#hmm. interesting. the anime is good. the manga is pretty but not very good. and the light novels are just not very good

[piduai]

There is an evil wife enjoying the earthly pleasures with other womyn ???

well in truth it seemed that she drugged and forced the women of her family to have orgies with male prostitutes while she was watching from her cuck/fujoshi throne. but it wouldn't be a leap of faith to say that she was probably partaking, she's supposed to be deeply depraved and evil, bisexuality is a standard part of the set with this kind of characters, esp considering how homophobic the author seems to be

[muffinrecord]

Fair enough, it’s normal to eventually get tired of particular fandoms after a while and begin to think about other fun concepts

But asking as someone who’s been mainly floating on the surface of the Puella fandom since last year, mainly from passing conversations with friends and making characters for an original magical girl story, where would you suggest that I should start to get more familiar with the series overall?

The original anime is the best place to start, but I'm assuming you've already watched it (and Rebellion).

I'd start with the spinoff manga next. Honestly a lot of them are a mixed bag-- but there are a few golden standouts. "The Different Story" is the best spinoff manga imo and expands on Mami and Kyoko's previous friendship before the the start of the anime, as well as exploring their characters. It's not just a kyomami fest though, it does a good job at looking at everyone else as well.

The next spinoff manga would include stuff like Kazumi, Oriko, Tart, and Suzune. They're all... hmm.. They're not to the same standard as the anime. Some of them are pretty poor actually. I think they have value if you want to learn more about the other puella magi properties though, and some of them explore things interestingly.

There's a psp game that also did some interesting stuff with the original PMMM gals, but I've never played/watched/read it, so I can't speak to it too much.

MagiReco is a long beast of a game, but it's chock full of exploration of the franchise and makes tons of new original characters. There's also the anime, which most fans aren't fond of lol-- you can skip it if you want, but the first season is decent enough if you want to watch just a little. There is also a manga which is pretty good and a much better adaptation of the game with some very pretty art.

On my Links Masterpost Page, I have a section dedicated to different viewing order guides. @scarfanon also made a giant-ass playlist of everything of the game in order. But if you just wanna dip your toes into it without drowning in videos, sticking with arc 1 main story and arc 1 another story won't be such a bad idea.

There is one last spinoff story that should also be linked in the above links masterpost: Null Magical Girl. It's not a comic and is very decisive-- people tend to either love or hate this story. I haven't finished reading it because of personal stuff but it seems interesting at least-- credit where credit is due, I think it's better to write something people have strong opinions about than to write something no one remembers.

Anyways-- as this is a magireco blog-- I hope you enjoy your stay in the fandom. This game has a wide range of stories, from simple fluff to pure depression, to edgefest, to catharsis, to funny af. I hope you find some stories in here that resonate :)

[the-himawari]

A3! Sakisaka Muku - Translation [SSR] MANKAI Treasure (2/3)

*Please read disclaimer on blog

---

Muku: (This should be the place, I think…)

Sakyo: …

Muku: ! —Good afternoon, Sakyo-san.

Sakyo: Ah, you came. That was quicker than I thought.

Mukuk: The hint for my treasure hunt was easy to figure out, after all. This came to mind as soon as I saw the sheet. It felt new talking to you alone here, so I remember it like it was yesterday.

Sakyo: Same here.

*flashback starts*

Muku: …

Sakyo: …Sakisaka?

Muku: Sakyo-san! What a coincidence.

Sakyo: Yeah. …Are you studyin’? I didn't interrupt you, did I?

Muku: Oh, no. I’m more or less finished already, so it’s not a problem. If you’d like, why don’t you take a seat here? Did you come here to read some books?

Sakyo: I just wrapped up some work nearby. I finished what I had to do earlier than planned, so I thought I’d read some books as a break before headin’ home.

Muku: Okay, I see.

Sakyo: …Sakisaka, I see your glass is empty already. It looks like you were workin’ hard on your studies. I’ll buy you another drink.

Muku: Eh! Not at all. You don’t have to treat me…! I was just doing my own thing here…

Sakyo: There’s no need to be polite. But if Nanao and the others find out, they'll be clamourin' all over me. So in exchange, don't say a peep to them about this.

Muku: Alright…! Thank you very much for the treat.

Sakyo: Don’t mention it. What do you wanna order?

Muku: Hmm, I’ll get iced tea then…!

-pause-

Sakyo: By the way, the shoujo manga you told me about the other day was pretty interestin’ and worth the read.

Muku: Really!? That’s wonderful to hear!

Sakyo: The drawings were really detailed. The outfits were also drawn with lots of care.

Muku: That’s right! All the scenes were breathtaking and captured your eye. The military uniform the hero was wearing looked quite dashing, didn’t it? The dress the heroine wore also had lots of variations, so I recommended it to Yuki-kun… And he said they were good references for his designs.

Sakyo: I see.

Muku: By the way, the military uniform the hero wears is so popular that they’re selling it as a plushie costume as well!

Sakyo: A plushie costume? They sell stuff like that?

Muku: Yep! It comes in several sizes, so you can dress your stuffed animal in one that fits them.

Sakyo: (Is it that popular? I dunno much about plushies myself, so I’m not sure what all the craze is about. But…) That sounds like merch you’d like, Sakisaka.

Muku: Ehehe. I can’t deny that. I’d like to dress William up one day…

Sakyo: William… oh yeah, that was the teddy bear you own, right?

Muku: Yes! Right now, I’m working hard to slowly save up money to buy that costume for him.

Sakyo: I see. You’re thinkin’ with a plan in mind. That’s great.

Muku: Thank you very much. In any case, I’m really happy that both you and Yuki-kun read that work.

Sakyo: You’re good at recommending the manga you like to others. I naturally felt like givin’ it a read. That being said, maybe we can capitalize on that…

Muku: Capitalize on it…?

Sakyo: As the Shoujo Manga Appreciation Club, it might not be a bad idea to give presentations on the manga that we wanna recommend to our fellow members.

Muku: Presentations…! Wow, that makes me nervous, but I’d be happy if I could get everyone even a little interested in the things I have to share.

Sakyo: Miyoshi gives great presentations too, doesn’t he?

Muku: That’s true! I’d love to listen to yours and Kazu-kun’s presentations too. Let’s discuss it with Kazu-kun as soon as we get home!

Sakyo: Yeah, let’s do that.

*flashback ends*

Muku: And that’s how the Shoujo Manga Appreciation Club started holding presentations every now and then. Both you and Kazu-kun introduce themes that I never would’ve thought of myself, so it’s always fun when it’s time for a presentation.

Sakyo: I think your presentations are intriguing too… But this comes first today. Happy birthday, Sakisaka.

Muku: Aw, thank you very much…! Wow, the wrapping is adorable. Is it alright if I open it?

Sakyo: Go ahead.

*opens*

Muku: …!! This is the military uniform from that work…! It’s the plushie costume that I mentioned back then, right…!

Sakyo: Yeah. It didn’t look like you bought it yet. You can use that money you saved up for another special somethin’. It should fit since I got Miyoshi to check the plushie’s size in advance.

Muku: Thank you so much! I’m so happy! I never thought I’d receive this costume…! I’ll dress William up once I get home!

Sakyo: Pff… if it makes you that happy, then it was worth gettin’ as a present. Alright, here’s your next hint.

---

previous | next

[13eyond13]

Hello, can I ask from this ask game :

https://www.tumblr.com/threecheersforinking/677824836625694720/anime-ask-game?source=share

For anime/manga : Death Note and Berserk.

Thanks 🌻

Hi! Sure thing:

DEATH NOTE:

Favorite Character: L was basically a "love at first sight" situation for me and the main reason I ever checked out the anime (I just really loved eccentric loner sad boys at the time and he just looked exactly up my alley at a glance, hahaha). And he has stayed extremely dear to me and my favourite cartoon guy ever basically since! I actually think Light is a bit more of a complicated/interesting character than L is to think about in-depth, and has become also kind of my favourite one in the series in a different way over time, but L is def the one that I was really obsessed with from the start.

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: I love everything up until the Yotsuba arc the most I think, I just find it so much fun in the beginning of the story when everything is so well-written and so exciting and tense and fast-paced. The university arc stuff MIGHT be the part that I just find the most fun and funny in the way that Death Note is known to be, with all the detailed little mind games and bitch moves and shocking reveals every other page, ahahah. I remember laughing out loud so many times during that section of the story just due to how ridiculous it gets and how often everyone is pulling the rug out from under each other nearly constantly.

And my favourite scene is probably the "first ever friend" scene in the manga. I WILL NEVER STOP THINKING ABOUT IT it's just so funny and mysterious and intriguing and layered to me

Character I Think is Underrated: Mikami is fairly underrated, but at the same time I myself am not the best at intuitively understanding him or creating content about him either...

