#i really need to get the rereleased manga

[ramblingandpie]

The most specific rant that a small handful of people will appreciate:

In the live-action Alita movie, if Dr Chiren is from Zalem, whyyyy does she have a brain? Like. We saw it! We saw the brain!

[euniexenoblade]

Mordred do you have any anime or manga recommendations you havent talked about recently?

I feel like there's a lot of anime I never talk about for one reason or another, like RN I'm writing up a whole thing about maidime (maid anime) for my anime blog and if I ever get it done then yay but it's dragging lmao

But yeah, I really liked the adaptation of Children of the Whales, the world building is insane and the animation was so spectacular for a TV anime. Really stands apart from most shows.

I really like the show Erased. Time travel and time loops aren't that uncommon but still I felt that Erased found a really neat way to tackle the topic of it. It's a real fucked up story so trigger warnings for child murder and serial killer shit, but for real spectacular show. Basically there's a serial killer and dude goes back in time to be his kid self and uses his adult knowledge to try and stop the killer.

I mention this show plenty I think but I always need to sing it's praises, Humanity Has Declined is probably in my top 15 TV shows. It's such a fun, bright take on a post apocalypse and it's so funny. If you take anything away from this post, watch this show. Whenever I try to compare it to anything, the only thing I can think of is Adventure Time, it's a bright whimsical comical telling of happenings after an apocalypse. Though plot wise it's nothing like AT so, maybe the comparison isn't the best. But essentially the protagonist is a UN representative to go between the remaining humans and the newly evolved fairies. The arcs are in reverse chronological order and its lovely tbh lol.

Time of Eve is one of the first shows I really hooked into. It got rereleased as a movie, so whatever version you find is right. But it's about a world where there's robot house keepers and shit and one day the protag follows his robot to a coffee shop where robots meet and have the ability to be free. It's very nice and I should rewatch it I haven't seen it in a long ass time.

To get that yuri rep in there, if you've never watched Maria-sama ga Miteru (Maria Watches Over Us) you gotta drop your toes in. It's four seasons but you'll know if it's for you or not right away. A girl attends an all girls Catholic school and gets caught up in the student council and the personalities in it. Imo this is the premier Class S yuri and I love this series so much.

I could go on and on honestly.

As for manga, I'd say my manga opinions are very known cuz I post all sorts of screencaps and shit as I read, but considering most of that was on my old blog.

Read Liberta. Just do it. Vampire lesbian escapism fantasy. It's awesome.

The Summer Hikaru Died is a gay horror. Basically a dude's best friend goes missing and then suddenly turns back up months later. But the dude knows it's not his friend because he saw his friend's dead body in the forest. That's not a spoiler, that's like 4 pages in. It's phenomenal.

I think I see people try to disparage it these days, but Future Diary was a really good read. Dude ends up in a weird game where his cell phone tells the future and he has to kill other people who have prophetic phones (and vice versa) so they may become a new god. But on top of this one of the players is a yandere girl obsessed with being with him. The anime adaptation is good too just be ready for them to show. Too much. Watch the TV show version and not the Blu-rays, they uncensored stuff in the Blu-ray and it's such a weird decision when you see it.

Goodbye Eri and Look Back are both one shots by the Chainsaw Man author. Both deal with losing someone dear to you at a young age and both handle it in completely different ways. Both are fantastic though.

I could go on and on and on

[toskarin]

Do you think that after we get Tsukihime remake we will get FSN remake?

there's a lot of reasons I don't think we're getting a full F/sn remake, with a big one being that Nasu doesn't seem all that embarrassed by it, even if he does want to touch up Fate route eventually

Fate is ongoing IP that is still constantly being written and created-for, while Tsukihime more or less went dormant for a decade (arguably much longer if we're only counting mainline non-melty blood content). it didn't get rereleases, barring those from the first few years, and it got no ports at all

one franchise has millions of dollars worth of anime, manga, and games released every few years. the other went to sleep for long enough that there were children born after its release who were old enough to read the uncensored eroge by the time the remake released

basically, there was a real need to remake Tsukihime while there isn't really one for F/sn

[cloudjumpervalka]

ill elaborate on this over the day i think but im very mixed on what i think about the w.i.t.c.h. reboot but uh. its mostly negative

first off, this is partially coming from a place of im just a fan of the comic and already didnt care for the tv show.

i mean... i liked the show as a kid because it was what got me into the series, but once i picked up the comics i knew it had my heart and it couldnt compare. (its very similar to how i felt about fma03 > going into the manga after)

but anyway, i think the reboot is of all things, just disney being lazy in making new ips of course. if theyre doing a full rework of the plot, characters, and costumes, why not just make a new magical girl comic? oh because of the obvious theyve been testing the popularity of the comic by rereleasing it over the past couple years, and now the ip is recognized enough again that they can use it to their advantage. definitely in the wake of winx getting their reboot (which i also think is unnecessary but i think the circumstances may have been different. which leads me to..)

i worry about what theyre going to do with the story in general. if its anything like the later half of the comic (ie new power onward) iiiiiii dont know if we need that. i personally dont think that was the strongest era of the story. it, unsurprisingly, came off as an attempt to haha... copy the winx by doing power upgrades and becoming even more glittery and pink and what i would call a typical "girls piece of media"

ofc side note nothing bad with that but again leading into another point

heh.. the treatment of the original team. its early and i dont quite remember all of the details but i do know that they were done dirty. I know for sure it involved barbucci and canepa, unsure if gnone was involved as well, but disney took that series from them. as far as i know, that series was their baby and disney plucked it apart into something they never intended it to be. barbucci and canepa haved regularly talked about their dislike of disney and their personal beef with them as a direct result of what happened with w.i.t.c.h.

it was their dark fantasy series that disney wanted to girlie-pop-ify to most likely have it compete with winx directly. completely going against what the team envisioned leading to their ? departure from disney. im personally not quite sure if they quit on their own or if disney fired them to make room for a more cooperative team but Still. the point still stands: disney is shitty in this situation

so just from the inital description and seeing will's transformed resign, it looks like... it will most likely go in the direction of being a direct winx competitor again and will continue to take the story in a completely different direction than it was originally intended to be. some part of me hopes tho that because will looks like an edgy hot topic kid that maaaaaybe theyll have some darker tone to it but uh.... again disneys reputation makes me think that wont happen lmao

if they really cared enough they would literally be like sorry og team, here do what u wanted. because uh. at least barbucci and canepa still regulary post about w.i.t.c.h. and share fanart and stuff so theyre still interested imo (again i havent followed up with gnone over the years but im sure she'd be on board)

i reaaaaally want to know if they even knew their series was gonna be rebooted like this or i guess however it ends up being. god i would do anything to read the nda they signed when splitting with disney.

but eh i also hope its good just for the sake it wooooould be cool to have new w.i.t.c.h. content (again sad its not like a comic accurate tv adaptation or like... the og teams work) buuuuuut this is suuuuch a comfort series to me so i wanna hope for the best

my nostalgia is probably ruining it for me and the fact ill already rant about how i hate the cartoon adaptation now dkdbksbf but eh i wanted to just dump my thoughts before starting my work day

[silvermoon424]

OMG Hanokage redid their first PMMM manga in their current art style??? I want to see it so badly!!!

Yes they did!!

Here's the listing for the first volume on Amazon Japan; the second and final volume will be released on Christmas. Btw, for this manga (and for new manga in general) Amazon Japan offers direct international shipping to a number of countries so you don't need to use a proxy (and btw, I can say from experience their rates are as good or cheaper than what you would get using a proxy without having to pay proxy fees). If you are interested in buying a copy of this manga for yourself, I'd recommend waiting until volume 2 comes out in a couple of weeks to save money on shipping.

I will be scanning this, but be warned that I don't really scan entire manga. I just scan panels that I find beautiful or interesting. So when I post scans you will be able to see artwork, just not the full picture. And like I said I said earlier I am definitely interested in posting comparison scans between the original and rereleased manga, so keep an eye out for that!

[scope-dogg]

So I always see gifs about Getter Robo here and there and have only heard positive things ( I also dig the fat rounded mech designs!), but never anything in detail unfortunately. Seems like one of those properties where everyone who likes it is very invested though! As a mech enthusiast, could you explain what about the series you find appealing and what a recommended watch order (if there's any need for one) watch location might be? I understand some series of that age just aren't available legally in the West anymore, which is a big bummer

Honestly for a series as long and storied as Getter it can be hard to pin down the underpinning appeal to one single thing, but I'd say the closest you'd get to capturing the fundamental appeal to most people it'd be that it's perhaps that it's practically the archetype for a super robot series with a harder edge than most. It stood out on that basis even when the mecha genre was still in its relative infancy and it's managed to keep that distinction to this very day. It's a franchise that's never shied away from violence - from the genesis of the genre until today, the archetypical mecha pilot has been a spunky and/or sensitive teen, while your average Getter pilot, while still fundamentally heroic, is a borderline psychotic hard bastard, the kind of person that would probably be in jail in real life. Even when they're up against some really nightmarish shit they always seem to revel in the battle and resolve to win through sheer determination. You've probably seen Gurren Lagann, in which case that description might sound somewhat familiar. That's not a coincidence, Getter Robo is one of TTGL's biggest influences and even though the two series differ in many other ways, it occupied a somewhat similar space in the collective consciousness to the one that TTGL now occupies in the minds of most (and still does to a degree, it's one of the genre's most important founding works and as such has remained relevant for basically its whole lifespan.)

