#kazuki was everyones first crush

[dearloonies]

I've never seen a Kazuki hater before, didn't even know if they existed like who could hate Kazuki of all characters out there.

but society proved me wrong. not only my bbygirl has haters but some are weird enough to actually ships him with kosoushi some of y'all are weird as fuck Kazuki literally changed his diapers and raised him.

Also big fuck you to that one bitch that tried to hack and leak personal info of my s/o just because I disagreed. Your an asshole ma'am.

[ladytheoris]

Types of lovers

Possibly be silent about having a crush on you since day one. Will be believing that they are being super sneaky, but in fact, even you know they are having something for you

Itadori Yuuji, Hinata Shouyo, Nakahara Chuuya, Miya Osamu, Sawamura Daichi

The type to openly confess their unending love and adoration every then and now, to the point where you stopped telling everyone that you've been a couple for quite a while.

Gojo Satoru, Dazai Osamu, Kazuki Kurusu, Miya Atsumu, Sugawara Koshi

The type who never reveals anything until they want to. To the point when they first confessed to you, you would've been like 'me?'

Kento Nanami, Hatake Kakashi, Megumi Fushiguro, Rei Suwa, Iwaizumi Hajime, Suna Rintaro, Sakusa Kiyomi, Kunikida Doppo

Stopping with a few characters because the list will be endless.

[curejiraiya]

I saw a post in Korean on twitter that said something like "no matter how much I think about it, there has to be something more to Taiga's admiration of Kazuki." and I didn't feel like I should reply to them because it would absolutely get lost in translation, but I wrote up a post that I put in my circle instead. This is that post, if anyone is interested? This is probably the most character analysis I've done in my entire life lmao.

I think it would be disrespectful for me to randomly reply to this person, but I extremely want to reply "Of course there is [something more to his admiration], he's gay!" There's no world where Taiga isn't gay coded! Other than Louis he's the most gay character in King of Prism! Now I'm going to explain why I think this. :D

I know the 10? people in my twitter circle will not read this and not care, but it's important! Taiga is gay! Taiga's entire backstory is that when he was a child he met a street dancer who was really nice to him, and fell madly in love with him. It was his first childhood crush.

Later in life he finds out the performer became a famous celebrity, and he changes the course of his life to follow in his crushes footsteps. He's known for buying Kazuki's merch, and even wears his buttons on his uniform every single day.

(K Kazuki button + green bracelet)

There's plot and stuff I don't want to get into, but once he becomes a fellow student with Kazuki he makes it his mission to protect him. He puts himself in harms way for Kazuki, all the while continuing to look up to him and do his best to make him proud.

The two's birthdays are one day apart, and during Taiga's own birthday song for the game he wishes a happy birthday to Kazuki instead of himself! Like ??????????

But ok maybe you think, that's not gay he just idolizes Kazuki. Well maybe it was that, until SSS came around.

In SSS Taiga admits most of this backstory while naked in a bath with his friends, and when he realizes what he said he makes this fucking blushy face and freaks out.

Idk bro this is GAY PANIC if I've ever seen it.

BUT IF THAT'S NOT ENOUGH! This episode ends with Taiga having a confrontation with Kazuki, where all his friends encourage him to "Tell him your feelings." Taiga starts, but hesitates too much and loses his opportunity.

And that would be all, except in King of Prism: All Stars they run a call and response section where the audience repeats some of Taiga's famous lines. As a funny moment they added an alternative version of that scene, where TAIGA ACTUALLY CONFESSES.

Now I'm American, and I'm a gay man who specifically imagines all the characters in the media he likes as gay, but you can't tell me that this situation shouldn't be read as "they can't directly say he's in love with Kazuki, the show would be canceled."

So anyway if you don't think he's gay after this scene you're homophobic. ;) I'm kidding, everyone has their own interpretation of the characters, and I hope you enjoy mine!

If you'd like we can talk about how Kakeru is madly in love with Taiga at another time.

[cosmiclion]

From the news I read I’m surprised they’ll welcome Miri’s mom return in future episodes. I guess it isn’t that much of a stretch considering that Miri would eventually want to see her mother again. Though I’m interested to see how it will go. Her mom made it clear she doesn’t want to continue caring for her. Miri will be crushed of course. If that happens I just hope she remembers she has a new family now and her support network is larger then before. Miri’s mom doesn’t seem as horrible as other abusive anime parents. I mean Miri wouldn’t be as cheerful and energetic as she should if her mother at least took care of her enough to not realize her growing hatred. I could tell from her first appearance she’s a very broken woman, trying to live her dreams singing in a shady bar in the red light district, loving a man who shows blatant abuse towards her. It was for the best that Miri left her and stayed in the care of adults who will look after her needs with no regrets. Otherwise she’ll be faced with abuse and regret should Miri continue living with her.

Hi! Uh... first of all I'd like to offer my sincerest apologies for taking ages to answer this, I've been a little too busy with school and general chores plus I really didn't know how to put my thoughts into words 😭 I know it's pretty pointless to answer your specific ask by now since the show has already progressed and ended but I still didn't want to leave this ignored, and if you don't mind I'll take the opportunity to offer some thoughts.

Now that the show has ended I see why they made the choices they made and they make a lot of sense given the context of the story. I personally don’t have any complaints about the writing but I think Misaki deserved better. I'm sad she died but I understand why it happened, I suppose with her arc going that route it wouldn't have made sense for her to survive in a show where nobody's safe from violent criminals who are willing to murder women and children to get them out of their way. Still, I don't think she needed a big change of heart, I think she was already a great character as she was (it also rubs me the wrong way that some people started viewing her as a good person only once she started making an effort to do things right but I digress).

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the "unwilling parent learns to love their kid and learns to be a good parent so that they can finally be a happy family" narrative. It just doesn’t sit right with me, maybe I’m reading too much into it but the message I get from these kind of stories is that anyone can be a good parent/caretaker with enough help and resources and in the right place mentally and emotionally (ESPECIALLY because that's an argument people use in real life for why they think everyone should have kids, or hell, even as an anti abortion argument; like that's not an exaggeration, I've seen them saying pretty much the exact same thing), when the sad reality is that sometimes kids are just unwanted. I sincerely wish the show had acknowledged that some people just don’t want to be parents even when they already are, I know it’s not pretty but these things need to be talked about in fiction.

I also think it would’ve fit the story perfectly: we would’ve had an example of horrible abusive parents (Rei’s father), amazing loving parents (Rei and Kazuki themselves) and parents who do their best but would still rather be doing anything else (Misaki; as you said, Miri wouldn’t be as cheerful if her mother hadn't kept her unhappiness to herself). Maybe I’m biased, I don’t know, but I’m really starved for this kind of content. As a friend of mine as well as a few other people have said, we need more situations like in Matilda, where the bio parents admit they aren't fit for the role and happily sign away their parental rights.

(Granted that if Misaki hadn't popped back into Miri's life she wouldn't have died like that, as she got targeted precisely because she was with Miri, that's why I say I understand why the writers made the choices they made).

I also wish they hadn't given her cancer if they were going to kill her off anyway, give the poor woman a break lol.

If you (not you the asker but you as in anyone reading this) disagree with me that's perfectly okay, and let me reiterate that I do NOT think this is bad writing, I'm just tired of seeing this trope over and over again; but any angry asks or comments will be ignored and deleted.

(Edited to add some more thoughts).

[arsnovacadenza]

Soukazu NSFW headcanons

FINALLY 'TIS DONE! (Tho I'm gonna write more later. This won't be the last)

Warning: These headcanons are for Top!Soushi and Bottom!Kazuki. So if you're looking for headcanons with Top!Kazuki, I have them in a separate post that I'll link later

The Horny

Kazuki is a MEGA-masochist who gets off on being submissive. Kazuki's guilt in the first season, his longing for Soushi in Heaven and Earth, his growing trust that we see in Behind the Line -all of it culminated into his desire to please Soushi in any way he can. 

((Plus he's been going on about wanting to be useful throughout the series so.....why not channel it in a kinky yet healthy way))

Also also Soushi being his commander makes it easier for them to slip into a Dom/sub dynamic. Would Kazuki cream his suit if Soushi ordered him around this time from the Siegfried System? Most likely.

Soushi likes to tell Kazuki to cut his hair, but he secretly likes being able to yank him by the hair when taking Kazuki from behind. He just knows how much strength he must apply to make sure that it hurts enough without being too painful while still being pleasurable for Kazuki

Soushi, at his core, is a medical researcher. He keeps, ahem, private records on Kazuki's stamina and endurance, which leads to....

Orgasm denial. He's trained Kazuki to cum at his command ONLY, so he'll tell Kazuki to lie down on the bed face up or face down, stuff a vibrator inside him, turn it up to the highest setting (sometimes gradually) and then leave his boyfriend for minutes on end to do other stuff until Kazuki is sobbing and begging Soushi to let him cum.

But Soushi, being the devil as he is, just positions himself behind Kazuki, skin-to-skin, and tease him with feather-light touches across his chest, his thighs, and tells Kazuki softly that he can endure a little more, that denying himself a little bit longer will make it more pleasurable. And when he finally tells Kazuki to come, it's all too much, way too much that all Kazuki can see is white, white, white.

They're suprisingly private. They don't do stuff like having sex toys under their clothing while out in public. Sure, Soushi BURNS with the need to make everyone know Kazuki is his, but he also wants to protect Kazuki's honor by not making it obvious to his friends they're into nasty stuff

Maya still knows, somehow. Not that she wants to dwell on it

((But part of Soushi wants to force Kazuki to walk around in his Alvis uniform with a vibrator up his ass. Soushi fantasizes sending Kazuki to talk to Kanon who he knows has a huge crush on him while he's being stimulated. BUT HEY IT'S JUST A FANTASY))

Another staple to their routine is overstimulation. Even after they climax, Soushi sometimess refuse to pull out and continue to fuck Kazuki through his orgasm. Kazuki begs Soushi to stop, but he's met with "Oh, so you've stopped listening to me then, Kazuki?" ((It's okay guys they have a safeword))

Soushi is highly aware through Crossing that Kazuki has the hots for his dominating side. And Soushi THRIVES on being in full control of the strongest fighter and pilot on the entire island.

(Kazuki trusts him with his life as much as Soushi puts his trust in him)

Their sessions often start like this: Soushi sits at his desk facing away from Kazuki as he enters the door and he commands Kazuki to strip without even looking at him. Once Kazuki is fully in the nude, he swivels around and Kazuki kneels or sits between his clothed legs

"Open your mouth" Soushi whispers, and Kazuki lets Soushi's hand explore his teeth, the roof of his mouth, coating his digits with Kazuki's saliva

"So obedient", Soushi hums. "Now, on the bed."

Kazuki wants to be good for Soushi, craves for Soushi's approval. He knows that Soushi only has eyes for him and preens at the thought of Soushi finding him beautiful, and so Kazuki crawls over his sheets seductively, making sure that Soushi sees all of him, wanting and waiting for his command

"You're so beautiful, Kazuki. It was worth the wait, after all." Soushi's eyes darken, referring to their separation for those two, agonizing years. "I want to memorize this forever"

No matter how many times Kazuki's eyes widen at the sight of Soushi's burner smartphone (not linked to Alvis' system, fortunately), he still rolls onto his back, enticingly inviting Soushi to capture every inch of his skin, the deep flush of his cheeks, the flutter of his eyelashes as the camera zooms in.

