#it can probably never happen now with all that's happened with mappa and the war in ukraine

[neon-garbage-angel]

god i miss yuri on ice so much it hurts

[glassbead-xx]

So I’ve been listening to Ai Higuchi’s ed song nonstop since I saw the Attack on Titan finale two days ago (I couldn’t see it the day it was released) and I’ve been crying all that time

Because that’s what happens when the series you grew up to adulthood with finally ends

10 years ago, when the first season had just finished airing, I watched it and loved it. Then I read the manga and loved it. I was 16 back then. Every month, since December 2013, I would wait for a new chapter. When it ended in April 2021, I had recently turned 24. Today, as I’m crying and coping with the end of the anime, I’m 26

There’s just so much about the finale, and the series as a whole, that I love and that I can talk about all the time. I didn’t originally put my thoughts about chapter 139 two years ago because I was part of the minority that liked it. Now that I feel somewhat vindicated, I think I can look back and say that it was a wonderful story, and many will agree

It’s not that happy, but it’s really hopeful. You just have to look in the little moments, like Armin told Zeke in the end

And I’m sure now that Yuki Kaji and Marina Inoue were born to play Eren and Armin. They both have memorable characters that I love, and I know they will both have amazing careers for many years to come, but in 80 years, when talking about them, Eren and Armin will be their eternal legacy

Yui Ishikawa’s legacy will probably be Violet Evergarden, but she was the perfect Mikasa. To me, Eren, Armin and Mikasa are among the best trios in anime and the best trios in all of fiction, their friendship is as precious as it is tragic

And speaking of tragic, Eren and Mikasa, they are the most tragic couple in anything I’ve ever seen in my life. The worst part is that they both loved each other, and Eren was aware of it, but never did anything about it, and I get sad thinking about it.

Also, the baby in the cliff? That was already sad but when I saw the news it broke me. Four years ago, Yuki Kaji, who I already said voices Eren, got married to another actress, Ayana Taketatsu. The baby in the cliff was voiced by Yuki and Ayana’s baby. It’s poetic and beautiful and tragic and everything I will associate with this story forever

My headcanons/theories that I will die with are that Armin and Annie got married, so did Gabi and Falco. Anything else is fair game. Who married who and how many children they had, I’m open to all kinds of interpretations, I just know that they all lived long happy lives like Eren wanted, and that they never had to fight in any wars ever again

The music, the voice acting, the animation and the expanded conversation between Eren and Armin made the finale from one I liked to one I absolutely adored, and I’m honored to have this story while growing up to adulthood

This story has been a part of me for 10 years of my life now. I still have lots of stories to love, but this one will always have a special place in my heart. I will remember every reaction I had, every theory, my awe with the anime openings, my excitement when I found out that Gabi and Falco would be voiced by the actors I wanted, Ayane Sakura and Natsuki Hanae. I will reread the manga, rewatch the anime, and make lots of bird jokes for many years to come

So thanks to the staff, both at Wit Studios and Mappa, to the voice cast, to the musicians, and to Hajime Isayama, who gave 12 years of his life and his entire heart to this story. I will always love it, forever

To the story that gave its heart to the bitter end, thanks and goodbye 💙💚🤍

[arcaneranger]

Final Thoughts - 2018 Long Shows

It’s finally here! I’m so close to being done with 2018 (...mostly. We’ll get to it) that I can taste it, but in the meantime, this list is gonna be weird, because there will be things that were already on other lists since I revised my rules of what should be classified how. This post is specifically for any show that ended in 2018 and lasted longer than 13-ish episodes (including shows that aired a second season during the same year or within six months of finishing the previous one), which means that there’s about as much on it as a usual season of shows, but they all had more time to impress - or disappoint me. I’m doing a better job in recent seasons of getting to everything, but last year there were unfortunately things that I missed (I was burned out in the winter) and just have to leave aside for now because I can’t wait any longer for these lists.

Anyway! As usual, let’s start with what I skipped!

* The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of the Commandments, The Disastrous Life of Saiki Kusuo S2, Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card, Garo: Vanishing Line, and Mr Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues because I haven’t seen their previous seasons or parent works. (Yes, even Cardcaptor Sakura. Y’all can shoot me later.)

* Hakyuu Hoshin Engi, Beatless, and Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls because by the time I was rounding things up, I hadn’t heard a single positive thing about any of them.

Next comes what I dropped -

WORST OF THE YEAR: Steins;Gate 0 (4/10)

What a fucking mess this show was. Aside from a very noticeable downgrade in production talent from its predecessor, the plot meanders and flirts with maybe actually happening this time before just dropping out again, over and over, to the point where I was perfectly willing to drop it two episodes from the finish line because it was such an insult to fans of the original. (Also, continued disgusting mistreatment of the transgender character.)

Gundam Build Divers (4/10)

Taking the Build series from being a well-written kids show to an averagely-written kids show that hides itself in decent mech designs.

Katana Maidens (4/10)

I remember so little about this show, and granted that I did drop it after one episode almost nine months ago, but what I did remember was that it gave me strong KanColle vibes with laughably inconsistent animation and flat characters. Meh.

Darling in the FRANXX (5/10)

This should probably be lower on the list, but I got out of Darling while the getting was good, sixteen episodes in. I understand that future episodes of the show cemented it as crappy right-wing nonsense in addition to pushing worldbuilding out of its fortieth-story window, but the moment it lost me was much sooner, when the crazy yandere female lead was reduced, almost instantly, to Good Anime Waifu as a reward to the protagonist for going against his friends with his selfish motives.

Persona 5 the Animation (5/10)

In addition to not actually finishing in 2018, Persona 5 just did not give me a single reason to watch it when I’d already finished the source game, with middling-to-bad visuals (thanks to the switch from Production I.G. to A-1 Pictures, and not even the team that created the much better-looking Day Breakers OVA before the game was released in the U.S.) and phoned-in music, which is especially unacceptable in a Persona adaptation. Also, we all absolutely called that the studio couldn’t tell the story of the entire game in just 26 episodes.

Record of Grancrest War (6/10)

There’s people that like this one a lot, but I didn’t see much that interested me in the first two episodes. I’ve heard better things about the manga.

Golden Kamuy (6/10)

I had problems with the first half of Golden Kamuy that the second half simply didn’t fix, and it became difficult for me to keep watching - the show still interrupted almost every fight scene with a dick joke, but still wanted to maintain a serious and occasionally frightening tone - and those things simply don’t go together. It needed to either spend more time being funny, or keep its lowest-common-denominator humor out of the fights.

Next, I have two shows that are (potentially permanently) On Hold, simply because it’s time for me to move on and I don’t have the time or energy to marathon them when the Winter shows are starting to wrap up:

Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits, because even though I initially dropped it, I’ve heard a lot of good things since and I want to eventually give it another shot.

