#ishida akira what are you doing to me

[nat-but-free]

Im watching Gintama again and this creature captivates me

[harleyquilt]

Misreading Touka (Tokyo Ghoul Meta)

For some reason, I've been seeing more dung being thrown at Touka's characterisation in the series, and since I've been wanting to write a meta for a while now, I decided to do a short one addressing some of the criticism I've seen around. This won't go into everything, of course -- the series is far too dense with analytical potential and I am a busy bee. Just know that I do want to dive deeper into Touken/Kanetou at a later point.

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Touka is not reduced to a simple, meaningless housewife, and I do not understand why this perspective is used to undermine her character so often in the fandom. For the sake of this argument, I will be mostly focusing on her characterisation in ;Re, as that is where this criticism is mostly rooted. Yes, she is less active in the first part of the second series, but between all the other characters, events, and plot points, it is bizarre to me that people see so little in Touka, despite all that she does. 

I could dive into how Touka as a whole symbolises key themes throughout both series, and how that relates to Kaneki’s development, but I think I will save that for a separate meta. For now, I just want to discuss how Touka is positioned in the second series, and how it does not weaken the characterisation Ishida set up in the first. 

Following the end of the first series, which set its tone as a tragedy, Touka opens the ;Re café to act as a refuge for ghouls, just as Yoshimura did beforehand. To clarify, Yoshimura saved Touka from her miserable life on the streets, giving her the chance to live with some semblance of normalcy following the tragic consequences of her childhood. And now, as an adult, and with Yoshimura gone, Touka strives to recreate that environment once more. There are those that think she has done this for Kaneki and Kaneki alone, but that is clearly not the case, even if she does hope for Kaneki’s return one day; she allows Nishiki to take refuge there while he tries to find Kimi, she saves Tsukiyama after the Rosewald operation, and before anyone argues that she was still not directly involved in either case, she actively takes part in Ayato’s mission to save Hinami. It is there that she then sees Kaneki and allows him a place to stay too, following his battle with Arima. She even provides Akira and Amon a place to stay, reconciling their differences in the process, (underrated chapters, I think).

Up until this point, Touka has been forced to ‘live while losing’, and whether she decides to fight or not, it is an unavoidable outcome when it comes to war. She is simply trying to do what she can without trying to kill herself in the process – a flawed sentiment she has seen in her father and Kaneki before, and even to some extent, Ayato and Hinami.

She fights when she can, runs if she has to. She is forced to make this choice again and again, especially when the underground ward is attacked, and for the sake of her unborn child and other weaker ghouls, she must retreat if she doesn’t want all of them to needlessly die. 

That said, it is not as if she leaves without trying to fight first, she just isn’t stupidly overpowered like her opponents, (and that isn’t a jab at Ishida, I’m simply clarifying that she can’t defeat these foes with just Hinami at her side). Even then, she manages to stand her ground for a long time, despite the pregnancy and her hunger. Moreover, her kagune has developed since the first series, and like Ayato, she’s able to create more advanced structures with her ukaku. You just have to read in between the lines to see that Touka has never allowed herself to grow soft in the years Kaneki was away, and that only now, during this battle, can you see more of her capabilities.

And when Kaneki is trapped within Dragon, she finally decides that she cannot lose him – she refuses to lose him, because to do so would bring on too much despair. Just as Kaneki has prioritised Touka, Touka, too, will prioritise him, and so, even with her exhaustion, she battles against Mutsuki, digs through the Dragon’s flesh until her fingers and nails break, and almost succumbs to grief at the thought that he was already lost to her. The chapter is overlooked far too often, her desperate determination conveying to the reader the importance of love as a driving force.

Again, we saw this with Kaneki, who pushed himself past his limits in hopes of reaching Touka. Whether you like it or not, love is a powerful thing, and that has been shown throughout the series with many, if not all the characters. And for Kaneki and Touka, their love is their hope, and to lose that love is to lose their hope. So they fight, again and again, for each other and the light they bring into each other’s lives. 

Now I can argue all day about how Touka is far more active in the series than people care to admit, but I do not think that is why Touka is labelled as a housewife. I’ve been in the fandom for a long time and this label has been around long before their relationship was canonised, and I think it’s to do with the fact that Touka is clearly more feminine in ;Re. 

I’ve already explained that in terms of action, Touka still has plenty of moments to speak of, and personality-wise, I really don’t think she’s as different as people claim her to be. Yes, she’s calmer, but that shouldn’t be seen as a bad development. She’s an adult now, and with adulthood comes maturity, (or it should, anyway). She doesn’t need to fight anyone and everyone to prove herself, that is simply a childish perspective to take. Besides that, she’s still curt in the way she talks, is sarcastic and blunt, though not as harsh as she was before, and she still carries herself with plenty of pride and dignity, which was what was so appealing about her in the first series. Ffs, she confronts the whole CCG and tells them to eat shit because their arguments were annoying her. It’s ridiculous to me that people think she is a shadow of her former self, when there’s plenty of great moments involving her. 

As for her more maternal depictions, that is also something that has always been present, if you take a moment to connect the two series together. She was forced to grow up quickly when she became responsible of Ayato, and she effortlessly took Hinami under her wing after the death of her parents. This is an attribute that she continues to exhibit throughout ;Re, watching over the children and trying to comfort them. It’s a touching image, one that circles back around to her pregnancy. And to deem this progression as detrimental is rather…strange to me. In a time when we see women as strong and powerful for everything we represent – our hardships, both physically and emotionally, as well as our strengths – why is it seen as weak when female characters are utilised to represent the strength of womanhood. Because she’s a woman married to a man? Don’t be so childish. If you respect her characterisation at all, you will acknowledge how she continues to exhibit her strengths as an adult, whether that be in battle or beyond it. 

After all, Ishida could have easily written it so that she is no longer involved in anything past the discovery of her pregnancy. Except he doesn't, and instead, she fights even more, even harder, in spite of her pregnancy. Because of her pregnancy. And yet, this is somehow weakens her character? She is quite literally going beyond her limits to fight for her future, I see nothing weak in that.

It might be that readers dislike how she changes aesthetically, and that’s fine, but from that comes arguments that excuse why they don’t like her character. I could argue against every little argument I’ve seen about her, but at the end of the day, I feel like most of these points are made just to excuse a personal preference. And that is not an effective use of critical reading. You can’t make the story something it isn’t, and you can’t assume Touka was going to be a character she wasn’t written to be. If you don’t like that or disagree, then maybe this series isn’t for you and it’s time to move on. For now, at least, please give her characterisation the respect she deserves. Her role is so much more than the shallow labelling this fandom tends to give her.

