#honestly this is among my favorite panels of the series

[1randomperson15]

Augh I love this panel so muchhh. The misfit's demonic expressions make me !!!

[cluescorner]

There's no feeling stranger than knowing that something is bad but liking it anyways. Not in a 'it's so bad it's good' way. Because that implies that it has become good. I'm talking like this thing is just kinda bad in the normal ways things are bad, but i like it anyways.

[genericpuff]

You should watch Jack vs. Webtoons video on Lore Olympus before it gets wrongfully taken down.

His video pointed out something I wasn’t able to put into words until now. Lore Olympus has a real bad dialect problem. One second the characters are talking like they’re in a Shakespeare play which makes sense, sense they’re gods or what not. The next second you’ll have characters saying shit like “blue balls” “clout chaser” and “you’ve got a young wife with a fat ass”. It probably wouldn’t bother me if certain people talked a certain way like how Hera doesn’t use any slang and how Hermes uses some but all the characters vocabulary are the exact same.

Honestly I can look past the art and it’s inconsistencies but having dialect jump from regal to tiktok facebook slang makes my brain hurt more than glossy lipped Hades and bug eyed Persephone.

I checked it out, it's pretty great haha and yesss this is something that's been discussed before but I haven't really ever made a post about, the dialogue is CONSTANTLY flip-flopping between royal talk and "hello fellow teens" quipping. Sometimes it feels like it's trying to be like Marvel and then other times it feels like it's trying to be Bridgerton. I can think of no better example than all of the "pedigree" talk, it makes me squirm every time I read it because in the modern context of LO, it SCREAMS eugenics. The whole B-grade goddess thing made sense, until they started talking about Persephone like a poodle:

But then you ALSO get INCREDIBLY stiff dialogue that makes it seem like the comic is either being written by AI or Rachel is actually a real life version of Michael Afton post-scoop:

And yes, there is a tinfoil hat theory that LO is being written by bots at this point because I don't know how a single person could write something so tonally confused. That said, I do think the more reasonable explanation is that Rachel is likely copying dialogue from shows and movies she's watching and just tweaking it slightly before slapping it into LO. She's not observing why the dialogue works in the media she likes, she just knows she likes it and slaps it in there without any regard for context, tone of voice, or personality.

And that leads to, as you said, all the characters sounding the exact same, and that metric by which they all sound the same changes all the time. I think at this point the only reason we haven't seen Hera dropping TikTok language is because she hasn't been onscreen long enough for her to get the chance LMAO That said, we've definitely gotten some weird inconsistent dialogue with Hera as well:

(like she's essentially saying the exact same thing across both of these panels but one is being said by an adult and the other is being said by a teenager lmao)

I think the dialogue is definitely one of the most glaring issues with LO, among all of its other problems. It just never feels like it's being written by a human, there are problems with this even as far back as S1 but it's become especially apparent in S2 onwards.

To finish off this ask, here's one of my favorite dialogue mishaps in the entire series, from S1, in which Apollo literally adopts an askew English accent:

[delusinaldreamer19]

Sebastian and Bards relationship in the cannon is not talked about enough.

Not to sound pretentious, but I feel like it may be more accurate to say their dynamic in the context of the series.

The simplistic caveman side of my brain wants to say that they’re just two dudes, which isn’t wrong. But the analytical side of my brain wishes to elaborate 🤗.

Behold my tangent.

One of my favorite lines in this series is when Sebastian tells Bard quote “You fear death, as humans should. You must be the only one in this manor who does.”

(The fact that it pans to Ciel is just 👌👌👌. Good shit, love to see it.)

To me, Bards backstory segments where we saw him adjusting to life in the manor had a different feel to when we saw the same for Mayrin. We got to see her interact with oCiel, Finny, Nina, and even Lau briefly. But with Bard, he was only ever really shown with Sebastian. Or at least mainly.

There’s a stronger sense that Bard doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the household. Which I felt was emphasized by this panel.

I interpret this as him saying “what the hell am I doing in the house full of crazy kids.”

Which leads me back to my main point. Basically, Bard is the most normal human in this house. And who is he paired up with the most? Debatably the least normal “human” in the house.

Except I bet that’s not how Bard sees it. While Ciel may be the master of the house, Bard and Sebastian are the adults of the household. The men of the house if you will. (Yeah yeah Mayrin and Tanaka are adults too. But in Mayrin’s case b/c of her time as a snipper she hadn’t lived as much of a life as Bard, so she’s not quite at the same level of maturity. And I’m going to ignore Tanaka since he’s less of an active player among the servants.)

I’m trying so hard to break down my thought process rn :’) OK, because of this, I bet that Bard views Sebastian as sort of like his bro. They have this shared responsibility to take care of the ‘kids’ in the house. (Take a shot every time I say house).

Honestly idk where I’m going with this. Sebastian is like the strict mother who expects highly of the servants. While Bard is the bad influence uncle that endorses smoking, drinking, and pornography.

They have a weird partnership, one that boarders on a one sided friendship. They both have an unspoken understanding that they share the responsibility of adults looking after children. Only for Bard to then be put back in his place by Sebastian, as HE probably views Bard as just another one of the kids he has to manage.

I swear I had a point, I don’t think I conveyed it properly. Anyway, sorry for the long post. I honestly love Bard as a character, he’s very interesting when you really start to think about it. He doesn’t get enough recognition from the fan base esp when it comes to analytical perspectives.

[acciokaidanalenko]

I have to know about the Breakfast Series from your WIPs!

Ohhhhhhhhhhh, honestly, Breakfast was my favorite fic to write. I had so much fun with it, and it was fun to explore Natasha & Kaidan's relationship. So, why not continue it??

Here's a snippet I wrote a while back of Natasha before the first mission on Horizon:

Shepard waited patiently for the door to the communications room to open. She’d been summoned, once again, by The Illusive Man. She stepped inside and watched the table recede into the floor, revealing the panel she stood on each time they had these little chats. She casually stepped into the center of the circle and clasped her hands behind her back as the panel in front of her also flickered to life. It showed her a hologram of the man in charge of Cerberus, seated in his chair with his cigarette dangling from his fingers as he greeted her.

“Shepard, I appreciate your prompt response,” The Illusive Man drawled as he flicked his cigarette over the ashtray built into his chair.

“Of course. Kelly said it was urgent, so I rushed right over,” she responded with a hint of contempt. He took a long drag and stared at her, a smirk barely visible through the wavering pixels of the hologram.

“Very good, Shepard. I’ve received information, and I have a feeling you’ll be interested to hear it.” Shepard clenched her fists behind her back. She always hated the way he tried to bait her, like every interaction was some sort of game.

“I’m absolutely on the edge of my seat.” The Illusive Man chuckled darkly as he sat the cigarette down and steepled his hands together in front of him. His cybernetic eyes glowed brightly, even in the holo and it sent a shiver down Shepard’s spine as she stood resolutely, alone in the communications room of this copycat ship.

“The Collectors are making their way to a little colony on Horizon, and if you hurry you might get there in time to save some of the colonists,” he informed her with a knowing, sinister grin. The tone of his voice made Shepard uneasy. There was something else he wanted to say. “I’ve also been informed that, among the inhabitants of this particular colony, is one Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko. I believe the two of you are… acquainted.”

His added emphasis on the last word had the effect he was hoping for. Shepard felt as if the air had been sucked from the room. She was spinning through space, oxygen leaking from her suit as her heart filled with dread.

So, she’d been right about the photo that had been left on her desk. Cerberus knew about her relationship with Kaidan. And she’d learned enough about The Illusive Man to know that he would use that knowledge against her if he needed to. 

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 155

Chapter 155: "Resurgence"

Once again feeling sad about the anime adaptation fiddling with certain scenes, such as denying the wolfpack's assistance of keeping the chaos under control. Yeah Ayshe wasn't even introduce during the second season, but Don & Gilda arrive so late into town anyway and once they get there alongside Mujika, they just ask where Norman is and watch Sonju chop his arm off to feed to the citizens. That's all. No excitement whatsoever. And certainly no praise towards Ayshe like Gilda says here which I love very much.

