#kaiba kusanagi

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

Off the top of my head, the ones that come to mind that are actually good big siblings:

Kuaidul Velgear. Shoichi Kusanagi. Shun Kurosaki. Joey Wheeler. Seto Kaiba.

This fall, I will do a.....drum roll please.....

🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

Best big sibling competition!!!!!!!!!

I'll include both big sisters and big brothers

Whether canonically or just have those big sibs vibes, you can choose whatever you want

Make your choice who want to big siblings in Yu-gi-oh you want in here 😉

[lia404]

I'll give you Yusaku for "Send me a Yugioh character" owo

AH. Ahaha. Oh my god, okay. So for context, your ask landed in my inbox exactly when I was struggling with formatting my "Yusaku birthday post." Which means it caught me at a point when I had even MORE feelings than I usually do for this boy. I apologise in advance: the answer about Kaiba may have been a wall of text, but I'm afraid this one will become a full skyscraper of text. So go grab some tea, coffee, biscuits, whatever makes you feel good for a break, then sit back and relax while I scream at you about how much I CARE for Yusaku Fujiki.

(Whatever happens remember that you asked for it.) (Thank you so much for this, too, even if I've spent a good part of my afternoon and all my evening and part of my night on it.) (By the way at this point I really won't feel insulted if no one reads it to the end, I think I mostly need to get it all out of my system.)

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD, in the form of headcanons and personal analyses of Yusaku's character and his relationships, along with multiple screenshots, gif, videos, all hidden behind the excuse of an ask meme (so it's still superficial in many parts, but I feel like it's a good overview.) I'm putting it all behind a cut since I know how to use them now. (Or do I? It's the 4th time I edit to put the cut back to the place it's meant to be at.)

Why I like him/why I don’t

I think it's Yusaku's resilience that I like the most. He can be no-nonsense and harsh, but he's always honest, and he always stands up. It's striking, actually, how he always manages to keep standing.

He's thrown to the ground by life, by his enemies (interestingly, many declare they are his enemies when he's not even TRYING to alienate them, and just doesn't really care.) Even his allies are the reason why he ends up beaten up sometimes. And yet, he always get back up. It's very rare to see him fully crash, which makes it even more impactful when he does.

I'm just fascinated at how even at his lowest, at the biggest blows he receives, he stands up. His strive for life is remarkable, so much so that it sometimes almost feels like a curse. Just the same way he keeps winning and winning, because he's good, of course, but also because losing is not an option. He has to stand up and he keeps doing it for himself, for others, and still manages to feel guilty for not doing enough.

(I'm afraid you'll have to do with my French subtitles, I am NOT trying to find other streams just to make screencaps, these ones were hard enough to find.)

"Sorry, Kusanagi, your brother Jin has been taken and Lightning is menacing humanity and all of this is because I'm not strong enough."

Yusaku, FFS.

This is all heavily linked to the other aspect of his character I love most: Yusaku is so human. He's filled with hope. In one of the episodes of season 3, Revolver tells him to "stop thinking with his naive optimism".

And Playmaker clearly doesn't like it, look at this face.

But he still holds onto it until the end. He's not giving up until he's forced to (and even when it's done, he takes off and tries to find solutions.)

And Yusaku cares, he cares so much. He may seem heinous and gratuitously savage with the way he shuns Shima or Ai, but you have to go beyond the words. When Shima is captured, he literally runs to his rescue, barely waiting for the van to stop before he jumps out of it to check on his classmate. Shima and other people around, no matter how annoying, will also give occasional encouragements (often hidden behind a layer of backhanded compliments, because that's how Yusaku rolls.)

Yusaku makes sure that people around him are feeling alright. He comforts them. He may not use the nicest words, he has the sensitivity of an elephant let loose in a fine china shop, but his words usually strike right where they should. He helps. He gives a lot of himself for this, apparently not caring what other people think of it.

Goddamnit, Yusaku. Why are you trying to make me cry.

And this, actually, paradoxically, might be the only thing I dislike for him. It's not even about HIM per se (he may not be perfect but I am able to admit I'm too biased to not have a hard time finding him any flaws.) It's the way he gives so much of himself for everyone leads not only to people relying on him a lot, they also tend to take him for granted. And it pisses me off. Yusaku doesn't really fight against it, which, understandable considering his character, his backstory, everything. But sometimes I wish he could stop being the hero of Link VRAINS, because he's spreading himself too thin, and he had to break at some point. Or multiple times.

What I like about his appearance

I am trying SO hard to stop myself from waxing all kinds of poetics on him, so for this once I'll go with the most obvious: his EYES.

(Yes this was all a shameless excuse to flood you with close-ups of Yusaku and Playmaker's beautiful, vibrant eyes.)

The colour is striking, of course, especially in contrast with his or Playmaker's hair. But also, for someone meant to be aloof and stoic, Yusaku's eyes are hella expressive. His eyebrows only emphasise it, and actually, this is another trait I really like: Playmaker's eyebrows are orange. Playmaker is a real red-head! It makes me irrationally happy. It's the little details, folks, and Yusaku definitely pays more attention to them than most would expect.

And the second aspect of his appearance I just can't omiss...

...Well, that's his smile, of course! If only he had reasons to smile more often. Look at him; no matter how terrible the situation, he manages to smile.

This one is from when he says goodbye to Kusanagi before the final duel agains Ai. It's honestly quite tragic, but here he is. Smiling. Why is no one in this series protecting this smile. What are they all DOING.

Anyway, I've been writing for way too long already and I still have TOO MUCH to say so that's it for the appearance. He's adorable, he's beautiful, he's gorgeous.

Do I prefer his dub names or original names?

You'd think the question is not relevant since his name is the same in both, BUT. There's actually a massive difference. I can't take the dub version's stressed Yu'SAku seriously when in Japanese it's very clearly 'YUUsaku. Also, watching parts of the dub has been very amusing once I accepted that it was a parody, but there's not much to keep. Not even the pronunciation of a name. So I'm going with original, no hesitation.

OTP

Okay, another obvious one. If you've been following me you have noticed the ridiculous amount of Datastormshipping I put in your feed.

Evil smile besties ftw.

And YET.

It's so hard to ship them seriously. There's so much to repair. I can't see them all lovey-dovey, they have to work for it, and work HARD. Because Playmaker is just... so completely defanged when he's in front of Revolver. And Revolver, while actually acting in the shadow to support Playmaker so many times in the course of 120 episodes, never spares him a kind word, a nice face, except when he thinks he's dying.

I suspect he's not doing it consciously, but the way Revolver behaves makes me feel like he takes Playmaker for granted. It makes sense, considering their backstory: Revolver has obsessed over Playmaker and endangered people he cared about because of it. He has also proved multiple times that he is very intent to shoulder the full blame for an incident he had not much to do about, so he'd rather keep Playmaker and his "stupid faith in him" at a distance. But Revolver is also Playmaker's saviour, which makes it so Playmaker trusts him and can follow him blindly no matter what.

Eloquent: everyone is wary to follow, but Playmaker is first in line, not a hint of hesitation in spite of having no idea of what lies behind the portal.

For this reason, I'm actually happy with the Revolver event in Duel Links, in spite of all its writing flaws.

In the event, Playmaker feels Revolver with his Link Sense even before he arrives, which shows that he's still VERY attuned to Revolver. And in spite of this clear bond, Playmaker really stands against Revolver and asserts his beliefs with no room for negociation, something he hasn't done since the Tower of Hanoi (...and even then, arguably, he was trying to negociate.) He is not yielding no matter how important Revolver might be for him. And, at the end of the event, Revolver seems to be relieved to have met such resistance. He even sounds sort of supportive? It's open to interpretation, but my feeling was that he actually approved of Playmaker's doing and encouraged him. The Ghost Gal and Spectre events that followed emphasised it for me. They're clearly not fighting anymore, but they also don't have this weird blind spot for each other anymore.

With this approach, I feel like they'd have better roots for a relationship that would not lean towards codependence or other unhealthy bases.

Don't get me wrong, I adore the fluff, and Datastormshipping really is the obvious end goal for me, but for this ship what I love most is them having to work for it. Because even if they clearly trust each other, Yusaku will have to learn to NOT give all of himself blindly, and Ryoken will need to learn to actively LISTEN to Yusaku, and even make him speak.

(As a quick parenthesis, because I'll get back to this topic later and I'd rather not leave any ambiguity: as much as I resent him for his treatment of Yusaku, I absolutely adore Revolver, in this terrible love/hate dynamic that makes me hate to love him and love to hate him. In spite of everything, or maybe DUE to all of this, I really like his character. I'm not sure I'll ever write deep meta about him, though, because he's already had a lot written about him and I doubt I have much more to bring to discussions that happened years ago. But who know what time will bring? Anyway, Datastormshipping FTW.)

NOTP

BEWARE: unpopular opinion ahead. I actually can't see Aiballshipping.

Again, don't get me wrong: I see where the shippers come from, and I really don't hate the ship! I've read multiple doujin and fanfictions, I enjoy the content, I enjoy the art, I love the analyses of the ship... But I can't see it, because for me, it goes beyond a romantic relationship. Ai is literally a part of Yusaku. Him and Yusaku are a package, in a way: if someone wants to be with Yusaku, they'll also have to be with Ai. If someone says Yusaku "It's Ai or me", they'd better not expect to be chosen. I understand Aiballshipping. I like reading takes on it, I like reading stories about it. But to me, what Ai and Yusaku have is not romantic. It's something obvious, a given, almost fusional. They don't kiss; they can communicate without saying a word. (Even if they spend their time throwing jabs at each other out loud.) Any other romantic relationship will come in addition to it, without being replaced by it. So I don't "ship" it. It's very much not an OTP. I have no idea which verb I could use for it, though, because I'm not really sure it can be considered queerplatonic either.

OT3

Di-sas-ter-ship-ping! It's actually my main ship, even if there's not a lot of content. Sure, if we want to make it work in a nice healthy way, it's going to be quite the challenge. BUT not everything has to be serious and reasonable or even believable (I have datastormshipping for this) and seriously, the dynamic between these three has so much potential for wholesomeness, stupid arguments and general chaos. It's called disastershipping for a reason. (Not only this, I know, but still.)

