#i was re-reading the manga and came across this | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rose-of-the-underworld · 5 months ago

Note

What are your favorite shoujo shows? I just started watching anime and would love recommendations.

AAAAAAAAAAAA! First of all, I'm sorry that this took two months to write up, but I am honestly touched that you asked me! Okay, so disclaimer that I wasn't deep into the anime scene until a few years ago (I'm a late bloomer), but shoujo is my bread and butter so to speak, so I'm happy to give some reccs! Note that this isn't ranked in any particular order, it's just as they come to me! Will give a summary and my thoughts on each. Also, most of these anime don't cover the entirety of the story published in their corresponding manga, but they're all a good starting point if you want to dive into reading the rest!

Putting under a read more because I'm more long-winded than I thought I would be

1.) Sailor Moon: The magical action-adventures of a teenage girl who learns of her destiny as the legendary warrior Sailor Moon and must band together with the other Sailor Scouts to defend the Earth and Galaxy.

Had to start with the original!! Now my love for Sailor Moon goes back to before I knew what anime even was. I caught wind of it when I was five years old and it was airing on TV for the first time, but I adored the show and my Princess Serenity doll. Now, please note that I really did not absorb much outside of the aesthetics and the insane dialogue of the 90s English dub before it stopped airing on tv and I forgot about it for a while, always meaning to get back into it, but never quite managing. Then during 2020 lockdown, my good friend and Sailor Moon expert @pollyannaisms started streaming little watch parties of Sailor Moon Crystal and boy did I fall in love all over again. I'm so happy that it came back into my life when I needed it most, tbh. It really is such a hopeful and optimistic series with some of the most lovely female friendships, one of the most beautiful and romantic love stories I've ever seen, and wonderful messages about loving yourself.

If you want a more streamlined plot with less episodes, I recommend starting with Sailor Moon Crystal since it follows the manga very closely and it's relatively short. 39 episodes across three seasons and then four movies - Sailor Moon Eternal parts 1&2 and Sailor Moon Cosmos part 1&2. Cosmos is FINALLY being released internationally on August 24th and I can't wait to finally see it, I've been rotting for it.

Now, the original 90s anime is also fantastic, it is just incredibly long with I believe 200 episodes and a few movies. It was airing as Naoko Takeuchi was publishing the manga so there's a lot of filler and the monster of the week format can get a little monotonous if you're trying to binge. I would say to take your time with it, but I do believe it's worth the watch because you get some wonderful character development episodes that are absent from Crystal. It's not perfect and there are some....odd choices made, but I do love it. Please note, that if you watch it in English through official streaming services, you'll be seeing a re-dub that Viz did with the Crystal cast when they bought the rights. It's a good dub! But man, I wish I could watch the original 90s English dub more easily (pirating such a long series is kind of an ordeal) because it has some of the funniest dialogue I've ever heard. Lots of people hate it, but I love the nostalgia factor and I personally find it hilarious.

youtube

2.) Ouran High School Host Club: Haruhi Fujioka is a studious girl who has recently enrolled at the prestigious Ouran Academy. One day, while looking for a quiet and peaceful place to study, she stumbles across a seemingly unused music room. Upon entering, Haruhi is welcomed by the members of the well-known Host Club: a club in which attractive boys amuse girls from across the entire school. However, when Tamaki Suoh—the founder and president of the club—startles the bright scholarship student, she accidentally breaks an expensive vase.

With repayment looking difficult for Haruhi, the Host Club members come up with the perfect solution to the girl's problem: work for the club and ultimately become a Host herself! Mistaken for a boy by her peers, Haruhi has to entertain various female students while coping with her fellow Hosts' extravagant personalities.

Ouran was the first anime that I ever watched on purpose at age 17, and it is very near and dear to my heart. It does come with some caveats, though. While this was the perfect starter anime for me (the friend who recc'd it knows me very well), it's not a good starter anime for everyone. It is incredibly over the top and is also a parody anime of shoujo romances, so some of the jokes might not land if you're a newbie. While I loved it at first viewing, I found it MUCH funnier when I rewatched it ten years later after having seen much more shoujo anime. Also, please note that Ouran aired in 2006, and while it was very progressive for the early 2000s, there is a lot of outdated terminology when it comes to LGBT topics, so tread with care and know that its heart was in the right place and we've come a long way in the last 20 years.

That being said, this series will always be one of my favorites. Aside from being insanely hilarious (and wildly out of pocket), the show has a lot of heart and characters who all genuinely love each other. It touches on feminism and gender and I credit it with making me bisexual.

3.) Fruits Basket: After a family tragedy turns her life upside down, high schooler Tohru Honda takes matters into her own hands and moves out...into a tent. Unfortunately for her, she pitches her new home on private land belonging to the mysterious Sohma clan, and it isn't long before the owners discover her secret. But, as Tohru quickly finds out when the family offers to take her in, the Sohmas have a secret of their own--when hugged by the opposite sex, they turn into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.

God. Fruits Basket is everything to me. This was the second anime I ever watched on purpose, recc'd by the same friend who showed me Ouran. She lent me her DVDs of the 2001 anime adaptation when I was 18 and it took me a few months to actually watch it but MAN. When I tell you that I was crying during the finale with my 8 week old kitten on my chest, and then when the 2019 reboot aired their version of the season finale, I was crying AGAIN with the same cat who was at that point 14 lbs and still snuggling on my chest. Full circle. It will never not be good. I would absolutely recommend that you watch the 2019 reboot over the 2001 version because it encompasses the whole story and has the budget for a much higher quality production. The animation is beautiful and I really like the music. The storytelling is phenomenal, thank you, Natsuki Takaya for my life.

Tohru Honda is truly one of my favorite characters of all time. There is so much depth to her, so much kindness and sadness and a heart full of love. She changes the lives of everyone she meets by just loving them unconditionally and has a legion of friends who would do anything for her. This is another story that features the struggle to love yourself, but it is also about the struggle to let others love you as well. The main romance is another top tier love story for me, and all of the side romances are compelling as well. I will warn you that the series deals heavily with familial abuse and with grief. For every laugh and heartwarming moment, there is a punch to the gut right around the corner. But god, it's worth it in the end. Fruits Basket is full of bittersweet moments of catharsis and it never fails to make me insane (affectionate). Fantastic characters and an excellent plot, it's one of the most compelling series I've ever seen.

4.) Kimi Ni Todoke: Sawako Kuronuma has had a difficult time fitting in, due to her shy nature and her similarity in name and appearance to Sadako from The Ring. On her first day of high school, Sawako meets the one boy who treats her like a normal girl-Shota Kazehaya. Through his selfless aid, Sawako slowly learns to come out of her shell and even begins to make friends for the first time in her life. However, with a new social life come social pressures. As she grows into her new identity, Sawako must learn to deal with such pressures as well as start to understand the unfamiliar feelings inside of her, especially in regards to the boy who made her new start possible.

This is probably THEEEEE sweetest thing I've ever seen. I watched it for the first time last year and I was legitimately crying happy tears in episode 1. If this is your first time watching, you're in luck! Season 3 just premiered after a 13 year hiatus! I've only watched an episode and a half so far, and I already love it so much. It has the exact same energy as the first two seasons. Sawako and Kazehaya are too adorable for words, and Sawako's two best friends are wonderful. This series does a great job of handling the real struggles of adolescents while also being full of optimism and love of all sorts.

5.) Kamisama Kiss: newly homeless teenager Nanami Momozono is trying to figure out her next move when she helps a stranger in need. Out of gratitude, he offers Nanami his home, a rundown shrine, and also his job as a land god. Now, Nanami must juggle high school along with the duties of a deity with the help of Tomoe, a reformed fox demon who reluctantly becomes her familiar in a contract sealed with a kiss. As the headstrong Tomoe tries to whip her into shape, Nanami finds that love just might have cute, pointed fox ears. With romance in the air, will the human deity be able to prove herself worthy of her new title?

This series made me CRAZY!!!!!!! Nanami and Tomoe are such a good nuisances to lovers story with a really interesting twist that I genuinely did not see coming! Nanami is adorable and Tomoe is the perfect house husband, I love them so much. This series is such a fun little romp through the supernatural world of gods, demons, and spirits, with an incredibly interesting cast of characters. The anime has two seasons and a few OVAs, but in order to see the latter, you're going to have to search the less than legal sites because they were never licensed internationally. Definitely worth it in my opinion to see the end of the story.

6.) Yona of the Dawn: Sheltered and spoiled Princess Yona is the only heir to the throne of Kouka. Yona's perfect world comes crashing down when a heinous act of treason threatens to erase all that she holds dear, including her birthright as the princess of Kouka. Left with no one to trust but her childhood friend and loyal bodyguard Son Hak, she is forced to flee the palace. Faced with the perils of surviving in the wild with a target on her back, Yona realizes that her kingdom is no longer the safe haven it once was.