"Gorgeous" Soushi coos. He imagines Kazuki clothed in lace and ribbons and yet they haven't gotten far

The closest they've come is tying Kazuki up in bright red ropes that leaves marks on his skin. Kazuki's embarassed at first, but he learns to enjoy it and would even close the door to his bedroom so he can lie on his futon and trace the ropes under his clothes while waiting for the day to end (and present himself to Soushi)

But there are times when Kazuki can't stay overnight or Soushi is too busy to come to him, so Soushi gives his boyfriend another burner phone (seriously, how did he get these?) and tells Kazuki they can stay connected that way

There's a good reason why it's another burner phone not linked with the system: that's how they trade pictures

Of course, it's always Soushi who asks for pictures. Kazuki, ever the obliging one, would pose however Soushi wants him to, lying in bed with his skin warmed from the shower or desperate to have Soushi inside him, fingers obscuring his hole but still enough for Soushi to see traces of lube trickling down the sheets

As for Kazuki, he's rewarded with just the soothing baritone of Soushi's phone, guiding him every step of the way and assuring him that once they meet again, Kazuki will be rewarded.

The Wholesome

At the end of every session, Soushi pulls Kazuki close and tells him what a good boy he'd been, and that Kazuki is so beautiful when he falls apart. But most importantly, he tells his boyfriend that he's proud of him -that it doesn't make him love Kazuki any less no matter what Kazuki chooses during their session. Kazuki's chest swell with warmth as he is lulled to sleep in Soushi's arms.

The Hilarious

Soushi once proposed "curry" as their safeword, and Kazuki laughed so hard Soushi didn't get any (but it was worth it tho, to hear Kazuki's laughter)

[cut-aare]

YuGiOh! Actor AU headcannons!

Soooo... I thought about this and welp, let me put it in here!

1. Atem makes Yugi flustered behind the scenes so that he’d have the impression of crushing on Anzu/Tea, as per the script.

2. Kaiba and Seth are twins by blood and Mokuba isn’t related to them at all!

3. Atem and Yugi are distant relatives but not by blood!

4. Marik and Malik are played by the same actor himself!

5. Joey and Honda are roommates in real life!

6. Kaiba in real life is a big softie!

7. Seth and Kaiba make Joey/Jounouchi flustered easily!

8. The time of Joey’s/Jounouchi’s BI awakening was when Duke/Otogi, Honda/Tristan and him shared a bed during acting an episode!

9. Joey/Jounouchi fell for the twins at one point of time and couldn’t pick!

10. Atem and Yugi got into a relationship before the day of acting the first episode of YuGiOh! but had their first kiss before everyone at the set!

11. Kazuki Takahashi, the director, was absolutely sleep-deprived!

12. Kazuki Takahashi sweat-dropped when he saw Yugi and Atem kiss!

13. The final part of the DSOD had to be retaken 10 times just because yugi got sooo much into the plot and broke down in the middle every time Atem had to touch the puzzle!

14. The DSOD released world-wide in 2017 and on 23rd 2016 in Japan because of the last scene being retaken 10 times and delayed the release that was supposed to be 2 days prior!

15. Ryou is a kind and cute personality inside and outside the set, but everyone doesn’t want to see a particularly angry cinnamon-roll!

16. Bakura tends to have a lot of mood-swings that only Ryou or Marik could take care of!

17. Bakura dyed his hair to be Ryou’s hair colour for the sake of acting out his yami!

18. Anzu/Tea is the wing-woman and the number one fangirl for puzzle/blindshipping! 

19. Joey/Jounouchi is kinda jealous of Yugi and Atem cuz he’s still a hoe! (LoL ;))

20. Mana and Mahad bring baked cookies and treats for everyone! (I ship them, they have such good chemistry, and act like parental units!)

21. Mai has a crush on Joey/Jounouchi, but it shifts into love for Anzu/Tea!

22. Mai in real life loathes make-up except for some lipstick and eyeliner/smokey-eyeshadow! 

23. Yugi loves to cross dress, mainly tank-tops!

24. Yugi and Atem get engaged at the set, Atem proposes to him at the end of DSOD!

25. And last but not least, the whole set including Kazuki Takahashi is like Family, and Mokuba is a black Kuriboh!

[lilac-melody]

Can’t an Idol Fall in Love with Another Idol? (Fuuma) Honeyworks Novel Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I’m not a professional translator so please take it all with a grain of salt. But wow! Last chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed the novel!

Masterlist here

"Congratulations on the release of your major album!”

Egg Records called Dolce in to celebrate the end of the Higashi-Meihan live tour in February of the new year. The tour had been a massive success, as fan club members also exceeded the target number of the audience.

As a result of this, Dolce finally made a major debut and promised to release their official album in April, and it was finally completed.

The manager who had shouted their congratulations started weeping. Though, Fuuma, Kazuki, Kippei and Girisha were all holding back tears of joy as well.

“We did it..!”

“It doesn’t really feel real.” Kippei and Girisha glanced at each other.

“Fuuma, it’s our major debut!”

“And an album! I’m looking forward to all of our new songs!”

“Well, of course we got this far.”

Fuuma and Kazuki tried to hug Sara, who was visibly trying to hide his joy. However, their hugs crushed him, and he seemed to get annoyed.

“And we’re still not done yet.” The manager wiped his tears with his tie and turned towards everyone. “We have to make much more progress at a more rapid pace towards the release in April. I will give you a new song cover for the recording, and after that you’ll have your usual lessons. This recording will be an early one, but also there will be an MV shooting, so you’ll need to hurry.”

“Why is there so much...”

“Because it’s your major breakthrough! And Sara, you have to do a second TV commercial for it, and Kazuki you have a TV job too!”

“...Eh..? Me..?” Kazuki pointed at himself with a surprised expression.

“Yes! Kazuki has been asked to appear in a drama!” The manager showed them a short drama with the theme of love on it. It was a special program and had a completed script.

“Kazuki, don’t look so nervous! It’s a short drama, so you won’t have too many lines. And it’s a program with a lot of other performers, so don’t worry too much about messing up. It’s your first time acting, so there’ll be lots of others who can teach you properly!”

“Oh?” It was Girisha who raised his voice. “Look at your fellow actor! It’s Arisugawa Yui!”

“...Huh?”

Fuuma glanced at the paper to see the name. His eyes traced the characters for Arisugawa Yui.

It was as though he was trying to confirm there wasn’t a mistake.

“Fuuma...”

Fuuma jumped when he heard his name called by Kazuki.

(What am I so upset about..?)

An important best friend of his was going to appear in a drama with his lover. Was there really such a happy story?

“Nothing’s wrong, Kazuki. Congratulations!”

Kazuki stared at him in silence with a complex expression on his face.

Fuuma smiled to the best of his abilities.

...He really tried to smile.

💕

“I’m home.”

“Welcome back. Do you want some dinner?”

“I’m sorry, I’ll eat tomorrow morning.” Fuuma, who had returned at night, gave his reply to his mother and confirmed that he had eaten. He washed his hands.

If he said he ate rice, then he did, but if he didn’t say it, he didn’t.

He had headed to the Dolce room and spent time listening to the cover album and learning the music video, and someone earlier had picked up some chocolates and he had a few.

Fuuma didn’t remember if he had anything else, but he really wasn’t hungry. He didn’t want to eat.

“Do you want me to prepare you a bath?”

“I’ll shower in the morning.”

Fuuma went to his bedroom and got dressed quickly, and fell into his bed as soon as he hit his limit.

(Somehow, I feel really tired)

It wasn’t a terrible lesson, but his body felt heavy. While laying in bed, he felt like he was going to fall into a deep sleep.

(No, I forgot to tell my mom that I’m making my major debut)

He was sure she would be surprised and support him from the bottom of her heart. But now, he wasn’t feeling like getting up to report it. He picked up his smartphone.

I heard about the drama. Congrats!

The message Fuuma had sent was already read. Even so, he didn’t get a reply. He sighed and tossed his phone to his pillow.

It’d been like this for days now. No matter what Fuuma sent, he barely received a response.

Yui was always slow to respond to his messages, but it was even worse now. Sometimes it got even worse and he never got a reply, or maybe the following day he’d get a one worded reply.

(It’s okay to wait, just respond properly...)

Fuuma felt very impatient as he waited, checking the app over and over again. Each time, he was disappointed with his sloppy message.

“I’m worried...what if she’s sick and collapsed again? But she should be fine, I’m worrying over nothing...”

He wanted to know what Yui was doing.

He picked his phone up again and started typing, but then deleted it.

(I’m so stupid...it’s not my role to check in on her...)

Kazuki was the one who was with Yui. He was the one who supported her, and Yui was the one who consulted him.

Even when exchanging messages, Kazuki’s phone rang a lot, and the two of them messaged each other.

Fuuma was just an outsider, no longer apart of it.

“...”

It was a terribly painful feeling. He gripped the sheets tightly.

(I’m doing something wrong)

He couldn’t welcome his best friend’s love life.

He knew he should be happy, but the painful feeling in his chest never cleared up, and as the days went by and every time Kazuki’s phone rang, that feeling just grew stronger.

And the quieter his phone remained, the more his chest hurt.

💕

“I’m home.” Yui called out, even though she lived alone. It was custom for crime prevention to open the door and calling out.

Yui managed to work through the day with minimum sleep by dragging her body around. She normally took a warm bath every night for her beauty, but today, she was too tired. She could take a shower in the morning.

(I don’t even feel like rice today...)

She was tired and her whole body felt like mud. She did drink a vitamin rich vegetable juice on the car ride on the way home though, so it was okay.

She laid on her fluffy bed, and opened her messaging app on her phone.

I heard about the drama. Congrats!

It was a message from Fuuma. The same characters lined up no matter how many times she read them. She felt disappointed and a bit frustrated.

(I didn’t want him to only say congratulations to me)

Yui was playing as a girl in love with someone. Even in the drama, she was hugging the boy that Fuuma knew well.

She wanted him to be jealous of Kazuki, who played the role as the lover, and if that didn’t happen, then she wanted them to talk about it. She didn’t want such a light hearted congratulations.

“...But how should I respond?”

Congratulations? Thank you?

But she couldn’t say thank you even if she tried.

(Well, I probably could if Fuuma was just an ordinary person...)

Then Yui would be able to express her feelings more obediently and feel more refreshed. Could it be done now?

At the very least, she needed to respond to her favorite rival who congratulated her on appearing in a romantic drama.

Thinking about that, she laughed sadly. It was so stupid.

She knew Fuuma.

Yui liked Fuuma, her straightforward idol. She couldn’t think of anyone else. And Yui herself wanted to show him that she was a top idol.

If he was an ordinary person, such an assumption would be made.

“...Fuuma, you idiot.” Yui’s eyes felt hot, and her nose grew stuffy.

She wanted to cry. She wanted to cry and pour out all of her feelings. Surely that would make her feel better.

However, Yui knew she couldn’t.

(I became an idol because I wanted to be loved, but to do that, I have to throw away my first love...what a joke...)

And what made her laugh more was that the fact she had to throw it away made her feel like shit.

According to the message sent by Kazuki before, Fuuma said about an idol’s love affair that it was “emotional, but I can’t say I would throw everything away”.

So if she couldn’t tell him this, she would have to deal with the painful feeling.

(Really, if I throw it all away...)

It didn’t have to be painful.

Yui turned on her stomach and buried her face in her pillow.

💕

It was early spring, and the first anniversary of their debut.

Recording Dolce’s major album, Would you like a Dolce Sweeter than Love? was completed. The MV shooting with their new costumes were also smoothly done.

Prior to the release, a TV commercial was broadcasting at midnight also developed, and Dolce’s name was increasing. The manager got more excited everyday as Dolce rose in popularity.

It was the day of the shooting for Kazuki’s short drama.

The schedule for Arisugawa Yui, who played the role of Kazuki’s lover, was really strict, so finding a day to shoot had been difficult. The confession scene with Kazuki would be shot once, and the whole shooting would be completed.

On that day, Fuuma and Sara were had to study, so they went and viewed the shooting.