Yowamushi Pedal Glory Line, because despite the fact that I still enjoyed the previous season, this one started right in the middle of my burnout and I only heard bad things about it. I’ll get to it eventually, but it’s a shame that this series has been on a clear trend downwards since its revival.

And finally, the stuff I finished!

The Ancient Magus’ Bride (6/10)

Keep in mind that this is here entirely on the merits of its aesthetic and its side characters - in the end, Ancient Magus’ Bride is a Beauty and the Beast story where the beast gets what he wants without learning to be less of a dick or even apologizing for his clearly wrong actions.

Major 2nd (7/10)

Always pleased to have even just Good sports shows around, and this one is a very effective reboot of a classic series that’s never made its way stateside (man, the underperformance of Big Windup! really did a lot of damage to this genre in the West). With good character development and a decent second-generation premise, Major 2nd has the potential to be the beginning of a solid baseball story, assuming that it gets a needed followup.

IDOLiSH7 (7/10)

I dropped IDOLiSH7 when it first aired, and though I wound up enjoying it after I was very strongly urged to revisit it, the problems it started with never quite left it behind - that is, it has an okay cast of characters but doesn’t present even passable performance sequences, and if you’re going to include big song-and-dance numbers, they have to be good, or you may as well just be UtaPri.

ClassicaLoid Season 2 (8/10)

In 2017, I gave the first season of ClassicaLoid a near-perfect 9/10, and while this season gives us a satisfying conclusion to the story, it does things both a little better than the first, and also not quite as great. It’s story is much more well-integrated over the runtime so it doesn’t happen all at once in a few chunks, and the jokes that work are still absolute genius, but there’s simply too much that doesn’t quite land correctly, and a little too much immature humor, for it to reach the same lofty Hall of Fame heights as the first season. Still, one of the most underrated shows I’ve ever seen.

My Hero Academia Season 3 (8/10)

God, Izuku in that onesie is too damn cute.

My problems with Hero Academia are frustratingly persistent - the show is at its best when the students are competing with other students, because outside of last season’s Stain (a villain whose motivation is specifically related to the world of MHA), the villains are just not at all compelling and they all seem a little too generic for their own good. I just want Horikoshi to be a little bit less predictable of an author and do a little less reading of the Standard Shounen Playbook. Luckily, when it works, it works magnificently.

March Comes in Like a Lion S2 (8/10)

March remains director/auteur Akiyuki Shinbo’s most accessible work, and one of his masterpieces, as a well-paced and marvelously moody story of a depressed shogi prodigy learning to be a normal teenager before his youth completely passes him by, and the fantastic characters that surround him with their own complex problems and motivations. I just really, really hope it gets a third season eventually, because this one did not leave off on a satisfying conclusion.

Speaking of which...

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma S3 (9/10)

It’s almost a shame that My Hero Academia became hugely popular purely based on its accessibility to American audiences, because Food Wars pretty squarely deserves to be the reigning Shonen Jump king - each season has only improved on the previous one, and this one was based entirely on a continuing arc that could only have happened in the universe of this show, Fighting Food Fascism. That being said, it also leaves off right in the middle of the arc (because it had almost caught up to the manga), meaning that we have to hope that it can remain relevant long enough for there to be enough source material for another season. I’ll be crossing my fingers until they snap.

Banana Fish (9/10)

Yes, this has risen a point since my review, but Banana Fish still deserves to be thought of as both a complete masterwork of crime fiction, being fantastically paced and expertly plotted in the use of its many, many twists, and a work that disappointed the side of me that hoped that, in adapting it into the modern day, MAPPA could have managed to get the author to let them depict what is clearly a queer relationship with the authenticity and legitimacy that it deserved. It’s still amazing, though, and Amazon should be pushing it with their most lavishly-made originals. At least it was the last noitaminA show they’ll get to totally bury.

And, finally, the one you all saw coming.

BEST OF THE YEAR: Lupin the 3rd Part V (10/10)

Lupin is, quite simply, one of the pinnacles of the medium. A simple idea that can (and did) go in thousands of different directions, handled by highly creative writers and an animation staff that has been knocking it out of the park for years, despite the fact that it is criminally (heh) unrecognized in the West. To put it simply, there’s a very, very good reason that it’s been around since the 70′s.

Okay! All I have left to do is finish Dragon Pilot (waiting on a friend) and we can get the last two lists out of the way! We’re almost done...

[meny-sempai]

MO DAO ZU SHI IS A MASTERPIECE – part 01

OH MY GOD EP 15! That was so… UGH. I have so much to say, yet I’m speechless at the same time! Aaaaa! Ok, that’s it! It’s time!

The first season is over and I can finally talk about my experience with the piece of art that is Mo Dao Zu Shi. Yes, it is a piece of art and I will prove it to you in this short series of my thoughts about the show.

I just have to say – I’m not a native English speaker so bear with the mistakes I’m bound to make. I did read the novel, but only as far as the Exiled Rebels Scanlations translated it (thank you Rebels, you’re gods). I started reading the novel after the first airing of the third episode, so at the very beginning of MDZS mania – I went in blind and… it was FUNNY. I’ll talk more about that down below. And yes, I know a lot of spoilers, but I can’t say I know the whole story – If I start theorizing be aware that I’m just theorizing, I’m not actually telling the plot, but, just to be sure: SPOILERS ahead, I will use the facts I know for my analysis.

For the first two episodes I’m going to tell you my blind reactions and compare them with my impressions after finishing the season. My misinterpretations are hilarious and I admit I was really dumb. Enjoy my stupidity.

The rest of the episodes will have my impressions and analysis that I now have after finishing the show. There will be a few of these kind of posts on my profile because I can’t fit everything I have to say in just one. I don’t actually do analysis of shows here, because this is my personal art blog, but I sometimes make exceptions. As an animation student I just had to talk about Mo Dao Zu Shi. I want more people to see it. I want people to know that it is much more than BL.

So… Here we go!

INTRODUCTION – or, who the hell even asked for my opinion?

I’ve been a fan of anime/manga since I was 13, which was 12 years ago (I’m old, I know). Sure, I’ve watched Digimon, Pokemon, Bayblade and all that jazz when I was even younger, but that doesn’t count, because I had no clue about the concept of anime.

I’ve seen a lot of shit, I’m quite open to a lot of shit and if I’m in the right mood I can take a lot of shit, but I still regard myself as someone who has a good taste. The older I get the less time I have to take a chance at something I wouldn’t normally watch. Even if there is something I’d watch I usually end up not having time for it. Since I started studying and doing animation myself, my criteria for the quality skyrocketed. I long gave up on the three episode rule. One episode is enough to see potential if there is potential (some shows can still trick me – I’m looking at you Sirius the Jaeger).

