#japanese movie flyer

[thedrillerkiller]

I have never fully watched this movie but now I guess I have to with all the special commentary and sexy suede box set… Possession.

[xaoca]

Japanese poster for Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

[simpingforcys]

A WIP but behold, the WIR/King Candy shrine so far. Would of waited until my stickers from Japan came in but they haven’t found my package in 3 weeks, so who knows how long that’ll take.

A year ago I never would have expected to love this movie and character as much as I did. It gives me so much comfort and joy. 🍬👑💕

[leeyunidesign]

映画 『キラー・ナマケモノ』 監督 マシュー・グッドヒュー Artwork 2024 CL｜アルバトロス・フィルム

[owsalfa]

Watership down - Japanese Movie Flyer [x]

[orawyra]

please please please tell me ur robots headcanons ☹️☹️ pleeeeeaseeeee

ok so

-i think i hc most of the lead cast being biracial. yeah

-fender has a prosthetic leg as a human that he's had basically his entire life. he also has freckles like his sister and a tooth gap :3

-piper is a collector of all things music from physical media to magazines and old concert flyers. oh and also pocket knives.

-diesel uses sign language, lug is his interpreter but also speaks a little brazilian portuguese. both piper and fender speak spanish, cappy speaks japanese.

-bonus: all of them try teaching rodney these languages post-movie, with sign being the one he's clung to the most.

-fender was a theater kid and class clown growing up because he liked making people happy. post-movie he does stand up comedy and drag on the side.

-crank, cappy, loretta and ratchet all smoke.

-lug enjoys cooking and helps aunt fanny with making dinner sometimes.

-rodney gets sick very easily and will stay sick for weeks and weeks on end.

-aunt fanny used to be a teacher and now home schools piper.

-pipers low key a weeb and kawaii metal was literally designed for her.

-fender is 1000% a stoner. he and crank have a sour relationship but the only thing they bond over is getting high.

-diesel likes riding on top of lug's shoulders and back.

-fender has separation anxiety and is very quick to grow attached to other people, as well as adhd. he may or may not have a shit ton of trauma.

-cappy has a cat named mono (もの), literally translates into "thing". he's strange.

-after her crush on rodney wore off piper developed a huge secretive one sided crush on cappy (oh no cancel me)

-lug, diesel and rodney are all autistic.

-aunt fanny wears glasses bc i said so fuck you.

-fender is deathly afraid of bugs and blood/guts. and also the dark, especially when in a small space.

-rodney has a habit of chewing on his straws as a stim.

-diesel likes art, and his style is very abstract and avant-garde. he also enjoys old video games.

-bigweld and gasket used to date.

-cappy and loretta were friends in high school.

-piper is effectively wonderbot's aunt and babysitter.

-i thibk ratchet needs therapy.

-i think most of these characters need therapy.

-i think rodney needs a nap.

i have a shit load more but that's all i feel comfortable sharing publicly lol

[hotnunswithguns]

Japanese promitional flyer for Sebastiane (1976) dir. Derek Jarman. Source:

[bubblegumflavor]

tagged by @soobiesworlds !! thank you for the tag <3

I tag: @darthdisco @dumbponyboykinnie @rosie-tyler @blak68-rit @andietries @sincerelyidontknow (no pressure!!! <3)

(If there's nothing for you, feel free to adopt a spider!)

[nevis-the-skeleton]

Cheyennexshadow : I want to see starscream bonding with the children when he was trusted to be alone with them while the autobots including ratchet on a mission, then june darby came to visit as she's unaware of starscream recently joining the bots.