Look at them, their smug poses and their stupidly form-fitting costumes. What could go wrong, right? <3

Favourite card he uses

Contrary to my answer re: Kaiba's deck, this time I am familiar with Playmaker's deck, because I play it AND I actually watched his duels multiple times to understand how he uses it. The fact is that even if there's the usual "I magically draw the exact card I need and use if without even looking at it" effect that is characteristic to Yu-Gi-Oh animes, his deck is solid and it really allows different kind of combos to always find workaround. (Doesn't mean I don't brick often, but not everyone can be Playmaker.)

So I actually have TWO favourite cards. The first one is my little love, usually one of the first to join the field: Backup Secretary.

She's beauty, she's grace, she's always here to help me link summon my ace. She's easy to use. She may not be the best one, but I'm so happy to have her in my deck—three times. I have multiple other cards that allow me to bring her in my hand. She never stays long on the field, since her specialty is to help summoning various types of Code Talkers, but she's a life saver. And seriously her design is awesome.

And the second one is, in my amateur point of view (I need to write the disclaimer that while I'm not BAD at duelling, I'm not exactly GOOD either and I miss a lot, lot, lot of subtleties) one of the best cards in Playmaker's deck: Recoded Alive.

This card is a lifesaver. It has multiple effects for different situations. It helps me avoid having an empty field when my opponent's field is filled with monsters. It's a trap, and allows me to switch monsters when attacked if I use it during the opponent's turn. It allows me to bring another monster to the field and have another attacking monster if I play it during my own battle phase.

And even if we want to remain focused on Playmaker's storyline, it's one of the most important ones Yusaku plays in the anime. It's always here for him since the beginning, and it has allowed him to bring back so many monsters. I mean, it basically wins him a duel against Revolver. It saves him against Ai. It's just... I love this card. It took me forever to understand how it works, but now it's hard to imagine a Playmaker deck without it.

Favourite moment(s) he was in

And here I thought I had already written enough. Well, we're here for a few more hours. I hope your tea has not gone cold.

I dare hope that you KNEW you shouldn't expect me to choose only ONE moment. There are so many. I can't satisfy myself with only one, I must bring up a few more, but not too many because this post is overwhelming enough as it is.

1. Season 1, when Playmaker goes against Akira to recover files in SOL's massive datbase. I can't begin to express how angry I was with the way Akira treats Yusaku. I know it was done in good faith, but having Akira tell Yusaku "go have a normal life, go out with your friends, enjoy your life as a teenager and prepare for your future, it's important" is just horribly condescending. It's SO satisfying to see Playmaker put the Zaizen, who always seem to think they know what he feels, or what is best for him, in their place. There's something incredibly satisfying in having Yusaku say "It is MY story and it is MINE to tell".

"I don't want the story of my past to be told by someone else."

Having Playmaker defend his story like this, and not let others take it or misinterpret it (especially when they feel like they "understand"), is, to me, a very powerful moment. And as if this wasn't enough, Yusaku adds a power move to it, adding a step in his final turn that he didn't have to do to win the duel: returning the two Tindangle cards representing Akira and Aoi to the hand rather than winning by leaving them both in the graveyard. When confronted about it, he answers that he doesn't want the siblings to be in the darkness of the graveyard, that his revenge should not implicate them and that they should walk towards the light. It is incredibly heartful, AND an amazing way to show Zaizen that he will never manage to "understand" Yusaku considering the mindset he keeps displaying. That was so badass, seriously. I wish the Zaizen had learnt more from it.

2. Season 2, after the duel against Kusanagi. Playmaker won and collapsed, not waking up. The second moment I like most is there, in Yusaku's head. It's intimidating... and slightly tragic.

"I have done enough. I'm tired."

Oh. It's been building up for so many episodes, they've been straining him so much, and finally, it happens. The quietest mental breakdown, the hint of depression. It makes him so human, so relatable suddenly, and yet it's so painful. I love this moment because it really brought me back to who he is: a 16 year old kid with a trauma bigger than himself and the expectations of a whole city (world?) on his shoulders. I'm glad he gets up again, but I'm also really glad that we get to see this part of him, so tragically realistic. Now let's wrap him in a blanket and hug him, okay?

3. Season 3: The "last nice moments in the real world". I wish we had had more of those in the whole course of the series, there was SO MUCH potential for it! Look at them being teenagers. Yusaku, so happy, confident and carefree as he is working for Kusanagi (and this apron makes him look so cute.) Yusaku, being pestered by Shima who wants to know where Playmaker is (WHY would Yusaku know? Shima has weird leaps of logic.) And Aoi and Yusaku having the most AWKWARD handshake, that instantly relieved me from the fear that Aoi might be a love interest.

"This is what high schoolers do I guess. Okay, we tried, we're done, completely uninteresting, let's move on now. When's our next trauma-session already?"

That's three moments I love, but I can't resist adding a last Painful Bonus: another moment of "let's make Playmaker suffer". I'm so sorry, Yusaku.

4. Season 3: Roboppi's death; the flashback to a younger Yusaku who has just built his cleaning robot and is SO proud, so happy and welcoming, and then Playmaker, broken, begging Soulburner to strike one last time and finish Roboppi.

I feel like his eyes, at that moment, are another reminder of his age. It's one of the most terrible scenes of the whole anime (I'd say ex-aequo with Ai's final words), it's masterfully executed, the pacing is amazing, the work on the expressions is amazing, the voice acting is incredible. But really, these eyes.

Least favourite moment

Two moments come to mind, and both are in the third season. You'll see there's a recurring theme, and more importantly, the fact that I really don't like these moments barely comes from Yusaku's role in them. Even if his personality encourages it.

1. The scene at the pier. It's REALLY, REALLY not Yusaku's fault, but he's still one of the two major protagonists so it counts as a "least favourite moment." Yusaku is going for the final fight, and Ryoken catches him, sends him and almost kills him with the card that will help him win the duel against Ai. I know this scene is considered one of the cornerstones of Datastormshipping, but all I can see is... Yusaku getting rejected, again, after saying goodbye to Kusanagi with a brave and grateful smile on his face, and just before having to destroy someone that is essentially a part of him. He calls Ryoken's name, and Ryoken keeps the most distance possible. I think it may have been one of the worst things Ryoken could have done, and even the fact that the Borrel dragon is actually a symbol of how much Ryoken believes in Yusaku,.. well, it would still be not enough to recover from the blatant, cold rejection Yusaku received at that moment. Ryoken, I know you couldn't find it in you to encourage him, but you only had to say his first name. Acknowledge him more than by coldly stating his complete name. And maybe NOT use the word "farewell" this time, because twice in the few first minutes of an episode is way too much. GOD FORBID Yusaku has any sort of support from Ryoken, that would encourage him to feel like they have a bond, the horreur. (Ugh.) With Playmaker knowing that Takeru would leave, Aoi would have Miyu, Kusanagi would have his brother, having Ryoken just... coldly ignoring all tentative of closeness, and leaving without looking back, WELL. It's no wonder Yusaku disappeared solo at the end. From his perspective, he had no one left.

2. Mission begin: everyone is ready to try and stop Ai, the plan is set and Playmaker is not part of any team since he's not even here. Except...

"We can't begin without Playmaker."

It annoys me so much, because the thing is, yes, yes you really can begin without Playmaker. And you should, Heaven's sake!

Many characters at this point have told him that they would understand if he didn't want to take part in this fight, that they would shoulder some of his burden and that he could rest and stay away for his health and sanity.

The thing is, Yusaku is not this kind of person. He will take responsbility and let no one else do the job in his stead. And he comes back, in a rather flashy way, EXACTLY when they're all expecting him. And barely anyone is surprised, they all look so relieved. They were waiting for this.

This moment leaves such a bitter taste in my mouth, because here is the problem with Playmaker: he's so good and reliable that people just... lean on him and wait for him to do the hard work. No matter how traumatising. I took screenshots of the many, many times people said "I leave it into your hands, Playmaker". "I know you"ll complete the job well, Playmaker." "I'm counting on you, Playmaker." I am not putting all of them here, but I have an album of these.

In doing so, they only enable his rather destructive hero-complex.

Destructive because, consider: he had a huge trauma when he was a kid and never fully recovered. When he finally learns and fights the truth behind this trauma, he feels like his revenge is over, but the person he'd spent years and years looking for is gone after treating him quite awfully. Additionally, he releases his new "hostage/friend" and goes back to being alone. He's been a hero, and all he got was: being alone again. Come Takeru, and somehow he acquires a sort of social circle. He's not really good at it, but it exists, and he even looks quite comfortable with it, if a bit awkward. Then he's forced to watch, powerless, as all his newfound friends/trusted persons get erased one after another, all of them with parting words expressing how much they trusted him to fix this. Way to make him feel like it's great to have friends and allies, uh. Then the humans come back, but the Ignis are dead, and he feels like he has failed his self-imposed mission to find a way to coexist. Ai is gone, Ryoken sort of gloats (I understand it's probably not what he intended, but it still feels awfully like it.) He's been a hero, and all he got was: more trauma about losing people, more responsibilities he shouldn't have to shoulder, and likely no one who understands the pain he's in because the world is safe now.

And then Ai comes back and everything goes upside down, and Yusaku lives in denial all beginning of season 3.

That's what makes it a self-destructive complex, for me. Every time he plays hero, Yusaku exposes himself to the things that hurt him most. He's never rewarded. And yet, he keeps doing it, and giving people what they want from him/taking responsibility for things that should NEVER be considered his responsibility. It drives me crazy.

Note: I have a similar beef with the "epilogue", in which they all have something nice to say about Playmaker, and they're all so certain that he's amazing, that he'll be back... And yet. No one is looking. Not even Revolver, who should have it easy since he's working from the inside. Arguably, Kusanagi keeps the foodtruck parked in the same place so he has a home to go back to if he wishes

"He would be sad if he didn't have a place to come back to sometimes": I am convinced that Kusanagi is aware of how fragile the notion of "home" is for Yusaku.

So there's this at least. Arguably #2, I guess we could say they all know he doesn't want to communicate and they respect it. But the way they talk about him, it doesn't feel like its the case.

And this is why I keep saying that they don't deserve him; are they friends, or are they fans? Is any of them even really trying to do something for him, beyond "understanding his feelings" (Aoi, sigh), or rooting for him in the typical "Good old Playmaker, always knows what to do!" way (Takeru, sigh.)

