#hence why i am now hesitating about getting the blu-rays

[rmorde]

What's happening with MAPPA ?

Their scheduling is simply terrible and its killing animators on the inside. Many big name animators are posting online how little of a time they are being given to work on the episode. I have seen one artist post how they only have 5 days (!) to draw a sequence. The Choso vs Yuji episode only finished post-production BARELY A DAY before it aired. It's insane.

Shibuya Arc is action-heavy and the expectations for the animation is high. Artists HAVE to deliver high quality work on the project because their reputation is on the line.

Some of the artists have been posting how hellish it is to work on MAPPA. The director of the last episode felt so bad about how "terrible" it is and apologized. Some have barely enough time to submit their sketches, in-between art, key frames, corrections, etc.

Now, for us, the episode is great. However, "sakuga" fans are more discerning and would see how its faltering in some parts. They can tell how the staff is struggling and are being forced to produce "subpar" results because of the 7 day production schedule.

*Sakuga = High quality Animation = 24 frames (drawings) per second

The staff takes great pride in their work. So, having to deliver subpar "sakuga" to audiences is horrible for their mentality and confidence. They do not want that to be their legacy - which is a big deal for them.

Think these episodes look great already? Had the animators have more time, they would have looked even better!

The fact that the staff can still make episodes look so good by sheer will and god-like drawing skills despite their schedule should be given a lot of respect and admiration.

Now, why haven't the staff been given more time?

It's because MAPPA is greedy. Not only is the studio producing JJK. They have other big projects going on alongside it: AOT, Vinland Saga, CSM. All of them had to look good. The staff have barely any time to breathe as they are treated like machines to deliver high quality animation season after season.

While CSM is being produced, the staff are already working on JJK 0 and then JJK S2 Hidden Inventory. It resulted with CSM's last few episodes being janky. JJK 0 was great and Hidden Inventory, obviously, was really polished (at the cost of Hell's Paradise being average imo tho).

Then we have Shibuya Arc. In all honesty, I wished they have delayed this a bit later. Maybe turned it into a winter season anime because again Shibuya Arc is:

Very very hyped. It HAS to look good and polished.

Lots of Action. Action is like the crowning jewel of any shonen anime and JJK has the reputation of being the best at delivering it. They CANNOT mess this up. *Cue PTSD to the insane complaints of the Toji vs Gojo Round 2 + Yuji vs Locust Curse episodes*

The solution should have been: Delay the anime so the animators can breathe and deliver their best which would make Shibuya Arc as polished, if not better, than Hidden Inventory.

Sadly, with MAPPA's insanity, it is impossible:

The staff are juggling so many high-tier projects. They have no room to "take their time" so to speak. They have to "GO! GO! GO!"

The "airtime" has already been reserved. Any delays would cost them losing a slot of airtime which meant the series MAY NOT completely be televised (which I think was the fate of ZOM100). Lost airtime means lost profit and MAPPA can't have that.

Fan anticipation. I wish I could lie about it but I just know some entitled assholes would harass the studio and the staff about animating Shibuya Arc ASAP. Fans can really put a lot of hype and pressure for JJK at the same time.

Now here are just my own opinion. But other factors may be:

4. MAPPA wants to capitalize Halloween. Just look at all the merch and collab events! All profits from those would go to the studio and not Gege. Gege's profit are JUST from the manga. Anime-related merch/products would be for the benefit of its manufacturers, studio, and shops only.

5. Timing things with the manga. Prime example: Gojo. (I am not too sure about this tho).

One reason I am excluding is the staff not working on the project because they may be busy with something else. JJK is a huge! New animators would love to have that as part of their portfolio. Big names in the industry would have wanted to work on it too because of the challenge it poses and their love for the manga series or animation in general as well.

TL;DR: It's all MAPPA's fault and not the staff. The studio wanted everything out of greediness while the animators just want to bring out their very best at their own pace.