Oh I have a feeling it's going to be funny and fluff X), maybe also sad but cute in the end. Thank you for your request Cheyennexshadow.

~~~

The Autobots had left on a mission, leaving Starscream alone at the base with the children. The Seeker was initially reluctant, not understanding why it wasn't Ratchet who stayed with the humans.

"We need Ratchet for this mission. Optimus explained simply.

- But… I assure you that I can be useful…! the jet exclaimed. You don't need to leave me behind at the base!

- I don't doubt your skills, Starscream. But they are not needed for this mission."

The flyer couldn't stop his wings from lowering, as his paranoid mind kept screaming at him that they didn't want him anymore. Starscream knew he should have prepared for this possibility, but it was hard to accept.

"If... if it's about the previous mission... the Seeker began.

- It's not about that." Ratchet intervened, much to the jet's surprise.

The doctor sighed, before continuing:

"Look, Starscream, we need someone at the base, it's important."

- …”

The flyer looked away and clutched his wings, unconvinced by the ambulance's speech.

“See it as a mark of trust on our part. Ratchet added.

- What? Starscream wondered a little.

- We leave you alone in the base, with the children as a bonus. This is the biggest proof of trust we could give you."

The Seeker was for a time grateful to the doctor for his speech, but his previous anguish was quickly replaced by another. What if he failed at this?! What if he couldn't take care of the base or the children?! He liked them, there was no problem there, but he never had to be alone with them, much less take care of them. What if Miko decided to go on the run again, and he couldn't stop her?! And if…

“Don’t worry Screamer, it’s going to be fine. Wheeljack huffed with a laugh.

- I'm not worried… lied the jet.

- Hm, hm…

- Anyway! Go! It's good!"

The Autobots eventually entered the portal, and the flyer stood in front, wanting to prevent any sort of escape from the Japanese girl.

“It’s okay, chill! I'm not going to do anything! laughed the young girl.

- Do you think I'm a fool? Starscream huffed.

- At least I would have tried."

Miko returned to sit on the couch next to Raf, while Jack moved closer to the Seeker. He placed his elbows on the railing, and the jet came closer, his wings raised with stress, before saying:

“Be careful, don’t fall!

- You don't need to worry like that, Starscream. reassured the brown haired boy.

- …

- This isn't the first time you've spent time with us.

- Yes… ! But I was never alone...! The Autobots are unconscious, it's terrible...!

- Why would they be? Do you intend to harm us?

- Of course not!

- Then you have no reason to worry.

- …

- The Autobots trust you, but you also have to trust yourself."

The flyer could not hold back his wings which lowered, and Raf had a little look of sorrow, then asked:

“Want to watch a movie with us?

- What?"

Starscream had a surprised expression, and Miko jumped on the couch, before exclaiming:

"Oh yeah! Let's watch an action movie! A good blockbuster!

- Or something calmer. huffed Jack.

-How about we let Starscream choose." proposed Raf.

The Seeker shook his head sharply, before focusing back on the ground bridge.

“The Autobots may need a portal at any time. I don't have the freedom to watch a "movie".

- You need to relax a little… sighed the Japanese girl.

- …

- Oh! Otherwise, let's play a board game!

- You can play whatever you want, but don't include me in it.

- Would you do it if it was a mission?

- Of course, but this is not the case actually!

- So you only do something if it's a mission, it's boring.

- It's the war!" shouted the jet, his wings raised in anger.

The children could not hide their surprise, and the flyer quickly retracted, before stammering:

"S-Sorry... I didn't mean it like that... Just, don't tell the Autobots, okay...?

- We won't say anything, I promise. reassured Jack.

- …”

Miko came closer, and stood next to the brown haired boy, then said:

“Please do something with us. I don't like seeing you stressed like this."

Starscream looked towards the children, and scratched his helmet, eventually looking away. He didn't want to see their disappointed looks... Either way, they were probably going to end up hating him, like everyone else. He couldn't reveal too much about himself, or they would end up being disgusted...

“I can’t…” was the Seeker’s response.

The Japanese girl frowned, before rushing to her bag and grabbing something.

“Miko?” asked Jack.

The girl rushed towards the Seeker, who had his back to them, and shouted:

“Hey! Screamer!"

The jet turned around with a sullen expression, forbidding her to call him that, when he caught a balloon filled with red paint directly in an optic.

The flyer let out an exclamation of surprise, and put a hand to his eye, before his wings rose in anger. Starscream did his best to clear the paint, before shouting:

“Argh! You little…

- Paint fight!" declared Miko vigorously.

The Seeker had a slightly surprised expression, while the young girl pointed at her bag while smiling at the jet, inviting him to take his revenge.

“You don’t have any lessons in your bag?! Jack wondered.

- Hmm… No!" smiled the Japanese girl, before throwing a paint ball at the teenager's head.

The brown haired boy spit a little, after taking some in his mouth, and the flyer couldn't hold back a laugh. He ends up deciding to look in the young girl's little bag, determined to take revenge.

The balloons were too small for Starscream to grab with both hands, but he could see that Miko had done her best to make the balloons as big as possible to be caught by a Transformer.

The Seeker soon joined the battle, mainly targeting the Japanese girl. Raf went to take refuge in a corner, but Jack refused the boy with glasses to escape, and hit him in the back with a ball. The little boy fell backwards, before laughing at the ridiculousness of his fall.

Miko fired again towards the jet, which managed to dodge the girl's attack. He responded, not firing too hard so as not to hurt the Japanese girl, who jumped to avoid the ball, not seeing the second one coming, and taking it directly in the head.

She fell on her butt, and wiped the paint from her eyes, before sticking her tongue out, with a slightly disgusted expression, indicating that she had gotten some in her mouth. Jack laughed in the distance, then exclaimed:

“Karmaaaa!”

Starscream in turn made fun of Miko's situation, who soon joined them in their laughter. The Seeker found the situation so amusing that he didn't had a moment to think about his anxieties and the future. The Japanese girl moved closer to the jet, then said:

“I prefer it when you laugh. It shouldn’t be so rare to see you like this…”

