#just go read blue flag it's just such an incredible manga

[saph-yells-into-the-void]

ive seen a lot of ppl say that masumi felt like queerbait bc of how she was implied to be a lesbian during the main series, but was shown married to a man in the epilogue.

and I just... think that's the wrong idea to have?

just because she married a guy doesn't mean she isn't queer. she IS. she likes woman and was into futaba, but now there's this question of her also being into men. it all depends on how you interpret the ending tbh but the way i look at it, if she is then that makes her bi. which is still queer?

at most it's misleading but considering this whole manga is about change, im not surprised that they pulled that masumi turned out to be into guys after all.

identity and sexuality is a weird thing. you can think you're not into one gender, and then later in life it turns out you are. besides, she was in HIGH SCHOOL. a lot changes from high school to be a grown ass adult.

masumi later realizing she's into men as well as women ties into the themes the ending was trying to portray. and that is that high school is such a small part of your life and that a lot can change after that. throughout life you are always going to be figuring yourself out, and that includes identity and sexuality

so idk it just pisses me off when ppl say that the end result for masumi's character was queerbait when it very clearly isnt.

at worst it's misleading but at best it's one of the best examples of the manga's core themes.

[randomlonelymusician]

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...)

[somer-writes]

So I don’t buy a lot of manga, I have the shounen jump app and subscribe. I think it’s like $3/month (USD). I read a lot of vault stuff and a lot of the stuff that ended at 40 chapters like blue flag or cross team. Manga is so expensive and it’s annoying lol bc it takes like no time to read so I only buy manga I know I already like and reread. my friends and I share light novels and stuff which makes it easier. I know you’re not in the US but maybe you have access to something like Libby which is an ebook platform for libraries?

I was into bnha for a while bc I liked the world building but it just wastes a lot of potential and I don’t like deku as a character or todoroki that much and I don’t like the fandom. Plus the authors kind of a creep.

the most problematic one I liked was s1 of the rising of the shield hero as someone who doesn’t like isekai. It was a good subversion before it got fucking stupid lmao I don’t watched it bc Kevin penkin composed it and he’s incredible but the show is BAD after s1 so I dropped it lol I’ve heard the novels are even sketchier than the show material wise so I’m not going there XD

crunchyroll has their 2023 editorial out now and it’s a good list.

favourite animes??

Oh man I used to keep a spreadsheet of all the anime I watched but I have a pretty consistent top 3-5

FMAB. Like cmon what else would it be XD

Chuunibyou! it’s so cute and funny and v pretty

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju. So so so good and lovely

Natsume Yuujinchou. It’s funny and cute and creepy and fuzzy

I think Frieren has this slot rn.

Apothecary Diaries is really good. JJK I prefer the manga. Waiting for Kagurabachi to inevitably be picked up for an anime bc it’s so good. My comfort shows include Snow White with the Red Hair and Mushishi. Movie wise I like The Wind Rises, Princess Mononoke, Kizumonogatari, and 5 cm per Second.

I don’t watch as much anime as I used to. I’ve gotten really into manga in the last year or so (used to read it a lot in middle and high school). I mostly read shounen, sports, and romance. Currently catching up on Kaiju no 8 and Undead Unluck. Both are fucking hysterical and also I love the characters so so much. Disappointed to see Jiangshi X ending bc I really like the art.

I do also like Heaven Official’s Blessing and The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation but I prefer the books on both counts and The Untamed is much better than the donghua. I recently picked up Stars of Chaos but haven’t started it.

what about you???

[yurimother]

The Best Yuri of 2020

2020 was hell in every way, and many of us are looking forward to new possibilities and advances in 2021. However, the year brought us many small moments and gifts worth celebrating. Among these, the explosive growth and change within the Yuri genre are among the most precious and most outstanding achievements. This second century of Yuri opened with a bang, as phenomenal new works, creators, and moments made their mark and helped change the future genre.

This annual list is a celebration of just a handful of the fantastic titles, people, and events in Yuri. There are likely some even greater ones that did not make the list because there is so much content in both English and Japanese that even I cannot keep up. However, among the troves of treasure, these titles stood out as shining examples of Yuri excellence. Some were released this year, others were recently adapted into English, and still, others are established titles that rose to prominence to dominate the conversation and my mind this year, but every one of them is worthy of being on this list and in your heart.

Here is the Best Yuri of 2020!

15: The Curse of Kudan Remastered

Japanese Yuri visual novel developers show no sign of slowing down as they continue to push to new heights and try new ideas. These are the same amazing people who brought us the delightful educational Yuri game The Expression Amrilato and the hilarious and surprisingly queer OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbando’s. However, this most recent release, The Curse of Kudan Remastered, is their best work yet. Released near Halloween, this game brings a new edge of dark mystery and the occult to Yuri audiences worldwide.

The Curse of Kudan is available on MangaGamer, JAST USA, Denpasoft, and Sekai Project.

14: Adachi and Shimamura

English audiences were finally treated this year to Hitoma Iruma’s long-running and wildly successful Yuri light novel series, Adachi and Shimamura. Although the story struggles to gain traction, dedicated readers’ have their patience rewarded with a sweet tale full of gay pining. Alternatively, you can jump into its stellar anime adaptation, with gorgeous visuals and realized characters you will actually be willing to put up with the annoying Yashiro just to see where the title characters go. The series shows no sign of slowing down either, as the manga adaptation is coming to Western audiences next year.

Adachi and Shimamura is available to stream on Funimation. The light novel series is published by Seven Seas - https://amzn.to/3rTSZTK

Honorable Mention: Happy Go Lucky Days

The OVA adaptation of Fragtime got most of the attention this year. Still, director Takuya Satou and Pony Canyon also gave us this much-overlooked “love is love” anthology movie based on Takako Shimura’s manga (Sweet Blue Flowers, Wandering Son). The first short in the film, “Happy,” is easily the best Yuri anime of the year. It follows the beautiful yet realistic queer love story of two women hooking up at a mutual ex-girlfriend’s wedding, only for the relationship to blossom and warm viewers’ hearts. Sadly, while stylized, the budget demanded the animation cut a few too many corners. Additionally, the subsequent stories are at best tedious and at worst alarmingly problematic, which is why Happy Go Lucky Days only gets an honorable mention.

The OVA is streaming on HIDIVE

13: Mieri Hiranishi

The Yuri scene has many colorful creators with a breadth of different ideas and stories in the genre, yet few have provided as much humor and joy as Mieri. This talented creator spectacularly tumbled into the scene with her manga essay The Moment I Realized I Wasn’t Straight, which embodies the brutal honesty and realism of Nagata Kabi and matches it with exaggerated hilarity. She continues to chronicle her painful struggles of being a butch girl in love with butch girls in the monthly series The Girl that Can’t Get a Girlfriend. Alternatively, you can follow her on Twitter for just as much heart and laughter.

Read The Girl that Can’t get a Girlfriend on Tapas and Webtoon.

12: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

My Next Life as a Villainess has what can only be described as volcanic bisexual energy. Every character protagonist Catarina Claes encounters is entirely enthralled by her. Of course, she is far too preoccupied with her quest to avoid doom flags and change her ultimate fate to notice any romantic interest. The series is rewarding and well structured, as views are just as focused on how Catarina plans to avoid certain doom as they are with the various romantic misses her band of companions cooks up. While the “friendship ending” did not capitalize on its Yuri potential, it was perhaps the most satisfying possibility for this crazy harem, at least until season two comes out, which looks, unfortunately, to be significantly less queer.

My Next Life as a Villainess is streaming on Crunchyroll

11: Love Me for Who I Am

Kata Konayama’s manga series is less Yuri than a general LGBT work, but it has a lesbian character and explores her identity and struggles in great detail. Few titles before have captured the exciting and nervous waves of emotions that young people feel as they explore gender and sexual identities and try to find themselves. This heartfelt and extremely queer series rubberbands between cute moe dress up to tragic and gripping backstory, keeping readers on their toes the whole time.

