#i need to watch the japanese version apparently

[kadabralin]

one game of chess while everyone watches

i saw a sub/dub comparison of this scene on youtube years ago and it has refused to leave my mind ever since so i'm recreating it here since i can't find the original video anymore

[gvenevera]

Kuroshitsuji Musical ~ 寄宿学校の秘密 (Secrets of the Boarding School) 2024 ~ VERA’S REVIEW!

Yes you read that right! I’ve had the most fateful chance to watch the very first performance of the newest Kuromyu in Hyogo last Saturday, so I figured I’ll eternalize some of my best memories here.

Before we begin: the LIVE STREAMING is available for the LAST PERFORMANCE, September 29th 2024, HERE! For only 3800 yen, you’ll get to watch it live at home, or watch it later for up to 1 week (October 6th)! Apparently you need a Japanese VPN though, if anyone knows how to navigate the site, please do share.

A few disclaimers from me:

*Anti-shippers DNI. This post barely has any shipping content at all but I don’t like people who harass others over fictional preferences. I’m a shipper, I can’t help being biased for my OTPs.

**Since photos were prohibited in the venue, I’ve included stage pictures featured in official news websites or accounts.

***This is by no means a critical review but merely a fangirl’s ramblings, and I often drew comparisons to the original stage play Kuroshitsuji Musical: Secrets of the Boarding School (2021). For reference, I suggest you watch it first! I intentionally avoided rewatching the 2021 version close to the airing date though, so my memories may not be accurate. Also my Japanese is mediocre so I apologize if there were important dialogues I didn’t catch.

Introduction

I know, sorry for the dilly-dally intro. But I’d like to first stress that ever since I started following Kuroshitsuji in my first year of university (like 9 years ago now lmao), I’ve ALWAYS dreamed to watch the stage musical live in person. When 2024’s performance was announced immediately after the last episode of the anime, I was overjoyed to see that our old cast was coming back.

And it was fate that gave me the opportunity - my scheduled work program this year was set to be in Kyoto AND during September! Needless to say, I had the Kuromyu ticket bought and reserved first, before my confirmation with the Kyoto office or my visa and plane ticket. Priorities, right?

Quick remark on the ticket process: I hit a snag right in the beginning because the ticket reservation website Eplus required a Japanese phone number to sign up. I contacted multiple people (middle school friend whose brother used to work in Japan, another who was quarter-Japanese, several dealer websites with high rate exchanges), until I settled on my roommate’s friend from high school who was currently working there. Many thanks to her and my roommate for the help!

She took care of registration for me - even so the advance sales was a LOTTERY ticket! We fortunately got the lucky draw - I saw many Japanese fans on X who were not so lucky, while others bought in bulk to sell later. Then, I used the online barcode to exchange for a paper ticket when I arrived in Japan on September 1st. That’s when I get to know my seat number - 3rd floor, 2nd row B. A very far position from the stage, but it’s alright because we’re here for the atmosphere anyway!

The performances for the first 2 days were set in Hyogo Performing Arts Center, KOBELCO grand hall. I’ve honestly never been to any kind of music performance (or even concerts) in my life, so I was blown away by the sheer size of the venue.

By 10 AM, the audience was trickling in. I was in awe of the fact that you can tell who was coming in to watch kuromyu - beautiful women dressed in black-and-white tones, many even sporting gothic lolita bows and dresses to keep up with the Victorian England theme. In fact, it felt like the whole of Ikebukuro were gathered here in this very building!

We were ushered into the hall entrance at 11 AM and let me tell you, the crowd was suffocating! In front of the theater, there was a goods section for Kuromyu merch. I’m so glad I took the time to queue up because it seems some of the merch were starting to sell out by the second day. The booth clerk looked perplex to see a non-Japanese customer here though. Here’s how the line looked like, and this was still early before most of the audiences got in:

(We’re not supposed to take any photos but I saw the warning signs too late…Here’s a view from where I was sitting on the third floor.)

I realized then as we were settling in that some ladies around me had binoculars!! Well how was I supposed to know you could bring those here, instead of trying to find those fancy opera glasses!?! Ah well, I was lucky that I’d recently had my prescription glasses updated and the seat to my left was vacant, so I could lean in to see the center better.

The Performance

While it is true that you can barely see the actors’ faces from the balcony seats, it was the grandness of the performance itself that blew me away. For the first time I could see the stage in all its entirety, all the actors dancing in synchronization, and the special effects…oh it had improved A LOT from 3 years prior!

The stage sets for Weston may look a tad “crowded” in the still photo, as compared to the original where they used white backgrounds but in reality, it blended in so prettily with the flashing stage lights. The middle section was a rotating floor and one of my memorable scenes was where Ciel and Sebastian were discussing their plans while crossing the rotating stage, to give the illusion of “strolling across the school grounds.” Sounds like a simple trick but if looked amazing from above.

On to the story itself - the execution actually barely changed from the 2021 rendition, which for me, was a relief! Now I know, some would argue a rerun should add in different elements, because who would want to see the same thing twice right? From past experiences with Kuromyu, the reruns tend to be hit or miss - different actors, different song remixes, voice changes, and so on. For this performance, I could barely tell that the cast (apart from Ciel, Sebastian and Undertaker) were all new members. Everyone got into character flawlessly!

The story of course followed the entirety of the Public School Arc. The script and choreography was almost identical to the 2021 stage musical version. If you would remember, this Kuroshitsuji arc was the first to be portrayed on stage before the anime adaptation - same as previously, they seemed to take inspiration from the manga only rather than the anime.

Some key moments from the play:

The opening sequence was again a recap of the previous arcs - Jack the Ripper (Lycoris that Blazed the Earth), Book of Circus (Noah’s Ark Circus), Book of the Atlantic (Tango on the Campania). I’ve always loved this part because you could tell they slipped in iconic themes from the past musicals.

Perfect Black: the main theme, and my favorite from this stage! I’m so happy to have heard it live! *swoons* Thank god they didn’t do anything weird to remix it. The whole cast dancing together was beautiful! However I thought 2021 did it better with the dramatic light focus on Sebastian during the chorus drop.

Ciel’s Earl of Phantomhive outfit was changed from the glittery blue suit to a blue-green checkered coat this year. (I’d have bought his Earl photoshoot set if I knew it beforehand) Yana-sensei later tweeted that she was the one to re-design it, to better match Eito. Then Eito Konishi himself replied, saying he was honored to play as Ciel Phantomhive, to which Yana-sensei praised his singing and called him “Eito-bocchan” …boy was he fanboying hard over that. He’s one of us!!

Arrival at Weston: I don’t have a comment on the P4 in particular, they were all straightforward from the manga. I think I like Redmond’s character the most here, he looked very pretty with the side-ponytail and while he was a show-off still, he wasn’t as annoying or arrogant as I somehow expected.

A notable interaction: Violet forcing Greenhill to pose for him at the swan gazebo. Greenhill’s actor really looked strained trying to keep an upside down bridge pose (Edward was supporting his back, but kept getting distracted). When he broke the pose and got up, Violet hit him over the head with his sketchbook so hard that the thump echoed through the hall.

As for the Prefect’s Fags: Edward and Cheslock were giving off some suspiciously gay rivals-to-lovers vibes over here. Which I kinda vibed with, I hope they kept the energy into the Blue Cult Arc!

One important thing: they kept the ALL the Fag lines! Which in Japanese accent also kinda sounded like them repeatedly calling each other “Fućk”. Oh how I wish the anime had kept those!

Soma Asman Kadar: now this guy deserves an ovation just for himself. Not only did he kill the role, he was also the funniest! Soma’s song was greatly improved and lengthened with catchier music and dancing - when his troupe “arrived” at Weston, he even dragged Ciel and Clayton to join in. I can’t do it justice, you have GOT to see those two English gentlemen crack the Indian dance moves! His pestering of Maurice Cole was hilarious and he kept exasperating Ciel out of his character, their chemistry was wonderful. I really didn’t expect to get hooked by Soma in this arc out of all people! Too bad Agni wasn’t here.

Maurice Cole’s miniarc - Flawless. Sometimes I wonder if he was an easy character to play just because his character trait is so extremely over-the-top lol.

The library kabedon scene and sebaciel burning Purple House scene didn’t exist. Another scene cut off from the last musical was where Clayton and the Blue House kids were congratulating Ciel on his fag duties and Sebastian took the chance to blend in with them. Sadly that was one of my favorite adlibs.

Ciel’s dream sequence: this was originally in the 2021 musical. After a talk with Macmillain made him revisit his past trauma, Ciel “dreamed” of the cultists, and Sebastian’s close call with Undertaker in BotA. I actually forgot about this part when I watched it in theater - the highlight was sebaciel reenacting the scene in BotA where they reached for each other, the enactment surprisingly gave me the impression of Ciel’s “worry” over Sebastian’s “vulnerability” here. Unlike the 2021 version though, Undertaker didn’t pull Ciel into a bridal carry or referenced the R!Ciel wake-up scene as clearly.

The second half after the break was the long-awaited Cricket Match. Like the previous version, there was no scene of Ciel jumping into Master Michaelis’ arms, but I think they just couldn’t fit that one into the sequence. The cricket songs were mostly the same as the original - with an improvement being them cutting out Red House’s random beauty pageant contest. It actually felt like the cricket match went by faster this time, which was a win in my book. I’ve heard people complain of Kuromyu 2021 being a “Prince of Cricket” musical, hence the bad reviews back then.

The laxative meat pie scene was hilarious. From Sebastian faking it as a student complete with Red House’s uniform, to the team’s diarrhea horrors. Redmond stole the show again, as he was going to help Harcourt in the middle of the field, but tragedy struck which made him deadpan: “Oh. Someone get Harcourt.” Then immediately left the stage lol. The Blue House kids lifted Harcourt out.

The Green vs Purple house battle was the same as last time. I always felt bad to see Cheslock being the only Purple kid doing his best because without any support member cast while Violet was sitting in the grass. But this time, he gave Cheslock a tree sculpture of his bust as a good-job reward! Good for them.

Lastly Green vs Blue. They incorporated the rotating stage again in the last batting when Greenhill accidentally hit Ciel. The end of the match cut straight to the Thames Boat Ride, then they did the Blue House cheering scene after. Sebastian finally got to do his signature bridal carry, awww.

Midnight tea party: the setting was even more beautiful than last time. Undertaker letting his hair fall from his hat was iconic as usual. I was impressed with Master Agares’ fight scenes because his actor looked quite older than his 2021 predecessor. I always liked how they did Derrick Arden’s death in the musical, it felt more anguished from the P4 POV while in the anime, it just felt like a gruesome horror scene.