The jet smiled a little, but there was far more sorrow than joy. The flyer looked away a little, when they heard the security alarm activate, then saw a car enter the base.

Starscream initially thought it was Agent Fowler, until the driver got out of the vehicle, and looked at him with wide eyes. The Seeker raised his wings in surprise, facing this complete stranger.

June froze when she saw this Decepticon close to the children, and couldn't hide her horror when she saw them covered in red liquid from head to toe. The nurse said absolutely nothing, like the jet.

The flyer turned to the trio, waiting for them to do something, but they too seemed unsure of what to do. Starscream decided to take matters into his own hands, and moved slightly closer, before the human pulled a taser out of her car, and threatened him with it.

“Get away from the kids and me!”

The Seeker tightened his wings, and backed away, not preferring to know what this weapon did. It might be tiny, but he'd rather not repeat the mistake he'd made with the MECH.

Miko rushed between the jet and Jack's mother, then took a protective stance in front of the flyer. June looked at this in surprise, while the Japanese girl shook her head, before exclaiming:

"Wait! He's not a bad guy! He's with the Autobots!

- But… But his optics are red! And… his a plane! Planes aren't always Decepticons?! replied the nurse.

- What stupid clichés!" Starscream shouted, his wings raised in anger.

The girl gave the Seeker a reproachful look, asking him to remain calm. Jack's mother quickly approached Miko, then asked:

“Are you hurt?!

- No, it's paint. replied the Japanese girl.

- Paint ?!

- Long story.

- Well you'll have to tell me, because I need explanations!"

The children ended up explaining everything to June, the fact that Starscream was a former Decepticon, and that he switched sides. They didn't lie about the fact that the integration wasn't easy, but they also added that the Seeker was now completely part of the family.

The jet did his best to hide that he was flattered by the trio's last sentence, then lowered his wings when he faced June's stern expression. Despite the children's speech, she was not convinced, her expression becoming more serious by the second. The nurse crossed her arms, before growling:

“Call Prime, I have two words to say to him!”

~

The Autobots were quick to return after June's call, who didn't wait until they all left the ground bridge to begin her sermon.

“When did you think that was a good idea?! Leaving the children to a former Decepticon, Optimus, have you lost your mind?!

- Starscream is perfectly capable of taking care of them. replied the Prime.

- He's a Decepticon!

- Former. Ratchet corrected.

- It doesn't matter, I don't want him near the children, especially not alone!

- But he's not evil!" Miko tried to defend.

While the others argued, Starscream watched all this in the distance, in a corner of the base. The less he stood out, the better he was now... The others were going to blame him for that, it was sure! The Seeker sighed discreetly, before hearing:

“Don’t you have anything to say to defend yourself?!”

The jet looked up at Arcee, unable to hide his surprise, while the motorcycle continued:

“Do you agree with what June said?!”

- …”

The flyer frowned, before responding:

“You could try to understand her point of view, no?"

The others had a surprised expression, and Jack's mother was no exception.

“Imagine you have a child, or know children and care about them. How would you react if they were alone with someone who was your enemy not long ago? Someone who others have portrayed as a monster.

- …

- I'll tell you, you will be suspicious, on the defensive. You will think about the safety of your Sparkling above all else. You will do everything to protect them... before it is too late... Because, for a parent, giving they trust to easily does not threaten only they life but also that of their child... You cannot blame her to distrust me…”

Everyone remained silent, before June approached Starscream, who raised his wings in surprise. The nurse held out her hand towards the Seeker, her gaze filled with understanding. The jet stretched out his hand in turn, and Jack's mother grabbed one of his claws, before saying:

“I don’t trust you completely.

- …

- But, I am now sure that you will never harm the children."

June tightened her grip on Starscream's finger, then whispered, away from prying ears:

“A parent doesn't hurt children."

The Seeker nodded gently, with a sad smile, before taking the nurse in his hand. The jet raised his wings, and declared:

"We had a bad start, and I haven't known you long, but you're already my favorite.

- Oh no ! I have been dethroned!" Miko exclaimed, before making a dramatic stance.

Everyone laughed at the Japanese girl's overreaction, and June gave Starscream a soft smile, before saying:

“Welcome in the team!”

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

FILE UNDER: '70s HEAVY ROCK, EPIC SPACE OPERA, METAL PUNK, SCIENCE FANTASY, VINYL TOYS, SF HARDCORE, & MORE!

PIC(S) INFO: Part 2 of 2 -- Spotlight on the second set of brand new Tumblr cover photos that I've used in the past month or so, and which I'm sharing with you all now. This month, featuring such finds as:

Inner gatefold sleeve to 1972's "Black Sabbath Vol. 4," the fourth studio album by English heavy metal band BLACK SABBATH.

Partial sleeve art to the Japanese movie poster to "STAR WARS" (1978), released in Nippon cinemas in 1978. Artwork by Seito.

English rock and roll band MOTÖRHEAD, during the band's classic period, photographed with a Union Jack flag in Berlin, Germany, c. 1981-'82.

Spotlight on partial artwork to Frank Frazetta's "A Princess of Mars" original painting (1970).

Boxed set of Ultraviolence QEE by Frank Kozik. Limited to 200 pieces. Designed by the late, great Frank Kozik.

Partial promotional art to "Venom: Lethal Protector" Vol. 1 #1. February, 1993. Marvel Comics. Artwork by Mark Bagley & Sam De La Rosa.

English rock band THE BEATLES (as a five-piece), performing live in Hamburg, Germany, c. 1962.

A DEAD KENNEDYS concert tour poster for the band's first tour of the UK, promoting their then-newlyreleased "Plastic Surgery Disasters" LP, c. fall/winter 1982.

Sources: Picuki, Heritage Auctions, Film on Paper, CBR, Bristol Punk Flyers, ART WHORE, Captain Fuzz (blogspot), Flickr, various, etc...

[oaktaro]

The Birth of the Horror Game Genre

What was the first horror game?

