#its made by the people who adapted hikaru no go and that was pretty good so *fingers crossed*

[xinyuehui]

If I told you that you could travel back in time through photos, would you like to take the chance?

LINK CLICK LIVE ACTION

[fategoflatass]

Those are some amazing titles right there! I've been waiting for Blue Flag's and I Hear The Sunspot's anime adaptations for so long it's not even funny.

Some other titles I would suggest are The Summer Hikaru Died, The Summer You Were There and Our Dreams At Dusk.

The first one follows Yoshiki, a high schooler who finds out his best friend and crush, Hikaru, has died and his body is now being possessed (?) by a supernatural being.

Besides it being a super interesting set up and having some of the most fucked up psychological horror I've read (super relatable asides from being helped by the amazing art), the body horror scenes would look fantastic if it were to get a good anime adaptation. Might be hard to get something that would make the original manga justice, but we might at least try.

While The Summer Hikaru Died does include drama, that's not its main selling point. That's where The Summer You Were There enters.

Shizuku is a rather withdrawn girl who spends her time writing her own novel. Unhappy with the results, alongside her insecurities and fear of the what-ifs in case of publishing it online, she decides to get rid of the draft, only for her popular classmate Kaori to find it and read it. She then tells Shikuzu she loved it and would love to help her get inspiration for the next one, even if that means they have to get into a pretend relationship.

My main reason to recommend this one is because I don't think there're enough GL animes out there, which I hope changes soon. And this series would be a good start! The characters feel real and their relationship doesn't feel forced, the development being pretty natural. As I said earlier, the drama it's its biggest selling point (it made me cry which I consider a pretty big feat), but I won't talk much about it since I would be getting into spoiler territory (you'll have to trust me with this one!).

Speaking of human drama and whatnot, Our Dreams At Dusk is one of the best mangas in this area that I've read in my entire life.

Tasuku, a gay high schooler, is terrified at the possibility that he might have been outed. While he's trying to calm himself down, he witnesses a woman jumping from the window of a nearby house. He runs in her help only to find that place is a public meeting lounge where LGBT people hang out in a judgement-free environment.

With this one, I have no idea if it would be better as a series or, instead, a movie. In either case, the characters and their background stories are so well done many of us will end up feeling identified with, at least, one of them. The struggles they go through day by day are pretty relatable and their character developments are amazing. It's certainly different from the other two titles since this one also includes trans people, in case someone it's interested in stories that have them!

I could include some others series such as, for example, Natsuki-kun Is Beautiful as Always, but since it's such a short one I don't think it would be enough content for an anime adaptation (maybe a TV short would be fitting, I don't know). In any case, I just want more people to read this one. It's just downright adorable.

Queer manga I'd like to see adapted

So there's definitely a lack of queer anime out there, so I wanted to talk about three that I think would make good anime. (Note: I realized all these are mainly centered around mlm relationships, so... take that as you will!)

Blue Flag

Blue Flag is one of my favorite romance manga that hasn't been adapted into an anime, and I think it seriously deserves one. It's honestly a love triangle, but one of the only series I've seen that actually does a triangle instead of an angle and does it well. It follows Taichi, a high school third year who is growing apart from his childhood best friend, Touma. Things sort of change when Futaba approaches Taichi due to her crush on Touma. The two become closer, and unbeknownst to them, Touma is gay and in love with Taichi. And as a bonus, Futaba's (female) best friend Masumi is in love with her, too!

Blue Flag is ultimately about navigating those confusing feelings of love in that weird transition between childhood and adulthood. While it's not a complicated premise, it's a beautiful, full tale of romance and friendship that would make an incredible anime if adapted fully. This is one I truly hope will get an adaptation someday.

Go For It, Nakamura!

I know this is kind of a weird one to think would fare well as an anime, but with the success of Komi Can't Communicate and anime with similar structure, I think this one would do well! Go For It, Nakamura! follows Nakamura, a shy high school boy who is completely in love with his classmate, Hirose. It's an episodic comedy with many elements that parody BL, all while celebrating other elements of it.