Free from the shackles of naivety, Yona vows to do everything in her power to become strong enough to crush her enemies. With Hak by her side, she must piece together the remains of an ancient legend that might be the key to reclaiming her kingdom from those who conspired to steal it from her.

THIS SERIES MADE ME CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yona of the Dawn honestly ticks all of my boxes -- sheltered princess who needs to learn how to fight, political intrigue, betrayal, heartbreak, ancient magical legends, and a princess/bodyguard romance. The anime (and OVAs) are only a very small part of the story, but it was excellent regardless. The manga is incredibly long and actually just celebrated its 15th anniversary; it's regarded one of the greatest shoujo manga of all time. I had started reading the manga a few years back, and I REALLY need to get back into it, especially since it seems to be inching closer to the end. But if you love action packed fantasy adventures, this is the story for you!

7.) Inuyasha*: Suddenly finding herself in feudal Japan, schoolgirl Kagome teams up with half-demon Inuyasha to retrieve the scattered shards of a sacred jewel.

*Technically, a shounen, but has the vibes of a shoujo. I need you to know that last year when I had covid, I watched 50 episodes of this series and the first movie. And then I was compelled to make the following image:

Inuyasha is a long one so I suggest pacing yourself, but it is so so worth it! This is another action packed fantasy series with awesome characters, fantastic writing, and a heart stopping romance. The creator, Rumiko Takahashi was already an experienced mangaka when she made Inuyasha, and it shows. She's excellent at naturally weaving the romance into the overarching narrative and there's a maturity to her writing that makes this story about young people feel so intense and complex in the best way.

8.) Maid-Sama!: Misaki is class president of a formerly all-male school. A beacon of hope to the female students as well as teachers, she rules over the boys with an iron fist and a heart of ice. A popular male student stumbles on to her secret double life- working part-time as an upbeat and cheery waitress at a maid cafe! Misaki is forced to make a deal: spend some time with him, or have her hard earned reputation destroyed by revealing her embarrassing secret.

I will warn you, there are elements to this anime that have not aged well since its airing in 2010. A lot of it is very feminist in that early 2000s way! But it also includes that early 2000s brand of "problematic" possessive (and maybe a little too inappropriate) love interest and some outdated romance anime tropes. But all in all, I think it's worth a view. I really love Misaki as a character so much, and her relationship with Usui is fun and frustrating and very, very sweet.

9.) My Love Story!!: With his muscular build and tall stature, Takeo Gouda is no ordinary high school freshman. However, behind Takeo's intimidating appearance lies a pure heart of gold. Unfortunately for Takeo, his appearance does not bode well for his love life. As if his looks were not already enough to scare girls away, Takeo's cool, handsome best friend and constant companion Makoto Sunakawa easily, and unintentionally, steals the hearts of the female students—including every girl Takeo has ever liked.

One day, when Takeo saves cute Rinko Yamato from a creep on the train, he falls in love with her instantly. But with handsome Sunakawa around, does Takeo even stand a chance?

It's rare to see a shoujo series with a male protagonist, but Takeo is honestly perfect for the role and deserves everything good in the world. This is such an adorable anime with the sweetest couple on Earth and the best friend that anyone could ever ask for. Takeo and Rinko are both down so bad for each other and they're both adorable, awkward clowns. They were truly meant to be! Takeo's friendship with Sunakawa is also such a vital and lovely part of the series and shows that your platonic relationships are just as important as your romantic ones.

10.) My Little Monster: Shizuku Mizutani is apathetic toward her classmates, only caring about her grades. However, her cold view of life begins to change when she meets Haru Yoshida, a violent troublemaker who stopped attending class after getting into a fight early in the school year. He is not much different from her, though—he too understands little about human nature and does not have any friends. Much to Shizuku's surprise, he proclaims that she will be his friend and immediately confesses his feelings toward her upon meeting her.

Because of her lack of friends and social interaction, Shizuku has a hard time understanding her relationship with Haru. But slowly, their friendship begins to progress, and she discovers that there is more to Haru than violence. She begins to develop feelings for him, but is unsure what kind of emotions she is experiencing. Together, Shizuku and Haru explore the true nature of their relationship and emotions.

This is a story about a boy and a girl who struggle with love and friendship. Opening yourself up to other people forces you to be honest with yourself.

Here's another "problematique" anime that I fell head over heels in love with in spite of certain things that didn't age well. I'm a simple woman, give me a cold girl and a feral boy who are obsessed with each other and don't know how to function in society and I'm sold. While Shizuku and Haru's bizarre, never-on-the-same-page romance is the overarching narrative, an important part of the series is the two of them learning how to make friends and find community with other socially dysfunctional weirdos. The friends that they make are just as interesting as the two of them and are equally important to the story.

This is another series that I highly recommend reading the manga for, since the one season anime doesn't get far enough into the story for a satisfying ending. Shizuku's revelations about herself and her character development in the manga genuinely made me cry, and Haru gets some good development as well. Their relationship progresses in a very sweet way as they work to understand each other and respect boundaries and communicate.

11.) Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun:

Chiyo Sakura is a cheerful high school girl who has fallen head over heels for the oblivious Umetarou Nozaki. Much to Chiyo's confusion, when she confesses to her beloved Nozaki, he hands her an unfamiliar autograph. As it turns out, the stoic teenage boy is actually a respected shoujo manga artist, publishing under a pen name. A series of misunderstandings leads to Chiyo becoming one of Nozaki's manga assistants and befriending many of her quirky schoolmates. This slice of life comedy follows Chiyo as she strives to help Nozaki with his manga and hopes that he will eventually notice her feelings.

I adore this series to the moon and back. Both adorable and absolutely HILARIOUS, Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, is a wild ride from start to finish. The slow burn to end all slow burns, this ongoing 4-panel, slice of life manga has been ongoing since 2011, yet remains hilarious and so does the one season anime. This is another parody shoujo anime where some jokes might go over your head if you're a beginner, but I think it's easier to digest than Ouran, and would be a fine starter anime. This is another clown4clown romance, but Chiyo and Nozaki aren't the only ones. Their friends are a vibrant cast of characters who tend to fall into classic shoujo manga tropes (though not always in the ways you'd expect) and all have their own incredibly silly and off the wall will-they-won't-they romances.

This is such a fun series that never fails to make me laugh, and often makes me swoon. It's both ridiculous and relatable and you can't help but root for every single character.

And I'll end it there! I have quite a few other series that are near and dear to my heart but these are probably the ones I talk about the most. If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. Anon, I hope that you enjoy your adventures in shoujo anime!

If anyone ever wants to talk about any of these series, my inbox is always open. Seriously, I am always dying to talk about all of these!

#asks #anon asks #shoujo anime #shoujo manga #shoujo #anime reccs #my post

15 notes · View notes

themattress · 3 months ago

Text

Linking to this to honor Takakashi-san. It's a fascinating BTS look at Yu-Gi-Oh!'s production.

Most interesting points for me:

- He officially classifies the manga into 7 arcs, much like the 7 Millennium Items:

School Arc (20 chapters / Vol. 1-3) DEATH-T Arc (20 chapters / Vol. 3-5) RPG Arc (19 chapters / Vol. 5-7) Duelist Kingdom Arc (74 chapters / Vol. 8-15) DDM Arc (12 chapters / Vol. 16-17) Battle City Arc (133 chapters / Vol. 17-31) Pharaoh's Memories Arc (65 chapters / Vol. 32-38)

Battle City is the length of School, DEATH-T, RPG and Duelist Kingdom combined! O_o

BTW, there is clearly a "lost chapter" in the RPG Arc. Wonder what kind of game it had...

- The manga was on the verge of cancellation after the conclusion of the School Arc due to the multi-chapter battle with Shadi that was unpopular with readers, and upon re-reading it Takahashi actually agreed with those readers because he had tried too hard to make things mysterious and instead made them "surreal and abstruse". Because the two-part card game battle earlier had gotten the best reader reception, Takahashi decided to save the manga by bringing Kaiba back and fleshing him out into a proper nemesis. Interestingly, his first idea was to have him as an arch foe challenging Yugi to different games, which actually got used in the Toei anime, but instead decided to go with the DEATH-T tournament idea, which had long been an idea in the back of his head for a potential series finale. Of course, since he was utilizing it with Kaiba now, the final game played would have to be another card battle.

- DEATH-T is Takahashi's favorite story arc in the manga. He enjoyed it so much that he actually planned on it being longer, but his editor made him shorten it so that it could reach the card battle faster, which Takahashi concedes in retrospect was the right choice since it kept the pace appropriately tight. He also notes that because he was using his original idea for a series finale now, he ended up thinking of the new potential finale which would end up sticking: Yugi having to face Yami Yugi in order to achieve full independence for himself. Because of this, Yugi and Yami Yugi's bond became the series' focal point going forward.