Later entries see the series get a lot more existential, and start dealing with the concepts of the future of human evolution and the fear of an unknown and possibly terrifying future that sees mankind blunder into the clutches of forces beyond its control and understanding. While the series initial core appeal of seeing hard men use their robot to battle hellish enemies remains, that cosmic horror aspect was really important to the franchise's maturing identity and is likewise a huge part of what makes it remain so appealing to so many - it's pretty much at the core of all the franchise's best installments.

As for where to begin, it's complicated and at the same time, not. As for anime, it can be tough to pick one. There's the Toei original series and its sequel Getter Robo G, though these, in addition to being old and dated, are arguably a softened-down version of the story meant for kids' TV that, while popular in their own right back in the day, don't really capture what most people now find appealing about the franchise. You're probably better off overall looking at one of the OVAs instead. In release order, those are Getter Robo Armageddon, Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo, and New Getter Robo. All three of these are basically various attempts to blend together various chapters on the manga, along with aspects from other works done by the original author Ken Ishikawa. The thing is though, Armageddon and Shin vs Neo both assume at least some level of familiarity with the existing characters and lore, even if each one is in its own continuity. New Getter Robo is kind of like a reboot and as such is more self-contained, but at the same time is probably the one that veers off from the established tone and lore the most wildly.

In my opinion, the best thing to do is go to the source, and read Ken Ishikawa's manga from the beginning. The Getter Robo saga consists of five different chapters, those being, in release order, the original, Getter Robo G, Getter Robo Go, Shin Getter Robo and Getter Robo Arc. While the original and G are definitely old they've been touched up for rerelease and are still very readable and easy to get through while having a ton of old-school charm to them. However, once you hit Go, that's where the party truly begins. Its the quality of work that started there that really built the series up from a relatively simple good-guys vs bad-guys story into what it is today. If disciples of Getter seem very invested in the franchise, it's most likely because of ideas that first get explored here. Go's followed up by Shin Getter Robo, which is a prequel to the events of Go that explains some important things but also sets up stuff that's important for the final chapter, Getter Robo Arc. Sadly, Ken Ishikawa died before the manga could be completed, leaving the story without an ending - until now. An anime adaptation of Arc has been airing for the last few months. The final episode, presumably featuring the final true ending to the Getter Robo saga, airs this upcoming Sunday.

[theacidgoblin64]

i really hope one day Higurashi gets the remake (or a manga rerelease) it deserves because it’s an amazing story that i think any horror anime fan needs to see. If anybody who has seen Gou/Sotsu and didn’t like it wrote off the original please don’t because you are in for a wild ride filled with way more then Gou/Sotsu revealed about the originals plot. The first chapter of the visual novel is free and if you still don’t like it and it’s not for you atleast you didn’t sink any money into it!

[highendphasers]

a brief evaluation of near and mello’s dynamic within the story, because i wanna get some things cleared and organized in my head. this is probably gonna be a bit messy, so i apologize in advance. 

i’d like to start off at wammy’s. even though we’re given very little insight to how wammy’s actually behaved, we know a very important fact about mello’s life there - he was always second, no matter what he did. he needed to try when near didn’t. i think people misunderstand mello’s thought process here, and automatically jump to the conclusion that mello hates near himself. in my opinion, mello really only hates his status as number one, and hates how he’s better at practically anything he tried to do. this was a big factor in his growing inferiority complex that never left his mind and left him aching to be ahead of near. this wasn’t about near as a person, but rather, his struggle to being seen for what he’s good at himself and his ache to be better at something. let’s get that out of the way.

their actual relationship at wammy’s is pretty blurry. mello says that they never got along, and near gave off the impression that they were on pretty good terms and still talked about mello fondly over the years. i’m gonna go out on a limb and say that mello was coming from his rank perspective and near was coming from their interactions and the way they got along otherwise. near seems to know quite a lot about mello, which leads us to believe that they were around each other pretty often. i like to think that this, mixed with near’s attachment problems and mello’s general distaste towards wammy’s house and all inhabitants (AND mello’s habit of lying) makes their relationship as kids as competitive, with some complicated feelings about each other, but being in each others space more often than not. note: this does not exclude mello’s hatred towards being number two. he was still a dick to near abt that. it gets a bit more complicated after L’s death, and the years following. i stand firm by the fact that i don’t think mello ever hated or will hate near. near has never hated and will never hate mello. when mello might be a factor in the kira case, near doesn’t say all that much about it - simply “you always let your emotions get ahead of you”. near thinking fondly and rather kindly of mello over these years is proof enough to me that he still values him in his life and even trusts him more than he trusts the SPK. he pretty much let mello get a hold of valuable information and even come into their headquarters scot-free. they’re going towards the same goal, just with different passions and different ways of getting there. near’s ambition is directed through the SPK. mello’s ambition is fully within himself.  i think that they’re both manipulative in their own ways. near accepts the challenge of a race despite not thinking about it like one (his hair covering his eyes, which is always a telltale sign of a lie in manga). he uses mello behind the scenes to get more information which pisses mello ALL the way off because of his need to be his own person. mello regularly manipulates the people he needs to work around to get what he wants and i think this is one of the traits that they both share with L and also a reason why they would have no moral problems working as a team lol. mello’s feelings towards near have deepened and gotten way more torn apart especially after the explosion, because while mello pulled the trigger to set off the bombs, i have a small theory that mello at least partially blames near for cornering him (and blames the rest on himself for being so stupid as to even let him come close to backing him into such a dangerous wall). nonetheless, mello is pissed and angry and he Needs To See Near. and even when he sees him, he leaves with a smile from a promise of doing the thing they did most - compete against each other. they feed off each other, and that is SO important. they both want to go their own ways in life and that’s no question. they butt their personalities together often. nothing could convince the other something unless they REALLY put in the effort and dedicated themselves to it in a formative and healthy way (which, as we’ve seen, will take many years of therapy and more than one fight). they have so many contrasting traits, and completely different foundations, yet share core similarities. near knows he’s better and mello is desperate to be better. you can see bits of near in mello and bits of mello in near whether this came naturally or from them rubbing off on each other subconsciously. when near discovered the true way mello died, he put his head down in what i would like to think is grievance. mello didn’t have to give near any information, he didn’t have to threaten to shoot instead of put a bullet in his head the moment he walked in. he didn’t have to stay close to near. i think thats something a lot of people miss. in the end, they stayed close, metaphorically. they were two sides of the same coin. i think in the sense of meronia it wouldn’t make for a 100% healthy relationship, but a VERY interesting one. the need and want for each other despite them both knowing they could never live together or be with each other 100% of the time because they’re both stubborn and need different stimuli. stolen makeout sessions and complicated dislike that mixes with being hopelessly in love. mello goes back to near and near goes back to mello even though they know they shouldn’t and after years of growth and development (if mello lived) i think it would make for a pretty nice dynamic after plenty of nights spent together and then abandoned and arguments that formed new understandings and.... Yea. yea.  that’s my take for the night! i wanna add onto this later and maybe edit it and rerelease it but. we will see. i love near and i love mello and i think they want to kiss 100% of the time.

[popculturebuffet]

Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life Review

Happy Birthday To Me, as I continue my birthday celebration by taking a look at comics that have a personal connection to me.. And for our main feature, i’m taking a look at the first volume of a series that was vitally important to a teenage me, Scott Pilgrim. 

Scott Pilgrim is the brainchild of Brian Lee’O’Malley. O’Malley came up with the concept from a number of things. Being a fan of the band Plumtree, O’Malley was curious about the name of their song “Scott Pilgrim” and wondered who this Scott Pilgrim guy was. So over the years he slowly built the guy up in the back of his mind using bits of his life and what not. As for why he ends up fighting 7 evil exes, that came from a discussion with his then girlfriend, later wife and currently ex-wife Hope Larson, where he threw off the joke that her exes should form some kind of League. After finishing his first solo work Lost at Sea, O’Malley decided Scotty would be his next project and the rest is history. To date while O’Malley has written two works since, Seconds which is delightful and Snotgirl which didn’t grab me but I intend to try again, Scott remains his most popular work, in large part due to it’s SUBLIME video game and movie adaptations, the former of which is finally getting a rerelease next month. 

The series charm is in it’s style: A manga styled comic that combines two desperate kinds of story: Shonen Fight Manga and Slice of Life Indie Comics. The story shifts from Scott going through normal life stuff while trying to make his new relationship work and get his shit together and Scott getting into big bombastic fights with his new sweetie’s exes for the right to keep dating her and to you know, stay alive. The series effortlesly blends a video game like world with real grounded characters and is wonderful for it.  As for where I came in, one Free Comic Book day I found a little comic named Free Scott Pilgrim, which I genuinely loved and was instantly charmed by it’s humor and well done art. So I picked up the second and third volumes of the series proper and the first once I could find it and the rest ,as they say, is history. For my high school life, this was one of hte most important things in it and I wrote fanfiction, which I thankfully never put online and in general enjoyed the hell out of the series. Then I just kind of.. let it sit on my shelf for a while. It wasn’t BAD, I just never got back to it and as the franchise went dormant I just sorta slept on it and the movie and that part of me...