Ok, ok, I’m not bashing on Sirius the Jaeger. I’m just saying the show had a lot of potential and threw it out of the window. If there was no Mikhail and Yuliy dynamics… Scratch that – if there was no Mikhail in the show, the story would have been completely empty. At least for me.

Since we’re talking about other shows, I’ll use this opportunity to declare Mo Dao Zu Shi as the animation of the year. Sure, the year’s still not over, sure I only watched Cells at Work, Free! Dive in to the Future, Sirius the Jaeger and BANANA FISH, but I still believe in what I say.

Sorry Cells, you’re cute, you make me care more about my body, you make me have weird feelings about Cancer (WTF). I wish I can show you to all the school kids in my country, but you’re not the best this time. Please, give me another season, thank you. Love the manga. Guys, please watch this anime!

Sorry Free, you… Pfff… Ok, yeah, FREE, I love you dude, thank you for all the sexy muscles and almost BL drama (and some actual deep moments). Thank you for all the Rin, we can never have enough of Rin. And thank you for Kisumi and Asahi – didn’t know I needed that. Thank you, but… yeah, know your place (hint: it’s right here in my arms).

Sorry Sirius, I wish you had more episodes to explore the story and the characters. Liked the OP and the animation.

Sorry BANANA FISH, oh god, I really am. Before MDZS I lived for you BF, I lived for you! I was an old fan of the manga and I was so hyped. I can’t say I’m dissatisfied with the anime adaptation. I liked a lot of things they did, the way they adapted stuff, added and changed stuff, but it was just too much plot for 13 episodes and the effects of it became clearer and worse while the anime progressed. I have no idea how MAPPA will handle the second season. My fingers are crossed. Guys, watch this anime. Even with all the flaws it’s worth your time. 

And yes, I watched Voltron and The Dragon Prince. This will be a really long post if I start on those, so I won’t.

So… YES. Mo Dao Zu Shi came out of nowhere for me and took the crown. Wow… where to start…?

How did I find this show…? Actually, how did this show find me? Well… It was my beta reader, I think. After 13 years of being a silent fan of Asian comics and animation, I decided to finally write a fanfiction. Surprisingly, it was for the small fandom of the Korean comic Noblesse (nobody cares, carry on). I don’t know why, but my beta told me about this new BL “anime”. When I realized it was Chinese I rolled my eyes. I’m an asshole, I know, but I just never liked anything I saw from the Chinese (I haven’t seen much, but what I saw was poorly animated/was in 3D and I’m not a huge fan of 3D). I also never liked the voice acting… Ok. OK, I admit! I never liked the language, ok? Shoot me!

Then… Everything changed when the Wen clan attacked.

Anyway… I was bored, I was lazy and didn’t want to do work for my university, so I said: “What the heck! Hit me with some Chinese BL.” I clicked on the first episode not even bothering to read the summary. Man… My expectations were the low of the lowest.

EPISODE 01 – or, what the fuck did I just watch and is there more of it?

Oh shit… I’m terrible at names, especially Chinese names! Am I supposed to remember all this, is this important? The clans, the wars, the titles? This is BL, right? Should I take out my note book? Fuck, pause it. Ok… Ok… I get it? Let’s just continue.

(When I look at it now it was pretty clear. I really am dumb. To be fair, you need time to get used to how they use names. And for someone who never watched Chinese animation seriously and doesn’t know anything about the culture it really was a lot of new information. But don’t let that stop you from watching it!)

Ughhhhh…. 3D… damn it. And it was going so well. Ugh, just look at those wings flapping! Are the wings broken? What the hell! Why do they do this?

(Lol, I was so triggered. XD The bird is actually fine. I like how the scene transitioned from the pupil of a scared man to the pupil of the crow. As if they were watching each other in the eye, only adding to the creepiness. The lighting is also great. Everything is dark and gloomy, fitting the “horror” atmosphere really well, yet at the same time the dark scenes are vivid and clear. It’s hard to make the misty night look clear and colorful. The flying is a bit iffy, but it doesn’t really matter because the effect of hundred birds covering the sky is strong and meaningful.)

Holly shit! This is amazing! Pause it! No, go back, I wanna see this again. Oh my god, that flute! The music is awesome, I’m having goosebumps. Ooohh, love the music, I never heard something like this. Oh, this dude is so cool. Red eyes and zombies and… What is this show about again? Zombie BL? Really? It’s not really zombies, right? Please don’t be about zombies, I hate zombies.

(Honestly, this scene is stunning. A really effective way to reveal a character. Especially a character that we are not sure whether he is good or bad. The most amazing thing for me about this is how they used music. It isn’t just the background music to accompany the atmosphere. It isn’t there just to tell something about the character and make him stand out (it’s not a character theme). The flute is not alone here, there are many themes working with it. Together they are not there to tell us “this is a scary action scene” so feel this, or “this is a sad scene”, or a “funny scene”. No. The music here is its own art piece. It’s actually there to tell us in its own language the story that we are seeing on screen. I don’t know how to explain it. For me, the way the music changed was perfectly synchronized with the way people were saying words, the way Wei Wuxian moved his head, the way the corpses stood up to attack. If I close my eyes I can see the scene by only listening to the music. This is something that regularly happens in this show. I don’t know how they do it, but I applaud to it. I can’t remember the last time the music left such an impact on me in the animation series. And this is just the first episode and the first scene. We have no idea who these people are. We are not expected to feel emotional for them. But I felt the connection. I felt like I was there and the corpses were about to get me.)

Ugh! 3D, you’re killing me! And it was such a cool intro! Ok, calm down, what are they saying? So… That’s the guy with the flute, right? No, it was Wei, but Wei Something else. No, wait, it has to be him. Go back. Yeah, it is him. What the hell is a courtesy name? Ok, never mind, try to remember.

Oh no…! More exposition, more names and clans! My brain is melting! Cool smoke/ink animation, though. Hmm, purple ring. Nice. That’s important, right? Oh! The amulet thing! Remember that. That’s gonna bite us in the ass later, ain’t it? Alright, so “Wei something” died. Killed by… shidi? So… the younger clan member? So…? This Wei also had his own clan? Am I getting this right? I’m probably not getting this right. Ugh, just watch the damn episode, quit pausing every goddamn second! It’ll explain itself.  

I like the OP! The similar smoke/ink animation and… Wow, ok, there are too many handsome guys here. I’ll have to focus. The music is catchy. I like the singer’s voice. Cool!

(I’m now quite fond of the 3D in here. The tortoise and everything. XD Also, in my defense - they have three names, like, come on. I didn’t see that coming. I don’t even have a middle name. Although, I do think having three ways to be addressed is pretty interesting. You can tell and convey a lot by just picking a name the character uses in his speech.