Final musical number was Ciel-Sebastian-Undertaker chorus during their fight in the garden. Music and choreography seemed to be similar, EXCEPT they somehow changed the iconic “Your life is my priority” scene!!! 2021’s version had me hold my breath as Sebastian had his arm possessively hooked around Ciel and took off his glove with his teeth (seriously, you have to see it yourself). This time they had Sebastian and Ciel reenact the scene on the highest stage instead of front and center, and I didn’t feel as much suspense nor was there any glove-removal from what I could see. It was also a weird placement because they were so far away, and Undertaker should’ve been the one on the top as he did his goodbye pose holding the moon.

We end the story with Sebastian recapping the aftermath with Weston’s students, and finally sebaciel’s conversation back at the manor. Again, Ciel reiterates that Sebastian is the only one who could never lie nor betray his trust. Perfect Black came on as an outro, and I got chills when Sebastian ended the last verse on a raised note!

The curtain call was the experience I’d waited for. Somehow I only realized just then that the actors would do the full call during their finale performance, which was what we got to see in the recordings! That day, after the cast bowed twice, the exit announcement immediately came on but guess what? The audience, including myself, kept clapping all the way through the announcement, it went for so long that the cast actually came out to take another bow! As they returned on stage, most of us also stood up for a standing ovation - according to twitter this doesn’t seem to be a regular occurrence outside of the finale. It felt like a truly wholesome “welcome back” for the troupe and for Kuromyu, especially after the rather harsh criticisms from the previous stage (due to major cast and style changes, even I took a while to bring myself to watch it) and the long break due to the COVID years.

Overall summary

Kuroshitsuji Musical 2024 was a faithful rerun of its predecessor. They succeeded with the musical numbers, new cast, overall adaptation of the story. The settings, props and special effects were wonderfully upgraded. The original cast carried the show: Eito Konishi’s singing felt greatly improved and I thought he carried himself as more mature than his last performance as Ciel. Sebastian’s Toshiki Tateishi had a mesmerizing voice the more I listened to him, he never went out of breath even while dancing or fighting - truly vocals fit for the troupe leader. Kandai Ueda did well as his own Undertaker too, even with Undertaker’s peculiar accent.

My few complaints: I felt like the P4 cast (bar Redmond) could do to have more distinction in their tones and movements. It felt hard to distinguish who was talking at times. The performance seemed to have a faster pacing this time around, and you get less absorbed in certain conversations between the characters, so I wished they’d added in slow scenes here and there. And of course I miss the signature sebaciel moments that I’ve mentioned - granted, this manga arc had always been my least favored because of the lack of sebaciel interactions anyway! So I’d say they did the best with the source material.

While I enjoyed seeing my favorite production performed live with the music blasting through my eardrums, it was the atmosphere that truly made the experience for me. Sitting in the 4-storeys grand hall full of some 2000 Kuroshitsuji fans really pulled me back in time, especially during the standing ovation. I’m so happy to see my favorite series so loved after all these years. I’m sure Yana-sensei could feel it too.

I wish a successful performance for the cast going forward to Tokyo, and hopeful for many more musicals to come!

[sonicjustbecause]

About Sonic

I never talked extensively about Sonic and what I think about him overall, despite him being my favourite (I see more Shadow as some mystical guy, alive certainly, yet somewhat more like a guide or a protector and Sonic's Shadow, but that's for another time as I talked about him a lot).

There is still this silly battle between Sonic fans on who is your favourite take of the character. The character has been inconsistent, in videogame too, even if we only take game/Japanese media (An example? Adventure Sonic is, at least the way I perceive him, mysterious and whimsical, joyful but slightly grumpy. Unleashed Sonic is calm, balanced, a bit quiet overall. The thing that remains consistent is that he is kind earthed and optimistic. Most of the time.

Even people who tell how Sonic is supposed to be interpret him very differently from each othes adn from the games, the way they make him talk or act in certain situation in their stories is not the same I see in videogames.

For Sonic unleashed I saw the whole cutscenes both in English and in Japanese, so...

Not that this bother me, as I previously said, since is a team who work on Sonic is normal different people have a different perception of the character, is based on our personal experiences. And in next years things will change over and over.

Let's talk about how is shown in various media, not necessarily Japanese since they influence each others (example the chili dogs).

SatAM, AoStH.

Aosth/SatAM Sonic was most likely the most mischievous incarnation of the character, since he apparently took joy to make fun of Eggman but also to the french coyote, Antoine, who is a sort of 'Luigi' in this show. I remember him as being creative, impatient, bold and very self confident, but not evil.

I didn't watch Sonic underground. It was aired in Italy but I don't know when. I can say nothing

OAV Sonic

Adventure Sonic and X Sonic traits start to appear here. This Sonic is aloof, whimsical and grumpy and not as joyful as we are used to see him. but is heart is ih the right place, of course.

Adventure Sonic

If I saw Sonic OVA only in latest years, I can say I played the two Adventure games early in the '00s. This Sonic feels to me as whimsical, elusive, mysterious (especially in Adventure 2, it is perceived as such especially by Shadow "Tell me, who are you?" and Sonic's answer is rather enigmatic, is also there you start to realize you know nothing about Sonic, where he comes from etc... you know the others better), still a bit grumpy yet way more joyful than the one from the OVA, a happy guy I would say.

In particular I loved the expressions in Sonic Adventure. Here come the folded ears you often see in Prime.

X Sonic

The most quiet of all. Elusive, still a bit whimsical and grumpy if you don't take him the right way, but this doesn't mean you lost him. Socially awkward and unaware of this, I think sometimes he is leaning in the Asperger territory sometimes. Joyful, optimistic, gentle, sometimes melodramatic and funny but he can get very serious when needed.

Archie Sonic

Archie Sonic is one I don't like much. He's self centered, most of his monologues tell how awesome he is, how good looking he is, how fast he is, well, 90% about himself and it go moldy soon. And can be a jerk toward his friends sometimes. Unlike other versions, he's never too serious.

Fleetway Sonic.

Unlike other sonic incarnation, Fleetway Sonic is a jerk, a bully, he constantly makes offensive jokes toward his friends, including Tails (in other media he is more protective toward Tails). He seems to care or express nice though only when his friends are not around. Is hard to read those comics. So far the worst Sonic

IDW Sonic

Not completely bad, not completely good. He got some traits from Archie Sonic. IDW Sonic seems to me the less sincere and less carefree of all. Like, Sonic we know is mostly feeling oriented. He can be thoughful when needed, but mostly he does what he feels is right rather than what he thinks is right. IDW Sonic is well known especially for his obsession of giving a second chance (and then a third, a four) to all his opponents. That is a thing Goku does and is fine because is true to himself. But Sonic is not like that. Sonic is not so merciful, he is a kind hearted character but there is still a red line and he tends to be wary toward those who don't deserve his trust, like Eggman. He forgives his enemies. After they show they're wort deserving forgiving, not before, unlike IDW Sonic. IDW Sonic is also cunning and can be manipulative, that's unique to this version. You can see the true sonic only when he is alone. Then he is more like himself, in his monologues about his friends, and how much he worries about them or appreciate them. Also his opinion of himself is not as high as the one we see in Archie comics. He is overall aloof.

Unleashed Sonic

This one is among the most gentle and down to Earth Sonic I've ever seen. He is slightly quiet and never a jerk. Instead he is fully supportive and encouraging toward his new friend Chip who is clumsy, despite being a god.

Frontiers Sonic

Sonic's personality changed again. He is still kind hearted, brave and strong. But compared tho before he is more mature, thoughful and slightly melancholic. He smiles less and I don't see his joyful exictment anymore. He just smiles when happy.

Boom Sonic

Sonic is usually elusive. Not in Sonic Boom. I perceived this incarnation as very playful and carefree, although an attention seeker.

Movie Sonic

Oh... this is one that goes through a character arc. He is shown to be a good hearted, hyperactive and lonely kid. He is very playful and talkative yet not gossipy. He talks alot just to not feel alone and took the bad habit. Once he found a family and some living being to talk with at times however, is shown he is not as sociable as you may assume by the way he lets his tongue run. He doesn't trust so easily people he meets the first time, as is shown with Tails and only later he feels more comfortable to have Tails around and opens up to him.

Prime Sonic

Another that goes into a character arc. Here he got new traits, like clumsiness, low attention span, affectionateness. And old ones like elusiveness. This Sonic is particularly interesting for some of his traits that are hard to spot. He clearly appears to be this impulsive, talkative (yet not gossipy), overconfident kid who trips on his feet and is deemed annoying (I personally don't find him annoying). He loves his friends and is ready to protect them but, before the prism shattering, is shown (and suggested by a conversation between his friends) that he also likes to spend time alone, without people around (here one trait that not many notice). Sonic is aware of his flaws and during his experience in the shatterverse he gets in touch with all of them, either the counterpart of his friends tell him or he realize his mistakes by his own. On the outside he is cheerful, a bit dimwitted sometimes, friendly. But as the serie goes forward, he is more, gloomy and pensive and he fully opens up only to Shadow and only later to the rest of his friends in the shatterspace (including Nine, who first sees through him). In the end of the serie is shown he is more considerate toward his friends and he hold some of his energies back.

What else? This is all what I can think of, I haven't played all the games. I may mention Sonic Cronicles, but there Sonic is the way you want him to be.

To me is hard to choose. As long as is not the one of Archie, IDW or Fleetway, I'm fine with all of them. My favourite might be Adventure Sonic and Prime Sonic.

[atamascolily]

I'll admit I did not pay much attention to the flowers in the infamous Flower Field scene on a structural level on my first time watching Rebellion. At first glance, I took them for rain lilies (Zephyranthes spp.); then, when they transformed and went to seed, I assumed they were meant to be dandelions, which form distinctive white puffballs that are known as "clocks" and which are said to grant wishes, both of which seemed thematically appropriate in context. At the time, I assumed botanical accuracy was less important to the animators than symbolism, and didn't think too much of it.

Then I went back and looked more closely, and realized I might have been wrong about all of that.

On closer inspection, these are not rain lilies or any other monocot bulb (which always have petals in multiples of 3, never 5). Nor are they members of the dandelion family (my next guess) despite having the anthers clustered in a similar ring at the center. So what other flower meets this criteria?

I did some more digging, and "Japanese anemone" kept coming up as a possible candidate, so I checked it out, and...