Love me for Who I Am is published by Seven Seas - https://amzn.to/3rTSZTK

10: A Summer’s End – Hong Kong 1986

Oracle and Bone’s debut visual novel, A Summer’s End, is set in a vibrant and electric 1980’s Hong Kong. Drawing inspiration from classic Asian cinema, music, and fashion. The worlds of Michelle, a young office worker, and a free-spirited woman named Same collide. The two struggle to comprehend and accept each other’s feelings just as they struggle against society’s expectations and prejudices. An incredibly thoughtful and touching adventure, the creators incorporated vital contemporary elements include Asian LGBTQ rights and growing political unrest in Hong Kong, into this illustrious game.

The visual novel is available on Steam.

Honorable Mention: Goodbye, My Rose Garden

In the same vein as A Summer’s End, Goodbye, My Rose Garden is a beautiful period piece that incorporates LGBT views into its shattering narrative. The story follows a bright-eyed immigrant, Hanako, wanting to make a new life in England as an author at the dawn of the twentieth century. She takes a job as a maid to noblewoman Alice, but their relationship takes a turn when Alice asks Hanako to kill her. This poignant tale is beautiful and an honest depiction of love and its conflict with responsibility and society.

Goodbye, My Rose Garden is published by Seven Seas Entertainment - https://amzn.to/3hFSyaG

9: Shio Usui

Usui’s hit Shaikaijin Yuri manga Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon could easily take this spot even though it is not even out in English until February 2021. The manga is already making waves and receiving constant praise. The characters and their journey to discover love and self-acceptance are as charming as they are relatable and grounded. However, it is the creator, Usui, who really deserves acclaim. Not just for their work on Doughnuts, but having a second serialized story, Onna Tomodachi to Kekkon Shitemita, in monthly Yuri magazine Comic Yuri Hime simultaneously. It is even more remarkable when you consider these two iconic stories are Usui’s first long-running works, as they only contributed one-shots before.

8: Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka

Bloom Into You is possibly the most iconic Yuri series in the past decade, and while the manga deserves its own place on this list, the best thing to come out of the series as a whole is easily the light novels. This trilogy by Adachi and Shimamura creator Hitoma Iruma dives deep into supporting cast member Sayaka. Readers are treated to a delightful journey as she discovers her sexuality, experiences heartbreak, and finally finds herself breaking free and falling in love. With the help of gorgeous illustrations by Nakatani Nio herself, Iruma masterfully captures Sayaka’s unique voice and emotions in this wonderful series. Whether a fan of the originals or not, every Yurijin must check out Regarding Saeki Sayaka.

The light novel series is published by Seven Seas - https://amzn.to/3hFSyaG

7: Our Teachers are Dating

The best a Yuri can get. This workplace romance follows two teachers at the start of a new relationship taking nervous yet enthusiastic first steps, including saying I love you, going on their first date, and even sleeping together. It is so heartfelt and salacious that readers will squeal the whole time. Additionally, our heroines are supported in their relationship by everyone they know, their students, colleagues, and even the principal. It is a perfect world for these two lovebirds! Our Teachers are Dating would easily be number one or two in any other year, but the competition is fierce in 2020. So even though this is only number seven, it is still a master class Yuri manga.

The manga is published by Seven Seas Entertainment - https://amzn.to/38XY3O9

6: Amongst Us

Who would have thought that a comedy alternative universe story spinoff of a fantasy action series would be the single best Yuri webcomic this year? Shilin’s astounding artwork illustrations the hilarious and irresistible journey of girlfriends Blackbird and Veloce. These two eccentric young women get into all kinds of everyday mischief that bounces between tender and touching romance, completely outrageous comedy, and downright thirst-inducing sorcery. Seriously, you should buy the first volume for Veloce’s back muscles alone. The storyline skips between time, but both their established relationship and their meeting as teenagers are adorkable and captivating.

Amongst Us is available online free on Webtoon and the comic’s website. The first volume is in paperback on Shilin’s site.

Honorable Mention: Éclair

There are a lot of Yuri anthologies out there, and they have done some beautiful things. Many focus on themes like Syrup. Others collect a series of stories by an author into one bound work. However, out of all of them, Éclair is the most successful. ASCII Media Works took some of the genre’s most extraordinary creators and let them do whatever they wanted, and the results are spectacular. The incredible talent behind Éclair somehow packs a full volume’s worth of story and character into just a few pages with every chapter. While the first volume came overseas a few years ago, Yen Press gave Yurijin a gift this year by releasing the entire rest of the series in which readers can get lost.

The anthology series is published by Yen Press - https://amzn.to/38XY3O9

5: I’m in Love with the Villainess

A small trend of isekai Yuri with villainesses emerged recently, and I honestly had few hopes of I’m in Love with the Villainess. The series is pretty popular, but I often find that this does not denote quality, and with isekai having some institutional issues, I suspected this would fall flat. Then the volume three cover showcased an incredible accomplishment, allowing for a lesbian relationship to blossom into a family with children, and it blew me away. Finally, I read volume one and realized that the series has incredible character, some of the best world-building I have ever seen in a light novel, thoughtful discussions of inequality and societal issues, and most impressively, open and frank discussion of queer identity and life Yuri has ever seen! This one is something special.

The series is published by Seven Seas Entertainment - https://amzn.to/3nedvdZ

4: The Last of Us Part II

Yes, I know this one is not Yuri and that a portion of the population despises this game and will likely be exceptionally angry at me for including it. However, I maintain that it was an incredibly challenging masterpiece. Naughty Dog did not take the easy route out and delivered one of the most devastating media experiences I have ever seen. As I said in my article about the game, playing it changed me, and it sticks with me to this day. The Last of Us Part II earns its spot on this list because it pushed boundaries more with LGBTQ inclusion than any other AAA game. From brave inclusion of LGBTQ themes to queer characters and storylines at its center, the game changes gaming and it will never go back.

The Last of Us Part II is available on PlayStation 4

3: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

She-Ra feels like the culmination of all the LGBTQ progress western cartoons have made over the past few years. From The Legend of Korra to Steven Universe, young people are finally seeing more LGBTQ people represented on the small screen. This epic fantasy concluded with an amazing and powerful lesbian romance, delivering on its queer promise and revolutionized representation in a trope-defying crescendo.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is streaming on Netflix

2:  The Conditions of Paradise

The greatest single Yuri work of all in 2020 was the English release of Akiko Morishima’s breakthrough manga, The Conditions of Paradise. Initially released in 2007, this anthology detailed the love between adult women. It was in every way a manga ahead of its time, and seeing it finally get a small piece of the recognition it deserves overseas is a true gift. The fact that we can own this legendary piece of Yuri history and Morishima’s other anthologies is nothing short of a blessing from the Yuri goddess.

The Conditions of Paradise is published by Seven Seas Entertainment - https://amzn.to/38bh4xq

Honorable Mention: Otherside Picnic

This eerie sci-fi horror series combines the best of pulse-pounding thrillers, complex and intelligent hard science fiction, and exciting Yuri romance. Author Iori Miyazawa spends as much time crafting a well-paced and intriguing narrative about a mysterious world where occult creatures roam as he does establishing two believable and grounded heroes in Sorawo and Toriko. The romance between the two may be slow to start, but their chemistry is undeniable and as the stakes and story build, so too does their relationship. Not only are the light novels incredible, but the series’ manga adaptation is coming soon to the West as well as an upcoming TV anime in early 2021.

Otherside Picnic is streaming on Funimation. The light novels are published by J-Novel Club - https://amzn.to/3niiv1g

1. Yuri subgenres

For a long time, Yuri was not a genre of its own, but elements of romances or bonds between women found in other works. Now, thanks to an increasing library of works, the advent of social media, and a wider audience, Yuri is a genre on its own, with many creators telling different stories in different styles. However, 2020 saw the continued emergence of something extraordinary, subgenres. Yuri is now so vast, we can actually categorize the works within. Depending on their characters, like classic schoolgirl romances or spicy shakaijin office affairs, their world, such as fantasy or isekai series and thrilling science fiction adventures, and even other elements within. One of my personal favorites is the feminist Yuri that emerges from titles like Sexiled, where women celebrate the accomplishments of other women and dismantle power structures stacked against them. Now, no matter what kind of Yurijin you are, there is something for you to love.

I am happy to leave 2020 behind, but I bring with me a renewed love and admiration for Yuri. 2021 looks to be a somehow even better year for the genre, and I am thrilled to experience every minute of it that I can. Yuri has transformed into something far greater than I ever thought it would be, and let us all enjoy its evolution and expansion together in 2021.