[mikyapixie]

I’m assuming we all saw the trailer for Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League if not then 👉🏾 ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 Look I loved I really really do love this movie!!! I’M SUPER EXCITED FOR IT!!! BUT I just don’t like who they chose to voice Red Hood A.K.A. Jason Todd!!! I mean no disrespect to Akira Ishida I like him, I think he’s a fantastic voice actor & I like a lot of his work, but I wouldn’t have chosen him to voice Jason Todd I would’ve picked Tomokazu Sugita!!! But what do you guys think???

[theoneprecioustome]

The Persona Concert ended with Aikoto talking to each other! Here is the translation of their conversation, courtesy of @/kitaroai on the Aikoto Server:

(BGM: Memories of You -Reload Instrumental-) Aigis: Great job at the last concert, everyone! I could tell that the performers and the audience were all having fun. It was so wonderful! Makoto: Yeah. It's a bit lonely that it's over, but it made me think that I want to do my best the next time, and the one after that as well. Aigis: The next time… Therefore, “More Ahead”? Makoto: Yes… you're right. I want to surpass myself—I'll do my best with that in mind. Aigis: Then I cannot fall behind! By the way, there's something I've been curious about ever since we arrived in Yokohama. What is that thing floating above Minato Mirai? Makoto: “That thing”? Hmm… Ah! You mean the Ropeway? Isn't it incredible? You can move across the city like that. Aigis: I see~! Makoto: If you're that curious about it, why don't we all ride it together? Aigis: Shall we?! (The audience cheers) Then I'll go call everyone! Makoto: Wait! I'll go with you. (The audience cheers) Makoto: Well then, thank you for today, everyone! Let's meet again sometime.

[ecargmura]

Wind Breaker Episode 11 Review - New Day, New Classmates

I’m a little confused. Tsugeura’s little motto revolves around the word “virtue”. In the manga, it’s virtue. The subtitles call it virtue as well, but I’ve seen some subs use “aesthetics.” What is the accurate word? A moot on Twitter says that the accurate word should be “aesthetics”. Virtue means a behavior showing high moral standards while aesthetics means a particular theory or connection to beauty or art. My moot told me that the word Tsugeura uses is actually more associated with aesthetic rather than virtue. I don’t know…. For now, I’ll just call it virtue since that’s what the subtitles say, but if they switch it to aesthetics or something, I’ll use that.

Anyways, it’s a new day, the fourth to be exact, and Sakura meets two new classmates. The first is Taiga Tsugeura who likes to talk about virtue, is a gym bro, and is an all around himbo. He speaks in Kansai dialect, by the way. While he’s a nice guy, he lacks personal boundaries, which is why everyone avoids him. Sugishita’s face says it all. Fortunately, Sakura, Suo and Nirei are nice enough to hang out with him after school. Tsugeura is a macho guy, but he’s surprisingly goofy and sensitive. While he doesn’t get along with Kiryu, he doesn’t let that bother him. He’s very funny, honestly. I think he brings a good dynamic to the group as the optimist in a way. His fighting style centers around wrestling with the way he did a German suplex to one of those scrubs.

Tsugeura’s voice actor actually surprised me. He’s voiced by Kengo Kawanishi. You might know him as Muichiro from Demon Slayer and Roland Fortis from The Case Study of Vanitas. Why I was surprised was because I normally associated with him quiet pretty boys, but remembering that he voiced Roland, he has the capability to go loud and dumb too. Also, another thing that surprised me about him was that Kawanishi always sounded like he could be Akira Ishida’s successor in terms of range and tone, but the voice he uses for Tsugeura makes him sound like Noriaki Sugiyama who you might know as the voice of Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto and also voiced Muichiro’s dad who appeared in the third season of Demon Slayer. Kawanishi’s range is seriously killer.

The second of the new classmates is Mitsuki Kiryu. He’s rumored to be from a rich family with the way he went to a rich kid’s school during junior high. His past sounds very interesting if he chose to rebel and went to Fuurin; I’m super curious as much as I am curious about Suo’s past. Kiryu is practically the total opposite of Tsugeura in every way. He respects people’s boundaries, especially girls’, but is rather effeminate compared to the macho himbo Tsuge-chan. He’s also a huge phone addict as he was first seen in episode 2 playing with his phone. I do wonder if he has a hamburger case alongside the hotdog case. His fighting style sort of reminds me of the Gentle Fist style from Naruto, especially with the way it focuses on deflecting as Kiryu deflects his opponents and sends them flying to his allies.

Kiryu’s voice actor is Toshiyuki Toyonaga. It’s been a while since I last heard Toyonaga voice a rather effeminate character. I actually really like his acting a lot! He has so much range that his voice is so hard to detect because he sounds so different in whatever anime he’s in. If you’re curious on what roles he had done in the past, some examples include Yuuri Katsuki from Yuri on Ice, Kazuki Kurusu from Buddy Daddies and Nayuta Yatonokami from Paradox Live. All three of those roles sound different, yet they come from the same person. Amazing, isn't it? I love how Toyonaga gives Kiryu a boyish voice; that tone is so cute.

The fighting scene in the anime was well-animated! All three have such distinct styles, but it meshes so well together. Heck, even Suo gets to be a part of the fight, despite him being at the back protecting Nirei and the girl Kiryu saved and only fighting when mooks try to run towards the back. I really like the part where Sakura is flipping around after Tsugeura throws in a punch and then Kiryu deflects a guy towards him.

The episode is also has some development towards Sakura as he gets new fighting allies in Tsugeura and Kiryu and even gets five new contacts in his phone. He’s the most chronically offline teenager, and he’s even slowly adjusting to the teen life by attempting to participate in group chats and stuff. I hope that Sakura becomes an expert at instant messaging by the time the story ends.

The episode ends with the second years coming to Sakura’s class in order to pick a Group Captain. What is a group captain? It’s like a top of the class or something. Suo volunteers Sakura to be captain. What happens next will be shown next week. However, the second years showing up is great because Enomoto is hilarious with the way he rolls his R’s. Can you believe that he’s voiced by Taishi Murata, who voices Pieyon from Oshi no Ko? Crazy, right? That’s the third voice actor with crazy range in this episode. Also, this is the introduction to Kaji but I’ll talk more about him next week as he’ll finally talk. I can’t wait to see people’s reaction to Kaji. He’s such a great character.