[smkkbert]

Time for a story - The Promise

Felicity was just putting the finishing touches to her make-up when Oliver stepped into the bathroom. He was already dressed and styled, looking like he could leave the house any second now. She eyed his reflection in the mirror, enjoying the sight. Oliver just looked incredibly good when he was wearing a tuxedo, especially when it was complemented by a bowtie and suspenders like today.

“Like what you see?”

Oliver flashed her a brief look in the mirror when he stepped behind her. Looking at his own reflection, he adjusted the position of the bowtie to make sure it was perfectly in place. Then he moved his fingers through his hair, making it look a little more undone and yet perfectly styled at the same time. Only Oliver could do that.

“Kind of,” Felicity replied, grabbing the mascara, “but don’t flatter yourself with it.”

“Oh, I am not supposed to flatter myself?”

“Exactly.”

“Because I usually flatter myself for being complimented half-heartedly like this.”

“Oh, I am sure you- No, no, no.”

As soon as Oliver wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, pulling her against his chest, Felicity slapped his hands away. It took a moment before Oliver let go of her, but he did eventually. Quickly, Felicity stepped out of his reach and checked her make-up in the mirror.

“Lucky you,” Felicity said, shooting him an only half-angry gaze in the mirror, “the mascara didn’t end up all over my face. Otherwise, you could have gone to this fundraiser all on your own, and we both know how much you love to do that.”

Oliver scrunched up his nose at the prospect. He really didn’t like to go to any fancy gatherings on his own. He didn’t like to go to any social gathering on his own actually. He always said it was one of the perks of being married – he could drag her with him wherever he went.

Of course it was still no secret that Felicity could as well just say that she didn’t have time or simply didn’t want to go. Oliver would never hold it against her. They had both chosen time-consuming jobs that forced them to show their faces during quite some occasions in the city. They had each other’s full support, but they also had their limits.

Felicity put her earrings – her favorite arrowhead-formed earrings – in and turned around to Oliver. He was sitting on the edge of the bathtub now as he had watched her getting ready. Whenever he was ready before her which was basically every time they went out together, he liked to take his time and watch her getting ready.

Stepping between Oliver’s slightly spread legs, Felicity put her hands to his shoulders. Oliver angled his head back to look at her face immediately. His hands moved over the thin fabric of her red dress, traveling from the outside of her thighs to her hips and finally her waist. The warmth of his skin seeped through the fabric of her clothes and right into her skin it seemed. Sighing contently at the feeling, Felicity leaned even more against Oliver.

“You know, you might get a chance of helping me to take this off tonight.”

Oliver’s eyes sparkled at that and his eyebrows perked up. She had obviously caught his attention. Sex usually caught his attention.

“Sex tonight?” Oliver asked, his hands roaming a little lower on her body now, so his fingertips grazed against her butt. “That sounds promising.”

“And we actually have good chances at making it work,” Felicity said, squeezing his shoulders, “because Emmy is at that slumber party at Rosalie’s.”

“Tommy is spending the night at Hank’s place.”

“I just put Addie to bed.”

“William is spending the weekend in San Francisco.”

“And Millie is probably asleep by the time we come back too,” Felicity said with a smile and already leaned in for a kiss when she stopped and frowned, “apropos Millie, where is she?”

“Last time I checked she was getting everything ready downstairs. Hawk assisted her when she was preparing a bowl full of sweets.”

Felicity chuckled because she could imagine this easily. Millie had been hyped all day which had made her plan to put the toddler to bed before the fundraiser started impossible. Somehow, Millie must have overheard that Audrey had agreed to watch her and Addie tonight since Raisa had had to travel to her sick sister and nobody else had been available. Since she had found out, she had been talking about nothing else. Spending a night alone with William’s girlfriend seemed to have been quite high on her list of things she wanted to experience in her life.

“I allowed Millie to watch a movie or twice before she goes to bed,” Felicity said, “but I doubt that she will go to bed then, and we shouldn’t put Audrey through putting an unwilling toddler into bed.”