Character I Think is Overrated: Matt (sorry I actually like him in the manga, but I just don't think he's that interesting really)

Favorite Ship/Pairing: Lawlight! I never needed much convincing about this.... I went straight from watching the anime to going "omg they should have kissed..."

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: The anime's audio elements are just so iconic and so good a lot of the time! It makes some of the manga scenes SO MUCH better just with stuff like the gregorian chanting while Light's writing the names. And no lie, it's really easy to follow as a story without even seeing what's happening onscreen, too. I used to listen to the English dub while drawing or doing my work sometimes and it felt almost exactly like an audio play.

-

BERSERK:

Favorite Character: Guts is by far my favourite! Which was a total surprise to me, because I thought he was going to be a pretty boring macho action hero cardboard cutout type guy going in. I got very attached to him while reading the manga after a few volumes, and now he's one of my all-time faves...

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: I'm going to be very basic and say The Golden Age, but IT'S JUST REALLY GOOD OKAY. It's better than good, it's the reason the series went from just "ok this is pretty interesting" to "OMG WTF THIS IS SO GOOD I'M SO INVESTED NOW"

And my favourite scene?? Hmm.... extremely hard question, but I feel like the sword fights between Guts and Griffith are definitely some of the peak moments. Their first one is iconic in so many ways, but the second one in the snow really got me in the feels and made my stomach drop and my heart beat a bit faster as well!

Character I Think is Underrated: I feel like Casca is just kinda hard to talk about with other fans. She's my second favourite character in the series, but I feel like it's just really difficult to discuss her without it just getting either depressing or into too sensitive territory or something? I love her dearly in the manga, but the fandom space here seems only much fun to talk about Guts and Griffith in for me

Character I Think is Overrated: I am not THAT well-versed in who is overrated or underrated in this fandom, but I feel like mostly almost all the characters aside from maybe Griffith and Guts are a bit underrated and under-explored in fan stuff that I've seen? That might be entirely on me and the fact that I'm mostly looking at griffguts stuff, though...

Favorite Ship/Pairing: griffguts drives so much of the angst and the drama and I think is basically canon to me at this point... I don't think it's hard to interpret Griffith as in love with Guts, but I also think Guts is in love with Griffith too in just a more furtive sort of way

Something I Love About the Show/Movie:

I only partially watched the 1997 anime so far, and the Guts theme song in it is so good! My god that's still such a good fitting song for him and his personality somehow. And I'd never actually heard it before I read the series either!

[baronaliswritingcorner]

TOS Replay Stray Thoughts #3 (Palmacosta Pt. 2/Thoda Geyser)

-Lloyd chewing out Dorr is very powerful – Scott Menville knocks it out of the park here – but much as everyone remembers “Don’t you start spewing the word “justice!” I hate that word!”, I always wondered where that came from. Yes, it’s easy to tie into his frustrations with empty platitudes surrounding racism and sacrifice, but remember that he’s still very naïve to the Journey of Regeneration’s true nature (let alone the existence of Cruxis) and thus he maintains a very black-and-white disposition towards the Desians. There’s the Iselia Human Ranch incident, yes, but “justice” isn’t one of the hollow excuses by given Iselia’s mayor/citizens, so it feels a little sudden.

Putting this way: we’re (successfully) roused by Lloyd taking action as everyone else keeps their heads down, but I always felt this particular outburst still feels a little undeveloped/early.

-Speaking of justice, ever notice the inconsistency with Dwarven Vow #7? In cutscenes it’s “goodness and love will always win”, but in the battle quote, it’s “justice and love will always win.” A localization error, perhaps, but I wonder if Lloyd’s second-hand embarrassment plays a role into his feelings over justice…?

-“My healing arts cannot save even one single life…?”

This line from Raine also struck me as a tad odd – yes, it’s meant to show her regret with Dorr breaking through the cold pragmatism she always displays, but it also implies a perceived inadequacy with her healing magic that’s never touched upon again. Always felt like a clumsy attempt add another layer of depth to a already tragic scene. - “And…if you somehow find a way to save my wife…please, help her return to her human form. When my daughter comesback, I don’t want her to be all alone…” Oh no…we save his wife much, much later, but Clara’s the one who ends up all alone. And we never see her reaction to her family’s death. How sad…

-It’s sorta funny how key items randomly drop into your lap early on, but I guess the Desians WOULD be carrying that Hakonesia Peak pass, huh? Throwing around their murderous weight as they travel to and fro, I’d imagine.

-Magnius is pretty boring – the other Cardinals usually have something going on but he’s just there to screech “vermin” in that generic bad dude voice of his while twirling his non-existent mustache. He’s not much better in the anime – ever notice he just straight up disappears after Colette’s hypnotic Holy Song? – but the manga’s interesting in how he divulges Raine and Genis’s half-elf identities. (In the game, he just mentions how they “can’t let go of their elven blood” – which, to its credit, does tie into Raine’s assurance to Genis that “we’re not like them – we’re different.”)

-Raine sure is worldly, but how is she so familiar with magitechnology? Might it have something to do with her time in Tethe’alla? Hmm…how many times did she play with the self-destruct button over there?

-Check out that highly disappointing ranch explosion – the prowess of Gamecube graphics right there LOL

-The washtubs are a perfect symbol of Sylvarant’s…uh, antiquatedness. Prime comedy, right here. Poor Raine, having to endure low-budget tourism…twice over!

-wait how did Noishe fit in the washtubs

-“Even I make mistakes. I made a terrible one…”

Laying it on a little thick, aren’t ya, Kratos???

(Actually, that reminds me: did you ever notice how the PS3 port removed ellipses wholesale across the script for whatever reason? Personally, they tend to play into the basic syntax I mentioned before with unvoiced dialogue, but as you can imagine, that “throw the baby out with the bathwater” approach leads to problems of its own.)

-killer starfish comin’ at ya and getting all slaphappy!!!

-this boss is the worst ugh I hate that bubble gun attack

-wait how’d they set up camp on that tiny hot spring

-“When you become an angel, I wonder if you'll go to the Tower of Salvation, too? If that's the case, we should just ask you after you go. I'm looking forward to your stories!”

oooooof

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

Hi! Who in the guild/magical group (like Camilla, lance,magnus etc…) would be a gotoran spy and how would the rest of the guild figure it out?

Hmm, now that's interesting...

Camilla could have been the prime suspect, but to me, she's just an all-powerful and spoiled witch. Yes, she's smart, cunning, strong in magic and can manipulate people - pretty good qualities for espionage and blackmail. But if you forget for a moment that Camilla really cares about people and their safety, she still wouldn't be a spy at least because she has almost absolute power here in Castles Village. After all, this woman is the only person who decides who can enter the village. She does what she wants here, and her high ego and confidence will not allow anyone to muddy the waters in her domain.

I don't think Jadu would have given so much time and effort to study, to betray at the end everything he has accomplished in all his work as a wizard. After all, double life is so exhausting, and it takes so much strength and emotional fortitude. He is already fucked up enough with his life to have to deal with getting information for the Gotoro Empire... Drama and intrigue? Fuck off please, let him finish his project and finally get some sleep. On the other hand, you never expect betrayal from the quietest and most inconspicuous people...

Like Jadu, Magnus will not sacrifice his status, his friends, or his peaceful life for the empty promises of a warm seat in Gotoro Empire. He is by nature a hermit in the woods, and it is his bliss to live the hermit's life, so why would he throw it all away?

But Lance... Handsome, always polite and friendly, silver tongue and sweet speech. Intelligent, talented in both magic and combat. All perfect, just like a knight in shining armor! Such a man, of course, does not arouse suspicion.... It would seem. Try to remember any anime, manga, cartoon or TV series where one of the characters, always friendly and perfect in everything, revealed his true face by the middle or end of the season. Now look at Lance again. I bet my precious chocolate brownies that he would turn out to be that "double agent". Politeness is one of the main tools of a spy (actually, I don't know if that's true or not, but you get the point).

Isaac is too straightforward and a little tactless in his conversation with his interlocutor. To me, he would not have been a good spy. He looks like someone who always tells people what he's really thinking. Isaac is not stupid, by any means, but espionage is a delicate and painstaking job, and our brave half-naked adventurer would be a fine one for a chain dog. To intimidate someone, yes, but then suspicion would quickly arise.

With Alesia it is rather complicated. It is difficult to answer such a question without knowing the full character, but in all available cutscenes and dialogues, Alesia is presented as a girl who knows the value of honor. The work of a spy can be quite dirty, up to and including blackmailing and eliminating unwanted people (in an extreme case it could go as far as murder), which doesn't suit her at all. Betraying those you are sworn to protect? Alesia would rather die. Though she's also very clever and dexterous, there's no doubt about it.