Look familiar? [Source].

Japanese anemones (Eriocapitella [Anemone] hupehensis and related hybrids) are members of the buttercup family; despite the common name, they are originally native to China, but have been grown in Japan for centuries.

Because of various evolutionary shenanigans the actual flowers are tiny and clustered in the center and the white "petals" are actually colorful sepals. Many cultivars have more than five, but these are close enough to pass for what we see on-screen if you squint even though they don't overlap in the animated version.

Anemones also have divided leaves very similar to what we see in other shots:

Even better, Japanese anemones also make white little puffball seedheads similar to dandelions!

Now in real life, these puffballs are not as round and blow away almost instantly, so they do not hold together like they do here, but neither do dandelions, for that matter. I think this is a case where "aesthetics and symbolism" won out versus pure realism.

I had thought the accelerated life cycle of Homura's flowers was an exaggeration, but it turns out that Japanese anemone seed heads can apparently unfold over the course of a single afternoon, so while this is still faster than real life, it's not as much of a stretch as I initially assumed.

So am I convinced these are meant to be Japanese anemones? I can certainly see the resemblance, but if so, I wish the animators had been slightly more true to life with the "petal" placement and with the floral height--the plants I have seen are usually 2-4 feet tall with somewhat staggered flower heights, while these are much shorter and with uniform height throughout. It's possible they may have been working from another anemone species/hybrid that doesn't quite map to the plants I know, or they may have just chosen to change it up as needed for convenience.

Currently filing this ID under "tentative yes, to be revisited if/when new evidence arrives".

I still think they should have gone with dandelions, though.

[teecupangel]

So I watched the trailer of Assassin's Creed Shadows and I thought I'd give my preliminary thoughts

History-wise

Okay... so Yasuke was Oda Nobunaga's vassal from 1581 to 1582. Historically, he was captured by Akechi's forces after Mitsuhide betrayed Nobunaga which led to Nobunaga's death. Instead of killing him, Mitsuhide ordered he be shipped to the Christians (whether he did it to save Yasuke's life or because he was being racist is still unsure) where he was treated and they sailed out of Japan later on.

Naoe being an Iga shinobi... I have nothing XD Nobunaga did destroy the shinobi clans in Iga (that was a whole 'nother thing) and her last name, Fujibayashi, was one of the ruling families of Iga province. Other than that... uuuhhh... the kanji of her name 名緒絵 sorta gives the impression of an honorable, kind and talented person. 名 is usually seen in words that translate to 'name' or 'distinguished', the first thing I thought of when I saw 緒 was 'beginning' but it can also mean 'strap' or 'cord' and 絵 is a kanji that appears in words that is connected to art and painting.

Possible Storyline

Oda Nobunaga is not a Templar. He was, for a time, an ally of the Brotherhood until he got his hands on a Sword of Eden and everything went downhill from there. So I see 2 possible storylines:

This is set before Oda Nobunaga's death in Honnouji and Yasuke has a redemption arc with Naoe guiding him to the ways of the Brotherhood. They probably act independently from Akechi's forces and the end game is to take away the Sword of Eden from Nobunaga. Yamauchi Taka (who kills Nobunaga in AC canon) would appear as a support character of some capacity. (He might even be Naoe's mentor)

This is set after Oda Nobunaga's death and Yasuke is on a path of vengeance against those who conspired against Oda. He and Naoe would have a more hostile relationship first before it developed into Yasuke finally letting go of his need for vengeance and becoming a blade to save the weak from this endless bloodshed.

Regardless, we'll probably see Hattori Hanzo since he's part of the Japanese Brotherhood.

Plot 1 would end in Honnouji and the retrieval of the Sword of Eden... or the Sword of Eden apparently gets into Akechi's hands and we get to have plot 1 AND 2 where the sword becomes 'pass the baton' kind of deal (this will fight with the current AC canon though)

Plot 2 could end anywhere from Akechi's death during the Battle of Yamazaki OR we get as far as the Battle of Sekigahara which is always fun (I mean... not fun because so many people died there but fun in a video game-y kind of way).

Plot 2 is more broad which could lead to 'too many characters, not enough limelight' while Plot 1 is more centered and could serve to make the character development shine.

(If this Oda Nobunaga gets a laser sword as well, at least we can say Isu bullshit on that one XD)

Gameplay

As far as I know, Assassin's Creed Shadows will follow the open world rpg setup of the Layla trilogy. Considering how Mirage made use of Valhalla's engine, that might be Naoe's gameplay as well. I would suggest to wait for an actual gameplay as Ubisoft sometimes make fancy 'moves' in cinematic trailers that you can't actually do in-game.

I also want to know how they would handle the two main characters setup. Considering we see them together in the trailer, this might be a case of "same missions but who you pick decide how you approach it" kind of deal instead of AC Syndicate's "Jacob and Evie do their own thing most of the time". Same missions also means there's a good chance of wanting to replay it as a different character for a different experience and also... it means they'd be reusing the same assets during development XD

teecup Rambles

Okay, here we go.

I really want to see Assassin's Creed version of Nobunaga Oichi because she's my favorite character in these kinds of stories. She's usually portrayed as the kind beautiful younger sister of Oda Nobunaga that he once said could have been a fine warrior if she had been born a man. Also, her daughters would later marry (or become a concubine) to prominent historical figures. Her relationship with Nobunaga after the death of her first husband is also vague so she can support Yasuke regardless if he's trying to avenge Nobunaga's death or if he betrayed him.

Other than that, I think the final battle being Sekigahara would be epic. Just waves and waves of enemies to fight as Yasuke while Naoe stealth her way to the big battlefield to assassinate their actual target. Although, historically, it would make sense for the story to end with Nobunaga's death or Akechi's death since that's around the last time we hear of Yasuke.

... then again, he would just return after being shipped off and that starts the main game too.

Yeah, that's about it. I really just wanted to talk about Ichi but I couldn't add it elsewhere.

Oh and Yasuke is in Samurai Warriors 5 if you want to have an idea of how Ubisoft can handle him... also in Nobunaga's Ambition. It would be awesome if his Isu armor's helmet would look something like Nagoriyuki's (who is inspired by the historical figure Yasuke) from Guilty Gear as a reference to a reference but I highly doubt it.

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

Someone PLEASE make an English Dub of Buratino's Return (obscure Russian movie)

Okay, so I heard about this Russian cartoon animated movie recently, and it's got this Wild Thorberries-Rugrats-ish art style and the songs slap! The one that's gotten really popular was the one with the singing Barbie dolls, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2CSmp02Emk in this video here (turn the captions on). I heard the name of the movie is actually Возвращение Буратино which translates to Buratino's Return apparently. It looks amazing! I love talking toy themed movies that are NOT Toy Story. It doesn't look as amazing as Raggedy Ann & Andy Musical Adventure but it looks good enough to watch and enjoy. The thing is, the subtitles on the original Russian movie, the English subtitles SUCK! I got them saying weird things like "Oh yeah Obama" when she was apologizing to the other doll, and apparently the dog's name translates to "Potatoes" which... is actually kinda cute not gonna lie! If the movie gets dubbed, they should keep it!

Yeah, so the whole "dubs vs subs" thing is ridiculous. Dubs are obviously way easier to watch and understand. If you're hearing impaired and need subtitles, that's one thing but if you're not and you want to watch a movie, it's way easier to watch a dub. Plus, subtitles aren't always accurate and sometimes make things sound more awkward. Like, the dubbed versions often make more sense. Plus, subtitles go fast and you can't always pay attention to little details if you're watching it with subtitles, it's too distracting. I wholeheartedly believe that dubs are better all the way! If you don't speak English or Russian, maybe it can be dubbed in your language too! There needs to be a Spanish dub, French dub, Japanese dub, whatever language you might speak! The only language I speak is English, so that's why I'm trying to get someone to make an English dub. By the way, the English captions for the Мой Портрет - Трафарет video were an exact translation, I feel like the dub would change it up.

My friend wondered about the songs being ruined in the dub, which I would be worried about too, but they could hire a translator and songwriter to work together and make the lyrics make sense but also rhyme. Even if it was a fan dub, they could still get enough permission and help to make it a good dub without ruining the songs.

Another thing, let's talk about this not being popular in Russia, where it was made. I mean, it came out in 2013, the same year as Disney's Frozen! It didn't stand a freaking chance in theaters! Frozen literally took the world by storm... a snowstorm, that is! (haha, funny joke). Plus, a lot of non-English spoken movies don't get an English dub until years later. 2013 was 11 years ago, but who said it's too late for an English dub. Especially, now that the Barbie doll stencil song is becoming popular online. I also haven't actually seen the full movie, I just skimmed through it on YouTube to get a grip of what it's about and apparently it's about talking toys but they have to escape from a bad guy who wants to destroy them and turn them into the same "evil" toys to create a bad future of children. I also found out that apparently Buratino is Pinocchio and I like the idea of a non-Disney Pinocchio movie, because Pinocchio has been around for like 150 years, way before Disney made it into a creepy a** animated movie and they shouldn't take copyright of Pinocchio. There's also that other Russian movie "Pinocchio a True Story" where Pauly Shore voices Pinocchio and Tom Kenny voiced Geppetto. Also, this movie Buratino's Return was animated in 2D form, when a lot of early 2010s movies were 3D. I'm not sure how that effected the marketing and who wanted to see it but I'm almost sure that a lot of people were more hyped about Frozen or other popular movies.

Here's something else I found, apparently it was also based off "The Adventures of Buratino" which is a really old story, and I think this 2013 movie kind of looks like a creative twist on that story, kind of like what Disney does, but also kind of makes fun of Disney as well. Basically it looks like they're basing a story off old fairytales Pinocchio and The Adventures of Buratino, just as Disney does, except they're changing the things about Disney that isn't woke and making fun of the things that are wrong with Disney. I know a lot of you probably hate it when I talk crap about Disney, but I always give my side of how I feel and let you have your side. With enough convincing and understanding, hopefully we can understand both sides!

Anyway, feel free to chat with me about this in the comments! I'm always happy to hear opinions, even if they're different from mine. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS!

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

ok question. silver is from an apocolypse future and went back in time to try and fix it right? i was under the impression that blaze was ALSO from that future and went back in time with him. but apparently she's a princess from another dimension? what?

