#kotaro mochizuki

[kamenstranger]

Kamen Rider J + KR Trilogy Bluray review

This has been a long time time coming. I had originally planned to review J a couple years back, but once Media Blasters announced their bluray set in the middle of 2021, I decided to hold off until then. Then some other things happened with that set, but we’ll get to that in due time. For now, I want to focus on the movie itself, and we should start with the production. As I brought up way back in the ZO review, there were plans for a proposed television sequel/continuation. Keita Amemiya had very early concepts of an upgraded ZO with contrasting boots, gloves, and a scarf. The villains would be based on iconic Rider monsters like the Bee Woman and Cobraman/Ambassador Hell, continuing the modern homages the film had with the Bat and Spider creatures. These plans never went beyond concept art, as it was quickly decided to instead do another movie, mainly for cost and the uncertainty of the economy. But once a movie had been chosen over a TV series, ZO was pushed aside as it was felt the movie status was better suited to an original Rider. (although J would ironically look very much like ZO, just with a narrow mouth plate and light green, almost root like structures instead of the gold) Unused elements from Shin and ZO would make their way into J, primarily the stronger association with the Rider’s connection to the earth. Amemiya’s contributions would mainly be in the selection and designs of the monsters, while Shozo Uehara was convinced to write the script by Amemiya personally. Keep in mind, Uehara was the original writer on Black, and it’s still not clear why he left that project. But he wasn’t keen to work with Toei without some persuasion. J also had a fast turn around for the schedule, a mere 20 days. As a result of that tight turn around… well, let’s just say we’re gonna fly through this story synopsis.

We open with our protagonist, Kouji Segawa (Yuta Mochizuki) an environmental photographer currently documenting the dwindling wild life in the mountains. He and his friend, Kana (Yuka Nomura) are set upon by three extra terrestrial beings; Garai, Zu, and Agito, who serve a giant a techno-organic monstrosity known as the Fog Mother, whose offspring devoured the Dinosaurs. Kana is selected as a sacrifice for the soon to hatch new batch, while Kouji is killed trying to protect her. He is revived deep underground, chosen by earth spirits as a warrior to protect the planet from the alien Fog, turning him into Kamen Rider J. A talking Grasshopper named Berry joins him on his quest to defeat the aliens and save Kana. Sensing the immense power of J, the Fog Mother sends Agito to kill Kouji. After a brief struggle, Agito turns into a lizardman, but Kouji assumes his J form for the first time and attacks on nearly equal footing.

Can we stop to appreciate this creature suit? It’s like a much more refined mutant from Kamen Rider Black, and the detail is simply incredible. Adding to the that is the uniqueness of this being a quadruped in the style on Anguirus.

Speaking of Black, J’s shown with fleshy bits and smoke whenever he’s damaged, leaning into the organic quality. I'm not sure how intentional it was, but even Jiro Okamoto’s body language is very much like Kotaro in the film. Another thing I really like about this fight is that J struggles. He has an idea of what he’s doing but there’s also a lot of improvisation, and by the end of the relatively short fight he’s tired. Most Rider’s have an instant grasp on their powers once they transform, but J isn’t a skilled fighter and over exerts himself in his first outing. ZO also had a similar scenario with the first Doras fight, but J struggles even more and I kinda dig that. The first battle being set in a ravine is also a nice change up from the urban decay look of ZO. The fight ultimately climaxes with J Punching out the eyeball and brains of Agito, sending him down the cliff side. Kouji continues his journey, eventually coming to a foggy forest area where he’s now confronted by Zu in an almost dreamlike arena. She quickly turns into a Wasp Woman and attacks. We end up at the ever reliable quarry. This fight is also shockingly scary. I know we point to the early Showa Riders as being wildly dangerous with the actors way too high up, but this fight is downright terrifying to watch in J. At one point they’re suspended over a cliff side and it just doesn’t stop. The camera keeps moving with them and I legit got a sinking feeling watching it.

Amemiya later commented that this is one of his three favorite shots over his career, and I completely understand why. In a last ditch effort, she sends the two of them crashing into the Fog Mother, where Zu dies. But hey, Kouji is conveniently at the third of the Fog Underlings, Garai, who seemingly kills Berry and becomes a Cobra Man. Our third fight is the most unique visually, what with it being in the Fog Mother. It becomes claustrophobic as J runs through the fleshy tunnel system with sometimes the only light coming from the glow of Garai’s repurposed LaserBlade prop-- which is probably an in-joke from Amemiya’s earliest work being on the particle effects for the Space Sheriff series.

This is inner-cut with poor Kana being besieged by the Fog Mother’s newly birthed children, dangling in a cage overhead as they nip at her. The cage breaks and she has to hang onto the rope. It’s surprisingly harrowing. But the show stopping sequence happens after Garai is defeated: the “Jumbo Formation” scene, where J exits the Fog Mother goes Ultra sized to combat her. We start with low angle shots up of J, followed by shots of his feet as he walks, the camera framed behind a treeline in the foreground. We move up to waist height, Radio Towers in the foreground, and then finally a shot of J’s head from a mountain ridge.

The entire ending sequence is undoubtedly where a good chunk of the budget went. The Fog Mother is fairly complicated and detailed for this type of production and they wrecked the hell out of it with J whaling on it.

This is also a point of contention on some level. Amemiya was reportedly vehemently against it, as was Ishinomori. Rider, particularly of this era, was much less flashy, right down do the monsters just dying and not exploding. So this Ultraman style growing felt at odds with everything else, a bit too fantastical, even more than a psychic Fetus Grasshopper in Shin. But they needed a big climax for the film and didn’t have a lot of time. Ishinomori relented on the condition that it be a one off ability granted as a gift from the earth, which is heavily implied to be the case within the film itself. He did not want J defined by just being the Rider that could grow like Ultraman. So uh, yeah, interesting to see where things went afterwards in all the anniversary films. Still, its hard to deny the spectacle of the whole thing, culminating with J delivering what was quite possibly the coolest Rider kick up to that point with an atmospheric re-entry burning foot. We get one last fake out with the Fog Mother before she’s truly killed and Kouji is finally able to rest. Kana is saved, life begins to return to the mountain, Kana and Kouji return to the normal lives, and Kouji hears Berry thank him as we transition to the end credits featuring the amazing Kokoro Tsunagu Ai.

Kamen Rider J… is an odd duck in its placement, both as a Rider film and the works of Amemiya. It feels like a compromise, something that was needed to fill a slot at the Toei Super Hero Fair, in much the same way ZO was a year prior, but without the same benefits ZO had. Don’t misunderstand, there are some amazing visuals in this, particularly some of the stunts, which I must stress Yuta Mochizuki is doing almost all of the out of suit actions. Likewise, the creature designs are on point and the overall look is what you’d expect from Amemiya, Takayuki Takeya, Nobuo Yajima, and Hiroshi Butsuda. Massive talent all around.

