#i mean technically spoilers but this is basically episode 1 stuff

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

My memory is terrible so I wanted to do a breakdown of my stuff every once in a while. Might be monthly, might be whenever I feel like it. And also. Spoilers and opinions below, read at your own risk.

QL - Currently Watching

🇯🇵I Hear the Sunspot [1/12] - I'm so grateful that I get a new jbl just as I'm mourning the end of the last one. I didn't read this manga but I've watched the film, and I really liked it even if it felt unfinished. Hopefully with 12 episodes it means we get the full story. This was a very good first episode, I feel like we established the main relationships dynamics and got a good insight into the main characters core. Taichi is my new child.

🇹🇭 Knock Knock, Boys! [6/12] - I continue to enjoy this group. Jane turned out to be a great addition instead of what I feared, but Peak really needs to step up so I can keep rooting for him and Thanwa, cause I'm also not a huge fan of the ex coming back as an obstacle for the couple. Latte and Almond are really great together and I'm curious how Almond will deal with his feelings for Latte, when he actually realizes he's having them.

🇹🇭Love Sea [4/12] - Before anything else, I love the ocean and I love when shows get out of the city. Also I like Mut. Now. I'm not a Mame hater. I'm a 'trauma is the only way to write deep characters' hater. I'm also a 'trauma gives you an excuse to be an asshole' hater. But most of all, I'm very much a 'love will fix you' hater. So just don't give me 3 out of 3 and it's fine. Also this last episode, all the talk about money and contracts made me feel some kind of way, although it doesn't seem to bother Mut so... And as much I like having Aya on my screen, Mook is really testing that line between cute and incredibly annoying. I'm not sure how long I'm staying with this one.

🇹🇭My Love Mix-Up! [4/12] - So... this is not good. The technical aspects of this are actually bad. Considering the number of sponsors is actually kinda incredible that it's so badly put together. The sound, the lighting, the editing, overall just... not good. Now, the rest. Look I don't want to ruin anybody's fun, so I'll keep watching this one quietly, unless something outrageous happens. But for the record, and this is all I'm gonna say, they are ruining the best parts of these characters and this story, and even if I ignore that (which I can't because it's an adaptation), it's pandering and it's a lazy attempt at recapturing the magic of msp, with a worse script and recycled material. Also I cannot believe they didn't put Atom in a trashing bag.

🇹🇭 My Stand-In [1/12] - For a number of reasons I'm waiting to binge this one. I do love watching the gifs on my dash though, pretty is pretty.

🇯🇵Ossan no Pants ga Nandatte Ii Janai ka! [9/11] - It's so good. I love them all. This last episode I was close to tears in several parts but the street proposal ended me. It's definitely one of those shows that I'm grateful that I get to watch even if I can't always find the words to talk about it. These characters have my whole heart. [everyone should be watching this and the wonderful @isaksbestpillow has made that possible with her subs. Here is the post with the latest episode. ]

🇹🇭SunsetxVibes [3/12] - It's ridiculous, it's fun, it's cute. Sun is such a simp. Man basically proposed before they were even dating. And yeah the way it started was not amazing, with the lying, but these two actually communicate about their expectations and what they're feeling which is better than a lot of shows right now. And I adore the sides.

🇹🇭The Rebound [2/12] - Everyone is gay and naked. And they play a sport of some kind.

🇹🇭The Trainee [1/12] - OffGun are back! I really liked the set up for this. It's only the first episode but I really like how they are walking the line between the comedy and the seriousness of the workplace. I love a good friend group so I'm looking forward to seeing how the relationships between all the interns grow. Poon is once again playing the silly brainless child of the pack but I don't care, I adore that kid for some reason. And next week we already got Gun crying so what's not to like?

🇹🇭 Wandee Goodday [10/12] - I already talked about my feelings regarding the last episode. I'm here for Oyei/Cher and Plakao. I love Inn and Great, they deliver with the chemistry but the DeeYak storyline is just a mess for me right now. I am also not looking forward to the inevitable redemption of the terrible parental figure.

🇹🇭 We Are [13/16] - The friendships are still great and mainly why I'm watching. I have a really good time watching those scenes. Only 3 episodes left and ChainPun continue to be the tinniest of crumbs. I don't expect much from this couple at this point and I'm a bit disappointed. FangTan are so cute and such good communicators. They are my favourites. QToey are cute. Now, Phum and Peem. Look PondPhuwin are really good at looking at each other like they're the only person in the universe. However. There's only so many times I can enjoy them staring at each other in slow mo. Once per episode oughta be enough I think. Hopefully now that they're actual boyfriends it gets a little less annoying.

QL - Finished

🇯🇵25 Ji, Akasaka de - What an incredible journey. I have to say it has been a while since a show surprised me this much, for the positive. For most of it I wasn't sure where it was gonna go or how it would end or who would be doing the running. The way they played with the show within a show was so well done. I loved the change in pov, which I always love in jbls, but it not only gave us the opportunity to see how Hayama's crush started but also we were allowed to see behind the mask that Hayama had been keeping up. Speaking of. I love him, one of my favourite characters of the year. And Komagine Kiita did an incredible job. I can't wait to watch him again when Tengu returns. If I had to say, the one thing I wish I had was more of Shirasaki's backstory. I wanted to understand better why his self-esteem got that bad. But that ending was great and honestly, I earned it.

🇵🇭Marahuyo Project - Well that was excellent. This show is beautiful. I want to hug them all and walk next to them. I really don't have the words for it right now so just go watch it. Because these characters are incredible and the visuals are stunning. All episodes here.

🇹🇭 Only Boo! - This is getting tiresome. Here it goes. Why? It was so great. They were the cutest shit and I had a smile on my face the entire episode. Even with the singing. It was wholesome and the mains delightful. And then... Heartbreak, time skip, no consequences, unearned happy ending. I mean Moo is a great character still, and Kang is the best boy, but I'm tired.

Rose Watches OJBL

Mood Indigo (2019) - I liked this one slightly better than the first. I think the visuals are stronger and there are some incredible shots throughout. The sex scenes are some of the best shot that I've ever seen. I love Kijima so even though I'm not always on board with prequels, it was great that we got more insight into him. Obviously we know this relationship was doomed from the start, and Kido has a lot to do with how we find Kijima in the beginning of The Novelist, but I can't help but feel for Kido. He is a mess that is struggling between the expectations that are on him (put there by others but also himself) and the affection and desire he feels for Kijima. And even without watching The Novelist there is always an air that this will not end well. For lack of a better phrase, it just wasn't meant to be. I'm looking forward to watching the rest of this series.

Dangerous Drugs of Sex (2020) - One of my first thoughts when I was watching this was 'we are using the word unhinged too freely'. Cause Ryoji has little competition on that score. This is not an easy watch. I really liked the way it was shot even if at times that meant my view was too narrow so I couldn't look anywhere else but the 'uglier' parts. In completely different ways they were both stuck in an uncomfortable (yeah that's not really the best word but I can't think of another) place and I could feel that throughout. I'm not sure about the ending but they look happy, so what do I know?

Other - Watched

There's a lot airing so I didn't watch much outside ql. I finished Under the Skin and rewatched a couple of things. My watchlist got longer and I have a bunch of shows that I'll hopefully tackle during my summer holiday in July. Speaking of...

There is a lot coming next month, so here is a post with all the shows that have been announced for July that I updated to include Meet You at the Blossom that was recently announced. New jbl starts tomorrow!!!!

As usual my ask box is open for questions or requests. Have a wonderful week💜

[digi-lov]

Alright guys here's my spoiler free opinion on Digimon Liberator Episode 0 and 1, and with spoilers under the cut.

Also starting next week I will also reblog Digimon Liberator stuff with the tag #Digimon Liberator spoilers, so make sure to blacklist/filter that if you want!

Ok, so I feel like the series had a good start! (besides the technical issues, but they fixed them within the first day)

To me, the main characters felt likable from the start! Both of them being passionate about Digimon (and the card game), and being in their late teens, makes them more relatable to the current audience of Digimon.

The art is great, love the colors, the characters are very expressive— And I think they did a good job visualizing the card game play.

Even if you don't know how the game works, it's simple enough to follow, and there are basic explanations when needed. With the colors and expressions and everything, it just all looks fun and it is fun to read!

While I don't have a lot of experience reading webcomic, and thus can't really compare it, I felt the artist used the layout of the vertcial medium well! I also felt like Chapter 1 had a decent length, considering its bi-weekly release, it didin't feel like we didn't get enough content for the wait.

Maybe I'm just a little too excited about another Digimon series, but I'm very much looking forward to reading more!

Ok for those who read it or don't mind spoilers

Something that really stood out to me is that the Digimon themselves just look really great!

Like I said above, the visual representation of the card game mechanics is done really well, and looks great!

I am also curious if the characters will continue to have multiple partner digimon? I love Muchomon and Junkmon as partners, and I how Pteromon and Shoemon don't completely replace them!

They also set up a decent amount of intrigue- Owen seems to be famous and popular, but Zenith is a newcomer who quickly rose up! He also participated in the Liberator beta! What kind of person is he, and how did he get to play the beta if he is new to the game? Who is the pretty mystery girl? Looking at promotional material she appears to be partnered with a Sunalizamon.

What is going on with that rogue NPC? Why are they chasing Shoemon? What's up with Pteromon? What does it mean by "This is my Island!"?

I don't know what to say guys, I'm just happy for more Digimon content in my life

[lunarisverysilly]

Silly Helluva Boss Rant/Critic

!Spoiler Warning!

NOTE: I Am NOT A Professional Writer, This Is My OPINION On Season 2. If Opinions Trigger You, Dont Read.

i have so much to say about this stupid show oh my gosh where do i even start?

honestly i just miss the older episodes of the show, like season 1, when it was just silly demon comedy and viv wasnt trying to add depth to the characters. even though originally i liked the idea of more depth in the show when episode 7 happened. but clearly viv doesnt know how to write characters. blitz(obviously cuz hes the main character) and verosika(somehow) are the only half decent characters imo. but thats not saying much

i love the shorts though. they feel like mini season 1 episodes.

in episode 7, it introduced a conflict between stolas and blitz. but then it put it off the ENTIRE SEASON til full moon which was 8 episodes. and in those 8 episodes, blitz and stolas just acted like nothing happened?? no mention of it at all?

and full moon was hyped up so much for what? there was like 5 minutes of actual stolitz. the entire episode was basically about the cherubs, agents, and blitz buying sex toys.

and all the conflict is so fucking forced. all these fucks need to do is communicate omg. like in full moon , if stolas let blitz talk to him at the end, we'd be done. blitz clearly has a hard time opening up and being vunerable but he was about to actually talk with stolas BUT NO stolas teleports him outside so they can stretch it on a couple more episodes! and then in sinsmas when stolas and octavia are fighting if octavia just listened, it would be over. but of course, we still need more drama even though the show was better WITHOUT it.

mastermind wasnt all that good tbh. i feel like it needed more time. and the fake out deaths bored me. viv already confirmed that the end of season 1 would have canon stolitz so obviously they werent gonna kill blitz or stolas. but andrealphus' plan made no sense. like, it completely depended on stolas watching tv at the exact time the broadcast happened and there being no live delay. comedy was actually pretty good though. and the stolas poor arc seems fun.

and the only slightly good that came out of the stolitz mess was ghostfuckers(aka the millie episode) cuz blitz was sad abt stolas. but im very glad we got that because i started watching around like episode 2 release(which means i waited 4 YEARS) and i always really liked millie(i love strong women) and im actually quite happy with it even if blitz was still technically in the spotlight more. but also shes pregnant. wow. but i feel like the show needed something like that. because i doubt they can stretch the octavia and stolas shit a whole seasons length. so their gonna need something else to bring drama because they love drama.

and unhappy campers. i fucking hate unhappy campers. it baited everyone into thinking it was the millie episode. but she says like two lines that mean something for her character. and moxie felt so ooc too. it was so unfunny. i watched it straight faced. season 2 hasnt been focused on comedy as much as before and its obvious. but usually i at least let out a small chuckle once or twice. BUT NOT THIS EPISODE. and the barbie wire stuff felt shoved in. it literally came out of nowhere. it was just such a shit episode entirely.

fucking stolas used to be my favorite character but all the self-victimizing shit was so annoying especially in apology tour. he said blitz made him uncomfortable but what about all the times he made others umcomfortable? like in harvest moon, when he called blitz blitzy in front of everyone and blitz is clearly embarrassed?? and when he started talking about blitz' dick IN FRONT OF HIS DAUGHTER??? stop acting like a victim, stolas. you arent. i think maybe he got a little better in sinsmas but barely. and this isnt story related, but stolas' voice actor has such a good vocal range?? like the apology tour song blew me away. i love his voice so much.

oh my god, dont get me started on how viv treats octavia.. i used to love octavia and still kinda do... but now theres 3 episodes of just her being mad at her father and its getting REALLY repetitive. and yea, she does have the right to be mad at him because stolas sacrificed himself for blitz, thinking he would die(even if he didnt) which probably hurt her a lot. but i was hoping sinsmas would show us more of her as a person, like her hobbies(ig they showed her singing but so does everyone else in the show soo), her interests, literally anything about her but her being mad at stolas. i was hoping we'd finally see how her and stella feel about eachother. but no. they talked once but could you even call it talking cuz all stella did was take her phone while laughing and octavia didnt say anything. she was clearly annoyed with her mother but that doesnt really give us a dynamic. and also in stolas and vias argument at the end of sinsmas, it felt like she was purposely taking everything he said the wrong way just for more drama. especially about the happy pills thing. stolas said she was the only good thing in his life so she then says shes an obligation. LIKE NO, hes saying he cares. which yea, he might kinda be bad dad but he does try his hardest and she could at least acknowledge that but still be disappointed.

and stella. i was hoping they would end up doing something with her like giving her a back story that made her so bitchy or something. but then the first ep of season 2 turns her into just a villian. she was just born evil apparently because that totally happens. shes literally nothing but a plot device. and im not against plot devices if they actually do their job. like isha from arcane for example, shes a plot device for jinx development but she actually does her job. shes interesting enough and gives you all you need from a plot device. but stella literally just leaves you wanting more. shes barely a character. we know nothing about her. all she does is start more meaningless drama. shes not even likable as a villain.

now, verosika(AKA best character). shes actually kind of well written? i wish we had more of her this season but also dont because they probably wouldve ruined her too. she only had a 5 minute convo with blitz in apology tour but it made me love her so much more. and her trying to help others after blitz hurt them like he hurt her is so sweet. and then her giving blitz cake, acknowedgling he hates himself just as much as everyone else at this party. i love her sm bro. unrelated but her design is so nice. and she looks so good in all her outfits. loved her fit in the 1 second of screentime she had in mastermind. and i immdediatley recognized her voice in the chrsitmas party song and got so happy

also on the official yt video for the verosika song, the second comment said "I guess Blitzo finally enjoys her music now after, I can imagine, years of it tormenting him with guilt and regret" and i would like to agree with that statement.

i think thats all my criticism. so uh.. bye

[genericpuff]

The Kiss Bet Episode 172 - Hot Pot and Venting About How I Want My 70 Cents Back

Okay, look, this isn't a post I was expecting to make today but it's something that just happened and I have to fucking talk about, so let me preface this with some context.

I had to buy coins recently and because I switched to using my iPad for reading comics on, I got a "new reader" type deal from Webtoons for a coin bundle that got me like 100 coins for $5; because technically it was a 'new account' as Webtoons operates their in-game currency model on apps, not on actual emails (meaning if you use the app on an Android phone and then switch to an Apple iOS device, they're technically two separate accounts which you sync the reading data between via the account info linked via the email, therefore they have two separate coin wallets).

So with more coins than I knew what to do with, I decided to start FastPassing The Kiss Bet again, which I had recently stopped FP'ing around the S3 mark, as it's recently devolved back into the "will they won't they" trope, but instead of between Sara-Lin and Joe, it's between Sara-Lin and Joe's younger brother (the "true endgame") Oliver.

Now I don't mind the ship in essence. Joe was definitely not gonna be endgame, it was always gonna be Oliver, anyone who's read any amount of romance before - especially high school romances - knows how this shit tends to go, and The Kiss Bet isn't exactly trying to be groundbreaking or subversive in any way, it knows exactly what it's about and what it's trying to accomplish.

But it's almost become a little too good at this. Because in playing the "will they won't they" game for so long with a character that we know is endgame, it's basically been weeks and weeks and weeks of-

That said, after I caught up on the recent FP episodes, it seemed like stuff was finally moving a little bit. We were finally meeting Oliver's mom and his stepdad who he has a fractured relationship with, Joe was finally getting with his true endgame girl, Vicky (who's totally not an exact genderbent version of Joe lmao) and Sara-Lin was finally realizing she had feelings for Oliver.

And then the newest episode came out, Episode 172 - Hot Pot and Venting.

CAUTION: FASTPASS SPOILERS FOR THE KISS BET OFFICIALLY BEGIN HERE!

Already I was a little petty over the title like "lmao ok clunky title but whatever". I swept it off as not a genuine criticism, just me being a nitpicking asshole over what's essentially Fluff: The Comic.