[youthofpandas]

Any anime/manga recs?

YES many. okay this is under a read more i have a lot also dm me if you want to chat about any of these or want more of a plot synopsis or if youre worried about any content warnings i got you

Recs where you can pick up either

Spy x Family - getting this out of the way bc literally everyone is talking about it. comedy series with a touch of action and occasional drama. fake family turned found family, super cute, anime & manga are both worth checking out

Mushishi - because i think everyone should read mushishi and its anime is super highly reviewed so i trust it. fantasy series. man goes around helping people with monster/spirit/curse related problems and is 100% the thing for people who like going on a journey with a character. it has stunning artwork and i hold it very dear to my heart as it was one of the first manga i read

Jujutsu Kaisen - i think that this is the current best action shonen series ongoing right now (One Piece excluded because it is One Piece and will always be ongoing and always win these things) supernatural horror energy! and great female characters oh my god they are so good I love you Maki. It is just super good and with the movie that just came out easy to check out without investing a lot of time. It has a lot of my current favorite characters in it

Recs for manga

Chainsaw Man - because it is my favorite <3 do not read if you are sensitive to gore. action series with amazing characters. obvious metaphors for how much capitalism sucks. makes you laugh makes you cry, it is very good

Goodbye, Eri - a boy obsessed with making movies because his dying mother asked him to film her last moments, i think this one is better if you go in without knowing a lot since its only 100 pages

The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún - a girl and a monster together in a town abandoned from a disease, the very disease that turned the man into a monster if we trust what we are told. a whimsical and deeply sad fantasy/supernatural story with lots of twists but it always keeps that very important father and daughter dynamic the two leads have and I love them for it. Beautiful artwork as well

Blue Flag - hey enough of this action fantasy stuff what about some high school romance! a classic love triangle that is not at all what you think it is, and pulls away from the love triangle to instead focus on what it means to be friends, to go through so many ups and downs but still have so much trust in each other. the author focused on making sure the characters communicate and express things honestly and it is SO good okay. listen this is some of the best high school writing I've ever read

Recs for anime

Fruits Basket (2019) - I think everyone should know Fruits Basket honestly it is a classic for a reason. the redo is beautiful and made me cry I love these characters so much. Tohru is a fantastic protagonist and her journey of self love and accepting that other people love and care for her is amazing. If you're not already familiar with it I'm just gonna throw a big abuse content warning up here. Like every kind of abuse? Is here? Lol? Anyways this is my ideal shoujo romance series brought to life in the way i look back on is nostalgically

Mob Psycho 100 - this series has the best action animation ... ever? with the heart to back it up. it is a treat to the eyes and it is incredibly funny and wild and also will consistently surprise you with how much you care about these characters. mob is baby of the year every year we will all love and appreciate him.

Sk8 the Infinity - is this like? perfect? a must watch? life changing? no. it is simply very gay and the animation is killing it. i want to call it just gay bait but like well. it is simply so very gay? and there are canonically confirmed romantic gay feelings between the two main guys. LOOK if you like gay as fuck camp as hell sports anime go check it out its a nice fun watch. content warning for adam though hes a creep TM like call 911 this man is a predator put him in jail.

Odd Taxi - I have saved the best for last dear friend. A girl has gone missing, it is on the radio station it is on the news when you turn on the TV, but where did she go? And what does a grouchy taxi driver have to do with that, if anything at all. Well what I can say without spoiling too much is that he gets some very interesting riders and you quickly start to put every new piece of info up on a board with red string connecting them but things still dont line up and just. Listen this is an amazingly constructed mystery with great characters and I promise you despite the talking animals it is very much a mature story with clever writing. Please watch Odd Taxi

I also have a pretty organized myanimelist profile where I've rated basically everything I've ever watched and read if you want that you can DM me :> sorry a lot of these are already very popular but I'm not sure how new you are to anime/manga so I tried a touch of popular, nostalgia, and a couple hidden gems

[sparkywanderer]

Parallels in SK8 The Infinity: Why Renga will (probably) get a happy ending

So uh. I had a ton of thoughts after the recent episode. So I wrote a thing about parallels and stuff and not gonna lie it’s kinda long (I get sidetracked like 5 times and have not edited this to be concise so it’s really bad???). Here it is, though, if you would like to read my rambling anyway!

Spoilers for Episode 8

Sk8 really likes its parallels. Whether it be how many times it likes to group Langa and Adam together as the “talented ones” or equals or whatever, or how the writers put Cherry/Joe and Adam’s separation with Langa and Reki’s in episode 7 practically back-to-back, it’s clear that they’re all tied up together in some specific way. Not only that, but Miya’s story of losing his friends due to his skateboarding talents rings eerily similar situation-wise to how Reki isolates himself from Langa due to the latter’s talents (though of course there are major differences and such, but other posts could probably explain way better than me so let’s ignore that for now).

Episode 8 adds another parallel to the mix with the reveal that Tadashi actually taught Adam skateboarding in the first place, because well, guess who taught Langa skateboarding? Guess who else enables the skateboarding of someone else, in Tadashi’s case handling Adam’s other work as a secretary and driving him in/out of S, and in Reki’s case building a skateboard for Langa? And not only that, but guess who else is compared to a dog (albeit more for the sake of a bet than anything)? Think back to the whole bet with Miya.

(I think there’s a manga panel that shows that Langa sorta thinks of Reki as similar to one too, but I’m too lazy to find it tbh)

Tadashi and Adam’s relationship is still a little unclear from episode 8, so there definitely could be more of these parallels, but what we do know is this: these are both pairs that were very, very close, sharing a mutual love for skateboarding, before eventually drifting apart as one became far more engrossed in the sport than the other to the point of danger. The writers portray this through Langa’s incredibly high speeds in Episode 7, and the flashbacks of Adam getting into highly dangerous situations with other people which cause them to get badly injured. Both of them don’t fear the thrill of this wild style of skateboarding, enjoy it even, while others like Reki, Cherry Blossom and Joe clearly do-- setting them apart as similar people, as Adam remarks. Langa mirrors Adam and Reki mirrors Tadashi, which bleeds into their equally mirrored relationships. 

Going more in depth on Reki and Tadashi specifically, both of them are not the best at communicating their feelings. In Reki’s case, he bottles up all of his doubts and anxieties about his relationship with Langa until they eventually culminate into one scene and force them apart. In Tadashi’s, he doesn’t stand up against Adam’s father about letting him continue to skateboard even when he clearly wishes to. They’re different, of course, but both of them are clearly the type to put a mask over how they actually feel: in Reki’s case with an “It’s nothing!”, and in Tadashi’s case with an “I have no opinions”. 

(One of the few times smiling Reki brings me Suffering instead of serotonin)

But what’s the point of this all? What’s the point of drawing out all these random connections between Adam and Langa, and Tadashi and Reki? The purpose isn’t showing the similarities, but the differences. Given everything that’s similar, it’s a lot easier to see what’s distinct, and in my opinion that is what will ultimately set these two relationships apart.

Because here’s the thing: Langa actually cares about Reki. Even if they’re so different in terms of skateboarding skill level (which is not necessarily true, but that’s a whole other thing), Langa cares enough about Reki to not leave him behind. The writers blatantly show this in Episode 6, when Langa stays behind and looks for Reki despite the tantalizing offer of a race with a bunch of very talented skaters right in front of him. (It could be argued that he DOES take the offer instead of focusing on Reki by breaking the promise with Reki in episode 7, but the thing is he also assumes Reki will understand and still support him, clearly surprised at his reaction, so it’s not really the same.)

Meanwhile, just think about what Adam does to Tadashi when he’s so focused on his stupid tournament, in contrast. Using him as a scapegoat for his own goals with no shame whatsoever.

(someone free this man. someone free this man please)

Not only that, though, but his passion for skateboarding isn’t just in the sport itself, but a major part of it is the people he spends time with. Before with snowboarding, it was his father, and when he was gone Langa stopped finding joy in that sport altogether. And now it’s Reki who’s gone, and he’s quickly realizing skateboarding that no longer brings the same thrill that it used to-- as made evident with the sudden shift to snowboarding in that scene, and the absence of his heart beating quickly, which could represent a lot of things but the point is he’s not having fun. Oh wait, that's another parallel.