You could certainly decide that lesser-known adventurers or wizards would be the traitors, but we can judge that when the 2.0 update comes out.

Also, all of the above is purely my opinion, so if anyone also has speculations, conjectures or theories, feel free to share, I would be interested to hear it! Btw, thanks for your ask, anon! 👋

[decks-writing-blog]

Undertale Drabbles: Alphys & Toriel - Looks Like Fun

Summary: Alphys worries in a Spirit Halloween.

[A/N] It's been so long since I last did a UT drabble that I'm pretty sure I didn't even have a separate blog for my writing last time I did one. But anyway, Halloween drabble, yay!

~

Offense would probably be not only an understandable response but one that would be well warranted too. Humans dressing up as monsters for fun after locking them Underground so long ago, that was rather rude, right? It could easily be construed as them making fun of monsters. But in practice it was all just too silly to stir much rage in Alphys.

It probably helped that she’d known this holiday was coming. She’d studied the old books about humans and it popped up in some of the anime and manga that had made its way to her. But even knowing about it beforehand and not feeling offended by it in general would it still be inappropriate for her to participate? Maybe. Would people get mad at her? Also, maybe. But it looked like fun and she’d already come all this way to the Spirit Halloween to browse.

None of the costumes were for any of the characters she’d be interested in dressing up as. But she was used to scrounging and reworking pieces to make decent cosplay. She could take the cape from that costume and the pants from that one over there and with another piece or two and a few added bits could dress up as Mew Mew. Yes, she still had the Mew Mew costume she’d made before coming to the Surface but Endogeny had gotten to it and at this point just replacing it would be easier than fixing it. More expensive but easier. Could she justify it though? Especially since she was planning on using it as a Halloween costume?

Maybe she should just drop the whole idea. Yeah, dressing up was always fun and doing so with other people more so and adding in handing out candy to kids and carving jack’o’lanterns sounded like a jolly time. But was it worth people being mad at her for? She had enough people mad at her about the amalgamates already. Adding more reasons would only…

She froze as she turned down another aisle. It was the kid’s costume section and thus not useful to her. More than that though… “Queen Toriel!” Of call places to find the former queen, in the middle of a Spirit Halloween was not where Alphys would’ve expected to do so. The only thing that tracked was that it was the kid’s section. Presumably Frisk was somewhere around as well, probably run off to explore.

Queen Toriel jumped a little before snapped around to face her. “Oh, Alphys. Good to see you. I’m not queen anymore though, there’s no need to refer to me that way.”

Alphys shouldn’t have said anything. She hadn’t been noticed until she’d blurted Toriel’s name and former title like an idiot. Turning and leaving would’ve been a better move. Too late now though, they were talking. “W- why are you here, your… Toriel? I wouldn’t have expected you to uh… to go to a place like this.” Even if she wasn’t queen anymore, she was still considered an Important Monster. She was on the ballot for becoming the human-monster ambassador and was very likely to get the position.

“I’m looking for a costume for Frisk. They’re…” She looked up and around, “around here somewhere. But before I head off to find them, Alphys, do you think it’s appropriate for monsters to celebrate Halloween?”

“I… I don’t know. I was just wondering that myself, actually. It doesn’t seem like it, does it? But… but it also… it also looks fun, right?”

“Hmm. I suppose that’s what matters most. It looks like fun and doesn’t have to hurt anyone. The humans of today were celebrating it long before finding out monsters were real. They thought it was all just fun and games.”

“So… so it’s okay for us to participate in the uh, fun and games too, right?”

“Perhaps it’s more complicated than that but I think so. Frisk apparently has never been trick-or-treating. I agreed to take them and came here to get them a costume. I wasn’t going to dress up myself but well… it does seem like fun, huh?”

“Oh, um, I think I’m gonna dress up too and… hand out candy and put up some decorations. So… feel free to stop by. And maybe um, we could all get together and do like a… jack’o’lantern carving party the day before or… or something.”

Toriel’s face lit up. “That sounds like a lovely idea. Call me later today or tomorrow sometime and we can organize it with whoever wants to come.”

“Oh, okay. I’m gonna go… I’m gonna go back to looking for stuff now then. Talk to you later.”

“And I’m gonna go find Frisk.”

Alphys turned and retreated. … Or no, not retreated. She walked away after a successful social interaction. She’d proposed a fun idea she’d had and it had been accepted with delight. They were going to chat later and figure out a plan for a have a fun Halloween event with however many people wanted to come. It was still kind of scary but Toriel was on her side so it should be fine.

[mtdthoughts]

Migi & Dali Episode 4 Retrospective Reaction

Hello again! As part of commemorating the one-year anniversary of the anime, I'm doing a rewatch and providing my (unorganized) thoughts and reactions.

This time, I'm doing Episode 4! As always, I'll be keeping timestamps in case you want to watch along while reading, and be prepared for another long post below of unorganized thoughts...

[00:00] First is the scene where Micchan is introduced, which continues from the previous episode. It's interesting that she compares Migi to a canary. A detail that wasn't in the manga is when she said that school begins tomorrow. As a manga reader, I know that this means that many chapters will be skipped… I like the suspense that builds with the music as Micchan relentlessly interrogates Migi, which is suddenly interrupted by Youko.

I enjoyed the "Shut up, Micchan" by Youko!

I thought Migi was pretty smart in trying to extract information from Micchan, although Micchan isn't to be underestimated!

And of course, Migi reacting to Youko talking about his striped underwear was adorable.

[03:08] Next is Migi ranting about the previous conversation with his parents and Micchan, which was also quite adorable.

It's interesting that Migi doesn't mind throwing his underwear and being naked in front of his brother. Is this what identical twins are like? It's also interesting that Dali is just staring and listening the whole time.

I like how Migi just goes along with Dali's request to imitate Youko again, despite being upset earlier.

As always Dali's laugh is always funny to watch.

Before moving on, it is worth mentioning that the sequence in the manga of Migi training his imitation skill is skipped in the anime. Of course, this was done in the interest of time, but I really liked this scene in the manga, since it highlights Migi's dedication to the mission and his love for his brother. You can tell that he really enjoyed making Dali proud of him and making him laugh.

[03:54] Next is the part where Migi imitates Youko while talking to Micchan.

I thought it was interesting that Migi didn't wear slippers while imitating Youko. If Micchan happened to look down, she might have seen through his disguise!

Migi looks very good in that disguise, and I must praise Horie-san for pulling off the voice so well! He's an incredibly talented voice actor, and I wonder how much he trained his voice for that scene.

Now that I think about it, it makes sense why the twins visit a kitsune shrine later on, since kitsune are well-known for shapeshifting and deceiving others.

And of course, it is worth mentioning how much Youko loves her newly adopted son. Just as Micchan said, Youko always washes his clothes by hand despite being "lazy". One can often describe a mother's love towards her child to be the purest form of love because of the selflessness and sacrifice that the mother often provides. Despite not being a biological mother, Youko's love for her child can be clearly seen through everything she says and does, including her attention to her son's clothes.

The twins have long since lost this love, so it's quite wholesome that Migi returns the underwear to the hanger. It symbolizes his acknowledgement and acceptance of Youko's motherly love.

[06:09] Next is the scene of the twins in bed before their first day of school. I wonder why they sleep like that. Isn't it uncomfortable to have your brother's feet facing you?

Hmm, maybe this way of sleeping helps prevent them from getting caught? I still have no clue. Maybe it's just for comedic purposes.

You can clearly tell how much Migi is still attached to Metry by how he clutches the pajama button as he reminisces about her. Perhaps the conversation with Micchan reminded him of the love that he received from Metry long ago.

It's a shame that Chapters 11 to 14 of the manga were skipped due to time constraints. Nonetheless, I think this scene was a good way of filling the gap, as it shows how much Migi craves love and the pain he experiences because of Metry's disappearance and death. Dali seems to be well-aware of this (and likely feels the same way), and I think he's eager to avenge their mother to put this unease to rest.

[07:02] Next, the twins are about to start their first day of school. Seeing the twins complete each other's sentences is something I'll never get tired of!

Poor Migi, having to ride the bicycle while Dali sits on the bus. Once again, he gets the short end of the stick as the little brother.

[07:28] Next, Dali finds his assigned class. He seems quite displeased by Akiyama's hug. Probably because of how it reminds him of his own humiliation for seemingly baring his heart to Akiyama in Episode 3.

It's quite wholesome that Akiyama already considers him his best friend so quickly. Also, he says here that he'll visit Hitori-kun three times a week. Does this have any particular meaning in Japanese?

[08:40] Next is Eiji's speech.

Since Class 1-1 is the advanced class, I automatically assumed that Class 1-5 was the lowest. Although that might not be the case, I can't help but feel that it might be true given the huge contrast between them.