There are two more episodes left. With how popular this show is in the Japanese fanbase, I wouldn’t be surprised if a second season will be announced; I certainly want it. What are your thoughts on this episode and are you also wanting a season two like I am?

[nijigasakilove]

Rahhhh Akane masterclass! Loved every moment of she and Aqua and hanging out. Detective Akane about to get to work on the case and I can’t wait to see how they handle what she cooks up next.

Kana part of the episode was well.. if I speak I’m in big trouble, but I did find it hilarious she had an Aquakane picture saved on her phone 😭 whole time on that date Aqua was just thinking about being direct with Akane, which is about damn time. She’s carried the story the least you can do is be honest with her.

“So you don’t need me anymore. I knew from the start you had a cunning side.” HUG HER DAMN IT. I guess Aqua was honest and didn’t wanna lie since he definitely had intended to use her but still. The fact Akane knows this and still wants to be around him and help him just shows how clear she is as best girl. She’s determined to help carry that burden and even willing to commit crimes for him, how can you not love her. The murder suicide lore was a little heavy even for her tho lmao.

THE ENDING OMG. People had been fan casting Ishida Akira for Kamiki, but Miyano Mamoru sounded awesome and that lead in to the ED will never get old. “Burning” has really grown on me.

[tamamatango]

Unplanned character analysis I should’ve saved for 6/23 but I need instant gratification whenever I have a thought or I explode

Sup nerds, thanks for reading my master’s thesis completely overanalyzing what literal scraps we have in relation to the new anime. Unfortunately no updates yet on that front but I’m starting to go a little Cuckoo For Cocoa Puffs in anticipation so fingers crossed they drop something soonish. I have a couple of longer form posts in my back pocket that may or may not happen in a nearish timeframe, we’ll see what I get around to.

I was going to not do any more posts until one of those materializes but I’m detouring from that for a bit because I had an epiphany about Saburo now that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this series again. Those if you who know me and/or were around for when I was most active here know he is my favorite character behind Kururu and that’s still true. So here’s like. A reading of him that I think completely changes the way you will look at this character. If you don’t see him like this already.

Saburo(/Mutsumi since this goes equally for the manga side) is not actually cool. Like this kid is totally cringe and a weirdo right. Literally thinks of the most unnecessarily extra solutions to things, wardrobe that gets increasingly bizarre over time, writes poetry that is usually either obnoxiously cheesy or just doesn’t make any sense. Spends his free time doing stuff like talking to cats and collecting shitty kids’ meal toys. His drawings aren’t even that good most of the time. Unironically Momoka has more swag than Saburo does (granted Momoka has more swag than most characters but that’s besides the point). Yes he is a super genius and athletically gifted and conventionally attractive to other people his age, and (for manga Mutsumi only) it’s later implied he was modified by the N326 in some way. But here’s the thing—a lot of his peers either think he’s a smarmy ass show-off little shit (manga) or just completely inaccessible to the average person so why bother (anime).

The reason why he’s such a celebrity is because the only people who think he is really cool are children and preteen girls (and secretly Giroro but the whole reason that’s a funny joke is because Saburo is totally not appealing to adults at all let alone hardened super serious soldiers). But this is a very profitable and exploitable audience so he is really successful. He is the equivalent of a Disney Channel teen star. He’s like what Justin Bieber was in 2010 or whenever. In the manga Mutsumi gladly eats up this attention, but the anime pretty heavily implies especially toward the (until this year tee hee) end of the series that Saburo kinda dislikes being under the celebrity microscope and having producers who want to milk their child star as much as possible; he just wants to create and entertain and express himself freely which is why he does everything anonymously.

I think the anime tried a little too hard to make him unironically cool and my guess is that this is for a couple reasons. One, he has Akira Ishida’s voice coming out of him which yes was obviously chosen primarily because lol Kaworu but also his voice is just inherently associated with “we want you to think this character is a mysterious ikemen” most of the time. Two, compared to the manga there’s a lot more fillery stuff revolving around Natsumi idolizing him and because so much of the show is from Natsumi’s perspective, that’s the perspective the viewers (who were also intended to be children then, though I think now that it’s a 20 year old series they’re going more for the nostalgic adult audience) get as well. Don’t get me wrong though the VERY few serious moments he had were fantastic, 229 best episode movie 3 best movie etc etc.

You could also argue Kururu thinks Saburo is “cool” but I think he respects him more in the way that he’s kinda like him but younger so they understand each other intrinsically and that makes Saburo more reliable in fulfilling Kururu’s specific needs than most other characters. Saburo’s a lot kinder ostensibly but unlike the rest of the cast, who recoils at Kururu’s mannerisms and psychological torment of everyone, Saburo usually just thinks it’s funny. Kururu is much of a freak as he is but is very particular about his image and actively micromanages almost every aspect of his personality to get people to see him a certain way and avoid showing too many of his vulnerabilities (it’s all but confirmed in the anime that his entire cadence and vocal tics are an elaborate act and his normal voice is totally different). We don’t see it much on screen but it seems he can kinda relax a bit around Saburo who himself is totally out there but in a more genuine and unabashed way, like even in the anime where the radio persona is a secret it’s not like he acts that much differently on the air than he does in his personal life. Besides maybe the early manga Kururu is not really a romantic and probably thinks Saburo’s sappy wappy poetry is cringe too, but he likes Saburo enough that he supports him being himself no matter what bullshit that entails (besides getting himself killed of course). Sorry had to shoehorn best partners talk for a bit longtime Kirb readers know how it is.

So there is actually a specific thing that made me decide let’s do a fucking character analysis for the first time in like 5 years or something, and that’s that I was browsing through raws of the one 4koma book I don’t physically own (shoutout to @kagender for those scans along with some other cool stuff like Keroro Land issues, storyboards and ref sheets!), and it was these strips:

This is a 4koma series in which Meru and Maru from Movie 2 hang around with the main cast for funny shenanigans. Not super relevant because these two strips don’t have them pictured but anyways. They’re having a beach day and Natsumi runs into Saburo who is there to “surf” but actually there are no real waves and he is just pretending. Because he’s copying the 1978 film Big Wednesday (it is Sunday in the comic). In other words teenager larps because he saw it in an old movie once. I know this is not really a pertinent example because the Keroro Land 4komas are all very silly and non-canon (a lot of the artists are actually former doujin artists) but look. This is peak, okay. This is my ideal Saburo outside of serious scenarios. I’ve seen the vision.