If nothing else J looks surprisingly great for a film made in the post bubble era, given the obvious constraints of the time. J manages to have some impeccably great visuals above even larger productions. But it also feels like like a stop gap between full on flourish. J can come off as a more kid friendly test tun for the following years Hakaider, which ended up having a lot of visual and tonal similarities to J. A number of the fights lack music or cut it midway to emphasize the punches in much the same surreal manner. I’d go as far to say J and Hakaider are more alike than J and ZO. J doesn’t have a “Falling Pipe” sound, though. The areas that are affected by the bubble and time crunch is something you’ll notice in some areas- particularly with the shockingly sparse henshin sequences of which there is only one on screen. The Hero suit itself is also a tad too close to ZO. Supposedly this was done to convey a double Rider homage, a Nigo to ZO’s Ichigo. But it does kinda feel like “Easy retool” was also on the mind of the Bandai side of things. Where the film suffers most however is the story. J is one of the most painfully sparse Rider stories I have seen. Sure, ZO had a basic story, too, but hit on all the evergreen Rider beats while still having twists to the formula and some subplot elements like Hiroshi and his mad scientist dad. That last bit also allowed for a sorta older brother dynamic with Masaru and Hiroshi, giving a through-line of interconnection between our Rider and the supporting characters. J tries to recapture that type of concise story while still doing something different, which is simply too tall an ask, especially in half the time. We don’t even really know what Kana is to Kouji. Sure, Yūta Mochizuki embodies the older brother vibe well, but the connection Kouji has to Kana is tenuous at best. The one flashback we get after the Agito fight seems to imply she’s from around the area, has empathy for the dying animals, and she just happened to cross paths with Kouji. The entire plot of J is Kouji meets Kana, Kana is kidnapped by aliens, Kouji killed by aliens, earth spirits revive him as J, 4 fights that each lead into one another, J wins and story over. I did not abridge much at all in this review. This is even more basic than your average Showa episode.

I will applaud J for at least doing something a little more esoteric by dialing up the eco warrior angle and ethereal aesthetic. But while that part is more prevalent thematically, it also doesn’t do a whole lot beyond mentioning pollution and a dying ecosystem within the mountains. Sure there’s construction equipment at one point, but that’s it. Which that point also gets muddled when that’s just a brief aside to the main antagonists who, while polluters, are also aliens. So you’re denied the evil of a very human misdeed, which to me is kinda toothless. Ishinomori gets his environmental motif in, but to what end? I guess we at least avoid the cliché of all early 90s media having some generic evil logger, or Uehara’s early draft having a Galactic EPA create J (I’m serious.) But what we have also feels like Gaia/ZO leftovers, and ZO was already using elements that didn’t make it into Shin. It’s pulling from the same well, and J hit the last drop. Apparently, Uehara had a more fleshed out story in mind, with an entire love subplot between Zu and Garai. Most of that made in into a novelization, and most of it is superfluous. But there was a proper backstory for Kana which has her as an Alien with great power. That tidbit would’ve went a ways to explain why she’s seemingly alone in the mountains with no family and is targeted by the Fog Mother. But J’s Shooting schedule was a minuscule 20 days, less than half the time they shot ZO. Amemiya wasn’t even able to maintain a cohesive team as with ZO, meaning the action and SFX scene had to be handled separate just due to time. So even a couple of minutes of backstory might’ve been pushing it. Ironically, Toei would delay J by a month so it wouldn’t be over shadowed by the Sailor Moon R movie. Wise choice, but damn, they could’ve had more time to film and maybe given us just a bit more for a real cream puff of a movie.

Still, the team got visual shorthand right. The Fog Mother looks like a cosmic industrial factory, constantly spewing smoke or fog from her maternal monolithic monochromatic menage of machinery. It contrasts beautifully with J’s heavily Green visage and says more than the actual story does. And that’s kinda J’s entire deal. The visuals are nice, the vibe is cool, they have sweet synth tracks dangerously close to Vangelis’ End Titles from Blade Runner, and… there’s not much else to it. J was meant to fill 40 some odd minutes and not be boring. They got an insane scary stunt and a fairly damn good Ultraman homage, all in under a month. Mission accomplished. The fact it ended up sandwiched between a much better Rider Film and a much more interesting indulgent project only exacerbates J as a victim of it’s overly tight production schedule. But while it’s far less ambitious and less fun to analyze compared to Shin, and not as polished as ZO, there is merit to the picture itself, especially on a technical level that is still impressive given the deadlines.

On a slight downer, this was a swansong for many involved. This was the last Rider project Ishinomori had direct involvement with; this was one of Shozo Uehara’s last works before Ohranger, this was the last time Katsushi Murakami worked on Rider; this would be the last Rider Film to see the Toei Super Hero fair, which ended just a year later in ‘95 And this was the last Toku Rider for 6 years. It’s kinda weird and a tad sad to think that for a while the end of Rider appeared to be on a visually stunning but ultimately very corporate mandate to fill out a slot in an event that wouldn’t last beyond the next year. I doubt many involved thought Rider would be away for so long after this. Surely with the Annual releases there would be another short film or V-cinema? Yet it never came. But as Ishinomori said, Rider would return when the world wanted it. But that’s a story for another time. For now, I want to get into the real meat of this review. Media Blasters Rider Elite Kollection.

Let me ask a serious question, has there been a company still in existence outside Discotek that hasn’t done something incredibly stupid with a Toku Series? I think Criterion and maybe Arrow are the only ones. Shout had a shoddy record with Sentai subs, Millcreek is… Millcreek and clearly did not run any form of QC on their Ultra Releases, Funimation screwed up a perfectly good version of Shin Godzilla for home release, there’s the Sub mess with Shin Ultraman from Cleopatra. And now we come to Media Blasters turn. Oh boy, where to start with this? Before getting into the set itself, which I surprisingly have good things to say about, we have to talk about the stuff surrounding it. Cause this was announced way too early (7-12-’21) and then the Rightstuf buyout happened which affected Media Blasters since they’re mainly a hentai company and CrunchyRoll has a puritan stick up their ass about that. Then we had the limited edition release which had a slight error with the audio being de-synched on Shin-- which to their credit they did fix with replacements. This wasn’t a Cleopatra Entertainment level screw up.