Cut to a few weeks ago, when Comixology did a massive sale for black friday that marked a ton of Graphic Novels down to just 1 buck each, and the color editions of Scott Pilgrim happened to be part of this, though only volume 1 was that cheap. But thanks to my best friend micheal and an early christmas/birthday present I got the rest and got to revisit the series as a whole, with me rethinking my previous thoughts of volume 1 and thus.. wanting to review it and share both why this series is so damn special and what’s good, and what’s not so good about it. I’ll also be covering the game, once i’ts re-released, and the movie once i’m finsihed with the comics so look out for that. And get ready to take a trip to the glorious land of canada... 

As a heads up and as you can tell i’ll be using the color version as while I could get scans of the black and white, I prefer the color version. While the black and white was fine and always will be, I think the impressive coloring job really adds to thing and makes the already great fight scenes pop more, as well as making certain background elements stand out a bit. While it does negate the black and white gags, the tradeoff is more than worth it. That being said either version is fine so if you can get the black and white cheaper that’s fine and i’ve kept my original copies, with volumes 4 -6 having been picked up as they came out. 

So as our story starts we meet our hero: Scott Pilgrim Age 23, a charming but jobless and kind of sketchy possible college graduate whose really been adrift in his life since a breakup about a year ago. And when our story opens he’s taken a turn for a worse and decided to date sweet but naive and inexperinced Knives Chau, a 17 year old girl. And why yes the power dynamics there are messed up and why yes Scott is pretty damn sketchy in this moment in time, and while yes I am aware the age of consent in canada is 16, it dosen’t make this any less greasy and the story knows that.  And how it knows that MOST of his friends aren’t on board. The only ones who seems to is Stephen Stiles, leader of Sex Bomb-Omb, the band scott’s in with one of the best names ever and even then it’s hard to tell if he’s being sarcastic or just a total douche. The other, Young Neil Nordgraf, Stephen’s roomate, is well 19 or 20 and kind of a dipshit so we just ignore him. I used to use him as kind of a projection, to put myself in the adventure when I was younger as Neil kind of lacks personality in the comics but in the comics.. he’s not hte best or most complex character. He is great in the movie though and Edgar Wright did an amazing job fleshing him out.  The rest of his circle are .. not so permissive. His best friend, roomate and king of all gays for all time Wallace Wells very much does not want to come with Scott to school to pick her up because every part of that sentence after hurt to type. Granted Scott gets him to come with him with promises of boys, but frankly knowing wallace he was probably just playing along/wants to protect this poor child. His ex and fellow bandmate Kim is clearly bothered by it and is flat out worried Scott is taking advantage of her. Kim and Wallace are easily my faviorites both for personality and because I have a massive crush on both. With Wallace it just didn’t manifest till the reread. Finally Scott’s kid sister Stacey chews him out over it before genuinely wondering if he’s gone insane or he’s actually happy. For my two cents: he’s not. He WANTS to be, but he dosen’t know how. And as someone whose both neurotypical, which given Scott’s troubles with empathy and relating to people like yours truly I strongly suggest he is, and has struggled with depression I can relate to that. He wants to move on but he just.. can’t, he just wants to get past the haze he’s been in since Envy dumped him.. but he dosen’t know how. So instead of doing someting constructive or finding a job or anything .. he just took the first and easiest way out of his depression he could. I’ve done that with video games and stuff. Scott did that by entering a relationship that’s really easy, requires only so much effort, and is with someone who utterly adores, looks up to him and will never expect better. Being with Knives makes him feel better.. but it dosen’t MAKE him a better person. As i’ve made clear dating someone just for a boost makes him actively worse and had fate not intervened, I shudder to think what Scott might have become. That being said his actoins are still creepy and since Scott has a habit of landing ass backwards into being an asshole here’s a counter to track that. That’s 2 for doing this overall, one for tleling her to be good, and 1 for trying to ply wallace with underage boys. 

Your the Scum of the Earth Scott Counter: 1

Thankfully fate does and Scott’s dreams, ones of him crawling through a desert alone, are interupted by a mysterious pink haired girl on skates. The next day he’s just sort of in a daze, kind of confused, and even more so when he sees her IN REAL LIFE, while at the library with Knives. He’s understandably frazzled but ends up finding out he’s not hallucinating when talking to MIcheal Cormeau. Micheal is a minor character and another artist and friend of o malley’s who represents that one guy in social circles who knows everybody. And indeed he knows the mystery girl, Ramona Flowers and that she’s there. Scott TRIES talking her up but just creeps her out, so Scott goes with plan b and decides to ask around about her. Enter Sandra and Monique, two college aquantinces of Scott, who just sorta show up at major events and aren’t that developed or intresting. They turn him to Julie who forbids him to date her. To which I say. 

Naturually we’ll aslo be needing a counter for this. 

Shut Up Julie Counter: 1

Scott however did find out she’s a delivery girl for Amazon Canada, and thus orders some CD’s on Wallace’s Credit card to hopefully see her. And while his behavior IS obessive.. it’s understandable. I’d be weirdly obessed with finding someone too if they showed up in my dreams every day and were apparently a real person. I’d probably play it cooler but still i’ts kind of understandable. So after a day with knives in which he’s clearly checked out she kisses him, he freaks out and it’s very clear that while Scott’s good at attracting women he’s just.. not good with his emotions and has finally woken up to how messed up this is, but has no idea how to get out now he’s intrested in someone he actually has a future with maybe.  Speaking of Scott’s package and Ramona finally arrive. Scott’s move is to.. ask her out abrubtly but after he mentions her Dreams, Ramona finally puts two and two together and explains things: She’s been using Subspace, a seris of highways connected by the subconcious and apparently more common in america, though it’s later revealed she was taught this but being the first book with a lot of the lore and what not ironed out this is fine. Point is she was just using his dreams as transit and didn’t mean to get him obessed. Scott continues to try his schtick and eventually gets her to agree to hang out with him. Why she does I generally do not know, as SCott basically fell ass backwards over himself conversationally, but whatever. If he didn’t succeed we wouldn’t have a plot. 

That being said things pick up a bit with the date though. The scene is really good and simply just the two.. talking. Having plesant conversations getting to know one another. That good stuff. it’s just really nice to read and it’s hard to explain why. Highlights include Scott’s x-men patch, Ramona not wanting to talk about her last job and Scott admitting he hasn’t been obessed in a long time.. and it comes off sweet rather htan creepy like that sounds. It just means he hasn’t fell this head over heels felt like this. As I said Knives was easy.. but this is hard.. and this.. feels right. So as things Snow Ramona yanks scott through subspace to escape the blizzard. 

So we end up back at Ramona’s place and she offers some tea which leads to one of the best gags of the volume as she lists them off: 

So Ramona goes to get Scott a blanket, Scott ends up following finds her changing, and she decides to warm him up another way.. by embracing him... cue.. the inevitible really. 

It feels organic though: The two are clearly attracted to each other and while Scott came on as strong as freaking colossus, he still rebounded well once they hung out and he could relax a bit and show the scott underneath the lairs of dumbass. The two end up cuddling in bed and Scott seems..genuiley happy saying he needed this... awwwwwww. They part the next morning with him asking her to his band’s performance. 

So Scott finds Wallace  at home who says what Scott needs to hear “You need to break up with your fake highschool girlfriend scott’ Granted the entire first 40 pages could’ve been titled that but now he’s actively cheating. He’s also got a letter. 

It’s a death threat Scott barely grazes through, just like an email earlier. 

But scott’s more concerned with his emotional distress.. i.e. the consequences of his throughly shitty actions finally hitting him in the face. 

Scott heads to practice for his gig and can’t bring himself to break up with knives, but does find out about the opposition: Crash and the Boys, based on an NES game title because of course it is. Crash, their leader, Joel their baseplayer who scott hates because he hates all other baseplayers (”I don’t hate myself kim) and Trasha, an 8 year old progedy they found playing Drum Mania. Don’t ask me what that is, i’m not going to get every refrence. 

So at the show Scott runs into Stacey and her new boyfriend Jimmy  with Stacey being supportive. And then Knives shows up and then RAMONA SHOWS UP. Oh no scott’s cheating might be discovered! 

So Scott books it while we’re introduced to Crash and the Boys. Wallace heckles them, to the band’s annoyance, until they eventually get fed up and we easly get the best gag of the volume. I was wrong this clearly tops the tea thing. 

So Crash and The Boys continue to play their set, including a song that supposdely kills the audience but really knocks them out.. which of course bothers kim because they play next. Meanwhile Ramona and Stacey meet and the two really get along.. and come back to find the audience ko’d and Wallace Making out with Stacey’s boyfriend. Oh no! Which is a dick move, no question. But Stacey’s next move is questionable even for a 19 year old: She says “You won’t steel another guy from me and tells wallace to sit over there”. Okay Stacey even if he is bi, and this series has trouble with the concept of bisexuals we’ll get into that later trust me, he made out with someone else entirely while on a date with you. Wallace is still an asshole, it’s part of his charm.. but it dosen’t change the fact your date kissed someone else seconds after you were gone and has been eyballing him all night, as seen even above. He’s not into you as you thought, just accept it, move on, and kick Jimmy in the balls and then wallace like a proper lady. So Scott prepares to play and this happens

And it’s here, at the very end of the comic the series main premise finally kicks in and the world takes it’s true shape. It’s a world where an indie comedy about a mess of a being putting his life together after finding his dream girl.. also has said mess being forced to get into fist fights with wizards, movie stars, vegans, half-ninjas, twin roboticists and a katana wielding douchenozzle record exec in order to continue to have the right to date his girlfriend. 