- Upon returning to one-off adventures after DEATH-T, Takahashi found himself running out of ideas and thus made the fateful decision to craft a long-term Myth Arc for the series to follow - no more loose mysterious ideas like with Shadi; he actually had to plan things out. Thus he decided on how many Millennium Items there were and who had them, the story behind their creation and purpose, how the monsters of the card game connected to them, and of course the overarching antagonist Yami Bakura. So from the RPG arc through the Duelist Kingdom, DDM, Battle City and Pharaoh's Memories arcs, the series finally had a consistent narrative.

- As far as the anime adaptations of his work are concerned, Takahashi prefers Megumi Ogata as Yami Yugi, and Shunsuke Kazama as regular Yugi. And fair enough - though on paper, Megumi Ogata should have been perfect for regular Yugi as well; I don't know what the Hell the Toei voice directors were thinking in having her give the annoying high-pitched vocal performance she did for him. Takahashi also thought up a pitch for a crossover between Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX where the main characters would team up to face Sartorius, though it sadly never came to pass. A shame since it sounds awesome.

- He conceded that most of the fathers in the series were garbage, and said looking back on it, it was something of a commentary on toxic masculinity: the expectation to adhere tightly to their gender role, particularly where their sons were concerned, wore all these fathers down, and the focus then was on the sons to not fall prey to the same mistakes. Tellingly, open emotion and bonds of friendship were the key to this. Takahashi also flipped the script on the mother figure, noting that the male symbol ♂ is a man holding a spear to go fight while the female symbol ♀ is a woman with a cross praying for his safe return, yet his story's ultimate mother figure, Horakthy, is instead the one who obliterates the Big Bad once called forth by the power of friendship. Honestly, Takahashi is one of the most feminist writers in shonen!

- He talked about the full backstory of both Pegasus and Kaiba, with the most interesting parts respectively being that he personally believed that between his talk with Yami Yugi and his death that Pegasus repented of his sins and got to join his wife in Heaven, and that Gozaburo noticed Kaiba cheating at chess against him and that was in fact why he adopted him and Mokuba...someone willing to do something that brazen was worthy of being his heir.

- Dark Magician Girl was originally sketched as a beautiful woman, but he felt that this didn't reflect her being Dark Magician's pupil enough so he changed her into a cute teenage girl.

- One of the underlying themes of Battle City is how religion, which should be a force for good, is often a force for bad in the world as it leads to people fighting over their personal vision of God. Thus a story where characters are fighting over the God cards, with Yami Yugi, Kaiba and Marik trying to prove their respective God's superiority and defeat the others.

- Takahashi shares a heart-wrenching anecdote about his childhood, where he lost a friend by stealing a block from him and his big brother then being too scared to confess and return it. His guilt over it lasted until adulthood, and drawing Jonouchi returning the piece of Yugi's puzzle that he stole in the first chapter was his way of achieving some sense of emotional closure on the matter. All things considered, I'd say that he more than redeemed himself.

- Originally, Takahashi considered ending the final chapter with a flashback to the duel between Yami Yugi and Jonouchi at the end of Battle City, with the implication that Jonouchi won and the last panel being Yami Yugi smiling at his first true defeat, foreshadowing his later defeat at Yugi's hands. However, Takahashi conceded that although he began the story with Yugi and Jonouchi's bond front and center, it ended up being more about Yugi and Yami Yugi's bond, so he is glad he didn't do this ending and instead ended it with Yugi's internal monologue after saying goodbye to his other self, which feels like a more natural send-off.

- When embarking on the final arc, Takahashi decided to limit the card battles as he was understandably exhausted from Battle City, with more focus being on the monsters from said cards battling each other for real without any rules. He considered just having a long flashback to true history and then some sort of final confrontation with Zorc, but felt that would be way too long without Yugi and his friends doing anything, which led to the creation of the Memory World. This strengthened the conclusion since the key to defeating Zorc, who was trying to fully merge with the evil power within the Millennium Puzzle and resurrect himself, was for Yami Yugi to merge with the good he had found outside the Millennium Puzzle, the good that gradually vanquished the evil power's influence over him. Takahashi says that Yugi was destined to be the one to complete the Millennium Puzzle, since if anyone else had done so it would have been Zorc's soul that awakened and possessed them rather than the Pharaoh's. This accounts for why Yugi has the same hairstyle as the Pharaoh!

- Takahashi was drawing the Pharaoh and his priests facing Bakura in Kul Elna when he suffered a stomach ulcer that he had to go to the hospital for. Although discharged after three days, the recognition of his poor health made Takahashi worry about dying before finishing his story, which in turn made him give in to his editor's demand that he quicken the pace and reach the end of the series faster since reader interest had declined after Battle City wore them out. This caused him to change the story from his original plan. Originally, the Memory World would have stayed a projection of the past within the Millennium Puzzle and follow the true events of history. Akhenaden and Seto would get into a fierce fight over Kisara, with Akhenaden insisting she be tortured to free the Blue Eyes White Dragon, under the claim of so it can aid the Pharaoh, while Seto wants to protect her. Akhenaden would end up killing Kisara, then decide that with the White Dragon's power Seto should be king and thus head off to Kul Elna to forge the contract with Zorc, leaving Seto behind to grieve and remain susceptible to his Millennium Rod's corruption. From there we would have seen things we ended up not seeing: Bakura being sealed into the Millennium Ring, Shadah becoming Hasan, Akhenaden and Zorc having a different dynamic where Zorc's monster form is more akin to Akhenaden's ka rather than an individual opponent, Seto fighting against both the Pharaoh and Zorc while under the influence of darkness, and likely even a flashback to Atem's sacrificial death to seal himself and Zorc inside the Millennium Puzzle - a scene Takahashi imagined quite vividly and had even initially considered opening the whole arc on.

But instead, the Memory World is retconned to actually be a Shadow RPG board that the Millennium Puzzle is suspended above and projecting onto, which has a rule system that allows for events to go in a completely different direction from how they historically did rather than simply having a different ending affected by Yugi and his friends. Zorc the monster becomes an individual foe that Akhenaden separates from, which leads to events between him, Seto and Kisara changing drastically from the original plan and what was earlier glimpsed in the Battle City arc. While the arc still works on the whole, Takahashi admitted that he still has regrets over his decision, especially considering that in hindsight his fears over dying of illness proved to be wrong. Although he humorously notes that in his ill, hazy state of mind, he designed Zorc to look like...that, something he modified in these bankoban editions.

- Finally, he notes just like he did in the original final volume's afterwards that while Yu-Gi-Oh! is now a worldwide franchise centered around a card game and containing multiple manga and anime series, to him it will always just be the original manga that he made, always just be the story of a boy named Yugi and his friends. And that Yu-Gi-Oh!, IMO, will never be topped.

#Yu-Gi-Oh!#Kazuki Takahashi #Analysis

10 notes · View notes

wooleeza · 6 days ago

Text

7 Seeds Stage Review

Note: Spoilers ahead for both the manga and stage!

Background

When I learnt that Nakada Hiroki was going to be involved in the 7Seeds Stage: Spring Chapter in the role of Mozu, I began searching for information online. (I always make it a point to find out as much as I can about his roles prior to the stage.) There were a few resources, but they seemed rather vague to me, so I decided that the best course of action would be to read the manga itself. As a person who is not (gasp!) an avid manga reader, 178 chapters certainly was a daunting prospect to me, and the art style wasn’t the easiest to decipher, but the storyline after the first arc was compelling enough to keep me going after I got through the initial Summer B arc and reached the Spring chapters, which is where the bulk of this play is premised upon.

I actually enjoyed the manga for its complexities - the huge cast of characters across the five teams was confusing at first, but as I followed the different viewpoints, I came to appreciate the subtleties woven into every character’s motivations. I read the manga over the course of two or three weeks, and it is definitely worth a re-read just to properly appreciate the development of both the characters and the worldview created by Tamura-sensei. Since I read the manga at a relatively fast pace in order to complete it in time for watching the stage, I watched the anime too in order to refresh my memory of several key scenes. I can certainly understand the disappointment the manga fans felt at the subpar quality of the anime, but it was helpful in the sense that it covered most of the key action sequences (minus the subtleties of character motivations, unfortunately.)

Impressions of Mozu (pre-butai)

This man is a hard character, in every sense of the word. He exists very much in the background across all the arcs in the manga, but his hand in the way the events play out is very much present. He is a character that doesn’t give leeway to anyone, himself most of all. He sees it as a necessity for survival in a world that doesn’t give way to anything that doesn’t pass the test. He has lived his entire life upon a knife’s edge, and has a mastery over his skills and surroundings alike. For him, trials are routine, and his stoic demeanour arises from his ability to completely detach himself from any situation so as to view it from its most objective angle. This is consistent with a character for whom survival has become an everyday necessity.