I swore I was gonna make this a short post but it’s not I guess. Can’t resist turning these into goddamn essays. So to wrap it up: Saburo is some dorky kid who thinks he’s way more of a hotshot than he really is and totally owns it with no shame. This is adorable. I will defend him with my life. I need Anikero The New to agree with me here. In like 85% of cases I prefer the anime’s takes on everything but Yoshizaki cooked with the ideas behind this guy so listen to word of god. Give us more Silly Saburo. The TikTok teenagers of today deserve this representation.

[otherworldseekers]

Pandaemonium thoughts: Themis (and those other guys too I guess)

Oops almost forgot to put this under a read more. 

/L;KND;FOLAIJKWENR;KLGIJB;KWEJURBG

They really fed us a Themis Feast, didn’t they?

But across the board the character development that culminated in this patch was just astounding. Even more so because Themis, Lahabrea and Erichthonios are not just long dead characters. In this patch they are facsimiles of long dead characters. Technically, there is no character growth possible. And yet throughout the quests our understanding of those characters grows leaps and bounds. 

Lahabrea who we knew previously only as a cackling madman has gone through several transformations along the course of Pandaemonium. From respected leader but terrible father to a man who made mistakes because of a tainted love and denies himself in an attempt to prevent further errors, to a man who acknowledges and accepts his failures and strives to move forward. This Lahabrea we meet in the end has finally embraced Erichthonios and his role as father, but fully admits that duty to the star comes before everything. 

Unlike Emet-Selch, he is not at all surprised to hear about what he becomes as an Ascian. He has no illusions about how far he would go for his duty. Perhaps that is why as Ascians, Emet-Selch and Lahabrea seem to have disliked each other. Emet maintains the fiction that what he is doing is noble because he is doing it for his people. Lahabrea knows perfectly well what he is doing is evil, but willingly walks the path in the name of his duty to the star because that is what he has sworn to do. 

I think it’s so interesting and appropriate how, as opposed to Emet-Selch and Elidibus, they didn’t go the route of making Lahabrea very sympathetic. While, naturally, he’s not a villain in Pandaemonium, he embraces the reality of his villainy without regrets. It’s a fascinating take and I think it helps to balance out what they did with the other Unsundered. 

Erichthonios. I had no idea when we met him how he would ultimately impact me. He’s just this guy when you first meet him. Then he’s this guy with daddy issues. Then he’s this guy with mommy issues. And it’s not until this patch that you get to learn how he truly came into his own. 

That moment when he faces Athena is so good, perfectly showcasing how Erich has learned to accept himself and has found what is really important to him. He grew so much throughout Pandaemonium and it’s in large part to what a difference the WoL made to him. How the WoL inspired him. 

It was the WoL who he looked to, who gave him the strength to find himself and his true family. And it’s the WoL who he is thinking of at the end of everything. It’s moments like this, when the game shows us the difference that our characters make in the lives of others, that I think make FFXIV really special. 

Themis. There’s so much I want to say about Themis. First, omg SE thank you so much for my life for giving him voice acting. Non MSQ quests NEVER get voice acting and they did it anyway. I was screaming. I love his voice so much. (Note: I play with Japanese voices and he’s voiced by possibly my absolute favorite seiyuu: Ishida Akira.) His voice is so perfect. I love it. 

Ok so, Themis. OMG. I am just in awe. The writing for his character has always been good, but this patch just blew me away. Right away you can feel that things are off. His speech and mannerisms are not quite what they were in the first two tiers. And we learn this is because Athena took his memories from the aetherial sea after his death. And though, as he later tells us, all memories but those of Pandaemonium are hazy, he is still a Themis who has experienced those things and those experiences are part of him. This is such a truly unique version of him. Because he is, mostly, his Pandaemonium, pre-Sundering self. He has his youth and the feelings of those times, hope for the future, in addition to love and responsibility for his people and the Convocation. But he’s also the Elidibus we came into conflict with. He knows what’s going to happen to him. He knows who we really are. And I was absolutely mesmerized by how well they conveyed all these nuanced in his mannerisms, actions and dialogue. 

And it’s actually a really neat way to solve the problem of Elidbus’ soul being spent in EW to send up to Elpis. Which suggested that there would be no cohesive Elidibus soul ever again. But here we have Athena basically gathering the fragments of his soul together from the Aetherial Sea and doing a good job of it too. 

The fight. It was absolute perfection. The beauty of the Convocation room. Themis’ true transformation. THE MUSIC. I have been listening to Fleeting Moment non-stop (I am listening to it now) and I could make a whole post just talking about it. It is probably my favorite version of the Amaurot theme now. The emotion in it. *clenches fist* AHHHH it’s so good.

After the fight, Themis admits that it is his interest in the WoL and the desire to know their nature that Athena exploited to bring him under her sway. This is curious since personally I didn’t get that impression from him in the previous tiers. I’m sure he was curious about us, but I never felt as though this was a driving desire in him, the way it clearly is with Ananaseios Themis. No, I think this is something that comes, at least in part, from the Elidibus we in the future. 

Other highlights:

HE’S GOING TO CHERISH EVERY MOMENT WITH US. And I perish.

A reminder that Themis is a badass. Enough to be recognized and respected by all 13 other members of the Convocation. 

And naturally: 

This whole scene was incredible. I love that it’s just him and us. I love that they allow us to be sad about him fading away. That he clearly wants to tell us these things. Wants us to understand that our relationship has purpose and meaning. That he can be content to have played his part in the salvation of the star and his soul can be at rest. 

Every single line of this scene is packed with emotion and meaning. (I absolutely cried.) But what comes after is even more packed with potential significance.

How fascinating, the truths that dwell at the edge of sleep. 

The course of history is set by its victors. It is immutable. And yet...

Should this star continue upon its path...

Look... The light...

This is most certainly a set up for 7.0 and I am FOAMING AT THE MOUTH TO KNOW MORE. WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN TO THE STAR?? At the end there, is that Themis being reincarnated?? ARE WE GOING TO GET TO MEET REINCARNATED THEMIS?? 

I imagine that would upset a lot of people who are tired of Ancients and Ascians and want them all gone, but fuck those people. If anyone deserves a second chance, surely it must be Themis. He gave so much and got nothing but suffering for it. 

But the possibility also raises some interesting questions about what an Unsundered reincarnated into the Source would be like. 

I feel like I could easily say more but this is already long enough. Anyway, Pandaemonium was amazing. 

[madraleen]

The Case Study of Vanitas - Season 1 (ie eps 1-24) A mixed first-watch commentary (*fair warning, i actively dislike stuff)

-the fairy tale style introduction is such a beautiful beginning.