No, the big thing happened when the standard edition went up a few months later. Before, the $70 limited edition set was the only option and exclusive to MB’s store, and it originally advertised the 1994 short film “Kamen Rider World” as being an exclusive to that edition. Why, I do not know. Toei is a notoriously weird company and it simply could’ve been too expensive for anything other than a limited release. Who knows? But then it was listed on the pre-order page for the $40 standard release. Understandably, a number of people weren’t happy about that. Now, I am against exclusives gating off such things. Sometimes it can’t be helped, but generally it’s a good thing when more people have access to the thing in question. Maybe something changed so it could have a wider release, which is good.

But I think it’s very likely a not insignificant number of people made a purchasing decision on what was advertised exclusive, only to then have it in a set that’s $30 cheaper. The only thing you wouldn’t be getting on the standard release is a slip cover, and that’s not worth an entire other bluray set. But then, because people complained, it was stated that it wouldn’t be in the standard release. Which seems to be missing the fucking point. Not only that, the interview with Keita Amemiya was also removed from the standard edition and that was never meant to be an exclusive in the first place. BUT THEN it was revealed that Kamen Rider World would be included with the upcoming Kamen Rider The First And The Next set-- What the fuck are we doing here? The optics of that are bad. Regardless of whatever the reasoning may be, that appears scummy as hell. Media Blasters put out a $70 set with an exclusive feature as a selling point, turned around and advertised the standard ver. as having it too, removed it before production, retroactively made the Interview with Keita Amemiya an exclusive to the $70 set so I guess those buyers got something unique, and then bundled the original Exclusive with what is-- let’s be honest, going to be the least desired Rider release.

I’m not saying they did that on purpose, I’m not saying that they squeezed an extra $30 out of 1,000 early adopters with false advertising. I’m not saying they’re trying to sweeten the deal on a shitty movie pack that Toei probably saddled them with. But it sure would look that way to a lot of people, especially the ones that plopped $70 down. Also just how inconvenient is that gonna be for the standard edition buyer to have the ZO/J team up separate from the boxset with ZO and J? You’ve already broken the seal of exclusivity, but now there’s extra fuckery on top of it.

In any case, I’m reviewing that very $70 limited edition Kollection. Why they spell it like it’s Mortal Kombat related is anyone’s guess. Also, no, I didn’t pay $70 for this. Strictly speaking I was waiting on the standard release and then everything happened and soured my tastes, so I’m borrowing this. That said, the standard edition is, as of this writing, still on sale and $10 off MSRP. So now it’s $40 less than the limited set. Keep an eye on it, I’m guessing it’ll go on clearance eventually. Or get it by whatever means seem fit to you, I don’t care. I am taking a look at the corrected version as well. As I mentioned earlier, that was something that MB made good on.

First and foremost I want to talk about the translation. The only experience I had with MB on the Sub front was with Hakaider, and that’s pretty much the only version I’ve known given how far back they got the license. But Rider is different, we have a lot of fan subs and I was curious how they would compare. Taking a look at the J subs we can see some differing interpretations from Media Blasters and MegaAnon. Often the same gist, but different tone and slightly changed contextualization.

There are some bits that bug me, like here where the spoken dialogue is literally “Kana-Chan” I can literally hear her name being said. I understand from the context it’s being inferred to get her to run. That’s no unheard of in subs, but it still bugs me. Another example would be the meeting between Kouji and the Earth spirits where he repeats an answer back as a question “We are Spirits of the Earth (Chikūjin)” “Earth Spirits?(Chikūjin?)” the subs simply put “What?” It’s not *wrong* but again, if you sub a term as one thing and that term is immediately repeated but now subbed differently, that’s distracting. That happens a few times with terms like Onii-chan being “Mister” in one scene, then “Big Brother” which is fine, the first two kinda work as synonyms and “mister” arguably makes more sense colloquially. But then they’ll follow it in the exact same scene as “Help me.” Why are you doing it that way? That's so weird.

That being said, it’s a minor point in the grand scheme and if it really comes down to it, I prefer Media Blasters. For one thing, they sub the on screen text including the credits. That is an immediate win. I mean even massive anime companies don’t do that. Looking at you, Funimation subs for The Woman called Fujiko Mine. Secondly, they spell the names right.

Yeah, the MegaAnon subs for some reason thought Garai was called Gain. Despite it not sounding like that and, ya know, that could’ve been looked up even in 2012. Japan has a wiki. How these compare to the TV-Nihon subs on the other hand is something I’m not equipped nor interested in looking at. I can’t imagine there would be much more nuance other than possibly having different choices in very select areas and TN spelling the names right. Media Blasters J’s subs are Fine. I wish they were more consistent, but they’re fine. I will however touch briefly upon ZO compared to the WeeabooShogun version. Weeaboo’s styling places a good emphasis on character voice and making choices that not only translate the meaning, but fit the respective personas. The most obvious example is with Winspector, taking Bikel’s “Leave it to me” catchphrase and interpreting it as “fuggitaboutit” because his character has a very prominent and distinctive accent. We can argue if North-Eastern Wiseguy is the best course for that, but it is at least thinking about that angle and how it’s an aspect of the character that wouldn’t come across to a non native speaker. You get the point across while also injecting personality into the reading experience. Now, ZO does not have anything as drastic as Bikel’s Accent, but I brought Winspector up to give you an idea of how WeeabooShogun goes about their choices. It’s not just about accuracy, but tone and personality-- all the more important with things that don’t have direct translations or synonyms and you HAVE to be interpretive. It is a part of translation as much as it pisses off certain subsets. Frankly, ZO was the one I was most interested in because of this comparison, and because it’s the one I have the most experience with.

Although first thing you’ll notice is the color grading is different, with MediaBlasters on the left and WeeabooShogun the right. I expected that with J because my JPN source was the DVD release. But both of these ZO are supposed to be bluray and I was shocked at how nice the MB release looks, since the one on the right is not at all bad looking. The first impression might be to say the MB release looks even better and less washed out...cause it does. By comparison the apparent JPN Bluray looks like the brightness was kicked up. But I’m not sure which is more accurate. The thing that gives me pause is there’s an introduction in the special features for the Kamen Rider World short, and it mentions how the short used stock footage from J and the color grading didn’t match the rest of the short, but that this bluray fixes that error. I don’t know if that means it didn’t match in the theaters and the home release fixed that and it’s presented that way here-- or if MB themselves did the fix for this specific release. Which I have thoughts about that specific case-- but does it extend to the rest of the set such as this, or did they simply do a better job than Toei on corrections due to age?