Most of Class 1-5 look like monkeys in comparison! In the manga, the difference is even more obvious, where the Class 1-5 boys couldn't keep up with the speech, and the girls were thinking of Eiji's underwear.

This makes me wonder: Why is Akiyama in Class 1-5? He didn't strike me as someone who'd have trouble with academics, since he's a flying machine nerd. But then again, he does ask Dali for help in math in Episode 8…

And then of course, Maruta tells the other kids that Hitori-kun is an orphan. I wonder, did he do this to avoid bullying? After all, Maruta is quite fat and a Mama's boy, so he would definitely be a prime target. Luckily for him, there's a foreign-looking boy from an orphanage that can be bullied in his place.

I can see why Dali would push Akiyama away, considering that he knows that Akiyama is a sensitive boy who has been laughed at by others before. Although Dali seems cold, I do think that at the same time, he genuinely did not want Akiyama to be mistreated by the other kids. More importantly, I think he didn't want Akiyama to hate him as a result of associating with him.

[09:50] Next, the twins meet up in the bathroom. I like how Migi's voice sounds so different when he's shocked about Dali's plan.

I have no idea how Migi does math. And apparently, neither does Migi.

It's no surprise that Migi wants another way. Once again, Dali tends to do things in a sneaky and roundabout way while Migi is much more straightforward and direct. This makes me think that there's a hidden motive for doing well on the exams. I've theorized that Dali wanted to do well on exams in order to better fit in. After all, Eiji is adored by the other kids, so perhaps studying could help the twins gain some respect.

It's funny how the 1-1 kids except Eiji all look the same.

I wish the anime didn't skip Chapters 11 and 12, since it would've made Eiji's line "I don't know you" (「君なんか知らない」) even more impactful.

[10:58] Next, Hitori-kun takes a photo with his parents on his first day of school. I don't have much to say here, but I still don't quite understand why the twins switch here. Is this just a gag or is there some other meaning?

[11:44] Next, the twins reveal their test scores. Chapter 16 of the manga is skipped due to time constraints.

It's interesting that Dali has 3 subjects while Migi has 2, yet Dali's scores are much better. It really shows the difference between the twins, where Dali has great academic potential while Migi simply hates studying.

To avoid repetition, I'll only say this once: Migi in love is very cute to see.

It's interesting that Migi pointed out Sally's long black hair, considering that Rina also has long black hair. In fact, I think many people initially confused Rina with Sally, which I don't think is a coincidence.

After all, Rina's hug was the first physical act of love (resembling motherly love) that Migi has received in a very long time. Plus, Sally has Metry's blue eyes, and since Migi is still attached to her, it's no wonder he fell in love with Sally. Many people say that men tend to fall in love with women that remind them of their mothers, and I certainly think it's true here!

It's interesting that Migi uses the Virgin Mary to describe Sally. I wonder if he learned about Mary from school, since it does appear to be a Christian school in the manga.

Migi says that he'll do anything for Sally, which seems to echo his relationship with Dali, since Migi seems to always obey whatever Dali says. I think this could show how Dali has effectively taken Metry's place as the "mother" of the twins, although it's obviously a role he's not suited for. I'll discuss more on this later.

As soon as Dali smiled, I had a feeling what was going to happen next. I love the twinkle of mischief in his eyes. Is deceiving your younger brother that fun?

[13:16] Next is the scene where Hitori-kun meets Sally. When I first read the manga, I had no idea that Sally was just Dali in disguise. Although Murase-san is very good at making a woman's voice, I think him voicing Sally made the disguise a bit easier to see through for the viewer.

It's funny that Dali choose "Sally" as the name of his disguise considering that their names sound so similar! Sally's head tilt was also hilarious. Seriously, where did Dali learn these moves from? It's possible he may have read a few books that may be a bit beyond his age range. This would make sense since he's reading Salinger's books, which are considered in the "young adult" group.

It's crazy that crossdressing is the solution Dali came up with to avoid being kicked out of the library. The twins are really like kitsune!

It seems that Migi has a tendency to shake his butt whenever he's in a good mood…

Migi can also be quite sneaky, trying to pass off Dali's test papers as his own! But of course, there's no way he can fool his older brother who is even better at deception.

Migi must feel like he's living in a dream. In his view, the girl he fell in love with at first time is somehow very interested in him, and has even invited him to study with her. Plus, she often stares into his eyes with a gentle smile on her face. Is this what the line 「甘ったるい安寧は夢の様に」 referred to?

On the other hand, Dali seems genuinely pleased that Migi is improving himself. I think that the line "I'll watch over you" (「見張っててやるよ」) is particularly interesting, since it reaffirms the difference in positions between these identical twin brothers. Rather than a brother, Dali seems to act as a guardian towards Migi. In particular, since the twins never had a father, it seems that Dali acts like their mother towards Migi. Thus, I think that the persona of Sally was used to highlight this aspect of the twins' relationship.

[15:46] Next, Sally talks to Hitori-kun about the midterms.

If only Migi knew who he was declaring his love to…

And Dali is such a bad boy for promising a reward…

[16:39] Next, the twins go into their midterm exams. You can tell that Migi really, really studied hard. It's funny that no one from their class noticed the difference as the twins switched between subjects.

[17:07] Next, Hitori-kun shows his results to Sally.

Dali did very well! Despite having no formal education for his entire life, he was able to reach the top of his class in about six months! He clearly worked very hard, though he didn't work himself to the bone unlike Migi. Dali definitely has high academic prowess!

Of course, Migi's efforts were just as admirable! Despite hating studying, he got perfect scores on his tests just as he promised. It just shows that for the sake of love, Migi is able to give his full effort and achieve anything. This is definitely the "power of love"!

And now Dali finds himself in a tough spot. He can't give Migi the kind of love Migi wants, but on the other hand he can't bear crushing Migi's heart, especially after Migi worked so hard. Dali cares deeply about Migi, so for now he suggests a date.

[18:10] Next is the twins' date, which is definitely one of the most important scenes in the story! When I first read this part in the manga, I had mixed feelings since they're brothers! The music in the anime only intensifies these feelings…

Migi imitating the manta was adorable. Truly the King of Imitations!

I was nervous when Migi was trying to hold Dali's hand, and clearly Dali was too. It likely reminded him that what he was doing was wrong. Also, it's ironic considering that in normal circumstances, the twins would most likely hold each other's hands without hesitation.

The feeling of discomfort climaxed when I saw the dolphin necklace. You can tell how heavy Migi's feelings are for Sally, and how heavy Dali's guilt is for deceiving Migi. So he tries to let down Migi gently by creating another lie about moving away. Well, I suppose that was the best thing he could do in that situation…

I could really feel Migi trying to hold back his heartbreak when the necklace broke in half. His words "Our hearts are one" were so sweet, and it's very interesting that a similar idea is expressed in the final episode!

[20:11] Next, Migi returns from the date. It's clear how guilty Dali felt for deceiving Migi, and how Migi held back his tears before returning to Dali. It just shows how much Migi trusts and relies on his big brother.

It's also nice that Dali kept the dolphin pendant despite the risks of keeping it. It's truly heartwarming how much Dali cares about his younger brother.

[20:47] Next, Eiji and his classmates see the test results. I don't have much to say, but it looks like Eiji isn't that proud of getting 494. Maybe he wanted a perfect score to impress Reiko.

I wonder what he was thinking when he reacted to Hitori's score. Did he see Hitori-kun as a suspicious person? Or perhaps as a threat to his status as the perfect boy? Who knows…

[22:46] Finally, we have the post-credit scene of Eiji inspecting Classroom 1-5. I don't have much to say here either, but this scene along with the music really builds up mystery and suspense! I'd really like to know what Eiji was thinking when he saw his pajama button…

[Conclusion] Episode 4 unravels the mystery of Metry's death by narrowing down the twins' target to the Ichijo house. Furthermore, Eiji's reaction to the button seems to confirm the twins' connection to the Ichijos.

But most importantly, this episode seems to highlight the elements of "love", "disguises", and "deceit". In the first part, Migi crossdresses to fool Micchan and then is moved by Youko's genuine motherly love towards him. In the third part, Migi falls in love with Dali's disguise, Sally, who reminds Migi of Metry. This can show how Dali basically took Metry's place after her death and carried the burden of raising himself along with Migi. As a result, the twins have become emotionally dependent on each other. However, the episode shows that this relationship isn't good for them and highlights the idea that a true relationship cannot be built on lies and deceit. This is the first time that that Dali deceived and hurt his younger brother, and we will see the consequences of this deceit later.