“Hah.” Sara sighed heavily. “Why do I have to study the shooting?”

Fuuma stared at him. His words were justified. He already made his debut as a child star actor at the age of five.

It was really Fuuma who had to study, and originally, he was alone.

“Why did you have to get me involved? I was planning on eating chocolate from a special store slowly today.”

“Well, Girisha and Kippei had other jobs and I was alone. I’ll buy your favorite chocolates from the store next time.”

“What? You? The store? I hate it all.” Sara rejected immediately, glaring at him.

Kazuki entered the studio, waving to the staff before standing near the set with his script in his hands.

(Oh!)

Fuuma tried to wave his hand to Kazuki to tell him to do his best, but then was surprised to see someone go up behind him.

(It’s...)

Yui started having a conversation with Kazuki. They were speaking with relaxed expressions. Just watching them made Fuuma’s chest hurt.

(She’s showing suh a face to Kazuki...)

Fuuma slowly lowered his hand. There was no way he could get in the way between the two people who were together.

(...They look good together)

Kazuki was cool, and Yui was cute. They really went well together.

He knew he would be left alone when he saw them.

There could be no other emotions involved.

“Alright, let’s get started!” The staff called out, and the two of them made were checked by the stylist before heading to the set.

The two “loves” began to move as Fuuma watched them.

His heart pounded unpleasantly. He didn’t want to watch. He wanted to get away from them. Those feelings were coming back full force.

“Fuuma, are you okay?” Sara asked, and Fuuma felt surprised.

“I’m totally fine!” Fuuma said loudly and quickly slammed his mouth shut.

“Really, because there was a spider on your back.”

“Huh...a spider? What do you...”

“Relax. That was a lie.” Sara said with a relieved smirk. “So, what was Fuuma thinking about?” He stared at Fuuma, as if he knew everything.

To be honest, it was hard for Fuuma to watch the romance those two played, but he couldn’t just say that.

“Nothing!”

“Hmm. Hey Arisugawa Yui is watching us.”

“Huh?!” Fuuma turned.

(Who would fall for that!?)

Fuuma thought, but was surprised when he looked back to the front. It was as Sara said, Arisugawa Yui was staring right at Fuuma. Her eyes were wide, as if she’d seen something amazing. Kazuki also seemed surprised to see Fuuma.

(Oh, did I not tell them we were showing up?)

He thought maybe the manager had told them.

(I wonder if they’re surprised?)

At the end of his line of sight, Yui’s eyebrows lifted as she stared at him.

“What did you do..?” Sara asked.

“I didn’t do anything...”

Probably.

💕

“Yui-chan, there are a lot of NGs today.”

“Excuse me...” Yui could only bow her head as the director pointed her out. She knew the cause as well. When Yui turned her head to the corner of the studio, she saw the frustrated face of Dolce’s Shirayuki Fuuma.

(Why?! Why is Fuuma visiting!?)

She didn’t even know this!

She didn’t want to see him...well, she did want to see him, but why now? The confession scene was going to be the main thing today!

(Congratulations, let my suffering continue with heart stabbing words!)

How annoying!

She’d been practicing a lot lately but now her performance was tattered.

“Yui-chan?”

“Yes!”

Yui wasn’t able to concentrate on anything, so they had to take longer breaks. The confession scene would be after the break.

“We’ll start from the top, so be prepared by then.”

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” While bowing to the director, Yui felt like crying.

(If Fuuma didn’t come, I would have performed perfectly!)

Yui raised her face and quickly returned to her dressing room.

It wasn’t long before a knocking sound was heard.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

Yui heard the voice that sounded a bit reluctant. She answered the door a little moodily and Fuuma came in quietly.

“What?”

“Nothing, I just...thought that you were glaring at me for the first time in a while...” He scratched his cheek with a face as if asking what did I do?

It made her feel angry and really sad. He really didn’t understand how Yui felt.

“...Nothing.”

“Don’t say that, I’ll apologize if you tell me what I did.”

(Please tell me...)

Yui pressed her lips tightly together.

She couldn’t say it.

She couldn’t concentrate because her favorite person was watching it. She didn’t want Shirayuki Fuuma to see today’s shooting.

Fuuma turned away silently.

“...You really are totally different in front of Kazuki and me.”

“Eh?” Yui’s eyes widened at his unexpected words.

“You always look angry in front of me, but when you’re with Kazuki, you’re totally relaxed. I get it.”

Well.

It was true. In front of Fuuma, there were a lot of things that made he feel things, but in front of Kazuki there wasn’t.

Kazuki was a rival of love, and they shared a common love partner.

After talking to each other about their feelings, a mysterious friendship of mutual understanding formed. It was hard to explain it.

“That’s not the case! What are you thinking?!”

“...You don’t have to deny it. Your face is bright red.” Fuuma laughed in a lonely manner. “It’s fine. I think you two suit each other. Congratulations, Yui.”

“Eh...eh?”

“I actually knew about it for quite some time...”

For a moment, Yui felt afraid. She wasn’t sure what he’d said.

(Eh, suit each other..? Me and Kazuki? Eh? Eh? Ehh..?!)

It took her a few seconds to understand, and then a quivering sensation began from her feet. She was trembling in anger.

What.

What was that misunderstanding?

(Really, really...he’s such an idiot!!)

Something inside of Yui broke.

“You don’t understand anything!!” Yui screamed at him.

Because, why would she feel such a thing for him?

The person in question was hiding his feelings for Fuuma while suffering working with him. And what’s more, that person cherished Fuuma more than anything!

“Huh? You know how we feel?! What are you talking about!? This is completely different! Me and Kazuki like eachother? What stupidity!”

Fuuma stared at her in shock at her volume, before he started arguing.

“What’s stupid about it? You were just sloppy about it, right?!”

“I don’t like him, can you stop being stupid!?”

“I’m not being stupid! What kind of person do you like?! If it’s not Kazuki, then who is it?!”

“It’s..!”

She couldn’t say it. Her face turned bright red as she shut her mouth.

“It’s..?”

“...I can’t tell you.” Yui covered her face with both of her hands and sat on the couch. She could feel all of her blood rushing to her face.

“Ah...I see...” Fuuma sounded disappointed.

“But it is a misunderstanding with Kazuki. I promise.”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe it was because of the confession scene earlier and there was a lot of NG scenes?”

“Yeah.”

That was it. It was tough. She had to confess to someone she didn’t like in front of someone she did like. She had to hug him tightly and look at him closely.

She couldn’t convey such feelings to the one she really liked.

“...It’s hard. I know it’s acting, but I really hate it. What should I do..?”

“Are you crying?”

“I’m not crying!” Yui immediately denied, though she couldn’t move her hands, which were hiding her face. She could somehow tell in the air that Fuuma felt troubled. She would have asked for a handkerchief, but she already denied crying.

“That’s right...what should I do...” Yui had yelled at him earlier, but he was still kind enough to consult with her.

“Hmm. Well, actresses would probably be better witht his, but isn’t the only way to do it to think about the other person?”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about your favorite person while acting. How’s that?”

“But they’re not similar at all. He’s not as calm as Kazuki. He’s shorter than him, sloppy, and is pretty friendly to girls...”

“What kind of guy do you like..?”

(Such a guy...)

Yui peeked at Fuuma’s face through her fingers. She closed her fingers again.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. Hey, Fuuma, take this while shooting.” Yui pointed at the table with her chin.

“This? An idol group desk calendar?”

“Yeah. I’ll try to finish the confession scene while staring at it. I can’t say I like this group very much though.”

"This is an unexpectedly sloppy strategy for someone who’s crying.”

“I’m not crying!” When Yui shouted this, the door to the dressing room opened.

“...The shooting is gonna start soon.” It was Toujo Sara.

“Okay, I’m going now!”

“Yui, go after you wipe your tears properly.”

“I said I’m not crying!”

The door closed. Yui removed both of her hands, and a handkerchief was neatly placed on her lap.

“Really, this kind of thing...”

It was so noisy. But it was cool.

💕

Shortly thereafter, the shooting resumed.

“So how was it?” Sara asked.

Fuuma laughed lightly. “One mystery was solved, but now there are two more...”

“Well, I think you look better than before?”���

“Thank you, Sara.”

After taking a short break, Sara grabbed the back of Fuuma’s back saying “don’t go.” He was staring at the corridor where they were acting.

“You’re being unexpectedly noisy...”

“I don’t want to be told that by you.”

The director signalled them to start again. It was the scene were Yui stopped Kazuki.

“Please, wait!” Yui shouted.

Perhaps the cry earlier was refreshing to her, as the expression was completely different from earlier. True acting made you feel sad as you watched.

Fuuma felt like the calendar made less sense than earlier now.

(As expected...)

This time, Fuuma was able to watch without looking away. Maybe it was because of his talk with Yui and found out her and Kazuki had been a misunderstanding.

(...But who is Yui’s favorite guy?)

He said that she should have someone to think about, but he had no idea who it was.

She said that the guy was not calm and shorter than Kazuki.

(What do you like about that guy...)

He just wanted to relax, but he couldn’t figure out who this mystery guy was.

(Once again...)

His chest felt painful.

(Yui...)

“I..!”

Fuuma suddenly turned to face Yui as her desperate voice cried out. He could see her properly from where he stood.

(Eh?)

Yui stared right at Fuuma with all of her heart, her eyes big and sad. Fuuma froze.

“I like you a lot..!” She shouted those words.

(Acting...it’ just acting, isn’t it?)

Even though he knew this, he imagined her telling him this, and felt his face turn hot.

(Why am I so excited..?)

Yui, who was now talking to the director, looked back at Fuuma.

When their eyes met, Yui smiled mischievously, yet softly. It was gentle, and Fuuma couldn’t take his eyes off of it.

💕

Fuuma waited for Yui from the corner of the studio. Kazuki was called by the manager and was talking to him about something.

“Good work.”

“Thank you.”

“Right, so...” Fuuma scratched his cheek to hide his shyness. “Earlier...”

“Are you talking about the acting in the scene?”

Fuuma stilled at that.

It was just acting. Nothing else.

“No, nothing. I thought- well, you thought of that guy, right?”

“Yep.”

Fuuma glanced at Yui’s bag. There was still the scented gift that he’d given her long ago that was still attached, even though her bag had changed.

She was using the things he’d given her, and he felt happy.

“If the rough, sloppy guy ever makes you cry, tell me and I’ll hit him.” Fuuma said seriously.

Yui’s eyes widened, before she burst out laughing.

“...What is it? I’m worried, you know!”

“Because!” Yui was laughing hard. She wiped the tears that accumulated from laughter. “Thank you.” She said. “If he makes me cry, you’ll hit him. Promise?” She held out her little finger.

Fuuma thought it was a pinky swear and squeezed her pinky with his own. He made the promise.

“Speaking of which, I haven’t overtaken you yet.”

At the time during the autumn training camp, he had made such a proclamation that Dolce would overtake Sakura Michi, but he wasn’t there yet.

“I think I told you that you’d have to crawl up to our feet before you can overtake us.”

“Oh, so we can achieve it?”

"Isn’t that okay?” Yui held her chin up as if she won something.

“I think so...I mean look at us.”

“Well, I think the promise of being beaten will be fulfilled before you overtake us.”

“Would that really be so bad?”

“Yes! It wouldn’t be good!” Yui raised her eyebrows, laughing.

“Hey, Fuuma! I’m going home!” Kazuki called towards the exit.

“See you!” He waved his hand and parted from Yui, and joined Kazuki.

As they walked, Fuuma touched his fist lightly. He was happy with the relationship between Yui and Fuuma. It felt right.

After all, Yui was still a rival.

But they both had high goals to achieve.

And one day, Fuuma was going to catch up with her.