Oh, Yusaku. The way they treat you upsets me so much. It's absolutely not what they're aiming for, but it's like they're encouraging you to develop new traumas instead of really helping you, and it makes me so angry.

So, yeah. I hate these moments, and these dynamics.

Would I fuck, marry or kill him

WHY IS THERE NO "ADOPT" OPTION. Well, the choice is quite easy by elimination. I would NOT kill him (in case you had not gathered already) I would very much NOT fuck him (I really doubt he'd be interested in it either, so that works well for both of us.) Soooo... marry, I guess? That would be hella awkward, but eh, if I can't adopt him, might as well use the option that would vaguely allow to, you know, protect and cherish. Even so, it's hard imagining Yusaku settling like this.

Aaaaand I'm done and off to bed, three hours later than planned. Honestly, kudos if you've read until here. Before I sign off, please receive the cutest gif of Yusaku to thank you for bearing with me for the past 2k+ words of crying over this incredible boy who deserves better.

You know, maybe my OTP is actually Yusaku/hotdog. They do deserve each other.

[lxmitlxss]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Mobile Friendly Muse List

as of 08/29/24

Canon Characters

Pandora Hearts:

Xerxes Break

Gilbert Nightray

Vincent Nightray

Elliot Nightray

Levi Baskerville

Vanitas no Carte:

Noé Archiviste

Vanitas

D. Grey Man:

Allen Walker

Lavi Bookman

Marian Cross

Tikki Mikk

The Ancient Magus Bride:

Elias Answorth

Ruth

The Millionaire Detective: BALANCE UNLIMITED:

Haru Kato

Moriarty the Patriot:

William James Moriarty

Sherlock Holmes

Angels of Death:

Zack

Trigun/Trigun STAMPEDE:

Vash the Stampede ( both versions )

Nicholas D. Wolfwood ( both )

Millions Knives

Meryl Stryfe

One Piece:

Sanji Vinsmoke

Zoro Roronoa

Trafalgar Law

My Hero Academia:

Izuku Midoriya

Shoto Todoroki

Denki Kaminari

Shouta Aizawa

Keigo Takami (Hawks)

Dabi

Jujutsu Kaisen

Yuji Itadori

Megumi Fushiguro

Nobara Kugisaki

Satoru Gojo

Suguru Geto

Yeah I haven't finished this one so BE KIIIIIIND

K Project

Yashiro Isana

Saruhiko Fushimi

Reisi Munakata

Izumo Kusanagi

Durarara!:

Izaya Orihara

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Shinra Kishitani

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Osamu Dazai

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Sigma

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Honkai Star Rail

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Dan Heng

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Veritas Ratio

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Joey Wheeler / Katsuya Jonouchi

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Yami Bakura / Bakura

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Jaden Yuki / Judai Yuki

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Tony Stark

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Steve Rogers

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Castiel

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Tenth

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Mashle: Magic and Muscles

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Kei

Go

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Cube

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Dr. Stein

OCs can be found over on @beyondlxmits

[canmom]

Animation Night 150: INU-OH

Hello everyone! Tonight we celebrate ✨Animation Night 150✨. I never imagined I would still be running without pause for that long. In a few weeks it will be our third anniversary. They still haven’t banned me!

Tonight our subject will be Masaaki Yuasa, one of the most brilliantly inventive directors in the whole medium. Yuasa was the very first director I wrote about on here on Animation Night 12, and once again on Animation Night 28, which between them gave a pretty good survey of his works - works such as Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Devilman Crybaby, Kaiba, and Night Is Short Walk On Girl to name a few favourites. However, since then he’s gone and released another movie! Inu-Oh spent a long time touring the festivals, and then a while longer going around cinemas. I wrote this at the time I saw it...

If you haven’t seen this movie yet, seriously you gotta - Masaaki Yuasa totally outdid himself, the choreography and flow if it is just incredible and the whole concept (a biwa hōshi and the cursed mutant son of a noh performer invent glam rock to tell the story of fallen Heike soldiers) is both so out there I struggle to imagine how they came up with it, and yet a perfect evolution of the themes Yuasa explored in his films so far.

So… I was completely spellbound the whole time, it’s one of those films that really rekindles the firey love for animation after days of drawing tiedowns lol. The ideas for movement, the creative shot choices, the solidity and weight of the animation, the visual motifs, the music behind the animation… gaahh you guys it’s such a good movie that ties together so well. So glad to finally get the chance to see it. And you can trust that the very minute it becomes available on blu-ray, or at least the very week, I’ll be screening it on Animation Night.

Well, that day has come! I’ve got the movie and I’m gonna show it to ya.

So what’s this all about?

Perhaps you remember when we watched Naoko Yamada’s brilliant adaptation of the Heike Monogatari. This is the story of how the Taira or Heike clan, who once effectively ruled Japan back in the artistic and peaceful Heian period (literally ‘peace period’!) of 794-1185, got too ambitious and were annihilated by their rival Minamoto clan in what would later be called the Genpei War, bringing an end to the period of peace, and putting the samurai and their shogunate in ascendance.

You don’t need to know much more than that to follow Inu-Oh, which is set in the years after the fall of the Heike. The story was transmitted forward through history by the biwa hōshi, blind biwa-playing itinerant monks who would go about singing stories.

However, Inu-Oh isn’t really about strict adherence to actual history, as you’ll see! The premise is essentially that a radical young biwa player Tomoaru, blinded as a child by an ill-fated attempt to fish up the sword Kusanagi, encounters the mutant son of a noh troupe, who is haunted by the ghosts of the Heike soldiers who perished in the war. The effect of this haunting is to give him a strange body with long, distended limbs; he takes on the name ‘Inu-oh’ meaning ‘King of Dogs’. Inu-oh’s father rejected him, leaving him an outcast, but in Tomoaru he finds another outcast who doesn’t give a shit how he looks.

Our two boys quickly become best bros and driven by the ghosts’ call to tell their stories, invent biwa-based glam rock, creating a sensation as they sing untold stories with elaborate, pyrotechnic-laden preformances of songs such as ‘Burial Mound of Arms’... but in so doing, fall afoul of the new shogunate, as Inu-Oh’s father cannot stand to gain a rival in his rejected son.

Inu-oh is full of some of the most inventive and charming animation of music performances I’ve ever seen. I struggle to imagine how they came up with the ideas that drive this film. It feels like it’s constantly in spellbinding motion. The rougher lines and more detailed designs are a departure from the Flash style that Yuasa’s later films mostly used, much more like the ones in Heike Monogatari, but the young international animators at Science Saru pull it off incredibly.

There’s been much discussion of how to interpret Inu-Oh. Is it about Yuasa himself and his weird career? Is it about the struggles of art in general? There’s a nice review of it over on fufuro; for now I will just say that it reminded me why I love animation. (Also it’s gay as hell. Y’know. Just putting that out there.)

Along side this, I’m going to be bringing back a Yuasa work that I feel like we gave an unfair shake back in the day - MInd Game, animated at Madhouse in 2004 at the very beginning of Yuasa’s rise. Known for its incredibly varied and experimental animation, Mind Game follows a man who fails to intervene against an attempted rape and dies, but after a brief meeting with God, drags himself back to life and begins a surreal journey as he flees from the yakuza. Much of the film takes place inside a whale, where they meet an old yakuza who has lived there for decades, following how the characters and their relationships evolve (which is to say they go fucking nuts) - before an absolutely batshit final sequence as they attempt to make their mistake.

Mind Game notally marks the beginning of the collaboration between Yuasa and the brilliant Shinya Ohira, who provided some of his warping, expressionist rough pencils. It’s got a lot of naked people being flung around, wild smears, bright colours. The simplified designs allow the animation to be all the more creative. It’s hard to find anything to compare it with, really! Mind Game doesn’t feel like a Madhouse work. It only somewhat resembles Yuasa’s later works. If anything it feels like something you’d find on Catsuka at 2am. 

So I think it’s about time I revisited it!

I’ve learned a great deal more about animation and its history since I wrote about Yuasa before, and later I’d like to write a more substantial account of his works. But right now, it’s about time we started! Animation Night 150(!) will be going live now at twitch.tv/canmom, with movies due to start in about 15 minutes - I’d love to see you there to see what is probably my favourite movie of 2022! (even though it strictly came out in 2021). see you soon~

[ao3feed-gochi]

Anime Family Christmas

by JollyGoth

Goku and his Shonen Jump allies gather for a Christmas party at his farm, but teams from other anime publishers show up, making the best anime Christmas ever.

Words: 1107, Chapters: 1/3, Language: English

Fandoms: Naruto, Bleach (Anime & Manga), One Piece, Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Soul Eater, Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler, Akame ga Kill! (Anime & Manga), Space ☆ Dandy, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, 東京卍リベンジャーズ | Tokyo Revengers (Anime), Fairy Tail, Ghost in the Shell (Anime & Manga)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Uzumaki Naruto, Vegeta (Dragon Ball), Son Gohan, Son Goku (Dragon Ball), Yami Yuugi | Atem, Chi-Chi (Dragon Ball), Master Roshi (Dragon Ball), Bulma Briefs, Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Kurosaki Ichigo, Vinsmoke Sanji, Nami (One Piece), Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler, Kaiba Seto, Kujaku Mai | Mai Valentine, Edward Elric, Winry Rockbell, Mazaki Anzu | Tea Gardner, Honda Hiroto | Tristan Taylor, Alphonse Elric, Mei Chan | May Chang, Maka Albarn, Soul Eater Evans, Sebastian Michaelis, Ciel Phantomhive, Akame (Akame ga Kill!), Dandy (Space Dandy), Eren Yeager, Natsu Dragneel, Kusanagi Motoko, Takemitchy | Hanagaki Takemichi

Relationships: Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto, Chi-Chi/Son Goku (Dragon Ball), Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kujaku Mai | Mai Valentine, Mazaki Anzu | Tea Gardner/Mutou Yuugi, Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell, Mei Chan | May Chang/Alphonse Elric

Additional Tags: Anime/Manga Fusion, Inspired by Muppet Family Christmas

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/43368537

[shachou]

  Influenza. The doctor's diagnosis, while a source of relief given that it discarded an array of more immediately serious illnesses, seemed almost incongruous with the symptoms he had witnessed so far. Mokuba wasn't a stranger to the flu, and had endured bouts that went from minor to mildly concerning. But this was the first time it came accompanied by fainting spells and what was determined to be a high fever. This was a more severe form, according to Kusanagi, made worse by the fact that the younger Kaiba seemed to present signs of fatigue.