Cause it must be stressed that it’s not uncommon for a number of NA releases to have better quality than the JPN versions, and some of that is the color being more accurate. But is that the case here? I honestly do not know and I don’t feel completely comfortable commenting because of it. I would need someone in the know like FortMax to explain it. I would trust her analysis in the field. The most I can say here is the MB release has darker and more moody shadows and is a lot more natural looking. It’s really noticeable on skin tones, where the JPN source I have almost has a very slight green tinge. And frankly, I would not at all doubt that Toei would take a 30 year old print and do the bare minimal. Keep in mind, they uploaded the LaserDisc version of ZO to Youtube. So yeah, Media Blasters might have given us the better more proper “As released” version with the appropriate post processing needed for a 30 year old washed out source. But I can’t say with 100% certainty.

Back to the subs, things are initally on more equal footing because text is subbed on both this and the fansubs. But I’ll give MB a leg up here. Some of the subs on the WS version disappear even as the Japanese Text lingers on screen, MB keeps it up. Additionally, MB times their subs if a character trails off or pauses in-between dialogue. That’s harder to do than just keeping the words up during those moments, but it looks better when the subs match it. The text is also larger and easier to read.

And, if you remember my ZO review, you’ll know that one of the things that bugged me was Doras’ POV did not sub the text despite containing contextual information on what was going on, it was a bizarre moment, seeing as the credits were subbed. Guess what the Media Blasters release actually does? More points to them. Otherwise most of the differences are in phrasing and it’s typically very basic stuff like “You piece of Junk” vs “You piece of crap.” Other times the sentences are simplified and often for the better. I like that MB’s subs are more concise compared to WS, which maybe get a tad overzealous and overly descriptive.

That said, there are moments I prefer Weeaboo’s, such as here. “You haven’t believed a word I’ve told you” is more natural than “You don’t believe my story.” Which comes off as a bit stiff. Heck, “You don’t believe me” would even flow better while still being to the point. And yes, like the J subs, we have instances of a character’s name being said and them putting something else other than the name. Also a character stammering, which is replicated on the WS subs but not on MB, so you’re missing a bit of nuance. But there are less moments that stick out compared to J. One major thing that might bug some people is Media Blasters uses Neonoid for the creatures names.

In Japanese it’s Neo Seimeitai and that’s usually subbed as Neo-Lifeform. I prefer that, but I can’t fully knock the use of Neonoid, it’s what Toei uses in media printings for the Complete Works and the like. Or they put a z in Neo-Organism. There is however an argument that an official Japanese English designation should be sidelined for a better sounding (and often more sensible) one. The most famous example with Toei would be the official international name “Space Cop Gavan” being made as “Space Sheriff Gavan” which sounds far better with that alliteration in English. Still, I’m rather shocked by how much I liked this version of ZO. I wasn’t sure if I was going to show some friends the WeeabooShogun version or the Media Blaster one, but I think I’m going to go with Media Blasters. I have some bits I don’t care for, but overall I think the MB reads better thanks to the conciseness and timing. The larger sub size on the MB version also makes that easier. Oh, and if you’re wondering my thoughts on Shin, much of the same. Sometimes they make weirdly wordy choices like “Subarashi” being “It’s more than we could’ve hoped for.” barely having enough time to read it. Other times it’s more concise, and they sub all the little important signs. Now let’s shift out focus to the really fun part of the boxset, the special features. This thing is loaded. First up we’ve got three audio commentaries, one for each film. Shin has Matt Burkett and Kevin Derendorf, ZO has Mike Dent and Matt Burkett, and J has Kevin Derendorf and Mike Dent.

The commentaries themselves are great, have good information, and a passionate scrappiness that you get from fans of a particular subject gushing. Almost like the audio equivalent of a Fanzine, and I think that’s wonderful. The information therein is good and has citations to various mooks, books, and print magazine interviews to back up factual statements. Additionally there’s educated speculations of contemporary events which may have partially influenced Ishinomori at the time, such as the big goings on with Genetics in the 90s. Shin’s commentary in part focuses on the misconceptions (mostly outside Japan) of the movie’s misunderstood reputation. Much like “Ohranger almost canceled Sentai” being a widely spread falsity in NA, Shin had a similar occurrence with it being too dark and violent and therefore unpopular. It wasn’t, it was a #1 hit on video and well received critically. But Toei had a shift due to the economy, and while Shin did shockingly well, the reality is Anime and things geared towards women always did better than adult oriented works. So much like I brought up regarding the end of the Toei Comedy series, they wanted that Sailor Moon money to weather a recession. And the things they were making live action would be more kid friendly, hence ZO (in theory) and more so J… also in theory. The rest of the commentary has various trivia of the actors, filming locations, etc. Loads and loads of production history. There’s no dead air, it’s very dense with information. To a lesser extent that extends to ZO and J’s commentaries which, while far more casual and gushy, are still packed with a goldmine of information on the production details. I think my favorite moment in ZO was finding out the Gold Accents on the suit was supposed to resemble blood vessels, which I never considered. Knowing that also re-contextualizes the piping on the Black Sun suit in a similar light.

J’s on the other hand name drops a lot of creatives, and as I’ve said before, it’s depressing how little is written in English about the people behind the magic. As I was taking notes for this review it became very apparent watching this commentary how that still rings true. Nobuo Yajima in particular has credits going back to Invasion of the Neptune Men. He worked on some of the earliest Sentai, and when he was working on J he was also doing Kakuranger and BlueSwat. He doesn’t have a page on the Ranger Wiki, his Rider page only lists Shin Prologue, and Metal Heroes only lists the Rescue Trilogy among his work. Same thing with Sadao Iizuka. He only has big Godzilla and Ultra Pages, which sure, that’s his biggest contributions. But he did optical effects on Kamen Rider J. Hell he did optical effects for Toei as far back as Battle Fever J and as recent as Heisei Generations Final. He helped get Amemiya onboard to work on Gavan. Zero mention on Rider, Sentai, or Metal Heroes. Want something more than me pointing at a commentary? Dude has an auto-bio Sadao Iizuka and Hajime Matsumoto. Pages 299-301 lists his major work. But it’s in Japanese, and that’s kinda the issue here, isn’t it? Damn shame. Outside all that, there's curious tidbit on the commentary that indicates that the SD Rider OVA was intended to be in this set but they couldn’t get the license. I don’t know how serious or literal that statement should be taken, but that would’ve made it like the Japanese trilogy Bluray set which has that as a bonus. There is however a contrast to all this positivity. For one thing there are no subtitles for the commentary, so you don’t have an option available if you’re hard of hearing or deaf. That’s not at all uncommon, but I felt it should be mentioned. The bigger oddity is the discrepancy between the various audio sources. This was clearly done over a service like discord. Everyone is in a different environment, has a different mic, different audio set up, etc. It’s not unwatchable or even unpleasant, you’re not getting dogs barking in the background or sirens. But it’s weird that something on a $40-70 bluray box set has commentary with the phonic finesse of a livestream. I’m not going to knock someone not having a $150+ Elgato and a full sound booth-- the simple act of being in different locations or having different set ups will not guarantee zero dichotomy and white noise. Nor would I expect a tiny company like Media Blasters to fly three nerds out to record commentary on a niche cult trilogy. I have self awareness regarding the prevalence of the things I like, and this stuff ain’t popular enough for that treatment. This is the most sensible thing to do if you’re gonna do it. It beats a dirt cave recording.