Nakamura is such a lighthearted read, and if it were a bit longer (another volume, maybe?) it would make a great episodic comedy anime. I honestly think it may even open up the BL genre to people who would've never considered it before. (Such as my brother. He would like this one!)

I Hear the Sunspot

Okay, I know this one got a live-action movie adaptation, but when I read it I just kept thinking of how pretty it could be animated. It follows Taichi (I know), a cheerful college student, and Kohei, who struggles with hearing loss. Taichi is able to break through Kohei's shell, and the two of them start this more than friends less than lovers relationship.

Besides the fact that it's a great manga and it's always nice to have more disability representation in anime, I think it would just look so pretty as an anime. I kept imagining a softer color palate with lighter animation, similar to something like Sweet Blue Flowers. I just think it would be so pretty.

Bonus: They should adapt Harukaze no Etranger (continuation of Umibe no Etranger), especially since the best character doesn't get introduced in what was in the movie, and I want to see him.

So that's all I had on the top of my head. Please give any titles that come to mind that would make great anime! (I will use these as recommendations...)

[kurooicha]

Why I love Umi and Ascot

I have loved Magic Knight Rayearth ever since I was a kid. I come from a small country where anime and manga was a pretty unknown thing during my childhood, but then they started to air shows like Rayearth and Sailor Moon which were so different from what I had usually watched and I was so hooked. However I never managed to watch every single episode of Rayearth anime, I started from the 2nd season and didn't even see all the episodes from that either, I was very late to the party. Later on I got to buy the original manga instead and got to experience the story via that, and I LOVED it! The characters that really stood out to me were Umi and Ascot, let's start with Umi: In the beginning Umi is a very selfish and bratty girl who comes from a rich family, and she is constantly complaining about how she is missing her personal things. However during their adventure she learns to care about others and becomes more patient. She starts to really value her friendship with other girls. Many people have pointed out that Umi seems to get most development out of the all main characters and I do agree. She feels like a totally different person in the very end of the story. What was the real highlight in her character imo was when she managed to talk sense to Ascot when he attacked them. She had learned so much from their friendship and now she used this knowledge to show Ascot how he should really treat his monster friends. Then about Ascot: He starts out as a literal child who was incredibly misguided, he only wanted a good place for his monster friends but everyone were scared of them. That is until Zagato offered him and his friends a place to stay, and he started to serve Zagato as well. He used his friends as weapons against others, until he met Umi who told him off for not treating his friends right. He understood his mistakes and apologized the Magic Knights. And in the second season we see him definitely being learned a lot from Umi. He tells that he has stood up for his friends so nobody is afraid of them anymore, he has learned his own magic skills from Clef so he wouldn't need to always depend on others and he is also helping to do many chores like picking up fruits with his monsters. During the second season I totally love how much of a deep bond there has been developed between Umi and Ascot. While Ascot's feelings were definitely romantic towards her while she was overall a very oblivious person, they still do so much together. Ascot tells and shows to Umi how much he has learned and how much Umi has affected him, for which Umi happily compliments him. He also insists to help the Magic Knights when they are about to go find the path to the pillar, and later apologizes to Umi how he isn't strong enough, causing Umi to smile at him with a moving expression. After Hikaru removes Cephiro's pillar system and the girls return to the others, they are floating towards the ones who the have the strongest bonds with, of course Umi decending towards Ascot. Then in the epilogue we see them making tea together, while Ascot asks if Umi is dating anyone or if she overall likes someone, abd she is still as oblivious as ever. :) If I would add some smaller details why I love these two, here's some: First of all, Umi is often described to be very beautiful, almost like a model, but personality wise she was very brattish. When she changed Ascot however, she did it while reasoning with her, so I really like how Ascot clearly is not into her because of her looks, it was what she taught to her that made him to love her. I also love Ascot's overall devotion towards her, in both manga and anime we see him going to such lenghts to protect Umi, how he even apologizes to her because he really wants to do more but isn't strong enough. Not to mention Mokona also clearly noticed their bond and thought they should go together in the same ship to find the path to the pillar.