It’s where the series charm comes from and really what made it a huge sucess so it’s no suprise this volume perks up immensley for the climax. I’ll get more into it’s pacing problem at the end. For now it’s fight time and as we find out in a hilarious and awesome turn.. Scott is the best fighter in toronto.. which just makes me REALLLY want a Scott Pilgrim version of letterkenny. I mean who wouldn’t want to see wayne fight some guy who can turn his hands into dragons or see Squireely Dan do E.Honda’s hand slap move from streetfighter or see the skids all fuse into one mega emo. It’s just.. the possiblities are as endless as they are wonderous and I want this now. 

But yeah as Patel is both the first boss and Scott’s first real opponent Scott.. handles him really easily. This was by design as O’Malley wanted a shonen progression to the fights.. and honestly it’s a great way to do things. Since the fights are styled after shonen and video games, and both have power based progression in bad guys and threats, it just made sense. Patel.. is just pathetic even with his magic powers, and his habit of sending letters and emails just pounds it in. Though he is right to be a bit pissed Scott didn’t read a letter he hand delivered in a snowstorm. That’s just a tad rude. 

Mid-Fight, Scott, now he knows the whole evil ex boyfriend thing, wonders what Matt and Ramona’s past is and while Matthew refuses to tell.. Ramona spills easily. It was midddle school, all the jocks wanted her for whatever reason, likely because from experince in high school, guys really like indie girls. Matthew was the only non-white non jock, so they teamed up and with her strength and his mystic powers they beat them.. but since his use had dried up, she flipped him off and left.  Matthew dosen’t take this well and summons demon hipster chicks to fight while Scott and co, minus ramona, fight back with a finger gun routine and block his fire balls before propelling Scott into matthew somehow, and landing the KO Evil Exes Left: 6 Matthew bursts into coins though fun fact, O’Malley says the Exes all respawned back at home afterwords and learned their lesson. With Pattel I genuinely don’t think he did... but clearly given his penchant for formality what with the letters and emails, he probably felt it’d break protocol to attack before the rest were done. He probably jsut formed a hipster emo band and found more sucess using his magic for that instead and just forgot about the whole thing. Could be wrong but that’s what i’m going with.  So Scott asks Ramona to go out with him then make out with him, both of which she says yes to. Nice one scotty boy. Ramona then explains the whole evil exes thing: He’ll have to defeat each one as they come after him, and while Scott wonders if they’ll come one at a time Ramona’s not sure. As time will bear out, Scott is MOSTLY correct as most exes take him one on one, with the exception of the twins. But since as I said earlier the twins are basically one person, and as we’ll find out by choice, so it’s an exception. Plus their the last step before the final boss, so by that token it’s a bit fairer to have the penultimate boss get an unfair advantage. Scott is fine with that, he and Ramona share another moment and a kiss.. but Scott makes the mistake of asking if gideon is one and Ramona’s head starts glowing with her dodging the subject, though still going out with SCott and him worried.. it just feels.. off. not a bad ending but the only one of the series three cliffhanger endings that just dosen’t work for me, especailly since it is a bit before the Gideon mystery really picks up steam again. But with that we close this chapter

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Precious Little Life is a decent start to the story.  While Scott is loathsome at first, he’s still a compelling character and does get more likeable as things go, the humor when it is there shines and is one of the series best assets and while the fight is short and only at the end, it is oh so glorious especailly in cover with the impacts taking cues from the movie. It’s a good intro to Scott’s world and ther’es a reason the movie adapts this book the closest as it sets up the cast and premise well, with only Stephen Stiles feeling a bit off and ONLY for the first few chapters.  The volume is only really held back by it’s pacing, as before Scott runs into ramona in his dream the story feels a bit sluggish as we’re just watching some douche date a high school kid. While it is necessary to set up the world, it just dosen’t have the snappy pacing the series would be known for and that makes the rest of the series more charming. it’s nto BAD.. but it’s not FANTASTIC like the series would become. What keeps it from being bad is simple: These aren’t general badness signs but more just O’Malley coming into his owna nd getitng better and better as the book goes, to the point that by the next book the pacing is much better and by book 3 onwards he has it down pat.  Overall not a BAD volume but certaionly the weakest of the bunch.. which given it’s still really good says something about the ride we’re in for. I’ll be back sometime in the future, likely january. Yup i’m taking on YET ANOTHER PROJECT. but since this one, while clearly exausting and time consuimg, is much shorter in overall length, and i’m still proritizing the three I have running over this, I think i’ll be just fine. Until next time, have a happy holiday. 

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 12/`16/20

SEAN: As we get closer to the holidays, we get more and more books being published.

ASH: This turn of events pleases me.

MELINDA: And me.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World has a new title, I Reincarnated As Evil Alice, So the Only Thing I’m Courting Is Death!. Our heroine dies and is reincarnated in an otome game, and she *is* the heroine this time… but the game is notorious for having almost all bad ends. Expect a lot of Alice in Wonderland vibes here as well.

No debuts for J-Novel Club, but a heaping helping of ongoing digital light novels. We get An Archdemon’s Dilemma 11, Arifureta 11, I Refuse to Be Your Enemy! 4, The Intrigue of Marielle Clarac (Book 5 in that series), Slayers 4, and The Sorcerer’s Receptionist 2. Phew!

Kodansha has some print. We get Drifting Dragons 7, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest 6, Gleipnir 8, the 2nd Magic Knight Rayearth manga box set, which will finish the series, and also has a bonus artbook. That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime 15 and UQ Holder 21 are also out.

ASH: I’ve really been enjoying Drifting Dragons. I’ve also somehow never actually read Magic Knight Rayearth yet.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is I Guess I Became the Mother of the Great Demon King’s 10 Children in Another World (Isekai de Saikyou Maou no Kodomo-tachi Juunin no Mama ni Nacchaimashita), which sounds like your standard isekai but is also by Ema Toyama, author of Missions of Love and other shoujo classics. This is not shoujo: it runs in Shonen Sirius. A girl whose mother has died plays the game the mother never finished… and finds herself in another world.

ASH: Ema Toyama, you say? That piques my interest a bit more than just the title alone.

MELINDA: I don’t read much digitally, but this intrigues me as well, almost entirely because of the author.

SEAN: There is also Dolly Kill Kill 9, Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist- 2, GE: Good Ending 12, Heroine for Hire 4 (the final volume), Kakushigoto 10, Orient 9, Shaman King: The Super Star 2, Shojo FIGHT! 14, and The Writer and His Housekeeper 3.

MICHELLE: I really, really need to get caught up on Shojo FIGHT!.

SEAN: One Peace has a 3rd manga volume for The Reprise of the Spear Hero.

Debuting from Seven Seas is Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Everyday Misadventures! (Watashi, Nichijou wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!), the 4-koma spinoff of Mile’s antics that everyone wanted. It runs in Comic Earth Star.

Also out from Seven Seas: Goodbye My Rose Garden 3 (the final volume) and Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear’s 4th novel (digital-first).

MICHELLE: I wouldn’t say Goodbye, My Rose Garden was an amazing series, but it was certainly good enough to read the third and final volume.

ASH: I still need to read the second volume (and now soon the third), but I found the first volume to be enjoyable.

SEAN: Sol Press, after what seems like 80,000 years, has the second Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World light novel.

Tokyopop has the 2nd and final volume of No Vampire, No Happy Ending.

Vertical gives us the 4th Katanagatari omnibus digitally (I will keep repeating this till it’s correct), Kino’s Journey 7, and With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun 2.

MICHELLE: I really liked the first volume of With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun and am eagerly anticipating the second.

MELINDA: Always here for Kino’s Journey, too.

SEAN: They also have Zoku-Owarimonogatari, the final, absolutely the last, no take backs, Monogatari Series novel. Unless they license the others that came after this.

Viz’s debut is Remina, another helping of Junji Ito just in time for winter. This is sci-fi, but still just as terrifying. It ran in Big Comic Spirits.

MICHELLE: I am down for this sci-fi/horror blend!

ASH: Yup! I’m here for this one, too.

MELINDA: Yes!

SEAN: Also from Viz: Blue Flag 5, Golden Kamuy 19, Levius/est 7, Maison Ikkoku Collector’s Edition 2, and No Guns Life 8.

ANNA: Glad that Maison Ikkoku is being rereleased and looking forward to Blue Flag.

MICHELLE: What Anna said.

ASH: I should actually read Maison Ikkoku now that it is readily available again.

MELINDA: I should be buying them, since I never managed to acquire a full collection of the original release!

SEAN: Yen On has a truly terrifying number of light novels coming out. The first debut is The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten (Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsu no Ma ni ka Dame Ningen ni Sareteita Ken). We’ve seen a mini-rebirth of the non-fantasy romcom in recent licenses, and this falls into that category. A guy lends his neighbor his umbrella one day, she offers to help around his house in return, and a relationship blossoms.