Okay so here's the rundown:

Blaze was created for and introduced in Sonic Rush (2005), where she is FIRMLY established as the princess in a long line of guardians of her dimension's versions of the chaos emeralds, the Sol Emeralds, and the longtime rival of her version of Eggman, Eggman Nega. Rush Adventure expands her dimension's worldbuilding a bit more but Rush is important because Blaze makes her first friend ever (Cream, then Sonic)

Sonic Rush was popular

Sonic 06 was rushed as HELL. FAMOUSLY rushed as hell. They pushed that shit out with more glitches than lines of code

Blaze appears in that game as Silver's friend from his future. It is never established why or how she is there, and she only seems to recognize Sonic once– in the English Dub, in the Japanese she doesn't at all. Sonic does not recognize her either despite this occurring after Rush in the timeline. The two of them are in the same room at least once and do not speak to each other. At the end of the game Blaze is like "I'll seal the demon inside myself in a.... parallel dimension. yeah that sounds right" and goes poof and we never see her again

Except??????? Blaze couldn't have just poofed there girl has a whole-ass FAMILY LINE in a dimension with DEEP LORE like???

Also, aside from like. basic NPC quests? Blaze also doesn't speak to anyone in that game aside from Silver– it's not just Sonic she ignores. Not Mephiles, not Amy, not Elise. ONLY Silver. She is the only one to interact with him and vice-versa.

A lot of us read into that a lot of ways the but the honest truth is she was probably yeeted into the game late in development cause they realized Silver needed someone to talk to.

Other evidence for this is that her '06 profile mentions stuff about her that was not in Rush– for instance, an Elsa-Gloves Cape that she only had in Rush's concept art. This implies that they got the bare minimum information and just threw some shit at the wall. They were like "okay. cape, other dimension, fire powers. got it" and missed like. the emeralds and eggman and self-isolation and. princess

The best thing to come out of this tho is Blaze and Silver's brOTP. (or OTP if you're into that) Though the '06 timeline was erased, Silver and Blaze have a familiarity with each other in Colors DS that they can't quite place, and show up as buddies in a lot of media and it's so fucking cute I love them

tl;dr play or watch the sonic rush games

[melonteee]

Do you think ur going to do a review or analysis of the live action? Because even tho i kinda liked it i think i have the same problem that you have with the characters, like zoro. It's weird bc i think that the characterization of the characters is kinda good, but also there's something laking, i think it's the removal of some core senes but honestly idk fully if it's that or something else. I know they had short time to adapt like 90 chapters, but i think the time they had would be better used if they didn't had the b plot be abt garp. Tho that's also not right, bc i think some of the scenes with the marines were fun? But in this case i think garp characterization is just not that great.

Idk its super weird bc i feel the world is really one piece and it was fun to watch but there's some things that are kinda :/

Okay uh, let me preface this by saying part of my degree had to do with adaptation - in terms of what it is and how it's really god damn hard. So this live action intrigues me not just as a one piece fan, but in terms of my studies, and I have no doubt my favourite teacher is getting a kick out of this as we speak lol.

If you don't want spoilers for ep 1, don't read under the cut. If you don't want to feel bummed out cause you super enjoyed the show, also don't read. I am analysing this in a very critical way because I was dead interested in how this was handled.

I have only watched one episode, I can only judge so far at the moment, so feel free to take this all with a grain of salt. There is indeed charm in this series! The only thing is, there's charm when it's trying to be itself exclusively, and it falls really flat when trying to replicate One Piece because...I didn't feel One Piece from this in any sense. Any 'faithful' shots I received felt like a cheap replica attempting to force some nostalgic emotion out of me with nothing earned.

And, from what I can see, that's the problem here. This series isn't sure how loyal it should really be, nor is it sure how much fidelity it should keep - but it's trying to remind me at every damn second "This IS One Piece, do you SEE One Piece?" And it's not just me saying this, the producers themselves admitted that they were TRYING to be loyal. A quote from them is;

“What we learned is the fans are expecting you to be true to the source material,” says executive producer Marty Adelstein, whose Tomorrow Studios produced “Cowboy Bebop” for Netflix before embarking on “One Piece....As we read the comments, it was always, ‘Well, they didn’t do this character the same as this and that.’ … It really taught us a lot of what we needed to do with this one.” “It became everyone’s goal to make sure that when you looked at the show, you thought this was a live-action version of the manga that just felt like another feather in the legacy of Oda,” (source)

So here's my question here, to myself and One Piece fans - did you FEEL like you were watching a 1:1 version of these characters? Did these characters FEEL like themselves instead of being TOLD they're apparently themselves?

Of course, it's an adaptation! It's supposed to be different! But this statement directly contradicts that, and so does everything else. After all they apparently hired Oda to 'check off' on it, they used the Japanese VAs for the Japanese audio version of it, they even have the manga/anime version of Luffy sitting there in the One Piece logo - constantly reminding me OF the original no matter what I do.

So with all these comments, and with all these decisions, what else to expect but "Oh, so they're planning to stay loyal and not deviate from the original? This is clearly their goal."

And that's where the problem ensues for me, because they try DESPERATELY to ham fist in original source material, they really want me to point at the screen and go "JUST LIKE THE MANGA!", but they're not going all in on it and, as such, the changes become increasingly obvious that this ISN'T the same. Because, if you only have a BIT of Zoro's character implemented from the original, but not ALL of it, what else am I to see but a bastardised version of the original here?

This script does this thing where it's giving me beats of Zoro, but not all of Zoro, and suddenly I'm left with a guy who's a weird, bizarro version of Zoro. He's not quite original enough to feel like his own being, and he's not quite loyal enough to feel like the original. And of course, it's not just Zoro, but it's this way for the other characters too.

The 'loyalty' the producers are talking about, and the lesson they've seem to have learnt here is; "We need to unnaturally shove in as much fidelity as we can in an exposition-dump, so we can get it out of the way, make everyone feel like we're respecting the source, and get on to the original scenes that add nothing but a laugh."

And...it's a shame! It's weird to say this series would, so far, be better if they weren't TRYING to replicate One Piece's energy, but from everything I am seeing, it's clearly what they are trying to do. This show has charm when it has its OWN charm, but cutting from a fun little original scene to an exposition dump of lore is so incredibly jarring I don't even really know what to make of it.

For example, we were shown Zoro being tied up to a pole. We are going to point at it and go "I remember that!" but then...the whole reasoning is different, the motives are different, and...the time is all different? In all respect, this series is doing what Disney live actions are doing, where they are giving me MORE scenes with LESS information - and due to seemingly TRYING to be loyal, it feels like the original scenes are fun, but a waste of time due to the exposition dumps being incredibly rushed and lacklustre.

In a complete ironic twist, their desperation to be loyal has them falling flat, so instead I'm seeing a hollow replica of what One Piece is - when it could've been an original live action that's trying to work on its strengths of BEING its own live action.

All in all, the first ep would've been fine if I turned my brain off, but I don't...watch One Piece to do that. I don't ever feel numbed by One Piece, and by all means I was given the expectation that this WOULD be the story RETOLD but with BIGGER action and LARGER characters because they just LOVE Oda and respect him SO MUCH!

But at the end of the day, for a first impression, I got another Netflix live action that COULD work on itself, but ultimately is making me appreciate the original a lot more. It's making me appreciate Oda's writing more, the Strawhat's original characters more, and the world more. It seems great as a digestible family show, which I'm sure is what Netflix wanted, but it's already got me feeling uneasy.

Of course, this could very well change the more I get through, and I'm very open to it, but the first episode in itself makes for a fascinating case study on the fidelity of anime live action adaptations.

And just in case anyone gets up in arms because there seems to be a weird forced positivity crusade on this series right now, Oda himself has said he intends to happily take criticism, because he knows it'll come from a place of love. This by no means is a disrespect to Oda, and is more a look in on how Netflix operates.

[imomisoplays]

Ham Ramen

Hello, tombler!

I’ll be moving on to Nanami Ito’s household soon, so I thought I’ll indulge myself with this last recipe (for a while!) from the ranch. However, today we’re not cooking with Stella, but please welcome (a) very special guest(s) – give it up for Osh Coush B'Gosh! It’s the club's (puny) name for cousins Leia, Soleil and Frejr. A little refresher if needed: Leia and Soleil are Stella’s children, while Frejr is Vienna’s son. Stella and Vienna are daughters of Kiyoshi Ito, making everybody introduced in this post Kiyoshi's grandkids. I consider adding Nanami's kids to the cousins' club too when they're older, since Kiyoshi and his wife Aria basically raised Nanami in my game. Phew, maybe a detailed family tree is needed for context.

One of the club's activities is to watch movie, and @midnitehearts's Studio Ghibli Movie Mod enabled us to watch Ponyo, an animated movie from the renowned Japanese production house Studio Ghibli. The gorgeous television set is the TELLY by @charlypancakes -- I use this television set everywhere, as the modern frame version can be seen in the background on Vienna's house here. So, so versatile. And if the TV is not centered on the fireplace, please pardon my (lack of) object-placement skill 😅

Soleil and Frejr are feeling particularly hungry after watching the scene where Sousuke and Ponyo eats ramen. The iconic "It's ham!" surely made their stomachs growl. Also, look at how cute they are. They will become teenagers soon, look at those puppy eyes! My friend told me this is exactly how parents felt seeing their kids growing up and becoming older. What a turn of events that I get to feel this with my imaginary sims children first. 🥹

As insinuated with some hints above, today we are cooking ham ramen from Ponyo. The recipe cc is made by @oni28 (click here to download). Please be aware that you would need to have Oni's Recipe Pack Mod (updated regularly on their Patreon) for the recipe to appear in your game.

Let me also introduce you to today's cook: Leia Ren. She's a straight A student on Chestnut Ridge High School, working part-time as a video game streamer and with an interest in robotics. Leia had the opportunity to graduate early, but since she hasn't decided what she wants to do for college, she still attended school as usual. Leia also helps in taking care of the horses, but she's not a hardcore horse person (completely different story with Soleil).

Ingredients for this recipe is simple but guaranteed to taste good: soft-boiled eggs, ham, and instant ramen. Loving the nod to the OG Nissin’s Chicken ramen package here. Leia's CC earrings are from @nolan-sims and can be downloaded here -- I always have at least one sim who uses a variation of Nolan's earrings for every outfit. Leia's mom Stella used to be that sim, but I revamped her style to be more refined (...or snob. Stella is that lady who lives in a ranch, owns two horses and does gardening everyday while being a snob y'all) as she grew older, so I'd like to imagine Stella passed down all these cute accessories to her daughter.

Leia slices the eggs and the ham. Are you wondering where Soleil and Frejr are? Well, they're on the kitchen too, stealing ham one slice at a time.