To be honest, I was very surprised at the casting decision for Nakada Hiroki to play him. Hiroki-kun has a wide repertoire as an actor, but most times, he is given roles that induce sympathy from the audience. Having read the manga in its entirety, I felt that he would have been much better suited to play Aramaki-san, a beautiful and relatively mature character who has known many losses in his life, and a shoo-in for audience sympathy. On the other hand, Mozu-san is a character that is as far from sympathetic as we can get, so I was very curious about what Nishida-san’s vision for this stage was, and why he picked Hiroki-kun to portray Mozu. Hiroki-kun also said during one of his monthly livestreams that Nishida-san is a director whom he likes a lot, so I was naturally very intrigued by their collaboration this time. As much as I had my doubts, I felt that it was safe to trust in Nishida-san’s vision, and that he probably could see something that wasn’t immediately apparent to me as an average member of the audience.

The stage

The stage has a minimalist set, with movable steps and ramps that the cast members interact with and set up as they progress through the scenes. To some degree, it is fitting for a post-apocalyptic setting - the new world is what the characters on stage make of it, and for the most part, the audience’s imagination fills in the gaps. The story follows the initial journey of the Spring team quite closely, extending some scenes and stretching out the action in a way that still feels true to the manga. Mozu-san, however, makes his appearance relatively quickly after the initial scene, establishing himself and two other researchers as the key personnel behind the 7Seeds project, and together, they provide much of the exposition for the sake of the audience. Their conversations inform us of the existence of other plans such as the building of shelters in the hope that one (or more) of these plans will work when D-Day arrives. The revelation of Mozu as the shinigami of the group also takes place relatively quickly. It takes away the suspense and mystery that was originally found in the manga with regards to his character arc, but it does make things easier to follow for the first-time viewer. There are also other iykyk references (energy bars, for example) that would appeal to fans of the series, but these are not so obscure as to completely alienate an audience member who may not be familiar with the work.

My only gripe is that the costuming looks cheap and the portrayal of the dogs, beasts and insects resembles that of a low-budget school play. It is understandable that these would be very difficult to achieve in a stage setting, but I wish they had been able to create more realistic costumes and action sequences. It took away from an otherwise very well-crafted and directed play.

Mozu-san’s portrayal

While I have every confidence that Hiroki-kun can pull off any role he’s cast in, I had some serious doubts about how he would be able to portray Mozu-san, especially when footage of the photoshoot was first released. The images then, which looked soft and sensual, did not match up with my mental impression of the stoic and hardened Mozu-san. Still, I had to believe that Nishida-san had a vision of Mozu-san’s stage portrayal that only Hiroki-kun could match.

When I finally got to watch the stage performance, I was relieved to see that his portrayal matched the expectations I had of this character, though I wouldn’t go so far as to say that he exceeded my expectations. His Mozu-san is still a hardened survivalist, but the paternal aspect of him which exhibits care for Hana is also presented onstage. It is easy to see why, in the later chapters of the manga, Hana refers to him as Me-chan – the -chan suffix denotes closeness in their relationship. He also reveals an unexpectedly compassionate side of Mozu-san in one of the final exposition scenes, when he gives the researcher he has worked closely with and his family a chance to go into one of the shelters. Hiroki-kun negotiates a fine balance well, between the objective and pragmatic genius visionary and a person who deep down inside does have a heart for his fellow researchers. He casts Mozu-san in a more human light, and that is something I have always appreciated about Hiroki-kun’s acting.

Final thoughts

I’m happy to report that the play stayed faithful to many aspects of the manga, and it met my expectations for the most part. The costuming and action sequences are somewhat regrettable in some parts, but if you are able to look past these, it is a well-crafted and well-balanced play. The anime glossed over many details in its rush to move from one action scene to another, but the play took its time to develop the characters and explore their interactions with one another. Even Yanagi-san was sympathetically portrayed, and I believe that most manga fans would appreciate the care that has gone into the making of this stage.

Overall, I think that the stage is worth watching, perhaps twice over just to fully appreciate all the nuances and subtleties it includes. It’s not an outstanding play by any means, but it makes a good beginning, and there is a strong chance that we can look forward to the future productions featuring the Summer and Autumn teams as well. Nishida-san has created quite a beautiful worldview, and things can only look up from here.

If you would like to catch the stage (no subs available, sorry!), viewing tickets for the archive can still be purchased at https://l-tike.zaiko.io/e/7seeds. It is available for viewing up till Sunday, 05 January, 2359h JST.

If you are interested to know more about Mozu-san's actor, Nakada Hiroki, please click on the hyperlink of his name.

#7seeds #stage #butai #spring chapter #mozunoto kaname #nakada hiroki #my review #7 seeds #team spring

3 notes · View notes

lostcauses-noregrets · 2 years ago

Note

Hi! I like to read your opinions about eruri, and I like this vast sight you have being there for years. In 2021 – at the very end of the story I started to appreciate in 2015 – I decided to re-watch it and came across a fanart of Erwin and Levi together as a couple (I've never entered the fandom "circles" before, tbh). Well, when I read the manga /watched the anime for the first time, I had an "impression" about their relationship. I never gave them much thought as I was firstly and mostly an Armin supporter and I basically followed the first three seasons because I needed to know what the fuck was going on and I needed to see Armin reach the damn ocean.

Erwin was a character I strongly appreciated given his will to sacrificing his own and his soldiers' lives, his death really touched me though I was relieved that Armin still had a chance to reach his dream.

I didn't really like Levi until the uprising arc, I didn't understand his motivation until I watched No Regrets (I watched it after finishing s3p1). When he first appeared in the story I felt strange about his and Erwin's relationship: Erwin was the Commander but Levi acted freely around him, even disrespecting him, and after a couple of episodes he was "I'll obey Sir". Levi was close with Hanji but even closer with the Commander, and Erwin only spoke "as a peer" to Pixies and Zachary (sometimes) and Levi most of the time.

The "woah" moment was after the uprising arc: Erwin planning rts and Levi begging him to stay safe home, an absurd request tbh: Not Hanji, nor any other Squad Leader proposed anything like that; the Commander had to be there, because he's trusted and more importantly because he represents the SC. So, Levi? This not only was "odd" from a (I'll say) militaristic point of view, but Levi there acted really emotionally. At this point of the story we have seen his more emotional side, we've seen him angry and concerned, but not to this extent.

Then, rts. Levi giving Erwin a reassuring speach, making the choice on his behalf, commanding him to his death. And Erwin's relieved smile, his "Thank you". This was a peak moment, it showed complete trust (we also knew that Levi trusted Erwin completely, but the other way around is truly showed here), it showed the deep comprehension Levi has about the Commander, it showed Levi's ability to sacrifice his own feelings for what's best for humanity and Erwin.

The serum-bowl was just the culmination of it. It was the "emotional" side of Levi's previous logical choice. He wants to save Erwin so badly there, and not because he is the Commander, but because he didn't want him to die in the first place (Levi's egoistic feeling). He's about to give him the serum, the choice is made, and it is the best choice for humanity, the choice Hanji and other Commanders would make, the choice that will take Erwin back (and it's so clear that this is what Levi wants). But at the very end, Levi changes his mind, not out of any logical reason, or rational thought. He decides to let his friend rest because it'd be the best choice for Erwin and Erwin alone (or at least, in Levi's understanding of him).

Last but not least, Erwin's death affected Levi terribly. I usually dislike "revenge arc", but his was so well built and motivated that I appreciated it. His promise is the only fuel left to Levi to moves forward. It's a sad and heartbreaking end, but it puts emphasis on the importance of his relationship with Erwin.

Re-watching AoT gives you the possibility to focus on its nuances; it's a complex story and for people like me (not usually interested in the romance, but in the most dynamic and action side) it's easy to miss some details.

I personally like the absence of huge romantic sub-plot. I like how the relationships between the characters are described trough little details, ways of talking to each other, choices that can be read as ambiguous at some times. Or, this is true for the "adults", the 104th are kids and mostly act like kids "repressed" by their military role and the cruel circumstances of their world.

When it comes to Hanji, Miche, Moblit, Levi, Erwin, it's different. They are soldiers and put duty beyond their personal feelings. I love how their relationships are built. And I do consider Erwin and Levi relationship one of the strongest in AoT, and one of the most healthy too. Forgetting the hcs, the theories, or even what VAs, animators etc said, I think that it's undeniable the depth of their bond, and the fact that it is - at least - platonic love. To me it's clear as the sky that Levi loved Erwin (not necessarily in a sexual way) and it's clear that he was reciprocated, in a more subtle way because Erwin is a character literally broken by his guilt, split between his selfish side and his selfless one.

The rest of it is mostly hc, though some theories really are plausible and I love the fanon exploration of them trough fics and fanarts.