-favonius codex, is that you?

-what is this op, are the guys in love?

-THE AIRSHIP IS SO COOL

-BLUE MOON, AND WHITE-HAIR-GUY SEEING PARIS FOR THE FIRST TIME AS HE HOLDS ON TO VANITAS AS THEY FALL TO THE GROUND AAAHHH

-HUMAN?! VANITAS IS HUMAN?!

-wdym you'll slay him in the end, noe, i'm not prepared for an unhappy ending even though i only just met y'all

-NOE'S FACIAL EXPRESSIONS ARE SO CUTE

-oh okay, so vanitas is human with some blue vampire power

-please freakin decide if vanitas has human nails or claw-like nails 'cause atm, gloveless, he has both depending on the shot

-wtf did just happen between vanitas and jeanne? leave the woman alone.

-akira ishida could be reciting an omelet recipe and i'd still listen all riveted, but the world formula stuff is actually interesting

-every time vanitas interacts with jeanne, i want to slap him.

-lil noe-louis-domi are adorable. the noe-louis-domi ep is the one i’ve been the most interested in so far. like, even if i end up disliking the rest of the anime, this ep is peak, ep.5

-please make me like vanitas. i really want to like vanitas, but for now i'm edging towards dislike.

-ah yes, jeanne/domi is actually a ship i can get behind.

-the op is telling me i'm watching a certain kind of anime and the actual anime is telling me i'm watching an entire different thing and it annoys me

-it's nice hearing kengo kawanishi in roland's role. i haven't heard him in the slightly-deranged/overly-emotional range before.

-awww, roland is a good egg after all!

-oh i see, i do like vanitas, just not when he's being ~alluring. THAT vanitas i don't like

-i repeat, DOMI/JEANNE!

-when jeanne is tricking vanitas, and he's suspecting her but playing along, they're so cute. aw damn, she'll fall for him? blergh

-oh come on, jeanne crying and being scared over whatever's up with her is actually sad

-LET NOE/US PEER INTO YOUR FUCKING MEMORIES, VANITAS! LET US SYMPATHIZE!

-AYUMU MURASEEEEEEEE

-the vanitas and noe interactions are so damn cute.

-hold up hold up, ayumu murase's range??

-pretty sure vanitas is on a time limit or sth, right? where's your earring, vanitas darling?

-no offense but jeanne has more chemistry with chloe in their hellfire witch backstory scene than she has had with vanitas in the entire anime

-nice chloe twist!

-roland, what a good egg

-astolfo's backstory tho <3

-hold up hold up, seriously, ayumu murase's range?????

-roland and olivier though <3 

-i am plagued by mikhails and mishas

-dude, misha's and vanitas' backstory >>> present story, like- the backstories are SO strong and streamlined compared to the present arcs. and i really like lady vanitas

-wait, domi's arc tho? chef's kiss

-poor noe, all of his closest people want him to be the one that kills them.

-MISHA, NOE AND VANITAS ON THE ROOF, PEAK

-aaah, i see, noe "will slay him in the end" as in the end-end, of the story, when vanitas succumbs to the book, okay. the last two eps were peak, i'm so emotionally confused. i'd gladly watch a s2. that said-

-i really don't like how romance is handled, and it's too present to just ignore. i don't find it cute, nor funny, nor romantic, nor alluring, nor particularly toxic, i just find it annoying and forced, lacking chemistry.

-i'm so confused on how i feel about vanitas. there's moments where i liked him, a lot of moments where i was neutral, but lots of others i found him incredibly annoying. but also, he's so complex, which is great, he's a well-crafted character, and you *get* it after you’ve seen these bits of his past, you come to understand him. and part of me thinks that we’re *supposed* to half-like and half-dislike him, that we’re supposed to mirror noe’s sentiments a bit, the “i don’t like you, but also i want to get to know you and to understand you and i’m never leaving your side, ever.” it’s just that for me, vanitas doesn’t have the charm or strength of character to be magnetic even when i dislike him, and i don’t know how i feel about that. i think if i didn't dislike the vanitas/jeanne approach so much, i might have been more fond of him.

-but again, that said: i'd like a rewatch, now that i know vanitas' backstory.

[viridiave]

So I've been playing Octopath Traveler 2 again. In Japanese. From the start. All over again. We know how this goes-

Temenos - god all you need to know is that if you thought he sounded gay as fuck in English he's even gayer in Japanese (Akira Ishida-isms?) BUT I have also heard a few of his more emotional lines in JP and uh - let's just say. He's a LOT better at screaming in JP. ENG Temenos is a hell of a lot more sarcastic tho he's a funny man

Ochette - so no shot to her English performances but god. I love her Japanese voice. She's the right amount of genki and quirky without sounding like a child and dkskkd ok I think she sounds cuter in JP come at me

Osvald - oh bless you Alejandro Saab I didn't know you were so good at grunting in a million different ways - tbh I can say the same for his JP voice actor but am I insane or does he sound softer in Japanese. Both of them are daddy tho vmfnfn

Throné - GOD I LOVE BOTH OF HER VOICES. Throné has the same Therion quirk in Japanese in that she'll switch between her serious voice and acting voice on a DIME and it's so pleasing to hear. I also appreciate how deep her voice sounds in both iterations UGH step on me lady

Castti - so earlier I said Teme was better at screaming in Japanese. I can say the same thing about Castti but for crying. It actually hurts my soul to hear her sound so lost. The only thing missing from her JP performance is that she can't say tHESE H A N D S

Hikari - I shall also say that Hikari is better at crying in Japanese! What the fuck I actually FELT that strangled scream he does when Tsuki dies in his arms and now I'm just thinking 'jesus boy I am sorry that you probably have constant nightmares about this night ala Olberic Eisenberg' - and uh Howard Wang is fine ig - I like his ENG voice a lot but JP Hikari. That emotion-

Partitio - Gotta say my hat's off to his English performance here fkdmdm his cowboy swag has charmed me completely. I can't really differentiate his JP voice from Alfyn's so - and I like the JP Alfyn 'I can crush your spine but won't anyway how are you doin fren' voice but it's also not that distinct vmfmf - Partitio's little stutters in English are also just. Chef's kiss

Agnea - I love her in both languages! Even if I do think her English performance is a lot better at the 'oh me accent's slipping' thing - I also appreciate that she doesn't sound like Tressa despite being the same age! Agnea actually sounds a lot older than her but retains the bright-eyed energy