Leia starts boiling water to cook the instant ramen. The entire kitchen could hear Soleil's stomach growls. Our puppy Sol is shy because he's the only one being hungry, if only he knew Frejr is too but apparently a better actor.

After the ramen is cooked and plated, place the slices of ham and boiled eggs, and garnish with green onion. I love how @oni28 even made the bowl exactly like in the movie. It's the detail for me.

WE LOVE HAM! AND RAMEN! And we clearly do not have time for obligatory dining table photoshoot today, since the boys already went in and obliterated the food.

Ending the post with another angle of my Sol puppy. Next time we see him on this blog, he might probably be a teenager already... Ah, the hearts you'll break, young lad. Anyway, see you on the next one. Dag dag!

P.S. Detailed cooking process for ham ramen is taken from this post and this post.

Imomiso’s note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog.

[nemrut]

Movies 5 & 6:

So I watched the Detective Conan movies "Countdown to Heaven" and "The Phantom of Baker Street".

I guess the elephant in the room is the whole twin towers situation in "Countdown to Heaven" and the fact that the movie apparently came out a few months before 9/11 in Japan which is unfortunate. It was a fun movie though. The case itself was once again meh, but it had some cool action. The climax involved jumping from one skyscraper to another in a sportscar while riding an explosion, so that was neat. This time they destroyed one of the twin towers though, albeit their japanese version.

"The Phantom of Baker Street" felt like a big waste of time, though. First it had the whole "trapped in a video game" thing going on, where it had the whole "if you can't beat the game, every player dies" thing going on, but at least there was no "if you die in the game, you die in reality" aspect and if you died in game, you were just out until the game ended one way, but it was just boring. I didn't realize that the Yu-Gi-Oh arc with the whole trapped in a video game by an AI based on a child inspiration came from this movie.

The whole social commentary bit about the children of the upper class needing to either be fixed or killed in order to improve Japan thing was certainly there but not really examined beyond the premise and it never really amounted to anything.

At least Movie 5 had some cool action and locations. I did like the gaming capsule designs and that when a kid "died", the capsule was withdrawn underground. Horrible practical design that no one ever would, because it traps the user underground, but very good aesthetic in a death game when at the end there are only 2 or 3 capsules left from the 50 or so that the game started with.

[lucyav13]

Mimi

(credits of the image to its respective author)

Her name, is derived from the word "mimic", hence her name for her ability to shape-shift. Her true form is that of an evil-looking robotic spider, seen during most of the battles against her. Whenever Mimi is in her true form, her dialogue box is in a shade of purple with white text color, similar to the Shadow Queen and Bonetail in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

 Mimi gives a lot of information about herself in the "That's My Merlee!" show, here all of her information:

Her birthday is May 5.

Her childhood nickname was the "Odd Porpoise".

She likes to watch reruns of Super Ultra Goomba Bros.

Her favorite smell is old cheese.

When washing in the tub, she starts with mold in the tiles, then the faucets.

Her favorite food is tangerines.

Her type of guy is present in the bathroom during the quiz. (Most likely referring to Mario)

Her favorite animal is a demon.

She wants a boyfriend.

Her best feature is her effervescent personality.

Other aspects of Mimi's personality are revealed, such as how she hates brussels sprouts and old ham (carrots and peppers in the Japanese version) but hates the dark more. She also enjoys fashion, and is the one of the only characters who change their outfits. Mimi wrote in her diary that her dream of a perfect world is a gem-filled pool with hunky lifeguards; this is one of the many times Mimi is shown to have a love for gems (especially Rubees) and boys.

Like Mario and Dimentio, Mimi is gifted with the ability to flip to 3-D. Mimi can also hover in the air, fly and warp to different locations. Fact: When her eyes and arms stretch out into the other two pairs, make a casino-esque jackpot noise.

Mimi's true identity is shrouded in mystery. There are two theories, according to Carson, that may explain who Mimi really is: a failed Pixl created by the Ancients, or the unintended result of a witch's experimentation with shape-shifting potions. A third theory could be her True Form. If Mario flips into 3D, the player can see gears from inside Mimi's spider form, implying that Mimi may be a robot altogether. This could be supported also by the fact that she apparently explodes into pieces in Chapter 2-3, but survives. Another explanation for her explosion in 2-3 is that she was still invincible, so she survived.

Quotes

"Mimimimimimimimmimimimimimi!"

"I'm Lady Merlee's handmaid. My name's Mimi!"

"But you can call me Mimikins if you want!"

"Coins?! No one uses COINS anymore, you peasants! I SPIT on your coins!"

"ENJOY LABOR!"

"I guess I'll congratulate you... by tearing you into little bits like stupid confetti!"

"Nighty-night! It's bedtime for you guys!"

"I like getting what I want, so I do whatever I need to get it."

"DOOFUSES!"

Additional information

Catch Card: 191

Max HP ?? (6 hits)

Attack 1

Defense 0

Score 2000

Role Boss

Card type Uncommon

Location(s) Merlee's Basement (2-4)

Card location(s) Card Shop; Map 15

Card description It's Mimi, the adorable, yet slightly unstable shape-shifter! Word is, she has a crush on Count Bleck.

Tattle: Invincible. This is Mimi... So is this her true form? She'll come after you if you stay too long in any room... And our attacks don't work, so we should keep moving...

Normal: That's Mimi. She's a slightly childish shape-shifter that works for Count Bleck... Max HP is ?? and Attack is 1. Just go for the head when you attack... She will briefly stop when she gets hit... That is when you should go on the attack... She might also hang from the ceiling and throw Rubees at you...

Fun facts:  Her name in japanese and korean came from "money", referring to her fondness of Rubees, which refers to her spider-like true form.

Mimi is the only one of Count Bleck's main minions who also serves as a Chapter boss.

Mimi is a rather prominent homage to the 1982 science fiction horror film The Thing. The film's main antagonist is an extraterrestrial organism capable of shapeshifting, and one of its most notable appearances in the film is as a grotesque, upside-down face on several spider-like legs; save for the alien origin, the creature's traits are prominently featured in Mimi's character.

The above text is from the Super Mario Wiki and is available under a Creative Commons license. Attribution must be provided through a list of authors or a link back to the original article. Source: https://www.mariowiki.com/Mimi

[savebatsfromscratch]

Hockey Watching - Palletshipping Week 1 (Roommates)

Summary:

Gary and Ash watch a hockey game together. (Au notes in final note in ao3 version, I put them at the top in this one.)

Notes:

Prompt: Roommates Note: The first thing I went to was watching a Hockey game together. …for some reason. I kinda made up my own Pokemon world teams, but feel free to imagine your favorite team I guess. (Though if it’s not the Sabers I don’t want you here. /light hearted) Also, for the record, they’re kind of American coded in this one. Whoops. I apologize for this look into my mind. Cws: Surprise kiss, sort of nonsensical writing Words: 1,791

End Notes:

…dude this is such a mess. (<- did not even try to edit it.)   Here’s a fun secret, I headcannon Blake (from Pokemon Adventures) as a Hockey player, and I made his number his dexholder number! :D I also headcannon Jun (from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Adventure) as a Hockey player, and I made his number “3” because he has three total pokemon lol. I also put Hareta (from the same series) on his team and made him number “1” because that’s the number of my favorite Sabers goalie. :3 I also Headcannon Barry and Jun as triplets (the third being Pearl from Pokemon Adventures.) I also had to make up a last name for both Jun and Blake. For Jun I gave him “Aemilius,” because I went the roman route and it “was originally derived from the Latin word aemulus, which referred to equal or rival.” (iGENEA) And I gave Blake Rasmussen because it starts with an “r” sound and so does his Japanese name AND Rasmussen would look SICK on a Hockey jersey.

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54803911

Prompts from here: @/shigerussato

Fic under the cut!

Gary plopped down on the couch in front of the already flickering TV, one hand clutched around a large can of some gross thing that Delia had bought them, and the other clinging desperately to an overfilled bowl of chicken wings. Already on the couch, Ash laughed and turned up the volume on the TV with the remote that he had apparently located. (Last time Gary had checked in, the two of them had been pretty sure that that thing was gone for good.)

“Is the game on yet?” He asked, setting the huge cup down on the coffee table (and releasing a short prayer that it wouldn’t spill) as he looked up at the current rush of ads across the television screen, “Who’s winning?”

Ash giggled and got halfway through a, “Not yet Oak,” before stopping and realizing that something was still missing from their Hockey watching spree. “Um, you did get us napkins, right?”

Gary looked around himself, and though he saw Ash’s fingerless glove clad hand already covered in Buffalo sauce, hovering unsurely about the rest of the chicken wings, he saw no napkins. “Oh dang it,” He let out an exasperated cry and smacked a hand to his forehead, “I forgot them in the other room, here, I’ll get them-,”

He went to stand, but all of a sudden the announcer sprang to life before them.

“Welcome to today’s game of Hockey,” he was saying, voice strong and accented like an old radio star, and speaking just as fast, “We’ve got a very interesting match up today,”

The second announcer interrupted, sounding just as excited as the first, “Thankfully for the Snowpoint Legends, it seems that number 3, Jun Aemilius, is back on the ice, after his injury on Wednesday we were getting worried that he might not be able to make it to the next game, but it seems the medics came through!”

“And based on today’s lineup for the Icirrus Truths, the Legends may have really needed the return. I mean, ever since number 16, Blake Rasmussen, was traded into the team from the Castelia Ideals, the Truths have been rising in power across the league,”

“However, the new goalie for the Legends, number 1, Hareta Rowan, might be able to match Rasmussen’s intensity,”

“Do you know who they’re talking about?” Gary whispered to Ash, who seemed to have given up on napkins and was instead licking his fingers clean. (Seeing this, he quickly flushed red and looked back to the screen, pretending to be looking for clues there, though he hoped Ash would not guess the true reason for his newfound focus. …though it wouldn’t have been a problem if he had known.)

“Number three for the Legends is triplets with one of my rivals from when I was in Sinnoh,” Ash commented, watching as the camera tracked after a very attractive blond offensive player as if it was a totally normal comment to make to his current rival.

Gary suddenly reached for a can on the table, suddenly realizing that his throat felt dry. 