The second debut is a spinoff, Goblin Slayer Side Story 2: Dai Katana. This apparently goes into the past of Sword Maiden.

There is also (deep breath): Accel World 23, The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life 5, Baccano! 15, The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy 2, The Devil Is a Part-Timer 18, The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?) 5, Suppose a Kid From the Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 4, and Torture Princess 6.

ASH: That is a fair number of light novels!

SEAN: On the Yen Press side, there’s even more. Debut #1: 86, the manga adaptation of the grim military fantasy light novel series. It runs in Young Gangan.

Carole and Tuesday runs in Young Ace, and I believe is the rare case where the anime comes first and the manga follows. Girls who want to be musicians… on Mars!

ANNA: I watched half of the anime….

ASH: I do like musicians… and Mars…

MELINDA: I… kind of want it. Though I’m not sure how to interpret the fact that Anna only watched half of the anime.

SEAN: Not quite a debut, but we do see Overlord: The Complete Anime Artbook.

Strawberry Fields Once Again (Strawberry Fields wo Mou Ichido) is a yuri romance that seems to have a twist to it. It ran in Mediaworks’ @ vitamin.

And Wolf & Parchment is the manga adaptation of the sequel to Spice & Wolf.

Also from Yen: ACCA 13-Territory Inspection Department P.S. 2, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 16, Goblin Slayer 9, King of Eden 2, KonoSuba 11, Lust Geass 2, No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! 17, Plunderer 6, Rascal Does Not Dream of Petit Devil Kouhai (another omnibus), Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Chapter 3: Truth of Zero 11 (the final volume of this arc), Reborn As a Polar Bear 4, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 12, A Witch’s Printing Office 4, and Yowamushi Pedal’s 16th omnibus.

MICHELLE: I am fixin’ to have a YowaPeda catch-up spree and am very happy about that.

ASH: Same! And I always look forward to reading Natsume Ono’s manga, so I plan on picking up the ACCA continuation as well.

SEAN: Any presents from this list you’re giving out?

By: Sean Gaffney

[eliaspsuedo]

Making Pokemon Adventures an Anime

“Pokemon Adventures needs an anime” is definitely a phrase you’ve heard before if you’ve been to any discussion on PokeSpe. It definitely deserves more attention, that’s for sure, and an anime definitely brings so many eyes to it. Just look at all the manga series that exploded in popularity once an anime got made of it!

On the other hand, I can see why The Pokemon Company wouldn’t really make one for a number of reasons.

The Pokemon Anime is still very popular and profitable, so another Pokemon anime on TV would just be cannibalizing their returns and skew the audience. Not to mention eat up resources like animators or budgets.

Upcoming products like Pokemon Masters are much higher priority to make a promotional anime out of, rather than something that’s promoting out-of-date things, like how cool Steel-types, Zorua, etc. was.

A number of prominent Pokemon and even moves are embargoed from appearing in other media besides the games. Notably Kadabra, Earthquake-like moves, and especially Porygon. Maybe you can get around Sabrina’s Kadabra by just making it an Alakazam, but how about Blue and Gladion’s Porygon?

This a bit more speculative, but I imagine there has to be some form of royalties for the writer and artists for using their versions of the characters, not just the OC’s, but the specific versions of the dexholders found in the manga.

And many more reasons why it probably won’t get a full length TV anime any time soon.

But what if it did get an anime? What would be the format? How would they condense a 50+ volume series, with multiple main characters and interconnecting plot points, and all to boost sales and show what makes Pokemon Adventures a great piece of the Pokemon franchise, into an anime?

The most realistic option: A 2-3 minute PV promoting an upcoming arc like SwSh, or better, the whole series for an omnibus rerelease. A basic sizzle reel of various scenes, with a narrator for minimal voice work, is what’ll mostly be.

The ideal option: A promotional anthology web series in the vein of Pokemon Generations.

Now this definitely has been suggested before, but I want to get into the specifics. Here’s how I imagine it:

One 10-12 minute episode will be devoted to a specific character or, for the remakes, one arc (Episode Red, Episode Diamond, Episode HGSS, etc.), covering roughly 2-3 rounds or chapters. This is so that there will be enough material to see who this character is, the basic plot of their arc, and the basic plot of this particular generation. It’s short, straight-to the point, and can easily sell Pokemon Adventures. Let’s not forget, it has to be an inviting and exciting episode for newcomers!

Now there has to be a lot of changes to fit the runtime, so certain scenes and dialogue has to be cut or skimmed. Some original parts has to be put in to for the episode to flow better. Plus, I imagine getting into the exciting Pokemon battles will be more appealing than earlier chapters, which are very exposition heavy. So cold opens or going from the introduction scene in the opening chapter to an “In Medias Res” battle is some later chapter, is one of the many tricks to keep the flow going.

The reason why I say 10-12 minutes is because of the amount of episodes it will take to cover all the Dexholders and the remakes alone! At least 21 Dex Holders + 3 remake arcs. The amount of resources it’ll take would be pretty large, even with a reduced runtime, and I don’t think TPC would shell that much cash. Even then, most promotional anime series clock in at around 6-8 mins, not enough time to properly show off a character or a cool battle. So if it can go above the usual time, 10-12 minutes is what I think it could be stretched too, while keeping the costs to make it low. I also want to see an episode devoted to the evil teams or villains, as that too is one of PokeSpe strengths. It’ll bump up the episode count for sure, unless the series is broken up into chunks by generation and released months apart.

But which chapters? Well here’s a few examples on how I see it being adapted:

A basic adaptation with bits and pieces of later chapters.

Episode Red: Round 1 & 2 and maybe a bit of Round 3 or 4.

The introduction chapter starts things off, of course! The basic structure of the two chapters can remain the same. A few bits of dialogue can be trimmed, most notably Red explaining what Pokemon are, and some scenes can be altered, like Blue being seen with a Pokedex when fighting Mew, to streamline the story. For the ending bit, Prof. Oak’s narration at the end of round 3 while Red and Blue argue, establishing their rivalry, is a good way to cap it off. Alternatively, the part in Round 4 where Red is trying to befriend Pikachu and Blue challenging him that he’ll get the boulder badge first, is also a good cap to the episode.

A two-parter with original material.

Episode Gold: Round 91-95

We can better start out with Gold playing billiards, and listening to the radio, and getting Elm’s bag. The Hoothoot part can be offscreen, with a quick shot of Team Rocket stealing his bag. During the end of his and Silver’s battle, where he gets knocked out by Elekid, we save Silvers part for his episode. Gold wakes up, gives his account to the Police, and goes after Silver. Ending Prof. Oak appearing and giving him the “What are Pokemon to you?” Question.

Episode Silver: Round 94, 95, a bit of original material.

Starting off when Gold was knocked out, we get Silvers battle with Team Rocket. A bit more original scenes may be needed after Silver makes his escape and maybe talks to Green. Actually seeing Prof. Oaks account of how he stole the Pokedex can also be included. Ending with Gold getting the Pokedex after giving Prof. Oak a good answer, cutting out the part where he saves Ratata for time.

Opening scene then cut to an “In Medias Res” Battle

Episode Emerald: Round 303-304, 306-307 Emerald calming down Sudowood will open things up. After his declaration of conquering the Battle Frontier, the title card appears, and we move to Emerald moving up the Battle Tower, showing off his skills and strategy. A “How did we get here?” Narration from Todd can quickly explain the time skip. The episode ends with the discussion over Sceptile, brief flashes of Wally, optional.

And that’s just a few examples I can show! I actually did write a list of what rounds are suitable for this sort of adaptation, but I think a few will do.

If there’s one thing PokeSpe definitely needs, it’s more promotion. As part of the marketing machine that is the Pokemon franchise, it’s actually surprising how much less love this branch gets is in comparison. I think it has to do with a lot of factors, Viz not printing the series past Vol 7 for the longest time, Not wanting to overshadow any of the other manga series, Being over 50+ volumes long, etc. Recently, it’s been getting a bigger push both in Japan and the US, so things are looking up. 

At the end of the day, it’s all about seeing the world you love and thought you knew, come to life in new and different ways. Pokemon Adventures has the love and spirit through and through, and it’s better shared with familiar and newer faces.

It’s like when Red got his Pokedex, he thought he knew all there is about the Pokemon world, and revealing that maybe he didn’t quite knew everything, showed him there’s a whole world out there to explore. One filled with mystery, danger, and friendship.

Plus, showing that the Arbok lived might finally shut most people up.

[kelmcdonald]

Thank You for the Support Last Month

New Post has been published on https://kelmcdonald.com/news/thank-you-for-the-support-last-month/

Thank You for the Support Last Month

This is crossposted from my newsletter 

Firstly, I want to give a big thank you to everyone who backed my patreon or bought something from my store in March. Emerald City Comic was canceled roughly a week after I sent out my last newsletter and you all helped soften the blow of losing that income. Things are rough for a lot of people, so I do super appreciate you all helping me out. More and more cons are getting canceled, so I would appreciate it if ya’ll stuck around. But I understand if you can’t.