Leave it to Norman to push Emma aside in order to save her. Also, the designs on Legravalima's outfit are so intricate. Always made me wonder if Demizu drew 'em by hand or used a pattern kind of brush. Either way, it's certainly a fancy style suitable for royalty and I'm in awe how of pretty Demizu always makes it look.

Why must it always be the favorites who get seriously injured?? Aahh! I suddenly wish Lucas survived to the end of the story just so he & Cislo could bond over missing limbs and walking struggles since Lucas did have that limp.

Kinda glad we missed out having this scene animated because seeing Legs devour everything in sight and become a hideous mess of faces and bodies is not a nightmare I wouldn't wanna see.

Seemingly inconspicuous panel becomes important next chapter.

Definitely not the kind of return you would want a character to have.

Seeing Geelan, his army, Yverk & the nobles is one thing, like Legravalima just ate them, so having everyond appear here shouldn't be a surprise. Even Krone wasn't that long ago, but Michelle & Olivia who were older siblings of the fullscore trio? They were shipped off several years before the series began, but still not longer than Leslie. The poor lad was shipped way back when Isabella was a child. Seeing all of them again is real upsetting but shocking how long they remain apart of Legravalima after she eats them.

I know I said she looked weird with her three off-center eyes, but I'd take that over her not having a face at all. The Slenderman man vibes are too strong. And I remember lots of people chatting about whether or not Legravalima ate Isabella back when this chapter released. With how the demons held her in such high regard, you would think Legravalima wouldn't pass up the opportunity to feast upon someone that extraordinary, but the fact Isabella wasn't shown among everyone else's heads several pages ago raised concerns about if she was actually alive or not. (I didn't know what to think those years ago, honestly, but needless to say her reveal in ch162 absolutely blew my mind.)

Favorite panel/moment:

I just really love her. Ayshe could do literally anything and I would cheer her on.

Us manga readers while watching season two:

[jaydonsjam]

Fables I

Fables #1-5: “Legends In Exile”

Fables #1-5 - writer: Bill Willingham | penciler: Lan Medina | inker: Steve Leialoha

Before I get into my thoughts on the comic I wanted to give some context on my experience with Fables. So, this is my first time reading through this series and before I finished this first arc, my only knowledge of this world comes from Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us which is one of my all-time favorite video games. I’ve been interested in reading this book ever since I played that game back in 2014 but there’s so many issues and I have never had the chance or time to collect all the trades but there is a wonderful app called DC Universe Infinite which if you subscribe to, you can pretty much read most of the DC and it’s other imprints’ library including Fables (obviously not sponsored by DC just a recommendation for DC fans). I also didn’t know that The Wolf Among Us is a prequel to the comic which honestly got me even more excited to start reading. I didn’t know if the game was an adaptation of the first arc of the comic so I was pleased to learn that it’s 20 years before the first issue.

The comic, like the game, follows Bigby Wolf who is the fairy tale character, Big Bad Wolf investigating a mysterious murder of Snow White’s sister, Rose Red. We meet many fairy tale characters like Jack (Beanstalk), Beauty and the Beast, Pinocchio etc living in exile because their lands were taken over by a demonic being called “The Adversary”. What I love about this world so much is how Bill Willingham infuses different genres like noir detective with fantasy and also this book is really funny. There’s a quick scene with Pinocchio at a party explaining his disdain for the Blue Fairy (see panels below) and it was genuinely hilarious.

Bigby Wolf works as a sheriff for Snow White and honestly the best part of this comic is the scenes between Bigby and Snow. I could not put this comic down and I enjoyed every second of it. There’s even a cool twist when the “Parlour” chapter in issue five happens where we get the reveal with what happened to Rose Red. I don’t want to ruin the twist just in case people are interested in checking Fables out for the first time. For me though, I didn’t see the twist coming and I loved it. It’s a simple detective story when you really boil it down but it was fantastic. I’m so interested in the backstory and I can’t wait to see what happens with The Adversary and if the Fables will get their lands back. Also before I finish I have to mention the art which was penciled by Lan Medina. It really fits the storybook/fairy tale aesthetic and blends the noir real world setting brilliantly. I love the way they drew Snow White especially. So yeah, a great beginning arc to a comic that I can’t wait to continue reading.

[pari-patel]

Convention Blog Post

Ironically enough, I went to Metrocon in Tampa just earlier this month! I am currently interning in Ohio, but that 4th of July week I had came back to Florida to visit family and friends. My friends, who are interested in cosplay, and I wanted to go somewhere, and I have already been taking another Japanese class this summer C so why not just attend Metrocon (we also really like Tampa). It was definitely an unforgettable experience and all very knew to me as I have never cosplayed before or even watched any animes, besides Fairytail. I am glad I went, even though I didn’t know any characters or shows, my friends tried their best to explain them to me. More than anything, I enjoyed the deep dive into a world of anime fandom and youth culture which brought thousands of fans and vendors in celebration of pop culture. At the time, I wasn’t thinking much about anything, but just living in the moment. I am just now reflecting on my experience there. While I did enjoy going, I don’t think I would go again just because I am not fully immersed myself in anime/manga, but I am always happy to try new things and so I am glad to say I have gone.

From the moment I walked into the convention center, the atmosphere was electric. With the lobby filled with cosplayers, I felt underdressed and out of place. It was interesting seeing everyone pay tribute to their favorite characters from different series. People really are creative! I didn’t buy anything, nor did I sit in on any panels or workshops. I more so walked through just to get a good idea of what happens in these types of events. None of the collectibles or crafts caught my attention, but seeing it catch the attention of my peers and other cosplayers in the hall was interesting to watch and observe as their faces lit up with something they are so passionate about. The most striking aspect was the sense of community and belonging that the convention fostered among young people. IAs we have talked about, fandom provides a space for identity formation and a social connection, especially for people who feel isolated in a regular school or work environment. The way attendees interacted with each other made me happy because I know the conventions serves as a safe haven in a way for people to express their passions without any fear or judgement from others.

This is more than just a form of entertainment for them, it plays into their cultural identity, whether it be their own culture or not. The way individuals would present themselves and, based off the merchandise they’d buy, it was evident they were eager to celebrate themselves and their identities openly and proudly. It sort of reminded me of Indian conventions which are actually also held in Tampa. Indian expos gather the Indian community where vendors sell desi style clothing, traditional food, and holds choregraphed dances ranging from Bollywood hip-hop fusion to traditional/classic elements. I just know how at home I feel in these events, and I was happy to see others feel the same way at Metrocon. I enjoyed how hybridity was celebrated with the influence of both Western comics and Japanese anime and culture. I honestly didn’t give much thought to anything in the moment, but I am glad and in awe to be reflecting on everything now and see how things look from different perspectives once you know the history behind it or the reason as to why conventions like these occur and why they have become so popular. As we continue to explore the role of fandom in cultural identity formation, experiences like Metrocon offer valuable insights into the evolving landscape of youth culture.

P.S. I felt awkward taking a pic when I wasn't even dressed correctly, but I tried to take an aesthetic pic of my friend!

[hal-boy]

It's still technically Sunday, I'm beating the buzzer with a solid 10 minutes left in the day as I type this up (and it's 11:59 as I post this!)

This week's track is Thiana's Theme from Panel de Pon (1995)... though honestly this write up is both for this track and the game itself.

Now known as the Puzzle League series but originally localized in the US as Yoshi's Tetris Attack, Panel de Pon is an arcade-style puzzle game that is completely unrelated to Tetris. The Japanese release is the only place where the original cast of player-characters, the fairies, are present (the Gamecube remaster in Nintendo Puzzle Collection technically features their descendants, not the original cast.): obviously, the Tetris Attack localization changed all the characters to Yoshi/Mario characters, and later editions of the game have done away with having a cast altogether (booooooooooo). Also, the item Lip's Stick from Super Smash Bros is from the main playable character from this game, if you were ever wondering where that came from.

