Jou's best friend

That aside, he is really sweet at least, and he bounces well with most characters as he always prioritizes forgiveness, friendship and kindness above everything without being a pushover or weak, which makes a nice contrast with characters that instead made hate and revenge their only personality trait

i think Yugi's importance doesn't comes from what he does but what he is, TK said he designed Yugi as an action hero that never fight with violence, which is really innovative for a classic shonen MC, but as i said before, ygo isn't his story no matter how you look it

[alwaysupatnight]

Since you sent me an a bonus two, I am taking that as a greenlight to send even more! How about Kate Fuller and looking through your tags: Joel Hammond (Santa Clarita Diet) and Edward Elric (Full Metal Alchemist) 💖

omg this took forever!! lmaooo Thanks for all the characters though!! :D

Kate Fuller

Why I like them: My love!! I went into FDTD already a fan of Madie’s but Kate quickly became one my fave characters!! I love that she’s so small and cute but will absolute wreck you if you mess with her or someone she cares about!! lmfao She’s so fierce when she needs to be and doesn’t take shit from anyone, but she’s also so nurturing and forgiving and I think we all need a little of that in our lives. Absolute sunshine, not to be taken for granted.

Why I don’t: Sometimes she goes a little too far tbh. She doesn’t know when or how to say no. It’s not that I don’t like that about her, but it absolutely gets her into situations that could otherwise be avoided.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): Again season 2 episode 1!! I love how she sasses Seth in that episode. lol

Favorite season/movie: Hmm... maybe season 1.

Favorite line: “...So you’re gonna put this car into drive, and you’re gonna step on that pedal, or I’m gonna Bible-thump your ass all the way back to Kansas! NOW!” LMFAOOO

Favorite outfit: I think her black American Eagle jacket and jeans with the black boots outfit has become so attributable to her character in my mind. When I think of Kate she’s wearing either that outfit or the one she wears at the end of s1. I think those are my faves. Also Amaru’s outfit looked totally amazing on Madie!!

OTP: Sethkate obvs

Brotp: I’m gonna go with Kate and Rafa. He was too good!! I totally would ship them romantically too ngl. They were precious together!!

Head Canon: Ugh again with the head canons... lmao I kinda always believed she’d wanna study engineering of some kind if given the chance to go to back and finish school. Everyone always wants to make her a nurse or a teacher or something, and I can totally see that. But I like the idea that she’s interested in how things work. I totally wanna write a mechanic Kate au one of these days.

Unpopular opinion: idk that I have any unpopular opinions about her... She made some questionable decisions in season2, but I forgive her for making me suffer.

A wish: That she hadn’t mf DIED!! BECAUSE I SUFFERED OKAY. WORRYING FOR MONTHS THAT IT HAPPENED TO ME YET AGAIN AND THAT MY FAVE WAS DEAD. Also that she had gotten more screentime in season 3. She barely had a few minutes. It wasn’t fair. And I wish that Richie had owned up to his part in her death.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Romantic tres geckos. No thanks!!

5 words to best describe them: Too good for this world

My nickname for them: Seth’s badass beautiful young wife. That’s my tag name for her. :P Also Kate Gecko.

-

Joel Hammond

Why I like them: OMFG I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!! lmao I love that he’s so dedicated to his family. And he LOVES Sheila more than anything, even though she’s become a zombie and her entire personality changes on him and eats people now, but he stays with her and never gives up on her. Even though he’s highkey stressed 100% of the time. :P

Why I don’t: I don’t think there’s anything I don’t like about him tbh??

Favorite episode (scene if movie): Ughhh idk I loved all the episodes tbh. But one of my favorite scenes was in season 3 after he and Eric do the zombie killing training and Eric says “Joel touched me” XD

Favorite season/movie: IDK. Maybe a tie between s1 and s3.

Favorite line: haha idk I can’t remember any in particular except “You’re killing it!” when he finds out Abby soaked his iron skillet in the sink :P

Favorite outfit: I don’t think I have one? I never really paid attention tbh.

OTP: Joel and Sheila!! They belong together!!

Brotp: Joel and Eric!! forever dying at those two. I love their relationship so much!!

Head Canon: I never thought about it tbh...

Unpopular opinion: Don’t have any!!

A wish: THAT THE SHOW HADN’T BEEN MF CANCELED AND WE COULD’VE GOTTEN TO SEE WHAT ZOMBIE JOEL WOULD’VE BEEN LIKE. FOREVER SCREAMING AT NETFLIX FOR CANCELING ALL MY FAVE SHOWS WTF.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: that his personality would be really different from his original one after turning into a zombie

5 words to best describe them: Best husband in the world

My nickname for them: don’t have one!!

-

Edward Elric

Why I like them: I really loved his relationship with Alphonse!! They meant everything to each other!! I haven’t seen FMA anything in a long time, or I’m sure I would remember more things I liked. :P

Why I don’t: Okay I found the Brotherhood anime Edward pretty goddamn annoying sometimes with all the screaming and cartoony reactions to things...