Killer Shark – 1972? – Cabinet When the question of the first horror game comes up, the poorly kept, early history of video games as a whole becomes an obstacle. You can find conversations about what the first horror game is, bring up seemingly lost cabinets of uncertain construction, or a scene in the 1975 movie Jaws in which it cuts to gameplay of an arcade game called Killer Shark where the player is a deep sea diver, armed with a speargun, shooting said killer shark, who appears from the darkness of the deep ocean… The arcade cabinet has a Sega logo, with various websites sighting it as having a 1972 release in the U.S. with no month or day specified. There's also a flyer, circulating, that shows the machine with 2 play prices, whose currency implies a Japanese release that may have been simultaneous or prior, considering the space for its second coin slot still exists in all the pictures of the U.S. release. Both sensible information and interest in this game are sparse due to its stroboscopic disk approach to film being considered so primitive that it becomes divisive as to if people even consider it video, thus making its historical value as a horror game as divisive, causing the credit of the earliest known horror game to often be split between it and another 1972 game, Haunted House. 

Haunted House – 1972, Aug-Oct? – Odyssey When attempting to create a variety of first-party games for their new home console, horror would join the likes of sports, education, and science fiction games, the Odyssey would see. While the creative mind behind the console would be against packing in games that required more than TV and controller to play, the console was under Magnavox, who would ultimately lean into the more board game design, relying on physical pieces in attempting to capture the family market. Released around September of ‘72, Haunted House would take advantage of the video game format by having a multiplayer game where one player is a ghost that can hide within things with the illumination of their body standing out while also blending in with the natural illumination of a CRT screen that lit the entire environment. The other player would be the detective, attempting to survive the mansion, with physical cards guiding the game without having to approach condensing text into hardware, which was meant to be cheap and thus simple. The game’s approach to horror relied on the tension of anticipating a failure state that allowed the player controlling the ghost to initiate a jump scare that would flash the screen white while they screamed “BOO!” Real scary, I know.

So what’s the earliest known survival horror game?

Hunt The Wumpus – 1973 – printed BASIC code After arcade and console players got their horror fix, the following year would see the release of a desktop computer horror game that would rely less on visuals and more on painting a picture through text like a horror novel. Gregory Yob found the output of the trend of hide and seek games published by People’s Computer Company to be… underwhelming considering what could be accomplished. He would avoid the easy grid pattern level design and have the player explore a cave system where a man-eating beast called the Wumpus was sleeping somewhere around. Also within the cave… were bottomless pits and bats—so great, they can carry a person right off! The player, armed with 5 crooked arrows, named for their… unrealistically generous movement through the air in the game’s dodecahedron-shaped world, would need to explore the cave system to hunt the Wumpus in complete darkness via their other senses like smell and feel, as light would alert the beast, and if you move too close to it, you’ll turn into it’s prey. Because of this, it’s retroactively referred to as the earliest known example of a survival horror game: exploring it’s cave system, managing your limited arrows, to hunt the monster while trying not to squander your limited inventory and become its prey. It was sold via mail order in 1973 and People’s Computer Company who advertised it as a possible tool to teach first grader’s math is credited as its publisher.

It became a franchise.

By 1975, multiple horror games were being released per year. Hunt the Wumpus’s source code was released in Creative Computing Magazine and became a series with ports, sequels, and custom alterations. Wumpus 2 would focus on re-playability. It’s new cave systems bringing changing difficulty and strategy, being described as “the same old Wumpus in a different setting, including those of your own design,"  referring to the ability to create your own cave system in this new entry. Wumpus 3 would advertise new hazards to the mix like earthquakes and bat migrations. Jack Emmerichs is credited with the creation of Super Wumpus, a more complex version of Wumpus where the beast would be aggressively active, while an Altair 8800 parody of the original, titled Wampus, would give players the option to primarily try to escape the cave and avoid confrontation all together.

What was the first video game adaptation of a horror movie? Could it have been inspired by:

Maneater – 1972 Mar? – Cabinet In 1975, Project Support Engineering released Maneater, advertising up to 2 players can indulge in it’s “video terror!” Controlling divers in shark-infested waters, players are to retrieve packages from the bottom and bring them to the surface, and this would be far from the last shark game…

Shark Jaws – 1975 Sep 25th – Cabinet Video game adaptations of other media predate Pong, and Pong’s company, Atari, would join on this, forming Horror Games, a front to take the bullet in case they were sued for their unlicensed adaptation, Shark Jaws, though keen eyes would recognize it using an Atari Tank II cabinet, and those who got inside might note its circuit board, marked "Atari,"  whose marketing VP is quoted as saying the company behind Jaws would find out Atari is behind Horror Games in only 3 days. Advertised as “exciting underwater video terror!” Shark Jaws had you swimming for fish in a third person while trying to avoid being shark food. It’s been praised for it’s sound design, using heavy reverb to emulate its setting, and despite claims of it selling thousands, tracking serial numbers have led to collectors finding it, more likely, only had 500 ever even made. Coincidentally, much like Killer Shark, it too would be used in a movie and 3 years after its release, to boot!

What was the first journalist attack on horror games?

DeathRace – 1976 April - Cabinet Games in the horror genre would, of course, eventually attract backlash. In December of 1975, Destruction Derby would release where the player, controlling a car, would attempt to ram into others. It was licensed to Chicago Coin by Exidy, who would clone the game to also profit from it without competing with their licensee. New hire, Howell Ivy, said the easy approach would be to replace the visuals, which was done by replacing the other cars with fleeing people! Allegedly titled Pedestrian before becoming Death Race 98 and then shortened to Death Race. The cabinet featured 2 Grim Reapers, driving cars, with the pedestrians being named Gremlins, who would scream before being run over. A reporter would see kids lined up to play Death Race and run a story in Seattle, beginning a snowball of media covering the controversial game about running over fleeing pedestrians. Becoming taboo, of course, caused the game’s sales to shoot from hundreds to thousands, with video game magazines reporting it in the top 10 highest grossing arcade games for 2 years! 