Fun fact no1. – at the time I couldn’t even recognition the names when they would speak. All of the words sounded the same to me, which was so unusual. I can now recognize a lot of words and phrases. And, I think… Well, you’ll see what I now think about Chinese and VAs. I’m just gonna say this: I’d like to learn Chinese just so that I can write a love letter to Guo Haoran.

Fun fact no2. – It took me 6 episodes to actually pay attention to the lyrics of the OP and ED and to realize that they are representing Wei Wuxian and Lan WangJi. That’s a really beautiful touch, very smart. And it brings so much meaning to the table when the ED changes. I don’t think I ever saw OP and ED used in this particular way.)

Well, this is getting really dark and interesting. This Wei may be a refreshing MC. Probably a good guy at heart, but shady as fuck and ready to kill. I do have another name to worry about, but Mo is easy to remember (“Don’t close mountain” – if you know what I mean :P). I wonder if Mo is important to the plot. I see potential for some twists here. 

2D animation is looking good so far. I like how they made us look from the protagonist’s POV. Really refreshing directing… hmm… Still not buying the Chinese, but Wei has a nice voice. The music is still great.

Bahahahaha! Scratch that, Wei is an idiot! Good to know that liquor is your priority, Wei! XD Omg the donkey, too, look at that face, look at the eyelashes!

The fuck is this shit? Are those people flying? While standing? Are they standing on something? What the hell? XD Man, that sky is nice. Oh! Oh, oh, wait, those guys! Those were the shadows I saw a scene earlier. Mmm… Attention to detail. Nice. Looks like I’ll have to pay close attention to every scene. Been a long time I had to focus so hard on an “anime”.

(10 minutes and I was already very intrigued. I didn’t know shit, but I was in. With all the pausing I probably spent 50 minutes on this episode, but it felt like barely 20 minutes had passed. At the beginning I paused a lot because I was too slow to read the subtitles (no, I don’t watch dubs, I’m just too used to Japanese and their culture references that reading subs is child’s play, but this was new territory for me). I also paused a lot because I felt I’ve missed something, or because I was surprised at how some scenes looked. 

I don’t pause that often now. Mo Dao Zu Shi trained me to see and hunt for detail. As I said, it’s been a long time since I had the need to carefully look at the backgrounds and pay attention to all of the characters’ expressions. Mo Dao Zu Shi tells a lot in silence and in small details. It awards you if you take time to look at the scenery. When I find something that I’d usually miss, I don’t necessarily feel smarter, but I feel the show is treating me as someone smart. MDZS respects its audience. It makes them think and remember. Which makes this show 100% re-watchable. I watched all the episodes 3 times. Some I watched even more – like episode 11. And I always have a new experience. I love coming back to it. Even when I work I play the episodes and listen to them. It’s interesting. Try it. Try just to listen to the audio. It has rare quality to it. The sounds and music are used wisely and a piece of music always has a legit reason why it’s played.)

Ok, this run is too slow. I get that he’s fat, but still, the foot exchange doesn’t fit with the distance he’s making. Also, the flying guys are not flying anymore. I got more info. And MORE NAMES. Kill me now. The info is interesting, though. Cultivators are Chinese exorcist, right? I really should have read the summery.

(I still think the running was not convincing. There are moments such as these in the show, but honestly, MDZS has fascinating animation and it only gets better in the later episodes (I’m not even gonna start with ep 11 – ep 11 will get its own post). The animators know what they are doing and the director knows how to make a scene work at full capacity.

Fun Fact no3. – D.Gray-man destroyed me. I now only know how to say “exorcist” the Japanese way.

MDZS also has a way of making seemingly stupid stuff look and be cool. Surfing on swords sounds pretty dumb, but when you actually see it and have it explained to you, when it has plot significance it becomes a fresh idea. I want to have my own sword to surf on!)

Well, hello… Lan… Jingyi ~ (How do you read this? O.O) Mmm… I’m digging the art style. Cute boys~

Also, Wei, you’re a fucking genius! XD The Oscar goes to you, my dude.

(… I still think Wei Wuxian is a fucking genius. I’m not gonna talk a lot about him right now, but I just gotta say that he is such a classic MC, yet at the same time he is so original. He’s just one of the proofs how great the writing this series has.

Speaking of writing – this show has some of the best dialog I’ve ever seen. Not only because of what is being said, but also because of the VAs, directing, music and animation. Dialog often has more than one meaning and always serves to deepen the characters and their relationships. I love how they use animation to show how the characters are truly feeling while saying something and what they actually mean when they say it. Everything they say has a reason and it makes you pay attention to other’s reaction to what is being said. I love how the character can say the same thing in so many different ways and that this is used to show his development and growth. I’m also amazed at how simple “hmm-s” and “mmm-s” mean so much in this show. 

I’m not saying character animation and rich expressiveness is something new, but it is rare and this show is really good at it. For example, quite a few characters laugh or cry but they all do it differently. They raise their eyebrows differently, they’re surprised and scared differently etc. This all sounds as a no-brainer, but it’s not so common. It’s difficult to pull off and I’m not saying MDZS is perfect, but it’s close.)

(Please… You think you can take down someone who spent his whole life perfecting the art of climbing up trees? Pff! You’re not Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan.)

(He looks so comfortable among corpses. It’s funny, yet so sad. These are all great hints for the mind-set of a character that you’ll miss at first watching, but you won’t forget about it. And when the memory clicks – it makes a loud click. Not a second is wasted in this show. Everything has a point. I’ll elaborate more on that with some examples in other posts.)

Bahahaha! I feel you bro! XD

But I feel you too. I mean, I don’t care about you, wench, don’t get me wrong, but it’s kinda sad. I’m liking these zombies. They’re my way of creepy and there’s potential for a deeper plot for them if it’s true that their personalities are still there somewhere. This just adds to the debate whether Wei is good or bad. The grey area… I love the grey the most. All 50 shades of it. And I’m enjoying the mystery vibe of this episode. Was there a mystery tag on this “anime”? Also, the fight scenes are not bad. And it’s cool how they all hate Wei but use his technics and knowledge. Realistic. Cool.

Oh my god! The colors! Whaaat? What the hell, look at that hair animation! And the music from that… string thingy- instrument – so cool. Ooohh, wait, this is the white dude, THE dude. Here comes the BL!

Ooohhh, I see what you did there. Kudos for you, director! Similarities and contrasts. Nice. And it’s over, I can’t believe it’s over! How can you cliff hang like that?! There’s a second episode, right? Mm, the ED is so pure. There IS a second episode! Well, while I’m here, don’t mind if I do!

EPISODE 2 – or, how I got everything wrong!