Because of the new patrons, my patreon made one of its goals. Right now, pencil versions of each finished page get posted a couple of days after the finished version. I also just added a new patreon reward level though. I was gonna add it in June. But an influx of new folks and few backing  more than the current higher level ($5 a month) made me decide to launch it early. So as of now folks who back at $10 a month will get to be in crowd scenes. This is a reward that won’t happen every month, but when I have a street scene or need some background people, I’ll check to see who is a backer at that level. Right now, the next thing I’m gonna draw is Murky Water, the next book for The City Between. 

Speaking of which, I finished scripting Murky Water and started to thumbnail it. Have look!

It’s a little longer than other City Between books. I was originally gonna kickstart it in June, but now I’m thinking September is a safer bet. Maybe I’ll do it in August. But not enough of it will be done in June for me to feel good about hitting go. Right now my work is still mostly management related stuff. Like I’m prepping Cautionary Fables and Fairytales: Oceania for its Iron Circus version to come out and I’m working on the beginning parts of organizing Cautionary Fables and Fairytales: North America. Oceania is getting rereleased next year and then North America is slated for the year after. It’s a lot of answering emails and organizing stuff. 

Once that is all set, I have some commission to do for folks that asked about them last month. If you are also interested, I charge $75 for a black and white character drawing. Add $25 per extra character. Backgrounds are extra and will depend on how complicated they are. I like drawing backgrounds, they just take a long time. And for color the price basically gets doubled. 

So once editing and commissions are all set, I’m gonna move on the drawing Murky Water. Once it’s all penciled, then I’ll start making the kickstarter. Which is why the outlook is looking like September. 

Besides stressing out about money and working on editing and writing, I did a couple of new things. My pal Alison Wilgus has been making mini podcasts on her patreon. She interviewed me about werewolves and had me explain why werewolves are great. You can give it a listen here. The short answer is they are the proletariat of urban fantasy creatures. 

Speaking of werewolves being the proletariat, I rewatched The Order on Netflix. If you have not seen The Order, it’s about werewolves eating the rich. Well, not really. But that’s kinda what it’s about. Basically in it, there is a secret society of magic users called Order of the Blue Rose that recruits people via ivy league schools. It’s very Skull and Bones vibe to it. Main character wants to join for revenge reasons. One of the high up members of this society did something to his mom which isn’t explained in detail until late in the show. While on his revenge mission he is recruited by a secret group of werewolves that have been fighting the Order of the Blue Rose for basically forever. Since the magic users are very Skull and Bones mixed with the Illuminati, werewolf mission statement comes very close to basically being “eat the rich”. Just the magic rich. It’s not a good show per say. But it’s clumsily dealing with some interesting themes and worldbuilding. The last couple of episodes were a lot better than the rest of the season, so I hope that means season 2 will be legit good rather than clumsy but interesting. 

Also on the wolf front, I recommended Beastars last month. The anime got put on Netflix shortly after I got caught up on the manga and sent out my newsletter. I am basically obsessed with it now and have told multiple friends to watch it just so I could talk about it with them. This led to Jay Edidin replying to my text with “I will watch this vore romance cartoon. Because I love you.” It is very very good. Here is the opening credits. It has some very cool stop motion animation  

More wolves (sorta), I also got Animal Crossing. So like every cartoonist on twitter I’ve been building myself a nice island. My mission for the island is to fill it with wolves. The island is called Awooo. Also, I’m very good at fishing in the game. Not so good at catching bugs. 

Like last month, my Patreon is going to bills because all the conventions are getting canceled. 

[tainbocuailnge]

The fandom you're in looks really awesome, and the reason I followed you is it the cooler that comes with it, but I have no idea what it's about or what the actual game is? Is there a place I can go to kind of find out and maybe play myself? (You're so passionate about it that I'm starting to get really curious but google is my enemy)

I’m GUESSING you mean fate series cause that’s my number one thing I do not shut up about. it’s uhh kind of a spiraling mess of a series but most installments are standalone enough for it to not be a complete hell to get into, but also I’m glad you asked because getting in without help is definitely hell

fate started with the visual novel fate/stay night, written by kinoko nasu and released in 2004. as such that’s the best starting point in my opinion, because it features all the detailed worldbuilding groundwork that later installments kind of gloss over so it can be hard to go back to if you already know all that from other installments. the plot is that seven magi summon legendary heroes to fight for them in a ritual war, with the prize being the holy grail which can grant any wish. leading themes are what it means to be a hero and save someone, the way history repeats itself, and forming your own identity in the wake of trauma. it has three routes, the last of which especially has really heavy themes of physical emotional and sexual abuse so if you need detailed content warnings pm me and I’ll do my best

fsn has several releases, the original vn features infamously bad erotica but there’s a rerelease called fate/stay night [realta nua] which replaced those scenes with pg-15 content and also tightened the visuals up a bit. I’ve got downloads for both versions here. it’s like 80 hours of vn so that’s quite the investment but there’s also the anime fate/stay night [unlimited blade works] featuring the second route, and the third route is getting a series of movies the first of which is out too, called heaven’s feel - presage flower. fate route (the first route) sort of got an anime in 2006 and unlimited blade works a movie in 2010 but those are really really bad so look for the 2014 anime and 2017 movie. imo the ubw anime did a decent job and heaven’s feel is doing pretty good too so far so they’re good for seeing if you like what the series has to offer before you dive into a long ass vn.

the prequel to fate/stay night is fate/zero, a light novel series written by gen urobuchi in collaboration with nasu. as such it’s notably darker than the rest of the series but by nature of being a prequel it makes for an equally decent starting point as stay night, since both will spoil things for the other. fate/zero has an anime too. 

imo stay night and zero are the ‘standard’ fate installments, if someone says they like fate you can safely assume they’ve consumed at least one of those - is what I used to say but apparently it’s been so long that even this isn’t a reasonable assumption anymore. oh how times have changed. anyway please do start with zero or stay night cause like I said those are earlier installments so they’re at high risk of falling flat if you already know the deep lore from later stuff.

the biggest most booming fate installment is fate/grand order, a mobile game featuring characters from all other fates as well as a lot of newcomers. it’s pretty newbie friendly in terms of lore I think but you’ll get more out of it if you do know the background for all these characters since character development tends to carry over between installments. it’s infamously story heavy for a mobile game, especially in the later chapters when nasu got the hang of writing for mobage. the tone is also notably different from fsn and fz in that it’s more…. grandiose and theatrical, and obviously it waifs everyone up a bit so they can get you to spend money. still good tho. still love it. it’s got two anime specials, first order and moonlight lostroom, but first order makes no damn sense if you don’t know anything of stay night and lostroom takes place after the events of the first fgo arc. there’s anime projects of two of the chapters in progress too.

you thought that was all? you’re a fool this isn’t even half of it but I’ll briefly go over the rest under a cut cause those 3 are the big players.

carnival phantasm is a comedy OVA series featuring skits about several works from the same author. about half of it is about fate and the other about tsukihime, an earlier visual novel. watching order is after stay night. today’s menu for the emiya family is the canon domestic fsn au manga and anime where everyone’s just chilling eating dinner together instead of killing each other. 

fate/hollow ataraxia is another visual novel. it’s a direct sequel to fate/stay night and a personal favourite. it takes place half a year after stay night and features much of the same themes, but from a pair of characters who lost the war in fsn before it even started.

fate/apocrypha is another series of light novels. in terms of reading order i’d put it after stay night and zero. it features a cast twice as big as those two and basically approaches the same themes from a different angle. it’s got a finished anime and an ongoing manga but the anime kinda butchered pretty much everything about it. unfortunately one of the light novels is still not translated so the anime is still the most accessible way to get approximately the whole story. the manga IS very good though so once that’s finished I’d probably tell people to read that one if they want to apocrypha

fate/EXTRA is a psp game it’s like 10 bucks in the ps store iirc. for reading order I’d put it after stay night but not necessarily after zero. in this one the ritual for the holy grail is held in a simulation on the moon, which is a supercomputer, and it’s an organised tournament with 128 participants instead of a 7 man free for all. it’s about forging meaningful bonds in a system designed to drive people apart and finding the drive to keep going even if nothing is certain. the gameplay isn’t great but the story is $$$ it’s my other personal favourite. it’s sequel is called fate/EXTRA CCC, it’s on psp too but never got a western release, but there’s a translation of one route out there and some madmen are working on a translation patch that’ll be done in time for my grandchildren I hope. CCC is the wildest ride of my life i love it a lot but it’s very horny so not really for everyone. fate/extra CCC fox tail is a manga which follows an alternate CCC route and i hear it’s cool. the sequel to CCC is fate/EXTELLA which did come to the west and is on several platforms, and somewhere next year fate/EXTELLA link should get localised. extella is very rushed and mostly expands the extraverse world but if you can grab it on sale after you decided you like extra it’s not a bad buy just don’t pay full price. fate/EXTRA last encore is an anime which. sort of comes after extra? it’s very trippy arthouse bullshit and I ate that shit up but it’s definitely not for everyone. the last 3 episodes are missing on netflix so make sure you don’t miss those if you decide to watch.

fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ☆ ILLYA is a magical girl spinoff manga & anime which sounds great in theory until you see it’s mostly pedobait, but extremely unfortunately for us sometimes it does something legitimately cool so we all suffer. don’t get into prillya it’s bad for your health. 

fate/strange fake WAS an aprils fools story but this series has no limits so now it’s a full on light novel spinoff and also manga I think? I don’t keep up with it but it throws some wild ass lore our way sometimes. you’ll probably want to be up to date with apocrypha and everything before it before you try this one.

fate/prototype was just the original concept for fsn extrapolated a bit upon but again this series has no limits. prototype has an animated feature and some material books, and then the light novels fate/prototype fragments of blue and silver are the prequel to prototype, but it’s weird cause we never got a proper prototype so I don’t know what’s up with that. fate/labyrinth is a side story to fragments which I know even less about. I actually never see anyone talk about prototype so there’s probably no translations lol

lord el melloi II case files is even more light novels. I’m pretty sure you need to have gone over stay night, zero, hollow ataraxia, apocrypha, and strange fake before this one starts to make sense. there might be translations? i don’t know a fucking thing my guy

[marshmallowgoop]

[Image description: A photograph of Part 8, Volume 7 of the Japanese Detective Conan DVDs. The cover features a smiling Conan Edogawa wearing Kid the Phantom Thief’s iconic white suit, cape, top hat, and monocle, with a red bow tie in place of the long red tie, against a pink background. At the bottom, text reads, “Shonen Sunday TV Animation Series” in all capital letters. Four small screenshots from the included episode, 219, are depicted beneath the words. End image description.]