The episode cost 7 coins, which is about roughly 70 cents, albeit closer to a dollar for Canadian readers (here's something they don't tell you about Canada - our Monopoly game currency is just as fucked as it looks) and that's where I'm gonna get into my second disclaimer that I need to be perfectly clear about (and it'll be what we get more into later on in this post).

I understand the principle of paying for art. I understand fully that many of these webtoons are being produced on tight deadlines by creators who often can only afford 1-2 assistants, if any at all. I understand and fully agree that creators deserve to be paid for their skills, time, and efforts, not just as creators working on the hellsite that is Webtoons, but as artists in general who deserve to make a living the same as anyone else. Anyone who follows my stuff here knows I'm an artist myself so I would never debate the ethical necessity of paying artists for their work.

However.

I can say that, and also agree with the people who have stated in discussion circles such as on /r/webtoons that a lot of the comics that have started charging 7 coins have been suspiciously delivering less comic since. And it's not even so much in the literal panel count, the liquid volume of these comics have remained the same, but the calorie count has dropped significantly. Food metaphors aside, what I mean is that despite many of these comics maintaining their 40-60 minimum panel count requirement, they have in fact reduced the actual amount of content that happens in them, and The Kiss Bet's newest episode is a stark example of what I mean.

I am going to start by posting only post three panels - three panels that literally sum up the entirety of Episode 172 and what it chooses to spend its time on.

That is it. That is literally all that's established in this episode. I'd tell you to go read it yourself, but honestly, this is genuinely one of those rare times I can honestly say that a 40+ panel episode is not worth 70 cents and you'd be better off, and that's saying a LOT when these episodes are only priced at the cost of a gumball. At least Lore Olympus has entertainment in how bad it is most of the time, Episode 172 of The Kiss Bet is just nothing. You will literally get more substance and flavor from an actual gumball.

Literally every other panel in this episode is either repeating the same dialogue (Sara-Lin saying the same thing multiple different times to express how Oliver is holding her hand or how his stepdad is a dick) and then Sara-Lin and Oliver staring at each other. Over. And over. Again.

I am not joking. I did not cut anything out in that sequence. That is where the episode ends. Complete nothingburger, seemingly cut off right as it was just getting started like Cait Corrain's career.

Out of the entire episode, there were 45 panels. So I can safely assume Ingrid's minimum panel requirement is at least 40 per episode, that's me assuming the best that she didn't exactly meet her panel minimum at 45 panels on the dot.

Out of those 45 panels, there were:

Two actual unique backgrounds that weren't gradients or just a single piece of furniture

4 separate panels of Sara-Lin freaking out over Oliver holding her hand and wondering if he even noticed

10 panels of Sara-Lin staring at Oliver either dumbfounded or asking him to repeat himself (or apologizing over nothing)

5 panels of the characters saying nothing

11 panels of Sara-Lin repeating information in different ways that could have been accomplished in half that time

Two separate occasions of Oliver getting Sara's attention from off-panel, literally formatted the exact same way both times (and both followed by reaction panels of Sara-Lin staring at him dumbfounded)

Way too many panels of Sara-Lin blushing in response to Oliver being an asshole tbh like literally this guy's a douchebag, Joe may have been the "out of her league" love interest but at least he was nice and didn't treat Sara-Lin like someone who just bought a Husky as a "starter pet" ???

Again, I don't usually like being a dick about the coin costs, and I definitely don't like being a hypocrite in telling people they should pay artists for their work while simultaneously posting their paywalled content like this, but I think there does come a point where it feels more irresponsible for people to not be aware of what they're about to pay for and how little they're going to be getting. This episode is literally one of the best - and worst - examples of how far the romance genre has fallen on the platform - when it's not being overtaken and oversaturated by problematic series that romanticize abuse and sexual assault, it's being dragged to death with the most boring executions of tropes that everyone has seen before and is only exciting for anyone who's never read a book or watched a romance movie, period.

And here's the thing where I do approach a bit more "hot take" territory, but every time I see this argument come up about episodes not being worth the coin cost, I see others who rightfully argue that 70 cents isn't that much to pay for what you're getting - weekly episodes of work that are usually always delivered on time, with more panels than you would ever typically see in a free to read comic.

But here's where I take issue with that argument, as much as the principle of it is sound, it misses the overall point: readers are paying for entertainment first and foremost, so can anyone who's actually paying for regular refills on their app currency step away from this and truly call it "entertainment"? Nothing was gained. The comic had 45 panels to say something, anything, and managed to not even squeak out so much of a word. Even the silent moments have no substance, they just reiterate information that we already know.

Do we really need another panel of Sara-Lin blushing at Oliver? We've known for weeks now that she has a crush on him. Do we really need another panel of Oliver getting Sara-Lin's attention? What is this actually showing of their chemistry? What is being shown here that hasn't been shown numerous times - with and without dialogue - for weeks now? What does the comic have to show for itself after four seasons?

Another point of the "it's just 70 cents, don't be an asshole" argument that people seem to miss is it's not 70 cents. It's $1. Because if you want to buy a single episode of the Kiss Bet, you can't just pay for the individual episode in isolation, you have to pay for the coins first, and $1 is the absolute bare minimum you have to pay to get 10 coins, which will only pay for one episode of a 7 coin series - of which there are many now, basically any series that's 40 panels or more will cost 7 coins and, shocker, those are the series that WT will tend to promote most, you'll rarely see the 5 coins series in the banner ads, and that's not even getting into how there are more and more series cropping up that have 5+ episodes behind FP rather than the traditional three.

So if you're someone who's (almost definitely) keeping up with more than one series? You can't just pay the $1, you have to pay at least $5 for 50 coins, and that will NOT go far anymore or cut as evenly as it used to when just about every series is now 7 coins. Webtoons knows fully well what kind of game they're playing by making the new coin cost an uneven number while still offering increments of 5/10 in their coin bundles. They undoubtedly want you to be left with an uneven number so that you'll be easily lured into buying more coins so you don't 'waste' the uneven amount you have left that isn't enough to buy the episodes for the series you want to read. Obviously this is more speculation and not fact, but it's a common business model and with the series that have adopted the 7 coin count model (rather than starting off with 7 coins outright) such as The Kiss Bet and Lore Olympus, it's becoming abundantly clear that either the creators or the platform itself is encouraging these series to meet their panel minimums with as little content as possible in order to get more money out of readers who are barely even being drip fed actual entertainment and narrative progression, let alone spoon fed.

And then there's the waiting. The goddamn waiting. So many of these series guilty of siphoning their content off through a hose that they're deliberately standing on are designed intentionally with the most egregious cliffhangers in mind to keep their audience hooked so they'll undoubtedly FP next week. Do you know what that amount of waiting does to a comic? To its readers? First off, it artificially extends the actual pacing of the comic to make it feel longer than it is, when in reality, many of these plotlines are happening in a vacuum of very short bursts of time. Case in point, Lore Olympus is commonly confused for having a plotline that takes place over the course of months, when actually when laid end to end in order of cause and effect, many of its subplots - including the romance of Hades and Persephone - takes place over the course of days. This over-inflates the plotline's actual depth and, even worse so, it makes it harder for readers to keep up with information that's being delivered, as it often takes weeks for that information to actually go anywhere - so by the time it does, many readers have straight up forgotten about it.

It's absolutely not okay that so many of these kinds of series are normalizing literal slow burning for an audience who's paying to be entertained. It's not a "slow burn". It's just slow, and deliberately so. It's absolutely NOT FUN to follow a comic that does not go anywhere week after week. It's frustrating. And before long, it starts to feel like gambler's fallacy, where readers have to essentially gaslight themselves into paying into it more and more convinced that it has to pay off eventually, based on a promise that was never actually made, only assumed in good faith. And readers should not have to fill in the bulk of the content that isn't happening with their own imaginations, which is something that happens a LOT in these series that spend so much time on the characters just staring at each other and saying nothing. It's not 'plot' to just draw characters blushing and have your audience fill in the rest of it entirely on their own. This is certainly a technique in writing, but in the case of The Kiss Bet and other comics like it, it's much less of a valid technique and more just flat out manipulating your audience into falling so hard into the sunk cost fallacy trap that they don't notice they're being robbed blind by the plot that hasn't actually happened - and they've been paying for that financial and emotional robbery out of their own pockets and brains every step of the way.

Again, I do not care about the coin cost in and of itself, seventy cents IS still an incredibly cheap price for weekly updates of a series that has to put out so many panels each week. But as a reader and a customer, I should not be leaving these updates with less information than what I started with. And I'm someone who's incredibly old school by webcomic standards, there are comics that I follow that have updated 1-2 pages a week for over a decade that manage to do more with their limited pages than Lore Olympus and The Kiss Bet manage to do after entire hiatuses filled with pre-production time.

Why does this page of Alfie manage to move both the intrinsic plot of the titular character as well as the external plot that's going on around her in one page made up of 5 panels better than what The Kiss Bet can do in 45?

Why does this page of Tamberlane manage to convey more information about the world's lore and the people in it in a way that's emotionally driven and clearly affecting the characters without outright info-dumping than what Lore Olympus has managed to spit out onto its plate since S3 started over a year ago?

How does Tales from Alderwood manage to be more entertaining and convey more meaningful storytelling through its characters in a single page consisting of zero dialogue than what The Kiss Bet can convey in its silent panels of staring, blushing, and repetitive stuttering?

Why are the creators who are relying entirely on their own efforts, resources, and ability to generate income through community interaction and support putting out better work with less panels and on slower schedules for FREE than what we're seeing from professional creators on a professional publishing platform who are being paid to do this as their job?

There's this saying in the tattooing industry: good work isn't cheap and cheap work isn't good.

At this point, 70 cents is not a 'bargain' as many people like to argue in defense of the creators. And while I do want to have good faith in the creators who don't pull this shit, the creators who clearly go above and beyond to do what they do in the pursuit of storytelling and polishing their craft to be the best piece of work that it can be - the comics that are worth paying 70 cents and beyond for - are not the comics that Webtoons is promoting to people. The creators of the works that genuinely deserve more than 70 cents per update are being left to fend for themselves without support from the platform, while those that aren't worth the price of even a flavorless gumball are consistently winning the Wonka Golden Ticket lottery.

The cost of 70 cents is relative. For some works it's a genuine bargain. For others like the The Kiss Bet and Lore Olympus, 70 cents is not a "bargain", it's not a "good deal", it's exactly the value of what you're paying for - cheap work that isn't good.

[hope-you-brought-kneepads-bitch]

Agatha all along spoilers

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Okay okay sure

First off! I’ve seen people on Twitter already going mad but I think I need people to understand, this show was never targeted at a specific lesbian ending, yes! Very queer show and of course lots of Agathario but Rio is death, I always thought a kiss of death would happen because otherwise we’re being silly with ourselves it’s not queer baiting and it’s not helpful to be mad because marvel wont want to do things like this again if we start getting angry, the cast and crew were so proud of this and we should be too (we can vent a little and I plan too but I won’t tag actors or creators because I’m not weird)

But! I will say dying for Billy (technically I know she did because of Nicky because Billy got into her mind like a loser and a bitch and she wanted to redeem herself or whatever) is a bit strange I guess I get people saying ‘oh well of course lesbians get screwed over’ but you know for a marvel show to have actual canon lesbians who are kissing, yeah it’s scraping a barrel but if it’s received well I have no doubt they’ll do it again, I mean in the comics agatha gets resurrected and who’s to say that won’t happen? Anyway I’m ranting and yeah a little sad about the ending because it does feel like the killing eve ending but! Let’s get into the two episodes

Alice! My love, my baby I’m so sorry! Rio was right you died doing your job as a protection witch but it still hurts! I hope the afterlife is good to you and treats you well I love you 🥰

Jen! My beloved you did it! You got your powers back, I can’t believe agatha bound her that’s so funny and messed up! God agatha were you that low on cash???

“He’s an abomination” Damn right Rio get him!

Also the change in agatha a little about not wanting to see Rio when she died like yeah it’s a quick change but I think it’s Agatha putting her shields back up, she does want Rio back she definitely does but also it’s like ‘oh actually I’m putting my guard back up because I’m scared and you did something that hurt me’ (she is my scar!)

Rio being pissed off that agatha doesn’t want her and that she loves it when she’s like this unfortunately ladies this foreplay went a little too far and got ruined by a man (fucking typical) them basically flirting through their whole fight was great too

Also going back to episode 1 where Rio said ‘so take my power’ and Agatha replied ‘cute, but you know that would kill me’ BECAUSE SHE HAD TO KISS HER TO TAKE HER POWER! Did I get it right? Pretty sure I did so I declare that in their private moments agatha never kissed Rio but just started at her neck so not to accidentally kill herself during sex (dramatic lesbians)

Also in ep 4 when Agatha tries kissing Rio but then Rio stops her, I have a depressing feeling that Agatha was so upset at being reminded of what happened to her son she was willing to take the kiss of death I guess? Or maybe Rio can control stuff like that and kiss Agatha fine if she holds her power in but thinking she’s death I think it’s the first one

Rio cutting the road and stepping through I’m not gonna lie I was shocked! I gasped guys and I don’t do that often like obviously they knew was fake but I didn’t I love just thinking about Rio stepping in and out of the road but also where is the ‘road’? Is it just Agatha’s house? Have they been walking around in circles this whole time, god the citizens of westview may need to start looking for other places to live

The Salem era! I loved it (I do want more backstory but I think we’ll get some interviews explaining it so that’ll be fun) ‘born from scratch’ beautiful line Rio turning up I was like ‘oh daddy’s here to help with the birth’ then I quickly remembered she’s death and agatha begging not to take him and then I realised daddy isn’t here to stay for good reasons (like most dads)

Little Nicky was adorable! Such a cute kid and helping his mother trick witches? Putting him to work agatha, I like it! Start them early I say

Also they created the balled! So cute and heartbreaking since Agatha had to sing it all the time when killing these witches constantly being reminded of her son

Also her killing everyday then the one night she doesn’t rio takes their son??? God Rio give her a fucking day don’t you have like billions of other souls to take?? Just walk very slowly 🙄

Billy carrying the trauma of killing three (that’s right I count Sharon too!) witches because he created the road makes the ending worth it actually (not by much) because he has to suffer the consequences and deal with ghost agatha, get recked!

Rio and Agatha will definitely reunite (source: Me) Rio says she hates ghosts but only because she’s death and ghosts probably don’t want to move on, be a bit like trying to round up cats. HER AND AGATHA CAN FINALLY WALK TOGETHER FOR ALL ETERNITY

Anyway I have work in an hour and I’ve been up since 4 it’s now 6 and I’ve slept about 3 hours soooo if this is all ramblings I’ll try to add things later but yeah I loved the last two episodes yeah we could’ve gotten a bit more Agathario but I truly think they didn’t anticipate the overwhelming reception for them (Kathryn and Aubrey did though definitely)

I’m up for any discussion too I love talking about this stuff but works been hectic recently hence why I’m watching the episodes before work because after I’m just knackered but I’m off this weekend so I can reply properly to people

[kiara66]

I watched half of Delicious in Dungeon

And here's my honest review and when I say review I mean rambling about stuff

Will have spoilers ofc

So I just stop watching it like even 10 minutes ago probably from writing this. Along with that I have a terrible memory and I've been doing this since 1/2 something AM to 6 AM so tiredness might be getting me a bit, but doesn't matter

The show was pretty good in my opinion. I love the characters, the silly dynamics, the animation but here's something I don't really take the time to appreciate often world building! And I don't just mean lower because I always appreciate lore I mean like little stuff like explaining the dungeon ecosystem, and giving little facts about certain creatures or explain how they work by using other animals as references. Even something simple like saying people used to mine in the dungeons for gold goes with the lore, and world building! Feels very thought out, and its own world which is great!

Yet let's back to the characters real quick. Laios he sure an interesting one. I know a lot of people really like this guy but I didn't get it at first. I didn't dislike him. I was very neutral on him. Tho when he said stuff like it's lucky his sister got eaten because they can have sherbet. That was something... but during the last few episodes I watched his character was becoming more interesting and likable to me so I started to like him a bit more. Honestly I feel like his character is going to become more interesting from now on which is a very good sign and maybe I'll finally fully get the hype.

Shenshi it's also an interesting one, but I definitely did like him more than Laios. I thought he was very interesting especially with his genuine interest in the dungeon, and all the monsters inhabiting it. Also something I haven't really mentioned the show is unlike a lot of other anime it doesn't really have many fanservice moments so far and the only panty shots we ever get is from this guy. He's all doing us a service. I want to say more but words are not with me right now and I'm not sure how to describe him so we move on.

Chilpchuck which is a very stupid name but probably a species thing. He's a fun guy and has his cool moments. Honestly out of all the main characters I saw him the least. The most exposure I got was an edit to Short King, and honestly he lives up to it. That sword to the dragon's eye was very epic but I'm still wondering how Laios knew about it since he was running away when it happened but hey continuity am I right? He just got a spunk to him and I really like the character when I actually got more of it. I'm still not sure what species he is though he's very small but he's definitely not a dwarf. I'm certain it's been at least mentioned once but I don't remember.