This long post just because I wanted to express what to me it's a fact and not a theory, that in the complex and not so easy identification and classification of what a relationship between two humans is, that between Erwin and Levi falls in the large range of "Love". And not the love and affection one usually has for a dear friend. It's deeper, it's familiar. It's the bond you have with someone you want to become family with. (Just to mention, Mikasa's "you're family" it's so powerful to me, it's a good choice of words that Eren misunderstood imo). This is why I don't feel the need (tough I like the fun, absolutely) of searching proofs and making up scenarios of a love story that is just there. I don't need Isayama to state that Levi and Erwin would have gotten married, circumstances permitting. They already have a strong, dedicated and wholesome bond that accompanied Erwin to his last, painful years and gave him peace at the very end; and complimentary, the same bond gave Levi hope and aim when he needed it and – sadly – affected him so badly that he lived so many years in grief (maybe all his remaining years). Tell me this is not what a loving relationship/marriage looks like.

If you reached the end of my essay, thank you xD I'd like to read what you think of it. Bye!!

Thank you so much for sharing this Anon ♡ There’s honestly very little I can add to this. You’ve expressed eloquently why Erwin and Levi’s relationship is so important and so compelling. Regardless of shipping, their relationship, and the bond of trust they share, is pivotal to the story, particularly from the Uprising Arc onwards.

One of the things I’ve always loved about SnK, which you’ve touched on here, is that Isayama is actually very good at writing compelling, and compellingly complex, adult relationships. Like you said, we don’t need any other “proof” of the depth of Erwin and Levi’s relationship, it’s all there in black and white in the manga. The supplementary materials, the guidebooks, the interviews, the Smartpass stories all add colour but they don’t change the fundamental nature of their relationship. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this to me is what a deeply committed adult relationship looks like. It needs no more elaboration.

Thank you again for sharing your essay Anon, I really appreciate reading your thoughts and I’m sure many other fans will too.

#asks #this is beautifully put #eruri #eruri relationship #erwin smith #levi ackerman #snk

121 notes · View notes

aloera · 8 months ago

Note

Aloera hii came running when i got the notification, djdjd incredibly as always ❤ can i ask how much time did it took you to find that tone in ur writing? I mean they way you describe things and feeling without making them too "poetic"and corny like it often happens when one tries to write? Also i wanted to share with you the manga panels i searched after reading your fic just so idk gsjd the expressions and significance fjdjf (i love this face is so :() (second one their canon dynamic>>> fanon)

I know these last too have been brought so much times but idc this will always be iconic, the first high epic point in the manga, everything got set in motions after this(to me) wish with a follow up more substantial after this a hint of a conversation idk (a lot of people have move on from this but i will always remeber) sorry that this got so long i just wanted to share this with you excuse my english have a great week/end.

first off thank you so much!! youre so sweet :)

as to how much time it took ive been writing since i was like.. six. and im twenty now. so ig fourteen years skull emoji.. but in general i think i focus less now on trying to sound like... super smart? if that makes sense? sometimes i think what makes things sound kinda corny is when youre describing stuff that you dont actually know.. so i try to just focus on stuff that i do know!! like for example with similes and stuff i just draw from stuff that i see in my own life.. common things.. and the hope is that it comes across as familiar and people reading that go oh i know what that feels like. yk? instead of trying to like.. idk be the next shakespeare and be super poetic and delve into topics that are maybe beyond me or just not really suited to my style of writing. no shade to people who do that!! thats just what worked for me in terms of developing my style :) for dialogue as well i'll sometimes say it out loud to see if it sounds like smth a real person would say outloud bc sometimes... its not... and i rewrite it until im not like. cringing as i say it LMFOA but also mind u i think there will sometimes always be a certain level of corn bc we are writing fic. like it is inherently corny asf. but once you get over that you can have a lot more fun with it :D

KIRISHIMAS LITTLE FACE SHUT UPPP i love him. i love him so bad. he actually invented facial expressions its crazy. have u seen that one panel of him glaring at monoma i think about it everyday hes SO FUNNY

you r so so so write on canon>fanon w them. their canon interactions are just so lovely and so full of heart and so recriprocated like i just know they are the most annoying two people to be around but they dont even care bc they are having so much fun with each other!!! which is why i love them :)

also. yeah. you and me are very right where you left me coded re kamino. i will never be over it i fear. i will be like seventy years old talking about "it has to be you" "if i cant do this im not even a man" "come" "you idiot" LIKE THAT WAS CRAZYYYYYYY i feel like as much as i get annoyed ab horikoshi kind of forgetting ab krbk i will never fully be able to be mad at him bc he gave us that.... like That Moment seared itself into my personhood. kickstarted a hand fixation and an undying loyalty fixation and like. twenty other fixations. is what it is ig.

sorry this is so long omg i just had sm to say but in conclusion thank you so much for the ask!! i will always love talking ab krbk so i really appreciated getting to talk about them with you :)))

#its just embarrassing how i am still so gone over them tbh #like its 2024. pleaseeeee get a life (to myself)#but no. i have like seven wips lined up in the making #being a bkdk would make more sense atp since they r like... the actual focus of the show...#but no i am still stuck on literally. what. season 2???? 2018 bnha?????? jesus christ #somebody get this man a new hyperfixation #ask #hadasiris

7 notes · View notes

90smagicalgirl · 1 year ago

Text

Ah, Shojo Beat Magazine. How I miss you.

So for anyone familiar for Shonen Jump, Shojo Beat was basically the sister magazine focused on original, ongoing and new shojo manga debuts. I am not a professional nor do I know a lot since most of what I know is from my own memory of the magazine and what little summaries I came across while curiously searching when it was discontinued.

I remember fondly this being my very first exposure to actual manga before I started to seek it out in my local libraries as a young teen. This was also around the time I was into girly magazines like Discovery Girls and Girl's World, and seeing something that was talking about anime and manga to a young weeb like me, was absolutely a god send.

I remember only obtaining a handful of magazines overall since I would rarely get the chance to go to the specific store that had them and most of the time I had to avoid any of the covers with words or titles that could absolutely get me in trouble aka Vampire Knight on the cover or terms like sexy, hot, etc! Lol. I mean I was still very much keeping my interests in anime 99% online, around the few friends who we're also young weebs and as little information to my parents as possible. (Strict parents gang unite)

(ヽ´ω`)

But I remembered absolutely adoring my magazines and id re-read them over and over admiring the different series', the ads for alternative clothing from Japan catalogs and fan submissions. It was through Shojo Manga that I found Vampire Knight, Lovely Complex, High School Debut, Gaba Kawa and Little Shoppe. I often enjoyed the smaller one shot mangas since they were usually very adorable and sweet.

I remember when we moved and I sadly couldn't find the magazine anymore in any stores nearby, that I then was able to find out about manga at the library - some even being the exact ones in the magazine I was reading! Skip Beat was a big one of that and it remains as a favorite ♥︎

Sadly all my magazines we're lost to time, so I don't have them anymore. One day I would love to collect them again and re-live those fond memories.

I don't know anyone else who really read or knew about the magazine, so I hope this helps to bring out those memories or help spread the word about this beloved magazine I miss so much.

♥︎ O(∩_∩)O ♥︎

#shojo beat #shojobeatmagazine #Shojomanga #vampire knight #skip beat #gabakawa #godchild #nana #Manga #full moon

22 notes · View notes

vraisetzen · 4 months ago

Note

https://www.tumblr.com/vraisetzen/761468996944035840/httpswwwtumblrcomvraisetzen76049533859227238?source=share

Dearest V,

Thank you so very much for writing such fascinating and beautifully written extracts in accompaniment of your brilliant series. I truly enjoy reading each and every one of your extracts.

I find the idea of Koku being lost in the world of books absolutely charming (and adorable). And the idea of him being unable to turn his attention away from his reading while simultaneously tucking his love into his side is incredibly cute. Personally, I have a hunch as though he’d be a voracious reader — with an incredible ability of being able to read a page and absorb the information into his brain, being able to recall it when needed. I also feel like he’d be a fast reader, too…

I adored the way in which you wrote his interactions with the children! That’s so cute! And asking about his hair and then them running away? And Koku turning sentimental and thinking of having his own children? I honestly thought that scene was super cute. And also… just the way you wrote that scene… I thought it was incredibly charming and funny, and I’m convinced that you have the rare ability of being able to write children well.

I also thought that his interaction with the older women was hilarious. You see, you have this spectacular ability of being incredibly visual with your writing — I can instantly conjure the scenes in my mind, much like a movie/series. Koku coming around to grasp his love’s hand and show public affection made me giggle.

I really liked the way in which this whole scene added up! With R encountering Tanjiro and Kanao, and the knowing look in Tanjiro’s eyes… and also the gift at the end and Koku declining the option to eat it… (I wonder if Tanjiro knows who her husband is…)

I genuinely think you’re a very talented writer.