BONUS ROUND

Crick - so I found out that Stephen Fu also voices Doma from Demon Slayer and I just. God I can't unhear Crick's protests of being called little lamb huh. I think I prefer it over his JP voice tho dkdkd but I appreciate the shonen protag energy in JP his screaming in battle has charmed me

Malaya - UGH. LADY. LADYYYYY. TOUGH LADY CAN BREAK MY NECK AND I WOULD THANK HER FOR IT - is what I would say for mostly JP Malaya like hot damn I was unprepared. I'm all for 'gently watches over Castti with a soft tired pining voice' Malaya in English though bless her soul

[crehador]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

ahh this is such a fun question, thanks so much for the ask! a difficult question as well lol, i am very indecisive so a top 10 anything is... tough

i'll limit myself to animanga only, aaand lump some characters in under the same banner so there's definitely going to be more than 10 here. i'm also prohibiting myself from giving more than one slot to hpmi characters or that would just be the whole list

anyway:

ICHISAMA (package deal, do not separate)

this is probably obvious (or should be obvious) from my pinned but in first place are of course my forever blorbos (and forever otp) ichiro and samatoki of hypnosis mic

it's hard to say what i like about them besides "literally everything" which is kind of funny because for like the first year-ish of me being into hpmi neither of them were my top favorites lol

and now i genuinely have to say i like them both equally, and like them both the most. out of any characters of anything ever. i typed a bunch of paragraphs after this but think i'll actually just stop here because nothing really does justice to how they make me feel (unwell, in a good way)

this post is already getting long so everything else will go under a cut! and besides ichisama in first, none of the other characters will be strictly ranked in order. mostly just listed as i think of them

2. bon my beloved, of showa genroku rakugo shinju

this is my favorite anime of all time, and what i would personally consider the best anime of all time, and bon is perhaps the single most beautiful character with the single most beautiful story i've consumed ever. i never feel any urge to make or consume fanworks of this series because it's just so mind-blowingly perfect and complete to me

i won't spoil too much about the series, but it's a tragedy, and that's something i don't read or watch much of. so it's truly exception for this to be my favorite, but it was just that good

bon is in so many ways a tragic character, and the series allows you to see him through his whole life. he's tragic in such a hauntingly beautiful way, though, and i left the series feeling like he now lives in my bones

this is probably also my favorite ishida akira role ever, which is saying a lot because he's always great. i love the anime because it gives such life to the rakugo performed in the series, and though i'm not an expert on rakugo, i felt like the performances were top-tier. and it always impresses me when voice actors take on roles that require them to perform a whole ass other art form (like rakugo or rap)

3. aomine (knb) AND grimmjow (bleach)

these are the same goddamn man i'm putting them together no one can stop me. they are a) blue b) panther-coded c) very aggro d) very aggro at a ginger mc specifically e) DEPRESSED and f) voiced by suwabe

(though honestly grimmjow's just here because they're too similar to separate, aomine's the real favorite here)

the thing with aomine is basically—

—and that paired with his tough guy/badass/fuckface manner is very appealing to me. i don't think it's even remotely possible for me to be brief in why he's so dear to me, but the short version is he's a deeply traumatized asshole and i'm into that

4. KIYOSE HAIJI RUN WITH THE WIND GUY OF ALL TIME (and various other sports guys who are single mothers)

i may have a lot of guys of all times but haiji is for real. before ichiro he was my favorite character of anything ever for a while, and he is definitely my favorite type of sports guy (so a lot of other sports guys are going to be lumped into this category with him lol)

he has an infectious passion for running and he will infect you. whether you let him or not. it's not negotiable. you will run. no matter what

i think he brings out the best in those around him, sometimes at a detrimental cost to himself. he pushes his team hard but pushes himself even harder. we stan a self-destructive king

and i'm putting natsusa number24 right in this rank with him

because while number24 is objectively Not a good anime, it's easily one of my favorite sports series and i sincerely love natsusa just as much as i love haiji. natsusa is like if someone made haiji but cranked the bitch factor up to one billion, he is the most gaslit gatekeep girlboss guy in all of sports anime and i love him for that

bonus shoutout to iura kei of shakunetsu kabaddi, usui yuuta of days, and sugawara koushi of haikyuu. gotta be my favorite flavor of sports guy

(ok this is not even fully true because i think my days favorite did ultimately end up being mizuki because he's just so fucking stupid BUT usui i still love you.........)

5. kaworu and all his ridiculously many expies (aka the "and then a weird guy appear" category)

basically i'm talking about these fucks

they show up, sometimes not even for very long, and all they do is cause problems (ok victor probably doesn't really belong here but he honestly does fit the mold and i'm too lazy to crop him out from this old graphic i made lol) and love another weird guy so catastrophically that it alters the course of the story

the way kaworu loves shinji the way komaeda loves hinata the way zashunina…… obsesses over shindo. like fine wine to me, chef's kiss. tbh that's why victor fits the mold for me, his and yuuri's love is less the "People Will Die" type of catastrophic but it's still life-changing, life-saving, for them both

ironically even though kaworu is a ryo expy himself i'm not. i'm not that big on ryo, i'll be honest. maybe it's because i wasn't the biggest of netflix devilman in general. i should probably read the manga sometime, might change my mind

6. SOFT BOYS natsume and rei

putting them together in part because lol look at them making the same pose on their anime covers even

these are both (natumse's book of friends and march comes in like a lion) two of my favorite series, and two of my favorite protagonists. they're soft but not weak, hurt but not broken. it just feels comfortable to spend time with them, to follow them even when they're hurting

7. CELTY MY BELOVED, of durarara

honestly celty is just cool as fuck. there are lots and lots of reasons to love her but i get so incoherent about it. it's really strange because i feel like the way narita writes women is not great in many ways, and yet... he always fucking... writes the hottest fucking women goddamn, i can't be mad about that

i always liked shinra too. because of how relatable he was lmao. i would be a weird little man about celty too i'm sorry

8. sir integra fairbrook wingates hellsing, of hellsing

god. yet another. she's just so fucking cool. massively obsessed with her. it's been too long since i've watched hellsing (and durarara for that matter) for me to remember a ton of details but her whole personality is just so appealing to me

you know the way people like fma olivier armstrong. sir integra's my armstrong

9. hei, of darker than black

once again he's just cool as fuck, also i'm chinese and it's rare to see a really good chinese character in anime, much less as a main character. darker than black is an older series at this point, but it remains one of my old favorites. second season was a bit questionable but honestly i didn't hate it. my boy got fuucked uuupppppp (said with delight)

funny story about hei is when i first started watching the show there was this moment where i thought "this is a weird detail to notice but something about his collarbones look really nice to me? they're just two lines but idk they're lovely"