Macille I can see her being very annoying to some people but for me I loved her. I get it she will complained, she was very squeamish, blah blah, but I did find her fun especially with other characters also the reveal of ancient blood magic was great but we'll get into. The moments of showing her struggle of worring about being a burden being showed a few times was very nice I liked it. Besides that her friendship in the past with Falin was very nice and they're absolutely cuties! Also her just dedication to try to get Falin back even when she was not in the great state said a lot about her character and it was great.

Falin I basically fell in love with her (/p) when I saw her in those flashbacks. She's just such a cutie yet a bit reckless it seemed. I will be honest I was technically spoiled that she was alive, but when I saw that skeleton I thought I gaslighted myself. It hurt more since I had so much hope that she would be there and she wasn't! Yet it's all good because forbidden blood magic, tho at first I didn't realize she was red because of all the blood so I thought she wasn't formed which honestly I kind of wish she just stayed like that but eh. The best way I can describe her is "this character is so cute. Oh she a little fuck up actually" Also along with that I knew Macille was gay, but I wasn't expecting Falin for some reason. Oh yes let me just have a bath with my girl best friend as I tried to hold her hand to give her magic, and we so happen to be forced to sleep in the same bed. If they're not dating by the end of the season I'm rioting.

Honestly I wasn't sure what was next at first since they were at the red dragon, and that seemed like it would be the end of at least the first season, but no we got like 11 so episodes to go. If I had to guess it's definitely something to do with those gnome guys or whatever and our little traumatized party probably trying to get some money since Chilpchuck mentioned something about that. Of course with exploring more characters like that guy that apparently wanted to marry Falin. He's going to have the rudest awakening of his life.

Anyway good show good intro, good outro. Hopefully I will watch the rest before I can't anymore since I have a very bad time at not doing things even if I want to. Like I watched the first episode almost a month ago so I remember nothing of the first episode really.

[talenlee]

Story Pile: Oshi no Ko

With 2023 over, there comes an inevitable wave of conversations for those of us who watch anime slow, to ask: Hey, what was good back then? What anime was there, now fully complete, that is worth going back and watching again now there’s a full set of episodes to engage with? And that brings with it a ranking system and a conversation about best and worsts. I tend to think of this in terms instead of favourites – of what thing was it that I liked the best, or spoke to me the most deeply. I figured I’d talk about that in April, in my month.

One of the anime that was considered in contention is the anime Oshi no Ko, which is a – it’s about – it’s –

Hm. Hang on.

If it is time for me to talk about Oshi no Ko, a manga and an anime and technically a movie and a music video clip, then it is time to set up some basic boundaries for the audience. It is an anime with a pretty pervasive and well-defended culture regarding spoilers and their importance, though, and while I think having access to information about this series is one of the best ways to keep from giving up on it, I want to make sure you know good and clear up front that I am going to be doing spoilers about what’s included in Oshi no Ko. Not a lot – but definitely stuff from its first episode onwards, where the big twist of the series – as much as it can be considered that – is explicitly and clearly spoiled. If I’m going to talk to you about this series, I need to talk to you about this series and not about what the series pretends and implies it might actually be.

Problem with that is that brings with it its cousin, the content warning. And while normally, I can kinda just smooth things over with the phrase ‘oh lords, there’s a lot of anime bullshit going on here,’ I think it’s best to be a bit more specific in the context of Oshi no Ko. That means I’m going to talk about:

Death of a parent, particularly directly experienced

Murder, but you know, this is very low key and it’s allowed, as a treat

The ongoing experience of stalking and its ramifications

Cyberbullying and suicide attempts

Uncomfortable age gaps we summarise as ‘anime bullshit’

Sibling and parent-child incest

part 1: what it is

Oshi no Ko is a manga and anime from the pen of Akasaka Aka, the author most notably otherwise of Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War. It’s an anime ‘about the idol industry,’ focusing on the story of one Ai Hoshino, but shock! Surprise! After the first volume slash episode of the story, Ai dies! It’s not about Ai at all! It’s about her son’s quest to find his father and kill him.

I’m simplifying, but I’m not lying.

Oshi no Ko is an anime about the entertainment industry of Japan, as told by the entertainment industry of Japan. It’s that particular genre that I love where there’s a vision of economics and material realities of a space. The system that makes the media that the series is about is a system that works on layers, and maybe sure, a character may be perfect for a job but what if that job doesn’t exist ten stages later in the production process?

But okay, I feel like I’m not explaining this well, which makes sense because Oshi no Ko is a staggeringly hard anime to explain. I resent a great deal the people who simply said ‘you should watch it’ like that explains everything – I did in fact watch it and took a month break between episode 1 and 2, because I was so disappointed with the direction the series was taking at that point. Let me start again.

Part of this is because the narrative of Oshi no Ko is complex but the plot is pretty simple. The difference here is that the plot is the sequence of events that make up the story, one after another, while the narrative is how that plot is revealed to the audience. Lots of stories you know tell the plot out of order – any time there’s a last minute twist, that’s because part of the story is being told after its immediate occurrence. The example I normally use is that the start of the plot of Hamlet is that first, Hamlet’s father is assassinated, then Hamlet’s mother marries the murderer, then Hamlet returns home and sees a ghost. Except we don’t see that story in the order; the narrative presents it almost in the opposite – Hamlet returns home, finds his mother has remarried, and then thanks to seeing the ghost, learns his father was murdered.

The plot of Oshi no Ko is a woman is murdered, and her twin children dive into the entertainment industry in response to this tragic loss.

The narrative starts not with the woman but with her obstretrician, who meets her in secret because she shouldn’t be having kids, because she shouldn’t be having sex, because she’s an up-and-coming idol, and idol culture is incredibly puritanical and controlling of women’s bodies and identities. When he’s murdered by her stalker, he is reborn as her baby child, and spends a few years growing up and getting to know her better, before her stalker returns and kills her. He’s left with a burning want to take vengeance on the person he sees as responsible for this idol slash his mother’s death, and that means hunting down his new biological father, comparing their DNA to prove who he is, then killing him. Also through this whole sequence, he has a twin sister who is also a reincarnation but even though it is very obvious she is the reincarnation of the Littlest Cancer Patient he took care of years ago and made him a fan of the idol in the first place, he doesn’t learn that, and the audience only gets it confirmed in the ‘second’ episode.

Oshi no Ko is an anime that starts by telling you it’s going to be about a really cool woman investigating a mystery while trying to navigate the Japanese entertainment industry that wants to chew her up and spit her out. Then, surprise! It’s actually about a cat and mouse game between her two year old son and his biological father! Then, surprise! It’s about watching him and his sister navigate the entertainment industry, for competing reasons – her want to be like their mother, and his want to murder their father! Then, surprise! It’s about all these other characters and all these economic realities of how media gets made!

Once the first episode has gone and stuffed its central character good and hard in the fridge, the story that follows jumps forwards ten whole ass years to follow Ai’s children, the reincarnations of her old fans. Named Aquamarine and Ruby because Ai is extra as hell and also the god damned best, they make friends in performing arts schools, they connect with other actors and they get involved in the creation of media while trying to build a connection with one another. Each child is holding an enormous secret, which is really funny when you think about it because both of them just think they’re the reincarnation of someone else, which in the real world, is a thing that a lot of people just think is true anyway, for everyone. The first season doesn’t actually resolve much of the murder mystery plot, and has a rough start about treating women badly, but as it progresses, Aqua demonstrates a truly fantastic grasp on alienation in acting, and Ruby shows its counterpoint: Feeling things incredibly hard in the pursuit of being able to project an authenticity.

They both do this by lying a lot!

Oshi no Ko is a lot of things, and it’s quite good at a lot of them. Part of what it is is the incredibly disappointing twist of realising what it’s not going to be, or how it might sometimes pivot to something else, something wildly different, for completely inexplicable reasons.

part 2: the things I really like about what it’s doing

If you’ve looked at the scroll bar you know you’re in for a long one here and I want to get my praise for this series out of the way up front. Oshi no Ko season 1 is an anime I really enjoyed watching, and it has a bunch of things I really like in it. Presented without much context are some of those things.

I love Aqua and Ruby as characters. Set aside the reincarnation element, you have two kids with a deeply fucked up relationship to their mother thanks to the murder, whose whole lives twist around that woman and therefore, one another. Ruby appreciates what their mother made, the image she could construct, and Aqua appreciates – he thinks – what their mother was, the person she was under the image. Of course, that’s stupid – we see Ai’s inner mind on this and we know she was creating the image because she was choosing who to be, and who she wanted to be was someone who could talk about love and be beloved. It’s great.

In a show full of great women characters I like a lot like Miyako (cool hot adopted mom), Karina (That Bitch grown up into your high school crush), MEMcho (we all love entertaining lies), I want to bring special attention to Akane. It’s pretty easy for a character like Akane to play her part in the story, then close that off and step out; you have the online bullying victim encounter, the almost loss of her character, and then – like the rest of the crew on the reality show, if you want! – she can step out. But instead Akane takes initiative and works on doing something different, and in the process we get two things I really like. First, is she makes herself a conspiracy wall, and I love a character with a conspiracy wall. Second is, she walks into the next scene and she takes an assumption about the world that the main characters have and piledrivers it to pieces.

See, the assumption about Ai – it’s even in the opening theme – is that she’s a once-in-a-lifetime talent, a star come down from the heavens to the earth. The stars in her eyes are part of this — shown to fade out when she dies. It’s not that her eyes look materially weird, it’s there’s a way she presents herself that the show symbolises with the stars as being fundamentally engaging. Aqua and Ruby both ruminate on how nobody can do what mum does. Then Akane steps into a scene and shows how they’re wrong. Being like Ai is a thing you can learn, it’s an affect, and it’s something that someone can choose to do. Being Ai was a choice, and I love when characters are shown to be the results of choices not destinies.

Aqua’s hot. I love the chameleonic ability to shift into roles, I love the dull understated affect of a boy who is thinking of murder and trying to be normal about everything else. I love the moment in the B-Komachi play where he pulls out the glowsticks and does what he can to support the group. It’s not necessarily part of his plan – he’ll have other ways to get into the idol industry, he doesn’t need B-Komachi to succeed. But he shows up and supports his sister and his friend and his other friend, and he is affected by Karina’s performance. Which again, in that moment, she chooses!

There’s a lot of idol culture experience this anime makes look really cool. In the OP there’s the sea of glowsticks, which first look like eyes peeking out of the dark and then become a roaring sea almost like fangs or thorns. The actual song performances in Oshi no Ko kick ass. We Are Star Train (god don’t know how to romanise that one properly) and the OP Idol especially. Idol really goes so very hard, I love it so much. And yeah, this means 2023 had two different banger Yaosobi songs headlining anime I liked a lot about shows with fucked up mum situations. Don’t think too much about it.

This series sure seems to be about love, and what that means. More than I would consider most things that ‘want’ to be about love, Oshi no Ko wants to dig into questions of what you love and who you love and what you express. Is love a feeling? Is love an action? Is love a choice? These are not easy questions to answer in the context of an anime trying to also make sure you pick up the next issue.

I love the breadth of what the story bothers to include. In a lot of media I know that characters are there to serve purposes, like story machinery. A set of gears turn and a piece is put in the proper spot and then they’re done, and the machinery can move on. In Oshi no Ko I don’t know who’s done and I don’t know who’s coming back. A mystery story can be very hard to do well, and part of what’s going on in Oshi no Ko is multiple competing stories which means pursuing the mystery is something being chased through these other competing needs. It’s not sitting around forcing focus on a drip feed of clues, it’s doing things in the mean time.

Really really like this show!

And I feel like if you ever talk to me about it, you wouldn’t believe me!

part 3: Guess We’re Talking About Incest

I mean I don’t have to talk about incest, but in the context of talking about Oshi No Ko I kind of do have to talk about incest. You may not want to talk about incest. In which case, you want to jump down to the next image bumper, and just ignore this whole section. After all, incest isn’t a topic some people want to talk about. The purpose of this big chunky introductory paragraph is to make sure you don’t just stumble into the next paragraph without being very, very aware that I’m about to talk about incest.

Anyway, incest is a mainstream kink that’s more commonly referenced than feet.

Now I think the reaction to this is split into three basic groups. One, ‘no, it’s not,’ two, ‘oh yeah, Game of Thrones is popular,’ and three is ‘oh yeah it is isn’t it.’

For anyone in the first group, I’m not talking about pornographic material. I’m talking about how mainstream, common, well known and prestige material regularly invokes incest and incestuous themes as a thing to titillate. I mean that ‘stepsister’ and ‘stepbrother’ tropes are extremely common. I mean that calling one’s sexual partner ‘mommy’ or ‘daddy’ is so common that evangelicals do it. What I mean is that in the context of sexual fantasies, ‘one person having sex with twins’ is so fantastically common that I found it showing up in episodes of Magnum PI. An ongoing clock throughout my childhood, which shows up any time there are celebrity twins, was people talking about the idea of sharing a pair of famous twins. In my childhood, it was the Olsen Twins, with people literally maintaining a clock on how long before they were legal.

And now you may be stopping me to go hey hey hey, hey those things are different. Stepsiblings aren’t proper incest. Sex with twins isn’t proper incest. And that impulse, that intuitive counterpoint – that these things ‘don’t count’ is stupid. Two related people having sex with a third person is, what, not showing and demonstrating a level of sexual intimacy that passes muster? Do you imagine they do not touch one another in the act? Is there a garbage bag set up to ensure nobody’s fluids get on anyone else? Because the point where you’re saying there’s incest and there’s proper incest, you realise you are just arguing about degrees, not about categories.

(And I guess this is an example, albeit a sticky one, of prototype theory.)

You need to be prepared to think about incest in this kind of sticky, dimensional zone way, because it’s not like Oshi no Ko provides a clear and unambiguous relationship to what incest means and its ramifications in the setting. After all, these children are the reincarnations of other people, which I assume happens all the time and it’s just that Ruby and Aqua are just rare examples of people who remember their previous lives. They are, legitimately, Ai Hoshino’s children, and it is entirely normal and natural for a pair of babies to nurse on their mother. It is not sexual to nurse on their mother. There is nothing sexual inherent to nursing at all, it’s literally a job of the body, and treating it like it’s inherently sexual is really messed up. But these two do treat it as if it is sexual, because to them, it is, and at that point you have infants without sex drives or the ability to act on those sex drives who are entirely, 100%, sexually interested in their mother.

If you want to argue Ruby isn’t interested because she says it would be fine for her to nurse on their mother, note that she’s only using that idea to tease someone who she is actively trying to make feel bad about her getting to do something sexual that he does not. It’s ‘but we’re both girls’ level argumentation.

Don’t worry, though, because as the story unspools (and I checked ahead in the manga for this one), there’s an eventual conversation about how Aqua and Ruby are going to kiss (it’s for a movie). Aqua is uncomfortable about it, and Ruby expresses that hey, you don’t need to feel bad about kissing me, you can just imagine it as the doctor you are kissing the child patient he had.

Who was, again, a child.

At the time these characters have this conversation they have been siblings for sixteen years. They have grown up together and been directly associated as siblings together their entire new lives, even if there’s thirty years before it for him and twelve for her.

To be as blunt as possible about it, I don’t care about the incest. Incest, as a kink in media, is not only widespread and mainstream and incredibly common, is also something I only ever see complained about when it’s a queer woman who brings it up, especially if that queer woman is talking about an entirely fictional character pairing. It’s possible some queer nonbinary people I know have talked about it too and gotten attacked, some things get complicated. It’s hard for me to see a kink referenced in Friends and then see a conspicuous trend of shitting on women for talking about it and imagine this is coming from any kind of good faith criticism from a coherent societal other position.

The incest kink is in Oshi no Ko, in much the same way that age gap kink was in Violet Evergarden, except in Oshi no Ko it’s, like, more tasteful? And the actual kink in question is handled in a way that doesn’t make me feel creeped out. Like, I can see the kink, the subversive element of the story, and how the story winds up there and think ‘oh yeah, that’s part of the complicated relationship in this story space.’ And it’s been a long time since the story brought up nursing motherhood as if it was a kink space because it very much is a kink space. To cruelly summarise, the incest doesn’t detract from the story because the story is already so aggressively weird for seemingly no purpose but to set up this kind of kink narrative. It’s a Christian Baby hypothetical, but for brotherfuckers.

Basically, if you’re here to have this kink tickled, it’ll probably do it but it didn’t stand out to me as doing a good job of it, but also didn’t do it in a way that made me ask questions about the story. This is a thing the series wants to be about and it’s having fun with it in a supernatural and fantastic way. It’d be like arguing about Loki’s sexuality in Norse Myth, or about what genders Sun Wukong was on — the parameters of your conversation are so wildly inadequate for the task.

part 4: Trust and Motivation

I try very hard to not be dogmatic about interpretations of media. I have the impulse, time to time, to tell someone ‘that’s stupid,’ about interpretation of media, because they may have missed something obvious. This can be really telling when I’m dealing with people who have recontextualised a piece of media without some very important information. There are quite a few people who struggle with interpreting the universe of the Pokemon franchise because they forget ‘this is for four year olds.’ A lot of what’s ‘wrong’ with Steven Universe is because it’s a cartoon for children. More than a few times I’ve dealt with students who don’t understand American media because American public health is so bad (and counterpoint to that, I’ve dealt with Australians who don’t know that they have public health care because they’ve ingested American media). The maxim I work by is that anyone I see talking about media is negotiating with that media, and that means their biases are coming to bear in trying to talk about the biases that are in the work.