Thiana the forest fairy is my sister's character favorite to play as, and my favorite is Sherbet the ice fairy (rendered as Sharbet in game, among multiple other name errors). My sister is, uh, notably better at the game than me, and the game is set up so the winner's music plays in 2p mode, so I am typically hearing Thiana's track when I play, lol.

I think this track is so relaxing! It's distinctly chiller than many of the other tracks in the game, which I appreciate. I love the instrumentation, too. The SNES's music was really such a step up compared to the NES, capability wise: I'm always so shocked when I hear an SNES track and it's actually good, lmao.

You can go to Vi/mms/La/ir's Vault to play online if you'd like, no download required, though of course note it it's all in Japanese. If you like giving Nintendo money for subpar services (for some reason) it's also on Nintendo Switch Online.

[jaebird88]

My Personal Top Ten Anime of 2022

Between the new adaptations, sequels, movies, and original properties, there have been plenty of good shows that I feel anyone can dig into. To keep from taking up dashboard space, I’ll provide the list below with a break that will contain my thoughts on each title. This is also not ordered from best to worst, rather from what I would unabashedly say is great to it is good but may have some caveats to keep in mind.

Also, I tried my best to not to be repetitive, but it was difficult given how many shows on this list were mostly comedies to a degree.

(Top Ten of 2021)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

Lycoris Recoil

Bocchi the Rock!

My Dress-Up Darling

Spy x Family

Princess Connect! RE: Dive S2

Love After World Domination

Skeleton Knight in Another World

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

Chainsaw Man

1. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

While the first cour has not finished, I feel confident in saying this is my #1 favorite anime of the fall season. I honestly could not have expected this installment in the Gundam franchise to surprise me as much as it has. Starting off strong with the opening prologue and never losing its momentum while shifting gears to a high school setting that is mired with corporate politics and intrigue, and the occasional giant robot fight; the Witch from Mercury comes off as a worthy successor to the franchise.

2. Lycoris Recoil

Looking back on everything to have come out this year, Lycoris Recoil remained my favorite show of 2022. Between a memorable and likable cast and the excellent action set pieces, this original series stands out in my mind as being among the best in the subgenre of buddy cop stories, let alone the second best anime of the year.

3. Bocchi the Rock!

For being an adaptation of a four-panel manga, CloverWorks came out swinging in how they combined the main character’s neuroses with the kind creative imagination that can only be expressed through animation, as well as other mediums, to great comedic effect. Hitori Gotoh’s journey toward breaking out of her anxiety shell is as relatable as it is entertaining. Plus, the music is great, too.

4. My Dress-Up Darling

The second CloverWorks adaptation to make this list is one which caught me by surprise in how much I got out of it. Putting aside the romantic comedy aspect–which is among the better ones I have seen–what resonated with me the most is how it presents both primary characters as human beings who fall into archetypes.

5. Spy x Family

Last but not least of the CloverWorks adaptations is one of the most entertaining comedy/action/thriller anime to come out this year. And I feel it’s the most well-rounded in regards to balancing such a mixture of genres.

6. Princess Connect! RE: Dive S2

Of the sequel series I have watched this year, the show that’s meant to promote a game finishes off its story and ties up its threads, giving finality to its cast. It’s funny, heartwarming and heartbreaking, and features some of the best animation and music that should not be overlooked.

7. Love After World Domination

While My Dress-Up Darling strikes a good balance between the romance and the comedy, Love After World Domination leans more toward the latter in its spoof on the tokusatsu genre to great effect with its simple premise.

8. Skeleton Knight in Another World

The one isekai to make my list gives off similar vibes to other satirical stories from the subgenre, and I had so much fun with it. One’s mileage may vary with shows like this, so I will not say too much more about it.

9. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

With no requirement needed to have played Cyberpunk 2077, Studio Trigger does well with the setting and tells a good story that can be viewed as a stark contrast to everything else I have watched this year. It is grim, it is unrelenting; it’s melancholy at its finest. There are no heroes in Night City. Only survivors.

10. Chainsaw Man

This may appear to be sacrilege to some, but I have a reason why I placed this adaptation of Chainsaw Man last. I can say that I did like the series on the whole and how it was presented. The director’s cinematic eye for storytelling is fine, even if the pacing is methodical and decompressed at times. Which I can understand as being a turn-off for some folks and any die-hard fans of the manga. I do look forward to a second season, whenever that will be.

[no1monstersimp]

14 and 15

WARNING THIS WILL BE VERY RANTY

Sorry this took a bit to answer haha, I was thinking about these ones for a little bit and I wanted to be able to type it out on my laptop because this may be long(and my laptop is slow). This will be a pretty heavy one.

So lets start with 14 -sigh-

TW rac*sm, h*m*phobia, ped*philia, r*pe, inc*st.

I'm sure this isn't unpopular, but my opinion about the fandom is it's pretty bad. Of course I love most of the users on here and have overall been very pleasant to interact with, but the issues are very overwhelming and become more apparent on the Reddit. You can say, it's just the Reddit, but I've seen these issues on Instagram, Twitter, and pretty much everywhere else. Some of the major issues are homophobia, racism, and the very concerning amount of pedophilia jokes/normalization.

So let's start with the homophobia portion.

As I'm sure everyone has experienced sometime in the fandom, there is an overwhelming amount of homophobia within the fandom. Let's take GenoSai for an instant. Whether like the ship or not, there is definitely a double standard among the fandom. Art where the ship is Genoko(Genos genderbend) x Saitama, it is perfectly fine and little heads are turned, but as soon as you mention Genos x Saitama, everyone goes batshit. They like to say it's because "ships don't belong in the fandom" but then turn around and ship Saitama and Tatsumaki or Saitama and Fubuki. They even go as far as to say "making them gay is disrespectful to the character or it ruins them". I'm sorry but if you're that delusional, I don't even know what to say honestly. Certain users got up and arms about the Batarou ship as of late after the reveal of Kiro in 170. Many users were sent unprovoked abhorrent asks or comments all because they ship them. Some have also downplayed the fact that bisexuality exists as well because of this, just stating "Garou isn't gay" or "Garou doesn't like men". There have been some that have written amazing essays on it so I won't go too deep into it here. Another thing is the downplay of LGBT voices in the fandom. They constantly harass LGBT users for having gay ships or other LGBT ships, when all we literally want is representation. It angers me when they say "well you have Puri Prisoner" and I'm sorry, but fuck that. I literally hate the character. They have no right to speak over us and preach what an acceptable character to represent the community is. No right at all...

Anyways... back to double standards, lesbian ships are more accepted because they are fetishizing them. Some of the most popular are Psykos x Fubuki, Fubuki x Do-S, and...ugh...Fubuki x Lily. So they ignore a literal 14 year old and 23 year old and think it's okay but somehow two consenting male adults in a relationship is worse??? Same thing with incestual relationships such as Fubuki x Tatsumaki.

A smaller section is the way they excuse Darkshine. I understand the intention may not have meant to be racist, but at the end of the day we can't keep excusing it. I feel awful when I remember his backstory because he's not a bad character, in the sense that he's a good guy.

Ah the pedophilia jokes and the normalization. I can't tell you how many times I've seen really disgusting jokes about the child characters in sexual situations. The thing is, they aren't even funny. As mentioned before, they already normalize the relationship between a 14 year old and someone she looks up to, who is 23. Well, let's dive into their favorite thing, One Hurricane. There is a volume of this lovely series , I say sarcastically, in which Child Emperor( a 10 year old) is raped by Fubuki (yet again, a 23 year old) and I sadly laid my eyes on a panel. Fubuki is sexually assaulted by Saitama multiple times throughout the series as well as Do-s in one volume. They still celebrate the series as "so good" when it literally excuses rape ad pedophilia. It pisses me off so bad. There are many users who draw or post incest, pedophilia, rape and are celebrated. It's sad I can think of so many off the top of my head, BY NAME.

I have some other things I want to talk about but the post is getting long...