On the other hand, Adam accepts that he’ll leave some people behind with his talents, dismissing them as unworthy rather than taking the time to actually try and recognize any flaws within himself or his way of thinking. This is perfectly exemplified in the first scene of Episode 8, where he shows little to no concern whatsoever over someone he’d been considering a possible match just a couple of seconds ago. Because it’s as he says: to him, when the perceived “distance” between two people is too great, to the point where it is “unreachable” for one of them, there can be no “real love”.

(oh yeah they both have blue hair too i guess)

But remember, Langa’s not like that. He isn’t willing to so easily give up on Reki like that, as seen with how he consults his mother for advice and still constantly checks to see if he’s there to talk to. He’s not going to so callously give up on him like Adam does with those he skates with, because his version of love isn’t nearly as twisted as his. Instead, he’s going to try and fix things, “repent and make efforts” (though of course neither of them are entirely at fault here), and communicate, as foreshadowed by the latest episode.

Reki, on the other hand, doesn’t show as many signs of wanting to try and reconnect with Langa, as of Episode 8 anyway. But I still have faith in him, because he seems to be having some doubts given his actions-- and more than that, remember what Cherry was talking about when he found him, words that he probably at least kind of listened to! Eventually he’s going to realize that he’s cut off a really good relationship for the wrong reasons, and he’ll have to apply some of these teachings and make efforts to actually communicate once he begins to realize it.

(Also, just take a moment to appreciate the bi calligraphy.)

So what can we take away from all this? Adam said Langa was the same type of person as himself. And sure, maybe that’s true in some ways, but it’s not entirely, and if the anime wants to have any clear thematic messages about relationships, it will most definitely reflect the results of their differences one way or another. At the very least, Reki and Langa will not turn out like Adam and Tadashi did. Because what’s the purpose of constantly comparing and contrasting characters in eerily similar situations, if their differences don’t have any actual effect on the story and the message that it’s ultimately attempting to convey, especially in a short 12 episode anime?

But anyways, if you actually did read this far for some reason, thank you! If I missed anything, you wanna add anything else, or just idk talk about this anime in general, let me know :D

(TLDR: Adam and Langa are sort of similar but also really different because the latter cares for Reki, so therefore this is yet another sports anime that will probably be about the power of friendship/love, and I Pretend I Do Not See whatever death flags there are for Langa I DO NOT SEE THEM!!!) 

[imnameim]

dark romances? that sounds really interesting 👀 are romance books your favorite genre? and aw! that's cute! a comic nerd I would've never guessed that tbh 😂❤️ but it's really cool to learn that! the book store is about two floors I just hang out in the manga section for my whole visit. I've never seen weathering with you though I've heard good things about it! My favorite manga is one called blue flag!I highly recommend it bub.

ahh please don't get me wrong;; they are phenomenal but they are incredibly heavy reads for some people. Like I wouldn't go recommending them to people I don't know personally because of the topics touched upon in them. But they are really nice for me to read. 😅 I do enjoy romance books a lot. The whole emotional rollercoaster of crying and getting butterflies to screaming because they finally kissed or because of miscommunication. It's my favorite thing 😂 I annotate all my books;; because you can't read them again for the first time right? so while I'm reading them I tab then up and highlight and write in them. I just love it pls 🥰 I have one book and nearly every page is written on but I also like cried the whole book and the angst was so overwhelming I cried for days djdjd. I'm just sensitive and I'm also cry for anything. djdjdj. But anyways;; you should definitely check out weathering with you if you're up for it love 💜 and when I go to the bookstore I'm either where the vinyls are or in the romance and fiction section. Nothing like escaping reality through a good book 🥰 I will definitely check out blue flag! I've never heard of it but I trust you so I will check it out.

[paunchsalazar]

do you have any good manga recs? x

I really haven’t read much manga or at least as much as I wish I had (so if anyone has recs please feel free to send them to me too!) and for a lot of them I’ve read parts or maybe just the first volume or 2 but! of what I have read I do have a few I quite enjoyed.

- Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa - two brothers search for a way to get their bodies back after committing a taboo of alchemy - a kind of power/ability? I couldn’t call it magic... that is bound by the law of equivalent exchange. My all-time favorite! really really well planned and populated with such an interesting cast that is dear to my heart... Arakawa pulling this story off still impresses me! and I admit it is why I personally favor the 2009 show because it really seems worth starting over just to capture the story she told

- Ao no Flag/Blue Flag by KAITO - PLEASE READ THIS MANGA... don’t want to spoil but I suppose the question is - if you had to pick between your best friend or your romantic partner, who would you choose? truly sweet, beautifully drawn, some wonderful character interactions and insights I feel like I haven’t seen/read anywhere? like the conversations you have with your close friends but never get to see printed out or published?

- 20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa - a group of childhood friends awkwardly reunite as a mysterious cult who is using the symbol they made up as kids rises to incredible power? I still have a while to go but I really like it! I never know what the hell is going to happen next which kinda comes with Urasawa’s work... it can be a bit exhausting? but I like this cast of characters a lot and the art is stunning

- Monster by Naoki Urasawa - a talented and kind surgeon saves a young boy the same night as a murder, and a similar murder follows years later? I don’t know quite how to summarize it but again, never know what the hell is going to happen next! but it’s thrilling! and sad... 

+ I haven’t read all of it, I’m maybe 100 chapters shy (and I cheated... I read the last 35 or so) but the Haikyuu manga is really fun and I loved the ending! I think maybe the best I’ve felt about a story’s finale in a long time! + I’m not caught up with Boku no Hero Academia but I still think it is crazily well-drawn and thoroughly enjoyed a lot of parts of it! I’ve gotten a little tired lately but I think that’s more on me? I have read a decent amount of HxH but I feel like I’ve skipped around too much to honorably recommend it - but know many people love it and I understand why! and it’s been a while since I read the Tekkonkinkreet manga but it was pretty darn cool.

For short ones-  I like BL Metamorphosis, its not standalone but short and quick. I thought Go For It! Nakamura was adorable. Cowa! is super cute! I also enjoyed the first volume of Inuyasha and I liked what I’ve read of Again!!

[phoenixesse]

Okay this is going to be pretty decently long but I just had to post this as Haikyuu!! Comes to a close. HEAVY SPOILER WARNING!!!

Hi! It’s been a while. I don’t post as much content as I did before if anyone’s actually noticed (probably not this blog is pretty small lmao).

But as you know Haikyuu has come to a close. It’s bittersweet in the worst ways and incredibly satisfying in its best. Haikyuu hasn’t been in my life for a long time. I got into it about summer of 2018 and was really invested in it for more then a year. I took a bit off as my interest was fading but I ended up coming back every once in a while and still reading all the manga chapters once they were released. Life was happy, I had found something to place my energy in and be happy about.

I knew it was ending soon. We all knew it was ending soon. But we never really thought it would end. After the hiatus we got the anime and things were looking pretty good. Karasuno has just lost nationals (a heartbreaker still) but we were doing a time skip of all things right out of the blue. Hinata sees Oikawa again, we go back to Japan to this huge game against Kageyama. Absolute INSANITY.

And now we’re here. I binge read the last few chapters after being busy for a couple of weeks just tonight. Every character showing up was so meaningful, even down to the characters that we had forgot a little bit along the way. The banners were like a gut punch. Every school who had a major player was represented by their flag and motto, all there, right up in the end. And to top it all off...

“Fly” with Kageyama blocking a spike from Hinata from across the net but it looked like he was setting to him.

I got goosebumps. It felt so incredible to be witnessing. And to lead that up with the meaning of Haikyu, or volleyball, only for it to show the last spike not going to Hinata, but Bokuto had me feeling something I just couldn’t describe.

And then, with the olympics and all these powerhouses to stand on the opposite side of Oikawa Tooru, Mr. “Rule-the-Court-I-get-the-very-last-laugh”, the birthday kid himself to get his revenge. All of his enemies in one spot to take them down. Kageyama and Hinata bearing their signature 9 and 10.

Only for it to end with Italy vs Brazil, 20 vs 21 as the final panel and the words “I’m going to win.” Coming from both of them just hit.