Favorite episode (scene if movie): idkkkkk

Favorite season/movie: I definitely preferred the 2003 anime... Brotherhood might be canon but idgaf!! I still haven’t read the manga. :P

Favorite line: “You’ve got a good, strong pair of legs, Rose. You should get up and use ‘em.” haha idk I haven’t seen either anime in so long but that one comes to mind... there’s so many different versions of it. :P

Favorite outfit: He literally always wears the same thing. lol

OTP: ehh... I mean everyone ships him with Winry but I didn’t really ship him with anyone? I know he and Winry are canon. idgaf though. I hated that she was always fucking hitting him in Brotherhood and though I did think they were really cute in the 2003 series it didn’t really go there?

Brotp: Ed and Al forever!! Their relationship is my favorite thing about the series!! omfg I cried when I watched the Shamballa movie when Al says “brother” in his sleep, stuck in the other world. T_T I know it’s not “canon” but the brothers’ relationship is developed soooooo much better in the 2003 series and movie.

Head Canon: don’t got any!!

Unpopular opinion: NGL I loved the 2003 anime soooo much more than Brotherhood because they didn’t cut every potentially emotional scene off at the knees with some comedic BS to lighten the mood. The 2003 series really gave the story and characters time it needed, and it really allowed us to get to know the brothers and grow an attachment to those characters. That series just had wayyyy better character development imo and I really grew to love Ed and Al so much because of it!! I haven’t actually read the manga still after all this time. lol I’ve been meaning to.

A wish: idk... I haven’t been in that fandom for ages...

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: I can’t think of anything...?

5 words to best describe them: haha I hate this question

My nickname for them: don’t have one :P

[ncfan-1]

ncfan listens to The Magnus Archives: S1 EP017 (’The Bone-Turner’s Tale) and S1 EP018 (’The Man Upstairs’)

Body horror and another episode that reminds me of Ito Junji’s work. Not a good pair of episodes for people with weak stomachs.

No spoilers past Season 1, please!

EP 017: ‘The Bone-Turner’s Tale’

- Sebastian’s gushing about the power of books is kinda sweet, though the power we see displayed in this episode is anything but. (And I happen to have in my possession a few books—not first editions, of course—that have outlived the societies that produced them, so I get the wonder on that account.)

- And Michael Crew (mentioned in ‘Page Turner’) has snuck another Evil Book into an innocent Chiswick library. What the hell, man?

- And we get static when Jonathan reads out the title of the book—‘The Bone-Turner’s Tale.’

- Jared Hopworth sounds like a piece of work, though the fact that he still seems so fixated on a guy who was his friend and now he seems to want to believe he hates is a little… sad. I doubt Sebastian felt much, if any, sympathy for him, but I suppose that as a listener, I can feel sorry for him. Or, at least, I feel sorry for him now. All sympathy dies soon.

(And I’ve since learned that I was mishearing the name ‘Gerard Keay’ as ‘Jared Key.’ Personally, in Sims’s voice the names ‘Jared’ and ‘Gerard’ sound frankly identical, but okay. I’ll call him ‘Gerard’ from now on to avoid confusion.)

- And we have an intermission and our first proper introduction to Elias, where he proceeds to tell us just how badly Jonathan’s first attempt to interact with a statement giver went. And that the creepy, creepy Lukas family is one of the Institute’s patrons. I’m sure that’s not a bad sign at all.

- “I’ll… be more lovely.” No, you won’t.

- Yes, I’m just sure Martin’s off sick. Normal sickness, being shut into your apartment by a living hive of flesh-eating worms.

- Sebastian, I understand not wanting to create unnecessary drama, but it might be better to tell your coworkers if someone’s harassing you if you think there’s any chance he might drag them into it as well.

- It’s odd that Jared would walk off with the book even if he seems a bit frightened by it. Some sort of compulsion, perhaps? Or maybe he’s run into Michael Crew before and recognized a book that had once been in his possession.

- The thing with the poor rat is the reason why I will not be revisiting this episode, not unless I just do a big re-listen of the series in general. It’s also the thing that completely evaporated my sympathy for Jared (Even before we saw what he did to his mother). That was his pet, an animal without any significant ability to hurt him in its own defense the way a cat or a dog could. It probably trusted him unhesitatingly, didn’t even consider Jared might hurt it until he did. And I know a lot of people don’t like rats, but tame rates make for really cute, cuddly, affectionate pets. I do mean affectionate—they have the same capacity for empathy and bonding with owners that cats and dogs possess. And Jared did that to it. I will not go out of my way to listen to this episode again for the very simple reason that animal cruelty, especially cruelty towards your pets, turns me right off.

(I probably would have scooped the rat up and taken it to the vet once I realized it was a tame rat. Of course, given the state it was in, probably the only thing the vet would have been able to do was euthanize it so it wouldn’t suffer any more than it already was. But I can understand Sebastian not wanting to pick up a strange animal.)