How much of an arcade game is in the cabinet’s construction, itself?

Triple Hunt – 1977 April – Cabinet On the market in 1977 was a new 3 in 1 arcade cabinet by Atari, Triple Hunt: a collection of shooting games, featuring Raccoon Hunt, where you shoot raccoons before they get to the top of a tree; Hit the Bear, where you take aim at bears with attached targets that, because the sprites display horizontally stretched, look more like eyes; and a game called Witch Hunt, where you’re firing at a haunted mansion where a witch circles the sky. The game tracks the gun’s position on the screen via 2 potentiometers in the gun, while a display mask and a one-way mirror in front of the monitor let light through and reflect the game’s sprites, creating a sense of depth and allowing them to pass behind and in front of objects. This allows the game to advertise multiple 3D environments. The game’s creator, Owen Rubin, would explain that the more complex method of gun tracking was chosen over using a light-gun, sensing the sprites when they’re not behind objects out of fear that outside lights like fluorescents would get in the way. This cabinet’s construction is an example of how I think so much of the experience is often lost when trying to translate an arcade game to a 2D screen. So much of the experience is in the cabinet’s construction itself, which is often not even attempted to be replicated. The game’s spooky sound design came from a combination of the game’s microprocessor producing sound effects and an 8-track tape producing the ambient environmental noise. Witch Hunt would have the most tape and not be the only witch game of this error.

There’s a horror game of a city’s tourist attraction.

The House of Seven Gables - 1978 - Apple II, TRS-80, Sorcerer Perhaps the most well-known thing about Salem, Massachusetts, is the witch trials of the 1600s. During the time, stood the Turner house that would eventually sell to the family of Susanna Ingersoll, who would entertain her cousin there, telling him stories of its old history. The attic had bits of framing and plaster from former gables built in 1668. This cousin would make the house famous by being inspired to write the 1851 novel, The House of the Seven Gables. The house is now an icon of Salem, becoming a museum and one with a horror game. Greg Hassett’s 1978 text adventure, The House of Seven Gables, advertises you raid for valuables but must defeat the witch to escape…  and said witch is not the only danger. Lurking the house are life-threatening ghouls who—you can throw chemicals in their face. A GHOST who also doesn’t want you to leave with valuables and can be life-threatening himself if you refuse to relinquish your plunder. There’s even a vampire who you can drive off with garlic found in the kitchen, but it won’t work forever… so you might want to prepare to combat it a different way.

Conclusion The number of horror games released was increasing every year, but what even constitutes a video game is divisive, from Killer Shark’s stroboscopic disk approach to Haunted House’s absence of memory or a processor to the House of Seven Gables’s absence of motion picture. The line of what is video and what are video games may be forever debated, and especially when a game lacks a stereotypically horror setting or characters, it can become as divisive to decipher which game’s creator’s intentions were horror or if that’s even what YOU define as a horror game. What is certain is the word "horror" can catch the interest of many people who previously enjoyed media described as such.

[laboitediabolique]

Returning From an Extended Break...

As you may have noticed, I have come back from an extended period of inactivity. I normally post any Japanese pop culture oddities I have collected over the last 20 years ago I found on my travels on the web, in addition to reposting any similar material I come across in the same vein. This is normally promotional material for anime, tokusatsu and idols from the late Showa era into the early Heisei era.

In addition, I scan material from my own collection, mostly images from the many anime illustration collections I have collected since 1996 as well as promotional items like press kits/press sheets Japanese theatrical flyers (chirashi), Japanese movie program covers and other items I have. At the moment I am planning to post at least three scanned items from my collections each week.

I’ll often repost a lot of material relating to bands I liked when I was younger (lots of alt rock) and J-pop/techno pop trio Perfume. At the moment I am concentrating on posting at least one Patlabor scan a fortnight, but am also concentrating on topics such as the music/films/art of the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu/KLF/The K Foundation, covers of Japanese airsoft magazines inexplicably featuring idol groups and gravure idols in survival game gear holding airsoft guns, promotional material from the odd Japanese cult Happy Science and their bizarre anime films and material from the “sexy idol” boom in the early 1990′s.

I also plan to scan covers of a lot of the old English language anime magazines I have, mostly the ones from the anime bubble and bust in the UK from the mid 1990’s. Depending on what I post there may be lengthy descriptions or on the rarer occasion a rant.

[spectralsleuth]

HELLO - love LSoW! I'm curious as to if the boys being dumb rich celebrity kids will play into their schooling experience?

Mikey offering to buy his friends' snacks at lunch period like that meme where the lady says "it's one banana, how much could it cost? 10 dollars?"

I think Mikey would be more likely to be the kid who brings in food for everybody than buy lunches- which is its own kind of privilege itself!

It probably starts out with him bringing Japanese lunches to school(nothing fancy bc Yoshi can't cook anything fancy) and some kids maybe trying to tease him? The way that kids do about other kids lunches. But instead of letting it bother him he decided to start bringing in enough for everybody, and it stops the teasing real quick.

Yoshi, helping Mikey make enough onigiri for his class: And you didn't just fight them why? You know I'm fine with you boys fighting in school-

Mikey: This is better. :)