This last revelation was particularly bothersome. Because he had not noticed. A physician had to point it out for him to conclude, based on Mokuba's schedule for the past weeks, that his little brother had been indeed overworking himself. The kid had nearly matched his own habits those past days, and Seto wasn't blinded by his own subjectivity to not accept that some of these habits ( namely, those concerning long working hours and reduced hours of sleep ) were hardly an example of healthy practices. He could handle it, though. For someone so used to bearing weight on his shoulders, any action that lifted said weight was unwelcome and unnecessary. But his brother couldn't. Shouldn't. Keeping that weight off the younger Kaiba's shoulders was a responsibility he had assigned to himself since a young age. And yet here his brother was, ailed by an infection made worse by something he had failed to notice. Failure wasn't something Seto ever took kindly to. But it was especially personal when it came to Mokuba.

When he opened the door, Isono was already there, waiting to escort the doctor. The man still appeared somewhat disconcerted, having not only seen the younger Kaiba pass out but also been ordered to drive like a madman by his employer to reach the mansion as soon as possible. Kusanagi then bowed, taking his leave but not before insisting that Mokuba should not only rest and take his medication but be kept under close observation, and that he should be immediately informed if anything changed. Not that Seto needed the reminder. Keeping his brother under surveillance was exactly what he planned to do.

For now, he would work from the desk near Mokuba's bed, at least until his brother regained consciousness and his fever subsided some. He would then switch for his home laboratory. As for Kaiba Corporation...

He pulled out his cellphone, dialing his secretary's number. As expected, the woman answered before the first ring even ended with her customary greeting.

  ❛  I will be working from my home office until further notice. Inform the C-level and R&D. Switch all in-person meetings to virtual ones. Everything else is cancelled. ❜ His order was swift and to the point, the call lasting mere seconds. After that was done with, and after a glance at his brother who was still unconscious on the bed, he turned his attention to the laptop he had previously placed on Mokuba's desk.

"I-I...w-w-what...?!"

His reaction to the news was as big as it could be considering his condition, purple hues widening as the memory of what happened played back to him as if it were on videotape. He recalls feeling hot as he sat in class, trying his best to pay attention to the point where he removed his stripped sweater from his person after the heat was too much. Soon after he was asked by the teacher a question, a question he was fully prepared to answer until he started coughing before...everything went back. That must be when he had passed out...in front of everyone in the class...

His cheeks flush slightly red at the thought, the color already adding to the flushness of his completion. How embarrassing it must have been to have him just plop unconscious on the floor like that. Mokuba wasn't exactly a fan of showing weakness, much like his brother. He couldn't stand it unless it was in front of people he was comfortable with, and even then it depended on the situation. And while he enjoyed his classmates fine, they were not exactly people he could call 'friends'.

The only person in Domino Middle School he would consider one was Akatsuki, and he wasn't even in his class due to being in a grade below him. The rest of his friends were all at Aibo Academy, a school Mokuba had heard nothing but good things about. If he was there instead of here, perhaps his face wouldn't nearly be as red right about now...

The vice president's silent grumblings over the embarrassing act of his own making were stopped when his brother made the declaration of their next move. Going home was one thing, one thing he could understand considering he wasn't feeling well, but calling in a doctor? Mokuba felt like that was a bit much, clearly underestimating how serious his condition was. The notion was a bit hypocritical of him though, considering if Seto was in his position, he'd no doubt do the same thing.

"S-Seto-" Words are interrupted again by another cough, the teen trying his best to do it into his arm to try and minimize the risk of whatever he has being given to his brother. "Y-You don't need to...call in Dr. Kusanagi for something like this...I'm...actually feeling much...b-better now that you're here!"

As if to prove his false point, Mokuba slowly begins to sit up using all his strength to do so. This action is then followed by him moving his legs over the side of the bed until he plops his feet on the ground to make a stand. "S-See...? I'm okay! You can tell the doc he doesn't gotta..."

Once more, his fever begins to overwhelm him, his stance starts to sway, and his vision goes blurry. He tries to will himself to fight it, to stay strong in front of his brother, but...he is not successful. Purple hues shut close as Mokuba falls forward towards Seto, and he once again loses consciousness.

[americanegg]

egg’s digestible guide for attainable rides: cyberpunk 2077

(cheap to mad expensive) post then later a (free quest cars) post

Car Model >  €$ (Fixer). All details about each are my own experience. Location of vehicle by district and waypoint.

(Reminder that if you’re short on eddies you can do Gigs, Sidequests, and “Assault in Progress” mini quests to get rich and level up.)

1. Thorton Galena G240 > €$ 13,000 (Regina)

Rusty hunk of junk but functional, especially after your car gets bodied in the beginning of Act 2. Located in the garage of your apartment building.

2. Makigai MaiMai P126 >  €$ 14,000 (Wakako)

Small. Super fucking small but decent and could turn into a red bullet on the highway at the cost of absolutely no control on your turns. Located in the southern part of Charter Hill, Westbrook sitting neatly in a small parking lot.

3. Mahir Supron FS3 >  €$ 16,000 (Reyes)

Sort of van type situation but compact. Cheap and definitely made of plastic. Like it says that in the lore. Located East from Hargreaves St waypoint in Arroyo.

4. Chevillon Thrax 388 Jefferson >  €$ 17,000 (Padre)

It’s a smooth ride, I’ll give Padre that. Long in length and takes years to turn with but it’s not made for street racing so it’s still decent for traffic and looking like a corpo. Located directly South of the Pumping Station waypoint in Wellsprings.

5. Villefort Columbus V340-F Freight >  €$ 19,000 (Dino)

Another van-type situation with plenty of seating. Could drive your kids to soccer with this one and get there in one piece. Average vehicle overall but can go 210mph if needed. Located SouthWest of the Downtown Central waypoint and sitting in a parking lot.

6. Thorton Galena “Gecko” >  €$ 21,000 (Dakota)

Found in the Badlands this is a great choice for rocky roads at 100mph. Go crazy and go stupid outside the city with this bad boy. Shred rubber and whatnot. Be wary of turns and speed in rocky areas as you can make as much airtime as a dirtbike on a ramp! Located SouthWest of the Old Turbines waypoint in the Eastern Badlands.

This is where Street Cred Level will come into play along with your pocket full of eddies:

(cred = streetcred level)

7. Kaiba Kusanagi CT-3X >  €$ 22,000 > 12 cred (Wakako)

Right after Jackie’s Arch, this is my favorite ride in the game. She’s sleek, perfect for bypassing traffic, and very well-designed. Located in an abandoned parking lot in Japantown, Westbrook directly NorthEast of the Skyline and Salinas waypoint.

8. Archer Quartz EC-L R275 > €$ 29,000 > 12 cred (Regina)

Another great set of wheels for burning rubber and kicking up sand in the Badlands, if you have the eddies for it. Located South of the Offshore St waypoint in Northside and immediately next to a Neutralize the Perps mini quest.

9. Chevillon Emperor 620 Ragnar >  €$ 32,000 > 12 cred (Dino)

First of the heavy duty SUV you acquire at 30k eddies. Didn’t drive this one very much since I’m a small and sleek kinda dude but if you need to ram a taxi or show off to your video game girlfriend your chunky ride, here is the car for you. Located in Corpo Plaza SouthWest of Arasaka Tower waypoint or NorthWest of Reconciliation Park waypoint.

10. Villefort Cortes V5000 Valor >  €$ 37,000 > 12 cred (Padre)

If you want to look like an asshole you can check this one out. Pretty much a bougie limosine type situation. Long car so long turns my guy. Located in Wellsprings, Heywood sitting in a parking lot West of Berkeley & Bay waypoint. 11. Thorton Colby C240T (aka Thorton Colby C125) >  €$ 39,000 > 20 cred (Regina)

Vehicles to pick up your gf/bf and go to a drive-in theater with? This one. Smooth ride with plenty of seating to do you know what at said drive-in theater definitely not watching Bushido 3. Located Northside, Westbrook South of the Docks waypoint in a small parking lot in front of the Ded Zed clothing store.

12. Thorton Colby CX410 Butte (Green) >  €$ 43,000 > 12 cred (Reyes)

Imma be honest... I’m a slut for Thorton car models. This one is straight up satisfying to my ears and eyes. Located in the parking lot of PieZ waypoint in Rancho Coronado, Santo Domingo.

13. Thorton Colby “Little Mule” >  €$ 49,000 > 12 cred (Dakota)

Truckin and fuckin around the Badlands? This is definitely the car for you!  Located near the Sunset Motel parking lot in the Eastern Badlands.

14. Quadra Type-66 Avenger >  €$ 55,000 > 20 cred (Dino)

Remember those Need for Speed games? No? Well imagine it for a second and look at this preem ride. Got that image in your mind? Now look at your wallet. Located West of Metro: Republic Way waypoint tucked under the Empathy club building.

15. Quadra Type-66 “Jen Rowley” (aka Quadra Type-66 640 TS)  >  €$ 58,000 > 20 cred (Reyes)

If you haven’t noticed, Quadra Type-66 are very good at designing cars that make you look like you shred these streets since you were a babe. Like, Baby from Baby Driver would fuck this ride up, you know it choom. Located West of Kendal Park waypoint in Rancho Coronado, no more than 2-minute walk away.

16. Villefort Alvarado V4F 570 Delegate >  €$ 62,000 > 20 cred (Padre)

Another Limo! I’ll be honest, six wheels on a car this low is crazy but Villefort always finds a way. This is the ride you’d drive to your corpo apartment to go pick up your corpo wife so you can take your corpo ride to a nearby corpo restaurant and only drink Spunky Monkey in a wine bottle. Located directly West of the Palms View Way waypoint in The Glen.

17. Herrera Outlaw GTS >  €$ 62,000 > 30 cred (Dino)

Limousine type body but god damn if it ain’t gorgeous to look at. A real sexy piece of wheels, this one. Located in Corpo Plaza, North of Ring Road waypoint. 