I bet he’s thinking: “The fuck is with this aim? The little shit almost killed me! I’m annoyed and amazed! Better play a fool and run for it.” But, seriously, that aim! Wei actually paused (love the little wobble effect on the arrow). And I have another name to remember! Ugh! And another color! Are they color coded? That could be helpful. Also, look at that tree. Wow… They’re blending the 3D backgrounds quite well with the 2D.

And Mo is important to the plot! Nice! So he has connections with the Yellow clan. The plot thickens.

I just gotta say – all of them have interesting designs. I wonder if every cultivator has his own sword. Bleach style or something. On the other hand, animators must be pulling out their hair because of all the details. XD

Cool little battle. Great camera work. They showed the difference between a student cultivator and an experienced one in an entertaining way. That soul summoning was nice too.

(This fight served as a nice show of power difference. It adds a lot to the future episodes where all of the main cast are students and have to face various trials. It gives us a hint at how powerful the clan leaders must be, it gives us a new perspective on the war and its casualties. We now get why many cultivators died so “easy”. It also hints at how talented students are different from the average which is an important detail in the plot. This little “unimportant” fight grounds it all and makes the levels in the clan system believable and palpable.)

This is really clever. Kudos for the reflection. Wei, haven’t you ever watched an anime? It’s clear the kid doesn’t have a mom. He probably doesn’t even have a dad.

(Ok… prepare for a full on fangirl attack.)

… My ears are tingling.

… This voice… Oh my ears, please calm down, something big is happening right now. Wait… Oh wow, he knows him! Look at the face he’s making, oh shit! And this new guy…! We haven’t even seen his face and he’s making threats! Hmm… Can’t say I don’t like that. Yeah, I like that… He’s gonna be the villain, isn’t he? I always like the villains and they always have the best voices. Well… if he’s a villain, let’s hope he’s hot-

Oh, wow, this is really good. The way the light appears, and that little shine of the… bell? Purple… Purple? The purple ring? Is this connected? Well, anyway, he has a pretty dramatic reveal and nice music – yep, he’s the bad guy. Let me see your face-

Wei… why are you so scared? They sure take their sweet time in revealing this guy. This may be more important than I thought. Don���t miss anything!

(Are you prepared?)

HOLLY MOTHER OF GOD WHAT THE FUCK OH MY GOD WHAAATT??? Was he this beautiful in the OP? Whaaaatt? AAAAHHHHHH!!!! SCREENSHOT! WALLPAPER! GO BACK, REPEAT THE SCENE! YOU! YOU, MY BOY, HAVE ENTERED MY HAREM. Oh what a day to be alive! Mmmm, ok, calm down, we’ll draw him later, let’s try to focus. Jiang Cheng. Ok, it’s a more common name, I’ll remember him. Heh. Like I could forget this boy. Oh, no, not a boy, a MAN. This is a man. Uhuhuhu~

(Aaaand my mind was a bit hazy for the rest of the episode – you will see the results.

Fun fact no4. – Immediately after this episode I looked up MDZS on Tumblr and realized that the fandom is calling Jiang Cheng JC. Still under the effects of what I just saw I thought calling him God was quite appropriate.)

NICE PROFILE!!! Is he going to be the other love interest for the MC? Are we gonna see the cliché love triangle? If it’s with this dude, maybe it won’t be so bad~ Ok, seriously, watch the show!

Ok, the magic light here is a nice touch. This Jiang Cheng is a bit cold even to his nephew. He doesn’t recognize Wei, but that’s expected. Wei is strongly reacting to him. What’s the connection? Judging by the music – it’s sad? I expected something more, I don’t know, menacing? Evil? But it’s just sad. Maybe he’s not a villain. That… that could open so many doors… TO MY KOKORO.

“Feed your dogs.” Ouch, that’s dark. Someone really hates the “demon” cultivators.  

“Could this boy be…?” What? What is he? Want’s the connection? Should I know, did I miss something?

The white dude and my purple man clash! Holly, Jiang Chang sounds pissed (passive aggressive enough?), while White poster boy here doesn’t give a damn! XD Ahahaha! Could Jiang Cheng be the Chinese tsundere? No, no, no, let’s not call such a man a tsundere. It’s too early.

Oh, Uncle is the leader of the sect. Nice. How old is the Uncle? Is he married?

This obvious metaphor of concealing the light is distracting me from fangirling. It’s interesting how it connects with the Jiang Cheng reveal. I feel that… shit is about to go down.

I was right! He’s the ring! What does the ring represent? And he’s doing what I always do! I play with my ring like that all the time! Nice.

SCREENSHOT! Oh, but he’s pissed. Oh, but I love the way he looks at me~ I feel all mushy.

Ha! Interesting. He’s smart, he has some self-control. Refreshing. But don’t turn your anger at your nephew, please. Also, it seems like the white dude and the Uncle have some history. Hmm…

I thought so. The white dude was the one who killed Wei. The tragic love. I can already see it.

(Yep. I thought Lan WangJi was the Shidi who “killed” Wei Wuxian. You are allowed to face palm.)

Oh no… I know where this is going. And the music…

Oh man… It’s the second episode and I’m already having the feels. What happened, Wei?! I refuse to believe you’re a bad guy!

But, I get Wei’s reaction to Jiang Cheng now.

(I don’t know how it happened, but I was thinking… What if she was killed by Jin Zixuan’s sword? We know Wei Wuxian stopped using his. From this shot we know he wasn’t the one who stabbed her, so was it Wen Ning? It’s obvious he was involved in the tragedy. As far as I know SPOILERS Wen Ning killed Jin Zixuan. If the killer sword is the one we know – if it’s Jin Zixuan’s then Wei’s reflection in this episode has a deeper meaning.)

Bahahaha I feel you, honor student. I like the kids.

(Honestly, they balance the humor and the serious stuff masterfully.)

I died.

This is giving me Gantz PTSD. That shit gave me nightmares. Nephew is really bold.

(I believe Jin Ling has some of his Uncle Wei’s recklessness and hero complex, but he also wants to prove himself just like his other two Uncles. I’ll talk more about them in another post.)

Uuhh, Wei is playing the flute! Risky, I like it.

(Ok, people. Be prepared for the ultimate face palm.)

Oh my god! Don’t tell me he summoned his own body! This resembles the scene from the narration… and he’s wearing black!

I’m right! Nephew wants revenge! Great shot by the way. You can feel the rage in the movement.

(You face palmed yet?)

I really love the way they use the flute! It depicts the flow of the camera so well!

… Wen… Wen what? Wen Ning? Who’s Wen Ning? What? Wait, are they talking about the corpse? What’s going on??? O_O Who’s Wen Ning?! Did I miss something? What’s the full name of the MC again? Ugh… This is so tiring… Ok, never mind, enjoy the beautiful flute song.