Everything that was culminating until then, their battles, their friendship. It all came down to this one point. And god did it feel good.

I wasn’t trying to recap this (whoops kinda failed that) but I think it’s important that we look back on it all to see what we’ve been through. This manga is so important to so many people and I’d be lying if I wasn’t crying from the start of 399. But it’s been an incredible journey, and at least these tears aren’t from sadness and hurt.

They’re from happiness and acceptance.

So thank you to every character who was in Haikyuu, a tangible person behind every one.

Thank you to specifically Hinata and Oikawa for letting me project and learning what it meant for sports as a whole as someone who was previously unmotivated to play.

Thank you to everyone who might’ve worked on anything concerning Haikyuu; the official team, fan writers/artists, translators, the fandom in general, etc for making Haikyuu as magical as it was for me.

Thank you to Haruichi Furudate for making Haikyuu what it was. The incredibility of this manga was brought to life by you, the author and inspired so many fans.

And lastly thank you Haikyuu for such an incredible 8 years. It’s been a hell of a ride but I’ve been incredibly happy to have been in the car. Until next time, whenever that may be.

And don’t forget

that volleyball is fun.

[morphogenetic]

Is ao no flag worth reading? I went through the tag and why is everyone who's reading suffering?? Damn... :/ are the gays treated badly or what?

ack sorry i didn’t see this earlier anon but excuse me yelling about this a lot because ive been reading this manga since ch 5 and have some STRONG feelings (in a positive way) about it sdlgkhsdkf. sorry for upcoming text wall i can try and space shit out if it’s hard to readokay so: it is absolutely worth reading yes. regardless of anything else that happens, the paneling/composition is fucking worth it alone tbh. it’s gorgeous as fuck, i’ve set specific panels and some of the cover art to be my phone background at certain points its just. oof. man. it’s so fucking good.

like. goddamn. this page in particular is SO fucking good and there’s more shit like this everywhere. i’m honestly in fucking love w the art and panel work it’s so good at show-don’t-tell and it’s just. so well done to boot.putting the really good art aside though: the overall discussions between characters that happen in this manga are fucking incredible. like. even going on beyond just treating gay characters with a level of respect that i wasn’t expecting in a shonen jump property (not the main mag but definitely still really widely read), there’s a really deep discussion of gender roles and the struggles that girls/women have to deal with in japanese society that i wasn’t expecting to see at all but that i deeply, deeply appreciate. also it goes a lot into the struggle of the high school to college transition and just the general idea of not knowing what the hell you want to do with your life and i just. really appreciate those things existing

while the gay characters experience pain, i would not say they are treated badly. i will probably fail at explaining this well while also trying to avoid spoilers lol, but while they are definitely going through some rough shit, it’s not rough shit for the sake of being cruel to them, and as characters they are honestly some of the most well-developed characters gay characters i’ve seen in any media at all, because nothing about them is treated as a joke. they’re both treated with as much respect by the narrative as the (seemingly, i personally doubt the lead is actually straight and there’s some hints as to another main being trans but neither of those are canon so let’s call them straight for now lol) straight charastheir pain isn’t like….punching down, if that makes sense? like yeah they’re going through some shit, but it’s for the sake of the narrative getting a message across,and  their circumstances are actively decried by the narrative as Being Shitty. it’s really not pain  for the sake of just being cruel to fictional gay characters Because The Author Can Be Cruel If They Want To. im trying to think of a good comparison point to this but it’s a struggle, the best comparison i can think of in manga rn that you MIGHT have a point of reference on is how magne is being treated in b/nha right now. (I AM NOT READING BN//HA im not even caught up on the anime slkghsdf but based on what i know of her treatment she seems to be having a rough time of actually being treated like a person.)  anyway i have no idea if i’m explaining this point well at all but hopefully followers of mine reading anf already get what i mean by this, it’s not cruelty for the sake of being cruelthat and like. everyone in this gd manga has some degree of pain, both the ‘straight’ characters are EXTREMELY anxious/depressed and one of the non-leads honestly has one of the most developed internal struggles, to the point where the entire gd fandom collectively had a moment of apology to her because we fucked up THAT bad in reading her personality lmao. this is technically a drama manga, after all, everyone’s dealing with some level of (realistic-to-real-life) internal struggle rn, but there’s no internal-narrative mocking of it. everyone’s issues are treated with respect

there are some things lately (and by ‘lately’ i mean within the last chapter or two) that many people, including myself, have reacted to with some amount of hesitation. anf has a habit of showing one thing and then completely changing your mind about said thing (see: aforementioned non-lead thing). i am not personally happy about it, but this is a monthly manga, so i’m willing to let it play its course for now. totally get the fandom dissatisfaction about it though but i think the good points of the manga up to this point still definitely outweigh itSORRY ANON THIS IS PROBABLY LONGER THAN YOU WERE EXPECTING LOL but yes. anf very good. painful but like. realistic pain and not Just For The Sake of Being Painful

RETROACTIVE EDIT BC IM A DUMBASS: if you’re seeing this and going ‘huh, cool, where can i read this?’ the answer is on the website/app mangaplus, which is a LEGAL, OFFICIAL, AND YET SOMEHOW ALSO FREE way to read a ton of shonen-jump-associated manga, including anf (under the title blue flag). the little volume extras aren’t there but they’re easy enough to find on mangadex and places like that lol

[supacutiepie]

I have headcanons... Head Cannons if you will

I thoroughly believe Bakugou is the type to bullshit his way around every little truth so honestly this shit might as well be canon bc he is Absolutely That Extra

- The new reveals told that: The reason we didn’t see his room is because it’s got shelves of romance manga.

-Therefor : Bakugou is a MAJOR BOOK NERD NESTER

-He has cookbooks, his trashy literature, his classics, his mangas, every school book he ever owned has been kept. 

-This includes shit he wrote himself

-Cookbook notebooks, its a full wall to wall scenario. He has books in every language and they make a librarian weep.

-The books he can’t read?? He has notebooks filled with translations he’s jot down after hours of scouring the internet and his OTHER books.

-TBFH his self written notebook collection puts “shitty nerdy fanboy deku” to shame

-Not only does he have this many books, they have consumed him. His room is wall to wall with them and they are so neatly organized to his mind that he just AUTOMATICALLY knows EXACTLY where every little page is. 

-However

-You may think, “Bakugou is the neatest of the students”

-Bullshit

-He understands his methods. You could never. I’m not shitting you, we have only ever seen his bed because its the only clean spot. He has piles of books, his closet is filled with his novelty t-shirts--

-Oh, he swaps out his wardrobe every season. Not because he cares per say but rather if he didn’t he’d drown in the clothes. His parents own a fashion line, every. single. month. he gets something new.

-Clothes mean jack shit to him. Sure, he gets it. He understands that clothes are “Expressions”... but to him its just bullshit extra merchandise that he gets in  packages once a month since he born. He long since left behind any attachment to anything that wasn’t some doofy bs novelty shit. His skull shirt collection is hideous and he loves it. 

-Bc he gets clothes so often, he just as often donates them.

-Everyone in 1-A has received a mysterious package of clothing. Everyone. And it’s always customized because like hell he’d just throw clothes at people puh-lease his father DESIGNS FASHION FROM SCRATCH

-It’s also ‘secretly’ his way of trying to put some kind of fashion sense in the heathens he lives with. 

-So his closet is full, his walls are lined with shelves and stacks and notes.

-But the rest of the “clear space” is filled with art.

- Drawings, Sketches, Designs. Little thing stacked up or tapped together. Prototypes over a desk thats STUFFED with pencils and erasers and extra paper and books. 

-Photographs of the places he’s been. So many different shots of Paris, mountains, rivers, lakes. He has a series of photo albums for the best and one is entirely dedicated to sunrises- another to sunsets.

-He has a map above his bedside. It’s the only spot big enough because it doesn’t have a big ass bookshelf on the wall.

-The map is big and delicately detailed. But it’s still just a map.

-The cool shit is that it is COVERED in tack-markers. Well, most of it is. 

-Europe is washed out by tacks. France has so many different colored tacks its an eyesore. Paris has a big ass push pin bc he’s been there so many times. Enough that when Aoyama starts mumbling obscenities at their classmates he has to stop himself from cackling along.