I don’t tend to like long-running anime.

It’s not just because it’s a bigger investment of time like I’d assume is a problem for me. It’s also that anime that runs over a long time tends towards being anime with a plot that’s less focused on things that I think matter. I would rather an episodic series of series, like Slayers, where each season brings with it a new whole distinct story, than the more sprawling, deliberately processional ongoing myth-arc structure of a show like, well, Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War or Oshi no Ko. The fact that Oshi no Ko has a full season that doesn’t actually conclude any of its story arcs and merely says ‘tune in for next season’ is something I found incredibly frustrating. Mystery stories promise a resolution and if you can’t do a resolution in twelve episodes chopped up weird to include a movie, what trust can I have in there being a resolution worth waiting for?

Complicating that further is that sure, fans of Kaguya-Sama: Love is War would say that trust is important in this artist, in this writer, because look at all the work, the doujin work too, in making that work hold together across its extensive sprawl! And to that I would ask why we need to sprawl? Is the manga of Oshi no Ko concluded, does it include some brilliant twist and we’re all just waiting to get there?

No!

No, Oshi no Ko is still going and it’s not wound up its conclusion and it’s got seasons worth of anime to go to get there, and that makes me extremely suspicious. This series, this season, was worth the twelve episodes of time I spent on it. That was really good! But if the story then says that I need to give it not another season, but another pair of seasons, maybe three extra seasons, maybe an ongoing, steady sprawl of seasons, to get to the end of its story I suddenly lose a lot of interest. How am I going to trust it was worth it? How is it going to be worth it?

At that point, I have to stop thinking the resolution is the reason to care and instead the focus should be on what the show is doing moment to moment and instead of relying on the driving mystery to instead focus on what, as best I can see, the story wants to be about and what that story can be relied upon, trusted, to bring me, all while it radicalises me into thinking that maybe every entertainment industry everywhere needs to be burned to the ground and everyone with the job title CEO for a media corporation should be hung inverted in the streets with nails.

Bear that in mind here, I’m trying to not just be like ‘well, this show is doing X because it’s Y.’ There’s more to it than that. There’s my biases at work. For example, I think that Oshi no Ko is a pretty horny series. I think that the way the show depicts mouths – Ai’s in particular – wants you to pay attention to it. Characters are sweatier, and thirstier and breathier than anime normally represents. There’s a focus on eyes – sure – and how people look at things and look at one other that speaks to ideas like their inner lives, their conception of what they’re dealing with. One of the characters whose eyes you never see is treated as being breathtakingly inscrutable.

These are details I focus on. These are things I think indicate that there’s a deliberate intention in this series to look at characters as whole people with individual motivations and wants, and those wants are informed by the things they’re familiar with and the things about themselves they may not have interrogated. This level of intentionality makes it hard for me to ever treat stuff in Oshi no Ko as being accidental or just a meme or chosen at random. Not that there can’t be things like that in the work, but it just feels so thoroughly constructed to me that everything that’s in the story is there for a reason.

Couple the intentionality of the story with the horniness of the story and there’s this creeping step-step-step up to the point that yeah maybe the incest kink and the age gap kink and the hot pregnant lady in the first episode and the way girls ogle one another and the lizard eyes are all things that are in here for a reason and that reason may be because this show likes those things and wants to include them. Maybe the reason this show is the way it is isn’t part of some grand conspiracy.

part 5: is this a dril tweet?

Now this is where we do verge into a conspiracy theory, something I cannot prove and also do not want you to imagine is necessarily true. It’s more a story, a story that makes something make more sense to me. It involves talking about What Japanese Culture is doing, and I want you to remember any time someone like me, especially someone who can’t speak or read Japanese, says that, you are being told a story.

This story is about my journey trying to understand Oshi no Ko.

I couldn’t work out why Oshi no Ko worked the way it did. Specifically, I couldn’t work out why the first movie-length episode was about a character being isekai’d into reincarnation in his own world, as the child of someone who he had already met, and how that idea then failed to play meaningfully into the plot of the story afterwards for a whole season. There’s nothing in the story that benefits from the addition of this element; indeed, if you skip the first episode, it barely comes up in the series as a whole. There’s one moment where Aqua references it, and Ruby doesn’t make it focal outside of that first episode.

At the same time, it was central to the first hour of the story! It was so important that the story bent its structure around making sure that pre-Aqua Aqua met Ai and had a positive opinion of her. That doesn’t seem necessary at all, after all – if you remove the supernatural element and merely have Aqua and Ruby as the children of a talented idol performer who was tragically murdered, does anything about their motivations need to change? They can both still be precocious children following in the wake of the mystery of their mother’s murder. A story could even be built around finding the videos we know Ai made about her feelings and her history – instead of building ninety minutes of television around the importance of one character so you can feel upset and shocked when she died.

I did not understand what it was doing or why, because who comes up with ‘reincarnated as the baby of a girl I just met, and having some weird intimacy issues around that’ outside of a hentai doujinshi specifically about satisfying that, singular kink?

Turns out, at least according to Mother’s Basement, this is a common phrase used in Japanese idol culture. The idea of wanting to be reincarnated as the child of your favourite idol is a thing that’s been a meme in the culture for about ten years. Hah! Fool on me, I see! I was just not clued into the culture of idols in Japan, which is a supremely fucked up space and not because of this single idea. This single idea seems like supernatural fantasy kink, honestly imagining nonsense about people you’ll never meet is a lot better than y’know, actually inflicting that on the people in question who are in many cases real humans. It is strange, though — it’s like such a singular idea it feels like a meme, like a joking repeating of an incident everyone is vaguely aware of, or connected to.

Dot dot dot.

Ten years ago, and a few months as of the time of this writing, dril tweeted:

here’s a list of touhou girls i want to have as a Mom someday & here is a copy of that list in case you accidentally throw it in the gabarge

Dril, September 14, 2013

Now hold up hold up hold up hold up. I don’t know a line of cause or effect here. What it looks like to me, knowing a natural flow of meme structures in my language space, is that sometimes someone will make a joke, and it will spread and be shared wildly and now I can talk about walrus fairies vanilla essence goncharov and you know what I mean, and if you don’t know what I mean you have no idea what I mean.

The story for how this looks to me is that dril made this joke, and someone shared it on 2ch because it was funny (it is) and then that led to people who got the joke making reference to that joke and that became a common enough thing on 2ch that it spread to the idol niche and now it’s seen as their thing to joke about wanting a character as a Mom Someday, even if nobody cares or would want to care!

That story is pretty wild, though I want to make it clear it’s just a story. It’s nothing that I can prove, and I don’t have the skills to prove. An equally possible version of the story is this was already a meme for how people referred to their idol interests and dril made a joke about that where it being decontextualised from idol culture in Japan to American fan culture around Touhou was the bit. It’s also possible both ideas stem from another, earlier, thirdier, secreter thing. It’s also also possible they’re both unrelated and it’s just that the time was right for that kind of joke. I can’t say and you shouldn’t treat what I’m saying as ‘dril shitposted so hard that Oshi no Ko came into existence.’

The idea of being reincarnated as your favourite idol’s kid, to have her as a mom someday, is a thing that you have to already know about or you’d have no reason to reference it. Without knowing that it’s a thing people say, though, its presence in the story is completely inexplicable. When it’s in the series, it’s a Funny Bit, a Bit that’s about how important this weird kink-interest (kinktrest) is to the speaker. It’s about ‘imagine that common thing we all say, and what might flow from that.’ There’s no sense to it because part of the point is a relentless desire to have this scenario that is pre-negotiated by common conversation! Part of the joke is, after all, being so invested in the idea that you’re prepared for people to ignore or discard it!

part 6: conclusion

2023 was a year I consider weaker for anime. When I set up my blog entries to make sure that I’m not just banging on the same theme over and over, I have two slots: Anime (Good) and Anime (Cringe), where I know that if I’m going to talk about the anime I think of as unequivocally good, I want to space those out. It’s important to me to not dwell too much on good things at once to not lose perspective but also so you don’t notice I praise the same things the same way all the time. Oh, it’s about choices is it? It’s all about choices? Well who woulda noticed that! I wonder if Talen is going to like this anime about a hot boy he can project onto who also has an awful relationship with his father and some extremely damaging power fantasy like he’s looking at Unit-01 rampaging through the NERV base thinking ‘This would fix me,’ as he’s been doing in his head for twenty five years.

I think that Oshi no Ko might be my favourite anime of 2023. I also think, with all these words out there, with all this hindsight, I think that’s embarrassing. Oh, not for me, I’m great, no, but for 2023 anime. I think that as good as the best bits of Oshi no Ko are in the context of the series, there is so much stuff in Oshi no Ko that could just be improved by not including it. Hell, consider the importance of the premiere movie, and how I have a hard time not thinking this series is improved by not watching it. This is a semi-complete story with a premiere episode so bad that I stopped watching it for a month. It is an anime that can accurately be described as taking a story about an interesting woman then killing her so it can instead become a story about two men involved in her murder. This is an anime about the idol industry and related entertainment media that somehow doesn’t seem like it’s going to conclude with the main characters storming an executive meeting with abbatoir bolt-guns so how satisfying could its ending ever really be?

There are other 2023 anime I’d recommend more highly. I’d say that you should check out Apothecary Diaries first for an anime that’s more straightforward about how it’s enjoyable and what you should enjoy about it (though you know, just as much weird content warning shit). I’d say Overtake is an anime with a better and more tightly contained story that doesn’t leave you with a giant ‘we’ll get to this later’ end point. As much as I have come to despise it, I’m sure you could watch Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and have a better time engaging with its immaculate vibes and its central character who’s a woman.

I can’t pretend, though, that I don’t care about this story and its characters. I want it to go well. I want to see Kana and Akane hate each other in ways that feel tinged with horny (because everything in this series is tinged with horny). I want Aqua to talk more about how his obviously damned soul might as well be put to some use tinged with fatalistic violence (because everything in this series is tinged with fatalistic violence). I want more of the music, oh my god, the music, that OP goes so fucking hard.

I may be literally waiting for years for it to be done and then I may need to work through the anime slow and steady as they drip it out, which seems incredibly inefficient to me. I may never get the conclusion I want out of this incomplete mess with its weird choices and its eerie haunting of sexy dead mum mouth.

Still love it though.

Maybe it’s just that Aqua is really hot.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[mercuriallycooperative]

okay but like the story? about the last time Wednesday cried? when she was six? that was genuinely horrifyingly traumatizing as hell, like what the fuck.

(i think this has haunted her all through her life, and not in the fun way; and i think we see it more often than we know throughout the events of the show.)

like I think in some ways its gravitas can get hidden, a little, because Nero was a scorpion, and when you start off a story with “Wednesday was out taking her scorpion for a walk”, that’s an image that’s a little ridiculous and a little surreal, something not-quite-real; and because Nero was a scorpion, Nero was a bug (okay an arachnid but still) and I think at least in the US we don’t necessarily instinctively group those in with animals-that-can-really-be-pets-the-way-dogs-and-cats-are, unless we know someone that has one and we learn that yeah actually they can be; and in that same vein Nero-the-scorpion, Nero-the-bug, can sort of get lost in the shuffle of the idea of a generic sort of scorpion-bug, because we’re not exactly conditioned to tell one apart from the other, right? No more than we are for, say, beetles or cockroaches. “Wednesday’s pet scorpion” is the idea that is primed to stick in mind, not the fullness of the fact that “Nero, the scorpion” was a discrete being.

and like- okay, I do not speak for the world and the general success a media has with instilling an empathy is variable and emotions are hard but like- even watching that awful moment play out on screen, even knowing it’s awful because between the basic facts of the moment and the framing and the right proper acting how can it not be, even then I suspect that with how casual our socialization is with the death of carapaced creatures, Nero’s death doesn’t receive the full impact it deserves.

that is, emotionally, the audience doesn’t quite have time to really sit with the fact that at six years old, Wednesday was held back by some bullies and forced to watch her pet be crushed in front of her, for the crime of being hers. she had to watch the life leave his body along with his organs. she said it was snowing when she buried what was left of him; and the audience doesn’t get a chance to sit with the fact that this means Wednesday probably had to scrape up her pet’s mangled corpse by hand from the pavement and carry him home.

like. jesus fucking christ.

and you know what? you can bet she never did get any justice for Nero. no justice other than what she may or may not have taken out with her own two hands at some point later, anyway. because Nero was a scorpion and he was a bug and an arachnid and maybe venomous and people are scared of creatures like that and those boys were just playing around and it was probably just an accident, you really shouldn’t have had that thing out in public-

she was a child walking her pet, peacefully, harming no one.

(can you imagine if that had been a dog or cat? and those boys had held down a kid and crushed their dog or cat to death in a public street like that?)

i said, earlier, that I think this event has haunted her all her life. I don’t just mean with respect to how she decided that crying doesn’t solve problems, and that she wouldn’t be doing it again.

one might wonder, for someone like Wednesday who is so cavalier about causing grievous injury (to the people who bullied her brother) (to the person who killed Rowan and all those people), why she seemed to care that the school, her prison, might burn. one might wonder why she seemed to care that Rowan died, when he had literally just tried to kill her- not just cared for the mystery, cared for the death. one might wonder why she says her greatest fear has always been that she would be responsible for something bad-terrible.

Nero died for the crime of being hers.

i would be willing to bet that Wednesday doesn’t want anyone else dying for the crime of being in her vicinity. (unless she’s the one doing the murdering, anyway.)

i would be willing to bet she doesn’t want to be the reason, the cause of anything she doesn’t mean to do.

(i would also be willing to bet she doesn’t want to lose people, especially not because of her own... just existing in the way she does; i think that might contribute to any natural tendency she has toward being standoffish, and possibly also why she took the falling out with Enid quite as badly as she did. but my personal thoughts about how Wednesday tries to bond with people can wait.)

there are events that shape your childhood. for better, for worse, they write themselves into your bones and make a home in your lungs and stain you in their blood.

i would reckon that Nero’s death was such an event, for Wednesday.

[fr33ze-y0ur-br4in]

.:*・°☆. Busy Times Mean Busy Mistakes.:*・°☆.

My link list here

Pairing: Xavier Thorpe x Fem! Reader (I DO NOT WRITE FOR XAVIER ANYMORE. DO NOT SEND ASKS FOR HIM!)

Summary: People tend to expect perfection from Principal Weems. Perfection tends to be what Weems provides. However, some mistakes tend to slip through the cracks of her frantic, stressed-out state of mind after the arrival of the Addams girl.

Warnings: fem! Reader, reader is an outcast but nothing specific about powers is mentioned, 2nd person POV (“you” used when referring to reader), slight spoilers for early episodes including Rowan, mentions bullying in the first paragraph during the mini-backstory, not much interaction with Xavier but I thought it was cute </3 (lmk if there’s anything else I should add)

Word count: 863

Genre: uhh really isn’t one tbh, fluff ig? Nothing super fluffy but it sets room for someone to request part two scenarios so eh

Beta/proofread mostly but I’ve added stuff since then so tell me if there’s mistakes pleaseee

Notes: MY FIRST FIC ON HERE AKSBJSJS- the prompt/idea I was given was provided by the dearest @1-800-olympians thank you for the inspo to start writing <3

A freak. That’s how many people at your old school would describe you in one word. The word kept bouncing around in your brain, haunting you in your nightmares of past experiences with bullies. When an incident with your main bully went a little too far and you clapped back a little too hard, your parents had finally decided it was time for a change. However, standing awkwardly in front of Weems’ desk, her switching back and forth between piles of paper and sighing exasperatedly every now and then, is not how you expected to see your new principal when first walking into the office.

“Uh… Principal Weems?” you say, getting her attention.

She tenses lightly, jumping at the sudden sound of your voice. “Oh! I’m so sorry, I hadn’t noticed you were there,” she chuckles lightly as she looks up at you. “Er- Y/n L/n, is it?” You nod in confirmation. “Second mid-year acceptance. Impressive records in terms of grades but questionable record,” she reads off a small description of you from the paper on top of a certain stack. “Right then, give me one moment.” She begins shuffling through the papers looking for your schedule and room assignment.

Checking over the paper, she notices she has yet to assign you a room. Muttering an apology under her breath about her messiness being unusual, she looks at the list of rooms empty. or partially empty, and assigns you the first one she sees, not bothering to check which hall it’s in nor the other occupant.

“There you are,” she says as she hands you the paper. “Enid will meet you in the front hall any moment now to show you around the school and you’ll start classes tomorrow morning. That ought to give you enough time to unpack and settle in,” explains the tired-looking principal. You thank her and make your way to find the werewolf showing you around.

————————

“And lastly, the courtyard! This is where basically everything happens,” the cheerful girl explains to you. “Not to mention the best place to find gossip for my blog,” she leans in and whispers to you as if telling top-secret information.