Oliver nodded his head in agreement. “It’s the first time she babysits, and it was wonderful that she offered to do this.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Felicity replied with a smile, “which is why we will tell her that Millie can just watch TV until we are home.”

“My plan is to leave as soon as we are sure that everyone important has seen us and the press has taken some photo anyway.”

“And after we have donated a six-digit sum of money for their cause.”

“Exactly.”

Since their plans for the evening were now synchronized, Oliver and Felicity strolled downstairs. They had just reached the foot of the steps when the doorbell rang. Felicity opened, while Oliver held Hawk back, who wanted to jump up at their guest in excitement.

“Hello, Audrey,” Felicity said and hugged her oldest son’s girlfriend briefly, “how are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” Audrey replied with a smile, “and grateful for the distraction I will have tonight.”

“I guess you are working on your college applications too?”

“Only the last ones, but yes.” Audrey sighed. “I’m just really relieved when everything is finally done and in the post.”

Felicity nodded her head. She understood what Audrey meant. She herself had been more than relieved when everything had finally been out of her hands. She had never really been good at accepting that things were out of her control, but by the time she had sent her applications away, she had known that she had done everything she could have done to make it work. Looking back, she guessed she would have felt differently if she hadn’t been accepted.

“If you need help or just someone to look over your essay or something, you can always come to me,” Felicity told her and squeezed her hand encouragingly, “I helped William with his applications too.”

“Thank you, Felicity.” Audrey smiled at her for a moment longer before she turned to Oliver. “Hello, Mr. Queen.”

“Oliver, please.”

Oliver shot a brief look at Felicity, and she pressed her lips together. Rolling them into her mouth, she bit back on her laughter. It had been a while since they had had this conversation the last time, but Felicity knew that Oliver just didn’t get why all of William’s friends were so quick to call Felicity by her first name if she suggested it, but always hesitate to do the same with him. Felicity guessed that, just like Hawk, Oliver sometimes forgot that his outer appearance could be quite frightening.

“Hi, Hawk,” Audrey said, greeting Hawk by petting his head, “are you going to keep us company tonight?”

“I am sure he won’t be leaving your side as long as there are sweets on the table.”

“Sweets,” Audrey said with a smile, “sound great. I gotta raise my blood sugar a little.”

“Unlike Millie,” Felicity replied quietly, “because it’s getting harder for her to sleep if she is all hyped up by sugar. Then again, she is completely hyped up anyway, so…”

Audrey smiled, shooting a look through the open door. Millie was still busy making sure that every pillow was perfectly in place and that she would have the best perspective on TV. Oliver had carried her bedding downstairs, so she would hopefully fall asleep sooner. She had spread the blanket and at least her favorite stuffed animals were already tugged beneath it warmly.

“When should I put her to bed?” Audrey asked. “Whenever William and I watched them, they were all in bed.”

“I know,” Felicity replied with a deep sigh, “Addie is in bed already, and she is fast asleep. She usually doesn’t wake up once she’s asleep. Otherwise, just let her watch TV with you, or call me if she cries. The fundraiser is not that important anyway.”

“Okay.”

“I told Millie that she can watch one or maybe two movies with you, but I doubt that she is going to fall asleep after that, so just watch movies together until I am back. Putting her to bed when she doesn’t want to is not that easy right now.”

Again, Audrey nodded. “Okay.”

“We won’t take long,” Oliver added, “I think we should be back by ten.”

“Take your time,” Audrey replied, “I am sure Millie and I will get along perfectly.”

Felicity smiled, knowing that Audrey was probably right. Millie was the easiest of the kids to deal with, always had been. They would certainly have a great time together. Besides, Millie and Audrey already knew each other quite well. There shouldn’t be any problems.

“Will you check on Addie once more?”

Oliver nodded. “Sure.”

While he went back upstairs to make sure their youngest was indeed sleeping as soundly as it looked, Felicity gestured for Audrey to come with her to the living room.

“Millie, you’ve got a guest,” Felicity said, “Audrey is here.”