Here I would shortly talk about the MKR anime adaptation. Tbh, I was rather disappoited what they did to their relationship here. I do love that Ascot is still devoted towards her, but their overall bond that I thought was very solid in the manga felt like an afterthought. I wasn't very happy about Umi having feelings for Clef either, mainly because it I never felt that much connection between them, maybe somewhat in the OVA but not in the original series, not to mention I always thought Umi was supposed to be oblivious to love in general. I get that anime doesn't have to be exactly the same as the manga, but again I felt that the bond between Umi and Ascot was very solid and in the anime I was very sad we couldn't see Umi truly reacting to Ascot's growth.

While I doubt MKR would ever get a Brotherhood treatment, I would still like to see one someday, and I would especially love the bond between Umi and Ascot being shown in its whole glory. They don't need to actually become a couple or anything, as it was left very vague in the manga too, but I definitely want them to show their bond done right. I overall loved how only one of the Magic Knights got a love interest (that being Fuu), meaning not all the characters have to be in a romantic relationship, which I find admirable. Hikaru and Umi are just still very young and oblivious people. I am not saying all this just because I ship Asmi, I say this because I felt that the bond they had in the manga was such a strong part of their characters. I only want to see that done in proper way. Thank you for reading!

[edvonstein]

which precures would read homestuck without being dared to

Boy howdy. There’s a question I didn’t expect. Well let’s see here and go down the list:

Nagisa: Got into it shortly after launch, after hearing Honoka talk about it.

Honoka: OG reader, has been around for most of Hussie’s stuff.

Hikari: She didn’t read it until about halfway through its publication run, but caught up in a single night. She made fanart.

Saki: She tried to get into it for Mai, but it never really meshed with her. Still learned enough through osmosis to cosplay both Dirk and Dave.

Mai: She has five sketch books that are just redraws of the entire series with everybody replaced by Saki. None of her friends must ever see. They saw. They didn’t get it, but liked the art.

Nozomi: OG reader, not the absolute biggest fan, but did walk away liking it.

Rin: Saw Nozomi read it, and tried a little herself. Then she met Kanaya. The rest was history and fanfics. And special flower arrangements.

Urara: Currently lobbying for a broadway adaption. She is undecided which role she wants to play tho.

Komachi: She has changed her writing pseudonym to John Egbert, to get a better likelyhood of getting her Pirate Hurricane series published. She writes more like a mix of Dave and Rose though. It’s fucking mind expanding.

Karen: She had it fed through her home’s in house cinema to watch it with Komachi initially. They all ended up watching it.

Milk/Kurumi: “Vriska did nothing wrong”

Love: Her and Setsuna totally are like Rose and Kanaya. She is Rose of course.

Miki: She knows she is everybody’s Kanaya. She spend some time making masks of the characters. You can imagine how well that ended. Her Kanaya cosplays are somehow still great for the family boutique.

Inori: Yeah, she read it. Each reading session was followed by a trip to the confession booth. Eventually she just started reading it in the confession booth. The priest liked it too.

Setsuna: Her and Love totally are like Rose and Kanaya. She is Rose of course.

Tsubomi: Yes she read it. No her friends must never know. She doesn’t realize all of them have read it too.

Erika: The only friend Tsubomi opened up to about Homestuck. Turns out Erika runs one of the main japanese fansites of Homestuck.

Itsuki: Main mod on Erika’s fansite. Tsubomi must never know. Nor her family. Itsuki still feels too uncomfortable in their skin for that.

Yuri: Almost OG reader, she and Honoka frequented the same forums. Upon casual mention from Honoka, Yuri tried it out. Her young friends must never be tainted by this horror. Hopefully Hussie updates soon!

Hibiki:Learned about it through Ako. Found it pretty sweet, but didn’t make it all the way.

Kanade: Also learned about it through Ako. her bi heart couldn’t be stopped as she steamed through almost all of it in one go.

Ellen: Had been following it for about a year with Hummie before Suite happened. Continued reading while on the villains side. Often plays Homestuck songs while busking, and has several rearrangements on niconico.

Ako: Has been reading Hussie’s stuff since halfway through Problem Sleuth. She was 7 at the time. There’s a reason she a) is so crumby, Karkat is her spirit animal, and b) she decided to go and become an extra af phantom thief precure.