“None of that,” Ash waved his hands back and forth, flinging a speck or two of leftover sauce into Gary’s face, “I still love you the most,” he looked down at the cans, “Plus, those are non-alcoholic,”

Gary put his head in his hands, laughing. Had Ash assumed he had been trying to get drunk? “I’m just thirsty Ash,” he said, “and you reminded me of what your mom bought us,”

Ash made a face, studying the cans critically, “I wouldn’t suggest trying those, they’re probably flavored, like, pumpkin pie or crayons or something,”

Gary studied the can in the brightness of the ice from the screen. “The first one,” he told Ash, making a face, “Pumpkin pie seltzer, are you kidding me? Where does she even get them?”

“The Viridian Pokemart I think,” Ash said, snuggling a bit closer to Gary under the guise of checking out the ingredients of the strange drink.

“Why would she go all the way to Viridian to get-,” Gary cut himself off as the game suddenly kicked into action on the screen in front of them. Ash too sat up, suddenly on the edge of his seat as the puck rushed from player to player, currently held by the Truths. Gary glanced over at Ash’s face, noticing that he didn’t look super happy about that fact. 

“Soo…” Gary tried, now his turn to scoot closer, “Are we rooting for the Legends?”

“Would you want to root for a team from Unova?”

“Fair point,”

The two sat together, watching as the action moved from player to player, occasional crashes and shrieks coming up from the players as they crashed together and into various metal walls. Gary found himself leaning forward and hissing in anticipation as the puck shot towards the goal on their side, but joined Ash in whooping when the (apparently not-so-rookie) goalie expertly blocked the shot, catching it under his glove and sending up cheers among the crowd on his side of the stadium.

Ash grabbed Gary’s arm and shook him, as if Gary had watched more than a couple of games before to understand quite what that meant for his team. “Did you see that?!” He asked, sounding almost as excited as he always had before their battles, “That was so cool!”

The fact that Gary didn’t quite understand the game did not stop him from sharing Ash’s excitement. (Though he suspected that was more due to the fact that his rival was all but climbing into his lap in nervous joy about the game.)

“Yeah,” Gary said, watching somewhat in awe as the players sped from side to side in the advertisement lined rink.

They continued to watch like that, whooping as number three on their team managed a goal and hissing as 16, Blake, on the other side finally managed one of his own. At one point, their hands met in the chicken wing bowl, and of course Ash couldn’t help but joke that it was the most affectionate they’d been since getting back to Pallet together. (Gary shoved him off his shoulder and laughed it off, but the entire next period passed before he was done blushing about it.)

Advertisements passed as Gary left to refill the snacks, and he found himself grinning with the draw to watch the game as he saw it starting up again.

“You have to admit that this is just as interesting as watching a Pokemon battle,” Ash said, between bites of chicken wing, looking expectantly up at Gary.

“And nowhere near as irritating,” Gary added, breaking off in the middle of his sentence to take a large sip of pumpkin pie seltzer. (Which was honestly even more interesting than Delia had advertised it as being.) “I’m not there picking through every mistake they make,”

They both cringed as, number three, the forward on the team they had decided to root for just barely missed an easy shot.

“For the most part anyway,” Gary corrected

“For the most part anyway,” Ash laughed, agreeing with him.

They looked forward, and the game went back into that comfortable blur as the announcers led the cheers (or boos) as players entered and left the ice. (Though Gary found himself realizing that the two rivals were getting oddly close again as the final period began to wrap up. Even if the “close together” in question was more like, “just about falling off the couch with how focused they were on the flashing screen,”)

They cheered as their goalie blocked yet another would-have-been goal, and then cheered even louder as their team managed to actually complete a goal of their own. They were back in the lead by one, and with only a couple of seconds remaining on the clock, and a major player of the Truths out for misconduct earlier in the match, it was looking good.

“Comeon comeon,” Ash muttered, his fingers digging into Gary’s shoulders as he leaned even further forward, “Just hold the goal for one more-,”

“No!” They both shrieked, watching as their goalie, the one named like his region’s professor, was knocked to the ground by an opposing player, allowing the puck to sail cleanly into the net behind him.

Making the game tied, and sending it into overtime as Ash jolted to his feet, taking two large steps forward and echoing the announcer as he yelped. “How was that not an illegal move!”

Gary stood and walked to meet him, but found his eyes similarly glued to the screen as the teams reset for the tie breaking move. In his still lacking understanding of the game, he couldn’t quite tell what was happening, but the energy in the crowd (and in Ash), was enough to tell him that, whatever it was, it was seriously interesting.

He squinted at the glowing ice, and then found himself jumping up and down as he spotted number three dragging the puck forward and towards the opposing goal. He was moving like lightning, skirting around nearly every other player as he raced for the win.

Ash and Gary watched in slow motion as 16, Blake, from the other team fought to catch up with Jun, and cheered as he crashed into a defenseman from his own team, clearly still at least a little shaken up from his apparent injury on Wednesday as the two skidded across the ice together, their balance lost.

It happened so fast that Gary almost missed it, but the puck banged against the net and the stadium exploded. Even with the TV on low volume, Gary truly felt like he was among the screaming fans as Ash jumped up and down beside him. Clapping his hands together and shivering in excitement. To Gary, the sight was almost funny, but as he opened his mouth to say something about it, he found himself the one taken aback as Ash jumped up and kissed him.

They hung that way for a moment, Gary feeling like he was floating in sudden joy as Ash’s arms wrapped briefly around his shoulders, only to be dragged back away again as his friend suddenly pulled back, face bright red.

“Oh I-,” he tried to explain himself, “I didn’t mean to-,”

Gary’s face was definitely bright red, but he didn’t care. “Well,” he said, grabbing Ash’s hands and leaning forward, “Do it again and I might think about coming back for the next game,” 

He smirked as Ash stuttered out a sudden, “I love you,” right before Gary pulled them back into a kiss as the cheers of the crowd echoed through the dark room. 

(Even if their mouths tasted like buffalo chicken wings and pumpkin pie seltzer.)

[akehoshimystar]

Ai SSR

FAVOR

Part 1

After my shift at the cafe, I dropped by the office.

Ai: Would you be willing to lend us your assistance?

Kou & Yuzuru: …….

There, Kosaka-san was talking to someone on the phone while Kise-san and Kou-san watched the situation. As I quieted my breath so as not to disturb him, I heard a cheerful voice coming from his phone.

Man: "You don't have to sound so distant, Kosaka-san. Please just leave it to me!"

Ai: I'm grateful to hear that.

Man: "I'm glad to finally be able to return the favor. I'll try contacting them right away.''

Hearing his eager acceptance, a feeling of relief washed over Kise-san’s and Kou-san’s faces.  Shortly after, Kosaka-san answered a few questions before ending the call.

Yuzuru: Good work, Yashiro-san.

As you may have heard, there has been some progress on the matter of the strawberry daifuku.

Ito: Really?

It all started with a request for Yuragi-kun, asking him to “celebrate client’s mother’s 70th birthday with her favorite strawberry daifuku.”

Ito: (Yuragi-kun also seemed to be looking forward to it, since she’s asked him to act as her grandchild several times...)

The Japanese sweets shop that had the best daifuku, according to her, had went out of business last month.

Ito: By progress, do you mean… Have we found its new location?

Kou: It’s a bit unfortunate. But apparently, one of the apprentices has opened a new store. Ai-san used his connections to mark its whereabouts.

But Ai-san didn’t brag about it at all, so I ended up sounding like I was gloating about it, even though all I did was submit a report.

Ai: It's the superior's job to take over the work of his subordinates. You and I both did our tasks to the fullest, that's all there is to it.

….….Hmm, he works as fast as ever.

Kou: There’s been an update already?

Ai: Yeah. He already booked the reservation over the phone.

Kou: Really? Ai-san, your connections are really something else. How did you even establish a network with the Japanese sweets buyer at the department store anyway?

Moreover, he seems very fond of you. Like a vassal supporting their emperor?

Yuzuru: No good deed goes unrewarded, you see.

Ai: It’s no big deal. 

He just chose to go with the plan I had prepared and climbed his way up, that’s all.

He wasn't arrogant, but he wasn't too humble either. From the way Kosaka-san spoke, it was clear that this all came naturally to him.

Ito: (.....So people like this do exist.)

A few days later, I witnessed Kosaka-san's dignified disposition once again. This time, an unexpected event had struck the case I was in charge of. 

Part 2

Ito: (I have checked the other company’s documents, but they were still a lot cheaper than the market price. ..... I don't think this is a simple mistake...)

???: -san, Yashiro-san.

Ito: !

I suddenly turned around and saw Kise-san looking at me worriedly.

Yuzuru: Are you all right? There aren't many customers around this time, so feel free to finish your shift early.

You have a meeting with the potential business partner tomorrow, right? Were the documents left as they were...?

Ito: I received the revision yesterday, but...

Yuzuru: If you have any concerns, please come in today. Ai-san should be in the office right now.

Ito: !

Yuzuru: Fufu, it's okay. He is more open-minded than you think.

I’m not saying it’s not a burden to be relied on, but if you hold back and don’t ask for help, your efficiency will suffer. 

As such, Yashiro-san, please don't hesitate to ask for help when you need it. Sorry if I came off as overbearing.

Ito: ...No. I'm grateful, actually.

(I've been wondering whether it was worth discussing….. But I should tell Kosaka-san after all.)

The biggest selling point of this wholesaler was the wide selection of alcohol they managed. Mika-san and the other staff were also very impressed, and we were looking forward to the deal. However….

Ai: That's certainly strange. There’s too much of a benefit for us. 

As he looked over the latest version of the documents, Kosaka-san’s eyebrows began to frown.

Ito: The price was much lower than the market price to begin with, however, the prices of new featured goods have also been lowered. 

Ai: Offering it at almost a cost price, huh…

Who’s the person in charge? Is he new?

Ito: Here’s their business card.

Ai: ……..

Haaa...... What a pain. It’s the same name and last name………. Too many conditions are met.

Ai: Yashiro.

Ito: Y-Yes.

Ai: I'll attend the meeting tomorrow.

Ito: ! Thank you very much.

Part 3

The next day. The eyes of the man in charge lit up right after he saw Kosaka-san. He bowed vigorously and said, "It's been a while!"

Person in charge: You may not remember, but I was indebted to you in the past! So I have always wanted to repay you someday.

Ito: (I see how it is. This person also wants to be what Kou-san called a “vassal supporting the emperor''...)

Ai: Thank you. Can we get down to business now?

Person in charge: Of course!

The man nodded energetically and started his presentation regarding the matter of the prices being "too" beneficial for us.

Person in charge: ……So what do you think? I think I've learned quite a bit about pricing.

Ai: Yashiro. Any thoughts?