“Got it,” you laugh lightly, nodding at the girl. “So that tour showed me most of the classrooms and dorm halls, but can you tell me where this hall is?” you ask her, pointing to the hall on your schedule. The wolf furrows her eyebrows in confusion. “What…? What’s wrong?” you ask her.

“Nothing, it’s just…” she grabs the paper and moves the text closer to her face, muttering, “why did she assign you to that hall?”

“What’s wrong with that hall?” you copy her tone.

“Well technically nothing is actually wrong with the hall, it’s just weird she put you in it,” Enid explains, shrugging and handing you back the paper. Despite the weird reaction, she still points you in the direction of your dorm as the bell for the rest of the students to go to class rings. “See you in classes tomorrow!” she waves to you, running off to catch up with a black-haired girl and a guy in a beanie. After waving back, you make your way to your room.

————————

Unpacking your things took longer than you thought, the end of the rest of the students’ school day happening right as you finish assorting all your belongings. As you wait for your roommate—whom you had yet to get the name of—to get back to the room, you decide to just lay in bed and scroll on your phone.

The door opens a little while after you become absorbed in whatever silliness is on your screen making you fail to notice the boy in the doorway frozen, staring at you, confused.

He clears his throat, making you jump a little. The two of you just stare at each other, him standing at the door and you sitting on your bed.

You take the moment to observe him as he likely does the same. He’s tall. First and most obvious thing about him. Soon after, you see the shoulder-length brown hair. His eyes capture your attention next.

Woah, you think. He’s cute… hold on-

“Who are you?” you ask after a minute.

“I think I should be the one asking that.” After another moment of silence, he answers, “Xavier. Xavier Thorpe. And you?”

“Y/n L/n,” you respond. “Gonna go out on a limb and say Weems has me in the wrong hall,” you state, pulling a light chuckle from Xavier. He closes the door as he steps inside the room finally.

“Guess so. With all that’s happening, I can’t blame her. A lot of crazy stuff is happening right now.”

You hadn’t heard any of what had been going on. With how busy Principal Weems was when you had spoken earlier, you decided it’d be best to bring this problem up to her another time. “Mind filling me in? I’m sure we have plenty of time,” you say as Xavier sets his things down.

“I don’t see why not,” he shrugs, beginning the kooky stories that had occurred as of late.

Maybe the wrong hall assignment could be fun…

FIRST FIC DONE AHHHHH

Wanted to be tagged: @queerpumpkinnn (hope u like it)

[galactic-glamour-girl-posts]

In celebration of the Animaniacs reboot's second season coming out soon...

I'm going to list a few things I think the reboot does better than the original show so far (not including technical things like animation quality or sound quality, that's not a fair comparison). Here we go:

1. There's a "Here's the show's namey" variant every episode now rather than re-used lines (like "Pinky and the Brain-y"). I totally get why the original show re-used lines (although by season 3 they do so way less), but it's just really cool the a new and unique one every episode now.

2. Yakko's role as big brother seems more apparent now. He was always the leader in the original show sure, and he clearly did care for his siblings, but there wasn't really a sense of authority there. The Warners, either alone or together, always did their own thing. The fact that they weren't all (physically) the same age didn't really matter in most episodes, and often only apparent due to their (kind of inconsistent in the original-I SAID I WOULDN'T TALK ABOUT THE ANIMATION) height differences. Now, in addition to him being the leader, there's multiple episodes where Dot/Wakko will ask Yakko for permission to do stuff, like keeping the bunnies as pets or to watch TV.

It's a cute touch, a nice little reminder that "Oh yeah they're not triplets".

3. The PG rating has allowed for edgier jokes/language. Characters can say "Hell" now, Pinky almost said "bull-(you know what)" and Wakko almost said "motherf-(you know what)", then there's these:

It's dark but I think it's funny darn it 🤣.

4. Less mediocre segments. I've said it before, I'll say it again, the Warners, Pinky and the Brain and Slappy carried the original show. I also enjoyed Rita and Runt and Minerva Mink segments, but they were cut from the show after season 1, so that sucks. Every other segment on the show I consider kinda okay/mediocre/bad 🤷‍♀️. A lot of characters would've worked better as recurring characters within segments where they're not the stars. Honestly their absence is a positive in my book, while watching the original show I often found myself thinking "Man I wish this show only had the Warners, Pinky and the Brain and Slappy segments in it". I know Slappy isn't in the reboot but that's not a deal breaker for me (the other two segments are a lot more popular so I understand prioritising them). If no Slappy also means no Katie Kaboom, I'm good.

5. More heartfelt moments - outside of the Rita and Runt segments (as in there's a higher ratio of them, not trying to compare how heartfelt they are). In the original, pretty much the only segments that had heartfelt moments consistently was Rita and Runt (Rita's song about humans, "Smitten with Kitttens", "Puttin' on the Blitz", etc). This is fine, it's a comedy show; but it would have been nice if some of the characters that got a lot more screen time than those two (the Warners, Pinky and the Brain, etc) had some too, especially since there are no Rita and Runt segments past season 1 anyway.

I know before the reboot there were quite a quite few heartfelt moments related to Animaniacs-the climax of the Pinky and the Brain Christmas special, Dot's fake out death (spoilers for a movie from over two decades ago-yes it's that old get over it) in Wakko's Wish...basically all of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock". But most of those aren't actually in the original show, only one of them is. Wakko's Wish is a non-canon (I swear "Animaniacs" and "canon" are two words that don't mix but you get my point) movie and Pinky and the Brain series is a spin-off. If we're talking exclusively about the original series that ran from 1993 to 1998, then only "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock" counts really.

Maaaaaybe that one moment in Taming of the Screwy when Scratchy tells the Warners to leave...but it was really quick and not taken that seriously (it kinda just felt like build up for a punchline) so I think that one's a stretch (although it was a little sad).

Meanwhile the reboot already has caught up to it (in only 13 episodes as well) with two moments; Brain's backstory in "Roadent Trip" and Yakko's panic attack in "Fear and Laughter in Burbank". They're both taken seriously, last over a minute and say something pretty interesting about the characters involved. It's just nice to see characters other than Rita and Runt be allowed to have emotional moments (again, within the actual show). It's on-par with the original in this regard despite having 86 less episodes. And there's probably more heartfelt moments to come!

6. The Warner's fangs:

They make them look a little more feral! 😁 Very fitting, I wish they had them originally now. I also appreciate that they (usually) don't have gaps in their teeth anymore. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE their TMS designs, but I honestly prefer the Warners with no gaps in their teeth.

7. The PatB segments. Just in general, overall I like them more than in the original show (I'm comparing them to the ones in the original Animaniacs, I'm not talking about the PatB segments in the spin off series, Pinky an the Brain). Not only are they more creative, with ideas like Future Brain and Julia, they also do the running gag thing less. What I mean is, in the original show their segments sometimes would have a running gag they do over and over within a segment, to the point where it becomes obvious that gag is how/related to how the plan is gonna fail. Some examples of segments that do this are "Bubba Bo Bob Brain", "Spellbound" and "Brain Meets Brawn". Now of course we know they're gonna fail, but trying to guess how they fail or the surprise how how they fail is one of the fun parts of their segments. Their segments are already quite formulaic, so why add to that? The reboot so far pretty much only did this once in "Close Encounters of the Worst Kind", so that's good.

8. More variety in terms of musical genres. Most of the songs in the old show are of the old-school Broadway type of music. There's a lot of orchestral music, a bit of jazz. Many songs just add lyrics to pre-existing music. Which is good, 'cause those songs are good. But I appreciate the reboot adding some other genres in there, like pop and hip hop. They're NOT what you'd expect an Animaniacs song to sound like, but they're still amazing! (like The Cutening song or Yakko's rap).

9. The Warners' morality. This one's really important. Ideally, the Warners should act like karmic tricksters. Yeah they can be annoying to anybody, but are generally harmless and actually pretty friendly if left alone/aren't being mistreated. Once someone actually provokes them though, they won't hesitate to humiliate, harm and drive insane their "special friend". This is explained well in "The Sound of Warners" (credit goes to clownmoontoon for the video):

https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_qnxp2bDmlE1r1jfup.mp4

Sometimes the Warners don't even need to be the ones being provoked for them to go after someone for being a jerk, like in "Morning Malaise", where they call out a radio show host for being rude to their guests, or in "Dot's Entertainment", where they call out a parody of Andrew Lloyd Webber for placing blame onto his actors.

But then in seasons 4 and 5 of the original show they start bothering people and legitimately harming people who literally weren't being rude to them at all. Some examples of this are "Anchors Awarners", "Acquaintances", and "Back in Style":

I guess I can understand in "Back in Style", they were mad about being sold off to other studios against their will, but they took it out on actors who probably had no say in the matter.

Thankfully, in the reboot they seem back to normal, once again only intentionally humiliating and/or harming people who actually provoked them, be it hunters ("Good Warner Hunting",) cocky athletes, ("Gold Meddlers"), rude conductors ("Here Comes Treble"), etc.

...and I think that's all I got. There are other things too but they're smaller points not really worth mentioning. I do like both series the same but wanted to praise the reboot specifically given that I have done multiple posts analysing the original show.

Season 2, here we come!

[redxblueihateloveyou]

I have a question and I'm so sorry if this is dumb but like... what's the order for me to watch all the daomu biji series'? There's a bunch of them right? Like Ultimate Note, the Remake(?) etc? 😭😭😭

Technically without the extras chronologically so far like that:

The Lost Tomb (2015) The Lost Tomb 2 (2019) The Lost Tomb 2: Explore with the Note (2021) Ultimate Note (2020) Sand Sea (2018) Reunion: The Sound of the Providence (2020) Reunion: The Sound of the Providence 2 (2020)

The Mystic Nine (2016) - techically before everything, but you really don't need to start with 50 years before the main story.

With all the extras here on MDL there's a list.

BUT BUT BUUUUUUUUTTTT listen, like I in no way forcing my opinion, I think everyone has to decide for themselves how to watch, there's lots of opinions here and there, but I really don't think starting from the beginning is a good idea. I'm only saying it bc I know for sure that I myself personally wouldn't continue watching the first one and probably would've dropped the idea haha (but that's very personal opinion again, don't take it close to the heart).

My friend back in the days, when she recommended it to me told me "start with Ultimate Note, then do Reboot, just read the basic background about the characters and if you don't mind spoilers you can watch this ZQ and pingxie explainit vid on YT". And since I trusted her, I started with that one, knowing bits. By the end of Ultimate Note, I went straight to Reunion, bc by that time, I was already hooked and in the middle of the books. After Reunion I was already full on coo-coo and reached Restart novels and was just absolutely fucking in love. After that I've decided after already knowing everything, including obsessively digging into author's notes, interviews and all the extras, I decided to go back and see others for myself (by that time god awful Explore hasn't aired yet xD).

All in all each time new part airs and yeah in between those there are still holes (books) that hasn't been adapted yet, like for example "Tebetan Sea Flower" will air soon (by soon I mean next year if we're lucky xD), it is set before "Sand Sea" and one book after "Ultimate Note". So like you technically won't see the whole picture even if you watch all these. But also because most of them are a mess.

For example 1st adaptation is like technically book 1, but they stole a very important scene from book 7 there even tho its like clearly don't fit the characters in a state they were in part 1 and to me it's super dumb. Because like they don't even know each other in that part and that scene is like iconic for the trio. But most importantly I also just don't see anyone fitting into their roles. And to me its like 10 episodes of a weird cosplay xD. But some like it still.

I mostly judge adaptations by the "are characters close to the books or not" scale. I'm less offended by plot changes/holes, bc its in general the fun part of reading the books also (trying to guess what the fuck is even going on lol). So to me the most important part is my faves being my faves. That being sad it's impossible for me personally to see some of these adaptations as characters of original DMBJ.

Like Ultimate Note and Reboot also have their flaws ofc, esp UN, it has some stuff that doesn't make sense at all and it kinda like if DMBJ was seen through pink glasses, but still when you watch them you know for sure you watch the characters the author wrote (except for UN's Wu Xie's behavior during A Ning's death part that I can't forgive lmao) and also their emotional state fits exactly the moment of their relationships at that moment, which I think is very important, because again pingxie and iron triangle relationships progression are the MOST important part of these books. Ruining the incredibly touching thing everyone is there for is basically like ruining everything to me. Bc it's not just about the "hey its bromance", its a story about how hard it is to build trust and home and love etc. Not just "hey here it is".

There are lots of posts here like this one or this one with explanations and recommendations for the first entery to this fandom insanity. You can check these out too, if that helps.

So… if you have the guts to join this incredible fandom with incredible characters and ship, shitton of adventures and fun and heavy debates who played who better, then it'd be better to read the books for sure haha. That if you're ready to go on a rollercoater with a sometimes drunk author who adores his characters. I think it's perfect lmao. Personally its my fav franchise.

From which place to start this journey I think everyone decides for themselves, it for sure helps if you have a DMBJ addict friend to guide you, if you need help in process, you can DM me anytime. I think it depends on whose words/tastes you trust. Bc evryone watches things differently. I personally trusted my friend, who I know very well, then I already went with my own opinion about it after reading all the books, bc I wanted to see for myself. I wouldn't personally recommend anything besides Ultimate Note, Sand Sea and Reunion, but again thats me. To me Reunion still stays the closest to the characters and atmosphere of the books he wrote. So yeah, I myself started with UN, then in process started reading books, then watched Reunion after UN, finished the books, went back watch everything else and didn't enjoy anythings apart from Sand Sea. Others to me despite some being close to the plot, disgraced characters so badly that it was not good to watch in my opinion.

Books you can read here (books 1-5 are on amazon also, but you can start first one here bc its the better translation).

P.S. It seems scary to enter, but I swear it's absolutely 1000% worth it, also first books aren't that long even lol

P.P.S. The best option is really probably to read and judge for yourself. Bc there are also some ppl who treat the characters like they're from folklore, you know haha. So there's lots of "I haven't read, but that character is OOC here" (according I'm guessing to their headcanons haha), so it's better to not fall for that too. Bc I was very confused after I've read them. And I mean me you technically also can't trust. Bc even tho I've read everything fr bc I'm obsessed, we're all very different, so we'll still see things differently. Not that far (most book readers agree that these two are the best), but about some bits still maybe haha.

P.P.P.S. So far everyone I've gotten into this fandom were highly happy and are in the pit now, so I'm guessing my start with UN+ some basic knowledge formula works xD.

Also just remember that it's absolutely ok to feel confused at first, even those who are way too deep are still confused (Im kidding not really lol) trust me it'll slowly fall into amazing puzzle with some tiny holes still lol But with UN its easy to catch the wave and after that it'll all happen naturally and without much difficulty haha At least for many it worked, I can judge, I've forced many into this fandom due to my vids lol

[jouska-the-deer]

I'm finally watching Sonic Prime and I guess I'll do that thing where people give their thoughts as they watch, mostly because it'll help me keep my terrible attention span in check. However, it annoys me when people do it by continuously reblogging their own post to add comments, so I'm just gonna do it all in one post, at least for each episode, and keep it under a "Read More" to both keep the post short and avoid spoilers for those who care.

Before going in, I’ll share that I saw quite a few things about Prime in various places, but not like, actual reviews or anything. Basically I know what themes the currently shown universes are, what the characters look like, and the basic plot. I’ve also heard it’s canon to the games which I 100% doubt based on the small amount of stuff I’ve seen, but I guess I’ll have a better idea of that once I actually watch the show.

So, here we go I guess. Episode 1. (Oh, and this is awkward, but, Sonic Frontiers and Forces spoilers ahead.)

So yeah, the first line of narration out of Sonic’s mouth and it’s already obvious this isn’t canon to the games. None of Sonic’s friends live in Green Hill. HE doesn’t live in Green Hill (granted, he technically doesn’t live anywhere, though I’d assume he treats Tails’ place as his own). I know Green Hill is a fan favorite (or at least SEGA thinks it is) but like, come on. 

Are they using clips from later in the show in the place of flashbacks? Man, they went from showing “sad” flashbacks to five minutes ago in Frontiers to straight up predicting the future with them in Prime. I could be wrong but if I’m right this is kinda funny. 

Sonic’s relationship status with Shadow is “it’s complicated”, I guess. I mean, it seemed like a pretty normal friend/allyship in Forces, so I’m gonna headcanon that they had an awkward date and don’t know how to talk about it, at least until it’s revealed that “it’s complicated” means Sonic is in the wrong about something and he either doesn’t know or doesn’t want to admit it. 

Ah. 10 seconds pass and I figure out what the flashbacks are about. The show is gonna give flashbacks that explain what lead up to the events of the opening fight. Guess they didn’t want to have him already fighting Eggman and reuse the “you’re probably wondering how I got here” trope since it was already done in the first Sonic movie, but still wanted the opening scene action. I still think it’s funny to use show scenes as flashbacks, since we’re gonna be seeing them again pretty soon.

Has Eggman ever expressed that he hated nature? Just because he exploits nature to further his own goals with little care for the environmental repercussions, that doesn’t mean he actively hates it or anything. I don’t think game Eggman would sneer at the thought of greenery. Another point in the “not canon to the games” tally. 