Miyuki: She is a reading machine, and of course this would capture her attention. She came in a bit late but found it on her own.

Akane: Similarly to Rin, she saw it over Miyuki’s shoulder one day, did a bit of reading herself, and got pretty hooked for a while.The hiatuses however broke her streak. Oddly enough the main emotion she took away from it is a hate for Equius, which she shares with Nao.

Yayoi: Main fanart contributor to Erika’s fansite. Her and Reika spend hours talking about Terezi.

Nao: Never did read it, she was too busy with her family and superheroism. More recently though, she decided to kinda wiki crawl the subject. Walked away primarily with a hate for Equius.

Reika: Another mod on Erika’s fansite.She has found her path. Her parents are disappointed. Screw her parents.

Mana: Tried it, didn’t like it. Square.

Rikka: Wishes she could live on that first planet they showed, with the froggies. She tries to dare Mana, but continues to get shot down. Mana is such a square.

Alice: Found it on one of her internet binges to bring her temper down. It proofed a surprisingly good tool to keep her mellow, which is why we see so little of her inner rage during the show. Another Terezi fan.

Makoto: Somehow has never come across a single shred of evidence that Homestuck exists. As unlucky as she is, she might be the luckiest of us all.

Aguri: Unlike Makoto, she has seen what Rikka and Alice are up to. She did read it a little, and liked what she saw well enough, but didn’t stick with it. Not enough time, and her twin sister lives fifty miles in Vriska did nothing wrong territory, so clearly she must be better than her. (She isn’t.)

Megumi: Came across it on her own, read it, but lost interest.

Hime: Runs the discord server for Erika’s fansite.

Yuko: Does occasional lyrics for Ellen’s arrangements, both on youtube and niconico, and makes the occasional troll riceball.

Iona: She was in fact dared, but by Megumi of all people, after she stopped reading. There is no bigger Rose fan now.

Haruka: As an avid reader, it did cross her radar, she went through it, and came out more determined than before to be the best princess she can be.

Minami: Amusingly enough, stumbled across it during her internet binges boning up on marine biology. Feferi popped up in her searches somehow, and the rest is history.

Kirara: Fans suggested it to her. She read it. The most fabulous Kanaya cosplayer of them all.

Towa: Kirara suggested it to her after she herself had finished (by now the webcomic is done IRL) partially because nerds gotta share, and partially because she truly felt it might help her cope with some of her inner turmoil from the guilt over being Twilight. Towa is slow in reading through this particular one, so she is still going through it today. Results unclear, she doesn’t talk much about it, even with Kirara. It might be helping though.

(The remaining characters I don‘t know as well as the others yet, but I’ll see what I can conjure up. Intriguingly I feel this also marks the first generation of Cures that lived in a post Homestuck world, what with Mahoutsukai airing in 2016, and Homestuck ending in 2016.)

Mirai: Got dragged in by the hype over the ending of Homestuck. Dared Riko to read it with her. They did. They planned their wedding to be like Rose’s and Kanaya’s.

Riko: Got dragged in by Mirai. Would feel very big deja vu next year when they both became moms to Kotoha.

Kotoha: Her moms protect her from this vice. (She found it anyways. There is no stopping the corruption of the youth.)

Ichika: Heard about it, but didn’t really care. Unfortunately for her she is on a team with Aoi, Yukari, and Akira.

Himari: Closet fan, wrote several dissertations about the science in Homestuck on Erika’s fansite. Which is probably where her crush on Honoka comes from.

Aoi: Loud and proud, likes this retro comic. Has started collabs with Yuko, Ellen, Amour, and Emiru because of course.

Yukari: She was a depressed gay teen during Homestuck’s peak... what do you think?

Akira: She was a gay teen during Homestuck’s peak... what do you think?

Ciel: She would have been save. But Undertale dragged her right into this fresh hell.

Hana: Huge fan of Undertale, but never quite pulled together the energy to tackle the behemoth that is Homestuck. Did learn through osmosis, with so many of her senpai cure friends being raving lunatic homestuck fans.