On the inside, I was surprised by him calling on me. However, I opened my mouth, praying to sound as neutral as possible.

Ito: I think it's a very attractive proposal. But, I believe the burden on your company may be excessive. Would you mind clarifying a bit more?

Person in charge: Ah... No, it’s okay. You guys don’t have to worry about anything! As long as we make a profit overall…..

Ai: So you’re saying that this price can be passed onto other stores as well?

Person in charge: Um, well...

Ai: Forgive my manners, but has this document been approved by the company?

Person in charge: !

In contrast to the man, whose shoulders were trembling immensely, Kosaka-san continued with his usual calm demeanor.

Ai: If a problem occurs, depending on the scale and details, it may not just end with the person in charge being fired...

Now, let me ask again. Have you spoken to your superior about this?

Person in charge: ………….

...Did I…. disappoint you, Kosaka-san?

Ai: The end does not justify the means.

I appreciate your kindness and generosity, but I cannot accept this unless it is legitimate.

Kosaka-san words were the decisive blow that led the man to withdraw the documents.

Kou: Hmm? So he’ll come back later with his boss and a new proposal?

Yuzuru: I'm glad nothing serious happened. Good job, Yashiro-san.

Ito: I didn't do anything.....

Ai: Yashiro. You didn't overlook the mistake and reported it to me.

Just accept the fair evaluation.

Ito: (Ah….)

Ai: Well done.

Ito: ...Thank you very much.

(It somehow slightly crossed my mind..... but I feel like I tend to get overly happy when Kosaka-san praises me.)

(Maybe this is why people called him "His Majesty")

Yuzuru: By the way, Kou-kun, what's with that paper bag?

Kou: Oh, this? A gift from the Japanese sweets buyer addressed to His Majesty.

Daifuku made with fruit pickled in sake. It’s still under development in collaboration with an artisan.

Ai: I'll have some.

Favors come in many forms, and sometimes they can turn into blind faith, dragging those around you into a recklessness. 

Ito: (But Kosaka-san is the type of person who can "properly" take a favor and turn it into strength...)

Aporia is truly a place where charming and eccentric people gather. Here, I felt like I was able to get a glimpse of the popular Kosaka Ai, our Majesty.

[steve0discusses]

Ep 46 Pt 1: Zorc’s Massive Low Hanging Fruit

We are getting very close! I don’t actually...remember how many episodes there were in this season but listen, It can’t possibly be more than 50 right?

Right?

Anyway, we’re starting off in the battle basement in Yami’s tomb. Who, of course has a battle basement installed right outside of his final resting place, just like how he would have wanted.

And it’s here that the form of Bakura that the dub is telling me is Ryou wants to kill his own classmate. Which, I’ll just point it out since a couple people mentioned it, apparently the manga did not do this nor did the original Japanese version. The dub just made this Ryou for giggles. We already know Bakura can split into evil pieces, this was not necessary. We also know that Ryou is sleeping on those painful steppies, so this doesn’t make much logical sense.

But like we’re watching the dub right now, so sorry, everybody, this is Ryou. Ryou on a bad day, I guess. Dark Ryou. Not to be confused with Shadow Ryou, who is...that other freaking guy.

Yugi just upset that he forgot to bring his dueling disk to a dream universe in the past or whatever. Must feel naked without that thing stinking up his left arm and making that school blazer all wrinkly. Bro is telling me that Yugi should have one really big arm, kind of like trogdor.

(read more under the cut)

the one thing that does make sense with making this Ryou is a little bit of symbolic imagery. Ryou talks about how he doesn’t have friends anymore in the beginning of this arc, and we can assume it’s because he’s decided to step away from other people because of the ghost in his bean. In contrast, Yugi has all these friends he cursed to like him (woops), and for whom he just risked his whole life for, and for whom he didn’t learn the Pharaoh’s name that he needed in order to save all of mankind.

Which, for reals, Tea and Joey are such good buds, that he really did just end the world to save their ass, and that is pretty anime of him.

But Tea gets very nervous over whether or not Yugi was going to perma-die. It would be very awkward if he died, since he’s also the host of this puzzle which is she is currently stuck inside of. Though I’m not 100% on if it’s even possible for him to die here. Little bit of a chicken or the egg situation, which I may have brought up before.

But still, she’s worried about it.

Which is when Joey does a quick head count and go “WAIT WAIT"

(the show does not show us where Tristan is)

Back at Kul Elna, everything is very quickly falling apart. Rocks are falling from the sky, Pharaoh is back at the capital with Seto and the other Seto, and Karim helllllllllllllla died last episode (or 2 episodes ago? I have such bad memory nowadays) so we’re just gonna leave his corpse in the barn and go.

sorry I just took in the incredible abs on this oversized chess piece that is Hassad. 

Why bother? Like for reals why bother?

I have so many questions about this random guy and his character design and they will not get answered. Apparently Dark Side of Dimensions dives into it as well as other unresolved issues from this season but like, that’s for another time. We will be watching that later, and at my rate it’ll be like 5 years from now but I swear...unless I caught covid a second (third?) time we will eventually get there and find out the deal of this...this freakin guy.

Meanwhile, our story boarders are not finished flexing. I think they really enjoyed this particular episode, with this really fun composition around Bakura here. They LOVE to shred scenery with Bakura on this carving, and there are so many good shots where it’s like a comic cover. I mean, look at this:

Damn that’s a good idea. This composition is fun. You got the curves from this...pokemon that I forgot the name of... you got him dead center all strong and rigid to contrast the curves. You got purple and green clouds. It’s fun. If y’all ever want to do the “draw this anime still but in your style” this is a good still. Good stuff.

And then Bakura peaces off--no idea where, and it doesn’t really matter since we have like so many Bakura’s at this point. Lets just assume he’s everywhere.

And with that, the ground gives way to the ZORC within.

This ultimate being, Zorc, who we’ve been talking up for so many episodes.

And that’s when we find out Isis also left out another crucial detail about Zorc:

So listen. We can say that the...neck...of the snake is coming out of his lower stomach. But also, they left it in shadow for a reason. 

The reason is, this episode is getting me flagged.

It occurred to me I don’t have to go for the low hanging fruit. I don’t have to. I can find a way around this. And I struggled. And I did whatever I, a full grown adult, could think to do. I thought to myself, I am a creative person, and I am inventive and I can write comedy well enough so it’s not just about poops and butts and dicks.

And then I gave up because of the number of times this thing is dead center on screen. And really, truly, I make a lot of low hanging jokes on this blog anyway so we’re just going to embrace Zorc for who he really is, both inside and outside.

And he is a slowly growing talking dragon shaped penis with legs.

Covered up by my joke towel in this scene I want you to know the snake just had it’s maws wide open to shout them down. It literally does only talk out of the dragon head on the bottom part of him.

Anyway, then Hassan jumps in front of the missiles zorc shoots from his crotch and well...he dies that way.

Death by firecrotch. This is like an immortal God meant to be the protector of the Pharaohs but you can kill him and the way how is disgusting.

There they go, back to the palace, which like, I guess is VERY close to Kul Elna, since Yami and Seto are currently vibing there right now.

Back at fight club, these two are still at it.

and then back at the funeral of the most romantic anime death of all time, Seto is still at it.

Seto, despite probably having to throw just SO MANY funerals for his tragic backstory is not very good at them. So right now he’s just distancing himself emotionally from literally everything going on around him by convincing himself this is all a very vivid hallucination.

Which it is. For once he is correct, this entire arc is a hallucination, but a hallucination with consequences. Which he is not used to. Hell he doesn’t see consequences when he’s not in a hallucination half the time. He’s like super rich.

Yami decides he did what he can, but he’s done with this freakin guy. I guess trying to reach through to Seto is a skill that only Yugi possesses, cuz Yami is just clear out of patience for this sociopath. Which is a shame, he usually loves this sociopath.

I laughed out loud at this cut to this horse’s ass and Seto’s reaction to being left behind from getting a ride the one time he was the one who needed a ride.

LMAO at the dub for adding that suspicious soil clump where a dead girlfriend probably was laying before.

but being real, this is another very nice shot, I didn’t cap it for vibes, and I really should have. Again, if you’re looking for a “draw this in your style” anime still challenge, this is another fun one. You got a juxtaposition of old and new. You got the storytelling of the dead girlfriend and trying to understand feelings you don’t understand because you were taught to never love. You got lovely ancient pillars. You got a clump of dirt that used to be a girl...

Like we may have dragged Seto’s ass back here, just to make him look cool and out of place in that coat as the wind sweeps by him. And that’s fine, I’ll accept that Seto this season may only be here for some vibes.

As he admires her slowly breathing (yes, breathing, thanks dub) he flashes back to that only time he every had a single conversation with this woman (a conversation they had, only because she thought he was someone else)

And off he goes, to look cool and probably do little else.

And as always, here is the link to read these from the beginning in chrono order.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[eclipse-song]

Hello,

I was thinking about the showa riders and wondered if you had any headcanons regarding like ... aging as a cyborg? Or just them as old men if you prefer.

Thanks

OMG OK I THINK ABOUT THIS ALL THE TIME.

Personally I like to hc that they either don't age or they age at a much slower rate. Due to the nature of recurring actors, the canon around this in TV/movies seems to be that they can age, though, still stay quite able to fight (Ichighost is a good example of this). There IS a novel I know that has no english translation or digital version which re-imagines Kamen Rider through a lense of "what if Fujioka never broke his leg so he never had to leave the show?" In this novel Ichimonji is there and he's a Peruvian-Japanese man who was part of a botched cyborg surgery which is slowly killing him. He becomes a source of fighting inspiration for Hongo who is joining the ranks of the anti-Shocker league with Taki and others. In this novel it apparently implies at the end that no other Kamen Rider are made but Hongo does just eternally carry on forever without aging or rest.

There is a fascination I have with the idea of them being frozen in time as forever 20-something year olds. That classic added pain of immortality and having to watch everyone else pass away while you're still there. And only the fellow cyborgs around you are able to really understand that pain.

The idea of them normally aging into older men while still fighting makes me feel sadness and pain in other ways. Their natural bodies breaking down while their bones, now gone, are made of metal and maybe they are still fine, or maybe they begin to rust or to end up needing frequent fixes. And how long can they really keep this up? If their hearts are no longer made of flesh, how do they choose to stop beating? And can they just be booted back up again?

There's so much to explore and I don't think I can properly settle on one thing to imagine because there are just too many exciting possibilities to think about!!!