- I can understand Jared’s mother taking her anger out on Sebastian. It’s probably a lot safer being angry at him than at Jared, considering the new skill Jared’s picked up. I note we never see her again after she presumably steals the book to take it back to the library. I doubt that bodes good things for her fate.

- We get static again when Jon reads out the title of the book.

(I listened to the first episode again today, and there was static when Jon read out the “Can I have a cigarette?” spoken by the entity of the episode, too.)

- I was curious as to whether pseudo-Chaucerian tales were a thing, and sure enough, it turns out that during the Medieval era it was for a time the fashion to write pseudo-Chaucerian tales in an effort to “finish” The Canterbury Tales. Some people decided to add on to the Cook’s Tale, which Chaucer died before he could complete, or to write new ones whole-cloth. One is called The Plowman’s Tale, another is called The Tale of Beryn.

- It’s a pity the thing with the rat affected me the way that it did, because the rest of the story is quite engrossing.

- And ‘The Bone-Turner’s Tale’ is so evil it makes other books bleed. That’s… definitely something.

- And we get static when Sebastian describes the books bleeding.

- Sebastian pointing out how ambiguous it is as to whether the bone-turner is traveling with the other pilgrims or if he’s just following (stalking) them feels… right, for this kind of series. Horror thrives on ambiguity, on puzzles where there’s just enough empty space or there’s a couple of pieces missing, so we don’t know what the whole picture is supposed to look like.

- The fact that the technical quality of the prose is mediocre is oddly hilarious. Because, you know: evil book that gives people the ability to manipulate bones.

- More static when Sebastian quotes the book.

- Why am I not surprised it’s a Jurgen Leitner book? From now on, I’m just going to assume that any weird book that shows up in this series is a Leitner book.

- The description of Jared’s “modifications” is excellent. Especially the extra limbs and the ribcage modified to be a mouth. Pushing the boundaries on what counts as human, aren’t we?

- I wonder how Jared was running. Was he scuttling along like a giant spider, or something?

- I do wonder what the cops (and the library staff, for that matter) thought about the bloody books. How do you look at something like that without having some kind of comment?

- And Jonathan is predictably rather ill with the thought of another surviving Leitner tome having slipped through the cracks.

- Yeah, Jared attacked and mangled Sebastian so severely that he died, and had a closed-casket funeral. I really doubt Mrs. Hopworth is still with us.

EP 018: ‘The Man Upstairs’

- Here’s another one that reminds me of Ito Junji’s work.

- I understand that in the U.K., the floor numbers in buildings go top-bottom, instead of bottom-top. At least, that’s the impression I’ve gotten. So the fact that Toby Carlisle is said to live on the first floor I take to mean that he lived in what in the U.S. would be called the second floor.

- The smell Christof associates with Toby in the beginning—a combination of pavement after rain on a hot day and spoiled chicken—makes me wonder when exactly Toby started nailing up the meat. Did he start small at first, so that you’d only notice if you got a whiff of it through an open window or door? Or was it his association with the entity in question that made him smell like that—did he just carry the odor of decay with him wherever he went?

- It’s interesting that Toby did the hammering meat onto the walls once every two weeks, on the dot. Did he have a schedule he had to keep to?

- The description of the carpet in front of Toby’s door… ick.

- Interestingly enough, I think we got a little bit of static when Toby said “What do you want?” Do the distortions extend to human agents of the entities we’ve seen in the series?

- Oh, God, I’ve finally figured out what the viscous, off-white liquid seen in the episode is. It’s liquefied fat, isn’t it?

- The plumber’s visit… You know, my senior year working towards my anthropology degree, the washing machine in the dorm above the one my roommates and I lived in broke down and flooded the upstairs dorm—and ours, too, eventually. I can’t begin to describe how fortunate I feel right now that the only thing that came pouring out of the light fixtures in the kitchen was soapy water.

- The interior of Toby Carlisle’s flat, this is what reminded me of Ito Junji’s work. Can’t you just imagine him drawing something like this? I’m pretty sure he has drawn something at least vaguely similar to this before; I’d go and check, but that would require me to look at it again, so no, thank you. (I think it was in a oneshot manga called ‘Greased.’ Only vaguely similar, but way too similar for me to want to look at it.)

- The description of the flat is actually quite good. Probably the only reason I can deal with it is because I don’t have to look at or smell it.

- Was… Toby trying to summon some kind of meat entity with this nailing up meat all over his flat? Was that why the meat thing with all the eyes was in the kitchen? And I suppose it just sort of winked out of existence when it realized it had been spotted.

- “It opened its eyes. It opened all its eyes.” I’ll… just leave this here.

- It’s interesting that the cops, the fire department, and the hospital all give such different accounts. I would have liked to see what the inconsistencies entailed. I feel like that could be very telling.

- I’m glad Christof got some counseling.

- I think the stinger in this episode is the best one up so far. Where was Toby getting all the meat?