If I didn’t already know that Rouge is only here because she wants the Paradox Prism, I’d put another point in the “not canon” tally for her being randomly inserted into the usual group. Knuckles both not guarding the Master Emerald and supposedly living in Green Hill also warrants a “not canon” mark, but honestly, at this point, I’m starting to question if Angel Island is even where he lives and guarding the Master Emerald is even what he does, because given all the mundane crap he leaves it for in every canon, I have to wonder if that whole backstory is just a fever dream I had at some point. 

Amy seemed a little too happy when asking Sonic “where have you been” considering she was among the group complaining he was late right after he arrived. Nice smooth talk Sonic’s got there though. It’s a shame I know from the trailer that he’s about to make a smooth brained decision. 

Haha! Sonic learned that trick from Knuckles! 

As Sonic’s floating through space, the glittery images of the people he knows speaking in the void, the only word that’s going through my head is, “PRESENTATION!” 

Oh god it’s not even been five minutes and I’ve written over 500 words. If only I could write fics this quickly…

Did the truck stop chili dogs give him food poisoning so bad he hallucinated? 

Dog npc looks cute. Well, all the animal background characters are cute, but that’s just because rubber hose animals are cute. It feels strange to see properly animated background anthros after all this time. I almost felt like I was watching Boom again.

Okay so yeah Prime is definitely not game canon. Plenty of Eggman’s robots haven’t used flickies in the games. Heck, where would he even fit flickies inside of Orbot and Cubot? I’m 90% sure it’s a convenience thing. They’re a good power source when around, otherwise, he powers his robots in other ways. Again, I don’t think he actively hates nature, he just doesn’t have any qualms with exploiting it. 

I think every person on the planet agreed that Sonic having an electric motif kicks ass and so now he just has electric effects to his running in Frontiers and Prime. (I’m usually against mixing canons because I like them having distinct characteristics, but I have to agree, the electric motif kicks ass.) (Also I’m aware that in Prime it’s more a dimensional glitch thing but like, come on…)

Stormtrooper aim on these robots. I guess it works out for Sonic since he can barely run and doesn’t have rings atm. 

Had the thought earlier but forgot to write it down; This has the same tone as Colors. People hated that but I’m not ashamed of enjoying kids’ media so I don’t care. Besides, this is clearly a different canon so it’s not like it even matters. As long as things stay consistent within its own universe (or set thereof I guess) then it’s fine. 

Yeah so, Tails’ lab is in different places depending on the games/canon. But in the mainline console games, it’s definitely in Mystic Ruins and not Green Hill. At this point, I can easily say anyone, regardless of supposed credibility, would be wrong to say game/Prime canon flows in either direction. Games can’t be canon to Prime because Eggman’s built robots without flickies, and some massive justifications would have to be in place to explain Eggman and Sonic’s personality differences and the characters’ living situations. Prime can’t be canon to games because of the previously said personality/living situation. Prime holds as much weight in the game canon as Boom, so like, maybe a Prime exclusive character might be inexplicably mentioned in a game cutscene, but that’s all you can expect in terms of crossover. 

So we’re doing Lost World’s plot then? Prime should’ve been made sooner so they didn’t feel the need to contrive this conflict in a mainline game. 

Ah shit he hit a fault line, lol. 

I am not used to Knuckles having this deep of a voice. 

Tails never gets upset, except, you know, all the times he’s gotten upset. Also how the hell were they able to see his expression from that far away? Did he fly the Tornado off in an especially sulky manner? 

Oh shit he really did hit a fault line. That’s funny. I was joking. I thought the impact was that large because of the combined force of the giant robot and Sonic’s dense skull cracking the earth alone. 

Wow. Tails is so upset. More upset than he’s ever been before. You can tell by how he’s… just kinda doing what he normally does but with a flat voice. 

Okay, Eggman also needed a speed amplifier to get Sonic to crack the fault line. That’s what the device was. I think I saw a clip of Tails explaining that but then just forgot about it. Oh well. 

Just as I already knew, Rouge is only here because of the Paradox Prism. She’s not a part of the normal group. She just wants some backup so she can get to the shiny. 

It straight up seems like Eggman’s main motivation is destroying Green Hill, with creating his empire being a second thought. Yes, the end goal has basically the same result, but the distinction is important. Eggman is sounding more like what I imagine a Captain Planet villain is rather than like his game canon self. I think it’s fine for him to have more cartoony motivations in this show, but again, it’s a clear distinction between the two versions of him. 

Okay, Sonic, you can roll into a ball to protect yourself. Like, come on. You don’t need to be faceplanting like that for no reason. 

Oookay. It looks like I read that right last week. Knuckles has two different VAs. For some reason, he just… has a completely different voice in the Eggman Dystopia universe. I honestly like this voice more, but that probably has more to do with it being a less jarring switch from the voices I’ve been used to for… my whole life…

Did… Nine just… not hear Sonic come in? And talking with his outside voice?

If Forces was able to actually show what the planet was like after it was conquered by Eggman, I imagine this is what it’d be like. Also when Knuckles said Tails “lost it” or something like that, I imagine if Tails was acting like Nine instead of a coward, people would’ve complained less. This is the year of SEGA trying to make people forget Forces ever happened while taking the ideas they had for it and freshening them up for new content.

I know it’s basically always been Tails’ backstory that he was bullied for having 2 tails, but the pixel art sequence is clearly based on the Origins animation. Also, that pixel art uh… doesn’t look great. I guess this is a good example of why more simplistic doesn’t necessarily mean easier to create. 

The Tornado isn’t Tails’, it’s Sonic’s. The other versions of the Tornado are his, but Tails just holds onto the Tornado, probably due to Sonic’s whole not having a house thing. 

Sonic’s got his own inhibitor rings now. Neat. 

“WHAT ARE THOOOOOSE!”

Birdie is blue in the games. I think I’ve even seen someone say that already.

“Sonic! Wake up! You’ve fucked up big time!” “Shadow?” (Yes, I stole that.)

Okay I really feel like game Sonic wouldn’t just run off right after his friends say they should stick together, so again, this isn’t canon to the games. Game Sonic has always enjoyed keeping around them, especially when things are serious, and the only times I can think of that he wasn’t like that are Colors and Lost World, two games that are criticized for their portrayal of Sonic constantly. 

What? Did Rouge think it was too chummy to hang onto the wing of the Tornado like Knuckles, or did the team actually force her to keep up with a plane? Either way, not cool. 

I know chili dogs are Sonic’s favorite food and he probably does need the calories, but dang, he can’t just have them for every meal! This poor guy’s gonna get scurvy before he even reaches the pirate universe. 

Ah, so romantic! Getting punched in the face out of nowhere! (This is sarcasm. I’m making fun of the people who looked at Shadow punching Sonic and decided it was Sonadow bait.)

Not a fan of the cliffhanger, and not just because of the whole “wanting to see what’s next” thing. I hate how the Netflix model of dumping batches of episodes and measuring success off of whole series instant viewership has forced shows to end every episode on a cliffhanger to facilitate unhealthy watching habits for the sake of getting their show to survive. It is a detriment to creative storytelling and critical analysis, as the plot has to be built around constant cliffhangers and binging a series means not having the time to digest the information being shown. 

Overall, first episode is alright. I like Nine and wish him all the happiness. I wish Sonic a very ‘get punched in the face by Shadow for breaking the universe’. I’m vaguely interested in whatever Knucks and Rebel are doing. I hope that literally any arc concludes before these 8 episodes are over. 

Honestly, I think the only reasons anyone has tried to argue that Prime is canon is just because the characters look a lot closer to canon than they have in any other Sonic cartoon, and because one of the hundreds of people working on the show said there is/will be influence across the different canons. If anyone important actually does consider Prime to be canon and it does have a significant impact on the games, then I’ll rescind my opinion and have to consider it a horrible mess that absolutely failed to capture the characterization of the games.

Anyway, I might do this while watching the other episodes… whenever I get around to doing that. It’s like 3AM and I’m tired, so I’m done for today I think. 

[antiloreolympus]

11 Anti LO Asks

1. I feel like RS shits on Artemis when I feel like she isn’t bad as everyone makes to be. When she meets persphone, her look on the pink goddess was she’s never had a chance to bend the rules or even live a little. She takes her to a party, let’s her meet her brother and their friend, normal stuff. She didn’t have mind powers to know what Apollo did, and she did try to apologize for upsetting persphone with a cake. I wouldn’t say the two are besties but she did try to help persphone best she could. And now Artemis is used to excuse Persphones genocide crime. 

2. Took them long enough to make Artemis' body like every other woman in the latest free episode wow such diversity 🙄

3. Hear me out, Apollo takes Daphnes hibernation to frame persphone as more of a nymph turning people into plants. We now have the whole cast know that’s what she’s capable of and unable to fix. Idk I just feel like persphone isn’t gonna face any consequence “oh community service gee golly sounds like fun” really deflated me since ya know persphone not only kill mortals but turned a nymph into a plant.

Hades said this was his domain to deal with yet he’s not gonna help out his ex gf who he witnessed turned into a plant after he wasted her time using her as a place holder. RS is afraid to give persphone any form of growth. 

4. i mean, i wouldnt pay upwards to nearly 50 dollars for a book version of something i could read for free on my phone in the format it was made for either.

5. what i dont get is if rachel wants the endgame to be kids then why is adoption not an option? its not even brought up, there is only focus on biological kids. more so, and i HATE the fandom does this bc rachel is so easily swayed by them, but its always boys too? the only kids hades seems to have in myth (excluding the orphic ones) is either the furies (which cant happen in LO) or makaria, so daughters, but it seems the fandom and rachel care more to follow the male heir trope for some reason :/

6. im just sad she had such a unique style but now its just gone. even her sketches on twitter, so we know its her doing it instead of a team, just lack that charm and style it once had. i just dont get how she lost that unique edge so fast. the majority of LO is in this current style too while her original one, which is what made it popular, was only in the first 20ish episodes.

7. It doesn't make sense that Artemis n Apollo got to morder a buncha people without a pass and didn't get send to court but the only reason it doesn't make sense is because RS decided 'lol scene's looking like shit for perse, time to pull out another greek myth that makes everyone else look bad lololol' (also why isn't perse defending Artemis if she lovse all her frieinds so much? Like PLEASE RS STICK TO SMTH)

8. Where can we go to read the bonus chapter?

From OP: Currently, there’s not a way to read it online from what I’ve seen.

9. I don;t get how when the villagers murder perse's friends, they get killed, but when perse kills, she gets community service???

From OP: That’s because nymphs are more valued than humans. It’s kind of weird because in LO, nymphs are lower class and aren’t really treated with respect either. They’re like slightly above mortals in terms of importance.

10. if we reach episode 200 of LO and they're still not a couple i might actually lose it. true beauty and lets play are both dragged out too but even they both have more romance going on than dragging it out this much.

-----FP Spoilers/Mention-----

11. FP TALK: So i had to catch myself up with the past episode of this and… my god i just remembered why the HELL I dropped it. So basically Hades found out from eavesdropping and then Persephone was technically FORCED to talk about it while Hades kept PUSHING IT!!! Only for him to become that pissed off and for Persephone to stop him from that form!? Bitch I would’ve told him that he’s overstepping boundaries. And for him to say “what doesn’t kill you make you stronger” to her??? B r u h, that turama doesn’t make you stronger, it hurts and it stays with you no matter what. Yes you can heal from it but yet Persephone is still healing, only for her to keep. Wing forced to talk about it??? That’s horrible and not what she would need to hear. Also why the hell do I sense a Apollo redemption?? I hate where this is going. Why did I pick this up again??😓

[elpercotreviews]

My Anime 9/10′s

With probably no spoilers cuz I don’t wanna talk too long about them zzz.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist

YALL ALREADY KNOW THIS A 9/10. The only real reason this show is not a 10/10 is because it’s just a story that I’d never rewatch. There’s like 70 episodes, which is way too long for my short attention span, especially since I’ve seen it already. But yeah, by all accounts, this story is a masterpiece and is one of the only “shounen” anime’s that I genuinely enjoyed. No random sexualization. No dumb filler. All the characters have an actual purpose and role in the plot and everyone has their own morals and ideals that interact to make the story interesting. I couldn’t bring myself to really hate anyone, even the villains, because everyone was pretty well written. Also super satisfying ending that ties up everything properly without leaving me confused or upset. If you only watch a few anime in your life, Fullmetal Alchemist is pretty much a MUST WATCH to see a beautiful example of a modern classic anime as an artform. Also I should say that I really don’t like Hunter x Hunter (AN EXTREMELY CONTROVERSIAL OPINION BTW) but I love Fullmetal Alchemist so take from that what you will.

2. Parasyte: The Maxim

Same kinda shit where you already know this a 9/10 for me. It’s just a very satisfying anime that doesn’t have random sexualization or random filler or anything like that. Ending is also very good and ties up the story in a way that doesn’t leave more questions but also allows the characters to have a “life” outside of the scope of the story. I think Parasyte, because of its more horror and psychological-esque vibes, counts as a seinen and not a shounen, so for more mature audiences. I also really liked how the story was successfully adapted to modern times since the manga is from the 80′s. I have actually rewatched this anime, but what stops me from giving it a 10/10 is a few things that I found kinda “stereotypical” that I don’t wanna discuss further too much cuz it’s spoilers. I still obviously really like this anime and highly recommend it.

3. Zankyou no Terror

TBH, this anime is pretty hard for me to properly describe in a lot of words as to why I like it. The art was really pretty as well as the music, which was just straight up amazing. The cinematography of this anime is excellent as well, and a lot of scenes have that sense of being acted out by real people, as opposed to feeling completely drawn/animated. I was a teenager when this anime came out and I think a lot of the themes presented in the show really related to me. The show does kinda have some leftover questions when it ends that prevents me from rating it a 10/10, but I have such a soft spot for this anime. It’s from the same creator as Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop, and although those two animes are also very good, they did not impact me as much as this anime did. Recommended for people looking for idk something that gives off Inception vibes?? In the sense that it’s much more about its themes and its message more so than the believability of the events that occur.

4. Magic Kaito 1412

THIS IS JUST A PERSONAL PREFERENCE BTW LOLOL I DON’T KNOW ANYBODY WHO’D PUT THIS AS A 9/10 ANIME. I JUST REALLY LIKED IT OKAY. It’s made by the same person who does Detective Conan but I like this a lot more because it’s a much shorter series and slightly more mature (more for teens than just straight up kids). I really liked the main guy, I think he’s funny and charismatic. He’s a pervert at times but Imma forgive that cuz of the 90′s. Idk it’s just a really fun anime that I don’t have to take seriously and can just watch and enjoy.

5. Mob Psycho 100 (season 1 AND 2)

Imma put season two as slightly better than season one. So season one would be like a 9 and season two is like a 9.25 for me. Super super funny anime and I like it SO much more than One Punch Man. I liked that there was a good balance of serious moments, but you can definitely still count this anime as a comedy. I’m typically not the type to watch “comedy” but this anime genuinely had me laughing out loud, while also crying and freaking out right alongside the main character. The main guy is super great because he’s just this shy and sweet middle schooler, and it’s really interesting watching him balance trynna have a normal life while also using his powers for good and such. Apparently the anime was decently faithful to the manga and there’s apparently enough material for a third season so I’d be pretty stoked for a season 3, but season 2 ended on a pretty good spot and was satisfying. TBH, if I had the time, I’d probably rewatch both seasons and bump it up to a 10/10.

6. Vinland Saga

This anime is just the first season of what I hopes to be a whole series that will be stay beautifully and faithfully adapted from the manga. As someone who read very far into the manga (but quit like years ago simply because I hate slow updates lol), I actually didn’t enjoy watching the anime at first. I was impatient and kept waiting for when like the “major” events would happen. So I watched like three episodes and quit. But when I had some free time, I decided to get stuck in and commit to watching the whole series and I was so pleasantly surprised with just how good it was. I was impatient but I needed to realize that there is no “filler” or like “wasted time” in the entire anime. I hadn’t read the manga in years, so so many things were only vaguely familiar but I think this helped me stay surprised and excited throughout the anime. I’m looking forward to the rest of the manga being adapted because it’s just a good Viking saga lolol. Major themes of stuff like growing up, violence vs. peace, what it means to be a good person, etc. Lots of blood and LOTS of violence like a LOT they are VIKINGS CMON but tbh not really any gore which I liked cuz gore makes me ughhhh. A very good watch and only a taste of an excellent story.

7. Demon Slayer

It’s just Demon Slayer duhhh. Of course this a 9/10 for me. I don’t wanna write much just cuz the show is so popular. Just read a REAL review of this anime somewhere else lmaoooo. Also yes I did watch the movie in theaters and yes I liked it a lot as well mmkay. I’m mad hype for season two. My S/O doesn’t like Demon Slayer as much as me, but also has Hunter x Hunter as their all time favorite anime. Do with that information what you will lolol.

8. Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2

Same shit as Demon Slayer. Just go read someone else’s review about why it’s so good lol. Also, unlike Mob Psycho 100, I can’t include all of the seasons in this, because I have very various opinions about how good/bad the other seasons were. But this season 3 part 2, was just plain and simply amazing. While I might not like each season equally, as a whole Attack on Titan is also a modern masterpiece of storytelling. Read the manga if you can.