Saaya: Actually dodged both the Homestuck and the Undertale bullet initially. Hana then tossed Deltarune at her, and Saaya fell down the rabbit hole.

Homare: She had some inner hangups about getting into the whole mess, but Hana did dare her, knowing enough about the series to know that it’s message might gibe Homare the kick in the behind she needed to give ice skating another go.

Emiru: Big Undertale fan, but doesn’t care about the webcomic herself. Uncertain if even a dare would work, she does her own thing... well, besides the music. She freaking loves the music.

Amour: Read the whole thing in one hour to understand its impact on culture. What else would make her crash and join the heroes? Jokes aside, she did do it, and it did leave an impact on her. She was the one who connected Aoi and Emiru.

Hikaru: What are the freaking odds that she hasn’t read through it in its entirety three times this week alone?

Lala: Had her ship read it to her as something to fall asleep to. It put her to sleep quickly, actually, like tales from home. Her ship didn’t fare as well. It’s one of the biggest crack shippers on Erika’s site. Lala only heard like ten percent of the story.

Elena: Has neither the free time nor privacy to read a webcomic that’s now a decade old. Likes listening to Hikaru’s ranting about the series. Also likes how somehow that ranting makes Madoka’s face light up.

Madoka: It is unknown how she found the time, but she is a freaking huuuueg closet fan. She wants to talk with Hikaru about it, but still feels too uncomfortable being public about it. Hikaru does however know that MoonSollux, one of the biggest fanfic writers on Erika’s site, is her, but will wait for Madoka to come out of her shell in her own time.

Yuni: Missed the whole mess being a space alien idol phantom thief. Is getting a very wrong idea about human culture from Hikaru’s ranting. A dare would totally work.

(I have zero grasp on the Healin’ Good Girls, so not gonna do them.)

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 6/12/18

Arakawa Under the Bridge, Vol. 3 | By Hikaru Nakamura | Vertical Comics – It really does surprise me how invested I am in rec and Nino’s love affair, given that it’s not really an affair yet and this book is more about everyone being hopelessly weird. But in a series like that, you need something to ground you or else you risk not caring about anything, and for me it’s the moments when the two really show how devoted they are to each other. Elsewhere, a battle royale between the cast goes about how you’d expect in terms of the winner (hint: she’s on the cover), and there is also the occasional hint that these happy (sort of) days for rec won’t be able to last forever. Arakawa requires a love of gag comedy to appreciate, but if you do there are a lot of rewards here. – Sean Gaffney

Durarara!! Re;Dollars Arc, Vol. 1 | By Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Aogiri | Yen Press – The last time we had a DRRR!! manga volume come out over here, we were just beginning the light novel release. Almost three years later, here’s the new arc. This starts to adapt the fifth novel, meaning that Akane and Vorona, two of my favorites, make an appearance. There’s not a whole lot of extra content here for those who have seen the anime and read the novels, though I was very appreciative of Shinra’s fantasy of why Akane would want to kill Shizuo. But for those who like following DRRR!! in manga form, this adaptation remains a good go-to choice. It’s drawn by Aogiri, who also did the Aquarion Evol manga art. Sadly, it also has Izaya being Izaya Alas. – Sean Gaffney

The Elder Sister-Like One, Vol. 1 | By Iida Pochi | Yen Press – While I was reading this, the first thing that came to mind was “this reads like porn with the sex removed.” Which indeed it is—the original was a pornographic doujinshi, but the author made the relationship non-explicit and a bit more familial (only a bit, mind you) for this mainstream release. The premise involves a young man who has been passed along from relative to relative and his demonic familiar who becomes a sort of twisted family. If you’re thinking “This sounds like Natsume’s Book of Friends only written for guys and with lots more cleavage,” you aren’t far off. It actually manages to respectably straddle the line between supernaturally sweet and supernaturally skeezy as hell. We’ll see how long it can keep that up. – Sean Gaffney