Mikey's that kid at school that has a lot of friends very effortlessly, and being mean to him just makes you feel like an asshole. Otherwise they have a pretty weird school experience; Leo filming movies, Donnie and his... projects. A lot of stuff I'll cover, but normal celebrity troubles. I think people underestimate how normal celebrity students become among a student body. When you see someone in class every day, often multiple years in a row, it becomes really easy to see them as normal and every day.

On the subject of money;

Yoshi is very very wealthy, and only getting wealthier since he is also working full time at the dojos on top of filming new movies. But outside of certain accommodations for the boys (soaking pool, full sized townhouse, LAWYER FEES, expensive lamps, etc) I think he probably lives relatively simple. He's probably lost a lot of his taste for fame and fortune, after the Nexus. he's the kind of rich person who would pay for your hospital bills without a thought, but he simply wouldn't think to do it, or see it where it's needed. Social warrior he is not. He is just a rich old(ish) man with little turtle kids.

Xander is his personal assistant on top of nanny, so the boys all pick up being cheap and thrifty from him. Even when Xander has the credit card, if he goes shopping for the Hamatos he brings coupons, supermarket flyers, etc. They'll go to three separate stores to get the best deals. I think Leo would love this the best; he gets very good at math as a kid, sitting in the grocery cart with a calculator and seeing how much they save while Xander piles in groceries around him.

AGAIN sorry this took so long to answer I got shy!! :') I hope this isn't too long either. But these asks are so good and are making me think.

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning! I hope you slept well and feel rested? Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day. Welcome to Too Much Information Tuesday.

37% of the web is porn.

Sex burns 360 calories per hour.

Baths kill more people than terrorists.

Earth has lost 50% of its wildlife in the past 40 years.

The big bang was quieter than a Motorhead concert.

Men are biologically hardwired to fall asleep after sex.

100,000 Japanese people disappear without trace every year.

The brain naturally craves four things: food, sex, water and sleep.

A blue whale can swallow half a million calories in a single mouthful.

The literal meaning of “Once in a blue moon” is once every 2.7 years.

The number of emails is expected to reach 376 billion daily by 2025.

In North Korea, the sentence for getting caught watching porn is death.

Being alone weakens your body. Having friends strengthens your body.

British people inserting things up their bums costs the NHS £350,000 a year.

The Peter Principle holds that people are always promoted beyond their ability.

Studies show that the average man exaggerates the length of his penis by 20%.

In 1997, Bill Gates invested $150 million in Apple to save it from going bankrupt.

According to a 2014 study, shorter men report that they have more sex. (No comment.)

On average people are 2 inches shorter and 20% poorer than they claim to be online.

Friendship has more influence on longevity than exercise, diet, heart problems and smoking.

In 1973, China had an excess of females and offered the U.S. 10 million Chinese women.

In 2011, a lorry crashed on the M1 spilling enough Marmite to cover 24 million slices of toast.

Eminem wrote and recorded ‘The Real Slim Shady’ three hours before his album was due.

To test what happens when someone sits on their phone, Samsung has a robot shaped like a bottom.

India used to be the richest country in the world until the British invasion in the early 17th Century.

In 2006, Liechtenstein accidentally found 0.3% more of their country when they remeasured their borders.

The more you hide your feelings, the more they show. The more you deny your feelings, the more they grow.

A study has found that friends-with-benefits relationships are just as sexually satisfying as marital relationships.

Marrying your best friend eliminates the risk of divorce by over 70%. These marriages are more likely to last a lifetime.

According to new research, your cat will happily take treats from your enemies. Your dog, however, will not.

At the 1968 Olympics, Bob Beamon broke the long jump record by so much they had to find another tape measure.

Emotional pain lasts for 10 to 20 minutes, anything longer is actually self-inflicted by over thinking, making things worse.

In 1900, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle caught fire during a cricket match at Lord's. The ball hit a box of matches in his pocket.

You may gain 20% more muscle strength by working out in the afternoon instead of the morning, according to a study.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 619,000 people die each year due to heat stroke.

‘The Shawshank Redemption’ has been rated the best movie of all time according to IMDb, with a rating of 9.2/10.

There are 67.1 million tracks sitting on music streaming services that, in the 2022 calendar year, attracted 10 or fewer streams.

Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, who terrified audiences with movies like ‘Psycho’ and ‘The Birds’ was frightened of eggs.

The most expensive movie ever made is ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ (2011) with a budget of $378.5 million.

When pirate Jean Lafitte (c. 1780 – c. 1823) saw that the governor of Louisiana had offered $500 for his successful capture, Lafitte put up flyers offering $1500 for the capture of the governor.

A ‘binfluencer’ is a person on a street who takes the lead in putting out the correct waste and recycling bins on the correct day, thus prompting neighbours to follow suit. (My next door neighbour is one!)

Okay, that’s enough information for one day. Have a tremendous and tumultuous Tuesday! I love you all.

[theretirementstory]

Not long now until the BIG day…… I think I am starting to get excited 😜, now that really is a big surprise to me.

It’s been a busy week, it was the last two sessions of radiotherapy and I had my final consultation with the radiotherapy doctor. I said I was going to gradually re-introduce “forbidden” foods and did I……… well I had been dreaming of chicken fajitas and I had those on Wednesday so I guess not 😂.

The weather hasn’t been too good, lots of rain and mist with a smattering of sunshine thrown in. I never heard back from the roofer so I guess I will just have to be patient and wait for the dry weather to arrive when he will come and fix the problem.