Maybe then...they could be honest with each other.

[redxxstrings]

☀️, 🌙, ❤️, and 💕 for Tai, Kazuki, and Hinata!

AAAA my boys!! thank you, i love them so much 🥺

— tai

☀️ what makes your oc genuinely happy? a person, an item, their hobby? where is the place they’re happiest, or most at home? what is the happiest they’ve ever been?

if tai had to pick something, he’d say he’s happiest when he’s playing piano. he’s been drawn to it since he was young, and it’s what he finds the most comfort in. just playing scales or songs he likes is enough to make him happy; sometimes just sitting in front of his keyboard is enough.

🌙 if your oc could have one wish come true what would it be and why? would there be consequences to this wish or would they regret it once they get what they want? what would they give in return for this wish to come true?

tai’s main wish at this point is his life is that the band stays together and keeps going in the direction it is now — the fame isn’t what he wants, but the ability to continue playing music. obviously them getting more famous isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but that’s not his reason behind his wish. if anything, it would just give him anxiety about whether or not they had too much attention on them; if they were about to lose it all; how hard they would crash if they did.

it leaves him feeling very conflicted.

❤️ what would your oc’s ideal lover be like? appearance, personality, voice? would their family approve or would it be civil war?

tai’s ideal partner is someone who meshes well with him and someone who can kick his ass if need be. he has a bad habit of shouldering all of his burdens (and others’ burdens) all on his own, burying his own feelings, and putting too much pressure on himself — he’d need someone who could snap him out of that and who could tell him to put himself first for once.

less importantly, he’d want someone he could talk to about anything that came to mind — he’s a really introspective guy, so while he can talk about things like the anime he recently got into, he also likes to talk about deeper, more serious things. also someone who likes music as much as he does, but that’s a given.

💕 how is your oc like with physical affection? what are their boundaries? do they enjoy being touched or is that a no-go? is there any reason behind this?

growing up with three younger sisters, tai is immune to being touched at this point. he’s not a particularly touchy person himself, but he isn’t bothered by someone else touching him — even if kazuki jumps on him or hinata flings his arm around him, he doesn’t so much as blink; you’d think he didn’t even notice.

the only time he might actually notice is if someone he has a crush on touches him — then, he’s hyper aware of every little thing, even if it’s something as small as their shoulders brushing against each other.

☆ ☆ ☆

— kazuki

☀️ what makes your oc genuinely happy? a person, an item, their hobby? where is the place they’re happiest, or most at home? what is the happiest they’ve ever been?

music.

to say music is kazuki’s life would be a gross understatement — it’s been the only constant in his life since he can remember; it’s been his lifeline and saving grace more times than he can count. he’s happiest in his studio, headphones on with a soundboard and notebook in front of him. whenever things get rough — whenever he’s sad or mad or in his head — he retreats there and writes.

🌙 if your oc could have one wish come true what would it be and why? would there be consequences to this wish or would they regret it once they get what they want? what would they give in return for this wish to come true?

his one wish would be to become a successful music producer and rapper. not only is that just something he’s wanted for years, but it’d also be a way to metaphorically spit in the face of his family and everyone else who told him he’d never make it. whatever the consequences that came of it, he wouldn’t regret it — he’s not that kind of person.

❤️ what would your oc’s ideal lover be like? appearance, personality, voice? would their family approve or would it be civil war?

me :3

someone cute who’s shorter than him. he also likes girls who wear grunge/goth clothes — he really likes the juxtaposition, and it’s probably the quickest way to, at least visually, get his attention.

personality wise, he’d like someone who can match his energy — both when he’s full of energy and when he’s in one of his more chill moods. he’d also want someone who he could have fun with — he likes messing with the other band members and generally finds being a nuisance funny, so someone who doesn’t like either of those things or would try to stop him would be an immediate turn off. someone who would actually support him in his music and be there for him when things get tough is probably the biggest thing he’d look for, though.

as for his family, well... they don’t approve of anything he does, so they probably wouldn’t approve of anyone kazuki chose to date. he doesn’t care anymore.

💕 how is your oc like with physical affection? what are their boundaries? do they enjoy being touched or is that a no-go? is there any reason behind this?

touching kazuki is a mixed bag — sometimes he’s okay with it, and sometimes it’ll set off his temper. generally, if he’s in a good mood, he doesn’t mind — hell,  half the time, he’s the one who’s initiating it. if his mood is off or if he’s working (especially if he’s working), so much as poking him might cause him to bite your head off.

in a romantic relationship, though, he’s clingy — so clingy. he always has to be near them, clinging to them or hanging off them because he’s afraid they’ll abandon him if he doesn’t.

☆ ☆ ☆

— hinata

☀️ what makes your oc genuinely happy? a person, an item, their hobby? where is the place they’re happiest, or most at home? what is the happiest they’ve ever been?

making other people happy.

hinata loves making others happy and making them smile — it makes him feel good about himself, knowing he cheered someone up and brought a smile to their face. he likes being, if only for a moment, a ray of sun in someone’s day.

if he had to pick a place he feels happiest, he’d probably say on stage in front of his fans — not just for the attention of it all (though a little of that, too), but because that’s when he’s able to make the most people smile.

🌙 if your oc could have one wish come true what would it be and why? would there be consequences to this wish or would they regret it once they get what they want? what would they give in return for this wish to come true?

hinata’s pretty content with his life as it currently is, so he wouldn’t really have any kind of wish like that. maybe to keep being able to hang out with the guys, or that his family continues to be supportive of him, but even then, those feel more like “safe” answers to him.

if he could have anything, though, he’d want to be able to go back in time and talk to his younger self. he’d want to tell him that things are going to get better in the future — that he’s going to have really good friends; that his parents will spend more time with him; and that he’s not going to be alone anymore.

❤️ what would your oc’s ideal lover be like? appearance, personality, voice? would their family approve or would it be civil war?

hinata is the kind of person who can find anyone attractive in one way or another, so appearance isn’t something that he really cares about. if you asked him, he’d say he’s into “pretty people,” but that in itself has so many meanings that it’s a non-answer.

he likes people that are fun to be around, though — overly serious people tire him out and bore him after a while. he’d like someone he could lay around with and waste time together, but ideally they’d have a little more work ethic than him otherwise nothing would ever get done. also someone who he could be himself around without thinking too hard about it — someone he could let down his guard with and just... exist with no expectations.

💕 how is your oc like with physical affection? what are their boundaries? do they enjoy being touched or is that a no-go? is there any reason behind this?

out of the four, hinata is probably the most touchy. it’s not rare for him to have his arm around someone’s (usually tai’s) shoulders or sitting so close to them that their arms are touching. he’s only like this with his friends, though — despite how he seems, he doesn’t actually like being touched by people he’s not close with.

he does make an exception for his fans, though. for them, he doesn’t mind getting close in pictures or hugging them, even if he otherwise wouldn’t like it.

[atopearth]

Collar X Malice Part 2 - Okazaki Kei Route

I wonder how Okazaki's route will go, since instead of focusing on a case, Ichika  wants to broadly focus on her reason for being a police officer, namely to protect people. Anyway, other than it being sad to see Mineo rather cold after his super cute and sweet route, I also find it saddening that we have to start all over again with Kazuki and their strained relationship😭 Anyway, Yoshinari is a pretty funny guy, he's like Mineo, capable but silly lol. I guess it's convenient that Okazaki will wake up when he hears a gun taken out of its holster lol. But yeah, it was obvious that Okazaki knew who Ichika was, there's no way they could have hidden that. Anyway, Okazaki saving her from a bunch of guys and then holding her hand was cute. I think he's right that even if it feels weird at first, to feel someone's warmth when you're scared really helps to kinda calm you down. Well, okay, Ichika is pretty ridiculous. Lol, like I can forgive her for trying to rush into a raging fire to help someone the first time but for her to try a second time?? I'm glad Okazaki shouted at her because that was beyond reckless. She has no protection, no plan, no idea of anything and she wants to save someone that's at the centre of a blazing fire? Even if she's panicking, that's pretty crazy. Not to mention that this was a park, she really should have focused on helping people around her who could be injured or feeling sick from the smoke etc. Anyway, Okazaki helped her come to her senses so she really should thank him for saving her life tbh. I know Ichika is inexperienced but I feel like this incident made it seem like what she lacks is common sense instead, but I'll give her the benefit of doubt since someone was burning to death in front of her, and that's difficult to accept and endure knowing there's nothing she can do.

I honestly feel terrible for Sugawara. I can't imagine how frightening it must be for her to be stalked for such a long period of time with no one to help her, and then having the guy wanting to kill her and himself, that's pretty crazy and I feel so sorry for her. I can see why she would trust anyone who saved her from this situation when the police obviously didn't. Omggg, there were two stalkers?! I can't imagine her frustration and fear to be relieved from one stalker (since they got arrested) and then end up being stalked again, like seriously that's absolutely crazy and I don't think any person could handle that. Okazaki pulling his gun out against Ichika (after finding out about her collar) was pretty dramatic. Seems like the memory erasing thing happens to everyone who gets captured? Anyway, I honestly felt so bad for Sugawara when she felt that being imprisoned as a criminal was better than going home and getting stalked again, it's just so saddening.. I think it was really cool and strong of Ichika to tell Okazaki to shoot her if he ever believes that she is causing things to go wrong in the investigations, it's like she's leaving her life in his hands knowing that he will make the "correct" decision. I've always admired Ichika's determination. I do feel bad for Okazaki though. Reporting Ichika to his superiors or not is a difficult decision, especially considering how seriously he takes his job. I think Ichika's thoughts really hit the nail on the head on why I just don't feel on board with her and Okazaki together. Like yeah, they're cute but I agree with her that it doesn't feel like Ichika exists in the depths of his heart, rather he is looking for something from or inside her hoping that she has it because of the "kind" person she is, and yeah apparently he's found it and wants to protect her and believe her, but I just can't help but feel that he's not really looking at her for her?

Okazaki's texts are so cute with the emojis lmao. It's also sweet how they share tidbits of their everyday life with each other. HAHAHA, I nearly died from laughter when Okazaki talked about how his robot vacuum "ran away" and never came home because he left his front door open😂😂 Okazaki buying Ichika flowers first thing in the morning to try and cheer her up from her lack of progress with the recent X-Day case was so sweet. Anyway, I have to agree with Mochida, it's really frustrating to be practically the complaint hotline department for the X-Day incidents but know nothing of the progress or results to properly reassure the public. Like literally, all they do is try and soothe people and their anger but have nothing to really inform them about, it's like they made this department just to have some people take the brunt of the complaints so others can work "easier". 

I didn't think that the rough looking guy that's a part of Adonis was actually a policeman before! Doesn't help that he looks pretty different from his photo that's at least 5 years ago... I feel like that's so saddening though, like one superior ruined so many young cops lives. Honestly, hearing that one of them has been in a mental asylum for years, and the other one left the country and never came back really kinda shows how traumatised they were by whatever happened with that "bad" cop guy that died. I feel so terrible for Sanjou and all those rookie cops Todoroki crushed mentally and physically with abuse. They all desired to be a policeman to protect people and all had dreams they wanted to fulfill, and they all endured because they believed in their justice and protection, but in the end the only thing they got was injustice and hatred from the people they tried to protect because of Todoroki's mistakes. Honestly, no matter how meaningful my job is, I don't think I could endure all that, so I'm not surprised Sanjou has resorted to becoming who he is. Sure, he's going against his principles back in the day by hurting people, but even though a part of him is still there, at the same time, he's definitely tired of everything. The thought of the moment he finally broke really tore me because thinking about all he endured is painful. On the other hand, it's interesting he thinks that Adonis can replace the police itself since really Adonis in other routes and kinda here is wrought with problems and people who are reckless and don't really have a clear goal aside from revenge. Unlike him, most of the people besides the leaders don't care about making society "better" because they're focused on their own pain and justice for themselves. Not that they're wrong to do that since Adonis chose them for that reason, but it's also because of that that Adonis is a mess that won't be a rebirth of a proper version of the "police".