Millie stopped rearranging the pillows for a hundredth time and leaned back against the edge of the couch. Smiling almost a little shyly, she waved her hand.

“Hi, Millie,” Audrey said, putting her purse aside and smiling at the toddler warmly, “I heard we are going to watch movies tonight. Do you already know what you want to watch?”

“I have a lot of movies.”

As if to prove that it was true, Millie opened the drawer of the TV board and revealed a part of their collection of children’s movies. While Felicity would have preferred to have them all just saved on their box, she had discovered a long time ago that Blu-rays just made the much better gifts for children. Hence, their collection was divided.

With an amused smile, Felicity watched Millie taking all the Blu-Rays out of the drawer and spreading them on the floor. She listed the titles like she could read them when she was actually just remembering them from the covers. Audrey tried to ask some questions, but she didn’t get in between. That was how hyped Millie was for this movie date with her.

“Addie’s fast asleep,” Oliver said as he stepped into the living room, “which means it’s time for my goodbye kiss now.”

Oliver went down onto his knees and spread his arms. Millie didn’t need to be asked twice. She dropped the Blu-Rays to the floor a little uncarefully and ran into her daddy’s arms. She peppered a few kisses all over his face like Oliver usually did for her. Then she put both of her tiny hands to his cheek and placed a firm kiss on his mouth.

“Thank you,” Oliver said, “that was a really good goodbye kiss.”

“Daddy, pinky swear.”

“Pinky swear?” Oliver asked, eying Millie’s pinky suspiciously. “What do you want a pinky swear for?”

“Not come back too soon.”

Oliver chuckled. “You are a little too young to wish for something like that, young lady. You are supposed to want us back home soon.”

“Not tonight.”

“Not tonight,” Oliver repeated with a sigh and linked his pinky with hers. “I promise that you can watch two full movies, okay?”

Millie nodded her head. “Okay.”

“Do you want to kick us out now?”

At that, Millie’s eyes widened and a huge grin spread on her face. She nodded her head quickly, excited about the idea to kick her parents out of the house, so she could finally start her movie night with Audrey.

“With run-up.”

“It’s the only way it’s fun,” Oliver agreed.

“Since mommy is wearing high shoes, mommy can’t join into this fun,” Felicity said, “but I would like a goodnight kiss like daddy too nonetheless.”

Felicity bent down in front of Millie, and the toddler played a gentle kiss on Felicity’s lips.

“Have I lipstick now too?”

Chuckling, Felicity brushed her thumb over Millie’s lips. There was indeed some red color from her lipstick there.

“A little, yes.”

“Cool.”

“Have fun tonight,” Felicity said and kissed Millie’s lips once more before she turned to Audrey, “the both of you.”

“Thank you, Felicity.” Audrey smiled. “You too.”

Felicity slipped into her jacket, grabbed her purse and already stepped outside. With a smile on her lips, she watched Oliver getting into position. He stood in the door, his back turned to the house and just waited. Meanwhile, Millie went as far back in the foyer as possible before she ran up to Oliver and shoved him from behind. What would have usually had no effect at all, caused Oliver to dramatically stumble a couple of steps forward now.

“Don’t be home early.”

“We won’t,” Oliver replied, “don’t worry.”

“Bye!”

Millie waved for a moment longer before she almost slammed the door shut. Chuckling, Oliver shook his head and reached his hand out for Felicity.

“I love this game of getting kicked out of the house by ours kids,” Oliver said, “and I hate it just as much.”

“I know.” Felicity smiled, squeezing his hand. “Let’s see the positive here though. Having our kids react this way is definitely easier than if they were crying. We would never be able to leave them.”

Oliver nodded his head in agreement. Still, a long sigh fell from his lips. It was never easy when kids broke loose of their parents, even if it was just for a couple of hours.

→ → → → →

It was almost midnight by the time that Oliver and Felicity came home from the fundraiser. Hand in hand, they tiptoed through the dark foyer of their house and right into the living room. Judging from the sounds of the TV and the happy laughter, Millie was still wide awake and having a really good time.