It’s not something I would think most people are interested in doing, but, okay, I got a copy of Part 8, Volume 7 of the Japanese Detective Conan DVDs in the mail last week—and more Conan DVDs, too, like about a dozen other volumes I was missing—and if I have any advice for somebody looking to legally fill in the gap between FUNimation’s English-language DVDs (up to Episode 123) and Crunchyroll’s simulcast of the show in Canada and the United States (starting from Episode 754), it would be this: just buy complete season sets and do not purchase separately.

That is, so long as you’re not aiming to be a collector and simply want to have access to the episodes without spending hundreds of thousands of yen. As of this writing, you could probably use Tenso or another Japanese proxy service to buy a shiny new copy of every last volume straight from the shop linked on YTV’s page for the anime, but this is not cheap. Selling for 4,620 yen each, you’d to have shell out at least 776,160 yen to get a hold of the 168 DVDs containing Episodes 124-753—and that’s without factoring in shipping, service fees, and other costs!

If that’s as unfeasible for you as it is for me, you may, as I did, consider buying only used rental volumes containing the most crucial episodes, as outlined in XerBlade’s well-known list, because even if you’re not spending 4,620 yen a pop, 168 DVDs is still a lot of DVDs. Rental copies often sell for 100 to 400 yen apiece, and while they are missing the postcard version of the cover art, have plainer discs, and lack the keyhole jacket design seen on the regular volumes, they’ve got the episodes, and that’s what you’re really after, anyway. So, sure, rental drops may be worn and affixed with obsolete stickers, but they’re inexpensive, the actual disc content appears to be identical to non-rental copies, and it seems economical to pick ‘em up one by one. You only want a select number, after all.

[Image descriptions: Two photographs comparing Part 10, Volume 4 and Part 14, Volume 1 of the Japanese Detective Conan DVDs. The top photo compares the cover art; while Part 10, Volume 4, my only non-rental Conan volume, includes a two-color background with a blue keyhole design surrounded by white, Part 14, Volume 1, a rental copy, has a single-color background, a solid green-blue color, with no keyhole design. The bottom photo compares the disc designs between the two; while Part 10, Volume 4′s disc includes a two-toned sketch of a zoomed-in portion of the cover art, Part 14, Volume 1′s disc, as well as other Part 14 discs that I’ve included in the same DVD case, are all solid colors with no sketch of the cover art. Further, Part 10, Volume 4 also includes a postcard version of the cover art, which is tucked into the left side of the DVD case. End image descriptions.]

But then you might realize that you’re missing a lot of good episodes by buying only super plot-relevant cases, and so you decide, well, actually, I want to get all the manga-canon stories. And you look at the contents of each volume, and you do the math, and you see that you’ll need 152 DVDs to accomplish that goal, and by then, you’re like, well, I’m so close, I might as well go all the way and get the full 168.

Except... if you’re anything like me, you’ve kinda already made some bad decisions in your collecting. And Part 8, Volume 7, containing Episode 219 and a Conan-cosplaying-Kid-the-Phantom-Thief cover, is a great example. Because, yes, most rental copies will sell for about 100 to 400 yen each. But then there are volumes that contain well-loved episodes—Part 5, Volume 8 (129), Part 14, Volume 10 (425), and, of course, Part 8, Volume 7 (219), for a few examples—and suddenly, you’re not finding those ridiculously low prices. You’re seeing 1,500, 1,700, 1,980 yen.

You know, almost the same prices—if not more!—than a whole season set.

[Image description: A screenshot comparing the lowest prices I could currently find on From Japan for Part 8, Volume 7 of the Japanese Detective Conan DVDs and a bundle containing all 7 volumes of Part 8. The lowest-price Part 8, Volume 7 has a “Buy It Now” price of 1,980 yen, the equivalent of around 18.74 USD. The lowest-price full-season set has a price of 1,800 yen, the equivalent of around 17.03 USD. End image description.]

Sometimes, those cherished episodes are rereleased in different collections, and those sell closer to the super low prices of other volumes. For example, I purchased DVD Selection 4, focused on Ai Haibara and containing Episodes 129 and 178, instead of Part 5, Volume 8, for a lower price. But then there are episodes like 219 that weren’t, to my knowledge, rereleased elsewhere. To complete the collection, you really only then have two choices: either spend way more on a single volume, or get a whole season set and wind up with duplicates.

Well, for Part 8, Volume 7, I spent way more. I got duplicates for Part 16, though.

Anyway, long story short: even if you do want to just get crucial-episode volumes only, I’d still probably suggest purchasing whole season sets if you’d like to save money. (And hey, then you’ll also have those other episodes if you’d like to give them a watch sometime!) Rental drops for entire parts sell for around 2,000 to 5,000 yen each, and while service fees will of course depend on the service, I believe that every one I’ve ever tried—Buyee, From Japan, and Tenso—would count the bundle as a single item that would be attached to only a single service fee. Further, you won’t have to pay multiple domestic shipping costs for each volume in the season, either! (And believe me, those can add up fast.)

But all that said, mistakes were made in my DetCo DVD saga, absolutely, but I’ve rearranged my shelves and filled in some gaps since I last posted on the subject, and I’m pleased with what I have! And maybe it’s an odd thing to say, but it’s been fun seeing the differing qualities of my purchases—how you can look at my shelf and see the tears in the copies with more life experience, and the wrinkles, and the old remnants of stickers that are no longer there, while right beside them, there are those that appear so pristine that I have to seriously wonder if they were ever truly rented out at all.

[Image descriptions: Photographs of my DVD/Blu-ray shelves. On display are 5-6, 6-7, 7-8, 8-1, 9-2, 9-3, 10-4, 10-5, 11-1, 11-2, 12-3, 12-4, 13-5, 14-1, 14-2, 15-3, 16-4, 16-5, 17-1, 17-2, 18-3, 19-4, 19-5, 20-6, 20-7, 21-8, and 22-9 of the Japanese Detective Conan DVDs, among other DVDs and Blu-rays, such as a few of the Conan films and specials, Ghost in the Shell, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. End image descriptions.]

I guess I’ve always been a terrible collector, and I don’t have the space to properly display everything, but I love how colorful these DVDs are, and I even find something charming in how they vary in appearance, too.

Still, I could have been a lot smarter with my money, and while I wouldn’t really expect a lot of folks to go to these lengths, if you do, and if you’re looking to save some cash, don’t make the same mistakes I did! Just buy whole season sets! You can even place the 168 DVDs perfectly into 28 6-DVD cases if you do!

[murasaki-murasame]

bakanoshuuya replied to your post: Time for another round of ‘sad teenagers navigate...

Hey! Ao no Flag is like my fave thing. It really needs a bigger fan base - it’s so well written! I love how it handles the problems LGBT people have to face and also Taichi’s self-hatred is portrayed in such a heart wrenching way. I was wondering if you know any other manga or shows that are of high caliber like Ao no Flag or other ones that handle mental health issues or problems LGBT people have to face? Or in general, any manga that has well-written characters!

Thanks for the response! In terms of manga about LGBT people and the issues they face, especially in Japanese society, my top three recommendations would be Shimanami Tasogare [about a depressed gay teenage boy who finds out about a hang-out group for LGBT people who also work in housing renovation], My Brother’s Husband [about a straight Japanese dad who finds out that his estranged gay twin has died when his brother’s Canadian husband arrives at his house], and My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness [an auto-biographical manga about the author recounting her history with depression, her relationship with her family, and her sexuality. It’s also getting a sequel called My Solo Exchange Diary soon!]. The latter two are officially licensed in English [by Pantheon Books and Seven Seas Entertainment, respectively], though Shimanami Tasogare still doesn’t have an official English translation.

In terms of manga that deal with mental health issues, there’s probably a lot that I’m forgetting off the top of my head, but Goodnight Punpun has always been one of my favourites. It’s pretty intense and graphic at times, but it’s a wonderful manga detailing the life of it’s main character as he struggles with mental health, romantic relationships, friendships, his family, etc. It has an official English release by Viz Media that concluded last year.