I don't know if any sane person would really chase after Sanjou when Ichika's recklessness got Okazaki injured, and she's definitely useless in a battle without him, not to mention tending to his wounds are probably more important right now lol. I mean, it's not like I don't understand Takaeda's position and the need to quell the anger of the public with how incapable the police have been in stopping the X-Day crimes etc, but can't he at least be a bit more subtle with how dodgy he wants to be? Lol. Who parades around telling moralistic police officers like Morioka and Minegishi to just arrest all the suspects and not care about concrete evidence or solid alibis??? Like yes, these actions will totally make the public think you're great the moment anyone complains and this comes to light lol, like seriously. It's such a silly short term fix to the problem that I have no idea how he even thought it would be a good idea. Honestly, I would be pretty mad if I was Ichika and Okazaki said he wanted to die protecting her since he's looking for a meaningful way to die. Like excuse me?? I knew the whole protecting thing wasn't really about her even though he liked her to an extent, but I would be so annoyed if someone was "using" me like that. Sure, she needs someone to protect her and it's perfect since he doesn't really care about his life, but it's frustrating to think that in the end, how much does he really care since it's like he was just looking for someone that's kinda nice but at high risk of dying? Loll. It's like she as an individual was never really in the picture for him. I know he doesn't mean it maliciously but yeah... Something nice to see in this route is Kazuki reaching out and caring for Ichika himself because he was worried about her getting hurt, it was cute how he told her to take a day off because she's an underling anyway so it doesn't matter if she goes to work or not🤣 It was also nice to see them properly communicate by themselves, however I do think that the only reason this is happening so smoothly is because they want to get this part out of the way loll.

Anyway, Okazaki's inability to understand Ichika kinda pisses me off but Ichika isn't really communicating when he doesn't understand, so they're both wrong lol. However, I hate it when people apologise without understanding why they're wrong, like it's cool to apologise for hurting the other person, but it's not cool when you're going to insist on what the other person is mad about, so really, you might as well not apologise and instead try to communicate about the problem instead. Also, I feel sorry for Sasazuka and them, they're trying to solve the X-Day cases and here are Ichika and Okazaki having a lovers quarrel, I'm honestly glad they told them to get out and come back later because they're definitely useless to the investigations right now. I also don't really care for how Okazaki suddenly "realised" he likes Ichika and just straight out publicly confessed to her, because I personally don't feel it lol but other than that, I'm not fond of love confessions like these lol. I think what annoys me the most is Okazaki's flippant attitude as if nothing is wrong and it's not a big problem? Like he's handling it in his own way and I'm sure he's serious about it but the way he does it just pisses me off. I liked the way he was in the beginning but I guess when it comes to conflicts, his attitude is one of the worst to handle. Yoshinari is such a sweet guy, I don't know why but I feel like he's dodgy loll. Anyway though, sorry if I'm wrong, Yoshinari!

Anyway, hearing Okazaki's story really helped me understand him a bit better. Personally, the bit where he said rather than guilt for causing his colleague's death, he was more scared of dying the same way as his colleague in such a "meaningless" death kinda clicked with me. Maybe it sounds really derogatory and negative to myself, but for a long time, I've felt something similar to Okazaki in a sense, like I wouldn't actively look for danger like him, but if I were in a life threatening situation with my family or friends, I would hope that I'm the one who would die protecting them rather than the other way around. It's just, when you feel like your life is meaningless but others' lives have "value", it's hard to not think that you would want them to be the one to survive rather than yourself. So honestly, it's kinda funny to relate to Okazaki a bit even though he's been such a frustrating character to me lol. At least now I can see why he's so persistent on finding a meaningful way to die, because I think he's right, if I was going to die some way or another, I would want to die saving someone important to me. It was really cute how Ichika kept trying to show him that if he died, he wouldn't be able to eat such delicious food or watch the next part of a movie next year. It really makes me think hmmm, I'd really like to see the end of One Piece so that can keep me going lol. Something I find interesting in the materials/notes is that the Adonis who attacked the Prime Minister Okazaki was protecting two years ago was the original Adonis. The Adonis in the present are apparently viewed as a dummy group of that one🤔 I feel like that's a pretty important detail for the future, like is this Adonis just inspired by them or is it the real Adonis~ Anyway, I think what I found most chilling about Okazaki's story was when Tsukishima kept saying it was Okazaki's fault things went wrong as he was dying from being squashed by the rubble that should have squashed Okazaki. He probably meant it in some other way since he obviously regarded Okazaki as important enough to save him but hearing that as someone loses their life is definitely something difficult to handle, like these are their last words and they're telling me it's my fault so they're definitely right kinda sentiment.

Honestly, I've been rather meh about this whole route, especially with Okazaki's attitude etc, but after he so honestly confessed his feelings to her when they were watching the horror movie, I couldn't help but melt to his words. He was so sincere and honest about how he enjoyed those little moments such as the silly texts with her that I couldn't help but feel touched. He's a frustrating guy but I really do like him. Even though I could understand Ichika for trying to protect Okazaki by going to Adonis, it also made me really annoyed because she was doing exactly what she got so annoyed about Okazaki doing, which is not caring for his own life, so her not caring for her own life when she promised him that they would find a way to live together made me mad. I'm glad Okazaki got mad at her, but I'm also sad that he felt hurt over it. Especially when he already told her that if she died, he'd probably just die too. I mean, there was no way Okazaki wouldn't notice how weird she was anyway lol. 

I guess I have to agree with Okazaki's statement though, everyone has something that they want to protect, and whatever it is that protects their precious something, that is what their justice is. In the end, what we deem as justice is what we believe can protect the things important to us such as other people, our friends etc, and that is also why even if our views of justice can be "similar", what it means to each person will be different, which also means that if we lose what we desire to protect, then our justice becomes meaningless. Anyway, I really like Sanjou. I like how he does what he wants and I guess to an extent, I can understand his sentiments of not caring about this world and dying. Honestly, Sanjou breaks my heart. When Okazaki told Sanjou to leave with him (as Sanjou bombed the place and decided to die with the collapse) and he said Okazaki changed, it felt like Sanjou was really happy for him because they both connected and understood how it felt to want to die. I found it most saddening that Sanjou understood Okazaki's sentiments that yeah maybe he could eventually find something in the future worth living for, but the problem was that he didn't have enough hope to keep living in this crappy world searching for it, and I think that really made me want to cry. It's just so sad that he didn't have someone like Ichika telling him how much they wanted him to live🥺 I wonder why the Prime Minister's son is a part of Adonis🤔

I really thought I missed the trigger mode when Ichika seemed like she was dying lolll, TIL that you can check the backlog to see if the trigger mode was a success or fail so that makes things easier haha. I honestly think it would have been so tragic if Ichika died saving Okazaki though, I can't imagine having to shoulder the burden of two people you care about dying to save you and in hopes of you having a good life. Lmao when Ichika finally woke up in the hospital and asked Okazaki if he was angry at her and he sent her an angry face emoji😂 I nearly cried when Okazaki let out all his emotions over hating himself for not being able to protect Ichika properly, but I'm glad that he was so frank about all his feelings to her, it's really great how well he communicates with her now. It was nice to hear him think about wanting to be a grandma and grandpa together with her. The tragic love end was a bit disappointing though, I think it would have been better to see Okazaki have to kinda live a life fulfilling what Ichika wanted rather than kinda succumbing to death because he couldn't find a reason to live anymore, like it's understandable because he's said that he'd want to die if she died but yeah..

Overall, even though I quite liked Okazaki's character, I don't think I can really say the same for his route. I guess I just found 80% of it pretty boring tbh lol, like the messages and interactions between Ichika and Okazaki were nice in their own way, but at the same time, because Okazaki was "using" her as a way to die a meaningful death, I couldn't feel the "love" he had for her imo. What he saw wasn't really her but what she could offer him, and that's pretty prevalent and obvious when you read the bad endings. However, I did really enjoy the last like 10-20% of the route, probably when they finally communicated and got to understand each other lol. It was nice to see Okazaki so honest and sincere after being able to wholeheartedly believe in a future where they both live, so I liked that. For me, the highlight was definitely Sanjou though, I think his story and character really got to me, and I'm super sad we couldn't save him (or romance him) because I think I ended up liking him more than Okazaki lmao. I still like Okazaki though, but the route was definitely lacking for me, it honestly took me a while to get through because of that lol. In that sense, I guess it made Ichika and Okazaki not feel like that great of a match for me, even though they were pretty cute.

[dearloonies]

Which one is better: Minashiro Kazuki or Makabe Soushi? Kososhi would be Makabe Soshi. But… everyone who has crush on Kazuki are secretly jealous of the name Minashiro Kazuki. Kasugai Kazuki?

All is good but truthfully, Kazuki would've loved the name Minashiro Kazuki for himself just like how Adult!Soushi would've loved the name Makabe Soushi regardless if it's him or not who really received the surname. Kasugai Kazuki has quite a nice ring to it, but everyone who knows Kazuki knows that he would've loved to have the surname Minashiro more sooo yeah :D sorry koyo lol

[x0401x]

Why do you think the writers of the Tsurune anime decided to tone down masamina and outright cut out kaisei while pushing for sei/mina instead? It's just so baffling to me why they would alter the canon content from the novels so much. Like, what was even the point?

I’ve answered this question quite a few times before, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever made the point entirely clear, so here we go one last time. Sorry that it turned out so long.

So, in novels and manga or any written medium, creators normally have more freedom to do what they want, but when it comes to TV series, animators have been developing the habit of toning down whatever they can. Most of them have this conviction that the viewers only want to watch calm and relaxing stuff nowadays. Other than this, we get adaptations of popular works that basically exist to promote the source material, most of which rush up towards the end like crazy. It does seem like the Japanese audience has an obsession with comfort animes now, since life in Japan gets more and more stressful with each passing year, but it’s not like they’ve abandoned other genres. This general belief that creators should water down the contents however they can is pretty much destroying the industry, and it’s probably what the animators of Tsurune had in mind when changing the novel’s events into a much less dramatic versions or just cutting them off. That’s issue number 1 with the anime.

Issue number 2 is that animators of adaptations tend to ignore the reader demographic in favor of making the series neutral to please all audiences lately. But that’s only when the majority of the readers are women and girls. If it’s guys, you’d rarely see alterations. It feels like the general conception is that making the contents less “cringy” for men means more people will be watching it and having a positive opinion. It seems to completely slip the staff’s minds that the fans they disappoint mostly won’t feel willing to buy the DVDs or merchandise. This is where most of these adaptations fall flat, by the way. It’s kind of really obvious to me that these series are more prone to succeeding if the studios animate what the readers fell in love with, because the originals are popular for a reason, and it’s that people liked them the way they were. I think it’s only the expected when readers are disappointed not to see animes live up to the expectations, and that whoever picks the source material will feel the difference as well. Still, if the anime isn’t a BL, there’s this unsaid rule that you can’t show too much gay between male characters unless you have an excuse for it. Normally, nakama power and rivalry is what does the trick. I don’t think I need to mention that this is the standard in sports animes.

In the Tsurune novel, most of the gay doesn’t have an excuse. Of course, it’s not officially gay unless canon states it, but the books not only don’t give any justification for it, they get rid of possible justifications, so while you can’t say it’s not fanservice, you can’t label it as just fanservice, either. For a studio that banks off fanservice like KyoAni, that’s a problem, especially since the novel is packed with heavy scenes and even heavier quotes.