I encountered a problem with my Orange TV Box, I was ready to watch the third episode of “Vera” on Sunday evening, however when it came on it didn’t switch to English language as usual. I rang Orange on Monday to try to get it sorted and at one point I thought we had solved it but no. The lady rang me back on Tuesday and we agreed there must be a problem with the box. I was told to take the box back to an Orange shop. Now we don’t have one in town and the nearest is 100 km round trip 🙄 anyway I went on Wednesday in the pouring rain. It’s years since I had been in the centre of Chaumont and I was surprised by the number of shops that were there. I got the new box and in the afternoon decided to set it up. Imagine my surprise when, set up, I had no sound or vision. I made a call again to Orange and after speaking to a man twice (without the problem being solved) I rang again and got a lady who did a lot of tests at her end and got it all sorted, even the problem with getting programmes in the original version. How pleased I am but very sad that I missed Vera in English.

Pauline and I decided to go to the cinema on Thursday night, to see Napoleon. The start time was 8:15 and it ran for 2.5 hours so I was going to have a really late night. We both enjoyed it very much and after picking up the flyer decided there was another film we would like to see. “La Tresse” (The Braid) so we are going on Monday evening, start time that night is 9pm!

I went to the cinema again on Friday evening (alone) the flyer said the movie was on at 18:30 and ran for 1h 27m so I would be home after 8pm. The film was in original version and looking at the actors I should have realised not in English, it was in Japanese 😂😂 with French subtitles. I stayed because the title was “Perfect Days” and the soundtrack included Perfect Day by Lou Reed with the talented Mick Ronson on piano, songs by The Animals (can you guess which song?) and Nina Simone to name but a few. I sang along (not loudly) but obviously loud enough that the lady two rows in front said to me at the end “English songs, for you to sing”. I wasn’t too concerned about being heard, there were only 4 of us watching the movie. Any thoughts of getting home just after 8pm were dashed as I checked my watch at 8:15 and the film was still in “full flow”. It was 9pm when I finally got home so it was straight to bed for me!

This week “The Ex-Graduate” has been unwell and couldn’t go into work for two days. It sounds as if she had ‘flu symptoms. On Friday she had an interview for a “real” job in her chosen profession. She messaged to say the interview was rotten, she was so nervous and didn’t know what she had rambled on about. Then later messaged to say she had been offered the job! Wow, good on you girl. I was so excited I couldn’t type my congratulations so rang her instead. How wonderful 🥳🥳.

“The Trainee Solicitor” has had another busy week and also a busy weekend. He is catching up with pals before Xmas, was at his work Christmas “do” last night and has usual weekend activities like good shopping to get sorted 😳.

The person formerly known as “The Daddy” now to be known as “The Photographer” due to his activities at Scarborough Athletic FC and also advertisements for clothes firms, restaurants etc. He also has had a busy weekend, my gorgeous grandchildren are with him and it was a Saturday off work so it meant he spent longer with the children. He went to his work Christmas “do” last night but reckoned on being home by 9pm (even with an hours drive). Blimey, not the work Christmas do I remember, where it involved all night, quite a few beverages and good food. Apparently the children are now being taken to the cinema to see a recorded panto. Funnily enough, I was looking at my legs this morning and remembering back to when I played the Prince in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs wearing my principle boy outfit, exposing a lot of leg, I think I have those shapely legs back again (my thoughts entirely) 😂😂.

Anie came to see me on Wednesday evening bearing Christmas gifts. She was thrilled with the Christmas cactus and when I handed over two other presents she exclaimed it was too much. How much is too much I ask myself, she has been an absolute wonder while I have been ill as have lots of other friends. She was leaving to stay with her son on Thursday, he would then take her to CDG airport for her flight on Friday. So she will be there now, with her family and granddaughter, Blanche.

Monique didn’t get to see me this week either as she had to go to physio for her sciatica. She is going to come down on Monday afternoon, I just hope her plant is ok and will last through Christmas and New Year.

I have just had a message from a lady who attended the knitting group before Covid. She has extended an open invitation to me, to visit her at home. How very kind. I guess I will be stuffing dates, making mince pies and peppermint creams to take with me.

I can’t see there being much knitting done between now and Christmas Day.

I took a watch to the jewellers in town yesterday for a new battery. While I was there I spotted a rather beautiful ruby necklace. Now my grandmother’s engagement ring has a beautiful red stone in and I am going to take the ring to see how close the colour is to the stone on the necklace and I may well buy the necklace. It has been made by the jeweller so I reckon it will be a “one off”. Of course I will have to try the necklace to make sure it has a long enough chain etc but with all the weight I have lost this year I think my neck size has reduced too.

Now to the music part of the blog, I thought a quick look at the Christmas number 1’s in the UK might be a good place to look but goodness me, I couldn’t really pick a good one out of them. So instead let me pick two songs from an artist who’s music I have loved since the sixties. The first is from 1970 and the second from 1976 the songs are by Diana Ross and the first is “Reach out and Touch” and the second is “Love Hangover” as I have said previously it’s not just the lyrics but the music that appeals to me on a lot of my choice of records.

The photos this week were taken in Chaumont (in the pouring rain).

[skyflyinginaction]

X/1999 Volume 2 Illustration Comments 

1995 Monthly Asuka March Issue, Announcement Illustration 

Paper: Manuscript paper

Lines: Color pencil

Color: Colortone. whiteout Copic marker

I literally just penciled this on regular manuscript paper used for monochrome illustrations [laughs]. I've used Colortone before, but I hardly ever use it in X.

[Ed. Note: Colortone is a type of colored screentone; it's also sometimes called "overlay.”]

2002 X Calendar illustration

This was a uniquely long, vertical format, so I had a hard time devising the composition of the illustration. Now that I look at it, the specks of light make it look like a Magical Girl transformation scene [laughs). Although this was a large illustration, I screwed up my courage and colored the background using only Copic markers [laughs]. The uniform was inked in with Lumocolor pens, but I used Liquitex afterward for some parts of the piping. The wing was drawn with an airbrush, and the Earth with acrylic gouache.