That's all I have for now, and I look forward to doing this again for Episode 5~

[lookingforcactus]

Live action Yu Yu Hakusho liveblog (ep 2)

Okay listen. Whoever wrote and whoever is voicing the little kid Yusuke saves has never heard an actual six year old talk in their lives

Also forgot to say last ep but liked the move to age yusuke up a bit. Also Botan's digital file of Yusuke talking back at her is hilarious

Botan's voice (Eng dub) isn't quiiiite as expressive as would hit the mark for me compared to the anime but whatever she's adorable I forgive her

Also forgot to say last ep "Maybe it's better you're dead" BOTAN STOP ASDLKFJADS I love her your honor

Fights and vfx on Goki are actually kind of shockingly good, esp given how much I Did Not like him in the anime

VERY annoying and unfortunately typical that the darkest-skinned guy we've seen so far is. very specifically. the demon that eats children and that the anime makes uh iirc a lot more directly than I ever wanted to watch into a Certain Allegory

Interested that Reikai doesn't seem to know who Kurama actually is. Was that the case in the anime/manga?? I feel like no, they knew who he used to be from the initial briefing on the thieves but idk season 1 wasn't exactly my favorite to go back and rewatch literally ever

My favorite was 2 and 4. If you even care. lol

Kurama standing there during the fight like a creeper go

Actually fight with Goki is very epic. Again super creative and impressively believable way for Yusuke to survive and fight back against a guy with WAYYYY superior strength

Also wow is Yusuke underqualified for these fights rn lol. I mean we knew that but he's lucky he pulled that one out in the end. And esp lucky that Kurama won't want to fight, obv

YUKINA

Her wig is sadly Not as impressive as Botan's, and I'm not a fan of what looks like her contacts. Did they make her eyes green??? Bc her eyes being red is kind of narratively. you know. Relevant

Wait is that guy helping Yukina Hiei???!!! Human-form Hiei??!!!

Wait no of course not Hiei would've just killed everyone and gotten her out

(Listen we don't have any good shots of his face yet okay. That little sister line made me think!)

Interesting new jagan origin + (presumably?) moving up Yukina as Hiei's motivation. Makes sense given how everything about Hiei's first manga/anime appearance was ignored afterward lol when he was too popular to kill off

I hope they got rid of his original plan/motivation, anyway. I hated the mind control arc thing with him esp on Keiko. Dickhead

Well. Eyehead. Technically. But yknow

Pfft Kurama 100% staging that entire encounter and stalking ep meaning Yusuke thinks he's being sooo sneaky

Kurama's outfit is really pretty actually btw. I like it better than his anime outfit by a lot. The pink always clashed with his hair sooo bad

Also the pink in the preview images made me think/hope he was a girl (who actually got to fight in a shounen anime!!!!) and you have no idea how disappointed I was when I realized that wasn't true

Pfft Kurama using his demon powers to?? Pull a quickchange?? Amazing

His hair continues to not work nearly as well as in the anime but that was a lost battle from the beginning let's be real. At least it's better than Hiei's

(Which is so actively bad what was that shadow with his hair in the knife scene what)

Shiori benefits a lot from being played by like. an actually human person who also is older and has visibly aged. Gives her Character, makes her less of Just An Archetype

Momma's boy Kurama excellent as always. Meanwhile Yusuke's just flat out not replying to a single thing Shiori is literally saying to him lol

Wait does the quickchange imply that Kurama only uses that outfit on demon business. Bc in the show it's just his (ugly) school uniform but here it's clearly not. I really desperately want that to be his On Demon Business outfit in this show lol

Also makes the fact that he had Yusuke stalk him in that outfit funnier. then. boom. quickchange. Mom can't see the Demon Business Outfit

Hmm something about Kurama and his delivery isn't rly landing for me here. But to be fair he is being super Performative and Deliberate about all of this so that may be on purpose

I hope it's on purpose. Bc Kurama's great and I'd REALLY like to buy him/his lines as a character in this

He does successfully pull off "casually menacing" (you know, without murdering someone first) much more easily than his anime counterpart tho so that's cool

Meanwhile, Yusuke's face. Great face-acting there. Also great face

The scrapes on Yusuke's face really are v aesthetically arranged lol. but still look legit enough. I'm a fan

Okay I'm buying Kurama now. Excellent

"I've been deceiving that woman for many years" genuinely love that he put it that way. He's come to care about her so much but he's not trying to make himself sound better or lying to himself about the situation

It is killing me that he used the phrase "fertilized egg" in this explanation. It's killing me. It's also raising Fucking Questions. (But does at least give an explanation for how Kurama didn't like. Kill the original Shuichi's soul when he took the body.)

Oh the pattern on Kurama's outfit is roses!!! love it

Kurama: Sees Kuwabara following them

Kurama: ...Anyway.

The mirror of darkness looks like a fucking ipad. I can't take it seriously why does the mirror of darkness look like an ipad!!!

IT DOESN'T EVEN REFLECT ANYTHING

What's with the weird scifi aesthetics here and on the other artifacts? This is a fantasy show, fantasy aesthetics would fit better

The mirror-realm life-taking sequence is just. so much. lol it's so much once again I am unable to take it seriously!

Wait Shiori! You don't know there was magic saving you!! Don't take off your oxygen mask without a doctor's permission!!! Practice self-care!!!

Okay Kuwabara looks super different from his anime/manga self-from the front, but from the back he has the EXACT same silhouette as anime!Kuwabara, so much it's EERIE. I'm learning lots of things about what pompadours look like in real life-

hsb, ig???

HIEI HAS BLUE EYES?!!??!?!?!!!!

I mean at least they didn't only change Yukina's

But this is WEIRD

Also making the jagan not purple anymore, just an actual third eye, was the correct choice

Hmm I don't like how they translated Hiei's outfit as much as I do the others. (I like how they translated literally everyone else's outfits. This is so disappointing, esp since Hiei's aesthetics go off. There's too much white and too much detail in his outfits. Give me his cloak!!! Also changing the scarf into a turtleneck is highkey Not Working For Me

Anime!Hiei would literally never wear a turtleneck

Why is he wearing a turtleneck, he's a FIRE DEMON, it's not like he can get cold

The scarf is okay because it was clearly not primarily for keeping him warm

Give him the cloak I want the cloak!!

And he should be wearing all black underneath it! I mean I know he wears other color shirts under it in the dark tournament arc iirc. But live action won't have the control over the cloak for that lol

At least give him something all black (except the scarf or something similar) (NOT a turtleneck) with a similar silhouette to the cloak

And idk compared to the others I think his costume looks kinda cheap

OOF effects on the Toguros are NOT convincing. Oof. I admire their commitment to taking their physicalities literally but uh. They should've been less ambitious and focused more on translating the vibe. Imho

Okay! Time for episode 3!

[ryuichirou]

What are your tastes in media? (Music/TV/Film/Books)

Sorry for the late reply!

When it comes to TV/Film/Books (…any storytelling type of media in general) I really like a combination of horror/thriller and comedy. Especially dry humor, but not necessarily. I love a lot of raunchy and stupid stuff too. My favourite shows are probably South Park (rewatched this one 1000 times) and Parks and Rec (we don’t watch a lot of live-action (???) series though, and it’s been a while since we watched this one). Of course, these two aren’t really horrors/thrillers lol, but a good example of a thriller show that I love would be Hannibal. This one we also rewatched 100000 times, it’s honestly perfect: the story, the aesthetics, the gore, and of course of course the relationship between Hannibal and Will.

I wanted to say that I don’t really love stories that focus on romance, but then again, one of my favourite movies is Heathers, so I guess based on this + my love for Hannibal one might say that I do love romance, but a very specific type of it lol

In general, I tend to especially enjoy the ones that have a strong visual style and aesthetic, like The Shining, Parasite, Midsommar, Suspiria and stuff. But I don’t only watch horrors; Katsu (who is also a person that introduced me to horror in the first place) recommends me a lot of very good films.

I don’t read books very often (oof), but out of everything I’ve read over the past couple of years, the things that I liked the most were “Misery” (by King) and Lord of the Flies.

When it comes to music, I guess I don’t even listen to it very often either. I love soundtracks, I love anime music and vocaloid music (mostly old tracks that I’ve been listening to for years), sometimes I listen to stuff from musicals. One of my favourite bands, Sound Horizon, pretty much tells stories with their music, and I really love them for both this and their sound in general. Well, and of course things that Katsu and my friends send to me.

Hmm… I guess I love strong female vocals. I still love Evanescence very much + love Ado’s songs a lot.

I won’t talk much about my favourite anime and manga (I actually have written posts about it before; they are a bit old though), but I’ll say that a lot of things that we love is either seinen or some kind of BL-ish comedy lol

To help myself with this reply, I opened both MAL (for anime and manga, duh) and Letterboxd accounts, although my ratings there are a little bit over the place, so I couldn’t trust them...