Smiling, Felicity and Oliver snuck into the living room.

“Hey, you two,” Felicity said, “you are still awake and- Millie, why are you crying?”

Millie was tugged beneath her blanket, holding Emmy’s pink giraffe clutched to her chest. The smile that had been on her lips seconds ago had suddenly faded. Her face was now screwed up in sadness. Big tears were running down her cheeks.

Audrey didn’t look less surprised than Felicity guessed she did. She looked back and forth between the toddle and her parents, unsure what to say.

“She just started,” Audrey explained quickly like she needed to defend herself against a coming reproach. “She was laughing half a minute ago.”

Felicity could already see the corners of Oliver’s lips twitching as he knew as well as she did what was going on here.

“Millie,” Felicity addressed her daughter with soft voice, “are you crying because mommy and daddy are home?”

Millie nodded her head. “I don’t want to go to bed.”

Felicity was unable to bite back a chuckle at that. It was far later than she would let Millie stay up usually, and it still wasn’t enough for the toddler. It was never enough when sweets, movies and a non-parental company were available.

Oliver let go of Felicity’s hand and crossed the distance towards Millie. He pulled her onto his lap, rocking her back and forth as he was trying to comfort her. He was whispering soft words into her ear, but it didn’t help to calm her down. Millie was way past her bedtime, and she wouldn’t be calmed easily now.

“Millie, do you want to say goodbye to Audrey?”

“No,” Millie cried, pressing herself closer to Oliver, “I don’t want to go to bed.”

Audrey smiled sympathetically in Millie’s direction while she was slipping into her shoes. Grabbing her purse, she got up.

“Goodnight, Millie.”

Millie just waved her hand halfheartedly, still crying at Oliver’s shoulder. The longer she cried, the better chances Felicity and Oliver had that Millie was just going to fall asleep in her daddy’s arms like that.

“I will walk you outside,” Felicity told Audrey.

“Goodnight, Mr. Qu- Oliver.”

“Goodnight, Audrey.” Oliver smiled at Audrey. “Thank you. Have a good ride home and text us when you have arrived.”

“I will.”

Felicity led Audrey to the door, trying to be quiet so they wouldn’t wake up Addie.

“Any problems while we were gone?”

Audrey shook her head. “Both girls were perfectly fine.”

“Until Oliver and I showed up.”

“Yeah.” Audrey chuckled. “Anyway, if you need someone to watch them again, I don’t mind. I really had a lot of fun today.”

“So, it did take your mind off college?”

“Definitely.”

“That’s good to hear.” Felicity smiled. “Thank you again, Audrey.”

“Absolutely nothing to thank me for. Goodnight, Felicity.”

“Goodnight.”

Felicity stayed in the door while Audrey was walking to her car. Although Starling had become a lot safer through the years, you could never be too careful. Only when the doors were shut behind her safely and she was turning on the engine, Felicity closed the door.

Stepping back into the living room, Felicity saw that Millie had calmed down a little. She had wiped her tears away and looked somewhat okay again. The tiredness was still sparkling through her eyes.

“Ready for bed?”

To Felicity’s surprise, Millie nodded her head firmly. She reached out her hands for Felicity, who took the little girl from Oliver and held her close to her chest.

“I sleep in your bed.”

“In our bed?” Felicity perked up an eyebrow. “Really? Because I-“

“Daddy said yes.”

Surprised, Felicity turned her head towards Oliver. He had his hands pushed into the pockets of his pants and his lips puckered. Obviously, he hadn’t forgotten that she had promised him a chance at taking off her dress. He hadn’t missed that he had given this chance away by inviting Millie into their bed either.

“I guess I will just undress myself then,” Felicity mumbled, “too bad.”

Oliver grumbled some words Felicity couldn’t understand. When she turned her head back over her shoulder to smile at him, he winked though. Maybe they weren’t going to have sex tonight, but they had one of their girls in bed to cuddle all night. That was just as good as sex, maybe even a little better.

* * *

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