Busted!

I swear to god, this guy is illegal!

Oh, boy he figured it out too and he’s… sadistically happy? Eh… But, I get it. If he believes that Wei killed his sister, I get it. And her husband? Did he “kill” the dad, too?

I can’t believe he has a whip AND a braid? And he’s purple??? Did someone look into my diary? Is it Christmas yet? XD Am I dead?

Did he just smile? Am I imagining things? XD I can’t figure him out!

Please! Don’t lie, white dude! “He’s path is uncommon”, yeah right, we all know what you want.

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST THINGS I’VE SEEN AND HEARD IN MY LIFE.

(This would have annoyed anyone no matter who said it, but because it was Wei Wuxian, I think it was even more annoying in Jiang Cheng’s head. Wei Wuxian knows him too well. It’s even funnier when you know that JC is blacklisted. XD He’s no good even to the lunatic.)

And at this exact moment Wei knew he fucked up. XD This is golden. 

... Please DON’T turn into rape BL.

(It so DID NOT.)

Oh Wei, you’re no match for this guy! :D

Hmm, looks like we’re going back in time. I love me some juicy flashbacks. Can’t wait to see more.

... I can’t believe I actually like this zombie BL. I just hope they don’t fuck up the animation later on.

(And the rest is history. As you can see - I’m obsessed.)

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That’s all for today! Next posts will have more character, story and art analysis. Hope you liked this and please forgive me for making this so long. See you! 

[zaenaris]

Spoilers! Banana Fish edition

... if it can be considered spoiler an ending written 24 years ago?? 

Anyway, back in October, when MAPPA announced the anime, I didn’t know anything about the story, but given the studio and the people working on it, I was sure it was something interesting. 

I did my research and turns out that BF is a manga written from 1985 to 1994. While technically a shojou, it is pretty atypical, given the violence, action sequences, the mystery around “Banana Fish”, the involvement of the Mafia, the Vietnam War, heavy themes such sexual abuse, prostitution, drugs, street gangs and so on. Imo, it’s atypical as a manga also because, in many moments, it felt like an American show.  I would like to know if Yoshida-sensei actually lived in the USA, or did some researches because, while I’m not American, so I can only see if from the outside, I feel like Sensei managed to get the grip over a reality very different from the Japanese one.

Now, if well written, I like many different genres and stories, in every type of media - movies, books, anime/manga, TV shows etc -, because personally I think it’s cathartic and interesting reading/watching the dark sides of the human mind; after all, nothing is black or white. So, seeing around the internet a quite big hype for the anime, after a few months thinking if I should read the manga before watching the anime, I decided to read it.

And it’s amazing. Especially if you take into consideration it was written so many years ago (obviously not all the stories age well, but it’s not the case for BF).  It is not perfect, like nothing else in this world, and probably if published today a few things would be different, but again, context --> it’s a story written and set in the ‘80s. Obviously, given its themes, it is not a lighthearted story. I knew it before start reading the manga, I was perfectly aware of it from the announcement of the anime months ago and, I mean, it’s not the first dark story I read/watch. I like the dark side of the stories, but I also like the light (half quote from the BF epilogue, I’d say). So I though to be ready, turns out I was not lol.

See more below, but be aware of the spoilers.

If you want to cry about BF with me, you are in the right place! This is a personal rant, if you are okay with it, bear with me because...

..the ending destroyed me. I cried so much. Ash finally had the chance to live a normal life but he couldn’t. I was not ready for that. I was ready for literally everything else that happened in the manga -and it’s a lot!- but not for that. Not when his happy ending with Eiji was a real possibility, not after everything he went through in his life. These endings make cry every time.

For a moment, before reading the epilogue (while reading Angel Eyes), I though that maybe there was a chance he was still alive but lol, nope. But I’m glad for The Garden with Holy Light. It give the reader a closure (the library scene was a punch in the stomach but not a real ending).

 It’s bittersweet, and hard to swallow. But it is real. It shows you that life can go on, maybe the pain will never leave completely, but you can go on. The villains have been defeated, they paid for their crimes, the world is a safer place and even if Ash is dead, he died knowing to be loved. And people, Eiji in particular will always love him.  It’s a small comfort, but better than nothing I’d say.

Having read the manga, I think that BF is a work child of its times. Now I think I understand why some people that already read the manga weren’t so happy that the anime is set today. Not only the Vietnam War, the situation in Latin-America, the mention of Communism and KGB and so on... I think that the ending is also very typical of the period when was written.

While Banana Fish is not a BL manga, the love between Eiji and Ash is directly addressed  

Again, context. Akimi Yoshida was writing about two boys that loved each other in Japan, between the 80s and the 90s, on a shoujou magazine, meaning outside the strict boxes of genres. Honestly I don’t know how the genres thing worked back in the days, but if it is similar to nowadays, I understand why Eiji and Ash didn’t get their happy ending.

Also, I don’t know if this was Yoshida’s ideal ending from the start or if something happened because of the editor/other external facts, as often happens in manga serializations.

It’s just stat... growing up, it was rare to see a story with gay character getting a happy ending. (little note on what I’m about to say: to compare western and Japanese media is not a great idea, especially because contexts are different, values are different and the risks to watch and analyze things through “westerns lens” is really hight, but this is just a personal general reflection on what I witnessed growing up, nothing fancy).  

Gay characters (and I use “gay” as an umbrella term)  were either stereotypical comic relief or dead by the end of the story (see the unfortunate “bury your gays” trope). It’s only in the recent years we are starting to get more diverse and with happy endings representation. Thinking again about the context, ‘80s/’90s are the peak of the HIV emergency. Sadly, gay / lgbtqia people died even more than now. Given the set of  Banana Fish, expecting a total happy ending was probably naïve of me.

It’s just that, with all the problems that now, 33-24 years later we can see because times have changed, Ash and Eiji are written with the  great respect and, as you can see from the dialogue above, their love is not treated as a joke or something bad, on the contrary. 

They did love each other... maybe the way lovers do. They were... connected to each other, soul to soul.

I remember that these situations were quite common back in the days and now I understand why, while not being a BL (or shounen-ai, as it was referred long time ago), Banana Fish influenced a lot of BL stories.

While Ash and Eiji didn’t get the happy ending we all wanted for them, and I will always be saddened by that, I think that I can accept it knowing it was a story child of its times. If the ending was written today, the way it was written back in ‘94, I think many would probably scream “shock value” and in general, I think it would be more difficult to accept (now, regardless the big ass analysis and everything you want, let’s be real for a moment: it’s never nice when the ship you ship get the “bad ending”). But, given the ray of hope that the epilogue gave us, given that in the end Ash knew he was loved and valued as a person without ulterior motive and again, given the times, I think I will live with this finale.