-He has a trail of pushpins along the Alps and Pyrenees. 

-The different colors mean things. But only he gets its.

* Black is Done. Been there, done it, no point going back.

*Green is Good. It’s a place he kinda liked, but its not somewhere he needs to go back to. Paris is a big ass green push pin.

*Red is for a place he wants to go back to. The mountains are a trail of red that grows inch by inch longer.

*Blue is for Potential. He marks his next trips in blue, but not his dream trips.

*Those would be his nice, doofy, silver tipped push pins. the classic “string on a crime board” kind. He has major cities plotted out with these. Theres a large mishmash over america filled with silver and blue. He has books and books and BOOKS on american mountain ranges and cuisine and he not-so-secretly plotted out a course all-might themed rest stops.

*Yellow is for his favorites. The first mountain he ever hiked, the onsen he found while his parents dragged him out to a business trip up north, the island they went on once for a family vacation. (He fell in love with the sunset. It was clear and bright and there were so many colors at once that its his ‘happy place’. He sat on top of a fucking volcano and it was AWESOME.)

-The map is obsessively picked over, the pins are carefully arranged, and the map itself its surrounded by his favorite snapshots of the places marked.

-His room is a mess. But he does know the exact inch everything belongs in.

-He may not seem it, but he is sentimental. He just doesn’t keep all the sentimental shit in the dorms. Those things are at home. On shelves and wall caddies and tucked between his even BIGGER collection of books and cd cases.

-He does have All Might merch, but again, at home. The few things he has at the dorm are hand drawn posters, so much cooler than the cheap shit you get in the store.

-He doesn’t have time for movies and shows, but when he does its either “cheesy romance serial” or “blood, guts, and glory”

-TBFH his FAVORITE movie is a bastard child of a romcom, an action, and a suspense thriller. It’s horrible, its audacious, its cheesy and the vgi is awful but its one of those Things he loves. (On really bad days, when his arms ache for hours and he didn’t sleep well the night before he lets the movie go on repeat just for the cheese. It’s a soothing ‘nothing really matters’ kinda Thing)

-Oh, lets not forget his arms.

-His quirk is DEMANDING. Its a needy little princess. He gets sick of it acting like a bitch. His arms will ache if he over does it, so he has a giant fucking box of tiger balms and compression wraps and weird fucking icy-hot concoctions.

-He DOESN’T have skin car shit. Surprise surprise, he doesn’t need it. He is soft. He is also, incredibly fucking annoyed.

-He has those super obnoxious spray colognes, some super expensive shit, and inbetweeners. Because otherwise he smells like he just rolled out a vat of butterscotch and step into a shower of caramel. But BURNT.

-Seriously, his room would be noxious from the nitroglycerin smell alone. He constantly has a fan going and the window open. And while the room is cluttered he CANNOT let it go uncleaned or he risks a build up of explosives. He has to change his sheets daily, he has a routine for covers and pillow cases, and he is damn near religious in clothes washing because otherwise he’s destined to explode Something he Doesn’t Want Exploded. (The books. The very flammable sometimes RARE books.)

-Oh, and he has MANY a blanket and throw. He swaps them out so he isn’t doing huge loads of laundry for the big shit. It’s mostly thin blankets anyways, but they’re super soft and cozy and he nestles up to read his books like a demented caterpillar. The blanket he sleeps with ALWAYS ends up on the floor. 

-He doesn’t like to think himself overly conceited. But he is cocksure and arrogant and he has an image to keep. So of course he has routines to make himself look good.

-This is just a Bakugou thing TBQH.

-More of a personal headcanon, but he’s definitely gay. Not in the super obvious way, but he’s definitely confident in it. He isn’t about to go plastering his walls with flags (as if they’d fit), and he isn’t jotting down crushes in a journal (he does have journals, they’re just... incredibly volatile and profane)

-He’s just, confident.  He has a single little rainbow picture, its a picture he took and its super cool and shit. A rainbow in the mountains, right after a shower. He keeps in in a frame in one of the bookshelves near his manga. It’s tasteful, and it’s subtle. He knows what its for, and the littleness of it feels nice and secure.

-He doesn’t shy away if asked. But no one asks. He’d be honest, if anyone did. It’s not something he will hide- that’d be cowardly...

-But deep down, it does give him pause. It’s something he wrestled into submission since he figured it out. He had this big dream of being N.1 and then one day he realized that, had society not advanced the way it did, he could have nothing. He’d never tell a soul but it scared him, to know that despite all his ‘perfections’  he had this one thing that would turn heads in a way he didn’t want.

-He realized though that it as just one more thing he’d own. So he noosed it, that fear, and he throttled it into submission. He’d be N.1, he’d be open, He’d pioneer that shit if he had too- but he didn’t have too. It ended up being something that added character if nothing else, and he was determined to make it a trait and not a flaw and to build his pride with it.

-That all being said, much like any self respecting gay- he does has a string of lights tastefully weaving over the wood of his bookshelves.

-Extras:

* He doesn’t get sick often. Just, doesn’t. He keeps a close watch on his health, is always good on hygiene, and in general doesn’t jeopardize his well-being.

* When he gets sick. It hits him like a FREIGHT TRAIN.

* He only gets fevers once in a blue moon and he’ll fight the damn moon itself to keep it this way because when he DOEs get a fever its like a putting a handful of firecrackers into a cooking pot.

* He pops when sweaty. He just DOES, It’s INCREDIBLY annoying but thankfully localized to the hands. But when the fever strikes, his whole body pops. He spends the majority of his fever curled up in something flame-proof to wait it out.

*If he’s sweating, and by some MIRACLe he blushes, he CRACKLES.

* He’ll kill you if you witness it.

* I said he’s confident, not that he can’t be flustered.

* On that note, he’ll take it to the grave, but he definitely made Kaminari discharge in front of the dorms that first day by kissing him. It was on the cheek though! And it fucking hurt. Touching Kaminari is like playing roulette and his finger tips smell funny afterwards so he tries to avoid it.

* Honestly, the same can be said for anyone with a quirk that can react to his.

*Fucking half-and-half actually worries him. For the sanctity of his clothing.

* That fight with Deku in ground-beta set off every nerve ending he had and for a solid 24 hrs afterwards he actually had trouble keeping his quirk under his skin. He can still vividly recall the arc of electricity over his face and it never fails to leave a lasting echo in his mind.

* Kirishima is good for this though. Ironically, he’s grounding. He’s the one person Bakugou has never worried about hurting or leaving damage behind. Likewise, he knows that Kirishima high-key needs the confidence boost that Bakugou drags with him everywhere, so he amps up his attitude when the red-head seems down.

* He has no earthly idea how to describe his relationship with Kirishima and it shows. He would never dare say it allowed, but he knows that the boy is his best friend and he’d honestly kill for him. But more so, he’d be willing to live and fight beside him.

* Kirishima is one of the VERY FEW who has a picture in Bakugou’s room. It’s from a hiking trip, and its really backlit so you honestly wouldn’t know at first glance, but its beautiful. A sunrise, right at the summit. A figure standing on a rock with a hand excitedly outstretched towards the horizon.

* The other people with photos, are his parents- and the Midoriya’s.

* It’s not as obvious this one. But he keeps a family photo on his bookself of the three Bakugous, and then theres an old photograph tucked away between some of his older school book collections.

* It’s a beach photo. He couldn’t be more than, maybe three? 

* It’s a whole other life. A time before his quirk. Before he knew he was destined.

*He’s sitting on a rock with a backsplash of salt and foam. He’s got an arm wrapped around a tiny Izuku. It was the only thing keeping the other boy from tumbling off into the waves. Their moms are sitting on either side, big happy faces all around.

*The boys were burnt, both heavily freckled, and smiling like the world was endless.

* The photo...makes him sad. He can’t explain it, not even sure what words could do so. It’s nostalgic sure, but something between the pixels of ink has him at a lost. It was such a different time, and the little boy in the photo is a stranger.

*Sometimes, rarely and in the dead of night when a nightmare finally gets him awake, he thinks about life. About how different it could have been, about the paths he chose and the ones he burnt. He wonders, he regrets, and he moves on before morning.