I wonder — have you written any novellas/short stories/poetry/scripts/etc for any writing competitions before?

Thank you for your kind words, Anon! I'm so happy that you enjoyed the little excerpts!

Michikatsu being a voracious reader is indeed very charming and adorable! I also think he would have a fantastic memory of the books he had read, whilst also being a relatively fast reader; at the same time, I could also see him as someone who would re-read the books that he truly liked again and again (especially if they are the Reader's favourite books, just so he could understand her a little better).

I'm glad the little vignette with the children came across well too! Kids are indeed notoriously difficult to write — thankfully I could tap into my experience of being a teacher and draw out their innocent antics! Michikatsu being a little sentimental as he watched them was a tiny touch that I wanted to include, as perhaps something for him and the Reader to resolve (if we ever get there, haha).

As for the whole Tanjiro business, I kinda knew that it wouldn't be nice for the Reader to keep avoiding them forever, so I needed her to face him eventually. It seemed right for all of them to finally move on with their lives...

Tanjiro, like Uzui, might have a hunch as to who Michikatsu is when they finally meet at his wedding, but I think he, being the sweet, young man he is, would be understanding and considerate. There were many moments in the manga where Tanjiro empathised with the demons (though never forgiving them), so I think he could extend those feelings to the Reader, and see them as her giving Michikatsu a second chance. The Reader, meanwhile, will never fully divulge the truth/timeline of their relationship to anyone — this is something I am very certain.

Thank you again for your kind words! I have indeed written poetry for a literary magazine in my country; fanfic is just my creative outlet since I work as an editor for a trade magazine (very corporate and nothing like The Devil Wears Prada!).

xoxo, V ♥️

#ask box #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kokushibo #tanjiro kamado

5 notes · View notes

neonscandal · 1 year ago

Note

"JJK really went from a loved manga to a mid-to-bad story with insufferable fans 🙏 may more of us hate it in the future. It snatches the spotlight from genuinely good shows and its another case of "general shonen fan will call any trash 'goat' if the fight is well animated".

I used to be a fan, until the start of the culling game. And after this controversial, inconsistent and inhumane adaptation of shibuya, im glad that I have no interest in both manga and show anymore"

Do you think Culling Game really that hard to understand? Cause I saw quite a llt got turned off to JJK since that arc....

⚠️ Content Warning (no real spoilers) for the Culling Games arc. Nothing in depth to warrant burying beneath a "Keep Reading" but fair to mention just in case.

I don't know how to say this without generalizing negatively but the sentiments very much sound like they came from a cishet dudebro. I've noticed that shonen series' that have a fanbase made up of vocal queer people and/or womxn fans are widely renowned for their "insufferable fans" and this specifically is applied to JJK and MHA across social media. I wonder why.

From the lack of sexualization of female characters/students, the immediate shutdown that Nobara was going to fall for Yuji or Megumi in typical shonen fashion, the cast of men being curated for the female gaze across the manga and anime adaptation (Gojo, Geto, Nanami, Toji, etc.), the overt queer coding and presence of canonically queer/trans characters... also, the simple fact that the canonically attractive and OP characters aren't insufferable assholes? Maybe that's just a me thing but it seems like these factors have been rubbing certain people the wrong way.

Re: the animation of Shibuya and the practices that delivered the work with such an insane timeline and not to the quality of the team of animators' liking... that's valid. But that is a Mappa shortcoming in an effort to snatch up all the prolific and iconic adaptations they can, not a JJK shortcoming. As such, throwing the baby out with the bathwater there doesn't seem like a particularly sound argument but just a means to pile on.

A/N: As it stands, Mappa held the reigns on AOT's final season (taking over from Wit Studio due to production schedule), S2 of Vinland Saga (taking over from Wit Studio due to production schedule), JJK S1, JJK 0 movie, CSM adaptation of S1, Hell's Paradise adaptation of S1, JJK S2, CSM movie adaptation for Reze Arc, Zom 100... all since 2020 and does not encompass other, smaller series'.

I'll concede, it makes sense that the culling games left a lot of readers lost in the forest, myself included. Not the point of the games since we know, to what end, Kenjaku!Geto hopes to achieve at this point.

I think readers were stymied by how much time was spent on developing unique characters who were offed like.. a chapter later. A necessary evil to maintain the living core cast of characters who would later have to take on the Big BadsTM while also moving along the point system for the Culling Games. It seems like Gege Akutami took their time to cultivate these mini-fights though it wasn't clear to what end from a plot standpoint... yet. Empirically, we've seen small details woven back into the story which didn't seem apparent at the time given the exposition style of the mangaka.

As a reader, I love guessing at the end of stories. You can see the crackpot theories that pepper the Manga With Me tag. But the Culling Game arc spans long enough to lose the plot and make it so much harder to forecast where the story is going. Especially when Gege Akutami generally seems like a troll of a person anyway.

I think the Culling Games happening immediately after the Shibuya arc was a choice. Based on anime only fan reactions to Shibuya, what's to come is not for the faint of heart fans. Especially when you consider the losses suffered in Shibuya are immediately eclipsed by the regular losses and disappointments within the Culling Games. However, as a fan, I'mma let Gege cook even if they're using my tears and angst as seasoning because we haven't seen enough of the story to determine the Culling Game's true place/meaning within it.

I think, story wise, they started off too strong with emphasizing Gojo's overpoweredness. Subsequently, they had to write in caveats and build ways to close the gaps between him and other characters to allow for the story to press forward with or without him. I still don't know how this story is going to end though I think I have a new hypothesis from the last time I guessed at who would survive.

At the end of the day, it's definitely that person's opinion to jump back in once more of the story has been fleshed out should they choose to do so because a lot of people don't like dealing in uncertainties. Whatever they decide, don't let it sway your enjoyment one way or another, anon. ❤️

#neon asks #anon asks #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #manga #anime #mappa #mappa studio #culling games #culling game arc #gege akutami

7 notes · View notes

chaos0pikachu · 10 months ago

Note

Hiya, finally got around to reading your post on the horror influences of DFF (thank you) and because it added immensely to my to watch list, I was wondering if you had any recommendations / resources for my current side quest.

Last week I watched both 1000 years old and Red Wine in the Dark Night and came across two very different vampires neither of which has fangs. And while that might still be a coincidence (n=2 is not a good basis) it was enough to make me realise that I do close to nothing about Thailand (and related) vampire lore.

While it is a blessing that we are going to have five thai vampire BLs this year, in this case it is actually a curse because any combination of keywords I can think of leads me to 1000 images of Boun staring at me with red eyes. And in this ONE instance, this is actually a complaint.

So, rambles over: Do you have any recommendation for thai horror / supernatural stories that feature vampires / blood sucking ghosts demons or the like?

Hope you are having a good day and happy watching :-)

Tbh I don't know a ton of Thai vampire movies specifically. My knowledge of Thai cinema tends to skew action or horror and even that I'm still a newbie. What's more frustrating is a lot of older Thai films aren't available for streaming and you gotta pirate them - which hey, I'm no stranger to that life either I'm an anime fan lmao - though Netflix has started picking up more Thai imports recently. That's where I watched The Whole Truth, Girl From Nowhere, Trapped 13 (there's a documentary and a drama also fuck Elon Musk), and part of School Tales.

[Netflix is so fucking annoying they have some of the best catalog for international media around but they're so god damn greedy]

As far as I know in regards to like, are there even Thai vampires in mythology/folklore the closest thing I could find was the Krasue:

"A Krasue, sometimes called Pii Krasue, is a spirit that haunts most of Southeast Asia. [...] The Krasue is delightfully gory, consisting of a floating head with entrails and internal organs dangling from the neck. They usually manifest themselves as attractive young women with bloody hanging innards and float about accompanied by an eerie glow. Sometimes, they even have fangs like a vampire." (source)

So I think it's pretty safe to say that, uh, the vampires in upcoming Thai shows are not taking from Thai myth lol but probably Japanese and Korean media.

Japanese takes on vampires which were all the rage in the mid-00s: Blood The Last Vampire (2000), Vampire Knight (2008), Blood+ (2005), Hellsing (1997 - 2008), Blood C (2011), Blood Hound (2004), Trinity Blood (2005) I'm noticing a lot of "blood" used in these titles.

Not that vampires aren't still a sub-genre in Japan, like gosh Seraph of the End was huge in 2013 and was a part of the small re-boom of anime/manga during that time period after the bubble popped.

Korea's also done vampires there seems to have been a bit of a boom in the mid-00s (Vampire Idol 2011, Immortal Goddess 2016) and then again recently (Kissable Lips 2022, Bite Sisters 2021, Heartbeat 2023). From what little I've seen in Korean media - I haven't watched either of the mid-00s shows - vampires tend to be more romance fodder, and treated like any other fantasy creature rather than something scary or demonic.