I mean, in Masaki and Minato’s case, they don’t have the nakama power or rivalry elements, so one possible excuse for them being so close would be that they’re master and disciple. But Minato makes it clear quite early in the story that Masaki doesn’t have to be his master because just having Masaki’s company is enough for him, and all in all, the two of them have a much more affectionate relationship than the other teacher-student ones from the books. Another excuse would be the found family dynamics, but Masaki already shares that with Kaito, who canonically sees Masaki as the older brother he never had, and their relationship is unlike Masaki and Minato’s as well. Kaito also has a monologue in volume 2 about Masaki treating Minato differently from everyone else in the club, and the way he describes it denotes that Minato is Masaki’s favorite, and that Masaki doesn’t bother hiding it. Just as a cherry on top, Minato often loses his rationality when it comes to Masaki despite being a serious kid, and he’s very verbal about wanting to monopolize Masaki. Add fate to the mix and you have the perfect recipe for anything except an ordinary mentor-pupil relationship.

As for Kaito and Seiya, there was a lot going on between them since the beginning, but the nakama power excuse only starts applying late in volume 1, because they didn’t get along very well at first. And even then the nakama stuff hardly applies to their interactions, where Seiya often acts like Kaito has a thing for him, for no reason other than Kaito’s reactions being amusing. Their relationship also does some big strides in the middle of volume 1, and Seiya literally migrates to Kaito’s side at some point. They don’t seem to have a friendship as strong as the one between Seiya, Minato and Ryouhei, but it’s Kaito who Seiya interacts with the most in volume 2 and he’s also the one that Seiya leans on whenever he needs any sort of assistance. There’s other unexplainable things here and there, such as Seiya taking a peek at Kaito’s sleeping face when it’s just the two of them in the room, or him implying that Kaito is jealous of the motherly attention he gives Minato. It goes on as far as the novel does. There’s literally no scene with the two of them that doesn’t make it look like Kaito is really into Seiya and that Seiya owns his ass but he’s the last one to know.

Back to the main point, it’s really hard to animate all of this without giving people “ideas”. For KyoAni, any gay exists ultimately for the sake of fetishization, and they often follow the “ship whatever you want, even yourself with the characters” model. If being gay is canonically a character trait in the original, it’s out (Violet Evergarden is probably the best example of that one), and if the gay can’t be interpreted as something else, it’s either out or downplayed. In Seiya and Minato’s case, that’s perfectly feasible. Not only are they best friends, they also have a familial relationship where Seiya treats Minato like a son. Minato has sworn eternal friendship to Seiya in the novel, and both he and Kaito describe Seiya as something like a helicopter parent. There’s more than enough counter-argument to remind the viewers that, whatever happens between Minato and Seiya, it’s all a product of their childhood friend bond. Anyone is free to interpret it differently in fanon, but the viewers (at least the Japanese ones) are ultimately aware that the anime is in its “safe zone”, portraying a friendship. Nobody on the Japanese side of the fandom actually believed that there was romance going on in it. On the other hand, if you search in Japanese for people’s impressions of MasaMina, you’ll notice people often saying that the novel makes you wonder if Minato and Masaki aren’t actually dating, or if Minato doesn’t have a puppy crush on Masaki, at the very least. Basically, everyone seems to agree that what goes on between those two is hard to define, but whatever it is, there’s this very particular, “special” air about them that differs from the rest of the characters, which normally manifests when they’re alone together.

As you can tell, this overall view is the opposite of the animators’ ideal. If the novel had been animated the way it is, it would’ve probably felt like a BL for the people watching. Not only does it come with practically set ships, it also doesn’t give much space for the proverbial “ship even yourself with the characters” option. To put it bluntly, the animation went through those changes so that it could fit the mold. It gave us SeiMina and even some NanaKai (the latter being honestly disturbing, since they’re cousins), while either toning down or erasing the rest of the duo and trio interactions. It made Minato’s accident with his mom actually seem like Seiya’s fault and didn’t really take the burden off his shoulders but instead swept it under the rug. It also made Masaki seem like a two-faced bastard who only became a coach for the sake of revenge, which means he was using his students (actual 15/16-year-olds) for his own personal gains. Shuu and Minato’s friendship went down the drain, Ryouhei was pushed aside as if Seiya was Minato’s only childhood friend, Nanao was never depicted as his own person, and the girls didn’t even exist 90% of the time. So yeah, none of the changes served any good purpose for the characters’ images. All it did was (try to) fill a quota.

Personally, this whole thing feels like we’re being told to the face, “we’ve given you what you want, now give us your money”. It brings me back to interviews I’ve read featuring Stars Align director Akane Kazuki and his statements about the anime industry being in a pinch, specifically because animators nowadays keep trying to make a fool out of the audience for monetary ends. Seems clear to me that the staff thought the female viewers would latch onto anything as long as it looked remotely gay, and that’s why I was so angry back then. Being looked down on like this by people who expect us to consume their media is pretty offensive, in my opinion. I’m glad there’s at least one creator speaking up about this matter and using the exact same arguments as I have been for more than two years now.

[subliminalcherry-blog]

Long Ass Enta Rant

The only thing more problematic than defending Enta’s behavior because he’s “14″ and “we all did dumb things as kids” (I sure as hell didn’t do the things Enta does toward my crush at 14 but I’m not going to get into that) is claiming that any hate/criticism directed at Enta is based on homophobia?? Or an adult not understanding how a child’s mind works when they’re in love? 

And after seeing so many posts in the tags about it, I’m going to explain why that’s a garbage conclusion to come to.

Like, y’all do realize that Reo and Mabu are the fandom’s favorite characters, the most popular characters to come out of the show while it’s airing regardless of whether people read the Manga first or not, and they’re both undoubtedly, definitely, and indisputably gay? And they’re both ADULTS out here relentlessly murdering people but they’re still well liked. 

Where are these homophobia claims coming from? They’re both baseless and stupid. A characters sexuality should NOT be a shield from criticism. Ever. 

For people who shit on Reo and Mabu fans for still liking them but in the same breath, criticizing Enta, People can continue to like Reo and Mabu despite all the things they do because we can acknowledge that they’re the bad guys and they’re intended to be the shows main villains or at least so far that is what we are being lead to believe. No one tries to justify the things they do.  No one is saying Reo is in the right for trying to kill multiple children and MAYBE succeeding the second time around. They’re villains. They don’t try to justify their actions or so far have not made themselves out to be victims. And most of all, we don’t see their fans jumping to their defense every time they do something inherently wrong. Most of us were just as shocked as anyone else that Reo’s crazy ass shot Enta. But moving on.

 In the case of Enta, what’s worse than the things he unapologetically does is his fans acting like the things he does aren’t bad and use his age and sexuality to guilt people and deflect criticism from him as a character. First of all, gay people do not need to be coddled and treated like they can do no wrong. Real gay people are human beings who make mistakes and eventually own up to them. Enta has not and has only continued to make mistakes while learning nothing from them. I understand that Sarazanmai is short and fast paced, but that’s still no excuse in my opinion. Second of all, No one is vilifying Enta because he’s gay. That aspect of his character is largely irrelevant compared to the things he does. Enta is not being singled out because he’s the only openly gay character of the main trio. He’s being criticized because the things he does are inherently wrong and mostly without justification. And he’s not the only one being criticized. 

Kazuki, Mabu and Reo have all come under fire for the things they do. Chikai maybe has faced backlash as well, especially for what he does in episode 8, but I haven’t went out of my way to look for it. The only one of the relevant cast, Sara aside, who hasn’t done a thing to warrant backlash is maybe Tooi. You can bring up the fact that he killed someone and his brother covered it up, but he was a child, even younger than Enta and he did it in self-defense - and was lead to believe that was something he must do to project his brother who shifted the blame onto himself. It is in my opinion that Chikai pretty much conditioned him into thinking this was an acceptable lifestyle and choice, but I’m not entirely confident that it was written with that intent so just take that for a grain of salt.

As per the Ikuhara character standard nowadays, Enta is a piece of shit. He makes himself out to be a victim and his fans treat him as such. He refuses to see the error of his ways even if he hurts the person he cares about the most and wants to connect to in the process. He’s not entirely unsympathetic and sometimes he may even be understandable, but he’s shown to take things to illogical extremes, as Ikuhara characters tend to do. He acts entitled to Kazuki, and only loves the idealized version that he once knew or ultimately made up in his head, refusing to accept that Kazuki doesn’t reciprocate his feelings. Enta is the type of character that everyone would hate if he was a straight male character doing these things to a disinterested female character. But suddenly because he’s gay it’s justifiable and endearing and anyone that doesn’t like him is a homophobe? That’s ridiculous. I don’t give a shit what a character or human beings sexuality is. A piece of shit is a piece of shit. 

I’m not even going to lie. I wanted to like Enta at first. I was following Sarazanmai since it was first announced and when the character designs first came out, Right off the bat, I wasn’t a fan of his design or how aggressive he was toward the other characters in the trailers. For me, those were red flags. But I still tried to like him regardless. when he kissed Kazuki, I got excited until the implications of his actions fully set in for me. Kissing someone without their consent isn’t okay, especially if the person is asleep. That was already another red flag for me. And then they reveal that he just stepped up to the next level of creepy by making him sniff kazukis clothes and suck on his recorder for indirect kisses? He has delusions about him? And people tried to justify it because he’s 14 as if it wouldn’t be creepy if it happened to someone in real life or again, if a male anime character did it to a female anime character? Only scenario I could see this not receiving hate wildly in is if it was a comedy anime or something but then we’d still have a number of people labeling the character as a creep.

Enta’s love for Kazuki is unhealthy. It’s more than just being a dumb awkward gay 14 year old who has their first crush on someone. He’s just a character in a long line of Ikuhara character’s that don’t display their love for another person in  way that is understandable or healthy. I don’t see how relatable this character could be on a surface level when you think of all the things he’s done. He’s not a borderline rapist like Ringo from Mawaru Penguindrum, which I’m grateful for because she may be one of the most unlikeable characters Ikuhara has ever written, but he’s basically Lulu 2.0 from Yuri Kuma Arashi except a guy. He even ““dies”” in the same way as her. 

While Kazuki is no saint and getting some of the backlash he deserves, Enta is not entitled to Kazuki and part of the hate directed at Kazuki shouldn’t have anything to do with his feelings or the lack of them toward Enta or being too dim-witted to acknowledge them. Enta is not a victim just because his love is unrequited. He’s a flawed character, borderline unlikeable for some including myself and relatable for others but a flawed Ikuhara character nonetheless. The criticism he receives is not baseless. It’s not based on homophobia. He’s not being singled out because he’s an ““awkward gay 14 year old” as if a homophobe would sit through this show for 8 episodes anyway just to come to that conclusion. Episode 1 was a turn off for even people who aren’t homophobic anyway —

He’s criticized because he’s a flawed character that shows no remorse for his actions, acts entitled, acts like a victim in situations where he’s in the wrong, is a creep and is currently fighting Kazuki for the title of the most unlikeable, most unsympathetic character in the cast for me and no amount of ““self sacrifice” is going to change that for me until i see him change. I think next to Tooi, he’s better written than Kazuki, who imo has been bland and never stopped being bland. But that doesn’t necessarily make him a good character or ““well-written” either. 

At the end of the day, it boils down to your opinions and perspectives. It just gets tiresome seeing people trying to write off criticism toward Enta as irrelevant just because he’s gay or because he’s “14″ as if this “14″ year old wasn’t written by a grown man with a history of writing problematic underage characters? Ringo didn’t initially get a slap on the wrist when she was shitty until she truly earned her sympathy card. None of the characters in Yuri Kuma did either except Lulu who ended up dying despite being the most likeable character in the cast. 