18. Quadra Type-66 “Javelina” >  €$ 73,000 > 30 cred (Dakota)

God am I a fan of rides that pick up hefts of sand and dirt? Yeah, I am. Do I love how this car looks? Absolutely. As a Nomad V, is this one of the sexiest rides you can get? ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY. Located in Southern Badlands near the Protein Farm waypoint.

19. Mizutani Shion MZ2 >  €$ 75,000 > 30 cred (Regina)

Not gonna lie, this is the car that occupies my headspace every time I boot up Cyberpunk. Maybe it’s the name, maybe it’s the design, maybe it’s the car I would take to my honeymoon, idk. Located in the same garage as the Thorton Galena in Little China, Watson.

20. Quadra Type-66 “Cthulhu” >  €$ 76,000 > No cred requirement (Regina or Sampson)

Condition to receive for free: Sparing Samson in “The Beast In Me” side quest

Okay other than Beast which is a chonky beast this one is a very speedy beast with classic racecar features but bulky armor. The wiki literally says this ride has 666 horsepower so you KNOW this shit is gonna slap as soon as you get in and hear that engine, dawg.  Can be found in Little China, Watson in Megabuilding H10.

21. Brennan Apollo >  €$ 94,000 > 30 cred (Padre)

If you thought Jackie’s ARCH and the Yaiba Kusanagi was sexy boy you will not be disappointed. Smaller and more compact but a speedy on the highways and countryside. Side Effect is you’ll look like the coolest pizza delivery driver in Night City. Located in Vista Del Ray, Heywood a short walk away East of Delamain HQ waypoint. 22. Mizutani Shion “Coyote” >  €$ 115,000 > 20 cred (Dakota)

... Look at her. Just... just look at her. Look at those wheels, that build, the spoiler, look at her! I would own so many Hot Wheels and have her in a display case alright. Like, you know what you’re signing up for at 100k eddies for Dakota. Like this car that was originally used for scooting around the city was LITERALLY modded for the Badlands. As a Nomad this is a must-have. Located in the Eastern Badlands, North of the Sunshine Motel waypoint.

23. Thorton Mackinaw MTL1 >  €$ 128,000 > 30 cred (Reyes)

The most SUV that ever SUV’ed in Night City. Reyes calls you for this one and shit, it’s new, it’s spotless, it’s a shiny new car, and trouncing down Badlands, the streets of Kabuki, Pacifica, name it. This beaut does go maximum of around 150mph but with how big this bad boy is, it can charge through the highways but be wary of how you turn corners! Located around the block from the Red Dirt Bar waypoint to the East in Arroyo, Santo Domingo.

24. Quadra Turbo-R 740 >  €$ 129,000 > 30 cred (Wakako)

TURBO-TASTIC ride. Again, of racecar design, you can almost smell the 1980s nostalgia from the picture alone. Located in the Dynalar building/waypoint in Charter Hill, Westbrook.

25. ARCH Nazaré >  €$ 138,000 > 40 cred (Wakako)

Writing this guide up to this point I have discovered that Old Lady Wakako knows what “fucking nova” means because all the cars she offers are fucking bangers so of COURSE she would offer an ARCH bike like this bumblebee badboy. You can see all the fun bits in and around the bike to know what you’re getting into so expect some hella smooth sailing. Located on the way TO the Drive-In Theatre in the lot of the Gig: A Shrine Defiled. South of Drive-in Theatre, North Oak, Westbrook.

26. Rayfield Caliburn (White) >  €$ 157,000 > 40 cred (Dino)

Dino actually coming in clutch with this last call for vehicles he offers. Like, I had to look up what “hypercar” meant to logistically know how hype this car makes me every time I hit the gas. At high speeds the engines purr like a cat, which is a whole other satisfying experience after driving hunks of junk. Located West of the Corporation St. waypoint in Downtown, City Center.

27. Rayfield Aerondight S9 “Guinevere” >  €$ 225,000 > 50 cred (Wakako)

Um... so... this is- this is the last car from Wakako. I haven’t even gotten to the point of being able to afford this... this... work of art. I can only imagine, with the Rayfield brand, that it’s better than the Caliburn. Which I don’t even think that’s possible but once I buy it I’ll let you know. Located North of the Columbariam or directly West of the North Oak Sign waypoints in North Oak, Westbrook.

Yo, if this guide helps you or makes your day or think it’s absolutely genius or dogshit don’t forget to like/reblog! Share with your friends!

Free Vehicle Post coming soon!

Images from gamesatlas.com, cyberpunk.fandom.com, & game-maps.com

[itsashowtime]

いつもさらわれちゃう二人

[bnomiko]

Figure collecting: April - June 2022

Slowing down, sorta (haha)... but well on track to clear out most of my figure wishlist by end of the year.  Not going to include every last item I’ve picked up in the last few months, but there’s still quite a few I want to show off, including a biggie.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Kurama, Hiei and Youko by Union Creative.  I wasn’t going to pull the trigger on these, until I realized that Hiei had an alternate “sleepy” head, and instantly I knew I wanted to make a Hiei sandwich ^^

Ancient Magus Bride: Chise Hatori in wolf pelt.  Super tiny and adorable!  This one was a struggle to get, as this was a “secret” figure that could only be obtained by buying the full set of 8 figures.  But I only wanted this one and had to wait for someone to split the set.

Final Fantasy: Dragoon (aka FFIV: Kain Highwind).  Since it’s not officially a figure of Kain (my favorite boi from FFIV), I didn’t realize this existed for quite a while as it didn’t come up in any searches.  Of course they had to make the Kain color variant limited edition, aka harder to find, gotta pay more : p

Oh, like the fancy backdrop?  It’s supposed to be Midgar from FFVII, or as close as I could get. I’m working on installing backdrops on all the shelves : D

Toriko.  Probably the best figure of him, though he always looks like a mechanic to me in that jumpsuit ^^;  Another figure that’s part of a set which I’m trying to split.   

Jo Jo’s Bizarre Adventure: Jotaro.  And toys!  Mainly included Jotaro for scale, but I picked up these mini crane game and capsule toy (gashapon) dispenser kits on Amazon and am working on customizing them.  The gashapon is done... it’s very hard to tell, but the top dispenser is advertising a Seto Kaiba figure, and the bottom is Tokidoki.  I also added a Tokidoki backdrop to the crane game and am working on crafting super tiny prize boxes to fill it with.  What better to go with figures than a crane game dispensing more figures?!

Jo Jo’s Bizarre Adventure: DIO!  Ok, I admit I don’t care for him as a character, but man, the smugness radiating off this figure and the exaggerated hip thrust/skintight black bodysuit made me desperately want to have it.

Conveniently he comes on a set of stairs, which works perfectly with the door-onto-a-staircase in the backdrop.

Castlevania: Alucard and Maria.  Another hard to find set, as they’re on the older side.  I wasn’t going to get Maria but I do like her “Hey big boy, checking out my owl?” gaze.

And finally, the *drumroll* piece.  Hubby’s birthday gift to me was this gorgeous resin Alucard from First 4 Figures. You can see how big he is (1:4 scale) as the edge of his cloak is in the photo above.  Unfortunately hubby was unsuccessful in hiding it (so I knew what I was getting), as the shipper box stood maybe 3′ tall : o

(And if that wasn’t enough, I preordered this even more exorbitant 2 part resin of King of Fighters: Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, my gift to myself) : p

[alhakue]

MAGICAL MARCH 2021

28.         Vasilisa the Brave – Leon S. Kennedy (Resident Evil)

Suggested by my lil bro!

I read the tale to know what to draw and I loved it!! It has everything: a lovely protagonist, an amazing story, great characters, and stunning stages!!!

But… combining that with a strong man like Leon…

I took the idea of Vasilisa’s doll. So here, Magical Boy Leon is, in fact, Magical Plushie Leon. If Ashley is in danger, Plushie Leon will transform into a powerful man haha (Please, ignores that I drew his hair wrong, and he looks more like Kyo Kusanagi xd)

**********************************************

Magical March 2021

1. Sword – Vali Lucifer (Highschool DxD)

2. Cinderella – Pearl (Steven Universe)

3. Little Red Riding Hood – Mai Valentine/Mai Kujaku (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

4. Fairy – Mako Tsunami/Ryota Kaijiki (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

5. Sleeping Beauty – Chomosuke (Konosuba)

6. Goldielocks – Seto Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

7. Aladin – Naofumi Iwatani (Tate no Yusha no Nariagari)

8. Thumbelina – Clara Valac (Mairimashita! Iruma-kun)

9. Frankenstein – Kameo (Kameo: Elements of Power)

10. The Frog Prince – Shinobu Kocho (Kimetsu no Yaiba)

11. Kaguya-Hime – Luka Couffaine (Miraculous Ladybug)

12. Snow White - Tomoyo Daidouji (Card Captor Sakura)

13. Dracula - Purah (TLoZ: BotW)

14. Bow - Elio (Pokémon Sun & Moon)

15. Unicorn - Paimon (Genshin Impact)

16. Hansel & Gretel – Yami Yugi and Yugi (Yu-Gi-Oh! DM)

17. Tarot – Lilya (Pokémon Sun & Moon)

18. Rapunzel – Aki Izayoi (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s)

19. Witch – Uriko (Bloody Roar 2)

20. Ax – Tsubsa Otori (Beyblade Metal Fusion)

21. Alice in Wonderland – Young Link (TLoZ Majora’s Mask)

22. Swan Lake – N (Pokémon Black & White)

23. The Little Mermaid – Johan Andersen (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)

24. The Wizard of Oz – Kalin Kessler (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s)

25. The Snow Queen – KAITO (VOCALOID)

26. Peter Pan – Sakuya Izayoi (Tohou Project)

27. Sherlock Holmes – Princess Ruto (TLoZ Ocarina of Time)

28. Vasilisa the Brave – Leon S. Kennedy (Residen Evil)

29. Orihime – Terezi Pyrope (Homestuck)

30. The Raven – Kisara (Yu-Gi-Oh! DM)

31. Brunhilde – Kaminari Denki (Boku no Hero Academy)

[weebgomi]

Tagged by: @gay-crunch name: Nel or Kimi depending on my mood :v

nickname: The fuck do I put here no one loves me enough to–

zodiac: Aries

height: 5'1 (with shoes on, gotta make sure I mention that otherwise bae gets mad :3♥) orientation: I’d marry a toaster if it confessed its love to me.