There’s also Flowers of Evil, which is about an adolescent boy living in a rural Japanese town who ends up getting blackmailed into a disturbing partnership by a very aggressive and anti-social girl in his class. It’s stuck in my head for a long time as being a great representation of the struggles of hating yourself, of wanting to escape to some sort of nebulously better place in the world, of feeling that you’re a pervert. It has a full English release by Vertical Comics. Their original release of it is starting to go out of print, but they recently started printing an omnibus rerelease, which is about halfway finished now. In general I’d recommend pretty much everything by the mangaka, Oshimi Shuzou, since basically everything he does is rooted in themes like adolescence, mental illness, sexual discovery, etc.

It’s a very different sort of manga from the ones above, but if you’re interested in the idea of a shoujo rom-com that heavily deals with topics of mental health, abuse recovery, etc, Fruits Basket is very good. It’s not perfect, but it’s a surprisingly good depiction of those sorts of topics. Since it’s aimed at a younger audience, it’s less explicitly graphic, but some of the subject matter and themes in general can get a bit more intense than you might expect. This has a complete English release by Yen Press.

For something a bit more artsy and abstract, I’d definitely like to recommend Land of the Lustrous! It has an anime adaptation that covers the first four or five volumes of the manga [and it’s incredibly good], but the manga is getting released in English by Kodansha Comics, with volume five coming out this month, I believe. It’s a bit more surreal in how it approaches topics of mental health and body image, since it’s about a cast of immortal, sentient gemstones, and not humans, but it still touches upon surprisingly relateable topics of self-hatred, envy, wishing for change, searching for a sense of purpose, self-identity and individuality, etc. A lot of these themes are expressed through the lens of body horror, but it’s less graphically explicit than if it were about flesh and blood humans. For something that at first seems so outwardly minimal and abstract, it has surprisingly well-written and fleshed-out characters.

And to get even more into personal recommendations, Pandora Hearts still has a special place in my heart. At first it seems like it’s just a mystery/action series with heavy Alice in Wonderland inspiration and imagery, but it slowly morphs into something more personal, intimate, emotional, and tragic, with definite roots in topics of mental health and abuse. I didn’t expect to get so attached to the characters when I started it, but I sure did, haha. It’s been fully released in English by Yen Press, who also recently put out a fancy limited-edition box set rerelase of the series. While I’m recommending this, I may as well also bring up The Case Study of Vanitas, the mangaka’s more recent series, which is also being published by Yen Press, and which is about steampunk vampires in Paris. I’ve only read the first volume of it so there’s not much I can say, but it’s at least incredibly gorgeous in terms of artwork, and it’s probably going to have a great story in the long run.

Sorry about the long reply, but I have a Lot Of Feelings about manga, especially manga that deal with themes about gender, sexuality, and/or mental health.

[stacks-reviews]

October and November Awesomeness

A while back I mentioned that October and November were going to kick ass this year. Thought I would finally share the reasons why.

In Books --A 10th anniversary edition of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (10/3) New cover, never-before-seen illustrations, updated and detailed world map, new author’s note, appendix with calendar system and currencies, and a pronunciation guide.

--The Illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (10/3)

--Rat Queens Volume 4 by Kurtis J. Wiebe and illustrated by Own Gieni (10/17) Very excited to read more about the Rat Queens.

--Harry Potter: A Journey Through a History of magic by the British Library (10/20) The first of the two new HP books set to be released this year.

--A collectors edition of A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab (10/31) A new cove with metallic ink, fan art end papers, a glossary, an interview between the author and editor, original Tales from the world, and a ‘reading ribbon of great fanciness’. There is a B&N exclusive edition of it that is listed as including “A look at Lila Barn’s London” which is not listed on the other edition. Though I would classify that as being part of the Tales. I’m not positive and I’ve been having some trouble trying to find a resource listing all the differences at the moment. Other than that, the main difference is the B&N edition’s cover is similar to the standard cover in appearance. While the other CE has a black cover. I like the black cover better cause it helps it stand out as a collector’s edition but I might end up getting the B&N if it has exclusive, additional extras.

--The Perfect Shadow by Brent Weeks (11/7) The prequel novella to the Night Angel Trilogy that I have been waiting to see a physical release of for a long time. Can’t wait.

--Ghost in the Shell manga box set by Shirow Masamune (11/14) This one makes me a bit mad. If I had known they would be releasing a set I would have held off on buying them all when they were rereleased back in February. March for me though cause it kept getting pushed back where I order them. Other than its box (which there is currently no image of that I’ve seen) it comes with a lithograph created by Masamune.

--Rose Volume 1 by Meredith Finch and illustrated by Ig Guara (11/28) I can’t wait to try out this series.

In Movies --Spider-Man Homecoming (10/17)

--Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, and Ponyo The first wave of Studio Ghibli films to be rereleaed by GKids with Shout Factory. If you were not aware, when these films were first released by Disney they did not give the Japanese audio tracks a proper subtitling. They used dubtitles (when watching some in Japanese it gets you the subtitles to the English version. But GKids is supposed to be giving them the actual translation.

--Anohana The Flower We Saw that Day (10/31) I really love this show. I already own it but I’ll need to get this edition so I can cry my eyes out in two languages.

--Castle In the Sky, Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind (10/31) The second wave of the Gkids rereleases

--Project Ito: Genocidal Organ (11/7) I enjoyed Empire of Corpses but I still need to watch Harmony and this one.

--Your Name (11/7) I haven’t had an opportunity to see this hit film. I want to know if it really lives up to the hype. There is a standard edition and a limited. The LE has a clipboard box, a 60 page art book, an art digipack, and the soundtrack by RADWIMPS on two discs.

--Haikyu S1 (11/14) All twenty-five episodes of the hit volleyball series. There is a standard edition and a collector’s edition. The CE has a clipboard box, a hardcover booklet, art cards, character trading cards, a Karasuno token, and a set of nine bird pens. S2 has a CE that comes out in January and is listed to having the exact same items but with different images. For example the trading cards for S2 shows some of the characters from different teams while S1′s is everyone from Karasuno. 

--Porco Rosso, The Secret World of Arrietty (11/21) Third wave of the rereleaes by GKids.

In Games --Fire Emblem Warriors on Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch (10/20) I’m always excited for a new Fire Emblem Game. The Switch copy is about $20 more than the 3DS version. I might end up getting the Switch edition because I want to build its library but I haven’t decided yet. The Switch did get a special edition that includes character art cards, slip case for the cards, a dual-sided poster, and three cd’s of game music.

--.hack//G.U. Recode (11/3) I’ve never got to play a .hack game so I really want to get this. I love .hack.

--Rime for Nintendo Switch (11/4)  It is already out on the PS4 but I’ve been debating if I’d rather take it with me on the Switch. But the Switch version is $10 more than the PS4 version.

--Pokemon Ultra Sun, Ultra Moon Nintendo 3DS (11/17) I wasn’t that crazy about Sun and Moon. I didn’t pour as much time into it as I usually do with any Pokemon game but I still liked them. I have every game (minus the Ranger and Mystery Dungeon titles) and I still love playing them so I’ll be getting the new editions.

--Skyrim for Nintendo Switch (11/17) I just got this last black Friday for my PS4 so I don’t know if I’ll be getting this edition. But I know this one is highly anticipated by fans.

Manga There’s a lot of new volumes I’m looking forward to.  --Assassination Classroom Volume 18 by Yusei Matsui (10/3) --The Water Dragon’s Bride Volume 3 by Rei Toma (10/3) --Gangsta: Cursed Volume 3 by Kohske and illustrated by Kamo Syuhei (10/10) --Tokyo Ghoul: re Volume 1 by Sui Ishida (10/17) --Nekogahara Stray Cat Samurai Volume 3 by Hiroyuki Takei (10/17) It’s exactly what it sounds like. Is surprisingly violent. The first volume was fun but there was something in the second volume I wasn’t very fond of. --Land of the Lustrous Volume 3 by Haruko Ishikawa (10/24) --Erased Volume 3 by Kei Sanbe (10/31) --The Girl from the Other Side Siuil A Run Volume 3 by Nagabe (10/31) --To Your Eternity Volume 1 by Yoshitoki Oima (10/31) By the same author of A Silent Voice. --My Hero Academia Volume 10 by Kohei Horikoshi (11/7) --Descending Stories Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju Volume 4 by Haruko Kumota (11/7) --A Silent Voice Box Set by Yoshitoki Oima I’ve only read the first volume but I know it is a great series. I am debating about someday getting the box set so that I can continue it. --Fairy Tail Volume 62 by Hiro Mashima (11/14) --Frau Faust Volume 2 by Kore Yamazaki (11/14) --Arakawa Under the Bridge Volume 1 by Hikaru Nakamura (11/21) I have the anime. It’s crazy and fun. I still need to finish the second half. --Children of the Whales Volume 1 by Abi Umeda (11/21) --Fairy Tail Volume 63 by Hiro Mashima (11/28) Final volume of the main series. I do find it a little odd that 62 and 63 are coming out within a week of each other. I’m not surprised that the might release at the same time, but why would they put a week in between them.

There are a couple of books that was originally supposed to be released in these two months but they were pushed back. December also had a great list of new releases but since this one is already so long (by time I thought about making it two separate posts for each month, it was too late to go back) I’ll hold off on it for now.