9. Great Pretender

I love this anime so much. Such a good and fun wild ride. The whole show is ridiculous but in a fun way. I’m a HUGE fan of heist films, so of course I absolutely enjoyed a heist anime. I’ve watched this show in sub AND dub, due to the fact that everyone is “technically” speaking English the entire time. If you’re a purist, just watch in sub OR dub cuz I did get confused here and there, especially when I would go back to compare language discrepancies.  Because basically I did this super high maintenance thing where I switched back to Japanese whenever the main character had flashbacks, since he’s ya know, Japanese. The dub also has this confusing thing where the first five minutes or so are still in Japanese, but switches to English when a little cue card on the screen goes “For the Viewers sake, everything from now on will be translated to Japanese.” It’s cuz in the sub, the inverse obviously happens where the characters are initially speaking broken English to each other, but for convenience sake, everything from that point on will be in Japanese. It’s confusing at first but I liked it cuz it just proved the whole international vibe of the show. It’s funny either sub or dub when they joke about how bad the main guy speaks English, cuz in the dub he’s speaking perfect English, while the sub has him not speaking English at all. But anyway, great anime that WOULD have gotten a 10/10 if not for the last episode. Like without spoiling ... WTF WAS THAT LMAOOOO. The anime as a whole is super wacky and zany but at least I could try to think it’s real life, but that last episode was just so unbelievable and bizarre and pulled my suspension of disbelief into the STRATOSPHERE that I just had to convince myself that this show takes place in some improbable alternate reality where something like what happened in the last episode is at least 5 percent possible CUZ HOW DID ANY OF THAT WORK LMAOOO??? Once again, great show, one of my absolute favorites, BUT THAT ENDING THOUGH WTF.

10. BNA

Good super underrated anime that I don’t hear people talk about at all. If Beastars is anime Zootopia, then BNA is Disney Beastars lmaooo does that make sense? It’s a lot more fun and zany than Beastars and I liked it way more. Made by the same people who made Kill la Kill. I really like that more classic, animated “cheap” art style that the anime has, and I also really liked the plot of the story. Not a 10/10 cuz the show does leave a few unanswered questions at the end of it, but this show was such a fun and interesting ride. When I finished the last episode, I was left with a big smile on my face because I just genuinely enjoyed this anime. Recommended if you wanna watch something a little unique and more on the silly and wack side. Talks about some serious stuff, but luckily the show never takes itself TOO seriously, and remains overall lighthearted for a fun action/sci-fi show.

[makeste]

BnHA 6th Popularity Poll Reaction Post - Risky Spoiler-Dodging Edition

hey guys, so seeing as the results from the 6th popularity poll were leaked today, I figured I would do a separate reaction + analysis post this year, rather than piling it in as an extra on top of the chapter reaction post tomorrow. I figure this makes more sense anyway, since they’re really two completely different things. also this way I can write as much as I want lol.

also, just fyi, I am still completely unspoiled for chapter 293. and probably the smart thing to do to keep it that way would be to log off tumblr and hold off posting this until tomorrow, but I apparently have no impulse control today so oh well. anyway, so I’m hoping you guys will keep this spoiler-free if you don’t mind! as always, I would prefer to just jump right in completely unaware tomorrow like Troy returning to the study room with the pizza boxes lol.

okay so this first part is just going to be my predictions. fyi I am writing this part on Wednesday night, and then I’ll add on the results part on Thursday or Friday (ETA: Thursday, apparently, since I am impatient.)

okay so first of all, just as a refresher, this poll was open to Japanese voters from Aug 3 to Sep 30. meaning chapters 279 through 285. meanwhile last year’s poll took place around the tail end of the MVA arc. so between then and now we had Heroes Rising, the Endeavor Agency arc, and the War arc up to the part where the 1-A kids took on Gigantomachia in Gunga, and started battling Tomura in Jakku. so technically only a couple of arcs, but a LOT of stuff going down in them. oh and season 4 of the anime as well

so! firstly, I predict that my truculent africanized honeybee son will hold on to his crown at #1, coming off a year in which he did some internship-boosted soul searching, borrowed OFA in movie canon, and finished out the voting period as the my-body-moved-on-its-own character development MVP. like CALL ME CRAZY lol, but I’m pretty sure his title is safe. and then after him will be Deku and Shouto as usual

Aizawa should hopefully also have a strong showing because the dude had a banner fucking year. reunited with his old dead friend, took on Tomura with his hopelessly inept hero pals, and then chopped his fucking leg off. he had better be in the top 10. his fucking leg died for this, idk what else he has to do

Endeavor also stands a decent chance of doing well given the internship arc and the final episode of season 4. which I’m sure will go down just swimmingly if that does happen lmao. especially if he somehow manages to rank higher than...

Dabi, which I don’t think he will btw, but you never know. anyways though, but I’m thinking Dabi’s going to have a stronger showing than in past years (in the last poll he only got 367 votes and was ranked 19th). mostly because of his fight in the Gunga mansion, and his cheekily censored name reveal to...

Hawks, who is also going to rank pretty high here, I think. might be he loses some points for killing off Twice, but his back was basically to the wall there. and he has always been very popular, and I think season 4 will also give him a boost, along with his heavy involvement in the first half of the War arc

Tomura was already in 6th place last year and I think he cracks the top 5 this year. he’s gotten exponentially more popular since the MVA arc, and got a boost in the last poll even though his flashback had only just barely happened, and he hadn’t finished Awakening yet and all that stuff. anyway, so he’s only gotten cooler and more tragic since then so I think he makes a big play here

Kirishima, Momo, Tokoyami, and Mina should also hopefully do well, since the poll opened right in the middle of all that Gigantomachia action, and Toko had just got done being an absolute badass and protecting his birb dad. I don’t think he’ll quite make it to the top ten, but he should

and last but not least, I’m hoping that Mirko will come out and take the polls by storm, although I have no clue how popular she is in Japan lol. she’s clearly Horikoshi’s favorite though. she SHOULD be everyone’s favorite, but I mean, we’ll see how it goes

anyway that’s it as far as predictions! and so now, through the magic of writing stuff at different times, we will fast-forward to the part where we actually find out the results!

OH MY GOD YES, STEAMPUNK KHLKSLLKL. HERE FOR IT. JOLLY GOOD SHOW. 5 STARS

Kacchan looks SO COCKY and SO HAPPY and SO ADORABLE, YES I SAID IT. he is adorable as FUCK. I don’t quite know what it is about this particular Kacchan that just screams “LOOK HOW FUCKING CUTE MY STUPID, LOUD SON IS WITH HIS BIZARRE WINDOWPANE-LOOKING CONVERTIBLE SUNGLASS GOGGLES and his POORLY TIED CRAVAT”, but I think it’s because he looks like if a Digimon character and a FMA character had a baby

anyway, so it looks like most of the people present here are more or less who we expected to see. except that I can’t tell for sure if that’s Dabi or Shindou, and if it’s Shindou I’m going to punch somebody in the face so you will have to excuse me

Iida wearing a TRENCHCOAT and a TOP HAT with ENGINE EXHAUST GOGGLE ACCENTS is my new favorite Iida of all time. take note how there is no possible way he can wear those goggles with them sitting on top of his hat like that. plus he’s already got glasses on. these are just purely for aesthetic and IF THAT AIN’T JUST THE STEAMPUNK WAY

Deku out here speaking softly and carrying a lead pipe. Kacchan you best look out. seems like he’s done watching you take first place year after year while he languishes in the number two spot. your only hope is that he trips while attacking you because his boots are unbuckled

Shouto’s standing over there with the rest of the non-first-and-second-place characters, but what are the odds his results are actually within spitting distance of Deku’s same as always. anyway he doesn’t mind, though. also his outfit is by far the most sensible one here, but if you look closely he’s got some sort of fire extinguisher/jet pack thing strapped to his back that’s got a control switch on his belt. Shouto are you jetpacking or putting out fires

Kirishima out here all “I’m not sure what steampunk is so I’m just going to take off my shirt and pose”

AIZAWA WITH THE EYEPATCH SKLKSDLKFJLSKJLDFKJSLDFFJLDKSJFL:KS. SIR. SIR. also, lowkey furious that Horikoshi refuses to show us the automail leg that he is clearly sporting here but which we just can’t see, SHOUTO MOVE GODDAMMIT

Endeavor has TWO fire extinguisher-slash-jetpacks. THE BETTER TO... WHATEVER. look at you here in the top ten again. you really live for that controversy

HAWKS OUT HERE WITH HIS STEAMPUNK BEATS BY DRE AND HIS WEARING A RING ON EVERY FINGER. nice to see you’ve still got your wings there, kiddo. then again Deku still has both of his arms too so who even knows what is going on

BUT SERIOUSLY THOUGH, IS THIS DABI OR SHINDOU. as if I don’t know the truth deep down in my heart. y’all I am gonna flip lmao. it’s not that I dislike Shindou, strictly speaking. but just... I can’t explain what it is, but if you put him and AFO next to each other and told me “you can only punch one”, I would be having a serious crisis. just, THIS FUCKING GUY, idek. STOP SMILING

Tomura looks like he just wandered onto the set here by mistake and has no idea where he is or what is going on. it’s because you’re wearing a bigass severed hand that’s blocking your entire view, Tomura. just take the hand off your face my sweet murder dumpling

anyway! so I managed to also find a link to the full poll results while somehow managing to avoid spoilers, and then I wanted to compare the results to last year’s poll, and so I made... this

hopefully you can all see this. if you’re on desktop you might be screwed, but on mobile you should be able to click and enlarge it. I mean, assuming you actually give a fuck about boring poll analysis spreadsheets lmao

anyway, so there were actually 13k fewer votes cast this year which is a bit of a surprise. is the series not still growing in popularity? do people apparently have better things to do during their quarantine lol

anyways but despite this, and despite getting 8k fewer votes overall, Kacchan still managed almost twice as many as his closest competitor. well fought, Deku. please put down that pipe

I somehow always underestimate the power of ship popularity to influence these things. but for example, it looks like Present Mic got that Vigilantes Trio bump. ride that wave for all it’s worth my man! hell, you got me on board

Iida fucking Tenya somehow got some sort of POWER BOOST out of NOWHERE which I can’t explain at all lmao, but I’m here for it. NOT BAD FOR AN OLD MAN

Sero managed to get the exact same number of votes in both 2019 and 2020. clearly the most loyal fans in the business

Mirko being all the way down at #20 is, of course, a travesty, and I hereby nominate her to be the one to punch Shindou in the face

ngl though, the lack of a single female character in the top ten hurts just a bit. it’s not overly surprising, but still. the worst part of it is that even if you kicked Shindou to the curb and moved everyone else up one slot, it would still be all dudes since Mic beat out Momo by a margin of a little more than a hundred votes. hard to stay mad at Mic for too long, though. ah well

Tomura actually lost a bunch of votes which is a genuine surprise to me. I know the villain standom isn’t as dominant in Japan as it is in Western fandom, but still. you can go ahead and punch Shindou too I guess

Tokoyami lowkey doubled his vote count over the past year while hiding down there at #18. he is slowly becoming more powerful. biding his time

anyway so I think that’s it! I mean not really, but I’m getting kind of tired lol. so just, you know, insert the usual gripes at Overhaul’s ranking here, although we can be happy about Magne making her way onto the list (r.i.p.), and Mineta and AFO taking a very satisfying slide down (all the way out, in AFO’s case; good riddance you bum). Hadou also got a huge boost which is awesome. Mustard’s persistent ownership of the #36 spot will forever remain a mystery to me, but oh well

anyways, this was fun. and I really do feel like everyone is looking away on purpose so that when Deku brains Kacchan with that pipe in about two seconds from now, there will be no witnesses, oh my fucking god

[renegadewangs]

Van Zieks - the Examination, part 5

Warnings: SPOILERS for The Great Ace Attorney: Chronicles. Additional warning for racist sentiments uttered by fictional characters (and screencaps to show these sentiments).

Disclaimer: (see Part 1 for the more detailed disclaimer.) - These posts are not meant to be taken as fact. Everything I’m outlining stems from my own views and experiences. If you believe that I’ve missed or misinterpreted something, please let me know so I can edit the post accordingly. -The purpose of these posts is an analysis, nothing more. Please do not come into these posts expecting me to either defend Barok van Zieks from haters, nor expecting me to encourage the hatred. - I’m using the Western release of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles for these posts, but may refer to the original Japanese dialogue of Dai Gyakuten Saiban if needed to compare what’s said. This also means I’m using the localized names and localized romanization of the names to stay consistent. -It doesn’t matter one bit to me whether you like Barok van Zieks or dislike him. However, I will ask that everyone who comments refrains from attacking real, actual people.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

It’s time to return to the first game for case 5, The Unspeakable Story!

Episode 5: The Unspeakable Story – Part 1

Prepare yourselves, this is a big one! So big, even, that I'm going to have to split it into two parts. Fortunately, we can skip over the entire Investigation segment, because virtually none of it is relevant to Van Zieks. In fact, we don't even learn Van Zieks is the prosecutor until we enter the courtroom and see him standing there. Somehow, no one thought to ask who Ryu would be facing. What we do learn during the Investigation is confirmation that McGilded was indeed a lying scumbag who murdered Thrice-fired Mason. He asked Gina to lie for him in a court of law, too. So indeed, Ryu backed the wrong horse in The Runaway Room and Van Zieks was right to suspect the defense of deceit. He was wrong in how he worded half his arguments, though.

An extra thing worth noting is that after the conversation in which the blood is found on Gina's coat and the truth of McGilded comes out, it's revealed that Gregson was hiding nearby in the shadows. He insists he didn't eavesdrop and only just walked in, but it's implied much later in the trial that he knew about the blood on the coat. This means that Gregson is, from this point on, holding the full knowledge that McGilded was McGuilty in the omnibus murder.

So into the courtroom we go, where it is shown we're facing Van Zieks. (And nobody is surprised, because who else would it have been? Auchi?) It is now two months after the Runaway Room and the two Clouded Kokoro cases, so immediately upon starting the trial, the judge basically asks Van Zieks whether he's gone insane- in his own words, that is. First he asks how many years it's been since Van Zieks retired, to which Van Zieks replies that it's been five. The judge notes that Van Zieks resurfaced rather suddenly two months ago, (then basically handled three cases in a single week,) and showed up again today.

HAH. I love how on the nose this judge is when it comes to dissing the prosecution. He goes on to state that Van Zieks used to deal exclusively in matters concerned with 'the highest echelons of society and government', yet today he's trying 'a simple case of burglary and murder'. We already learned this from Gregson in case 1-4, but it's nice to have it repeated again.

Van Zieks replies that there's two things he cannot abide: “Wealthy scoundrels who hide behind a mask of philanthropy-” (hi McGilded!) and... “Secondly- even more loathsome... Those wily scoundrels who masquerade as allies only to effect total betrayal in the final hour.”

So that settles it then. He's specifically taken on his three most recent cases because there were Japanese people involved. He's also outright admitting that which Ryu had already guessed: Van Zieks hates Japanese people and going by his wording (“betrayal”, etc.) he has some bad experiences. Ryu wonders whether that 'torrid look of hatred' in Van Zieks's eyes is directed at him or at all Japanese people. Frankly, I think that in a subconscious sense, it's neither. The way I see it, that torrid look of hatred is directed at a man who died ten years ago. But I'll get back to this when it's time to address the backstory. The judge finds that an “alarmingly scathing explanation”, but welcomes the Reaper of the Bailey back to court all the same.

I love the implication that Van Zieks can apparently just come and go as he pleases in terms of prosecuting. Retirement can just be upturned on a whim and he's allowed to choose any case he wants. Who even is keeping him informed on which cases are happening and who the defense is? Is there a Chief Prosecutor in play we don't know about or is Stronghart slipping notes into his letterbox? Or has Van Zieks been entering the prosecutor's office every day for the past two months, demanding to hear news of 'that Nipponese attorney'?

So anyway, Van Zieks lays out the opening statement, pours himself a glass of wine, accuses Ryu of jumping to conclusions and reveals that he has witnesses. Remember when he threw aside his cloak halfway into 1-3 and it was seen as a big deal? … Yeah. It's not much anymore, now. He gets rid of it before the first witnesses have even taken the stand. The guys called forth are literal criminals who happened to break into the scene of the crime and, according to Van Zieks, “will face trial in the very near future” for their “various trespasses”. Alright, so he's acknowledging he's called forth some sketchy witnesses, but considers the murder itself far more sinister than their burglary.

Ryu manages to prove the taller Skulkin brother fired a gun at the crime scene and in doing so, struck poor innocent (S)Holmes. (Ryu presents a picture of a blood-stained calendar with a bullet in it to prove this, yet ten minutes later, he'll present the exact same picture and the entire court will act as if they'd never seen it before. Awkwaaard.) Van Zieks pours himself another glass of wine, toasts to Ryu's incompetence and later has another micro-aggression:

Scumbag points! And also possibly hilarious foreshadowing if he's referring to either Asogi Sr. or Mikotoba here. Though it's hard to say how well acquainted Van Zieks was with (S)Holmes and his partner roughly 16 to 10 years ago. Anyway, Van Zieks flings another chalice and basically admits that he already knew these two criminals gunned down (S)Holmes, but made a deal with them not to get into that. Though technically, Ryu was the one who got into it by proving it in court, so Van Zieks didn't break any unscrupulous deals. And maybe he was even expecting Ryu to do so? Maybe that's why he was pushing Ryu to present evidence? Either way, Van Zieks now owes 'his Nipponese friend' a word of gratitude, since he helpfully confirmed the two brothers couldn't possibly have shot the victim. Only one bullet was fired from their pistol, after all, and if it hit (S)Holmes it couldn't possibly have killed Windibank.