[altimys]

Winter 2018 anime reviews

Hello, hello. This is a follow-up post to my initial impressions post. I’ll detail how my perception of the animes changed over the season.

Also note that I will not review Violet Evergarden since I’m way too far behind on it. I’ll finish it sometime in the next season once I’m free.

Dropped Animes

The ones that were unbearable.

Citrus

3/10

Like mentioned in the post from the beginning of the season, it just had this unrealistic, trope-driven, incest (but not really) story. Mostly style and little substance, but not even my style. Well, do take this with a grain of salt. I didn’t even finish the first episode.

Pop Team Epic

7/10

I definitely appreciate the experimental and sarcastic nature of this anime. But it wasn’t really worth spending an extra 15 minutes to watch the same thing a second time, especially since I didn’t find all the skits funny. I probably would’ve watched it if they were broken into seven minute segments.

Sanrio Boys

5/10

Too cheesy. Thanks for the “be yourself” message, but I’m not really interested in bishounens parading this every episode. The protagonist’s broken relationship with their grandmother as a sad backstory made me facepalm very hard. If you had advertised this to me about 6 years ago, I may have gobbled it up, but nowadays it’s not my taste.

Darling in the Franxx

5/10

I didn’t pick it back up, and I didn’t really see anything major from twitter or tumblr, except for gifs of the pink haired girl being with her sexy-cute charm. Y’know, the kind of charm where she’s designed to be appealing in a sexy, vampiric way, but she’s doing something cute like licking her fingers after eating a slice of meat or something. Normally I’d not mind this so much, but remembering how typical the protag was, it definitely gave off the manic pixie dream girl vibes. Art and animation I saw was great though! Unfortunately.

Osomatsu-san

5/10

Skits really fell flat this season. I knew that S2 would lose some drive after the stunt they pulled for the finale of S1, but a lot of skits were utter nonsense. I enjoyed the ones where they experimented with the complexities of each character’s personalities (i.e. Choromatsu and Ichimatsu’s awkward interactions), but it was like wading through a swamp to get a chuckle. I watched most of the season then dropped it, since it wasn’t really worth spending time not having fun.

Mediocre Anime

I don’t know why I watched these but I did.

Garo Vanishing Line

3/10

The story was killing me so much in the end that I would multitask when watching it, and I’m not a natural multitasker. It was just bad writing. Nothing really made sense, and it was quite predictable. Like Sword’s sister came out of nowhere (after she died for Sword’s sad backstory) and was suddenly had HACKER SKILLZ. And I was almost positive that in S1, Sophie’s brother was taken away from her by force, not him wanting to join the El Dorado project. Whatever, does it even matter? The best thing of the season was probably Luke getting a haircut and ditching that awful trenchcoat. Do not recommend.

Touken Ranbu Hanamaru

6/10

Guilty pleasure of the season. Still managed to enjoy the nonsense, with the musicals, and these bishounen and moeblobs being one-dimensional. I did appreciate some of the character interactions and the references to Katsugeki Touken Ranbu, but with these kinds of animes, I really can’t say it’s quality. It’s meant to be aimed at a certain audience, and knowing that I am part of this audience makes it enjoyable to watch. Wouldn’t recommend unless you really like bishounenified swords.

Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles

6/10

I previously wrote that I was interested in seeing the stalker girl’s infatuation with Koizumi-san turn into a relationship. Of course it didn’t happen. Yuri? In your dreams. I do applaud this anime for going in depth into the ramen culture and making me hungry every week. There were some hardcore facts about ramen’s origins and experimental ramen. You could tell that they did a lot of research (or were sponsored well). I ate an average of 1.5 packs of instant ramen each week, partly thanks to Koizumi-san. How can I not eat noodles after watching it? Not really any substance to this anime unless you like hearing about ramen facts and watching anime girls foodgasm.

Average Anime

These I could recommend with disclaimers and not feel bad about it.

Junji Ito Collection

6/10

Like with most animes with short stories, there’s a handful of good and bad stories. Since the source material is pretty good, there’s more interesting stories than not. There are definitely some that are ridiculously stupid, but if you are in search of horror anime, this is one you should watch. I wouldn’t say it’s equivalent to Yami Shibai, but it’s good. The animation can’t match the signature entrancing horror that Junji Ito creates, but it’s a decent adaptation. One minor quip I have is that they reuse voice actors in each skit. Might be a budget issue, might be something else. It’s not a big deal, but mostly noticeable to me because Hoshiyan’s voice is too recognizable for me. lol. Oh yeah, the short story with the oil was absolutely disgusting. I enjoyed being grossed out.

Gakuen Babysitters

6/10

It’s like a shoujo but with toddlers. Cute interactions, likable characters. Of course, it’s a light-hearted story, so I guess I shouldn’t expect too much out of it. The comedy bits are well-written, and the art style is absolutely adorable. Great casual watch if you want to feel fluffy without the bullshit of shoujo romances.