ethnicity: Vietnamese American

fave fruit: ALL FRUIT ARE WELCOME IN MY MOUTH fave book series: …Ya’ll can bite me Vampire Knight is lit. 

fave flower: white roses are ethereal 

fave scent: FOOD

fave color: White, specifically pearlescent white is THE BEST

fave animal: IF YOU DON”T PUT DOGGOS IN THIS SPOT I JUDGE YOU 

coffee/tea/cocoa: How can anyone decide between them? I guess in order of best to least it would be…Tea, Coffee, cocoa?

average sleep hours: I didn’t realize I came here to be personally attacked 

fave fictional character: MOTOKO KUSANAGI and you know Seto Kaiba.

dream trip: lmao my next life can I get an amen

# of blankets: I sleep with 2 comforters and I live in Satan’s ass crack known as MS.

blog created: hell if I know

# of followers: lmao I think I have like 3??? Ya’ll the real mvp

Gonna tag @likethemoonunderwaterr because idk anyone else lmao

[sherry-l]

Why YGO Vrains is such an immeasurable disappointment: a list

First of all, I need to make it abundantly clear that Im a big fan of Vrains – I love Yusaku, Ryoken, Ai, Kusanagi... you see them very often on my dash. I fantasize about the ideal version of Vrains that’s written well, the Vrains that’s fully exploited its potentials, every night in my sleep. I wrote this list PRECISELY because I love Vrains. That’s why I got so frustrated with its cardinal writing issues (and production issues). It physically pains me to hear people calling Vrains the worst and most boring series of YGO – but the fact that I couldn’t argue against that because it’s true pains me more.

And now, an incomprehensive list of the faults of Yugioh Vrains.  

1.      What the fuck is wrong with the character designs (beside that of Yusaku and Ryoken???) Everyone looks aesthetically displeasing – characters in real life look incredibly boring they could easily drown in a crowd of background characters, but their avatars are OSTENTATIOUS. Seems like the character designer had no clue what “less is more” means – blue angel, soulburner, and Bohemann for example, look like they were immersed in a bucket of glue and then dumped into another bucket filled with random accessories.

(from a fan artist’s perspective…Im especially salty about takeru, akira, Kusanagi, and the Knights of Hanois’ designs…like, their designs don’t inspire me to draw. Their personalities might be interesting, but their looks lack the vibrant, enthusiastic energy that the 5Ds, Zexal, and Arc-V characters possess)

(imagine how many fanfics and fanarts of Kusanagi x Yusaku there would be had Kusanagi looked HALF as hot as Ryoken)

And don’t even get me started on the colour palette – whoever decided on the colours just cant make up their goddamn mind! Colour saturation is way off the charts, the range of colour is too wide the audience simply dont know where to focus.

2.      Forgotten plotlines. Yusaku’s link sense? Hanoi’s spy in SOL? The Queen and the rest of the chess pieces? Yusaku’s forgotten memories? The rest of the victims of the Lost Incident? Just to name a few. 

3.      Character relationships are weak to minimal to none. Bonds and friendships – the vital element in all previous YGO series – is practically non-existent in Vrains. Where’s the camaraderie between our main casts (Yusaku, Aoi, Soulburner, Ema, Onizuka, etc…)? They don’t feel like a team fighting the evil together. They’re completely separate individuals who don’t give a single fuck if one of their…acquaintance…dies in a battle. We don’t have heartwarming moments of friendship blossoming and consolidating. It’s honestly such a let down.

4.      Interesting and debatable topics thrown away. The conflict between artificial intelligence and humans could spark so many in-depth discussions, but then the writer just decided its all Lightening’s fault. No morally gray situations, no ambiguity between the line of good and evil. It’s just all Lightening and his petty jealousy… yeah.

Oh and if Ai lives on the world will blow up. Why? Do we have a concrete reason to back that statement? eh...

5.      Overall quality of the animation. I don’t know if its because the animation staff was short on time or low on budget, but for a megacorporation (konami cough cough) that makes billions every year, they certainly are capable of investing more in this anime series. I can count the number of episodes in which the characters don’t look wacky with a single hand.

6.      Character development, wasted potentials. Ryoken is the only character who received decent treatment. The rest of the Vrains cast are all disappointments. Original concepts are cool and promising – Yusaku, a victim of child abuse with PTSD, embarking on a journey to overcome his reclusiveness and learn to open up to people around him? HELL YEAH. Aoi, a teenage idol with depression developing into a more mature and responsible heroine who saves Link Vrains? IM ALL FOR IT.  Soulburner’s character arc is fine overall but personally I don’t feel like it’s expanded enough. Also, there’s the mistreatment of side characters like Onizuka, Ema, Akira, the list goes on. I got so furious just looking at these characters and remembering that they’re all wasted and sidelined.

7.      Incoherent/ random plotlines. IDK all episodes in season 1 (Hanoi’s arc) felt pretty consistent, focusing on a linear theme – Yusaku’s revenge on the Knights of Hanoi. But after that it felt like the writers gave up writing outlines and just wrote whatever he pleased/ considered more convenient for the sake of…a plot…that he had no idea which direction it was headed for. This is reflected in the amount of forgotten plotlines we listed previously.

8.      Weak villains. Kinda related to point 4. Bohemann, Lightening, Windy, and Haru are all one-dimensional, flat, predictable villains with the cliché goal of “destroying humanity cuz humans are dumb and Ais are superior”. Not likeable, not fun to watch, not morally gray (something I expect from well-written antagonists), they are just there to serve as symbol of evil for the protags to defeat.

Honourable mentions - what I personally want to see in Vrains, really. Very biased.

-        The familial interaction between Yusaku and Kusanagi? Brotherhood, perhaps? Without any mention of Yusaku’s parents, Kusanagi is the closest Yusaku has to a brother figure. I crave for some wholesome brotherly moments between these two.

-        More slice of life episodes please.

-        The friendship between Yusaku and Takeru. Please. Please. PLEASE. From the second opening we can see the animation staff CLEARLY intended for there to be a strong bond between Yusaku and Takeru – Takeru probably was written to serve as a Jounouchi/ Johan/ Crow sort of character. Yusaku and Takeru could bond over their trauma and overcome their PTSD together. AND IT WAS SO HEAVILY HINTED AT IN THE 2ND OP!!! fam what the fuck happened to that friendship, Im so robbed.

-        Yusaku and Ryoken’s duel or tag duel. These two haven’t duelled AT ALL since the first season ended. Isn’t Ryoken Yusaku’s official rival? Isn’t it Yugioh tradition for the protag and the rival to duel like, a trillion times? AND ISNT IT ALSO A YUGIOH TRADITION FOR THE PROTAG AND THE RIVAL TO TAG DUEL?????? The fact that Yusaku and Ryoken never had a tag duel haunts me every night in my worst nightmares afjw4ot9wgrk

-        Topologina Nabee

Thanks for coming to my ted talk, this marks the end of my rant on YGO VRAINS DISAPPOINTMENTS. Again, I harboured no malicious intent when I compiled the list – its more like a vent of frustration than actual criticism. I would pay billions to see a Vrains reboot or, if there exists an alternate universe where none of the writing/production issues above are present in Vrains, I would do a Kaiba and build a dimension travelling machine and immigrate there.

TLDR: wasted potentials. wAsTED PoTEntialS. WASTED POTENTIALS!!!!!!

[ygobigbang-archive]

Fic summaries - YGO Big Bang 2020

Attention Artists!

Fic summaries are now available for you all to take a look at! Please be aware artist claims do not start until the 23rd May, this is a preview so you can figure out what you might want to work on when you give us your Top 3.

You do NOT need to have registered as an artist to claim anything when claims open but if you’d like to register your interest now you can do so here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdw7bmEE-84vyUu7cKWJbKfCUD_0eWLOaDG_9eBZkH33mkXkw/viewform If you do, you’ll be e-mailed a link to the artist claims form when it goes up! Now that all the admin things are out the way enjoy and please reblog so all the YGO artists out there might see!!

Please be aware that claims will be done via Google Form where you must give your Top 3 and can give us up to your Top 5!

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters

DM1 Pairings: Puzzleshipping, hints of Puppyshipping and Angstshipping Characters:  Atem, Yuugi Mutou, Seto Kaiba, the rest of Yuugi's squad, Ishtars Content Warnings: Mental disorders; Self-Harm; Suicide attempt; Hallucinations; Light gore; Throwing up; Sexual assault Summary:  Triggered by the last wordless encounter after enduring months in his own personal hell without Atem, Yuugi decides that he is ready to give up. His mental stability continues to deteriorate, and even the care of his friends can not make him feel any better. When his grandfather’s health is teetering on a knife’s edge, Yuugi, trapped in his own delusional mind, makes an important decision that might change his life forever. Meanwhile, Seto made his way to the afterlife to challenge the ancient Pharaoh, not expecting the imminent appearance of a god to ask him for a special kind of duel with life-threatening consequences. Losing it would mean losing everything. Could this duel be Atem’s only way out of the afterlife? And what if he is too late to save his aibou? Rating: Mature Art needed: + 2 (two) completed art work OR 3-5 (three to five) panel complete art comic

DM2 Pairings:  Seto Kaiba/Yuugi Mutou/Yami Yuugi (Atem) Characters:  Seto Kaiba, Yuugi Mutou, Yami Yuugi (Atem), Joey Wheeler, Ryou Bakura, Tea Gardner, Marik Ishtar, Ishizu Ishtar Content Warnings:    Depression, Major Character Death, blood, graphic violence, dark themes, Smut, grieving, horror Summary:  After Mokuba's death, Yuugi and Seto’s lives slowly fall apart. In order to salvage any part of it, Yuugi decides to buy an old manor in a small town a few miles from Domino City. It’s haunting-free (Ryou and Yuugi checked) and is ripe to be turned into a cozy bed and breakfast. 