I'll do a briefing of things I don't like about the manga itself. I don't like the way Kama is treated, she's way too beautiful to be presented the way she is. Especially in the webcomic when her name was "Slicing Shemale". I understand that there is apparently some translation issues, but sometimes I wonder.

I already talked about Darkshine and Puri.

[makeste]

i don't get it tbh. the apology shouldn't have been here. it was in the middle of everything and it had basically no impact on deku whatsoever? this was sooooo no what i was expecting and tbh i'm kinda mad about it ngl lol also ngl times twice but if whatever ochaco says does reach him instead of the kacchan apology that's been built up as the emotional climax for the entire series i'm just flat out gonna drop this manga lmao. but this was barely an emotional climax at all, i really don't get it

2/2 like we get just a few pages? shoved in there like "okay everyone talked now kacchan disappears from the chapter, that's over and done with, moving on" the apology itself was great, but the placement and brevity undermined its emotional resonance. deku remains the exact same after hearing it, doesn't think about katsuki at all. just about his earlier "can't keep up" words? then we go on to ochaco whose "saving heroes even though that's what everyone has been doing" i guess is more important?

3/3 (last one promise) like i'm sorry but there was time for several chaps of endeavor ugly crying, for mineta's anal beads and pervy romantic trope non-confession, for overhaul to pop up being his usual piece of shit self for no plot-relevant reason, for adult top heroes to stand around for chapters like "huh everything we're doing is awful. let's keep on trusting this smelly kid" and. a few panels for kacchan apology. no reaction. shoved among "idk u well mido but stay!" + ochaco making faces

4/4 (i lied) and all this after katsuki's distress and emotions were once more made into jokes at the hospital, emotional consequences of the war ignored, w all might probably dying and the last thing he did to this kid was ditch him leaving us to guess he maybe gives a shit abt him and maybe he bothered to visit in the hospital cuz they sure didn't show shit. i honestly feel like all katsuki stuff was shoved into the background: krbk friendship for mina, dkbk for ofa, name reveal for jokes...

okay, so I have talked in the past about fandom reacting like Miette whenever this stuff happens, and tbh this is basically what I mean by that anon. there is no reason whatsoever to assume that this is the one and only reaction we'll ever get from Deku regarding the apology and that it will never come up again. this is 100% going to be revisited. and tbh I think it's a smart move on Horikoshi's part, because if he gave us everything in this one chapter then what further development would there be to look forward to? he's gotta hold something back so that we have that one last milestone to anticipate in the rebuilding of their relationship. I've often said that for me me, Deku and Kacchan's story is the most important part of BnHA. and so it makes sense to me for Horikoshi to not completely resolve it until close to the end of the series, if not the very end.

I think this is a pretty good compromise honestly, because I wasn't even sure if we were going to get the apology itself before the finale. but this way we can head into the final battle with Kacchan having put all of his character development out there and not holding anything back, and it's nice to have that, and to have that reinforcement of just how far he's come, and how serious he is about his atonement. and so his feelings are finally all on the table now, and now it's all Deku.

and he deserves to have some time to work out how he feels about this and not be put on the spot to deliver a reaction, honestly. but to say it had "no impact whatsoever" is a huge overreaction imo. first of all, we saw the shock on his face -- he was absolutely floored. this was something he clearly never expected from Kacchan (which is why it was so important for Kacchan to actually say the words, in addition to taking action as he's already done -- because Deku needed to hear them, because he genuinely had no idea that Kacchan actually cared. and he deserves to know that, because Kacchan is one of the most important people in the world to him). not to mention that Deku kind of has a million other things on his mind right now. like we just had a whole entire arc about that lol. the apology isn't supposed to be for Kacchan's benefit; it's supposed to be for Deku's. so let him have the time to absorb it before he settles on what to say. Kacchan had all the time in the world to figure out his part of it, after all.

to me this is like a promise that there will be at least one last great, emotional, and deeply personal moment between the two of them. because when Deku finally does forgives him -- not that he hasn't already, imo, but once they finally have that conversation -- that shit is going to be so fucking cathartic, and tbh I'm glad Horikoshi didn't try to cram that into this chapter along with everything else that's currently going on. besides, I'd rather see that part of their reconciliation happen once Deku is more back to his normal self again; I feel like it would be more meaningful that way. right now he's too exhausted to be able to come up with any words. but he already has shown the best possible reaction I could have ever hoped for -- complete and utter relief and trust. Kacchan is the person he trusted enough that he could finally let go of his fears and anxieties -- if only for a moment -- and give into his exhaustion at long last, and that moment where he collapses and Kacchan runs to catch him has instantly become one of my favorites in the whole series.

so yeah, my apologies anon, but absolutely nothing is gonna spoil that for me, and I can't join you here in being even remotely disappointed with this chapter. well aside from the lack of hug lol (but I can be patient for that as well).

[tanenigiri]

Review #9: There Are Things I Can’t Tell You

Japanese title: キミに言えないことがある (Kimi ni Ienai Koto ga Aru)

Story and art: Edako Mofumofu

English publisher: Tokyopop

Number of volumes: 1 (complete)

What happens when the lack of communication goes too far?

(This review contains story spoilers.)

Quite a lot of the stories featured in this project have the lack of communication as a point of conflict between the main couple. Whether it’s someone letting his own judgments of the situation swallow up the conversation or a character failing to consider the other person’s reasons for his actions, many of these pairings take a while to realize that being open and honest about their feelings can go a long way in dealing with their issues. This, of course, isn’t limited to BL or even the romance genre as a whole, but it’s funny to take note of how many conflicts could’ve been resolved much sooner if the main characters just talked it out as clearly and honestly as they could.

Probably no other series among the ones I’m reviewing better embodies this conflict than There Are Things I Can’t Tell You - which, to be fair, you can probably expect from the title and cover art alone. But unlike most of the other stories that deal with lack of communication, this one takes this point of conflict to the extreme and presents it as something destructive. And the way the story presents this destruction is downright frustrating - but ultimately fascinating.

The story follows Kyousuke and Kasumi, two professionals in their late 20s who have been friends since they were in elementary school. Literally less than 10 pages into the first chapter, we’re already hit with the revelation that Kyousuke has developed feelings for his childhood friend, but we soon find out that Kasumi is in an affair with a married woman - something that Kyousuke is justifiably not supportive of, even without his own romantic feelings. When Kyousuke tries introducing Kasumi to other women and talking him out of the situation, though, we’re hit with what becomes the main source of conflict for this story - Kasumi had previously confessed to Kyousuke when they were in college, but the latter had rejected the former.

(Side-note, but I really like how this story utilizes its full-page panels. There’s one right before this page that’s great too.)

Note that everything I’ve mentioned above happens in the first chapter, so you can already tell how jam-packed this story will be. But in what is my favorite narrative decision of the manga, the next two chapters show the events that lead up to this interaction - including the breakup that Kasumi mentions - as well as the events that happen immediately after. But the second chapter is in Kyousuke’s perspective, while the third is in Kasumi’s.

Now this isn’t really anything groundbreaking - stories that take multiple perspectives are nothing new - but it’s a style I definitely think was necessary for a story that emphasizes the problems with the lack of communication. Throughout these two chapters, we see how Kyousuke and Kasumi help the other with their issues, and we’re treated to a nice parallel of how the same interactions affected them in ways that the other couldn’t even imagine. It’s a very simple technique, and I feel like I’m hyping it up way more than it deserves, but I do find it one of the main reasons why I still go back to rereading this story from time to time.

And in hindsight, I’m kind of surprised that this is one of the very few stories I’ve read so far that uses this technique - you would think that a genre that always has two leads would want to explore both of their stories equally. But outside of Sasaki and Miyano - and even there it’s not really done in the same way - almost all of the stories primarily take the perspective of one of the leads, with the other being initially shrouded in mystery that we as readers get to learn more about in the same pace as the main character. I definitely have no problems with this - in fact, when done well I find it one of the most compelling things about a story - but seeing a different approach to this “unfolding” with There Are Things I Can’t Tell You definitely elevated my reading experience.