The amount of people I see defending him makes me think this is a lot of you’s first Ikuhara anime. Most of us who have seen Ikuhara anime before would have expected a character like this due to his repetitive story-telling and character molds. Like I said before, Ikuhara has a history of writing problematic characters. Everyone in the main cast is in a way, even Tooi. Sara is squeaky clean for now, but she may end up being a morally grey character as well.

I just can’t take the opinions of people who make baseless claims like that seriously. Or people who try to justify Enta’s actions because of his age either. He’s a FICTIONAL CHARACTER. not a real 14 year old. I don’t get why people are so defensive over him either. I get that we can relate to characters sometimes, but the amount of projection I’m seeing is almost as unhealthy as his obsession with Kazuki.

Anyway, come for me if you want. Send hate or whatever. If you wanna discuss your perspective on Enta’s character, feel free to do that too. 

If anything, y’all should be mad that all the most outwardly problematic characters in the show are gay and barely have any justification for their actions. I mean Kazuki tried to kidnap someone and impersonated Sara because he wanted to form a connection with his brother, but he not only failed at getting Sara kidnapped, he also learns from his actions and tries to form a genuine connection with Haruka on his own. Being dismissive of Enta’s romantic feelings for him shouldn’t be an subject of criticism and shouldn’t warrant a justification. If you aren’t interested, you aren’t interested. Onto Tooi - We don’t know what Tooi’s sexuality is, but his justification for killing a guy was self defense and he was most likely conditioned into believing that the lifestyle he lives is acceptable by his brother.

 What’s Enta’s excuse other than that he was jealous? Reo and Mabu didn’t didnt have a genuine excuse to kill all of those people, including trying to kill Harukawa and then shooting Enta. I understand that they’re threatened with death, but They could have just threatened Kazuki and Enta into giving up the dishes of hope since they had a gun. Just saying. 

Anyway rant over. If you lasted this long, what are you doing with your life. And what am I since I sat down and wrote all this shit.

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Sarazanmai Episode 7: “I Want To Connect, But I Want To Betray”

I was getting a little suspicious of how seemingly perfect things seemed to be with our main trio for most of this episode, but then the final scene happened and oh boy do I love dying and being dead :)

I feel like a bit of a broken record by saying this at this point, but this episode was So Much, all at once.

Anyway, thoughts under the cut.

Oh boy, where do I even start with this one. My precious traumatized gay cop dads Reo and Mabu, or my Disaster Gay son Enta? Ikuhara’s really spoiling me with all these options for emotional pain :))))

There’s definitely at least a few people watching the show who really hate Enta, and I guess this episode probably isn’t gonna change their minds, lol. I had a feeling something like this was gonna happen, though, since it seemed obvious to me that his whole character arc hadn’t been resolved yet. I could tell that his feelings for Kazuki would end up becoming an even bigger deal later. I didn’t expect it to happen right at the start of the anime’s second half, though.

I definitely wasn’t expecting it to play out with Enta messing up his own beloved practice spot and stealing Keppi’s dishes to try and sabotage Toi’s place as their new friend. I guess it was all a bit too perfect to be true.

In a lot of ways, I think this was a really necessary bit of conflict to bring up and put in the forefront, so I’m glad it’s happening. The idea of Kazuki trying to bring Toi into his and Enta’s friend group now that he’s in a better emotional place, and Enta internally freaking out and deciding to sabotage it all to keep Kazuki to himself, was a bit of an inevitability after the last episode, in hindsight. It’s really tragic that, as a direct consequence of Kazuki and Toi getting closer and happier as individuals, Enta’s repressed issues with obsession and jealousy are getting set off. It was pretty obvious after the first few episodes that Enta was going to get more and more jealous of Toi for getting close to Kazuki, and now it’s all coming to a head.

I only just thought of it now, but I guess it makes sense that this week’s kappa zombie was angrily jealous of balls because he wanted to be the one getting kicked. Enta wants to be the only object of Kazuki’s affection and attention, no matter what he has to do to get it, even if he ends up getting strung along and indirectly hurt by Kazuki in the process.

Also this week’s kappa zombie had a soccer ball for a head, was wearing a ball gag, and fantasized about getting kicked in the balls, so I’m just gonna leave that whole pile of puns on the table for us to appreciate.

Anyway, I feel bad for everyone in the main trio at this point, and it’s hard to imagine this ending with none of them being hurt. It’s really becoming apparent now that their desires are in conflict, and that they need to work through their shit before they can actually all be mutual friends.

In particular I feel really bad for Toi now, since he seemed genuinely happy about being able to become real friends and play soccer with Kazuki and Enta [I see you laying out hints for Toi having known the two of them through soccer as children, Ikuhara, don’t think I can’t see you being sneaky], and then he had to deal with the stress of finding out that his brother got betrayed and might end up having to go on the run, which would force Toi to commit to immersing himself into a solitary life of crime for good. And then even after Kazuki brings up the idea of using the dishes of hope to fix what’s going on with Toi’s brother so they don’t have to go into hiding, we find out that Enta stole the dishes.

At the very least, the fact that Enta stole them in the first place probably means it won’t be hard to get them back from him. But I have a feeling that Enta still might not want them to use the dishes for Toi’s sake. Considering that this episode cuts off right at the end of Enta’s secret-leaking sequence, I think there’s gonna be a lot of subsequent conflict between them about it in the next episode.

I think that sooner or later the fact that Enta has a possessive crush on Kazuki is going to have to come out and get addressed by all of them, and this seems like it’s probably the best time to get that out the way once and for all. I wouldn’t be surprised if Toi ends up being the one to really force everyone to acknowledge it, since Kazuki and Enta would probably just fall back into this pattern of willful ignorance and silence if nobody else forces the issue.

At this point I don’t exactly expect Kazuki to return Enta’s feelings, but I think that Enta needs SOME sort of closure so that he can move on with his life and let both him and Kazuki make new friends.

I’d been thinking for a while that both Enta and Toi still need to have their own character arcs resolved, especially now that Kazuki’s has basically been resolved, and surprisingly enough it looks like both of their arcs might get focused on at more or less the same time now, considering that there’s pressing issues going on with both of their lives, and their desired individuals. If it means that things with both of them might more or less get wrapped up soon, that’d probably be good for the sake of narrative speed, since we only have four episodes left.

I still feel a bit suspicious about how Kazuki’s whole peppy attitude and willingness to connect with everyone feels a bit TOO perfect to be happening just halfway into the show, but there’s not really even that much time left for there to be too much more to happen with his character. But we’ll see.

In general this episode is really making me curious about how exactly the pacing of the last four episodes will go, and what stuff will get focused on in them. But before I get into Reo and Mabu and all of their emotional pain and Otter Empire worldbuilding, I wanna just comment on the complete out of left field reveal that Sara and Keppi are apparently a couple and they’ve just casually reunited off-screen.

I know that Sara’s TV show was subtly setting up this background plot of her ‘looking for her prince’, but I wasn’t expecting it to come up and apparently get resolved so quickly, lol. I’m somehow even more confused about what Sara’s whole deal is, and where her character is going. To begin with, I still REALLY hope the anime delves into her history with Reo and Mabu, since that still seems way too important not to bring up.

Ikuhara’s always bad a bit of a fascination with the concept of ‘princes’, which as far as I can tell is something he’s revisited time and time again [although other than Sarazanmai I’ve still only watched Utena], so it’s kinda interesting in a lot of ways to see how he’s handling Keppi as this silly, comedic little dude who just randomly reunites with his beloved princess off-screen. It actually reminds me a bit of stuff from the Utena movie.

Anyway, I guess I can’t skirt around the elephant in the room, or should I say the otter in the room, any longer. Reo and Mabu fucked me up this episode, not gonna lie. I just want them to be happy in the end.

I honestly wasn’t expecting their scenes in this episode to be so . . . blunt and straightforward in the worldbuilding they delved into. It’s still confusing in it’s own way, but now we know that the Otter Empire weren’t able to properly heal Mabu’s injuries, and had to give him a mechanical heart to keep him alive, which has clearly stunted his emotions. At this point their whole story together is reminding me of real-world cases where a relationship starts fracturing at the seams when one person gets into an accident that ends up changing their personality, and that sudden shift causes all sorts of complicated feelings for the both of them. Which, ironically enough, I have a bit of indirect personal history with, since my father ended up breaking up with his girlfriend after she got into a cycling accident that gave her mild brain damage.

Though it also really comes across like Mabu is on magical metaphorical life support, and Reo is living with this constant awareness that Mabu is suffering in this state of half-life that he can choose to end if he wants to. But of course, it’s clear that Reo is violently opposed to the idea of killing Mabu, no matter what he says about refusing to accept the way he is now. I hope that one way or another they can get a happy ending together, even if they can’t return to exactly how they used to be.

This episode also seems to pretty blatantly confirm my suspicions that Mabu’s maintenance is at least metaphorically sexual in nature, if not literally. It also looks like he specifically gets his maintenance from someone in the Otter Empire, which is interesting, but I guess it makes sense. It also looked like he was being taught how to make food again, which makes it seem like he’s being slowly taught how to live a normal life again, which has it’s own real-world medical parallels.

I’m also wondering now if this is actually still Mabu with just his brain and emotions affected by his injuries, or if he’s more like a manufactured AI implanted into Mabu’s body that’s being trained how to mimic him. Either could be true, I guess. Mabu’s line about ‘wanting to be the one that’s desired’ was really sad, though, and it makes me think that one way or another he genuinely wants to be the version of himself that Reo loves, even if that might be impossible now.

It’s also still kinda unclear to me whether or not Reo and Mabu are actually meant to be otters, or if they’re humans working for the Otter Empire, or what. They definitely seem to be working for them, but every time we see anyone else from the Empire, they’re very obviously a different type of creature to Reo and Mabu, who just look like regular people.

We also found out right at the end that they’ve apparently locked up Keppi’s dark desire in the water tank thing that they dump people’s corpses into in order to create kappa zombies, which is certainly interesting. I’m not quite sure what to make of it yet, though.

On the whole topic of what these final four episodes will focus on, I still wonder when and how Reo and Mabu will come into direct contact with the main trio, since thus far they’ve been kinda going down parallel lines in the story without ever directly crossing paths. But obviously they’re gonna have to clash at some point before this is all over. With how this episode went, it’s possible that the series will focus on wrapping things up with Enta and Toi before the big climactic confrontations, though. Plus there’s the whole detail of if/when we’ll dive into Reo and Mabu’s history with Sara.

At the very least, it’s spelled out even more clearly here that Reo’s main motive seems to be getting the dishes in order to save Mabu. Which I could actually see quickly leading to a big conflict between him and the main trio, considering that most of this episode lead up to the whole plot point of Kazuki deciding that he wants to use the dishes to save Toi’s brother. So it seems like that whole conflict of motives might be where the two teams finally clash. I said before that the whole thing with Enta stealing the dishes could easily get fixed if he just gives them back, but I think it’s very likely that Reo might swoop in and steal them for himself, which would lead to a situation where both teams need to steal the dishes the other has in order to make a full set so they can make their wish. I think that the main trio should have one from the kappa zombie they just defeated, and if Reo steals the ones that Enta took, he’d have four, so they’d both need what the other has to get a complete set of five.

I’d been wondering whether or not this first gold plate they’re working toward would be the big climax of the story, or if there’d be time for them to get a second gold plate afterward, but at this point I think it’ll definitely just come down to this one wish.

On the one hand, I know I’ve said before that I think Reo deserves it most because his issue isn’t something he can solve otherwise, but at this point I think it’s possible for him to just accept Mabu’s situation and love him for who he currently is, and on the other hand, the situation with Toi’s brother is probably too big for the main trio to solve without the help of a wish, so I’m shifting over toward thinking that Toi deserves it more. But of course that leads back to the issue of Enta clearly not wanting that to be how this ends, lol.