*Bakugou Katsuki refuses to dwell. He bottles and compartmentalizes and he tucks it away like a pamphlet in a library. Notes and subscripts to be lost in translation. 

( He’s vocal, he’s vivid. He writes. He loves his book collection and he writes his own short stories. His imagination is as vivid as the rest of the class, and he jots down half finished ideas all the time. He has a memory that makes an elephant cry, so his school notebooks are tiny and his idea notebooks are scattered. The words he can’t get out into the air are sometimes trapped in ink. )

[sparda3g]

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Chapter 284 Review

BLUE has officially begun. But first, it’s time for a process of elimination because there’s just too many characters in the field. It’s time for the first trial at the First Gate. BLUE may have started earlier than expected, but it’s clear that this arc will be long. With that said it doesn’t entirely dismiss the quirky aspect of the series with its way of a cooking challenge.

The first trial begins and it doesn’t waste any time to divide the field of contestants into three groups. It goes by their entry numbers and wouldn’t you know it, Soma, Megumi, and Takumi are separated from each other. If this trial was something like, “Only one in each group can advance to the next gate,” I would say that’s a convenient and obvious outcome. However, many contestants can pass the trial, so it’s not as convenient as it doesn’t danger Megumi and Takumi; unless Tsukuda pulled a fast one.

The first trial is quite simple. They just have to create a dish for one judge and satisfy him. That’s it. Easiest trial ever. The judge however is a dying old man. Are we going to get our first death scene in a cooking series? He is a former Cuisiner Noir, who operated as an underworld chef. Well, at least the concept of good and evil also refer outside of the contestants, so I guess I should expect more down the line. Then again, he’s a former and he’s on his death bed supposedly. The task flat out said make a satisfying last meal for him. Our first potential death is on the horizon.

He even has a backstory. In Shounen’s tradition, if you have a backstory explained and/or flashback, your death is very near. His name is Heigoro Tokiyama and he is World War II veteran, who got involved with the black market. It was then he began a career of Cuisinier Noir and dominated many. He’s basically a legend. If you go by his backstory, you would think he’s still at his prime today with his sinister tone, anticipating to judge these young kids. If by kid, you mean one of those lamps, then sure. Everyone will win.

As straightforward the rules are, the missing element is the theme. What are they going to cook? Seafood? Meat? Vegan? The answer is anything. There is no theme; what matters is to satisfy the old man. On paper, that sounds incredibly easy for chef as they don’t have to worry about specialty. However, everyone reacts like it is incredibly challenging. What if the old man doesn’t like fish? What if chicken is his favorite? This puts pressure on them significantly. It doesn’t help that this is BLUE, which could make a man exaggerate the concept like it has to be rocket science tier. It’s like seeing “2 + 2” question at Harvard University; if it’s easy, that’s because it is.

On the bright side, they can ask Heigoro questions for the next five minutes. Obviously, you will just go all blunt and ask for his favorite food. Too bad for them, he’s senile; many questions keep detouring to his other stories. The bunny girl (?), the clown, and the punk guy who looked like evil cousin of Monarch are in Soma’s group, watching and laughing at everyone in desperation. Only Soma doesn’t bother to ask, because he finds it odd. Well, at least that punk guy acknowledge his perspective, rather than “You’re already dead.”

The old guy finally say something important and that is his childhood memory with miso noodle stew and gohei mocha. It’s like we have a Ratatouille (film) storyline in our hands, but childhood food does leave a powerful impact. Once the chef got that in mind, all they can think about is creating the familiar food at its best. That one guy got a huge ego boost after believing he found the answer. He even goes far as pitying foreign chef for lack of knowledge with Japanese cuisine as Japanese chef got this win. I find that racist! Granted, it’s true (I guess?) but when this became race war all the sudden.

That all said it does make go “Ah ha,” when he still fail the trial, even after presenting the so-called “childhood memory” dish. That’s what he gets. Kind of funny how he just tosses those tags at the contestants’ face with a word, “Fail.” Lucky for them, it’s not explosive tags. The normal chefs failed, but Noirs are passing with flying colors. That’s one way to demonstrate their skills without Shokugeki.

The punk guy was last to go in Noir’s side and presents Heigoro the Six-Shot Roast Beef Revolver. The description sure sounds tasty, even if it is over-the-top. Even one of the officials thought the same thing, but damn, does it look and sound good. It’s so intense, it could hospitalized an elder. I want that before my death then. Speaking of death, Heigoro bites one beef and brings out a revolver to kill him! Cooking manga?! But hey, revolver for a revolver dish. Get it? Ha ha! Anyway, it’s not real; it shoots bunch of countries flags and a tag that reads, “Pass.” If that happened, I’ll be disqualified for passing out.

But seriously, imagine being a real gun…

Chefs see their failures as the worst day of their life. For Noirs, it was Tuesday. It’s because they’re accustomed to cooking the last meal of their life in the underground. People they saw failed have died when there’s no satisfaction. Damn, talk about serious business. Anyway, the punk guy explains why everyone is failing, which is pretty much what I said earlier. Everyone was fixated on his childhood memory and thought, “If I serve that, he will pass me.” The key to win is once again simple: give it your best shot.

I know it’s BLUE, but sometimes, the simplest answer is the answer. Heigoro is the former Noir, so he already got enough experience with a burning passion for food. They have no one to blame but themselves. With that being said the only oddball now is Soma. What a shocker. In all seriousness, he has yet to cook and he’s contemplating on how the next meal is his last and he doesn’t buy it. He’s pretty furious about it for whatever reason. It’s a strange cliffhanger that should be easily dealt with, yet Soma is making this complicated than it needed to be.

Overall, it was a decent chapter with certain charms of its nature. It’s only the beginning, so things will start off slow, which is expected. At least, it’s a fair game, unlike how in the past everyone tried to fail the Rebels with cheap tricks. I don’t know what to expect with the other groups if it’s going to be similar to this, though surely they will pass to the next gate. Soma’s frustration is questionable since the answer is right there, unless there’s a code to jump to Third Gate. The next chapter will have a color page, so up the ante I suppose.

Huh. Color page. Doesn’t scream the series in “trouble” to me…

Anyway, whatever is bothering Soma, he better hope he doesn’t get head shot.

[merry-kuroo]

I posted 8,782 times in 2021

658 posts created (7%)

8124 posts reblogged (93%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 12.3 posts.

I added 3,980 tags in 2021

#fan art - 739 posts

#jujutsu kaisen - 533 posts

#genshin impact - 433 posts

#daiya no ace - 419 posts

#diamond no ace - 393 posts

#jjk - 330 posts

#attack on titan - 299 posts

#mha spoilers - 291 posts

#bnha spoilers - 285 posts

#manga - 258 posts

Longest Tag: 130 characters

#one of my great grandfathers recorded his race as ethiopian so it'll be interesting to see if that's true once the results come in

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I LOVE YOU TOO

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128 notes • Posted 2021-04-01 01:27:41 GMT

#4

I didn't need my heart today 💔

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137 notes • Posted 2021-02-16 19:16:14 GMT

#3

We got Touma confessing to Taichi, but at what cost? 😰

I am so worried about Touma because of the rumors and I don't want his final months of high school being spent ostracized by everyone 😪

And then Touma apologizing for falling in love with Taichi really cut deep.

Why did I think Blue Flag was gonna be a cute wholesome manga about a trio? My heart's been broken almost every chapter 💔

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159 notes • Posted 2021-03-25 20:43:43 GMT

#2

T H E

T H R E E

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169 notes • Posted 2021-03-27 13:28:40 GMT

#1

My Top 10 Webtoons (2020-2021)

So, it’s been one year since I started Webtoons/Manwha. At first I downloaded the app to read Tower of God, then I started reading more stuff and now I’m deep into Webtoon hell lol. Anyway, I just wanted to share my Top 10 series...tbh there’s a few more I wish I could add to this list, but I’m not done reading them yet.

So...here :)

Sorry for any typos or any incoherent thoughts. I'm very very tired :)And there are spoilers for some of these series.

1.) Back to You

Honey B has the prettiest art oh my God. 😍

I’m a huge fan of time travel stories where the protagonist is trying to save someone else. In Hanyoung’s case, she decides to save the boy she was in love with Jaehyun.