...But it’s slightly irksome to hear something with that disconnect. There’s also an instance of talking over one another on the ZO track. That only happens once, I don’t blame the commentators for that, they handle it well, it’s brief, but that also should’ve been edited out. If you told someone this was commentary for the films uploaded to patreon, it would be believable, if shocking for how informative it is. But if you told someone they were part of a licensed Bluray set, they’d say you were lying. The commentaries are great, I’m glad they’re here, they enhance the boxset for me. I respect the effort and undertaking that went into them to gather all the information presented. Hell, you might even get a deeper appreciation for some of films afterwards. It’s still a selling point. But it’s also not polished and it’s something too keep in mind as I talk about this, again, $70 set. Had the audio not varied in the way it does, I might be saying the commentaries alone are worth picking up the trilogy, even if only one or two movies appeal to you. But I also love BTS information.

Next we have The Image Galley which is damn nice. Just lots of great high quality photos that show an insane amount of detail. Some are production stills, others are more recent photos of the suits. Every little imperfection, damaged piece and sculpted details you’d never notice in the original film are clear and crisp for your viewing pleasure.

I do kinda wish it was a normal galley and not a video file slide show, particularly since the zoomed shots don’t pan the full length of the photos, just the head and torso. On the other hand, there is a nice feature I’ve not seen anywhere else, and that’s subtitles for the Posters in the image gallery. That is very much appreciated. If I can give this set it’s subbing as much onscreen text as possible. Also the Image Gallery includes Kamen Rider World material. So on the standard version, are you going to get photos of the thing that’s not included? Certainly a choice.

Amemiya and the Grasshopper. This is an original interview made for the Bluray and is apparently now exclusive. It’s a sub 20 minute sit down with the man himself. But it’s not just a simple pointing of the Camera, this has proper editing and visuals aids. When Amemiya is discussing his inspirations and involvement with Tokusatsu we get images of Ultraman, Ultraseven, panels from the Kamen Rider Manga, and of course plethora of movie clips. They went all in on this. The discussions also give very brief insights to how he became involved with varying production departments, from creature deigns and SFX, to directing. Along with anecdotes and stories, like how Makoto Tsuji once told him a childhood story of seeing a bug/man monster in the woodgrain ceiling above his bed, which Amemiya used as inspiration for one of the nightmare sequences in Shin. Another of my favorite stories is him being asked to direct ZO after already seeing the teaser in the theater when he took his daughter to see Sailor Moon. That’s great. He also goes into not liking to separate the SFX team from the main shooting team in the “Tsuburaya” style, but rather one large unit to maintain consistency on location. Even when it came to the stop motion scenes in ZO, the rest of the crew would be on hand to make sure the lighting would be right between the miniatures and the sound stage. He also notes the difficulties of not being able to transfer CGI renders to 35mm prints, so they had to film the CG off a flat monitor and treat it like a composite and heavily adjust the contrast in post. We also get some insight on J, and a key factor of why the story is the way it is was because of some blowback that ZO received for being too scary for kids. So J was made to be “far more kid friendly” and dead simple to follow. I have question about that, given J has multiple impalings and was aimed even younger than ZO’s 10+ target.

Oh, and the Bee woman battle sounds way worse when you hear how they made the wires taut with 4x4s, and a taut wires snap if they’re not relaxed slowly. I don’t want to go over every detail here, but this interview is probably the best stand alone special feature on the set. This interview is also referenced in the commentaries which makes the exclusion on the standard version all the more baffling. I guess on the plus side you’re still getting the information of the interview relayed to you even in its absence. I wish I could stop bringing it up, but between the Photo Gallery having Kamen Rider World material and the Commentaries bringing up the interview, and J’s flat out telling you to watch The World afterwards, you’re going to be constantly remind of the shit you do not have on the standard release.

A Message from Keita Amemiya This is touted as a special feature but it’s simply the last 20 seconds of the Interview in its raw form. I’m… not sure why this is here. This is still apparently on the standard release. So again, you’re getting yet another reminder.

Kamen Rider World. Look, I’m gonna be real, this wasn't worth the extra 30 This set cost. But I also get it, it’s the principle of having something in tip top quality on Bluray, to have something that you presumed would not see the light of day again outside Japan, to have a more complete feeling package. That short itself I don’t have much to say about. It’s 8 minutes long and was made for theme parks. You expecting an analysis from that? This was a cute way to to smash some pre-existing material together with original footage utilizing pre-existing suits. J fights a giant Shadow Moon. Don’t buy The First/Next set just to get this if you missed out.

You know what isn’t in this box set, though? Trailers. Shin, ZO, J. None of the trailers or teasers are part of the set. We get a snippet of ZO’s Teaser (The one that used the Black Suit) in the Amemiya interview, but that’s the closest we get. Trailers are such a common inclusion that it’s very odd not to see them. I’d say it could be a license thing with the other Toei Super Fair stuff. But Hakaider had the Toei Superhero fair trailer with Ohranger and B-Fighter, and it wouldn’t explain the lack of Shin’s trailer which wouldn’t have Sentai or Metal Hero footage anyway. I dunno, maybe that might’ve been a whole separate thing to go through, similar to how the Movies of shows aren’t included in sets. But it is a shame when nowadays we’re getting Japanese special features like the Anniversary round tables for Gavan and Black, the ‘87 This is Kamen Rider Black TV special, etc. I’ll still take the commentaries and the like as a nice consolation to something I can just look up on youtube, but it is odd.

Final Thoughts. Hmm, not done one of these in a while.

I am very split on this set. Let me be clear, a lot of this isn’t even going to be applicable because the limited set is long sold out. You have my previous movie reviews, the J review here, and my thoughts on the commentaries and photo gallery. It’s all that’s relevant for making a purchasing decision at this point. Do you want the movies and the commentaries for 30ish? I think that $10 per movie with the commentaries as a nice little bonus isn’t bad. You’d typically pay that for a barebones release. The transfers look gorgeous, you get to have them on bluray, I think ZO alone is worth having. If you only care about the main features, which is the main point, yes this set will give you that and it does it pretty goddamn well. Bonus Material is just gravy on top, even if it’s not the most polished. But there are also all the little annoying bits to consider. And not to mention what went down with the short and the interview. If you take a look at that and think “Wow, fuck giving them money.” I would not blame you one bit. I love physical media, I get wanting to support your niche interests and smaller companies. Hell, I was pleasantly surprised how many things I loved about this pack. But even if you have zero interest in the special features, it still leaves a bitter taste knowing how they handled it. Some Super Bullshit 64 went down here and I don’t want a part of that.