There are moments when we watch or read something that is super out of our comport zone, and it’s usually a pretty interesting and refreshing experience, so even though all of my answers were pretty much “YES DARK STUFF TEEHEEHEE”, I’m not opposed to other stuff. I guess the most ultimate important thing that could make me love any type of media (as long as I have time to dive into it) would be the unapologetic self-indulgence that the author has for their work. Somehow it’s very easy to sense when you watch or read something. I really love experiencing media and just know that the author is having fun. I love passion projects where you can clearly see it is one for the author.

But this sounds a bit cheesy, I know lol

[kaolinite91]

My review about One Piece Live Action (OPLA)

(Pic source: OPLA Netflix twitter)

Okaaay, you probably knew that I was one of old Nakama, since I've been following one piece for around 20 years (since elementary school haha)

And honestly when I saw the first plan about OPLA from Netflix.. I have a very great cynicism..because you know how baaaaad most of Hollywood anime adaptation were. The good anime adaptation which I think best was Gintama n Kenshin live action, but that's has major Japanese casts and in Japanese languange. But One Piece gonna have diverse casts..how scary. I really put my expectation bar..really...really low back at the time.

But then I saw the list of the casts and honestly, when I saw Inaki Godoy as Luffy for the first time, I kinda unsure and was like "hmm..let see his IG profile first", and I saw him somehow being naturally cheerful and goofy just like Luffy. And I saw his still from one of mexican drama where he looks really cool and badass. I was like " maybe this kid can be Luffy", my expectation kinda growing.

The cast for SH crew looks promising after I saw their profile..except from Taz because back then he has no IG yet. Very2 limited info from him. But after some times, I can see how he & the other cast really2 love the characters they are playing and worked hard for it. They were working with heart and it's shown..

Oda- sensei gives his thought about the adaptation too..and apparently he was the one who want the OPLA to be happened, tho he will be really strict about it. And I honestly I was starting to believe (I mean if the creator already said so), but great doubt still lingered in my heart.

Some months pass..finally the first picture of the cast with full outfits appeared, the first teaser during One Piece day..my expectation started to grew again. I got really hype tho people around me still really sceptical.

More info about how Oda approved Inaki as Luffy because his audition tape made Oda laughed. How Inaki got a strawhat from Luffy's seiyuu,Mayumi Tanaka, and all original anime seiyuu gonna voiced the chara in the live action too. He got a warm support from Shueisha and even met Oda himself and got a STRAWHAT from Goda? Well I started to BELIEVE!! I mean..this OPLA got support from the original source material!! How very awesome! I want this to succeed!

As a long time fans I got a secondhand nervousness.. I really want this live action to be successful. I already saw how the casts chemistry works really well during the interview etc..I want it to succeed!! I even shared a lot of the promotional media to my IG story which was rarely happened from me..hahaha

and after a bit more wait, the series released Yesterday at 31 August 2023. It's during weekday, on Thursday and the Netflix premiere in indonesia was at 14.00 wib. I applied for leave just to watched this Live action yesterday. How was it?? WORTH IT!!

I am so glad I love One Piece and so happy that my favorite manga got a very well made live action.

.

.

.

SPOILER SPOILER

.

.

.

Spoiler

Here're some of my faves things & moments:

- Many different approach in telling the story, so it felt fresh!! Because the main point were still conveyed but the location differ and some interaction between characters got adapted to catter the limited episodes (only 8 eps)

- many interesting new interaction!! Luffy and Nami interaction, zoro & nami, zoro & sanji etc..haha loves when SH crew appears

- I got teary eyes during flashback moments (Shanks gave his hat, Zeff advice to little Sanji, Bellemere moments 🥲🥹)

- Zoro very very cool and awesome..and honestly trying to rewatch with JP dub really made him even more WHOLESOME..omg

- when Sanji called Zoro mosshead

- when Ussop and Kaya kissed..hahaha (so there will be romance?)

- when Nami only hugged Zoro and Usopp & Sanji only saw from the sidewalk..

- love Nami theme song because it's pretty and sung by Aurora!

- loves the hidden easter egg: binks sake song, anime ost instrumental, mentioned Jaya, and story of Mobran Noland (even the story book!) Etc

- Garp denden mushi looks cute somewhow haha

- how Buggy looks super creepy like Joker hahaha but I love it! It's super interesting

- Helmeppo really annoying just like in the comic, Koby looks very similar with the comic counterpart too!!

- I love how the story combines SH POV with Koby as marine POV (which should be after vol 45), but it makes the introduction of the world more seamless and easier for the new fans ro enjoy

- JP Dub really a whole other experience!!! You must watch it at least twice I think! Hahaha original voice and JP dub!!

What I don't really like or can be improved:

- need more episodes, 8 was too short and made the story telling too packed.

-This also impacted the timing of the screen which supposed to build up the impactful scenes: like when Gold Roger dies,Zoro almost died from hunger, Shanks arm got eaten, Sanji's thankfulness to Zeff, Luffy's promise to helps Nami and when he yelled that Nami is his Nakama from Arlong park ruins.... it's not really highlighted. Kinda felt like just another ordinary scenes 🥹🥲😭

- somehow Luffy fight not really as dynamic as Zoro, so I kinda feel sad..but in east blue saga he still kinda weak(?) So maybe that's okay

- No Hachi in arlong park, no battle with Krieg...No usopp's little kids crew and somehow Merry died (I know he's more like NPC but it still sad because Kaya alone now)

- a bit more gory with blood etc

- Garp characterization...somehow a bit confusing. He seems a lot stricter than in the manga, and rarely laughing too.. which is okay. But why he really want to captured Luffy is still not understandable for me...? In vol 45 he just want to Meet Luffy as his Grandpa, but not sure in OPLA, is he still want to makes Luffy a marine? (Maybe I need to rewatch it). He contacted the Shichibukai to captured Luffy a bit stretched too..since Garp division in manga should be the part of marine who didn't believe in Shichibukai as 'protector of the sea'.

- how Genzou not have importance to the plot as Nami's and Nijiko's father... He should be the reason for the pinwheel, but in OPLA Bellemere the one who made it.

- Bellemere's name in the EN subtitles only written as Woman.. during Nami episode her name never mentioned and only written in her graveyard (saaaad)

- Sanji needs more screentime!! Huhuhu he just started join the crew in EP 7 and the episodes already finished at 8...saaad. I need more of him too 😭

- the SH crew interaction very limited because of the packed pacing and short number of episodes. I wish they can be explored more. It's funny because the screentime got divided into coby, helmeppo and garp interaction too. They really felt like another main characters.

- how Luffy recruitted the crew also not really highlighted, thus it's a bit weird on why suddenly Zoro want to follow him as his crew. it's kinda felt random..

-Luffy a lot more...wise and mature? I wish he looks more goofy like how Inaki in his IG stories. And because not many interaction with usopp yet..his childish part seems not really explored?

Maybe that's that for now.. but TLDR. It's a fun & fresh live action and I recommend you to watched it and be a new Nakama!

For me OPLA season 1 score was: 8.5/10

Ps. Above was the objective score from me because I kinda particular.. but subjective score with EN dub was 10/10, for JP dub is 11/10 because I love how fun and fresh it is!! (I still rewatching it for the JP dub hahaha)

[belltrigger]

Hello again ! It is I, the anonymous headcanon guy !

(I'd like to thank you for your kind words from the last time, first. I am still trying to figure out how tumblr works, but hopfully i'll be able to not be anonymous anymore !)

I came up with another headcanon, i hope you won't mind too much about me sharing it with you !

I see often with the twins that Emmet, the little brother, is a little shit and irresponsible, whereas Ingo is the epitome of the Dad Friend(tm).

I don't think it should go that way. Twins are differents than normal siblings. First, they are born together, so the normal(tm) sibling behavior don't stick to them (it also bother me a little to see Emmet getting the full little brother instinct whereas Ingo only get the Dad Friend one. Older siblings often bullies their younger siblings, but we don't see that hmm ? Anyway-)

I think their personality towards each other should be more equal, like both goofy and responsible.

Also, and this one is a little more personal, i heard that siblings (often seen with twins) have some sort of pack thing going on, like one being the leader and the other following. It may seems like, since Emmet is the LB(tm), he should follow and Ingo should lead, but it doesn't feel right to me (i often see that Ingo will lead in discussions, or do some things like going to someone or things like that. I know that Emmet is heavily autism coded, but Ingo has been portrayed as well, and I don't see why, just because he is less heavily portrayed he should carry the "leader" role. It feels like, since he is more normal, he can function. I find that bad, for lack of better words)

I think they should both lead, as they share a job with the same responsibilities, and both are good trainers with diverses pokemons (meaning one didn't dictate how both of their teams should look like, they both chose).

Anyway, to make it short, i think that both of them should be equal, and not simply little and big brothers (especially for twins, this is kind of a stupid thing. I mean, I get the little and big brother jokes, but in all seriousness, it shouldn't matters.)