However, soon after settling in, strange occurrences begin to happen all around them. Items go missing, dishes move on their own, and Seto seems to be hallucinating about hands and… rats? Maybe moving into a seemingly perfect home in the midst of a strange town wasn’t the best decision Yuugi's ever made... Nor the decision to let whatever is in their home actually connect with them. Rating: Explicit Art needed: + 2 (two) completed art work OR 3-5 (three to five) panel complete art comic

DM3 Pairings:  Tendershipping Characters:  Ryou Bakura, Yami Bakura Content Warnings: Mild horror themes, Shadow Magic, Shadow Games, canon-typical injury and violence, chain, drinking games, frotting, blow jobs, anal sex, happy ending Summary:  The gods rescue Bakura's soul from the Shadow Realm before Zorc manages to consume that last of his being; however, there isn't enough of his soul left for Judgement. They decide to return his soul to earth to see if he can learn to love, but need someone strong enough to look after him so Zorc doesn't recapture him. The god Set has the perfect candidate, and the perfect plan. Rating: Explicit Art needed: + 1 (one) completed art work OR 3 (three) panel greyscale sketched comic +  1 (one) coloured sketch OR 1 (one) greyscale line art OR 1 (one) graphic banner OR 3-5 (three to five) panel inked comic OR 5 (five) panel coloured sketch comic

DM4 Pairings: N/A Characters:  Main cast Content Warnings: N/A Summary:  People grow up. Sometimes they grow together, sometimes they grow apart. The gang deals with some of the consequences of growing older as graduation looms ahead of them. Rating: Gen Art needed: + 1 (one) completed art work OR 3 (three) panel greyscale sketched comic

DM5 Pairings:  Platonic Wishshipping (Joey Wheeler and Yugi Muto) Characters:  Yugi Muto - Joey Wheeler - Yami Yugi - Tristan Taylor - Solomon Muto - Ushio - Hirutani Content Warnings: Violence - drugging - kidnapping - strong language - possession Summary:  Joey Wheeler has been a knight for a long time, working himself up the ranks. He's looked out for himself, and made a few enemies along the way.  But a wrench is thrown in the works, as he meets a bright-eyed sorcerer named Yugi, and finds himself quickly becoming attached and even becoming friends. Or a fantasy Yugioh au showing the friendship between Joey and Yugi Rating: Teen Art needed: + 1 (one) completed art work OR 3 (three) panel greyscale sketched comic

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

GX1 Pairings: Jesse Anderson/Johan Andersen x Yubel/Hell Johan Characters: Jaden Yuki/Judai Yuki, Jesse Anderson/Johan Andersen, Yubel/Hell Johan, Sheppard/Samejima + Fonda Fontaine/Emi Ayukawa (last two very minor) Content Warnings: the fic itself is extremely angsty and gorey. it will have multiple triggers so please, PLEASE be weary of what you're getting yourself into. cannibalism, rape, and torture with a sad ending as a small tldr. gore artist bait   Summary: He never asked for consent. Never bothered to care. And now, fusing would solve all their problems to make their story a happy-ever-after. Simple, and so very, very easy. Or maybe it would all take a little more realistic approach. Rating: Explicit Art needed: + 1 (one) completed art work OR 3 (three) panel greyscale sketched comic + 10 (ten) 100x100 icons OR 1 (one) moodboard OR 1 (one) greyscale sketch OR 3-5 (three to five) panel coloured sketch comic      GX2 Pairings: N/A Characters: Sho Marufuji, Ryou Marufuji, Kenta, Katsuya Jonouchi, Ryou Bakura, Mai Kujaku, Marik Ishtar, Rishid Ishtar, Seto Kaiba, Daichi Misawa, Cronos de Medici, Judai Yuki, Jun Manjoume, Original Character(s) Content Warnings: N/A Summary: In his last year of middle school, Sho is forced to confront his future while he navigates tumultuous relationships with his friends, family, and a particular card that his brother gave him. Rating: Teen Art needed: + 1 (one) completed art work OR 3 (three) panel greyscale sketched comic + 10 (ten) 100x100 icons OR 1 (one) moodboard OR 1 (one) greyscale sketch OR 3-5 (three to five) panel coloured sketch comic GX3 Pairings: Spiritshipping Characters: Jaden Yuki, Jesse Anderson, Syrus Truesdale, Zane Truesdale, Aster Phoenix, Alexis Rhodes, Atticus Rhodes, Jim Crocodile Cook, Shirley, Tyranno Hassleberry, Bastion Misawa, Dr. Crowler, Sheppard, Thalonious Viper, Yubel, Neos, Rainbow Dragon Content Warnings: Initial amnesiac protag, slow burn, destiny stuff, good vs evil, Jaden and Jesse being adorable, Jesse is constantly yet subtly flirting, Crowler is such a dad, a little Rhodes family angst, bamf!Alexis, bamf!Chazz, Jaden is literally such a dork, they're all just a dysfunctional family, love, somewhat fantasy au, blood, violence, kidnapping, dubverse, half blind Jim, nobody's having any fun Summary: Born from the power of the celestials that dwell among the stars, Jaden Yuki awakens in the kingdom of the ninth dimension with no memory of himself or his past. 

Unsure of who he is or the grand purpose he was created for, Jaden must travel through the twelve dimensions to discover his true identity and uncover his destiny. Meeting many allies along the way he must brave the cruel nature of the hands of fate and defeat the ultimate evil before the universe itself is brought to an end. Even if it means destroying himself in the process. Rating: Mature Art needed: + 2 (two) completed art work OR 3-5 (three to five) panel complete art comic    

Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL

ZEXAL1 Pairings: Mizael/Kaito Characters: Kaito Tenjo, Akari Tsukumo, Mizael, Orbital 7 Content Warnings: Musicals, Theatre, Blackmail, Double identities (Kaito pretends to be a world famous actress), fluff, humor Summary: Threatened with an unsavory article about his escapades with Yuma and friends, Kaito is forced to stage a musical for all of Heartland to see. 

Unfortunately, the only musical he knows is ‘Manhattan Sweep,’ a story about a southern belle going up to the big city. The requirements of the deal also states that he has to play the lead role. With some thinking, Kaito announces that a foreign actress by the name of Arabella Kelinski will be taking the role of the titular protagonist. 

The thing is, though, Arabella doesn’t exist.

Yet. 

Join him on his adventures as a budding musical director, actress and singer, all rolled into one. Rating: Teen Art needed: + 1 (one) completed art work OR 3 (three) panel greyscale sketched comic

Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V

ARCV1 Pairings: Marufuji Ryou x Mizael Characters: Marufuji Ryou, Mizael, Yuuri, Chris Arclight Content Warnings: People getting carded, characters of Zexal & GX who weren't in Arc-V doing things in Arc-V Summary: Losing a duel always has sparked changes for Marufuji Ryou.  Doing so against one of the Heartland City resistance duelists isn't any different at all.   Rating: Gen Art needed: + 2 (two) completed art work OR 3-5 (three to five) panel complete art comic    

Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS

VRAINS1 Pairings: Slight Datastormshipping, Implied Aiballshipping, Platonic Piushipping Characters: Ryoken Kogami, Yusaku Fujiki, Ai, Roboppy, Spectre, Shoichi Kusanagi Content Warnings: Contains abuse in a flashback scene and also some violence in the climax Summary: Yusaku has fallen into a coma due to a virus he got inflicted while he was in Link VRAINS, so Ryoken, along with Spectre, (And Ai and Roboppy who followed them because they want to save Yusaku), goes inside Yusaku’s server to find the virus and remove it, but what if they have stumbled upon Yusaku’s memories before the Lost Incident and see how Yusaku’s life was before their very eyes? Rating: Mature Art needed: + 1 (one) completed art work OR 3 (three) panel greyscale sketched comic VRAINS2 Pairings: Yusaku Fujiki/Ryoken Kogami Characters: Yusaku Fujiki, Ryoken Kogami, Takeru Homura, Kengo Dojun, Ema Bessho, Spectre, Kusanagi Shoichi, Aoi Zaizen, Miyu Sugisaki, Kiku Kamishirakawa, Kusanagi Jin, Minor Characters. Content Warnings: Major Character Death, Blood, Injury, Poison, Sex Scenes, Alcohol Mention, Gore. Summary: Yusaku, an Elven witch who has been researching the dark art of arcane magics, has his way of life suddenly challenged when he meets a dangerous, nearly fatally injured Dragon in his human form by the name of Ryoken.  

Yusaku, ridden with a kind heart, is unable to turn the dying creature into the Hunters that are searching for him to kill him.  Instead, Yusaku decides to help Ryoken, who then enlightens Yusaku to a realm of Magic that Yusaku has never seen before.  Yusaku’s heart grows fonder for Ryoken, leading them down a dangerous path of forbidden love that threatens both of their lives. Rating: Explicit Art needed: + 2 (two) completed art work OR 3-5 (three to five) panel complete art comic    

Yu-Gi-Oh! Only Crossover

YGOX1 Series:  Zexal with a touch of 5D's Pairings: N/A Characters: Barians, Yuma, Astral, most of Zexal II characters, Crimson Dragon, Signer Dragons, Past Lives of Signers Content Warnings: graphic description of transformation and characker deaths (temporary) Summary: With the change of one past life, everything changes and now the Seven Barian Emperors consist of six Barians and one dragon. Rating: Gen Art needed: + 1 (one) completed art work OR 3 (three) panel greyscale sketched comic + 10 (ten) 100x100 icons OR 1 (one) moodboard OR 1 (one) greyscale sketch OR 3-5 (three to five) panel coloured sketch comic

YGOX2 Series:  Zexal/Arc-V Pairings: Zexal II/Hope Zexal, Zexal II/Vector Characters: Zexal II, Hope Zexal, Yuya Sakaki, Yuto, Yugo, Yuri, Zexal III, Dark Zexal, Zexal, Vector, E'rah, Thomas Arclight, Zarc, Eve Content Warnings: None exactly Summary: “There are beings in this world simply called Magic Girls and Boys. Normal people don’t know much about them, and only see them as protectors of the city, if they even know of them at all. Who they are is unknown, and some wonder if they take up rolls as normal citizens, while hiding their activities from the eye of the common man.”   --- Saaka and Fuusa are seen as nothing more than average high school students, but at night they watch over their city as the Magic Girls Second and Fourth. Follow their story as they take on the ancient Goddess E'Rah, the defunct Puppeteer IV, Vector, who obsessives over Second, Eve the illness stricken time traveler, and The Supreme King - Zarc. Along the way they also get some help from Magic Boys in training Yuya, Yuto, Yugo and Yuri who they team up with to protect the City of Heartland. Rating: Teen Art needed: + 2 (two) completed art work OR 3-5 (three to five) panel complete art comic    

Crossover

XOVER1 Series: YGO DM/Revolutionary Girl Utena Pairings: Yami Yugi/Atem/Yugi, Anthy/Utena, Thief  King Bakura/ Mahado Characters: Yami Yugi, Atem, Yugi, Anthy, Thief King Bakura, Mahado, Seto, Dartz, Akio Content Warnings: Major character death, rape (discussed & implied), Incest (implied) Summary: Yami is a young knight of the rose order, who’s kingdom is preparing it’s forces to take down the wicked king of Esmia.  But there are more sinister forces at work and the honorable knight might find that things are definitely not what they seem… takes 9 years after The Witch King. A fantasy AU that's a sequel for the story I did last year; includes dragons, magic, transformations, and love triangles that end in a threesome. Rating: Teen with discussions of serious  topics Art needed: + 1 (one) completed art work OR 3 (three) panel greyscale sketched comic + 1 (one) coloured sketch OR 1 (one) greyscale line art OR 1 (one) graphic banner OR 3-5 (three to five) panel inked comic OR 5 (five) panel coloured sketch comic

[nightfurylover31]

This is why Kusanagi is the best! And the way he pushes the button reminds me of that shot of Kaiba in S4.