Idk if it’s a great idea to write all this while I’m still really affected by the finale, but well...  I guess I just needed to let off steam, and now it’s done lol. 

One last thing: from the first episode, the anime seems very faithful to the manga. I wonder to what extent it will be like that. The only thing I know is that if MAPPA, producer of Yuri!!! on Ice wanted to change the finale (because times are mature now, and they know it, better that anyone else. Money from YoI, like the hips in Shakira’s song, don’t lie!) I would be pretty cool with it. 

I don’t think it will happen, but well, one can dream.

[aion-rsa]

Attack on Titan Season 4 Episode 1 Review: The Other Side of the Sea

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This Attack on Titan review contains spoilers.

Attack on Titan Season 4 Episode 1

“Isn’t war a terrible thing?”

The third season of Attack on Titan ends with a lengthy jump forward in time where Eren and company are seemingly more ready than ever to realize their goal. The group has taken on some difficult opponents over the past three seasons, but as they prepare to invade Paradis Island and dethrone a corrupt king they begin to understand that the end to all of this warfare is finally within grasp. The final moments of last season posed the question, “If we kill all of our enemies over there, will we finally be free?” Attack on Titan’s fourth and final season is ready to dig into the complex nature of that question as it sets the stage for an ending year that’s big and rewarding both in terms of the chaotic action sequences and as an introspective character study. 

In many ways it feels like this final arc is really what Attack on Titan has been all about and that the series has just finally reached the point in its story where it can fully realize itself. The anime has always reflected random pieces of this larger generational story, whether it’s through the Jaeger family, the Reiss lineage, or the more recent developments revolving around the war between the Eldians and Marleyans. Attack on Titan hasn’t made these allusions to the past very subtle, especially when some characters share the memories of their ancestors. It’s explicit because this is supposed to be one big story that’s been hundreds of years in the making. It doesn’t matter who is the one that ends the cycle because it becomes a victory that ripples through past and future generations.

Attack on Titan’s final season immediately differentiates itself from the previous years and it’d be easy to confuse its new opening theme with one that belongs to a completely different anime if it didn’t advertise Attack on Titan’s name. The title sequence is full of aggressive explosions and depressing imagery that immerses the audience in persistent conflict and offers no familiar reference points to latch onto for help. One would assume that Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and Levi are still the series’ main characters, but there’s nothing in the opening credits to assure viewers of this, which turns out to be representative of the episode itself. Audiences knew that these final episodes would signal unprecedented change, but it’s amazing just how much this new story arc reinterprets everything that’s come before it. It helps this season begin on a note that’s both exciting and destabilizing in a way that Attack on Titan has never been before.

What’s beautiful about this premiere is that it feels like Attack on Titan is getting pleasure out of how much it’s messing with its audience. The episode features the Eldian army engaged in a war that they’ve been fighting for four years and the central character, Falco, appears to be just as confused as the audience. This premiere even plays with the idea that this war-torn world is reality and that everything that’s previously happened with Eren and company is just some dream that Falco was lost in—as if this has been The Matrix or the anime equivalent of the Newhart series finale. 

It’s not unusual for a series to spend time with new characters, but it’s usually understood that it will get back to the original cast at some point. Attack on Titan’s newest twist in many ways feels like a move from Lost, but what makes it uniquely different is that it’s established how characters experience the memories of their ancestors—from both the past and the future. This premiere plays with the idea that Falco is in fact the real main character and that he’s just flashed through Eren’s life in the same way that Eren experienced Grisha’s past. 

The appearance of Zeke and Reiner are the only major clues offered here, but their existence indicates that these events still take place in the reality that the audience knows. This probably occurs concurrently with the journey that Eren and his group set out on at the end of season three. These storylines will presumably intersect at some point, but it looks like it may not be for a while. Attack on Titan increasingly throws expectations out the window and “The Other Side of the Sea” deserves respect for acting like the main narrative is just lore for these new characters. Even the end credits push the idea that this is now Falco’s show and to forget everything in the past that’s been held sacred. 

The challenge then that “The Other Side of the Sea” faces is that these new characters need to stand out as well as the old characters that the audience has had years to grow invested in. These characters face a tall task with this bait and switch maneuver, yet they don’t come across as annoying or feel like a chore. Their story begins in its climax and it’s easy to get lost in it and not just think about whether Eren is going to show up or not. Many of these new faces feel like approximations of previous characters and while Falco is the hero, it’s the Hange-like Gabi who makes the best impression in this episode.

“The Other Side of the Sea” doesn’t feel overcrowded and its lack of exposition is one of its biggest assets. The episode does fit in some Titan action by the end and there are a few sequences that are especially powerful, like when it rains Titans or the Beast Titan’s assault on the naval unit. All of this is complemented by the score, which is the surprise winner of the episode. Every piece is fantastic and there are some unexpected choices where the music becomes evocative of the wartime setting or becomes more electronic in nature to compliment the chaos at hand.

WIT Studio’s impeccable work on Attack on Titan’s animation for its first three seasons is absolutely a factor in the anime’s success, so it’s understandable that some people have been apprehensive over MAPPA’s takeover for these final episodes. A transition like this is naturally awkward and one episode in is still far too early to tell how much the studio change has affected the quality of the show’s look and action. There are admittedly some growing pains in this premiere, but MAPPA is talented and they rise to the occasion and understand the expectations that are associated with this project. There’s an increase in the use of CG that’s likely to make some viewers flinch, but “The Other Side of the Sea” still looks gorgeous and it’s not the kind of drop in quality that crippled season two of One-Punch Man. The switch over to MAPPA will hopefully be imperceptible after the season is a few episodes in.

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“The Other Side of the Sea” is a phenomenal start to Attack on Titan’s final run of episodes. This premiere is so atypical to everything that’s come before it that it’s likely to be a controversial entry, but one that will gain greater appreciation after more of this season’s story comes to light. The new season succeeds by drawing in the audience to what in many ways isn’t the show that people signed up for, but one that still feels satisfying and important. It doesn’t matter if it’s Falco or Eren who leads the charge, but here’s hoping that this is, in fact, the last war.

The post Attack on Titan Season 4 Episode 1 Review: The Other Side of the Sea appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[mel-animeland]

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the May OWLS tour!

If you are new around here and doesn’t know what is the OWLS group, let me tell you about the most awesome group of the Internet.

OWLS stand for Otaku Warrior for Liberty and Self-Respect, we are a group of blogger and vlogger promoting the acceptance of everyone regardless of their gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion or disability, in other words, no matter where you are from and what you like, as long as you are a nice human being we will welcome you with open arms.