THEN LATER IN THE SERIES on at least two other occasions that i can remember, maybe more, actual characters in canon commented on THIS SPECIFIC THING. HIS COLLARBONES. so what do i like about hei? what does anyone like about hei? apparently it's his collarbones lmao

10. nooooo i'm running out of space now and there are so many more blorbso i would talk about i can't choose who to put here but but but closing my eyes and picking the first name that comes to mind MIKOTO SUOH K PROJECT

part of me thinks i shouldn't actually put him here because he's, like, red samatoki lmao but no he deserves a spot. i think. idk. that's what i'm going with for now but, you know, indecisive

anyway. love a tragic mfer with one dead boyfriend who haunts the narrative and another ex who [redacted idk if anyone is going to be reading this far but just in case no one wants k spoilers i want say anything but you know this show is old as balls by now]

i actually love both of the factions in k (there are more factions later but i'm focusing on red and blue) because they're both families in different ways, and mikoto and munakata both care about their families in different ways (yes i love that bitch munakata too)

and the way they care for their people while failing to fully let their people care for them in return is sooooo delicious as a character trait to me

so that's the end of this enormous post i guess! there are approximately a billion other characters i love that i didn't get to mention but i will do my best to shut up now lmao

thank you again for the ask, very fun exercise to think about!

[branewurms]

i just binged my happy marriage and the weirdest thing to me is that nothing i saw about it before i watched it mentioned it was cinderella in au taishou era japan with superpowers and cursed zombie creatures

i would have checked it out SO much quicker if you had told me that lmao

if any of you are wondering: it was not good, and i don’t really recommend it. the characters were all kind of just vague outlines with no real meat (excepting the love interest’s sister, who is a modern Bright Young Thing, loved her.) BUT it was strangely compelling to me for whatever reason, hence i binged

probably just the “bizarre twist on a fairy tale” aspect, i am a sucker for that shit. so i guess i DO recommend it if you too are a sucker for that shit.

(YET NONE OF THE DESCRIPTIONS I HAVE SEEN OF IT EVEN MENTION IT’S FUCKING CINDERELLA WHY????)

in the beginning i was sure it must have been adapted from an otome dating sim, bc it was like “here is the love interest most prominently displayed on the marketing materials and who the anime will pair her with. here is the childhood friend. here is the colorful dandy. here is the yandere one. yep those are the other options in the game,” but no, it was originally a web novel. i am convinced the author originally dreamt it up as a dating sim & lacked the resources for that lol

ETA: OH also i forgot to mention akira ishida has a small role in this as “prince takaihito” (lol). unfortunate that rl prince takahito didn’t look like this

anyway what i mean to say is i love you akira ishida i haven’t heard your beautiful voice in so long where have you been 😭 (answer: in things i have not watched 😭😭)

[hungnitan]

Penacony TB 2.0 Impression

Contain very heavy spoiler so don't click keep reading below if you don't want to get spoil (JP DUB)

I won't talked too much about story here since everyone can read them

Story Impression

I don't know if I miss it but has anyone explain the graveness of someone dying at dreamscape ? From some side mission, I think it's just they will comeback to reality ? So why at TB they made us think like we died for real ?

I only can hopefully think hoyo will explain it at later date ! If not, then it's just Xianzhou Luofu things again...

But I quite like the course of story so far despite above and the fact it's very similar to Flamechaser premise of story. I think anyone who play HI3 should notice these. As now the premise are grouping a very range personality people together in same place -> kill them one by one -> spreading distrust to MC and yeah those same premise already happened in Flamechaser stories...

Remember seeing this flamechaser editing pict ? With current story, I guess it shouldn't be that far with changing March7 to Sunday and now hoyo just killed 2 person easily and with Misha get mentioned too much in 2.0 I can't push him away from picture~

And with just 2.0 aside Family will doing something fishy, I can't grasp the main problem at Penacony plus (literally) everyones have their own morally gray goal which make things complicated especially someone like Sparkle which doing things just to make it interesting or Acheron basically hunt injustice equally.

2.0 Important New Character

Firefly, I kinda had Yuuki SAO impression from her so I can't even sad she's gone since I already know the very same "someone terminally ill dive into dreamscape-like to extend their lifetime" premise (plus she still hiding something important even for Sparkle came to us disguise as Sampo lol) but wow hoyo really kill her in brutal and clean way...

It's just this pict hit my heart of course if she's really dying later don't know though

Aventurine, his JP VA Kengo Kawanishi doing a good job voicing him as calculated tricky but bit mellow person. At most scene I'm suspicious of him since he's sounds very similar to Akira Ishida (but his "my friend" line keeping me laugh lol) but one thing I'm sure after read 2.0 about him is he will become a important character even in future version. Why ? He's having too many background mentioned scene

(1) This "Sigonian" bloodline things get mentioned at two scene, other one from Sparkle after made a comment about his unusual eyes. Seems that bloodline connected to his other form~

(2) This one too direct line came from Ratio (lol) saying about he's just a slave to IPC which he brush it lightly

(3) But weird enough when he talked about his family, Ratio suddenly apologies. It still too early to say this but maybe ten stoneheart are all extinct people got taken/buy by IPC

What's more, just what's happened at the end of stories ? Same like Firefly case with Sam, we can't conclude that Aventurine killed Robin with that scene... fyi, these scene too moreless same as Flamechaser story and in the end suspect isn't killed anyone lol

Why only those two ? So far Acheron and Black Swan only become our bodyguards (lol), Sparkle playing around us in her own interesting ways, Ratio isn't doing things too drastically to us he's too busy to wipe his wife sorry ass lol but those people seems have same purpose, keeping eyes on us in this point too is same like Flamechaser story lol

PS : I kinda had some nauseous a bit while playing at 3d maps but so far it's very fun, I need another weeks for all complete I guess. Well, I had Genshin too but the maps itself really big and too many side things to do (I already saving 15 side mission after exploring half of Penacony)