Sorry for the long, long post but it really is something that i wanted to share, as it is something that's very close to me.

I hope you found it interesting !

Hello AHG! ヾ(•ω•`)o I hope you are doing well! Tumblr can be a little bit different from other sites, this is true! Take your time, lurk where you'd like, and if you ever feel comfortable (or capable!) of coming off Anon, I'd love for you to let me know!

And yeah!! Send me your head-canons, even once you figure out how tumblr works! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧ Or post them and let me know where you're doing it so that I can follow you! I love reading head-canons! It's cool to hear people explain why they have them and the twins are SO open to interpretation! (As a preamble to your head-canon, so much is fanon and sometimes it can be quite frustrating that a certain thing has taken hold.)

I do think official media with them, despite having quite a few variations (Anime Submas, Manga/Special Submas, Original Game Submas, Masters Submas are the big ones), is a bit more close to how you are thinking about it. They're both shown as responsible in certain ways, and goofy in others.

In fact, fanart on the Japanese side of things often interprets Anime Emmet as the responsible one. The only problem with that is the anime is also technically the source of your woes, as I am pretty certain that is where people found out that Ingo being the older twin is 'canon.' If you look at content older than that, you'll find it was pretty even on who was treated as the younger brother and/or it not mattering as much.

Personally, I have gone back and forth for how I like to portray them in my stories. Like you, I love them being equal, them reveling in the idea of their twinship, and being each other's biggest rivals.

Alas, I think we can "blame" Pokemon Legends Arceus for people treating Ingo like "the dad friend" in current fanon. Between people seeing him anywhere between a protective uncle to outright finding him attractive and appealing as a romantic partner, Ingo has become "an adult to trust" to many people. As I am older than the twins' accepted fanon age, I really and truly don't have any Uncle or Dad feelings towards him, so perhaps that's why I treat him more like a brother than anything.

Something I do like to note is the fact that Ingo (in the Japanese version of the anime) uses 'kyoudai (siblings)' to refer to them, and not 'futago(twins).' However, Emmet (also in the Japanese version of the anime) calls Ingo "Nii-san(older brother)." So, clearly the anime is hung up on creating older brother/younger brother dynamics between them, and despite people not liking the design choices of Ingo (not having the :< expression), it is a pretty sizable chunk of characterization and screen time. It's possible that people are leaning into that for their fanon.

I can't speak to the autism thing as I am not diagnosed with austim myself, but what I can say is that English fanon for how they speak is somewhat different from the Japanese tone of their speech is. It's clearly the work of localization, because honestly the way Emmet and Ingo talk is extremely heavily loaded with stuff that doesn't translate easily. None of this negates people identifying with the twins, assigning stim or tics to them, or any head-canons revolving around it. I just think there's fascinating tone changes between each version!

For example! English fanon says that Emmet speaks very stilted, which has been translated as him possibly scripting, not liking to talk, having anxiety, etc. And while it is true that Emmet speaks in short sentences, he also talks in childish, improper, and 'rude' ways in the Japanese version. This is counter-balance to Ingo who speaks in an incredibley archaic, old-man style, absolutely stuffed with politeness. (And Ingo's method of speech is entirely why I suspect *he* was the twin thrown into Hisui, if they only picked one.)

Interestingly, their method of talking about themselves in Masters is also fascinating! Everyone knows that Emmet says "I am Emmet." (I feel his 'Boku Kudari' in Japanese is cuter, but I am biased, I think). But he *also* talks like he's a dude who works at the Subway with his brother, although he really appreciates his position and feels so much honor and respect for it. Ingo, however, speaks like he is *intrinsically* part of the Subway, as though he is a fixture there and not a guy who puts on a uniform he greatly respects. The Subway is something bigger than him, and he is a part of it; Emmet on the other hand is himself and the Subway is part of *him.*

The above is just my interepretation of their speech patterns and how they carry themselves because honestly *there is just so much space to fill.*

This got SUPER BRAVO long, so-! Oops! But I do find your headcanons verrrrry interesting! When I am done working on my commission, perhaps I will think about writing a fic where they are equals! I would like to think some of my stories would suit your needs, but perhaps I need to make more! Eheh

Thank you so so much for your ask!! o(*°▽°*)o

[ac-liveblogs]

BNHA "I'm Almost There!" Catchup

I'm allllmost up to date on My Hero Academia (Bakugou just died) and it's... hmm.

(I decided to catch up once it started trending every other week due to Certain Plot Developments, watching the anime before switching into the manga.)

This is an... interesting series to think about.

BNHA spent a lot of time being a mid-to-okay series that didn't really dip in quality, but had a hard time excelling after the sports festival. It got to a really bad point where the most exciting thing happening was the Hawks/Endeavour storyline and it was struggling to keep Deku (let alone anyone else) relevant to the narrative (burdens of being chained to a high school).

None of the League of Villains were particularly fun or memorable characters for the longest time. It was really hard to care or get invested in them outside of the potential of what Dabi's arc might bring. I was pretty surprised when Shigaraki kept popping up. But while the series wasn't particularly... exciting, it became a real slog in seasons 3 to 5. It was meticulously setting up a lot of plot threads to all pay off later, but that didn't make watching them get laid out very fun.

The end of season 5 really changed things though. The LoV's picked a fight with the Meta Liberation Army and like, suddenly, Shigaraki, Toga and especially Twice were interesting characters. Man, I cannot believe it took 5 whole seasons for me to like Shigaraki. I should have always liked Shigaraki. He just... abruptly decided to start being cool at the end of season 5. And then AFO decided to be the main villain again. Screw this guy.

Season 6 was really good. All the plot threads that got laid out suddenly started paying off. Didn't especially matter that there was a lot more focus on the pros, because I'd never gotten super attached to Class 1-A anyway. I'm particularly impressed with the way Bakugou and Deku's arc has started paying off; there's a lot of very intentional symbolism and parallels in play with them that I expect will continue to stack up over time.

BNHA is a very meticulously planned series - unlike something like One Piece, where I'm pretty sure Oda just leaves himself loose plot threads that he can choose to pick up later if he wants - but. Hmm. I kinda feel that for as well as the plot is planned out, the characters end up missing out in exchange.

Deku & Shigaraki are foiled as All Might/OFA and AFO's successors respectively, both learning to be the ultimate "hero" and "villain" over the course of the story. Because of that, Shigaraki largely failed to have a strong impact on the story until right before the final handful of arcs. This is also why it's kind of disappointing that AFO refuses to properly leave the story and let Shigaraki take center stage - choosing to focus on OFA vs AFO rather than Deku and Shigaraki as the "next generation" severely kneecapped Deku's Main Antagonist and any dynamic he might have with him.

While I think Bakugou and Deku's relationship has been developed quite nicely, Bakugou never... actually got any fights that make me think he kept pace with Deku prior to the War Arc. Or is even as Hot Shit as he's supposed to be. Because Shigaraki/AFO seem to be a shared nemesis for them and Bakugou's storyline is mostly internal growth, he never got anything equivalent to Deku's fights with Stain, Overhaul or Chisaki. Part of Bakugou's arc is accepting he wants to catch up with Deku but man, my guy needed to achieve a little more before that becomes believable. I mean, there were the movies, but. Come on. (todoroki and uraraka have the same issues)

While Deku inheriting the powers of the previous users makes thematic sense when paralleled against AFO if you consider Deku the culmination of their ongoing war against him, that aspect of his power came out so late in the game that it feels unwarranted and unearned. It's also disappointing, given that "being creative with what you have" is part of what made the limitations quirks have interesting, and Deku as a protagonist seemed explicitly designed to do exactly that.

Class 1A is so underutilised that the idea of them being the Next Generation of heroes feels like a bad joke. MHA takes them being kids in training pretty seriously... until it's time for the war and suddenly Deku, Bakugou and Todoroki are incredibly strong combatants capable of keeping pace with OP terrorists. Tokoyami as Hawks' mentee is cute, but Tokoyami is never as relevant as Hawks is, and he certainly isn't keeping pace with The Important 1A Students. Also, Kirishima... yeah. Despite being billed pretty strongly, I think he's Done now, which, narratively, is pretty uneven.

It doesn't really feel like Todoroki Shouto matters. He's the springboard for the Endeavour and Dabi storyline, but as soon as MHA shifts gears to focus on that it never really stops - so now it feels weird Endeavour isn't the one fighting Dabi and the Final Conclusion of the Todoroki storyline feels like a fight between strangers. I like Endeavour and find him very interesting, but him becoming a sympathetic character removed him as Todoroki's personal antagonist and Todoroki just... never recovered from that.