The third chapter ends with Kyousuke being the one to confess to Kasumi, and while the latter initially accepts it, the very next chapter shows him ultimately rejecting it, with Kasumi going as far as saying that he doesn’t want Kyousuke to pity him anymore. There’s a lot of imagery at play behind this statement, one of the most important being how Kasumi sees Kyousuke as a “hero” for always being there for him at his lowest points. So to see Kasumi decide to turn away from this understandably breaks Kyousuke’s heart.

This is where the lack of communication aspect really becomes the whole frustrating-plus-fascinating blend that I mentioned earlier. On one hand, it’s frustrating because we as readers know that both of them are taking each other’s actions the wrong way, and that underneath all of the angst and misunderstanding, both of them genuinely love each other. We realize this pretty early on in the story, so to see Kyousuke go through another painful spiral is quite taxing. There was definitely a point when I was reading one of the later chapters where I went, “How did he interpret that in the worst way possible?”

But on the other hand, there are genuine, heartbreaking reasons why this lack of communication - and perhaps more notably, miscommunication - are even there in the first place. In the two chapters I rave about above, we find out how both Kyousuke’s and Kasumi’s families affected their respective views of love - and for Kyousuke, love between two men in particular. This gives him a very warped view of what he himself is experiencing, so he ends up rejecting Kasumi’s initial confession as a way to protect him from what Kyousuke still believes is wrong. It adds a lot of depth to what is, at the surface, a really weird decision.

Thanks to this story’s whole theme of miscommunication, though, Kasumi doesn’t realize the true depth of this rejection until much later on, and so he initially takes this at face value and believes Kyousuke when he tells him that what Kasumi is feeling isn’t love. It suddenly recontextualizes Kasumi’s affair and, more importantly, his eventual rejection of Kyousuke’s confession, as he wants Kyousuke to find happiness in love - which Kasumi still believes he can’t provide.

You’ll notice that this whole situation is, once again, a parallel between the two characters, and I think this is where There Are Things I Can’t Tell You excels. These parallels wouldn’t have landed as well as they did if the story didn’t take time to let them simmer in both our minds’ and the characters’. I haven’t changed my opinion that there’s a whole chapter-and-a-half of this story that’s downright frustrating to read, but I found myself accepting that frustration after rereading it - because it’s exactly what Kyousuke feels when he finally gets all the tools he needs to break the miscommunication barrier. And to see him succeed in the end is a whole other level of satisfying.

Random thoughts that I couldn’t fit elsewhere:

What did I say about this story being jam-packed again? And by this point, I haven’t even gotten the chance to talk about its overarching subplot - a major design project in Kyousuke’s work. There’s a lot of nice parallels between how Kyousuke handles this job and how he deals with his relationship with Kasumi, and I thought that his office life was a nice way to anchor the major beats in his personality - his sheer determination and his desire to be the best at everything. That part after the breakup where Kyousuke says he wants to keep himself busy so that he doesn’t think of Kasumi is such a nice bit of characterization, too.

It’s in this office setting where we also get to meet several minor characters in the story, most important of whom is Shimizu, Kyousuke’s superior. There’s a good scene between Kyousuke and Shimizu late into the story where the latter is cheering the former up about something that happens at work. It inadvertently also gives Kyousuke some resolve about his issues with Kasumi, and while it was a pretty typical mentor-mentee type of conversation, it was nice to have an outside say on the issue, even if it was more accidental than anything.

I thought the ending scene of the main story was sweet, giving us a glimpse of Kyousuke and Kasumi’s lives far into the future. Kyousuke getting an art installation of his own must mean that he did pursue his passion and ended up being successful with it, which he definitely deserves after all he’s been through, and I have no doubt that Kasumi had a hand behind Kyousuke's success.

(I also think these are their best hairstyles, and how we only got two-and-a-half pages of it is criminal.)

Thanks for reading! There Are Things I Can’t Tell You was one of those stories that I appreciated a lot more after rereading - there were certain cues and plot bits I missed the first time around that made the story make a lot more sense. It’s a simple but meaty story to unpack, and of course it doesn’t hold back on making you feel emotional.

[rainbow-bowtie]

Been a while since I’ve made a bnha post on this blog but I wanna talk abt 319 bc I just reread it and I have Thoughts. This probably won’t be very organized knowing me so I hope it makes sense lol

Firstly, I was so happy to see our class-a crew again. I didn’t realize just how much I missed them until I saw them all gathered together in the dorms. And of course the thing that brought them together was midoriya. It’s like aizawa said during the licensing exam arc: midoriya has a constant presence and influence on every member of the class, even when he isn’t with them

Their little meeting all comes together in this moment right here:

Every member of class-a is worried about deku. All they want to do is see him safe and sound, but they also all know him well enough to know that he isn’t going to be thinking of himself and his safety. So they come up with the best solution: tell him how much they care. Make contact with the heroes he’s with, and they eventually get to him. Also sidenote: ururaka looks absolutely gorgeous in that last panel

So they do exactly that. They “be a little pushy” and finally get into contact with endeavor to convince him to help. And one thing that felt so powerful to me was this panel right here

I’ll admit it was a little strange to see them all in their uniforms again bc it feels like it’s been so long, but I feel like that only added to the effect. They’re presenting themselves as one united front that won’t take no for an answer. Even bakugo has his uniform done up right, tie and all.

I feel like that really speaks to his development and how far he’s come from the bully we saw way back in the first volume. He’s able to work alongside others and be a part of team and even look the part too.

(A little bit of a tangent but I’ll admit, I didn’t like bakugo at first. I thought he was only a bully and an asshole and that he could never be anything else. I started to change my mind around the sports fest, when izuku talked about bakugos opening speech. He mentioned “the old kacchan” and that kinda forced me to realize that bakugo would be changing no matter what. Now he’s one of my favorites and I’m really proud of how far he’s come. But anyway, back to the chapter at hand)

Going back to the “united front” panel, another thing that really struck me was the looks on everyone’s faces, especially minas. She’s always very animated and dramatic with her expressions and body language, so it’s strange to see her so toned down and serious. Just a another reason why this panel sticks out to me

Anyway, moving on. We have iidas final speech before we return to the present where the class has joined deku

It’s a common thought among the fandom that iida is Class Dad, and we see that here. Deku is one of his best friends, so of course he’d “follow him wherever he decides to go.” It isn’t surprising that he’d say that for himself. But the fact that he speaks for the class as a whole, saying all of them would follow deku to the ends of the earth, that speaks volumes to me. That’s why I see this as a Class Dad moment and not just as best friend moment. He speaks for the class because he can, and he knows his class well enough to know that none of them will disagree. It’s touching just how much he cares, not only for deku, but for all of class-a

And I want to speak on the facial expressions of the rest of the class again. They all look mostly determined, but you can see they look a little sad as well. It’s especially clear to me on momo and todorokis faces. I feel like momo has probably found a way to blame herself or take responsibility for not seeing how much deku was dealing with (which is absolute bs. She didn’t notice anything because deku didn’t want her to. He didn’t want anyone to). Todoroki looks more angry and determined in the group shot, but that close up in the first panel. He’s upset that one of the only people he considers a friend would leave the class behind and be so reckless with himself. He honestly looks a little lost to me

This post has gotten a whole lot longer than I originally wanted/planned/expected so I’m gonna try to wrap it up quick oops. If you’ve read all the way through: thanks for sticking with me so far!! We’re almost at the end I promise!!