[roirence]

hewwo roi! what do you think of persona 3 reload? :3

tbh!!!!!! i have some mixed feelings asdfgjasda really happy to get a remake for my fav persona game BUT ALSO i'm worried about them not doing a good job haha bc i love p3 so much

some concerns: how will they treat the animated cut scenes, are they gonna reuse the og or reanimate everything? OR will they even have them in the first place or will they just remake them with the 3d models....i want animated cutscenes and the taste of p3 u know, my other problem is...maybe unpopular opinion, but the UI,,,,,,,,,,don't get me wrong it looks really nice BUT it doesn't look very p3 you know?? It looks VERY VERY VERY p5, i wish ATLUS would step away from the 'p5 look' because each persona game has it's own distinct look! I hope the end product they change it up just a bit more bc atm it just looks like a reskin of p5's UI and p3 deserves more love and care then that!!! I also really hope they give Minato social links with the boys of the party!!!!! That's probably the biggest change I want, and if possible for Akira Ishida to keep being Minato's JP voice haha

rumors also say this will be vanilla p3 w/o fes content or femc too but i wonder how it'll go, or will they make another definitive version after this one ww

I just gotta wait and see for now, but I am hoping for the best >_< next I hope they will remake p1 and p2 lmao but that's like....yeah probably a better chance of them remaking p4 lmaoooo

[mysteriousdoll]

I said more than one that i loved Taka as some of the Crazy Diamonds father figure so of COURSE i'm gonna adore him as anyone else dad/parent.

Also yeeeeee more about your system Taka au ! I really like that, it's so interesting to me how systems work so this is so great ! You even teached me something !

Also i think i should be allowed to kiss your Taka's cheek, it's just a though tho so... <3

HI i do wanna talk about system Taka but I tend to. not. only bc i'm.... super anxious and scared ppl will get mad at me. i've gone into detail in my one lil post. but to just drop it here.

note i'm quite literally copy n pasting here.

Also! If anything noted here (despite its lack of depth since this is mostly a personal reference thing for my writing to keep track of timelines usually) is inaccurate, please let me know! I try to not only do research but also speak with people I know who are systems, however I'm aware that I could still very well be inaccurate without intent to be so.

System Kiyotaka consists of:

(CW: References to c/a and suicide.)

Kiyotaka Ishimaru - The host, details to be added later/I’m going to assume you know who Kiyotaka is.

Kiyo - Child alter, split when Kiyotaka was a teenager. Trauma holder, very excitable and sweet. Close with everyone in the system, but closest with Kyoya. 

Akira Ishida - Persecutor, split later into elementary (final year, just before sixth grade) when the serious onslaught of violence began, between things with his grandfather getting worse and bullies getting physical to a bloody point. 

Akira is aggressive, distrusting, and has harmed themself/the host body due to maladaptive coping mechanisms. However they do come to trust some people (Takaaki, Kyoko, and Sakura).

Kyoya Ishiru - Internal Self Helper, Caretaker. Very motherly, split when Kiyotaka attempted to take his life and woke up in the hospital. Often takes front when Kiyotaka is overwhelmed but not necessarily in danger. She’s fronted multiple times without notice due to masking well and keeping good track of Kiyotaka’s schedule. Also the reason the system keeps track of what happened when others were out of/not near front.

[ecargmura]

Paradox Live The Animation Episode 10 Review - What Extra Battle?

I am confused. I get that this is a BAE-focused, or rather an Allen-focused episode, but the way it was handled was so…weird? Like, I’m an anime-only watcher but I’m seriously wondering what just happened with this episode. I get why it’s titled ‘Lost’ because I am as lost as the plot is.

I’ll talk about the part I do understand, like the Allen portion with his father. His father is so toxic. I guess all that toxicity aged him so fast because look at him before Allen’s birth and him after. How did he age so fast when he’s Asian? I hate it when parents try to take control of their child’s life just because they were involved in the creation of the child. Mr. Sugasano, hip-hop is credible music! If Allen ran away, then he should just let him be! Why did he have to come back into his life now of all times? Does he know something about phantometals that he doesn’t? I get that Allen was trying to be rebellious and wanting to win Paradox Live just to have his father’s acknowledgement, but Allen learns that getting his approval was a futile attempt. Allen’s story with his parents was an emotional one, I admit.

The part with him telling Anne and Hajun that he cannot produce illusions was a bit confusing. Was he going through a trap reaction? I don’t get this part. I get that Allen is very susceptible to trap reactions as he did have bad reactions to them early on, but he’s usually seen as confident and a bit cocky, so why is he deteriorating now of all times? I get that it’s because of his father’s words about how his music is one that kills others is affecting him, but is it a trap reaction? Is he going to get metal corrosion? What is going on? The Allen I’ve seen throughout this show was a strong-willed guy who’s willing to help out people in times of need. I thought the one with the biggest issues in the group was Hajun, so why do we need to focus on Allen all of a sudden? Is it main character privilege or something? The way Allen’s all mopey makes him look a bit pathetic, even after all the confidence he oozed out in past episodes. Heck, it’s not even like him to back out of a fight. It just gives cozmez so much disrespect. Like, why hype up the extra battle when the other team forfeits by default? What was the point of the extra battle, then?

And the part with the ramen guy and the scientist guy was confusing too. I thought Shura and ramen guy were the same person? They have the same voice actor. Is Suwabe doing double roles? Since Buraikan showed up, it made me wonder where the other guy has been all this time. Is he an illusion? Does that mean he’s dead? WAIT! The metals are called Phantometals… DOES THAT MEAN YASHA IS A PHANTOM? DOES THAT MEAN NAYUTA IS ALSO A PHANTOM? If Ramen Guy and Shura are standing in two different places despite being the same person, does that mean the Shura on stage is a phantom produced by Ramen Guy? Since the Akira Ishida scientist guy placed that gold phantometal into that contraption, is that how Yasha is able to appear? Where is the real Yasha? My head hurts thinking about all of this.

Because BAE took up most of the time that the other groups had to squeeze in screen time. TCW gets some. Akan Yatsura was the opening act for the extra battle, but was that even needed? Cozmez, though… Nayuta’s words to Kanata about how Kanata needs to cherish himself more and how he needs to rely on him less feels very ominous. Nayuta is seriously one of the biggest mysteries of this show alongside Yasha. Just what are you, Nayuta?

All I can say is that I didn’t like this episode. It feels like it’s disrespecting cozmez for winning by default and BAE for having another depression episode that seems unwarranted. I feel like BAE got way too much screen time and cozmez, the other side of the extra battle didn’t get jack. There’s only like two or three more episodes left which means Anne is definitely NOT getting a focus episode and that’s a disservice to them. The next episode has bright yellow borders, so…that means Buraikan is getting focus since Akan Yatsura’s color is a dark yellow. I don’t know what’s going on. I’m super lost. What did you get from this episode?