Had all of that been different or they at least apologized but still kept the features in place, I’d still criticize the act and have all my little issues with certain choices. But I’d have less reservations. Especially going to Japan to interview Amemiya, which is a fantastic surprise… one that you cannot get now and should have been on the standard set. If I’m being brutally honest? I’m hoping future Rider releases don’t come from Media Blasters. Hell, I wouldn’t even trust a bare bones Lady Battle Cop release from them after this. By comparison, I’d rather get a write up by Mike Dent on a Discotek release and that be the only special feature made for the set. Is it as exciting as a full on commentary? No, but unless someone screws up the font it’s a consistent experience. Is it as cool as an original 19 minute interview with a creator heavily involved with the production? No, but I know that unless an entire disc is missing, that write up will be on the copy of X I buy.

And further more, this idea of limited or early adoption fucking blows and no one should ever fall for it. Really think of the multitude of companies I brought up and how often they have fucked up or straight up lied. MillCreek released Ultra Q with a damn copyright logo in the subtitles. Ultraman, Ultraseven, Return of, Ace, Taro, and Leo all have misspellings. Mebius has poor grammar and spelling in spots. Gridman was set to be resubbed cause they knew the original was so bad, and then the DVDs came out with all the errors and shoddy bootleg quality translation in-tact as an official product. Remember when Shout bragged about “improving” the picture quality of Zero-One on Bluray cause of deinterlacing-- which is both bare minimum standard practice and something bluray players automatically do. Remember how it and Kuuga only looked like ass online because most webplayers don’t do that and they didn’t know? Don’t forget Cleopatra Media screwed up the subs on Shin Ultraman and sent out replacements which also had an issue, and then they stopped responding.

And of course this very set from Media Blasters had an audio syncing issue on Shin. Yes it got fixed, yes I will give credit for actually doing so-- which is a depressing thing to say. But it still happened on a $70 limited to 1,000 production numbered set. And if that made you hesitate, you got screwed out of two features- one of which wasn’t even supposed to be exclusive in the first place.

I said this last time I reviewed Ultra, but Tokusatsu in NA is in a weird and kinda stupid place. In some ways it reminds me of how anime was pre-toonami and into the early TOM 1.0 era. It’s a clusterfuck of niche and often expensive products still relying heavily on fan efforts, but also a lot of dumb shit happens with alarming regularity. We’re stuck with whatever we get, at least physically. (Not to say we don’t get that garbage with anything super popular and mainstream, mind you.)

More than anything, I want to stress a word of caution. Cause NA Toku fans have been screwed over more often than not. No matter what gets licensed or how good or cool first release bonuses appear, no matter who they get from the fan community to contribute, no matter how much the limited stuff is enticing, no matter how much those features turn out to actually be of quality-- Don’t trust them. You have more reason not than to place faith in an unknown. Support the things you like, yes. But wisely. If a company has a good proven track record and you want to show support for that quality-- like Discotek, Arrow Video, Criterion, do so. Buy that DVD set off MediaOCD, Pre-order with healthy reservations on commitment, and let’em know you want more if you like it. Cherish the good, because despite the cynicism, getting the releases we have is still a minor miracle. We could not have gotten licensed Rider or Metal Heroes a little over a decade ago. But do not be blinded by that. You must have standards. And always. ALWAYS keep in the back of your mind that the relationship between corporate and customer is always trepidatious and can rot at any moment-- no matter how small, beloved, or boutique a label is.

[echodr3ad]

Rules.

I will write: fluff, platonic, yandere, fem reader, male reader, gender neutral reader and headcanons. Everything that I will write for now will only be headcanons, apologies, but i am not quite confident in my writing yet.

I won't write: nsfw, or anything of the like; I also won't really write for adult characters except for few, i'm not really confortable with most adult characters, again, apologies. I also won't write romance with younger character or any oc x canon/ canon x canon, although canon x reader x canon requests are okay. You can only ask for 3 characters maximum in one request.

Writelist.

Persona 3: Makoto Yuki, Kotone Shiomi, Yukari Takeba, Mitsuru Kirijo, Akihiko Sanada, Aigis, Ken Amada (platonic only) Fuuka Yamagishi, Chihiro Fushimi, Yuko Nishikawa, Hidetoshi Odagiri and Ryoji Mochizuki (more will be added later)

Persona 5: Ren Amamiya, Ann Takamaki, Ryuji Sakamoto, Yusuke Kitagawa, Makoto Nijima, Haru Okumura, Futaba Sakura, Yuuki Mishima.

Pokémon: Ethan, Kris, Lyra, Silver, Brendan, May, Wally, Dawn, Lucas, Barry, Cynthia, Hilbert, Hilda, Cheren, Bianca, Nate, Rosa, Hugh, Calem, Serena, Clemont, Gladion, Lillie, Hau, Victor, Gloria, Hop, Bede, Marnie, Bea, Nessa, Allister (platonic only), Akari, Rei, Adaman, Irida, Arven, Nemona, Penny, Kieran, Carmine, Lacey, Drayton, Crispin and Amarys.

Danganronpa: Makoto Naegi, Byakuya Togami, Sayaka Maizono, Kyoko Kirigiri, Chihiro Fujisaki, Aoi Asahina, Toko Fukawa, Mukuro Ikusawa, Hajime Hinata, Chiaki Nanami, Nagito Komaeda, Peko Pekoyama, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, Mahiru Koizumi, Mikan Tsumiki, Sonia Nevermind, Kazuichi Soda, Kaede Akamatsu, Shuichi Saihara, Kokichi Ouma, Maki Harukawa, Rantaro Amami, Tsumugi Shirogane, K1-B0/Kiibo, Angie Yonaga, Tenko Chabashira, Himiko Yumeno, Kaito Momota and Kirumi Tojo.

Happy Sugar Life: Satou Matsuzaka, Taiyou Mitsuboshi, Shouko Hida, Shio Kobe (platonic only) and Asahi Kobe.