2002 Monthly Asuka April Extra Issue

X Comic Collection 04 Illustration 

Ohkawa commented that there hadn't been any illustrations of Kamui being sad, so she asked me to make him cry. I drew an illustration for the cover of the X Comic Collection 03 of Kotori wearing a blue headdress. So he's holding that as if it's a memento. I used Liquitex to draw the beads. The other areas are done with Copic markers. I put down a layer of gray ground coat before doing the actual illustration.

1998 Monthly Asuka November Issue

Title Page: Illustration 

Paper: BB Kent

Lines: PIGMA Graphic ink pen

Color Dr Ph Martin's Color Ink, Lumocolor ink pen, poster color, Copic marker

This is a fake Warring States Period illustration [laughs]. I drew something with a similar theme before, but I think this one looks more Warring States-like. Even though I've totally ignored the authenticity of the time period [laughs].

[Ed. Note: Poster color is also known as "poster paint" or "tempera paint."]

1996 Monthly Asuka August Issue, Title Page Illustration 

Paper: Watson Paper

Lines: Winsor & Newton Drawing Ink (Nut Brown),PIGMA Graphic ink pen

Color: Acrylic Gouache, Dr. Ph. Martin's Color Ink, Lumocolor ink pen 

The ink I used to draw the main outline blurs a bit when it's mixed with water. so the whole illustration has a yellowish tint to it. I wanted the uniforms to look dimensional and not just pitch-black, so I used Lumocolor for them.

[Ed. Note: Watson is a brand of Japanese paper good for watercolor use.]

1993 June. X Volume 4, Cover Illustration 

Paper: BB Kent

Lines: PIGMA Graphic ink pen

Color: Dr. Ph. Martin's Color Ink, poster color

The concept color for this illustration was gray, but his hakama would look very drab if I'd colored them gray too, so I made them light blue instead [laughs].

2002 X TV Anime Volume 5 DVD Box illustration

For the illustrations used on the anime DVD boxes, I had decided from the beginning to make the backgrounds black and to incorporate a round element, which in this case was a window. Both Sorata and Arashi are very "Japanese" characters, so I drew them with that idea in mind. But I still put them in their school uniforms.. (laughs]. Sorata wears his uniform only once during the entire series, and that was in a flashback scene. When you see them together like this, it seems like they're from a different story. The background is colored with poster color and acrylic gouache.

1996 X Anime Movie Advertisement Illustration

Paper: BB Kent

Lines: PIGMA Graphic ink pen

Color: Dr. Ph. Martin's color ink Liquitex

Since this illustration was for the movie, I wanted to give it a heavy atmosphere, so I used Liquitex. But it took such a long time to dry that I ended up having to pull an all-nighter to make the deadline [laughs].

1996 X Anime Movie Flyer Illustration

The scene and color palette for this illustration were created to suit the movie, since the image was going to be used on the flyer. I think I used I Watson Paper for it and colored it mostly with ink, but I used an airbrush for the Earth. I placed a thin ground coat of brown on the paper first and colored the characters after that. It's exactly the same drawing technique as I used on the posters.

1999 Monthly Asuka May Issue, Title Page Illustration

Another illustration of Karen looking very neat and tidy. I put her in a delicate lace dress, which is a refreshing change since she's usually drawn with a bondage look. The background resembles a holy shrine of some sort. I purposely drew water in the illustration since she has the power to control fire. Originally there wasn't any lace over her cleavage, but I added it on later at Ohkawa's request.

1993 November, X Volume 5, Cover illustration

Paper: BB Kent

Lines: PIGMA Graphic ink pen

Color: Dr. Ph. Martin's Color Ink

The building in the background is the offices of Kadokawa Shoten

Publishing Co., Led. Are the papers that are falling out of the sky just random documents? Or final drafts of manga? It'd be terrible if they were final drafts [laughs].

2001 Monthly Newtype November Issue, Cover Illustration

Newtype has a very large cover area, so it's fun to draw illustrations for it [laughs]. I wanted the blackness of the uniform to have a heavy look to it, more of a "woolly" texture, so I used a Lumocolor pen instead of a Copic marker. If I had used a black Copic, the color would have been much lighter. They don't make that particular hue of Lumocolor anymore, unfortunately. The other parts of the uniform were drawn using Dr. Ph. Martin's, the cloth with Copic markers, and the earth using acrylic

2003 X Calendar Illustration

This was for a desk calendar, so it wasn't a huge project, but I still did draw in a lot of detail. Fortunately, not many colors were used so it didn't take too much time. I spent the most time working on the dragon. Until this illustration, I had been drawing Asian dragons, but this dragon has a slightly Western touch. Its scales are very shiny (laughs].

2002 X TV Anime Advertisement Poster

Fuma's head looks a little big here [laughs]. I made this when I was working on Chobits, so I had a "drawing habit" of doing things in that style. The background was colored with acrylic gouache. I wanted an ashy hue to create a tranquil, not too heavy-looking sky. The other parts were done with a Copic marker. The piping on the uniforms was too small to draw, so I added them afterwards with Liquitex

2002 X: The Choice of Fate Play Station Game Package Illustration

I remember working really hard on the Tokyo Tower for some reason. The Tower and capes were done with acrylic gouache. Since this was an illustration for a video game, I wanted to give it a battle-like, action-y feel; it's just right for an all-out fighting game! I erased the outlines of the background to make it look like it was drawn with a computer. but it actually took a lot of time and effort.

1996 Monthly Asuka August Issue, Title Page Illustration

Paper: BB Ken

Lines: Dr. Ph. Martin's Sepia Ink, PIGMA Graphic ink pen

Color: Dr. Ph. Martin's Color Ink

The illustration seems slightly yellowish since I did the outline using Dr. Ph. Martin's Sepia Ink and then blurred it with water afterward. The shattering glass over the image gives it an ominous feel

1994 December. a volume 6. cover illustration

Paper: BB Kent

Lines: PIGMA Graphic ink pen

Color: Acrylic gouache, Dr. Ph. Martin's Color Ink

 I shaded the illustration with pink as a base color, and then inked in the different areas. Since Kotori’s the subject, I wanted to make it look cute, so the concept color is pink and it's got lots of flowers [Laughs]