I’m putting these two sets together because I feel like they should be

At first dekus confused, and of course he is. Why are they here? How did they get here? How did they find him? And ururaka answers honestly and sincerely “because we’re worried.” Of course, dekus quick to reassure them “I’m ok” because that’s the kind of hero he wants to be. He’s said so many times before: he doesn’t want anyone to worry about him. But it’s obvious that he’s not ok and bakugos quick to point it out. He’s sarcastic and rude because that’s how he always acts towards deku. He wants things to go back to normal and he’s gonna do what he can to make sure they do

And the smiling thing. That’s something that’s been huge in this series since the beginning. deku wants to save people with a smile, but in these recent chapters, it honestly looks like he’s forgotten his dream. And once again, bakugos quick to say something. He’s the one who’s known deku the longest and (arguably) knows him the best, so it makes since that he’d be the one to remind deku of his dream. It’s another way of trying to get back to normal

And now these two panels. They’re absolutely heartbreaking

Dekus changed so much and not in a positive way. His friends have tried talking, but that hasn’t done shit, so they’re going to help the only way they can: beating the self care into deku like their lives depend on it. They’re hero students, they’re “actions” people not “talking” people. As much as it hurts me, the only way I can see this ending is with a fight

I know this post has been long as shit but if you read it all the way through, thank you so much!! Feel free to let me know your thoughts and theories about this past chapter or about anything I said <3

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

The Voyage So Far: Wano (Part One)

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

shirahoshi seeing the sun for the first time is really a relatively minor and understated thing, among all the chaos and revelations of reverie, but it strikes me as one of the most meaningful little moments in the arc. 

i LOVE the luffy fanclub. i love that a meeting of the world leaders winds up being a who’s-who with assorted friends of one of the world’s most notorious criminals, and it brings me SO much joy to see them meeting each other and being able to connect. i feel the same way about coby and rebecca meeting.

in general, and i think i said this at marineford too, i love that the one piece world is developed and interconnected and alive enough to allow for these sorts of interactions. 

fucked up that this was almost a hundred chapters ago and we still have no clue what the fuck was up with this, isn’t it? 

i do find the introduction of im fascinating. up until this point we’ve had two presumed final villains- blackbeard and akainu- who were first established pretty far back at jaya and enies lobby (in robin’s flashback) respectively. meanwhile, im isn’t even seen until chapter nine hundred and something. it feels very late-game, but at the same time, their existence doesn’t contradict anything previously established, and in fact jives pretty well with a lot of information more recently revealed in dressrosa. 

in any case, when in doubt i do trust oda knows what he’s doing when handling his story, and i’m very excited to see what he does with this.

wano is SO PRETTY. i mentioned this before in fishman island, but i think wano is definitely the prettiest setting in the series to date. i think it’s obvious oda was both very excited to draw it and put a lot of work and research into his depiction of it, and wow does it pay off. wano is so bursting with life and detail, and frequently looks like an ukiyo-e painting come to life, and just- wow wow wow.

i love zoro and luffy’s reunion so much... i love how happy they are to see each other. it’s only been, what, a couple weeks in-universe? but luffy is pulling the full tackle-hug like he did for sabo at dressrosa. i love them.

i really like the outfits in wano, too!! zoro’s ronin look in particular i think suits him very well, and i also love luffy’s patchy yukata and robin’s geisha getup and they’re just very cool. this also applies to the non-strawhat wano characters, for the record, and kind of ties back to what i was just saying about wano being so full of detail. it has a very specific look, and everything from the outfits to the way things like the fire and the waves are drawn folds very neatly into that aesthetic. 

as i’m writing this i just finished on the paramount war posts, so with that fresh on my mind, i have to say i really like the way ace (or rather, his memory) is incorporated into wano. he’s not really a major presence- that is, the fact that he was there before luffy has no real bearing on the plot. but there are people who knew and cared about him and remember him fondly, tama and yamato, and it just really helps add to this feeling that ace was a person and his life and death had real and lasting affects. 

and it adds, too, to the fact that even if it took ace way too long to realize it, he was so thoroughly loved everywhere he went. 

i have a lot of thoughts on the intersection of food and heroism in one piece (i keep trying to compile a coherent meta post on the subject and mostly failing). but i’ll settle for saying that in wano luffy is a hero by his own definition, as someone who shares food with others, and i doubt he realizes that, but i think it’s really interesting. 

i know luffy’s fight with kaidou is kind of controversial in fandom but i love it, personally. it feels like a logical outcome for luffy to get his ass kicked the first time he tries to go up against a yonkou singlehandedly! he got wrecked when he tried to throw down with a shichibukai the first time, too, and this is just the next logical step from that. 

luffy’s always been an underdog starting from nowhere and working his way up and up and up, and i love that for him. of course he’s going to get messed up the first time he tries punching an entire order of magnitude above his weight class. and then he’s going to get up and try again, and again, and again until he wins. 

the act structure of wano is really neat, i think. it helps such a long and complicated arc feel a lot more structured and less interminable than it might otherwise, and it also gives specific breaks where we can cut away to the story happening on the outside world. 

honestly i really like the whole udon prison segment. it’s fun! i like it for similar reasons i like the colosseum mini-arc in dressrosa, honestly, which is that there’s no real stress because we know luffy is the scariest person there by a country mile so we can just watch him go ham, and that’s fun. it consistently cracks me up that absolutely nobody is worried luffy’s in jail. they’re all just like “yeah, he’ll be fine.” and they’re right! he’s having the time of his life!

wano’s cast is fascinating, because almost nobody is who they first appear to be. almost everyone is wearing masks, whether literal or not- fitting, for an arc structured after a kabuki play. everyone is playing roles, from hiyori to denjirou to kanjurou to yasuie, and everyone lies. 

this entire sequence at orochi’s party is one of my favorites in the whole arc- in fact, it was my favorite, until we reached a certain part i’ll get to in the next post. everything from komurasaki standing up for toko and slapping orochi to denjirou “killing” her to robin getting caught by the oniwabanshu and dissolving into petals to nami calling down a massive lightning bolt to cover their escape- it’s really good. 

i’ve written extensively before about the smile fruits and the themes of smile and laughter in one piece and how important the freedom to feel and express emotion is. suffice it to say that for all the atrocities orochi commits against the people of wano, it’s feeding the smile fruits to the people of ebisu town that is his greatest crime, and the revelation of just what happened to those poor people ratchets up the tragedy of wano tenfold.

i do think it’s interesting to think about how if denjirou had been just a little less committed to his role, zoro would’ve killed orochi right here. it really drives home that orochi is nothing- he’s weak, he’s cowardly, he’s just lucky and clever and cruel enough to be able to get much more powerful people to do his work for him. 

it’s infuriating that someone like him has been able to hold such power over the lives of the people of wano and ruin them so thoroughly, and that’s exactly the point. 

wano is the arc where oda says you Will care about the supernovas and i’m like yeah

hey, another of my all-time favorite luffy panels!! i honestly just think this one sums him up as a character in a line more than almost any other- “i’m always free.” 

just look at the detail on kidd’s metal hand holy shit holy shit. on occasion certain panels jump out at me that remind me that oda really is just, a genius at drawing on a technical level, even setting aside his writing and storytelling chops, and this is one of them. 

oda is really, really good at creating the sense of a darkest hour- a time when all hope seems lost. the other best example in the series is in water seven, when the crew seems to be falling to pieces, merry is marked for death, robin’s gone, and the aqua laguna is coming. here, too- nobody comes to meet the akazaya nine, and the one chance they’ve waited twenty years and staked their lives on seems in danger of slipping through their fingers-

but the point of making it so all seems lost is so that when hope does appear, it shines all the brighter, and feels all the more triumphant. it’s always darkest before the dawn, and we all know how wano has been waiting for the dawn. 

[popculturebuffet]

Blacksad: Somewhere In the Shadows Review

Hello you beautiful people! I have a WEIRD relationship with Noir. It’s weird because i’ve never really dived into the films of type, though I really should, But as a kid I absolutely LOVED the tracer bullet arcs in Calvin and Hobbes, where everyone’s favorite hyperactive and imaginative six year old would plant himself as the hero in a noir pastiche.. ironically like myself Bill Watterson was also not a huge noir buff and just relied on Cliches but hey, it worked. 

Still love these. So from fourth grade on it imprinted a lifelong love of a good bit of detective noir. Not enough to you know, get me to read any traditional noir books or watch any noir tv shows or detective procedurals but I still love a good mystery from time to time and some of my favorite comics such as Howard the Duck by Chip Zdarksy and Peter David’s second run on x-factor run on the genre while having fun with it’s cliches. 