My Hero Academia: Izuku Midoriya, Shouto Todoroki, Katsuki Bakugo, Denki Kaminari, Eijiro Kirishima, Fumikage Tokoyami, Ochako Uraraka, Momo Yaoyorozu, Kyoka Jiro, Tsuyu Asui, Mina Ashido, Hitoshi Shinsou, Neito Monoma, Juzo Honenuki, Kosei Tsuburaba, Shihai Kuroiro, Hiryu Rin, Sen Kaibara, Itsuka Kendo, Pony Tsunotori, Mirio Togata, Tamaki Amajiki, Nejire Hado, Inasa Yoarashi, Yo Shindo, Touya Todoroki/Dabi, Shigaraki Tomura, Himiko Toga and Kai Chisaki.

Haikyuu!!: Shoyo Hinata, Tobio Kageyama, Kei Tsukishima, Tadashi Yamaguchi, Yu Nishinoya, Ryunosuke Tanaka, Daichi Sawamura, Koshi Sugawara, Asahi Azumane, Kiyoko Shimizu, Hitoka Yachi, Tooru Oikawa, Issei Matsukawa, Takahiro Hanamaki, Hajime Iwaizumi, Akira Kunimi, Yutaro Kindaichi, Kentaro Kyotani, Tetsuro Kuroo, Nobuyuki Kai, Taketora Yamamoto, Kenma Kozume, Morisuke Yaku, Shohei Fukunaga, Lev Haiba, Takanobu Aone, Kanji Koganegawa, Kenji Futakuchi, Kotaro Bokuto, Keiji Akaashi, Wakatoshi Ushijima, Kenjiro Shirabu, Tsutomu Goshiki, Eita Semi, Satori Tendo, Atsumu Miya, Osamu Miya, Rintaro Suna and Shinsuke Kita.

Feel free to request other characters from these fandoms (some I didn't include because I think they would be a little hard for me to write) and I will see if I'll be able to fulfill your request or not, if I do, whatever character you request will be added to the list. Other characters and fandoms will be added as time goes on and as I get more comfortable writing.

[amoexii]

🌸 The flower mantis of Honshu, Sasaki Kagura 🌸

She's an old oc but thought I'd post her here before I redesign her later🏃‍♀️💨

The daughter of Sasaki family and great-granddaughter of Sasaki Kojiro, during the late 1600s Kagura work as a Kunoichi disguised as a walking miko

Kagura's great-grandmother, Ishioka Hinagiku, marries Sasaki Kojiro during the early 1600s,  But sadly Kojiro died before he receive the news of her pregnancy. So Hina raised their child alone and promised to keep her husband's legacy alive ever since. Said child is Kagura's grandfather, Sasaki Kotaro.

More Info:

🌸💌 Kagura is heavily inspired by Mochizuki Chiyome.

🌸💌 She is the youngest child of 3 siblings, 2 boys and 1 girl.

🌸💌 Originally have long hair, Kagura cuts them off at the begining of Ragnarok

🌸💌 Kagura is the first kunoichi in her family, with the second being her niece

🌸💌 Kagura's surname Sasaki (佐々木) means "help, aid" (佐) (sa) and "tree, wood" (木) (ki), while her first name Kagura (加桜)  means "Addition" (加) (Ka) and "Cherry Blossoms" (桜) (Sakura)

Bonus art of Kagura and Lanjar:

[cottoncandy-cult]

Heart Of The Storm

Jiro Mochizuki X Reader

I loved Black Blood Brothers, I really wish they'd continue it or remake it but it's been so long and so few people have seen it that I know it isn't gonna happen. Sucks too, I adored Zelman. My favorite part of the Darkness the lies within the alleys of the Special Zone. My favorite moment was when he saved Kotaro and then helped him track down Mimiko and even saved her from Cassandra. The only wildfire I loved more was Mikoto Suoh~

(Y/n) waited by the bridge into the special zone, she had actually met a compromiser while wondering the streets of the mainland. The young woman was a fledgling black blood, she had nowhere to go and had been living in an abandoned building. She met the woman near a park, she had been walking around with a tall man in red and a blonde-haired boy. The two had watched from a slight distance as the woman spoke to you, the woman wanted to save as many black bloods as she could. The woman who identified herself as Mimiko had stated that because of (Y/n)'s starved appearance she thought the girl was in need of help, which she had been.

After Mimiko had determined she was safe enough to enter the special zone they had decided that the following night they'd meet at the entrance, that way Mimiko could welcome her. So here the (H/c) haired girl stood, a backpack slung over her shoulder contained all that she owned. She had been there about 10 minutes before she spotted the black-haired man from before flying towards her, when he landed just a few feet away he gave her a sheepish smile while removing his hat and bowing. "I apologize but Mimiko is running a bit late, her boss had been a bit behind on getting your approval done. She asked that I come keep you company, so you didn't think she abandoned you." He stood straight, his tone was soft and kind. Blood had rushed to the girl's cheeks; kindness having been foreign since she was turned.

"It's ok... Thank you for coming to inform me." Her own voice was soft, she always got really shy around men and he seemed to radiate a welcoming aura. "My name is Jiro Mochizuki, I'm glad to officially meet you." She couldn't help but offer a small smile, bowing slightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Mochiziki... Michi... Mochizaki..." She began stumbling, finding his last name a bit awkward on her tongue. Her face turning cherry red at his chuckle, though she was glad he didn't get offended. "Jiro will do just fine." She had nodded, still feeling rather embarrassed. "Thank you, I'm sure Miss Mimiko already told you but my name is (Y/n)." Before they could carry on and start a real conversation Mimiko had showed up, (Y/n) was surprised how simple it was to get into the special zone but now she was faced with a new problem. Where was she gonna sleep?

They had crossed over the bridge, the young black blood looking around worriedly. "Is something wrong Miss (Y/n)?" The (H/c) haired girl looked to the little boy she learned was Kotaro, he was giving her a concerned look. "Yes, sorry. I'm just... I don't really know where I'm going to stay... Or what to do from here. I honestly thought I'd be living in abandoned buildings for the rest of my existence, so I don't really have a plan other than just survival..." The little blonde boy gave her a smile that almost seemed reassuring, he then turned to the young woman. "Hey Mimi, can Miss (Y/n) spend the night so we can try and find her a place to stay tomorrow?" The boy's words seemed to make Mimiko perk up, as if being hit with realization.

"I completely forgot about that, yes of course. You can stay with us and tomorrow we'll try and find you a place."

It had been 4 months since that night, she had moved into an apartment across the street from her new friends. Having learned from Mimiko that it had once been her old apartment, this of course meant she spent a lot of time with those 3. She had been adopted into the odd little group, if told 6 months ago that she'd practically make friends and get to restart her life in a place like the special zone over night she would have sworn the informer was a fool. Right now (Y/n) was sat on her bed, listening to the calm rain. Though the peace was soon disturbed by a bright flash of light, the roaring thunder making her window rattle and startling her. She wasn't sure if it was the thunder or lightening, maybe it was both, but she hated it. Even as a black blood her fear of thunderstorms remained, it was made even worse when her electricity cut out.