Laid Back Camp

7/10

As the title suggests, it’s a pretty laid-back anime. I love the different personalities of the female cast. They shone quite well through the segments of texting. The way that they texted felt friendly, and I felt that I was part of this silly chat group. Also enjoyed learning a lot about camping supplies (and the little pinecones that squealed were so cute). Makes me consider wanting to go solo-hiking or camping to be able to enjoy nature. I’m really glad it covered winter camping, because that’s something that most people never consider, so you get to see the different equipment, activities, and benefits. Recommend if you want something chill with a well-written cast, but not a character-driven story line.

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

7/10

Surprisingly, I liked it quite a bit. I was actually expecting this one to tank, because it had a predominantly male lineup, was about assassins, and had a crossdresser. Sounded like someone picked things they thought would appeal to the general public and made an anime of it. Thankfully, I was wrong. Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is actually based off a light novel series, which really shows through the thought-out plot and layered characters. I wouldn’t say it’s as crazy as Durarara!!, but some of the twists are quite interesting. I also really enjoy the diverse cast and their interactions: Lin Xianming, pseudonym for a Taiwanese assassin who also happens to crossdress; Banba Zenji, a playful, seemingly idiotic detective with a deck of tricks up his sleeves. There’s also a canonically gay character, an ex, a child, a hacker (with an interesting backstory), and more. And these characters make mistakes, get injuries, and have flaws. I’m hoping for a second season, because watching this was quite nice each week.

Karakai Jozu no Takagi-san

7/10

If you wanted fluff with actual romance, here’s the one for the season! There’s also quite a bit of comedy added. I did feel sorry for the protag Nishikata for falling victim to Takagi’s pranks every time, but I always looked forward to what she was going to do, and how it would fluster him. I think the romantic buildup was well-paced throughout the season. Kudos to whoever paced it, because they danced around with my feelings like an expert, giving me enough of a taste to feel the flutters of romance in my stomach, but not enough to make Nishikata and Takagi an item. Some of the skits were directed very well, with surprisingly effective cinematography (see the rain and umbrella skit). The ending was really cute, and I’m pretty encouraged to read the manga to get more content.

Mahou Tsukai no Yome

7/10

Nothing really jumped out at me. I feel like the actions of the characters didn’t follow a logic to it that made me understand the character better. Nothing really sparked an interested in wanting to cheer the characters on. I really felt passive in watching events happen to Chise and Elias, and the ending wasn’t particularly spectacular either. I think it’s a decent one to pass the time, but I could not get invested in the plot or characters.

Koi wa Ameagari no You Ni

8/10

This anime certainly isn’t for everyone’s tastes, but I think I really appreciated the latter half of the series more than the first half. The surface-level summary is about the age-gap romance, but once I was able to hear Kondo’s internal thoughts, especially about being older, the nostalgia of youth, and trying to pick a passion back up, I started enjoying it a lot more. I especially loved the scenes when he would banter with his college friend Chihiro. The only downside of the latter half of the episodes was the awkward tension between Akira and her friend. Her friend would just yell at her, and Akira would take it, and then not really consider it. And somehow it’s resolved. Well, other than that, I did like the characters and ending a lot.

Kokkoku

8/10

I rather enjoyed the setup and the unknown mechanisms of the system. The enemy really had the advantage in intellect and strength, and it was interesting watching how the characters tried to get around that. The last three episodes were a little flat, and the plot armor (kind of) and last bit of exposition was almost unnecessary, but it was there to give us a happy ending, which I did appreciate. Love the grandpa. I’d say this anime did a pretty decent job at the action and strategy, and the ending wasn’t blowing my mind, but I do really commend it on the setup.

Exceptional Anime

Worth your time.

A Place Further Than the Universe

8/10

Drama about girls aiming to go to Antarctica. Strong female cast, with a pretty believable depiction of average high school girls and how they might react and pursue their dreams. The voice acting was pretty spectacular for this show, especially during the second to last episode. ;) I think this anime is very real with what it’s like with concepts we usually don’t think of: having ambitions, lacking ambitions, making friends, losing friends, finding closure. It was rewarding to walk with the girls in every step of their journey. Animation quality was pretty awesome too. I also cried a bit at the end. I didn’t think I would enjoy an anime about high school girls going to Antarctica, but hey, I loved it.

Hakumei to Mikochi

8/10

It’s a slice-of-life about a pair of thumb-sized forest dwellers. Hakumei, the more adventurous of the two, works as a handyman and has a determined attitude. She’s still a very considerate person and is full of compassion and a heart to help others. Mikochi is a bit more reserved and particular. She’s famous for her cooking and has a passion for textiles and clothing. Both characters compliment each other well, and it’s cute seeing them bustle about their daily lives. You also get to see into the lives of other characters they meet, and it feels an established world with all it’s quirks and culture. The general feel of this anime is relaxed and storybook-like, similar to the same kind of vibe I get from Ghibli movies. I honestly thought this was a children’s anime during the first episode. It could be, but I enjoyed it a lot.