There is just A Lot going on at this point in terms of conflicts and motives and what everyone wants and how everything will turn out, and the main two groups of characters haven’t even directly come into contact with each other yet!

Even though we just have four episodes left, if we’re already moving into the big endgame conflicts now that there’s five silver dishes in play and two major wishes that want to be granted, I think that’s enough time to make it all work out nicely, in terms of pacing.

[houkagokappa]

Sarazanmai theories!

Okay so I have three theories; tell me what you think!

1.) Reo and Mabu are anti-heroes working undercover to expose the “boss” they were talking to in episode 3 or are being coerced into working for him (maybe one of both their lives hang in the balance)

2.) Kazuki is somehow responsible for Haruka’s accident; and no one knows but him. This is why he’s been so distant; it’s a secret he thinks will make him lose everyone he loves so he shut down from his loved ones (ie quitting soccer, pretending to be an idol to express his love for his brother secretly, etc.)

3.) Enta’s wish is to “pass Kazuki the ball that will lead him to score a goal.” Possibly Enta will sacrifice himself to make Kazuki’s wish come true, and they won’t end up together :(

( I reeaaaally hope they do though lol)

P.S: I was cringing and laughing the whoooooole time Enta’s creepy horny crush behavior happened; puberty is a terrible terrible hilarious thing lol

Hi, thank you for sending me your theories!! I love reading what other people come up with!

1) I agree. I don’t think they’re fully on their boss’s side. I suspect something happened to Mabu which made them start working for him. Based on the tweets they initially had contact with ア and were alarmed by the otter heart signs that started to appear around the city. Additionally, in the novel Reo’s final “As you wish” line is described as insincere, it’s so overly polite it becomes rude instead.

While I think it’s more likely they’re being coerced into working for him for their own personal gain, I could see them do it for the greater good as well, to protect the peace of the city and all that. However since their work involves actually murdering people, I don’t think their moral code should allow it. (I know Ikuhara shows tend to have morally grey characters, but then again he doesn’t have any truly altruistic ones either).

2) Kazuki’s mind is still a mystery to me. I’m pretty sure he thinks he was the one responsible for Haruka’s accident. If what you’re saying is true and he’s the only one who knows about it, that would explain his actions to me better than just plain guilt does, although it’s still a very weird way for him to deal with it, especially when Haruka seems so open and forgiving. My only counterargument is why we haven’t seen this in his leaks then? It sounds like a much larger and heavier secret than crossdressing and cat theft. (They might be saving it for a later reveal, but in-universe wise shouldn’t the biggest secrets be revealed first? Maybe their leaks are being manipulated?)

3) Oh no, when you put it like that it seems like a real possibility! Ikuhara loves the self-sacrifice trope, I fully expect him to use it in Sarazanmai as well. Enta will probably help Kazuki, but I don’t think he’ll do it in a way that makes him disappear. That said, I also don’t think they’ll end up together, because Kazuki doesn’t respond to Enta’s feelings and I don’t see him fall for him either.

OMG YES it was soooo bad. The whole time I could tell what Enta was about to do so I half covered my eyes, looked away and begged him not to go through with any of it. It was beyond cringey for me, I’m glad you were able to see the humour in it though lol!

[libertasforte]

Sarazanmai is the magical boy anime we didn’t need, but deserve anyway

I binged Sarazanmai because I was told that it’s mindblowingly weird. What I wasn’t told was that it’s a magical boy anime - and a rather straightforward one, at that.

Simply put: it’s a story where the Capitalist Empire that harvests Desire is depicted as the force of evil, to be vanquished by the Power of Love of the magical boy protagonists.

Sarazanmai is also, insofar as I can understand the word, camp -  “a form both of performance and of perception celebrating theatricality and excess, improvising reality as a stage for outrageously ironic self-display and reinvention”. What Sarazanmai isn’t, is that it isn’t subtle. Its tight structure distills the bare bones minimum needed to deliver its message. In this post, I will lay out the message of Sarazanmai so far, up to the 7th episode.

To this end, I will examine in order the 4-point progression of the main characters: Red Boy, Green Boy, Blue Boy, Cop.

(Okay, they have names: Kazuki, Enta, Tooi, and Reo and Mabu. I won’t be using their names, since I don’t remember them.)

It’s given to us in the OP animation that each of these four characters has an object of Fixation, someone they want to “connect” to.

The Red Boy, on his little brother. The Green Boy, on the Red Boy. The Blue Boy, on his older brother. The Exotic Cop, on the Robot Cop. (I refer to him as Exotic based on the way he is coded: “colored” skin, grinning with sharp teeth. Perhaps a less palatable, but more precise way of describing his coding would be “Predatory.” Similarly, the other Cop is Robot coded, and is an actual artificial being besides. It synergizes with their coding as Seme Cop and Uke Cop, but let’s leave that aside for now)

Red Boy: Establish structure What’s in the box: crossdressing

The first episode introduces the format. In each episode, a Zombie is defeated. There is a transformation sequence in which the three protagonists transform into three Kappas, and they make a pilgrimage to the Zombie to retrieve what was taken. The Zombie is used to tie together the conflict in each episode: the action of defeating the Zombie is serves to accentuate the psychological and emotional narrative being told about the main characters. This technique is prevalent in a lot of action animes, not just Magical Girl ones.

The Box is the thing in which shameful things are kept. Each of the three protagonists has boxed something up. Shame is the disowned part of the self, hidden away because the self believes that it will make them unworthy of connection.

In this episode, the Zombie is of a man who has a fetish for running around naked with a box on his head. Okay, weird as far as fetishes go, what does it mean? Shameful things are hidden in the Box, and he’s ashamed of what’s in his head. Seems like the metavillain, or a portrait of the writer. Let’s get back to this.

For Red, Crossdressing = Shame. Nothing is explicitly delved into about this shame at its introduction, but it is obvious to us the audience that he finds this shameful because we live in a society.

Green Boy: Demonstrate established structure What’s in the box: a symbol of “wrong” love

It’s simple and cliche, and “I had a gay crush on my best friend” is straightforward as far as queer narratives go. It’s nice how “Golden Duo” could be a homage to the Golden Lovers of professional wrestling fame.

Blue Boy: Use structure to connect to larger ideas What’s in the box: gun

Blue’s story dives off the deep end into the forsaken, disowned bastion of masculinity: organized crime. It’s straightforward as far as manpain goes: “Mama, I killed a man, pulled my trigger, now he's dead.”

Some messages are stated: “The bad people survive,” and those who don't survive are plastered over by the logic of capitalism. The logic of competition that demands strength before what is right and good; strength before sentiment, strength before justice.

Cops: Raise the spectre of the villain and connect to an ending What’s in the box: humans

The Empire extracts Desire.

Sakushu(搾取), the Japanese word used here for extract, also means to milk, squeeze out, or wring out. Sakushu is also the Japanese translation of the Marxist idea of exploitation, in the sense that labor is exploited under capitalism. The imagery is that of a brutal logic of an assembly line of boxed products. It depicts humans packaged as commodities to be consumed, labor to be mined, like batteries in The Matrix.

Desire has a pivotal role in the capitalist logic, as it pertains to things that are not explicitly needs. If you don’t need it, you want it, and that is desire, and its fulfillment is utility. Desire also plays a role in aspiration. The desire for achievement and status encourages labor and greed - the sense that one can never have enough. The mass consumer-laborer is lead to chase the dopamine hit of achievement and acquisition.

With each Zombie, the Cops judge the nature of the Fixation as Love or Desire. The simple, functional difference is that Desire is useful: Love is not. Desire is burned as energy, Love is shredded as waste. The energy given by Desire that these beings - including the Kappa - digest and feed on, is mass-extracted and mass-produced by the Empire, and contributes into the Empire’s power. The extraction of Desire produces a Zombie which moves goods, which brings to mind the logistical feat of the selling of a product, produced for mass consumption.

At the end of episode 7, it’s revealed that the Cops once Loved each other. Tragically, the Robot Cop was turned into a robot. The object of Exotic Cop’s fixation is now artifice. Perhaps this is the evil of corrupt adulthood, capitalist society: the perversion of Love into a Desire for Product. If the evil Empire extracts Desire, in contrast, the magical boys stand for the Love that cannot have Desire extracted out of it.

Who is the naked Man with a Box on his Head?

What to make of the man who’s ashamed of what’s in his head? With the Box as Product, it could symbolize the forsaking of connection and the retreat into porn, virtual reality. It also seems like the predicament of the writer of this story, and any author: the boxing and selling of the human experience into media, to produce content for consumption. Can this writer tell his family about what he’s written?

What is Red Boy’s narrative?

Symbolically: The Boxing of the Girl.

Suppose that everyone originally inherently regards themselves without gender, and there is some part of them that aspires to be a boy, and some part of them that aspires to be a girl. Societally, there is a shaming of the part of a cisboy that aspires to be a girl. It’s the male cisheteronormative narrative, or male compulsory heterosexuality: shut down the self-feminine in shame, and find it in a woman outside of yourself. On the pain of shame: the threat of being expelled from the circle of humanity.

What next?

With the resolution of Red’s arc vis-a-vis his little brother and reaffirmation of his connection and belonging within his family and among his friends, the three protagonists play soccer together in the spirit of communal Love. But their commons are trashed, their hope is stolen - by Green, himself, out of envy for Red and Blue. I can read into this, but I’ll let the anime speak for itself first.

The writer, of Utena fame, is infamous for his tragic stories, but I’m holding out my hopes for a happy resolution. It seems like a return to form for someone whose breakout work was in Sailor Moon.

Genuine Connection: You can’t fake it, you can’t steal it, you can’t consummate it. You can’t soak in it, you can’t forgive it, you can’t give it up, and you want to betray it. How to resolve it?

Unfortunately, sexualization

I have to touch on the fact that the anime is, very, very, unfortunately, pedo, with its sexualization of middle schoolers. (The innuendos are more blatant before translation.) What partly salvages it is that it’s camp. I mean, shit’s wrecked, but that does not mean someone cannot attempt to salvage it. It’s not porn, and a part of me wants to go dumpster diving to explore to what effect the sexual metaphor is used, and what the anime has to say about sexuality. Rough thoughts: the exposé of shame, and the corresponding destruction of the self that accompanies it - a catharsis - jouissance?

[blankie-greenie-anon]

Sarazanmai Speculation Time!

All of us who’ve seen Ikuni’s previous works would know that he’s got a few MOs. I’m gonna guess the story by referring to those MOs. In case some of you haven’t memorized the names of the characters and their appearances, I’ll  include a poster and describe each character.

Kazuki - In front of everyone else, with the plainest design. Tooi - Wears a hoodie and looks like a typical emo teen. Enta - Redhead megane Reo - Tanned cop with bleached hair AKA the Gyaru cop Mabu - Megane cop Sara - Girl with long dark hair wearing pink, only her back is seen

Okay, let’s start.

Forgotten First Meetings One prediction I have is that the policemen might have forgotten they used to care for Sara. Another is that Kazuki and Tooi met when they were younger.

Stock Footage Probably the extraction of shirikodama from the zombies and their defeat.

Magical (sort of) Girls Must be Sara.

Lesbians Gays The policemen, definitely. I mean, they raised a baby together, live together, and had a spin-off story in a BL magazine. Maybe the kids might be interested in each other. I can imagine Enta having an unrequited crush on Kazuki, whereas the latter has feelings for Tooi, who refuses to reciprocate because he was excluded by others and thus, has fears of abandonment.

Feel free to add more! @the-hebrew-impact-frame Please, I need help spreading this post to others interested in Sarazanmai and/or Ikuni. The tag is too inactive!