Despite Shouto feeling like he doesn't matter, only the storyline he's connected to, he's completely superseded Uraraka in terms of screentime. There's been a lot of opportunities to include Uraraka that have been ignored since the Sports Festival, so the idea that Toga is her Personal Nemesis She's Going To Beat In A Fight is a bit... lol, especially given how much of that revolves around Deku. I was grateful to see them gain an extra dimension to their relationship right up until the fight between them actually started. It really does not help that the Deku/Uraraka storyline always plays, like, third fiddle to Deku+Bakugou in major and Deku+Todoroki in minor.

...etc., etc. MHA has a pretty tightly planned story, but since every arc leads directly into the planned finale and allowances haven't been made to make much use of the. uh. hero academia students, i ended up in the weird position of enjoying the war arc but not really caring about most of the pieces at play in it. Maybe if MHA had had more disconnected arcs against random enemies that didn't really go anywhere but allowed the characters time to grow and level up it wouldn't feel like the final arc arrived before the principal cast was ready to be in it. Most of them not really being very combat oriented doesn't help. I understand this is all meant to be a "trial by fire" early initiation, but the gap is still hilariously large.

Anyway, Bakugou is dead, and I'm aware that he'll Be Back Soonish, so I'll be curious to see how any of this sticks the landing. I get the horrible feeling Horikoshi will be forced to construct relationships between designated hero/villain pairs during the final climactic showdowns which... sigh.

Also, I don't like most of BNHA's OP/EDs, but the background OST is so damn good. It's really really good. Seriously

[catboy-cyrus]

Cyrus 1, 2, 13, 15, 20, 26

Hell yeah!!! You KNOW i have so many thoughts about him. Ask game here! I'm still up for answering more :3

1-My first impression of them

I've known about him for ages since he is the main antagonist of one of the games but I never really thought about him all that much until PLA and Cyllene. I love Cyllene and I found the parallels and differences between the two of them very interesting but I just straight up didn't like Cyrus. I thought his whole plan made no sense and I thought team Galactic's theming was silly (and still do but it's silly affectionate rather than silly derogatory). Here's an image I made from my Cyrus hater era:

I do stand by it though Cyllene is just objectively cooler she can swordfight. Get on it blue boy.

2- When I think I truly started to like them

I remember exactly when and why. I'd come to think about him more just as his own character but he wasn't a blorbo, just a vaguely interesting guy I put in unpleasant situations. I found him disappearing into the distortion world and never being seen again fun since woah local antagonist meets a fate worse than death. I still didn't like him all that much or understand him though. Until I was poking around and found the stuff from the platinum manga, Cyrus bleeding from the eyes and dead on the floor and cradling shaymin and stuff and I was like holy shit. this is cool. there's way more to this guy than I thought (helps that the distortion world fucked him up and me and Ren Giratinaplushie love to put a guy in the distortion world). And from there I decided to go have a look at RR cyrus and "Had I met you sooner... Would things have been different for me...?" as well as his interactions with the Rotom Dex hit me like a fucking truck and the rest is history.

13- Your favorite friendship they have

His friendship with the Commanders is very important to me. It's one sided because. Well he's Cyrus. But I like to think he cares for them more than he thinks he does, and doesn't even realise it. I mean three guys who care about this depressed assshole loner so much they would end the world for him? Come on. He's got FRIENDS dammit. Also him and Sophocles in masters is real important to me. He sees himself in Sophocles and Sophocles is so desperate to help him and AUGH........ Sophocles is very much what Cyrus could've been.

15- Worst storyline they had

His anime plotline. Next question. (phrased so as to be amusing)

20- A weird headcanon

hm, I don't know if this is 'weird' but I like to think that he just kind of has a natural affinity for Rotom. Like they see him and just. wander right over and cozy up on his shoulder and he has no idea why. They love him for no real reason. I like to think of Rotom in the pokemon world as Lazarus taxa (since they're in PLA but presented as a recent discovery in Platinum), and Cyrus the one to rediscover them as a child and that's how he did it. Such a rare and elusive pokemon just wandering right up to him possessing one of his toys.

26-When do you think they were being "themselves" the most?

Hmm... Difficult question. I think that in terms of like. meta characterisation he's pretty consistent (barring anime cyrus but we don't talk about that), but in terms of like in universe, i do think that a lot of his public facing facade is an act. He's not personable, he's good with speeches because its pre-prepared and he presents a deliberately constructed face to his people. I guess in that vein when he's being most 'himself' would probably be when he gets pissed off and rants at you on top of Mt. Coronet, and in Masters when he's speaking with Sophocles about machines and stuff. Admittedly for totally different reasons but yeah.

[maoam]

Maybe someone has already asked you this, but besides sns are there other ships that you love? (from any media)

Hmm. I'm not too big of a shipper, mostly because it's hard to find ships that make me really want to get into them like with Naruto/Sasuke. Nothing is like this one. There's obviously some ships that I like or appreciate for the fact they are written well or bring something important to the story they're in. Let's see:

Beastars: I actually find Legosi x Louis surprisingly interesting. Not that I have anything against Legosi x Haru, but this one I think somehow gives more to the story.

Berserk: Griffith x Guts is without a doubt the most interesting thing in the manga. It involves a lot of repression, angst, longing, all that good stuff. But the manga is not for the weak stomach. I feel like when men write m/m it's just on a different level most of the time.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Syoran x Sakura is pretty cute.

Madoka Magica: Homura x Madoka is a very nice, tragic ship and Homura is my favorite anyway. Sayaka x Kyoko is pretty cute too.

Nana: Nana x Hachi was the heart of the story, but the ship teasing got tiring at some point, and the manga went on a hiatus due to author's health issues.

No.6: Shion x Nezumi is sweet. But yeah that's about it, sweet.

Revolutionary Girl Utena: Utena x Anthy. The anime is very good and I think it's a nice ship too. I like what it gives to the story.

I have a thing for ships that feel like a package. Like you get the sense things aren't going to go well if these two are separated. Like with Griffith x Guts or Nana x Hachi.

But yeah nothing surpasses Naruto x Sasuke.

[transsexualhamlet]

ok girl this is for the thang. I know you haven't read yuumori in over a year but do liam for 13 & 23, hannibal for 20 & 27 n atsushi for 3 & 24 have fun!

answering this because i now have reblogged the ask game a second time... i forgor

ask game

Liam:

13. Your favorite friendship they have

Can I say him and Bond because I know they have barely spoken to each other in canon but in my mind they are besties and Bond tells Liam to "slay" and he gets all teary eyed and looks at his sword and bond is like IM SORRY

23. Future headcanon

Yeah the thing about this is that I'm not super caught up on the manga and the last chapter I read had barely started the current arc. So I'm not sure what's going on or what the situation even is but I sure do know the faggots live together. I think they just kind of safely fade into obscurity exactly how they want to except for when sherlock is a fucking attention whore but well, if they've made up their minds to live in fuckin america (sigh) when they're middle aged and prohibition is going on and there's a whole gay scene and everything I think they do VERY well for themselves. Liam will be just a well behaved little guy at the underground gay bar and sherlock will just drop "oh yeah liam used to kill people way back when it was pretty hot. you know how it is with [insert zodiac sign]" and twenty people and the drag king singing will go WHAT

Hannibal:

20. A weird headcanon

I think Hannibal gets invited to the Met Gala. Once. They do not appreciate his dedication to the craft and the theme by sewing a "flower suit" exclusively out of 1600s silks gotten by bribing museums and ethically sourced human skin from hospitals which is actively growing, you have to admit, really stunning flowers. They do not invite him again yet somehow this garners absolutely no suspicion

27. If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc, who would be the most fun for them to meet?

I forgot this was for hannibal and was about to answer I would love to see liam meet light yagami because it would be HORRIBLE however this is in fact hannibal and I can actually be serious. god hmm. I honestly think I need to see him meet Melkor? It would be. A very interesting experience. I am imagining him smiling sitting cross legged at a fancy table inside of a comically large cage as Melkor studies him like a bug and watches as the bloodied and beaten corpses he shoves in get magically transformed into five course meals. Needless to say I think they would hit it off disgustingly well. And even if it didn't, Hannibal is just too hard to torture because he'll just be into it. Good situation for Hannibal no matter what like? Get to have a thoughtful correspondence with a spiteful, gory eldritch mass of a god for the low low price of Mairon poking at you like a dead animal a little bit

Atsushi:

3. A song that reminds me of them

Pinkish by Gerard Way and Sorry About Your Parents by Icon For Hire. The former because god. I really don't know how to explain it I have emotions. It's kind of about him and Akutagawa and it's kind of just about him and himself. And Sorry About Your Parents is just yeah that ones about Akutagawa lmao.

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

Atsushi once accidentally witnessed Dazai sucking Fyodor off and well. Couldn't bring himself to bring it to the attention of the ADA because well how fucking could you . How would you bring that up. He's decided he just needs to stay silent forever