[ridiasfangirlings]

what you think about K project story and also about fushimi and yata relation in K : LSW ?

Just in general,you mean? As far as the story goes, I think it has its strengths andweaknesses – the story as told in the anime itself I think has somedefinite issues particularly as far as pacing goes, and there’s a lotthat ends up unexplained or glossed over. Season one I think wasn’tso bad but suffered from some obvious ‘we’re just throwing everythingat the wall to see what’s popular’ overtones and in the first fewepisodes especially I think it’s clear that Gora didn’t quite haveeveryone’s characters entirely ironed out (the Blue clan inparticular come off as a lot more on the villain side than theyultimately end up being and Fushimi’s character especially is a lotdifferent when you compare seasons…they can explain episode five ashim doing the 'Niki mode’ to piss off Yata but then he rarely acts soextra again outside of ROK episode one and it makes me think theoriginal plans for him changed a bit when he turned out to be sopopular). Mikoto’s death I didn’t mind at the time but in retrospectI think there were more interesting things that could have been doneif he’d lived. ROK is really where things fall apart a little more,the pacing for season two is really bad and stretched out and I thinkit suffers a lot from needing to make the Silvers the leads when mostof their development – for Shiro and Kuroh anyway – was largelycomplete by the end of season one. I also found the ending a bitdisappointing, I’ve mentioned before how much I disliked the wholefake out with Shiro because it makes no sense and wasn’t foreshadowedat all and pretty much just got tacked on there for last minutedrama. The destruction of the Slate was kind of a letdown for me too,I’m not really a fan of ending a series by wiping out the specialpowers thing anyway but the way Gora did it was really half-assed,like 'okay the Slate is gone and no more Kings – but everyone stillhas their powers and actually Kings still have powers too just not asstrong so really not a lot changed actually.’

On the other hand,I think the story as told in the novels, manga and side stories ismuch stronger. I feel like when Gora doesn’t have to worry aboutstretching out a narrative things do better and since the differentside materials tend to have a much smaller cast there’s more time tolet the individual characters breathe. The vast majority of myfavorite character moments are from the side materials because therewas less need to juggle the entire cast and they could focus onsmaller groups. In general I feel like K’s story is stronger when theshow is able to tighten the narrative – just from a writingstandpoint I think the movie is the strongest animated part of thefranchise simply because it had a story that fit into exactly theamount of run time they had and worked well at balancing the needs ofmain characters with that of the plot, rather than stretching thingsout to end on certain moments. Even with the side materials there’sstill weak points and definitely plenty of things that Gora neverthought of or left out (we still don’t know if a King can abdicatelike Munakata told Mikoto to do in S1, the Slate’s origin remains acomplete mystery) but I don’t entirely mind that, it gives more roomfor fanfic to fill in the blanks :P

As for Yata andFushimi, kinda the same with everything else I like and dislike theirrelationship in LSW. I think the early half of the novel is the best,I love seeing how they became friends, Yata taking care of sickFushimi is one of my very favorite moments in all of K and I like howyou can really see why Fushimi especially became so attached to Yata,how Yata was the first person to ever really care about him or showhim affection and he clung to it, while Yata who wanted to be neededfound someone who he both looked up to and wanted to protect andthey’re just so sweet together. The final third of the novel thingsget messier though, mainly because the focus on Fushimi makes itharder to get what Yata’s feeling (I’m also not a fan of having Hisuiin there just because there’s never any payoff and it even adds anunnecessary plothole when ROK comes around and Hisui never evenmentions what happened in LSW after meeting Fushimi, like if you’renot going to make use of it why even have it in there). I would haveliked to see a little more focus om the real issues pulling themapart rather than Hisui’s intervention, that more worked as acatalyst of things that already existed. I do think you get a goodidea of how isolated Fushimi felt and how he felt like he and Yatawere breaking anyway so he might as well smash the rest of it. Thebetrayal scene in the manga especially was a gut punch, particularlythat last frame of little Saru standing angrily in front of a burninganthill, just giving a visual to the idea of Fushimi setting fire tothe thing he loves on his own because it’s easier than watchingsomeone else destroy it.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Houseki no Kuni 3 - 6 | Girls’ Last Tour 3 - 6 | Boueibu OVA | Netjuu no Susume 6 | Juuni Taisen 7 | Mahoutsukai no Yome 6

Apparently there’s a bonus if you watch until the end of the 5th ep of Netjuu no Susume…I’ve seen it, or else I wouldn’t be telling you it exists.

I’ve rolled out the simulcast commentary tags for the seasonal shows that don’t have tags yet (aside from Netjuu no Susume’s replacement when that time comes).

Plus, as you can see in the title…there’s the Boueibu OVA in this bundle of notes, for completion’s sake.

Houseki no Kuni 3

That snail sure is a lively thing.

Really? A poop joke? Well, that’s one way to rub Phos’s new state into Dia’s face.

…welp, not much to talk about this time, I guess.