Each month, we are talking about a different subjects, last month prompt was “Melody” and we shared about song that we like and mean something to us. You can read my OWLS post for April here, the tour schedule here and you can find the full schedule for May tour here.

This month the prompt was requested by one of our follow OWLS member Auri from Manga Toritsukareru Koto

“Mouvement”

We join movements, organizations, and systems that align with our own personal values and beliefs. Sometimes we join these groups because they believe in doing good and making positive changes in society. However, these movements can turn sour when a dictator arises or behind the good intentions, there’s a hidden agenda of oppression. It is in these groups that individuals start to shape their identities by questioning their values and beliefs or conforming to the system. This month, we will be examining “real and/or fictitious” movements, organizations, or systems in anime and other pop culture mediums, and the positive and negative effects they have on individuals and society

Now time to embark for the road of Eldorado

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El Dorado, City of Gold,

El Dorado, City of Legends

Since the Europeen conquested the south american continent, the mysterious city of El Dorado feed the imagination. More than once stories were written about it, since centuries, the myth, the legend is used as setting for incredible journey.

In 2000, the studio DreamWorks produced the animated movie “The Road to El Dorado” and in 2007 the video game developer Naughty Dog released the action adventure video game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, where we follow Nathan Drake through his quest to find El Dorado.

The anime world also have is share with the French-Japanese animated series “The Mysterious City of Gold” (Taiyo no ko Esuteban), series co-produced by Studio Pierrot (Naruto, Tokyo Ghoul, Black Clover) and DIC Entertainment (Inspector Gadget, Popples) counting 39 episode airing from June 1982 and March 1983.

If DreamWorks with “The Road of El Dorado” and Studio Pierrot in collaboration with DIC entertainment with “The Mysterious City of Gold” decide to take the same approach, El Dorado is a lost city filled or made of/with gold, Naughty Dog decided to get closer to the original legend which refer to a man made of gold.

However even if those three decide to all take the same direction by talking about a the material wealth that is gold, not all story choose the same direction to talk about the mysterious city of El Dorado.

For this month OWLS tour, I decided to pick a fairly recent series as support for this prompt, Garo: Vanishing Line which look at the quest for El Dorado differently.

©MAPPA

Garo: Vanishing Line, is an original series from the studio MAPPA (Terror in Resonance, Yuri!!! On Ice!, Kakegurui) that aired between October 2017 and march 2018.

The series follow the story of Sophia (Sophie) Hennes, an orphan, who is looking for her older brother. The latter disappear a three years prior the beginning of the series leaving behind only one clue, a password “EL DORAD”.

While looking for informations concerning her missing brother around Russell City, Sophie have a life changing encounter when she met Sword, a Makai Knight, who is also looking for informations related to “El Dorado” for the Makai Order, since “El Dorado” seems to be the reason behind the Horrors (manifestation of negative emotions feeding on human) apparition.

During their researches, something became apparent, people were leaving Russell City on their own accord and they were all leaving for the same destination, a city where the could gain the eternal happiness.

©MAPPA

These people all got the same invitation, the same promise, the promise of an eternal happiness in a city where they will never miss of anything.

This must be a great city right? A city where sadness, loneliness, envy and anger are just a myth, a city where it is fun to live, the kind of place where everyone would like the live.

These people left without asking question, they leave on the promise to live better days, on the promise to reach their ideal. Getting an invitation to El Dorado was liking getting an invitation to the Promised Land.

©MAPPA

  However, not everyone can enter such marvelous city, only the one getting the invitation, in the series, we see the road leading to the beautiful city surrounded by shantytown, the inhabitants looking with envy the black bus bringing the people who got the invitation inside the city. They wanted to get inside too, they also wanted to live a better life, however without the precious invitation they couldn’t, instead they are gathering around the road in the hope that one day they will be able to get the other side of the gate.

©MAPPA

The invitations were all sent by the same company, the GarEden Corporation, this company control every facets of El Dorado, from the politic to the industry, passing by the communication system (ELDO Net), the city is completely managed by it (as you probably guess, the name play on the Garden of Eden, the paradise of the Catholic religion).

©MAPPA

  It is such a great city that it’s make tragedy meaningless, your friend disappeared? why being worried about some friend disappearing without leaving any traces when you can still make a thousand more, everyone think the same as long as they are happy, nothing matter. No one see the true behind El Dorado, no one see what is the real El Dorado is, everyone only see the surface, only the good side, the dark one is well hidden.

  ©MAPPA

©MAPPA

©MAPPA

©MAPPA

©MAPPA

©MAPPA

  This is what Martin Hennes, Sophie big brother, was also thinking. Martin was one the person working on the El Dorado project, to help to the creation and the completion of the fabulous city, He agreed to work on it for Sophie’s sake, he wanted a place where his little sister will forever be happy, never sad again. As administrator of the El Dorado system, he could control everything, he was the one at the top of the chain of command of GarEden Corporation, but in truth he was only a pion, to help to the completion of the truth El Dorado, a place where the Horror could feed, a giant buffet and soon, with Martin’s help, this buffet would take the size of the world, the size of the Planet Earth.

©MAPPA

Upon realizing the truth about El Dorado, Martin Hennes was shocked, the only thing he wanted was to create a place where his little sister could be happy. Like everyone who lost their life by accepting the invitation to El Dorado, the invitation to a place always at peace, where everyone is happy, Martin was duped, like all the poor soul living in that “perfect” world, he never had his doubt about what was happening outside El Dorado. Brainwashed, he never imagined that his perfect world was tainted with blood.

©MAPPA

This is how strong the call for an eternal happiness was, the call brought (kill) thousand people, people who never realized they were death.

©MAPPA

©MAPPA

Everyone want to be happy, it’s one of the primal wish people have since the beginning of the time, through the years, the decencies, the century, the call for happiness, for peace, for freedom, created more wars and tragedies the human being would want to remember. All those tragedies had all that one thing in common, a promise for better days. Selling the idea for better days is easy, that’s how cult work, that how cult master recruit member, however the better days is not always the one the member would want to live.

©MAPPA

  Just take the Order of the Solar Temple as example, mass suicide and assassination are part of their reality, part of their way to create a new world, create a world where all religion would coexist in peace together. The promise of the ideal was strong enough to let parent their 3 months baby to be killed because the infant was identified as the antichrist.

The story of the Order of the Solar Temple, is just one among a lot of other story, story that doesn’t normally end well for the protagonist.

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This is the end of my OWLS post for the May tour, hope you all read Matt Doyle post before coming to mine, if not go read it while waiting for Zoe’s post to be published on the

~ thank you for reading ~

[OWLS] El Dorado: The Road to Eternal Happiness Hello everyone, Welcome to the May OWLS tour! If you are new around here and doesn’t know what is the OWLS group, let me tell you about the most awesome group of the Internet.