I also love anthropormphic animal stories. Dunno why, I just do, so once I found out about Blacksad, a comic that combines disney quality art from a former disney animator with gripping, adult noir that rips your heart out... I couldn’t resisit trying it. Telling the tale of John Blacksad, a cynical private detective and the cases he steps into via gorgeous, straight out of a disney storyboard art, the series is by  Juan Díaz Canales (writer) and Juanjo Guarnido (artist), the latter a former Disney artist who worked on several Disney films, meeting in the 90′s while working on licensed works and hitting it off, leading to this series.  That’s.. really all I could find about the making of the series in English. The only other fact is the series is designed for first release in France, which has a huge comics market, hence the various volumes being called “Albums”, with them later being released in Spain and then english, currently in the latter through Dark Horse Comics, who last year collected the current 5 albums and some side stories into one big volume. And with Dark Horse having infrequent sales including Blacksad on comixology it’s easy enough to pick up all 5 volumes in one complete package on digital for 9 bucks, as it is right now. Seriously I’m not trying to shill for Comixology or Dark Horse, I just love these comics and suggest picking them up. The creators DO intend on new volumes... it’s just both have been busy with other work so they’ve been stuck in development hell since 2013. However given there have always been, if much smaller, the biggest being 5 years, gaps between the Albums, I don’t think the series is dead quite yet and with Dark Horse fully backing it, taking the series from only two volumes getting translated to both translating the first four AND translating the fifth within a year of it’s release, we’ll undoubtly get the next one quickly. The series has also spawned a game, Under the Skin, which i’ll probably also cover some day as i’m dying to play it, but i’m waiting for a sale because it’s around 30 bucks and I can wait. It’s also been nominated for an Eisner three times to no suprise and has had fans in Stan Lee, Jim Steranko, Tim Sale and Will freaking Eisner. Yes the GUY the awards were named after liked the series.  So yeah, I love this series and highly support it, but the thought of covering it hadn’t occrued to me.. in part because I already had three comic retrsopectives going, my looks at The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Scott Pilgrim and New X-Men, and simply because I just hadn’t thought of it till Kevin, frequent patron and comissioner of the blog whose paid for tons of reivews, suggested covering the second Album, Arctic Nation, which has our hero searching for a missing little girl he feels has been taken by the titular white supramacist movement.. and if your wondering “Wait how the fuck does that work their animals”, John is black coded due to his black fur, while the white suprmacists are all Arctic Animals.. a touch I really like as I’d honestly never thought of that as a metaphor but it fits like a glove, especially given that most white furred arctic mamals are pretty agressive looking. So yeah I’ll be covering that one next month for Black History Month, among many other things, but I felt I wanted to cover the series in order and since again, it’s only the second of five and I had a free space on the schedule. So without further adew, join me somewhere in the shadows and under the cut as we enter the world of one John Blacksad. 

We open as you’d expect for a Noir with a heady narration and a murder. John was brought in by Smirnov, the chief of police and an old aquantice who serves as his Commissioner Gordon. Since the victim is John’s ex, he was brought in to see if he knows anything and as you’d expect warned not to look into it further, as John dosen’t buy this was a simple robbery. His response is exactly what you’d expect. 

I mean.. what did you expect? You called him out of bed to see his former lovers corpse, KNOWING he’s one hell of detective, dosen’t give up on things easy, and would probably be curious. For him to say “Cool gonna go smoke some reefer and take in a looney tunes short at the theater, call me when you find the murderer?” Also  this series takes place in the 50s. Because of course it does. 

So John goes back to his office to brood, reflecting that the office feels like the remains of an ancient civlization because “It seems to be all that remains of the civlized person I used to be”. Hell of a line. 

We then get his backstory with the victim, Natalia. She’s a famous actress, who John first as a younger man when hired to investgate some death threats she’d received with a boquet of flowers. John shows off just how good he is at his job in just a few panels. 

IT not only shows in just a few panels just how ferocious our hero can be when needed and how good he is at his job, easily having tracked down the man responsible and scared him shitless without breaking as sweat, but how fucking gorgeous the art is. I meant it when I brought up the old disney comparison, as Steranko even mentioned in his introduction to the collection of the first three volumes how it looks like animation cels on the page. IT’s utterly breathtaking and ONLY gets even more lush and beautiful as the series goes on and perfectly fits the noir stylings with it’s realisim, making it’s animal characters feel utterly human and real while still keeping their animal traits in perfect detail. 

John impressed her, and as we see in the next page under his narration they not only had really steamy passionate sex, and why yes we do see them naked even if the bits are covered it’s still very much nsfw and we saw Natalia’s naked corpse earlier, so that ship had already sailed anyway, with Natalia taking him on both as her lover and her on staff detective and the two were much in love.. until the fame apparenlty got to her judging from the visuals, and the realtionship fell apart. 

Before we move on i’d like to talk about the narration which CAN be a bit overwrought here or there and is a bit overused.. but does have it’s mometns of being utterly effective as with above, contrasting John’s statments about a sucessful job and being hired on.. with the beginnings of his and Natalia’s relationship and their passionate lovemaking. IT’s not BAD and it works for the setting, but it can be distracting, but thankfully the series levels this out as we go and they learned from it so no harm done. Just the kinda thing that happens early in a series life when the creators are getting a handle on things, so no harm done. 

But naturally John isn’t going to take the love of his life, responsible for the happiest days of said life, being brutally murdered lying down and is going to find the bastard who did this. So he goes to an old friend, Jake Ositombe, a championship boxer and Nat’s former bodyguard who he recommended to her. Given we see him knock the shit out of his opponent without the slightest effort, yeah good call. Also yes we share the same name and no it’s not weird to type about another Jake, adventure time sorta.. knocked that out of me. Jake dosen’t know much since she fired him a long time ago as one of her lovers hired private security, and the last one he knew of was a guy by the name of Leon.  John, naturally, easily finds the guy’s apartment, Leon Kronkski, a screenwriter.. but also rules him out as the guy lived in a humble apartment and clearly didn’t have the cash to hire his own hired goons. 

He does find a clue, a matchbook for some place called the Cypher Club.. and another when the man’s sweet  mouse landlady shows up, who John charms by pretending to be Leon’s friend and flashing a big smile, finding out a msyterious man with “big bulging eyes”, took him. This scene also to me is great in subtly showing off John’s skill. While the previous flashback showed how badass he is, shoving a gun down the throat of a stalking wannabe murderer with pure rage in his eyes.. here we see a lighter approach, how despite his serious and dour nature.. he easily slips into being cheery and looking like an average joe off the street. He bluffs the landlady not because the plot says so.. but because like any PI he’s just that good at slipping into whatever roll he needs to get the info he needs. He can be his dour self or a charming happy go lucky guy without missing a beat. 

So with that he goes to the studio leon worked for where his boss.. is a walrus j jonah jameson?

But yeah J. Jonah Walruson wants pictures of spider-man.. moving pictures.. but he can’t film them with his star dead and his screenwriter indefintiely gone, with the same bulging eyed man having told JJ he’d be gone indefintely. Nothing suspicious about that!

So naturally John’s next plan is to find the guy.. who is already after him as you’d expect with both a knife to slash at our hero with and the fog covering him so he can hit and run. But unluckily for him .. well i’ll let john say it...

John  headbutts the myserious snake, who only managed to get his coat before and tries to interogate him.. but gets a quick jab to the gut and the guy gets away. 

We soon meet our big bag, who has a big speech about insects and things being usefufl.. and once they stop being useful.. they become dead and collectable, telling the snake man to back off John.. and sending his right hand man to go take care of the Snake who apparently took something from the office. Realizing his numbers up the Snake Man goes to a lizard bar, picks up a package from a friend and runs out the back, knowing he’s being followed.. and we get some hints there’s also racial tension between lizards and mammials here as the bartender, said friend, has the entire bar circle around the guy preventing him from following our mysterious bulging eyed man. 