Houseki no Kuni 4

What the heck? The snail has a type???

This OP is lovely. Its best aspect is the visuals, though. It sounds kind of plain compared to even Saturday Night Question (Netjuu no Susume).

That snail makes a nice wig for Master Kongo, doesn’t it?

I’m listening to this show for the first time, and Phos uses “boku”, interestingly enough.

The snail's urge to go back to its home in the sea reminds me that lots of Chinese people go back to their country for Chinese New Year. I wonder if the same sentiment is involved in both instances?

The ED is nice, but not as good as the OP.

Houseki no Kuni  5

Watermelon? I feel sorry for the gem which has that name.

Ahh! These jellyfish are cute (and practical)!

“No getting all weak-kneed now!” – Says Phos, who’s got legs potentially harder than their body.

Houseki no Kuni 6

Trust exercises. I did some with some members of my anime club once. (Haha.)

I noticed the spikes were blue, so they might be Sapphire. It’s kind of like Rabbit’s necromantistry (Juuni Taisen), but…in a slightly different form.

Girls’ Last Tour 3

Kanazawa???? *thinks about King’s Game, where the protag and the author share the surname Kanazawa*

There’s some extremely glaring CGI during this episode. For a moment, you can discern Chi’s made of CGI while in her Kettenkrad.

Please don’t ship the grown man with the loli.

That’s some grim humour they attempted with Kanazawa. Kinda like Zetsubou-sensei (Nozomu Itoshiki).

Boueibu OVA

I almost wasn’t going to cover this, because it’s an OVA, but hey, why not make an exception? This may be the last time we Boueibu fans can talk about this stuff again…(Plus I think I’ll have volume for the entire thing if I hurry.)

Haha, the volleyball scene. Notice En talks first.

Yumoto’s being basic as always. *sighs happily*

Trump, eh? The word for playing cards is trump, but…y’know?

(about “graduating in a storm of cherry blossoms” and En saying it sounds lonely) I was just about to say that, En. However, that may just be OVA feels speaking.

Itsumo Ichiban? Rememer that guy? Well, there’s Itsumo’s brother on Kin-chan’s list. You can tell because he’s literally Itsumo Nisan. Geddit?

(about Zundar’s meeting with Kin-chan) The manga! It was correct after all!

Yep, that’s exactly how it went 2 years ago. In fact, I think it might be recycled content…(?)

Wombat speaks very formally. I learnt about keigo in the past year so I only picked up on that this time around.

The word used by Aki is “sad” according to the subs, but hazukashii means “embarrassing”, which puts a new spin on it.

They’re literally just using montages of s1, which is why I want Pony Canyon to bundle the OVA with s2. It’s more money, but for the consumer, it’s more worth it. However…having Bi…Egoism in an anime segment at all is new.

Akoya must be popular in the fandom. Either that or the staff are acknowledging how unloved he is.

Yay! It’s Star the VEPPer!

It’s good that each of these side characters is getting their own montage. Plus we’re getting official translations of the character songs, which is the best thing you can get for free when character songs aren’t distributed normally in most cases.

4th wall breaking! I guess you never expected that, eh? (Actually, you probably did, considering it’s been a montage for almost everyone now.)

(I love En’s little snarks in the middle of the song.) The only one left after this is Atsushi, right? Update: Oops, forgot Kin-chan. Sorry Kin-chan.

I never really realised Atsushi’s song was so hard rock compared to En’s more pop-like one.

“But do I really have that fire inside of me?” – I think I heard the song go atsui which is a real funky (in a good way) pun on Atsushi’s name.

Aww, they missed out in such a good pun! Haru went haru and Aki went aki. The translator didn’t pick up on that though…aww.

Whoa! Yumoto got all scary! Botan Yuzuru though…gotta look into that later for magicalgirlsandcerulean.

This (Spanish?) guitar reminds me of this track from The Dog Island.

A-ha! This is what you get when you translate the Japanese in the ads too.I was quite right indeed, although it really is the dang 132nd graduation ceremond.

It’s literally a button monster. Don’t wanna mash his buttons! (I bet you’re all groaning from my jokes, ahaha…)

Dadacha’s voice sounds kinda ridiculous now because Yasumoto is clearly using the deeper voice he normally uses for Zundar.

Notice the monster’s face is made from the character 高 (the first character in the Japanese word for “high school”).

Salty Sol is still salty after all this time…sad life.

That train station is the same one from the beach episode!

I’ve seen enough spoilers so I know where this is going…I already identified in the spoiler chat what Wombat is going to catch as a reference to a Kenji Miyazawa work.

This train is somewhat obviously CGI…

Spinach curry? When’d Wombat eat that?

Ths slideshow appears to be all the clean art for everything they’ve ever produced in the Boueibu canon! Even events and collabs!

“So wipe away your tears.” – I’m not crying, you are…*tear leaks from corner of eye*

I don’t recognise two of those pictures…(EnAtsu beach pic and a yukata one with the Defence Club on the roof.)