Which falls in line with the trailer for 1000 Days - which I have also not watched so correct me if I'm wrong and it's actually scary as fuck lmao - while Japanese vampire media ranges from romantic but more gothic or outright just for horror and action.

In my experience horror films from Japan, Korea and Thailand don't usually have blood sucking ghosts or demons? Not saying there's none, but most of the films I've watched the ghosts weren't like, of the blood sucking variety. They tend to be connected to curses left behind because of some sort of wrong done to the spirit in their past life.

Take, White Melody of Death, as an example which is a Korean horror film about a Kpop girl group. The curse that murders it's way through the characters is attached to the spirit of a character who died.

I really recommend this video on White if only b/c I adore Yhara's videos:

youtube

Even in The Whole Truth the spirit is more of seeking vengeance than like, to eat people. The concept of "demons" is different in various Asian countries than in an American/Anglo-Saxon context because of the differences in religious, and cultural roots.

Again, totally not an expert regarding all this, and I'm putting the rest under a read more for length but gonna talk a bit more about Japanese, and Chinese folklore (with sources!) under the cut. And I DO list some recs for general horror stuff I like.

Take the concept of "demon" for example:

"Yokai is not simply the Japanese word for demon, as is sometimes believed. They are the embodiment of a moment: a feeling of dread and bewilderment, or awe and wonder over an extraordinary event; or a strange sound or peculiar scent that demands an explanation; an ineffable phenomenon explained only by a supernatural entity. Little wonder then that the Japanese characters for Yokai are 妖怪, which taken individually could mean strange or alluring mystery!" (source)

You can see this reflected in Japanese media like the super famous Inu-yasha: A Feudal Fairytale by Rumiko Takahashi (Inuyasha when directly translated into English means "dog demon"). Where, in the story, there's a mix of demons both human like, creature like, and wide as far as individual morality goes - one of the protagonists, Inuyasha is a half-demon mixed with human it's a whole subplot of his character.

I've found this is more typical in the Japanese media I've engaged with. Like in Japanese horror like Dark Waters (2002) or Ringu (1998) they don't refer to the "monster" as a "demon" it's typically referred to as a ghost or spirit.

You can also see this in Chinese media like Yin Yang Master Dream of Eternity - where the protagonist is also a half demon I'm beginning to see a pattern in the media I like lmao - which makes sense since parts of Japanese folklore/mythology was inspired by Chinese mythology:

"Here, in his third book, Konjaku Hyakki Shui (Supplement to The Hundred Demons from the Present and the Past), Sekien finds inspiration in Chinese mythology." (source)

I feel like this is a long winded way of saying, uh, no I don't know any Thai specific movies about vampires or blood sucking demons. It seems like a fairly new genre exploration from what I've researched so far.

Anyway I can happily share some of my favorite Korean, Japanese and Thai horror things tho, but I really recommend others search themselves and explore the genre. Horror is so vast and flexible as a genre so there's a lot I haven't watched or maybe don't even vibe with that you might!

Perfect Blue, 1997, directed by Satoshi Kon - if you liked Black Swan you'd probably like this film if not more so, it's animated but it's such an amazing psychological horror film there's a reason Satoshi Kon's work has been so influential on media globally.

Girl From Nowhere, 2018 - I talk this one up a lot but I only like season 1 which imo is stronger conceptually, that said, a lot of folks liked season two as well! It has major Twilight Zone vibes, but with a central protagonist who is also a literal force of nature (is Nanno a deity, spirit, demon? No one actually knows and the ambigity is delicious) both seasons are available on Netflix.

Ringu, 1998 - I feel like even if you're a casual horror fan or the like you know of The Ring which is a 2002 remake of this Japanese horror film. I think the 1998 version is better if only because my beloved Hiroyuki Sanada is in it, tho as far as American remakes of Japanese horror films go, The Ring isn't a terrible one (the sequel is tho imo).

Hellsing Ultimate, 2006 - So there's an anime for Hellsing from 2002 that's okay, Hellsing Ultimate is a direct adaption of the manga and it's better. I recommend either reading the manga - the art is FANTASTIC - or watching Ultimate. Out of all three I prefer the manga if only because the art is so good, but if you want Dracula eating and fighting Nazis this is the story for you.

Vampire Princess Miyu, 1997 - this is partly nostalgia but the series is so beautifully animated and it's such a classic. The OVAs will probably be hard to find but if you can and you want some classic Japanese vampire stuff I really liked this back in my youth~~

God Child/Earl of Cain, 2005 - so this is a manga, and it's more Gothic horror than straight horror, but I'm adding it because Kaori Yuki's art is amazing, it's a very subtexually queer series, and it's very Sherlock Holmes meets Shirley Jackson in terms of story.

Train to Busan, 2016 - I am a HUGE zombie film fan love me some zombies and Train to Busan is in my top 3 easy. It's top down one of the best zombie films and the only one that tops it for me is the original Night of the Living Dead. The film has the tag team of Don Lee and Gong Yoo like are you kidding me?

I Saw The Devil, 2010 - This one is A Lot, but it stars Lee Byung-hun in one of his better roles and if you don't trust me watch Kennie JD's video on it.

The Guest, 2018 - This show was such an interesting mix of exorcism and shamanism. The scares were legit SCARY and the entire show was so unnerving, if you can handle slow burns and a good character driven ghost story I really liked this one.

#Alive, 2020 - Okay this feels like cheating cause it's not actually that scary like, at all lol at least not to me, but it's got zombies and the incredible Yoo Ah-In (there's also an American version with Tyler Posey that is unfortunately very bad).

Kingdom, 2018 - I am truly basic but it's SUCH a good zombie show!!! The thrills are amazing, and it had me and my Ma on the edge of our seats. It's not really scary to me, but like its a ymmv (zombies in general don't scare me lol they're just fun).

That's all I can think of right now, I know there's more in my head but I can't remember of them all lol and others that I've watched that I wouldn't really recommend - High School of the Dead, for example, is famous for it's "Matrix boobs" scene which is hilarious but not great cinema lmao - so I left a lot of stuff I know out.

This got long, sorry dude!

#chaos pikachu speaks #asks

5 notes · View notes

osarina · 5 months ago

Note

Hellooo!!

So um this is my first ask ever so I’m a bit unsure bout things but I’m just gonna babble haha

I first found you through ao3 when only the first chapter of badlands was released and immediately got hooked, the writing was so good and I was soo ready for future chapters and then I saw the line “always end in tragedy.”

…😳 what did I get myself into?!! Haha but it ended happy!? I was like huh wasn’t this a doomed romance, but it ended pretty well and then unreal unearth came out and- oh I see what you meant now. Badlands whispered sweet nothings into my ear and push me gently into satin silks only for Unreal Unearth to German suplex me into the bed of nails that was hidden under the silks all along (BUT IN A GOOD WAY, in a good way??) The wasabi to the cake was finding out in UU that Badlands actually had a sad ending post credit, …OH THEY DOOMED DOOMED (THEY WERE SO CLOSE TO BEING MARRIED djshdkek 😭😭😭)

I reallly love fanfic writers like cause reading their works just remind me of the affections i felt for the characters and the series like how to I say this hahah like i first watched bsd a few years ago when i started getting into anime and i just found this series on Netflix and was like oh this looks interesting. They only had season 1 and afterwards I got into the series for a while as i really like the concept of detectives with superpowers haha but my interest was kinda basic like I wasn’t in deep, my only knowledge was s1, didn’t even read the manga haha, and just read some fanfics, and than after a while i moved on to other series.