I really don’t have much to say about this except that I really enjoy it, and things have been going too smoothly in the story atm and I’m expecting something bad to happen at any second. 👁👄👁

2.) See You in my 19th Life

Lee Hey is incredible. This another story where the art is gorgeous, and I like the story in this one a lot more. The progression of Seoha and Jiuem’s relationship is really sweet 🥰. I’m curious to see how Jieum’s sister and Seoha react when they find out who she truly is...I don’t think it’ll go well :’)

A Good Day To Be a Dog is another awesome series by them which I recommend too, but I like this story a lot more.

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196 notes • Posted 2021-07-12 03:56:21 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[vanillajunmyeon]

so

the end of our year is coming very, very soon, and i’m feeling kind of blue rn. i mean, not really because i’m still feeling extra happy for no reason (since we’re leaving soon, and i won’t be seeing my crush anymore... sadness)

but since i felt like the people from my class were “safe”, i kinda went overboard the other day. we had a party, and i figured i would go, because WHY NOT? it was one of the last parties of the year anyway, and my crush said he was coming so. yeah. i thought it would be a good idea. after our trip to lille and paris i felt like they’re all pretty nice people, even if they’re incredibly nosy and a bit perverted haha.

so i went to that party, with in mind my decision to drink a lot (in order to forget my crush + enjoy the party because i know from experience that they aren’t funny if you’re not decently drunk - drunk people are awful, and my anxiety acts up a lot when i’m in those parties for real)

we had a before, i went there, drank some. we had that game going on, where we would put words on the board in our class, and everyone would add another word so that it would make crosswords ehehe. it became sexual pretty fast. and i mean, i figured, why not? so i started to say/put a lot of words NO ONE (i mean no one) knew about, mostly because they’re in english and because i read too many fanfics for my own good. soon enough everyone was shocked, i mean not my friends, and i was like the girl who knew too much, i basically told everyone i watched porn (not like i watch porn that often, i tried, i didn’t like it and that was it), + i said to my crush and his friend that i used to read a manga about bdsm when i was in high school (i was recommanding it to them). frankly enough, it was funny, + i talked to my crush quite a bit so that’s nice. i talked to him in the afternoon too haha we had a pretty cool conversation about sexism and racism and stuff that we should have as basic rights, like that dude... i love him so much. idk i see him everyday #lucky)

but then, i was like. i’m a bit drunk, they’re safe, i’ve been meaning to do that for a while. let’s... casually come out :) (yeah i know, best idea ever)

so i just said to a part of the room, yeah people say that member of the lgbt community stick together and are often in the same group of friends, but not me. and then my crush and his friend (i wasn’t even talking to them lol) just say “what do you mean, ‘but not me...’?” and i was like i’m bi!!! :D and everyone was like ooooh what?? the guy i’ve been talking about a few times (with his suho’s hot and you’ll find a tall person one day) who happens to be gay just said “but this school is so gay srsly wtf” and i mean true, ever since he arrived, i’ve learned that so many people aren’t straight and i’m like but...... where have you been all my life???? i was pretty happy with myself tbh

then i went and took some dragibus and i was like ooh those are the colors of the bi flag, and my crush was like there’s a bi flag? and i was like yeah and i talked about some other flags i knew, and i he seemed pretty interested. then he asked me, is there a straight flag (i think he was joking? idek i was drunk) so i just went no, and anyway there’s too many of you (LOLOLOL i’m so mean - but if i had been a bit more sober i would have been a bit more thorough with my explanation). tbh i’m a bit smad because i was sitting/laying down on the table, and he was on a chair next to me, and idk i wish i could have made something out of that but no. and he was extra adorable that night, and yeah. and our legs kept touching because my legs were dangling from the table and his legs were stretched under mine. more or less. argh.

anyway he said he would be going to the party, but he didn’t, i don’t even know where he went bc one of my friends went home with his friend and he wasn’t there with them, but he still left early so. maybe he went to see other friends / confess his love to his own crush, who knows. ANYWAY

i was very smad tbh, but drunk so it didn’t really matter. i saw some friends, for some reason the gay guy from my class kept wanting to dance with me + giving me alcohol from time to time. it was weird lol but fine since. alcohol. at one moment he grabbed me by the waist and said “your friend doesn’t know how to dance, come here” and we danced i guess. lmao. what is going on. i’m glad i didn’t do that before because they’d drag me to every party ever. and i’m too lazy to go to them. I danced with a girl from my class too and she said my moves were good so i’m happy. i accept that compliment.

and well the next day, i was fine (still had that alcohol taste in my mouth though... ah the pain). the guy i danced with asked me if i was hungover i was like no. and he said wow you know more about sex than me and you hold your liquor better than me, i found my master. and i was like i’m pretty sure i didn’t drink rhum with coke yesterday like you but whatever dude. Think what you wanna think. + i think he implied i went home with someone when he said they were looking for me when the party was over i was like dude i went home super early, i need to sleep

my friend who was with me at the before saw some of the people who were there, and they were pretty shocked. actually one of them was really shocked, said he really didn’t know i was like that, we don’t even talk to each other lmao how... would he know. + the guy i danced with seemed pretty happy about me, my coming out thing, my dancing thing, said he never thought i could move like that LMAO i’m so talented.

i wished i could have used the alcohol in my system as an excuse to. kiss. my crush. or like stay close to him. i kinda did but it wasn’t enough. ARGH. all those regrets. i’m so smad. i wanted to kiss him so badly........ why............................ why did you leave.................................... :’(

[recentanimenews]

Blue Flag, Vol 1

Blue Flag Volume 1 by KAITO

It is fair to say that I read plenty of manga, but now and then I read a series that is just so well executed that it feels incredibly refreshing. I knew Blue Flag had plenty of fans, and I was excited to read it when I heard that it was licensed, but my high expectations were surpassed by the first volume.

The volume opens with some character introductions that remind most readers of standard characters, but the insightful look into Taichi’s inner thoughts as he starts a new school year plays against readers expecting something more stereotypical. Taichi has a small friend group, who all look like they came out of a shonen playbook of nerd 101. He’s fairly content with remaining under the radar at school, but something quickly breaks him out of his usual routine. Taichi’s elementary school friend Toma is going to be in Taichi’s class for the first time in several years. Taichi and Toma are opposites in many ways. Taichi is short and has hair that seems to defy any grooming attempt. Toma is tall, athletic, and extremely popular, but his effortless way of making friends is the result of him being genuinely nice rather than anything overly calculated. Taichi’s friends consider Toma to be a different species than them, and are mystified that Toma keeps popping up to keep randomly talk to Taichi even though Taichi claims that they aren’t close anymore.

Taichi seems to have a special kind of antipathy to Futuba Kuze, a girl in his class who is painfully shy and clumsy. He starts to realize that he’s reminded of his own failings when he looks at her, because she’s similar to him. After an incredibly awkward chance encounter in the library, Futuba asks Taichi for advice because she has a crush on Toma. He thinks that any help he would provide would be useless, but she’s incredibly determined, following up with any random reference that Taichi tosses out. Eventually Taichi agrees to serve as Futuba’s spectacularly uninformed tutor in the ways of teen romance. Taichi is brutally realistic with Futuba about her chances of attracting Toma, but she’s not fazed by the idea that she isn’t his type. Eventually Taichi and Futuba strike up an odd friendship as he keeps trying to draw her in to his usual interactions with Toma. Blue Flag is invested with a ton of emotional resonance as the characters investigate childhood games, deal with homework, and share memories. Futuba explains to Taichi that one of the reasons she’s been nursing a crush towards Toma is that when he accidentally knocked down her plant in the school garden with a stray baseball, he returned every day until it was healthy again.

Towards the end of the volume, the reader gets a sense of what is actually happening in Toma’s head and the realization that the love story that’s unfolding is going to be much more complex and surprising than one would think. Blue Flag rewards the re-reader, who will be able to go back and detect hints in the body language and attitudes of the characters. This is by far one of the most promising shonen series I’ve read in a long time, and the focus on the emotional complexity of teenage live reminded me a bit of Cross Game. I highly recommend Blue Flag, and I’m impatiently waiting for the next volume.

By: Anna N