Flying Witch, Vol. 6 | By Chihiro Ishizuka | Vertical Comics – The cast expands a bit here, as we meet Sayo, a “student council president” sort who thinks that Makoto is a bit too laid-back and relaxed about her witchly duties. Which, to be fair, is 100% correct. Fortunately, they bond over a case involving a repeating town block, and Sayo shows off her shy, cute side. Elsewhere in the volume, most of the rest of the cast show up for a barbecue of sorts, as we get much discussion of giblets and just how common it is to be loving it as a delicacy. Speaking of food, turns out the school’s pork cutlets are delicious to cats as well as humans, and also that you can get winter in July provided you’re associated with witches. Flying Witch is always peaceful, but never boring. – Sean Gaffney

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 24 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | VIZ Media – I haven’t enjoyed this Central arc much, so it’s a relief that the end seems to be in sight. It turns out that Erina’s dad once idolized Soma’s dad and is unable to resist a challenge in which a defeated Joichiro would become his minion. Now the resisters are going up against the remaining council members, with the possibility of taking over the council themselves, and we get fun training action like a three-on-three battle during which Takumi reveals just how much he’s grown and Erina attempts unorthodox cooking for the first time. It’s a lot of fun and the air of amiable challenge that exists between Soma and Joichiro ends up inspiring Erina to stand up to her dad and publicly side with the resisters. We barely get started on the team shokugeki before the volume ends, but I’m happy to find myself once again enjoying this series immensely. – Michelle Smith

Haikyu!!, Vol. 24 | By Haruichi Furudate | Viz Media – This was one of the best volumes of Haikyu!! I’ve read yet, and it’s not a coincidence that there’s no tournament going on. I do love the games, but volume after volume of them can get exhausting (and hard to review). Here we see a jealous and driven Hinata follow Tsukishima to the all-rookie camp… where he wasn’t invited. What’s worse, the coach of this camp is Shiratorizawa, whose motto is basically “no short kids.” Still, he lets Hinata be the ball boy. This is actually really good for him, as it allows him to realize how much there is to learn by just watching. His raw instinct is combining with actual game smarts, and it’s terrific to see. I am really waiting to see how this plays out in the future. – Sean Gaffney

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 2 | By Afro | Yen Press – I mentioned this in my review of the first volume, but it really is striking how much the series is trying to separate the main cast. We start off with Nadeshiko and her club at a hot spring camp, and Rin… far away, looking for another hot spring (which turns out to be closed) but finding her own solitary camping experiences. It’s nice to see that the manga tells people it’s fine to have fun on your own. Still, I think I appreciated it more when Rin and Nadeshiko were actually interacting in person rather than by phone, and I do hope that in future volumes we can have the four together… or maybe five, if we can convince Rin’s weird friend to come along. Still a nice series as laid-back as its name—I just wish it had more characterization. – Sean Gaffney

Takane & Hana, Vol. 3 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – Takane & Hana is still at its best when its romantic pair are snarking at each other, and there’s plenty of that here. Elsewhere, though, Hana’s grades are starting to slip, leading to a studying binge which Takane actually proves pretty adept at helping with. It’s not without cost, though, as he gets a bad cold, and she realizes just how much it is that he actually does. Meanwhile, a trip with Takane, Hana, and Hana’s friends also includes the high school boy who likes her, and he brings up the elephant in the room, which is the fact that Takane is a decade older than Hana, she’s still in high school, and this is pretty creepy if you stop and think about it. That said, I’m content right now to let the shoujo manga keep the romance on a slow simmer. – Sean Gaffney

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 12 | By Mizuho Kusanagi | VIZ Media –Yona of the Dawn is always good, but this volume is particularly so. Yona and her retinue get caught in the Fire Tribe city of Saika as an invading army from the Kai empire approaches. I appreciated the atmosphere of tension while everyone waited and also loved seeing Tae-Jun be brave, keeping his promise to protect the villagers. It turns out it’s all a traitorous plot and even though Yona would also like to get vengeance on Su-Won, she can’t let this army attack the palace lest they throw the nation into chaos. Potentially my favorite aspect of this, though, is that Kusanagi keeps showing that Su-Won actually is a better king than Yona’s father was. I expect eventually she’ll have to recognize that for herself. At turns light-hearted and intense, Yona of the Dawn really is something special. I’m glad this story exists. – Michelle Smith

By: Michelle Smith