But earlier this year when i was looking through my bookmarks and i came across this old bsd fanfic, it was just a oneshot so i was like lemme reread it why not and THAT basically change everything haha, reading it just remind me of why i loved these characters and the adventures they had and I sorta re-fell in love with bsd again and wanted to go rewatched the series and actually go read the manga haha and found out oh they have 5 seasons now, a parody manga , light novels? , stage plays??! and even a ACTUAL CANON AU ( oh beast, why beast🥹) like there’s so much content haha like there’s 5 different manga ??!! Like I left bsd when it was just goofy detectives adventures only to return to a vampire apocalypse and world ending fidget spinner??!! and I also realised that all the characters are named after actual authors and their abilities are after their works like that is soo coool, it’s kinda weird but cool which is kinda what bsd, weird in a fun way? Haha

Lowkey the reason why I watched some anime is cause I’ve read some fanfic with no knowledge of the actual canon and was like this fanfic was so goood let me go check out the source material hahha, me finding anime recommendations through fanfic✌️hahha like it wasn’t the anime or manga that brought me into the fandom but someone’s godamn incredible fic, haha and i think your fanfics is like that, like if I didn’t know about bsd before, after reading your works, I’ll be ready to jump right in no question asked ma’am. Mann I thought I already love this character as much as I could but after reading your fanfics , apparently falling harder is something I’m capable of haha like I feel a bit embarrassed writing all of this but I really looveee your works they are just so goood, reading each new series you have just sorta makes me refall in love with dazai again and again, even if I get hurt by the angst I just can’t help but go back haha

Do you have any advice for writing? 👉👈 cause I’ve been thinking about writing my own fanfics, got some oc ideas in my notes but never really gotten around on that haha so would you have advice for a first timer 🙏🙏🙏

Also I’ve been wondering since PM!reader has ability what about waterloo!reader , i don’t know whether you mentioned it before but what kinda ability did she have, if that’s okay to asked im just been real curious on that

ALSO ALSO ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

I hope you have a wonderful time!! All the well wishes for you 🎉🎉🎉🎉

so that about it’s, sorry for the long tangent haha

Thank you for sharing your masterpieces haha, I look forward to your future works 😊😊😊

also…dazai is so pretty sigh 😮‍💨

OMGGGG TUMBLR USER CHERERRRY WELCOME TO MY BLOG IM GIVING U THE BIGGEST AND WARMEST HUG

HAHAHAHAHHHH YOUR DESCRIPTION OF WATERLOO HAS ME DYING "badlands whispered sweet nothings into my ear to push me into satin silks only for uu to german suplex me into the bed of nails hidden underneath the silks" KDJFIOUAHDFASUIFHSDF IM ACTUALLY DECEASED THIS IS SO FUNNY AND THEN THE WASABI TO THE CAKE HAS ME CACKLING HAHAHAHH I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD APOLOGIZE BUT I CAN'T STOP GIGGLING

OMG u and me are truly the same - i love going to read works in fandoms ive never been in to see if i can find something to lure me into finally reading the manga/watching the anime. miss river has truly tempted me with some of her genshin fics but i fear i can only handle a single gacha at once. im desperately waiting for rylie to write for one piece because ive been teetering on starting it but i need something to push me over the edge because its just sooo long HAHAHAH

and omg i have to note because i was actually just thinking about how much i missed early seasons bsd before ... but it TRULY has changed so much, like i have so much nostalgia for the earlier seasons i miss when bsd was just about silly little detectives solving silly cases </333 get these vampires and godmen out of here pretty pls </333 no jk, im actually enjoying the plot (which seems to be an unpopular opnion in the fandom HAHAH) but i am excited to see where asagiri takes it. the 1 month wait time between chapters is killing me

BUT PLSSSS YOU'RE SO SWEET <333 im so glad i can help you refall in love with mister bungo stray dogs, he truly deserves all of the love in the world. every time someone comes into my ask box telling me that i've like changed their view on his character or made them fall even harder it makes me so happy HAHAHH

omg i made a post a while back that i'll link here for you!! i hope it can help at all!!

AHHHHH okay!! so waterloo reader in uu & badlands canon does NOT have an ability, she is truly a civilian. but in the last chapter of uu, dazai alludes to there being universes out there where she somehow ended up with the port mafia when he ended up elsewhere (ada, civilian, government) and in those universes, she DID develop an ability. i haven't fleshed it out yet, but whether or not her ability manifests is triggered by an event that happens with her brother (iceman) when she's like 13/14 ish

AND DON'T APOLOGIZE <3333 i adore long asks thank you so much

#ᡣ𐭩 carina’s love letters #ᡣ𐭩 from user: chererrry

6 notes · View notes

haleigh-sloth · 2 years ago

Note

Hello again shigaraki expert! Hope all is well. Forgive me if you’ve answered this before, but what do you think people get wrong about him the most often and why? Both by viewers as well as the characters in the series. Thank you for always being so open to questions!

🤯 What a question. Also I have no idea how to react to being called that askdfasg. I think I kind of went on a little tangent about that here, but there are actually a lot of answers to this question.

There are a LOT of things about Tomura that I personally feel get mischaracterized by fans--but a lot of these takes come from multiple different subsects of the fandom. So I have to like...break it down I guess so it doesn't come across as a disjointed point I'm trying to make. And then in canon, god, there is also a lot of misunderstanding of him but that's because Tomura doesn't say anything out loud.

I'll break it into sections asghasf

Some takes are just not worth engaging with imo, like the ones talking about how he "actually wanted to kill his dad", or was actually born evil. I mean.....if that's the conclusion you've come to when reading the manga, there is nothing I can do to help you lol.

Takes I feel are skewed but not without justification to some extent though:

Man-child who throws tantrums: I mean yes, in the beginning when you didn't know the character well, you saw this behavior. And you hear the protagonist side characterize him this way. I get where this idea comes from, it isn't based off of nothing in canon. But supposedly people latched onto this characterization and never let it go. Now I personally don't see this a lot because anybody who thinks this is not someone I'd engage with in fandom anyway, but apparently in fics? I guess it's an issue. But yeah, needs to be let go. His reactions in early chapters have been explained to us as serious stress responses as a result of his life circumstances, not him being spoiled and unhappy that he didn’t get what he wanted, similarly to a toddler. The scratching at his skin and severe emotional irritation? It’s a panic attack.

Making his entire personality out to be nothing but a gamer nerd. Again, this isn’t without some justification. But it’s a little weird that so often he gets reduced down to…just that. It’s not even prevalent enough in his personality to have been put in his manga profile as something he likes, like it was for Spinner. It’s just weird that…that’s all he gets out of people sometimes.

The more complicated mischaracterizations (imo) are as follows:

“He has his own goals that he came to on his own.” Well, there is some evidence to back this up, if you ignore another key aspect of his character. He hates society, yes. He was abandoned by the common population and by heroes, yes. But his resiliency from this fact is completely tanked, because the real reason behind his goal to just get rid of everything is because he hates himself and sees no possibility for a future where the current world will ever accept him. But notice how in recent events we’ve been shown that despite the fact that he sees no future for himself in the current society, he still keeps hoping and holding out for someone to help him and accept him anyway. His self-hatred is not something he came up with on his own—that’s AFO. Society sucks, he hates it, and he has a hatred for it based off of personal experiences. But that’s not what he needs saving from. He needs saving from the hate he holds for himself and his own existence.

“He was liberated from his past.” He wasn’t. The proof is current chapters, but also if people would take like ten minutes to go back and really look at MVA, they’d see it for what it was. It was insanely negative development for Tomura and the shackles his past have around him only tightened their grip, as did AFO. Arguments over whether the possession plot line being planned from the start aside, MVA was never an arc about him being set free, or letting go, or moving on. It’s really really obvious if you look at it without being held up on the nice idea of Tomura being an independent thinker.

“He wants to make a change for the better.” I don’t know that this even really needs much explanation. I know it’s a common idea that he’s “fighting for a change”, but there’s a reason the manga doesn’t uphold his actions as something positive. Decaying cities with random bystander people in them is not positive nor is it fighting for any kind of change. And the manga doesn’t even try to frame it that way. So I find this take to be a result of people not letting go of past characterizations when we had less info, and not letting go of fanon Tomura. I talked about this here and here.

“He’s this selfless and compassionate person who prioritizes others (namely the League) above himself.” Honestly, I don’t see any indication of this, but it’s a popular idea people have of him. His desire for the LOV to live how they wish and HIS desire to destroy everything are 100% mutually exclusive. In a way both ideas might point in the same direction, but in that sense both of those things point in the same direction as AFO’s plans too. But they don’t enmesh well do they? On another note, he’s definitely self destructive, but he’s not sacrificial. He’s not out there thinking of the League’s well-being as a result of any sacrifice he makes. He operates rather independently (separating and going into a coma for four months). And the proof of this is, well, currently. When two of the remaining members of the league who have some sort of independence in their actions willfully turned a blind eye to his situation and pretty much abandoned him in the AFO situation, and have shown no internal conflicts to AFO taking over their operation. It just tells me that Tomura never set the bar for the League members to sacrifice themselves for each other, including himself. He doesn’t. What Spinner, Compress, and Twice do in their arcs is a different discussion altogether. But if we’re talking about Tomura specifically, he is not sacrificial for others. There is not really any evidence for that imo. I do think he is a compassionate person deep down, at his core. But that’s Tenko, who he really is, who he’s always been. That’s an aspect he’s always had outside of AFO that gets clouded over by his current personality that is nothing but trauma responses.

I think those are my biggest things that I feel get misconstrued, misread, mischaracterized about him by fandom. In the manga itself, there isn’t really a single soul who knows his true self (yet). So to answer that I’d say….everyone misunderstands him to great extents. But that’s intentionally done. Nobody is supposed to see how much he really hates himself and blames himself for his family and for how he turned out as a person. (Yet)

#bnha #boku no hero academia #anonymous #bnha asks #shigaraki tomura #shimura tenko #bnha meta

49 notes · View notes