[finalfantasythoughts]

FFXV Thoughts - Development and Evolution

FFXV is one of my favorite entries in the franchise, in my personal top 3/5 (controversial though that may be). However, it's no secret that the game had a development riddled with problems and the result is felt in various aspects of the game. This also ties to why people prefer the "game" (at least the very limited parts we saw) when it was still Versus XIII or just under Nomura's direction. I wanted to look at some of the issues with the game as well as point out how certain elements from the old trailers translated into the final game, even though certain people try to make it out that XV and VsXIII share nothing but a few locations and characters because the final product didn't align with what they thought the game would be. I'm not going to mention combat really because while a bit oversimplified, I still enjoyed it (my biggest gripe is how awkwardly magic was handled). I know I'm beating a dead horse and some people are over the whole situation, but I had a lot of thoughts and wanted to share them as somebody who played XV years later so I had no expectations for a game that despite being shown off over many years, didn't necessarily reveal much. This will contain spoilers for the whole of XV so here's your warning.

I'll start by saying that one of the biggest losses for me personally was the change of the opening the game in Insomnia through the invasion to Kingsglaive. I see why they made the film and I enjoyed it while watching it, but I do wish we could've played it, as that was pivotal to the story and old trailers suggest it was planned to have a lot of introductions there, both character and plot-wise. Not to mention I'm just not very attached to Nyx and the movie original characters. Noctis' Japanese voice actor even revealed that about half of the original script took place here, which makes sense that it'd be dialogue heavy due to character/plot/world introductions, tutorials, early boss fights, etc. (correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe FF7 OG's script spends something like 30% in just Midgar, for comparison). My other biggest loss is the idea that we may have been able to interact more with Tenebrae at some point (a "leak" claimed it would be akin to a dungeon, but who knows).

I do think it's exaggerated how much changed though, at least from a view of the major story beats. Certain things got recontextualized (Kingsglaive being the largest example), but I think more survived than people think. They even used Nojima's original script as the base of the final game. There are many posts that show all the parallels and references to the old trailers, though they are spread to the game, DLC, anime and movie. It also seems that even a lot of Fabula Nova Crystallis elements were preserved, just using different names and replacing the FNC gods with the Astrals. Some of it, like the "eyes that see the light of expiring souls" (most likely a take on the concept of the Eyes of Etro) seem to have been cut, though Noct and Luna are still chosen ones by the gods, and possibly had near-death moments (Noct in the anime, scene with Luna being abused that was cut). Another plot that seems to involve sleep (rumored to be a dream world or somewhere Noct would dream of dead loved ones, something I believe connects to Hamlet if I remember correctly) was seemingly cut, though there are loose moments where Noctis sleeps/dreams (Luna's death, in the crystal with Bahamut, platinum demo, dreams of the Omen trailer aka why Regis sent him away, etc.). I do agree that the final version was in need of presenting itself better; fleshing out characters, events, and locations would have been beneficial for the story. Instead the guys were taken out of infiltrations and big moments regarding the empire which was somewhat disappointing, as the old trailers and interviews made it seem that they would be consistently involved in the politics/war.

At a time, the keyword of Versus XIII was apparently 'misery' and this was appropriate for all the characters. I would say this is still the case; after the fall of Insomnia, Eos is thrown into chaos and each character suffers. Noct is forced to come to terms with his position, destiny, etc. while trying to process the death of his father (and eventually Luna), destruction of his city, etc. Ignis has to worry about Noct and sees a vision of his death in his DLC, as well as going blind which brings into question his value to combat. Prompto has his birth exposed which throws him off psychologically, killing Verstael, not to mention that he was already self conscious and unsure about being part of the group. Gladio (admittedly isn't as intense as the others) has to worry about Iris post-invasion, his pride being wounded easily by Ravus, and feeling unsatisfied with Noct's shift into king. Other characters like Ravus, Luna, Regis, etc. also go through 'misery' throughout the battles with the Empire. The bleak world described in early interviews is still present, especially after the Starscrourge continues to spread and nights get longer, aided by the empire's manufacturing of daemons and invasions of prominent territories (remember in the World of Ruin section they say Lestallum in nearly the only safe place left in Eos). Nomura also stated that despite this being the main theme, it would still be balanced so as to not make the game feel oversaturated with sad scenes and be unpleasant, which I think is present in the final game. I see people expecting essentially no humor or things that are present in every FF, and personally I don't believe XV under Nomura would've done away with some of these things. In my opinion, this game was going to be okay with getting darker, but I also think people blow out of proportion/had the wrong expectations about how far it'd go.

Another argument I see a lot is that the final version of Noctis is completely changed from the original version, which I don't really agree with. Early trailers with the more brooding, cold and overpowered Noct seem mostly (if not entirely) conceptual, not to mention that Nomura specifically said not to let the trailers fool you into thinking these were good descriptors for his personality and that presenting him this way was a conscious decision (probably because it looks cool if we're being honest). In later trailers, we hear Noct speak and he sounds pretty "shounen" (not a bad thing) and his conversation with Stella also paints him as shy but fairly friendly. Now I think the final game version made some changes and shifted his arc to be more about responsibility than revenge (which is what people seemed to predict his arc would be from the old trailers), but again, I think more was preserved than people give credit for.

Then there's the Stella vs Luna debate. This has always fascinated me because even though the interaction between Noctis and Stella is nice (and I wish we'd gotten something similar with Luna), we know virtually nothing about Stella. In fact, it seems between initial planning stages and the 2013 trailer (aka Stella's last appearance), her role had changed. Storyboards show her seemingly as a childhood friend to Noctis like Luna. It's possible they met but didn't know who each other were and would still "meet" for the first time at the party in Insomnia, but I believe Nomura also said that he didn't really like Stella's character when he made her and that she had grown into one that the he liked over time (including when scenarios would've been finished). Between that and the fact that there was no mention of the Stella vs Noctis fight for years before her replacement, it really seems like once the scenario was more developed, her role had changed. I actually like Luna's character as well, she just happens to be in the camp of characters who didn't have their story presented very well. Looking at the XV media, her story is interesting; she essentially is a hostage to the empire and has a fated role forced on her, which she grows into and accepts. From what we see she's determined and capable, yet also reckless at times, and it's a shame we didn't really get to know her because she was interesting in her own right (and while she was a "strong" female lead, I do think the devs overhyped this fact for how little we end up seeing her and how many lines of hers were devoted to Noctis).

People also complain a lot about the Noctis and Luna romance (and some believe there would be better romance with Stella, but I'm pretty sure Nomura said they wouldn't be romantic). To me, the romance was more so born out of Noctis and Luna's high mutual respect for one another combined with cherished childhood memories. Both of their lives changed after Tenebrae was invaded; Noctis was growing up and learning more about his role to someday be king and Luna was a tool of the empire, replaced her late mother as oracle, and was growing physically weaker due to communicating with the gods (not to mention the scenes of abuse that were cut). The fact that Noctis and Luna desired to be around each other always made sense to me and their relationship was tragic in the way of something that's always out of reach, but I feel like the marketing/a couple scenes made it seem like more of a true love story like other FF games which wasn't really the case.

Another point of contention is specifically derived from the 2013 E3 trailer where it was publicly announced Versus would be XV. That trailer featured a lot of crazy set pieces moving through buildings and the moment leading up to Leviathan that lead people to lament those sections of the game for not looking as it did here. The problem is that those seem to be mock up "target goal" looking sections that seem to demonstrate the level of spectacle the engine could create but no guarantee that it would run properly on PS4. People also complain about the Altissia map size being so much smaller in the actual game, but it's possible that all that map in the trailer would only be "explored" in the scripted event we saw.

World of the Versus Epic is another interesting thing that everybody seems to run with as proof that XV was to be a trilogy. Yes Nomura seemed to hint that XV would not be a standalone title (then not long after said nothing was confirmed), but there are so many possibilities. It could've been more like the VII Compilation with spin-off prequel/sequel games or movies or anime specials, etc. I feel like XV was not going to be structured like the VII Remake, and if it were to get full blown sequels, would be more like KH or X-2, XIII-2, etc. especially since Versus XIII's script was completed in 2010 for a single PS3 title (unless the script got significantly longer). If anything, this "epic" could've been a way to continue using XV's assets to carry fans over until Remake and XVI (I believe Roberto Ferrari said that Versus at one point had a tentative date for release in 2014). The only other point is that Noctis' VA said there were "three times as many scenarios" and so some got cut. Now every game seems to have cut scenarios, and given the fact that FFXV has a shorter runtime than the majority of FF games for main story, the only way I could see a trilogy is if they were all relatively short games. But even then, considering the amount of characters and areas that could've been fleshed out more (not to mention all the script that changed for Kingsglaive), many of the cut scenarios probably could've fit in the game had the team had more time/focused less on the open world.

One other thing that I wish had carried over more was the FMV/CG cutscenes and some of the art direction of the older versions that gave the game a bit more of a grandiose feeling, not that I dislike the final's more grounded take. I have a feeling that the lack of these might come from shifting resources to companion media and the fact that they added different costumes, but I loved the aesthetic and feeling these scenes added to the trailers. The older direction also leaned into a more "Shakespearian" vibe. Those elements are still very prevalent in the final version (there's many posts that explain the Hamlet inspiration), but I think some of the scenes that only appeared in trailers gave the game a bit more of a "dreamy" and tense, mysterious atmosphere that I wished would've been pulled from more. Not to mention the trailers always showed intense fights (Stella and Ravus one-on-one's, Noctis and soldiers, empire and Regis, etc.) which didn't get the same focus in the final game.

Finally, there's the theory that KH4 or a possible game based on the Verum Rex commercial from KH3 will be the "true" Versus. Personally, from what we've seen so far it seems like Nomura is using KH as a space to use some concepts that didn't carry over to XV, specifically things like having an open city space, some of the art direction and some aspects of combat. As I've said, I think the XV universe preserved more of the story than some people think, so between that and the fact that KH is it's own universe that doesn't really use some FF things (empires, FNC lore, etc.), I think he's just entertaining some of the things he still wanted to do something with while also possibly taking shots at XV and SE. Could be wrong once more is revealed, but that's how it appears to me.

Anyway, this has gotten incredibly long so thanks for reading if you got this far! To be clear, I really do love XV but some fleshing out of concepts would've done it good. I'll probably make more posts on elements of XV and how they relate to old concepts/FNC etc. so stick around if you're interested in that at all (as well as posts about other FF games, just in a XV mindset since I recently replayed).

Here are some of the links with good amounts of info in one place, if my info seems incorrect or anything, I apologize