Van Zieks proceeds to “take a moment to consider the aforementioned Great Detective, Mr. Sholmes” (KEEP THIS LINE IN MIND), and brings up the security cameras (S)Holmes planted at the pawnshop so that he can present a picture of the defendant waving a pistol at the victim. Why didn't he present this evidence immediately instead of asking two shady burglars to testify? Who even knows, man. He's being erratic, just as the judge said. The jurors have seen enough and vote guilty, so it's time for a Summation Examination! Van Zieks poured himself another glass of wine before Ryu even asserted his right to that, because he knew it was coming. He has to stand in silence and so he will drink.

(Juror No 1, aka Mr. Garrideb, proceeds to piss me off by oggling the maid juror. I thought the whole point of this character was that his wife misunderstood and jumped to conclusions; that she's been punishing him wrongfully since he does indeed love her and will stand by her side no matter what, but apparently not.) Some tomfoolery later, we require the prosecution's help to prove stereoscopes are just as cool as wireless telegraphy.

I honestly think it's hilarious that he's meant to stay silent but has broken that rule several times, so now we're taunting him by asking him a direct question during the Examination. So after it's been proven the two criminals moved some stuff around inside the pawnshop, four jurors vote not-guilty and the trial continues. The two witnesses get called back to the stand and---

… Okay. So he definitely is against perjury. He seems to hate it, even. He apparently keeps giving them the evil eye as they testify, intimidating Ringo into telling the truth. But I just can't shake the memory of him feeding a lie to Shamspeare in Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro. Also, the game very much caught me off guard during this testimony when I presented a piece of evidence which wasn't correct, but instead of leading to a penalty led me to a unique set of dialogue not found when presenting other wrong evidence. That is to say, I presented a picture of Gina holding the sole gun to disprove the testimony that both she and Windibank were wielding guns, which led to:

Isn't that what we often do in these games? Van Zieks clearly hasn't been paying attention. Anyway, the judge points out that so long as I couldn't prove that Gina was still holding the only gun some time later, when Windibank was shot, the evidence wasn't relevant. So I had to present the picture of Windibank's body (not holding a gun) instead. Ryu manages to point out through that picture that the Skulkin brothers were lying and-

OKAY OKAY. I GET IT. Van Zieks hates perjury with a burning passion and Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro messed up. The trial continues on to the point where Ryu manages to suggest that the Skulkin brothers shot Windibank and Gina then locked the door to save herself. At first Van Zieks is shocked at the notion, but after Ryu details his logic, he just puts his hands down on the desk and chuckles.

This is the first time we see something close to laughter from him, and it's not even really laughter. It's just a malicious, bitter little noise. In fact, we've never seen him smile. He's not even smiling now, as he cackles. That's a stark contrast from other prosecutors, who all smile/smirk as they gloat. Barok's facial expression barely changes at all. Are they building up to something? Anyway, the judge wonders why Van Zieks finds this amusing, as he found the argument quite persuasive himself. Van Zieks pours himself another glass of wine and says:

“But such blatantly malicious conjuring tricks amount to nothing more than inexcusable pettifoggery here. Because you see, it contains a fatal flaw!”

Scumbag points! He then proceeds to imply all the members of the jury are too dimwitted to count (as he flings his chalice). Bullets, that is. There were two bullets found at the crime scene and there were two guns recovered, each having fired one bullet. So if the Skulkin brothers had shot (S)Holmes, they couldn't possibly have shot Windibank as well.

Bye wine bottle, rip person sitting behind him. Van Zieks proceeds to slander Gina for being “far from a law-abiding citizen” and having “a past riddled with criminal misconduct”. To further illustrate his point, he presents a piece of evidence that the defendant attempted to steal the day beforehand, not with the subtlety of a pickpocket but by brute force and brazen impudence. Gregson loses it at this point, shouting out a loud “Hold it!” before losing his nerve and stammering his way through his protest. He mentions that there was a meeting with the prosecution service where it was agreed that piece of evidence wouldn't be used. Ryu is baffled and thinks this:

And now I'm baffled as well, because thinking back on it... Yes, Gregson has talked about Van Zieks before in Investigation segments and has been called in to testify, but as far as I can recall, he hasn't ever addressed Van Zieks directly. Fascinating stuff. Van Zieks says he's unaware of this meeting- probably because he found out Ryu's defending later on and snatched this case up at the last second. Perhaps even took it from the originally-assigned prosecutor with brute force and brazen impudence. Gregson insists that 'the government bigwigs' were very insistent about not using the disc as evidence, to which Van Zieks says:

Good gracious, Van Zieks is a loose cannon! … Or wait, maybe he's a reckless renegade? Or is he perhaps a prosecutor on the edge with nothing to lose? (Alright, put on a pot of coffee- we're gonna get to the bottom of this!) ...Either way, the prosecution thinks it's sufficiently made its case by establishing motive, opportunity and baseness of character.

OY! I thought you don't read third-rate detective stories! But Iris specifically wrote that line into existence, so he must have. Me thinks we've got a closet Adventures of (S)Herlock (S)Holmes fan on our hands, here. The jury buys into his slander, votes guilty, Iris accuses him of being mean and Ryu enters Summation Examination mode a second time.

Oh he knows what he's in for. He knows. Several minutes of talking about bullets later, the topic of (S)Holmes's waist pouch is brought up and Iris wonders whether perhaps the bullet hit one of the glass vials with flammable content. Van Zieks suddenly speaks up with an “If I may...”, catching the startled attention of Ryu in particular.

“I should inform the defence that I have the pouch in question in the antechamber outside the courtroom. As I understand it, when the police arrived on the scene and found Mr Sholmes injured, they removed the pouch in order to assess the wound. Since then, it has been in my safekeeping along with all other evidence relating to the case. I can personally vouch for the fact that it has not been touched since the incident occurred.”

This whole plotline cracks me up with how little sense it makes, considering the position of this pouch on (S)Holmes's outfit. But I'm not here to criticize plot-convenience of evidence, so let's move on and look at what's actually happening here. The defense is discussing possibilities with the jurors in hopes of changing their minds towards a not-guilty and instead of keeping silent, as he's supposed to during this moment, Van Zieks actively speaks up to admit he has a piece of evidence which may be of assistance. It's entirely possible that the pouch would have all three vials intact and thereby dismiss the theory that the bullet hit one of them, but... Regardless of whether he remembers seeing a broken vial with his own eyes, he's taking a risk by showing the pouch. He could've played by the Summation Examination rules, kept his mouth shut and then later when it comes out he had the pouch all along, just remind everyone he wasn't allowed to speak. That's what most prosecutors would've done. Naturally, it's revealed there was indeed a broken vial and some scorched leather, and even closer examination reveals a third bullet we can present to the jurors.

Scumbag point! So with all the confusion on the third bullet and the implication of there being a third gun, the judge does something pretty extraordinary. He doesn't wait for the jurors to change their leaning and instead actually suspends the Summation Examination until the matter is cleared up. This implies any judge has the power to overrule juror leanings, at the very least during Summation Examination, when they feel the case presented by the counsels is lacking important details. Anyway, closing argument on hold for now and the Skulkins return to the stand. Barok looks them straight in the eyes with his usual evil eye and asks them whether the third gun is one of theirs. When that's denied, he asks whether they had an accomplice, which is also denied. And it's kind of funny, because only a few minutes later when Ryu implies they had an accomplice, we get this line:

“Yet in all that time, there has been not a murmur of a third man. If this apparently wraithlike being exists...” pause for chalice crush... “The court must be shown hard evidence!”

But Van Zieks was the one who questioned the Skulkins about an accomplice earlier, so... Indeed, we don't have evidence, but the murmur was definitely already there. So now the prosecution wants two things: evidence there was a third person on the scene and their identity. The game prompts two options: Either present an answer to the prosecution's demands or, y'know, don't. Naturally I chose the latter option to see what happens and it goes about as well as you'd expect. Ryu stutters and trails off, Van Zieks notes the defense is unable to complete a sentence, let alone provide credible answers... Iris takes the place of Susato in telling Ryu off for faltering, so Ryu desperately tries to catch himself and push his argument. Van Zieks says: “So, my Nipponese friend, despite the swimming eyes you seem to think you have something to say...”

PENALTY FROM THE PROSECUTION, oh how I've missed you. Loading up the savegame and choosing the first option actually also leads to the exact same line of “so, my Nipponese friend, despite the swimming eyes you seem to think you have something to say...”, just with a slightly different posture and followed up with the words “this promises to be interesting.” Ryu presents the blood sample on the calendar once more and as I said before, the court acts as if they've never seen this picture before. Hilarious. Van Zieks asks why the blood is depicted as green and Ryu explains it's because of a new chemical (S)Holmes invented. The green blood is then linked to Eggert Benedict through the music disc. The court gets very excited, but much like the skin prints in case 2-2, this isn't admissible evidence. Van Zieks says “this has gone on long enough now. This flagrant ignorance of the mechanics of law.”

“The protagonist in a series of short stories for the vulgar classes. A god of detection or some such. And now you employ chemical substances devised by this fantastical persona in the highest court in the land? Do you expect us to take you seriously? The samples made by this plaything are not fit to be called evidence.”

These lines! I had a quick look at both Scarlet Study's and Taisa's scripts, and there Van Zieks outright accuses (S)Holmes of being a fictional character. He doesn't actually diss the stories themselves though, nor is there anything similar to that plaything line. He only says the chemical itself is 'rubbish'. What ultimately kills me is the “Yes, I’ve heard the name” as if this is the first time it’s being uttered in the courtroom. Let's be merciful here and take case 2-2 out of the equation. Yes, (S)Holmes is mentioned several times there, they establish the two have some sort of history and he even enters the courtroom at one point to address Van Zieks directly, but that case was developed after this one so accidental retcon is bound to happen. No, let's look solely at the cases in the first game. (S)Holmes has been mentioned several times throughout the course of this trial, even by Van Zieks himself. Even better, Van Zieks was the one to present photographs taken by one of (S)Holmes's playthings earlier on. OOPS.

Ryu enters despair mode because there really is no way to prove that the color green is unique to Eggert Benedict, nor would it be accepted as evidence to begin with. But that's okay, because much like the skin prints in 2-2, it was never about having it filed as official evidence. It was about influencing the jury and as Iris so smartly points out, the Summation Examination was suspended earlier. This means that technically, it's still going on. It doesn't matter what the prosecution or the judge thinks of (S)Holmes's invention, it only matters what the jurors think, as they now have the power to force the trial to continue. Naturally, the majority votes not-guilty. Van Zieks objects rather ferociously. “My lord, with all due respect, this is an outrage! The prosecution refuses to accept this decision!” (heehee, I really enjoy these lines. With all due respect, indeed.) The judge asks on what grounds the prosecution is objecting, and Van Zieks says:

“Then they are too ignorant to be trusted with the judgement of anyone's guilt!”

Gosh, he really doesn't enjoy how 'gullible' the jurors are, does he? Or rather, he gets frustrated when the jurors begin to think for themselves instead of taking the prosecution's word for it. The judge sets Van Zieks straight by basically reminding him that this is how the court works.

It is so satisfying to watch him squirm. Van Zieks wants us to play by the court's rules, so we're playing by the court's rules and now he's got no more comebacks. This is it folks, we're subpoena-ing Egg Benedict! He does indeed show up to court after a brief intermission and reveals his true name to be Ashley Graydon. Graydon expresses haughty dismay that the highest court of the land was swayed by some self-professed detective's homemade tincture. Van Zieks tells him it was the will of the jury, and their great British justice system demands that the jury's will is upheld. Graydon calls the jury members inept, as Van Zieks has done many times before, but agrees to testify. Ryu attempts to needle this guy several times by asserting he was definitely at the crime scene, but indeed, the blood sample doesn't count as evidence and Ryu doesn't really have anything else to back him up. Van Zieks oh-so-kindly reminds him that the obligation to prove the defense's assertion lies with, well, the defense. Eventually we do get there and Graydon starts making up some bullshit story about how he met McGilded in a gentlemen's club and bonded with him over unique music box music, so that's what that disc was. Van Zieks points out that Yard have indeed been gathering items believed to have been McGilded's property, presumably to aid their investigations. Gregson once again loses his composure here and tries to shut the conversation down.

Gregson and Van Zieks continue to banter back and forth about how Gregson is definitely not allowed to talk about these things and Van Zieks should also know better than to pry. Even Ryu thinks it's strange the two of them are bickering like that. Anyway, we're not allowed to discuss the McGilded stuff, so back to Graydon and his breaking and entering! Van Zieks asserts that if the police confiscated the disc beforehand and Graydon saw this happen, there was no reason for him to break into the pawnshop anymore.

Oooh, that's some tasty triumph over Van Zieks's ignorance! Ryu brings up the second item pawned by McGilded, a 'small box'. Van Zieks insists that no such thing was stolen from the pawnshop and he can prove it, since he has a picture of the shelves from before the break-in and one from after the break-in. You know, the pictures taken by that idiot detective's silly little plaything! Through the magic of stereoscopes (or the 3D Slider in the 3DS version), Ryu can see that a small box was moved.

It's absolutely hilarious that most of the court has to go cross-eyed to do the stereoscope thing and then there's Van Zieks, with a fancy stereoscope device that he just happened to have with him in a trial he couldn't possibly predict would require a stereoscope. He's so extra! Ryu asserts that if the box was moved, they have to raise the question of what was inside it and send the Yard to retrieve that thing at once. Van Zieks objects, saying that “some little box belonging to a man who died two months ago can't possibly be relevant to this trial.” The judge doesn't see it his way, though, and overrules his objection. Nice! So officers are dispatched to Baker Street to fetch the box and Van Zieks grumbles to himself about being hoodwinked by a farce.

The judge once again doesn't take kindly to Van Zieks's attitude problems and I love this. I can't wait for the prosecution to be penalized, because it feels like it's right around the corner here. Van Zieks elaborates that this whole thing is nothing but a smoke screen; a Nipponese specialty. Scumbag points for this one! I can't entirely connect this to Professor foreshadowing, I think it's just him being petty. Either way, he's going to jump through hoops now. Mere minutes ago he established that the Yard is still investigating McGilded's stuff and the 'aftermath' of his activities, but he's flipping it all over now. He begins to talk about how McGilded died two months ago, immediately after the trial in which he was found not-guilty.

“So I propose a toast. To my learned friend, and his most... insightful defense.”

So the logic being used here now is that McGilded was a fine, upstanding citizen and anything he pawned was truly innocent/ordinary, so why would someone want to steal it? The only way to prove that there's more to these items than might be apparent would be for Ryu to reveal that the acquittal was a mistake and the defense's argument was based on false information. They all suspected this two months ago, though. It was made abundantly clear that the only reason McGilded walked free was because nobody could say for certain whether the evidence was tampered with. Either way, Ryu's cornered now and wondering to himself whether Van Zieks knows the items in question are related to the omnibus murder. He probably does. He has access to the evidence, which means he has access to to the pawn tickets which hold some very specific dates on them.

The game gives Ryu an option whether or not to have Gina testify about what happened two months ago, but this option isn't real. If you choose 'leave it', Ryu still decides within two lines of dialogue that they have to uncover the truth. There's no penalty for stalling. So Ryu calls for Gina to testify and Van Zieks definitely knows what's up.

“In particular, the impact it will have on the accused's standing... And indeed your own.”

So this is a warning, clear and simple. Van Zieks knows shit will hit the fan. Or, as he later phrases it, it will bring the court down around Ryu's ears. But Ryu insists upon the testimony, the prosecution agrees and Gina is put on the stand. The judge tells Graydon he can step down, Graydon promptly sees this as an excuse to leave and bids them all a good day, but Van Zieks tells him to wait.

Oh, this... I like this. By now, Van Zieks has caught on to Ryu's little trick of watching the reactions from other witnesses during testimonies. He's purposely making Graydon stand there and listen to Gina's testimony just in case he reacts in such an overdramatic way, Ryu can pursue it. Iiinteresting! Now it seems as if he's on our side, but we're not quite there yet. Before Gina can begin her testimony, Van Zieks reminds her that if it turns out she willfully withheld information two months ago, she'll be prosecuted for perjury. That's just an intimidation technique to get her not to reveal what she withheld. … Which is weird, because you'd think Van Zieks would want her to spill those beans. Either way, with some encouragement from Ryu and Iris, Gina begins to talk about the lies she told. Aaand we're ending the essay here for now, because we're only about halfway into this disaster of a trial and the plot will only thicken from here on out. Stay tuned for part 2 of The Unspeakable Story!