Meanwhile John goes to the Cipher Club, a wretched hive of scum and villiany. Given Nat was a glamorous movie star, it’s very clear she was here to hide from something or someone, and the bartnender, a wild pig. 

No not you sweetie. The wild pig tells John leon was indeed here and a local rat, in both senses of the word, offers to take John to him.. though understandably John is supscious of the guy he just met in a seedy bar taking him anywhere except to get some heroin. Did Heroin exist yet? Questions for later. But he’s got a case so he follows. Though suprisingly the guy DOES actually come through and it’s not ENTIRELY a trap: he takes john to a tomb for Noel Krinsok.. an anagram for Leon’s name. Unsuprisingly he’s dead. And also unsuprisingly, two hired goons

Show up. As I said not ENTIRELY a trap but it’s obvious given the rat split moments before that our mysterious big bad knew where john would be headed next, and thus while giving him a clue, also set him up to get his head knocked in. And while John is badass.. these guys are a bear and a rhino,  both stronger, bigger, and with suprise on their size, as well as a tombstone to knock john’s head into. They easily beat him senseless and hope he got the message, though john gives a defiant fuck you before being punched out for it. He returns home, feeling like he’s aged 20 years “But no one respects the elderly anymore”, PFFT, and heads home to his rathole, not literally this time, apartment to lay on his cot and think as he gets some rest. 

And while the trail for Leon is cold. our mysterious murderer accidently tipped his hand: only someone with a LOT of money and influence could make a man disappear like this, and it tracks with what we’ve seen so far. The guy has multiple henchman and despite being a big star with plenty of clout, Natalia had to hide in a dive bar just to get away from him and even THEN clearly wasn’t so lucky given she and her new lover both wound up dead.  But Blacksad has bigger problems.. he wakes up in a jail cell.

Turns out Smirnkov had him arrested.. but for his own protection as the case is getting too hot and while he was late on that front given John’s face is hamburger, it’s clear from his tone and demeanor that while he may of been harsh with John earlier.. the two are old friends, and the Chief is simply worried about him winding up dead, and John takes you know being thrown in prison in stride. Which while not a bad scene it is a BIT suspect that a black coded character was thrown in jail for nothing and it’s treated very lightly and as a simple protection between friends, though given they wouldn’t think of coding john like that till next volume, I brush it off as accidental implications in hindsight. 

Smirnkov though also called John here.. because he needs his help. Since Natalia’s Murder Case is pointing very high up, so his superiors have ordered him to bury the case and as he puts it “the bastards know where to squeeze”. And given in volume 3 we learn Smirnov has a wife and children, it’s very obvious where they squoze and to the volume’s credit while we don’t know that yet it’s VERY clear from Smirnov’s body language they went after some form of family. So while he has to give it up.. John does not. So he brought him to jail to offer a proposal: John goes after this son of a bitch and nails him to the wall.. and Smirnov will FULLY protect John no matter what he has to do.  Now naturally given the rightful reckoning for police that’s been going on for almost a year, this SHOULDN’T play well. You have an officer outright telling an outside party that he and his boys will cover up his crimes. But.. honestly even in that framework.. it still works. That’s because.. the system has failed here. The higher up and more corrupt cops put pressure on the honest and hardworking family man Smirnov to stop a legitimate investigation into a horrible murderer.. because the guy is rich. And even now we’ve seen time and time again how rich assholes effortlessly escape the consequences of their action: How our own president who actively asked other nations to interfere in our election escaped his first impeachment trial, but hopefully not the second, aquitted. How Jeffery Epstien took YEARS to bring down with his years of ellicit parties involving innocent women and children he fucking enslaved. How Bill Cosby got away with all kinds of sexual assault for decades. The rich are often literally above the law in this country, so having a down on his luck detective, who retroactively himself is a minority, go after him with the full support of an actually GOOD police officer who genuinely believes in these people being held accountable but is held back by his family’s safety.. it works. John isn’t able to skirt consequences BECAUSE of a corrupt system.. but because the system’s so broken and slanted in the rich’s favor, that the ONLY option an honest officer like Smirnov has is to go outside it. And when asked WHY he’s doing all of this, Smirnov merley replies

... I got chills, their multiplyin. So John plans to find the bulge eyed snake after a hot shower.. only for the guy to hold a gun to John’s head, having been waiting for him and wave the murder weapon, in a baggie around, the item he had retrieved, feeling John’s trying to replace him as number two. However before he can do anything our snake  pal is shot full of holes by the rat from before, who John dispatches with his own gun. 

So the Snake starts to expire.. but feels a kinship with John “We are nothing right cat? Spent so much time waiting for the right chance and when it happens it all falls to pieces”. The Snake explains his roll in things: He was one of the private security our big bad hired to guard Natalia. But being supscious he also hired the rat to follow her around, and thus found out about her affair, brutally torturing and murdering Leon and shooting Natalia in the head. And we finally get a name as our snake friend tragically expires. 

The snake’s death and tragic dying moments are something I forgot about.. but damn if their not really good writing, taking a character who before was seemingly just a murderous goon.. and comparing him to our hero. Another working class joe, and one who just caught up with the wrong asshole at the wrong time. He easily could’ve been john in another life and vice vers and it’s a good parallel. 

So John’s nightmares finally have  name and he naturally goes to confront the guy since he has an almost literal get out of jail free card. Turns out Smirnov is the richest man in town, and has his own big tower. Huh.. sounds familiar, and John simply sneaks his way up and once Statoc’s guards from before hear him rustling about.. sneaks up on them and clocks both one at at time with a fire extinqusher. 

Statoc warmly welcomes our hero inside, and has the fucking lizard balls, as he’s some sort of lizard himself, to offer John a JOB

I mean he’s clearly lost a lot of his goons and most of them were incompetent. He fails to realize that John can’t be bought, is here for vengeance and has no intention of selling his soul to some rich asshole who killed someone he loved for the creepiest and most asinine reasons imaginable. He says john’s Concisence is why he can’t pull the trigger and that he lacks “cold blood”.. before we cut to the next page, where John’s shot the fucker in the head and left a gaping hole where his lack of a brain was. 

And again what makes this work is the aftermath: John is clearly shaken, having ONLY been able to pull the trigger beause of Statoc’s smug grin and clearly not taking the sight of Statoc’s dead body bleeding out well. And while Smirnov keeps his word, covers for him despite the two guards clearly providing an iron clad argument against john and knoiwng thier blatantly covering this up.. he’s not happy about it. 

This is WHY the narrtive still works. Statoc stacked the law against the bad guys. .but despite this being a necessary evil.. it’s still an evil and subverting teh law at this rightly leaves him not in a great place mentally. John himself isn’t even if he plays it off as otherwise, as we get our final bit of narration and one hell of a closing line. 

Final Thoughts:

Somewhere in the Shadows is a bit rough around the edges, leaning a bit too heavily into the noir pastiche and Blacksad being a harboiled detective, something the next volume would ease up on. That being said.. it’s still a masterpiece, with gorgeous art and masterful pacing. While it’s the shortest of the stories, like those after it the pacing is sublime and never feels like it has any down moments or stuff that could’ve been cut, and the mystery keeps you on edge the whole time. Having forgot a lot of the details since last read I was on the edge of my seat the entire story and loving every second of it. Somewhere in the Shadows is the perfect starter for the series, introducing an important charcter in Smirnov and the noir nature and giving us a case personal to John so we can see who he was before, what he is now.. and what he WILL be for the rest of the series. The moment that MADE him into an even harder man than the one we follows here.. when he took a life in cold blood. A masterful story, seriously check it and the other volumes out, on comixology, in stores, great stuff. Next time we look into john and as I said, he’s taking down some racists and we also meet his sidekick weekly for the first time. As for me tommorow I dive back into my Tom Luictor retrospective but hit pause on our boy for a bit to take care of some of the larger plot.   Until the next rainbow, it’s been a pleasure.