[bellemieux]

Except it would be Kusanagi hacking the system.

Every time Yusaku hacks into Kaiba's data, kaiba gets mad, updates the security, and Yusaku says to himself "challenge accepted"

Lmao I can just imagine this becoming an endless loop~ 

[3w-writer-with-wings]

Response to “Yusaku is BORING” video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQOfKpSPlzI&t=

To start off, well plain and simple - it's hard to compare previous Yu-Gi-Oh! series with one that is currently ongoing. One thing that you kept repeating (besides the word "boring") was that we don't know much about Yusaku. Well newsflash - at the point of your video being posted there were roughly 56 episodes out which is not even the half of the series yet - Kaiba's full backstory wasn't revealed until episode 100 (therefore you wouldn't know his entire backstory at that point) so if you put it in perspective of other series you should compare them up to the point where VRAINS is right now - which you didn't so VRAINS got a lot of disadvantages when being compared to the rest of the series and therefore you didn't judge Yusaku as equally as the rest of the protagonists. But let's say I ignore this fact and I fully focus on your character analysis of Yusaku:

1) He is bland - It might be just me, but I don't really see him as bland - in fact, I see him as one of the most interesting characters so far. In the very first episode, he already states clearly who he is, using his three things speech - he thinks a lot so it's understandable that he, therefore, doesn't talk as much unless he talks with those who understand him. And even though Naoki wasn't one of those people, he still listened to him even when he could freely ignore him. The reason why he may appear bland is that he kind of has to look bland - he lives a double life, he has trouble socializing (which Kusanagi and Ai point out a lot) and he doesn't want to involve more people in this so if he appears boring and bland he doesn't need to interact with that many people and attract unwanted attention. So to keep in in one sentence - he is using the fact that he appears bland to his advantage. 

2) He has no friends - I'll be involving some things from season two here, but even in the first season it is kinda clear why Yusaku has no friends, not counting allies. Due to Lost Incident Yusaku developed PTSD and most likely his social anxiety as well. If you live with such disorders from an early age, it is very difficult to develop your social skills - if you rewatch the flashback scene, you'll see Yusaku in some sort of a daycare trying hard to smile, but he can't. He told Akira himself that yes, he had taken treatments, he did everything to leave the past behind and he tried to live a normal life - but he couldn't, PTSD and Lost Incident didn't let him so revenge was the last resort. And in a way, the revenge on Knights of Hanoi helped him out the most - he gained allies and friends. Yusei had friends who went through the same thing as him so he managed to develop his social skills while Yusaku couldn't which may suggest that Yusaku doesn't really understand the difference between an acquaintance and a friend. Yusaku only considered "three things person" a friend - Revolver - because he knew that he was in the same situation as him so he trusted him and swore to save him one day. Same went for Takeru - the moment he revealed that he is a victim as well, Yusaku agreed to trust him and when Kusanagi referred to Takeru as his friend, Yusaku didn't deny it and was even fine with Takeru calling him by his first name (in Japan this is a big deal, since first names are reserved only for close friends and family). Yusaku eventually warmed up even to Ai, so to answer your question - yes Yusaku changes in the means of that and is also smiling more and has more heart to heart conversations with others (just a few episodes ago he had a really good conversation with Takeru, Ai and Flame - talking about their future, how they got to this point and generally just how he feels about the whole situation - I really recommend checking it out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j60tQvhbfvY ). One other reason why Yusaku might not have so many friends is that he is careful and hardly trusts anyone – especially due to how he was kidnapped. In one of the flashbacks, it is revealed that Yusaku used to be a very cheerful kid who loved playing card games and wasn’t hesitant to talk with a total stranger about the game. The only problem was that stranger was an eight-year-old Revolver who later lured him to his house so Dr. Kogami could have a subject for his experiments. It is completely understandable that Yusaku became scared and untrusting of strangers. This is also shown in another flashback (there are two episodes dedicated entirely to how Kusanagi and Yusaku met) that showed Yusaku approaching Kusanagi very carefully both in VRAINS and in real world. Yusaku even uses a very quiet and stuttering tone when he talks with Kusanagi outside VRAINS, suggesting it was really difficult for him to trust someone.

3) He doesn’t care about anyone, he has no goal and has no noble cause to duel – Actually, in the duel between Yusaku and Spectre, it is revealed that’s his greatest weakness – when Spectre uses Akira as a hostage in his duel. Akira luckily quickly realizes that and practically removes himself out of the duel in order to help him. True the whole revenge thing on Knights of Hanoi started purely so he could move on, but that’s not the only reason. During the duel with Akira Yusaku stated clearly that he had wanted answers – he wanted to know what the point of his suffering was, he wanted to understand what happened to him and he wanted to punish the people who did that to him. Yusaku was right to react the way he did when he shouted: “YOU KNOW NOTHING!” – after all Akira made it sound really easy when he said he can take care of his problems for him, but what he didn’t know at the time was just how corrupted SOL actually was and that it isn’t safe to trust anyone – what Yusaku knew well. Yusaku doesn’t want to involve anyone in this dangerous mission which is in a way a noble cause already – he wanted to take care of this by himself without getting others in the danger. In one episode Takeru saves Yusaku from a trap and Yusaku is extremely reluctant to take him to another mission because of that. His current team consists of people who were involved with Lost Incident and what they are doing right now is trying to stop the consequences of the Lost Incident – no one sent them to do it, they did it by their own free will even though they know it’s dangerous and that they are getting more enemies by it. Also when Yusaku stated his three reasons of why he needs the information about Lost Incident – one of them is so he could save the person who gave him courage and that person is Revolver. Even though Revolver was the one who kidnapped him and caused him even more suffering in a form of Knights of Hanoi, Yusaku forgave him. He never blamed him for the Lost Incident and what’s more, he saw him as the seventh victim and never stopped reaching out for him. Yusaku believes there’s good in Revolver and so far he hasn’t stopped believing in him, even when no one else did and seemingly Revolver is slowly changing because of Yusaku.

4) He is overpowered – He hasn’t lost a duel so that makes him a Mary Sue – not quite well. Again this originates from his backstory. Lost Incident forced him to learn how to win at all costs and in case it wasn’t clear enough – Yusaku lost numerous times during those six months and was punished by starvation and electroshocks. He also suffers from night terrors that kept showing him “YOU LOSE”. Akira stated that losing a duel for him is like losing his life – so every time he is in a duel it’s like he is in a life or death situation. When Revolver dangerously lowers his Life Points in both duels, Yusaku finds himself on the ground both times just like a warrior that is very close to dying and that’s not the only time he is shown in a vulnerable state. During the duel with Faust he is sent flying through numerous walls, he loses an arm during the speed duel with Revolver, he is shown to be exhausted every time he comes from VRAINS (he even falls asleep right away one time) and he temporarily loses it when he watches Ghost Girl being erased. He is a tragic and vulnerable hero that was forced to grow up way too fast. Winning is something he learned the hard way so it is a lot more like surviving for him. He may appear like a superhero, but really he is just a human. In the last few episodes there were also a lot of hints that Yusaku may lose soon and even if he doesn’t – the duels are getting rougher which also makes him use other summoning methods – Ritual, Fusion, Synchro and most recently XYZ.

5) He is not relatable and we don’t know everything about him – Not every main character is meant to be relatable and while Yusaku is relatable to some, that’s not his purpose in the story. VRAINS has taken a different turn from other series, using a major storyline and a unique protagonist that carries it forward. Lost Incident IS his story and what deeply motivates him to duel is finding answers to his fast. The reason why we don’t know everything about him from the start is so we can even as watchers experience his desire to know more and because of that, we continue watching him unveil more of his backstory. A lot of anime series use this technique – most notably Attack On Titan – we are not presented with all the answers from the start so we have something to look forward to and VRAINS is using that a lot – we continue to get more details and more information, especially in the second season, there are a lot of surprising plot twists connected to Yusaku and more are being hinted for the future episodes. Yusaku also happens to be one of those characters that have been hurt and is slowly recovering – each protagonist in the series had a point like this (Atem lost Yugi, Judai gave in Supreme King’s power, Yusei nearly died, Yuma lost Astral and Yuya gave in Zarc’s power) – Yusaku just happens to have this point from the start so every time he smiles, every time he is honest with his emotions and every time he slightly opens up to someone – that’s when we can all relate to him. Each of us has probably gone through some difficult situation in life and we all know those things take long to heal – Yusaku is healing slowly, but every time we see a little sign of recovery we are glad he is on the way to let go of his past.

He might not be as appealing as all the protagonists so far, but this does not in any way made him boring. He is a very complex character that doesn’t want to stand out, but due to his past he is forced to. It is difficult to relate to him, but that’s not the point – his story is and so far VRAINS has proven to be one of the most realistic and plot-driven yugioh series. The themes are rather dark but nicely explored and it is quite terrifying to realize it could happen in real life – like AIs with free will, Virtual Reality games going wrong and being forced to grow up fast.

So yeah, VRAINS actually started delivering exactly what you wanted right around the point where you stopped and is still going strong. Maybe finish the series first and then rant about it next time you do such video.