Oh…my…it’s over? Well, frankly I was expecting the fandom’s end in 2015…so, here’s to the future. Farewell, and remember: love is forever! Separations are only a new beginning!

Netjuu no Susume 6

That was a really bad Glico man in the back (of Koiwai)…

I think something’s wrong with my eye. It just gave off a few tears…(kidding tone)

Whose car is this that Morimori-chan is sitting in??? Update: It’s a taxi. Whoops.

I think Morimori-chan used the word douryou (colleagues, coworkers) instead of employees. The word for employees would probably be very different.

Nikunokiya??? (thinks about Kinokuniya)

(Koiwai goes Ai no chikara ne…) Boueibu reference…kind of.

Notice Koiwai said he was low on health in the text but he said zombie in the Japanese. That’s where Fruits de Mer comes in for Morimori-chan.

“There’s no way I’d say something like that!”

I think the cup this ED is new. Plus the headphones.

Oh! I spotted Morimori-chan with the medium length hair in the background of Sakurai’s bit of the ED.

There are some blurry pictures of Koiwai in the ED and they’re so hilarious!!!

So the ED actually evolves along with the show. Interesting.

Juuni Taisen 7

Rabbit stores his blades in his tail. That’s weird, but funny.

Literally, the episode title is “Dragon Head, Snake Tail”.

Dragon and Snake really are like the Beppus! I keep thinking that. I want a crossover fic now…

Tatsu = dragon.

I only just realised but…a naga is a snake. Nagayuki is the younger bro, isn’t he? Dangit, Nisio Isin! You bested me again.

150 doesn’t have any significance in regards to the number 12 now does it?

It’s Rabbit! Who’s not wearing his trademark booty shorts or high heels! Rabbit in a waiter’s outfit is really something, though.

“Hot guy”? Not by most people’s standards Tora/Kanae, considering he’s currently missing his head.

It’s tiger versus…aww. It’s not tiger vs dragon…

How can Ushii still talk after being strangled by Snake’s arm???

Whoa! Incendiary components are cool in Bond movies, but fiery liquid? That’s a step up!

Mahoutsukai no Yome 6

Admit it. You saw it in the next ep preview (unless you skipped it or read the manga)…It’s TITania time!

“She touched me for the first time.” – Elias, what a dork you are…

The birbs around Chise are so fluffy and adorable! It’s cute.

Geez, it really is TITania…these fanservice wiggles are destroying my Mahoutsukai no Yome experience…

Seing the Faerie Queen facepalm…is something else. *sweatdrops*

In the same way I want a koala sheep from Avatar the Last Airbender, I want one of those sheep bug things.

“Every creature of the night, including she and you, are my adorable little children.” – No wonder you have such big hooters, TITania…

A wild SIMON appeared!…Thought we’d forgotten about him for the rest of the episode. He would’ve made a better brick joke if his return were prolonged, y’know.

Strange question, but do priests wear pants?

Girls’ Last Tour 4

I’m listening to Ugoku Ugoku for the first time and it’s…strangely catchy…

That thing with the face is really creepy…

That thing is a stone statue???

“What IS cheese?” – Considering sometimes cheese tastes pretty bad, I don’t blame you for not knowing what cheese is.

Couldn’t they check the camera for what Kanazawa was doing with it?

I just saw the number 3230 on the camera’s inside frame for taking pictures (whatever you call it). That might be the year this show is set…

Notice the word for temple that’s used is jiin, a Buddhist temple. A Shinto version of that might be jinja.

Kanazawa was voiced by Akira Ishida? The guy who did Kiku (SGRS)??? NOOOOOOO! I missed a prime opportunity! I’ll have to go back for it later.

The ED is even more catchy than the OP. Is that even possible???

The camera breaks in the ED…that’s so ominous…

That post-ED scene was cute. A little bit.

Girls’ Last Tour 5

The slightly-electronic-sounding OP doesn’t quite fit the show, does it?

The phrase used was definitely ie dake ni. I’m not quite sure what that means, but…okay. I’ll just believe the subs on that one.

I wonder if Sentai is planning to dub these…I can imagine this show being dubbed.They wouldn’t need to pay too many VAs for it, for one thing.

Akogare is the word for desire or longing. It would be no surprise f there was an akogaru or akogarareru made from it as well.

Notice it’s “Yay!”, but with the word for house (ie) emphasised.

What is this fish dream, a metaphor for lesbians…?

The soundtrack guys must’ve had lots of fun striking cans or whatever.

I think this ED is different to the one last ep…Its name appears to be Amadare no Uta and it’s sung by the main VAs.

I bet the soundtrack guys hit a bell or two there…

Girls’ Last Tour 6

Oh no! It’s an Anime Scientist! Last time we had one, it was Shinawa (Kado), and you know how badly that went…

Interesting that the word for “takeoff” is “separation [from the] ground” literally.

Okay! I’m caught up to the weekly episodes now!