She rushed to get her flashlight off her desk, she felt ridiculous being a vampire and being so scared but she couldn't help it. Even with her night vision, she felt better about having a light source as well. It wasn't even 6pm yet but the skies were dark as night, so she threw on her jacket and grabbed her phone before walking out and locking the door. She proceeded to dash across the street, having made a plan seconds after losing electric. She'd go to Mimiko's, she knew the girl was likely still at work but knew Kotaro and Jiro would be home since the rain hurts Jiro. Having lost electricity and this being a rough storm she had an excuse, they didn't need to know she was scared. She knocked on the door, hoping it would be opened quickly.

It was Jiro who answered the door, a candle in hand as he let her inside. "I take it you lost power as well (Y/n)?" He sat the candle down on a small nearby table, helping her remove her wet jacket and hang it up. His own had been hung up as well, his hat was also removed. (Y/n) was hoping he wouldn't be able to see her blush, her (E/c) orbs taking in the site of Jiro in a black button up and his usual red pants. The top 2 or 3 buttons were undone, his long black hair a slight mess and the yellow candlelight casting some well-placed shadows on the man. Unfortunately, her wavering focus left her open to be startled, a particularly loud rumble of thunder making her yelp. Her foot slipping in a small puddle of water left by her jacket, though she didn't fall to far backwards before she felt the motion stop. Jiro had caught her with one arm around her waist and the other cradled her head, he gave her a worried look as he had noticed her zoning out moments before.

"Come, let's get you settled. I set up some candles around the living room." He settled the girl back on her feet and lead her upstairs, she was relieved to see the small coffee table between the two couches had several lit candles. She could smell the tea he was brewing, and it helped her feel more relaxed, the two got comfortable on one of the couches. "(Y/n) are you feeling alright? You're quieter than usual." She smiled softly at his concern; he had always been so kind to her. "Yes, sorry I'm not sure what it is but I keep finding my thoughts tend to wonder." She blushed softly, the hint of pink hidden by the dark. When the next combo of thunder and lightning rolled through the girl managed to suppress her response to a minor flinch, but it didn't go unnoticed by the old blood. He wasn't stupid, piecing together the pattern quickly he gave her a sympathetic smile and rubbed her back. This had soothed her enough that he could feel the tension slowly leave her, she gazed up at him with an innocent and confused look.

"Sorry but I could see that the storm was bothering you, so I thought to comfort you." He avoided using any words that directly connected to fear, not wanting to hurt her pride if that was why she hadn't said anything. "Thank you, Jiro... I've never much cared for storms like this..." If her heart was still beating, she was sure he would have heard it racing, she wasn't as embarrassed when wording it like this, but it still made her slightly flustered. Jiro was an old blood; he was from a time when black bloods were strong and prideful. Then here she was, stirred up and bothered by flashing light and a loud noise. Though his smile erased the stinging she felt in her pride. "Would you like some tea? Even if we don't necessarily need it, I do find it relaxing."

     Time skip: 4 hours

Mimiko didn't make it back til somewhat late, Kotaro had wanted to go to work with her so she had to carry the sleeping boy home. It was 11pm and the storm had lightened, though she was irritated to see that the power was still out. The candles still burned but they were running low, she was a bit confused when she saw Jiro and (Y/n) asleep on the couch. He had been sitting up, an arm around the younger female who seemed rather comfortable using his chest as a pillow. Mimiko could only giggle, she'd get the story later. She went to place Kotaro in bed before returning to throw a cover over the two, as well as to take a picture for black mail purposes.

"Heh... I ship it..." After sending the picture to a few of their friends she went to get herself ready for bed, thankful the next day she didn't have to be up till noon.

[iinexorabile]

TANBA JJ.K INFO

ABILITIES AND TRAITS

OVERALL SKILL LEVEL:  Until his defeat by Oda Nobunaga,  Tanba was renowned as the Sengoku Era’s most powerful Sorcerer, and even in the generations following his supposed 'death', he is still remembered as one of the greatest sorcerers of his age, along with the likes of Fuuma Kotaro, Mochizuki Chiyome, Akechi Mitsuhide, and the infamous 'Demon King' Nobunaga themselves. Tanba was feared for both for his prowess on the battlefield and in the shadows-- he could dismantle armies in open battle as well as assassinate their leaders without ever being seen.

Due to the combination of Tanba’s ruthlessness, his abnormal Cursed Energy, the nature of his rare Innate Technique, and the various other skills and Cursed Techniques that came to be associated with him and other Sorcerers like him (so called ‘Shinobi’), he was thought to be a living, breathing monster. 

Even in the present day, where Tanba has long kept a lower profile, his skill and prowess has not degraded, and if anything, he has only gotten stronger in the centuries since his defeat by Nobunaga (though in kind his hubris has also gotten worse).

IMMEASURABLE CURSED ENERGY (ELECTRIFIED): Tanba hails from the Momochi bloodline, an ancient (though nowadays small) family of sorcerers that has existed since the beginning of the Heian. Every generation, the Momochi were known to produce Sorcerers with immense wells of Cursed Energy, but Tanba is an anamoly even by his bloodline’s standards-- not only does he possess what has called an an “abyss” of Cursed Energy, his Cursed Energy also possesses the properties of electric currents. The Momochi had always claimed relation to Taira no Masakado, one of the Three Vengeful Spirits, and Tanba’s anomalous Cursed Energy was seen as confirmation of that connection.

SHINOBI GRANDMASTER: Tanba is the last, and simultaneously the greatest, master of the Iga-ryu, an ancient school of Jujutsu that was mostly (though not fully) stamped out during the Sengoku Era. In their heyday, followers of the Iga-ryu, along with other closely related schools of Jujutsu at the time (such as the Koga-ryu or Fuuma-ryu), were known as ‘Shinobi’, though the term 'Ninja' has become the more popular moniker for such individuals throughout the years. Shinobi were taught to be masters of stealth, martial arts, and Jujutsu, though each individual school had its own unique brand of Cursed Techniques that came to be known as ‘Ninjutsu’. Tanba, being the current and last Grandmaster of the Iga-ryu (which now calls itself Yatagarasu), is exceptionally skilled with the aforementioned subcategory of Jujutsu, and has access to the Iga-ryu’s strongest Cursed Techniques, on top of his own Innate Technique and the abilities associated with it.

ALTERED PHYSIOLOGY: As a result of the mysterious rituals he underwent in his early days to become a Shinobi of the Iga-ryu, Tanba’s physiology is greatly enhanced, and while this has the bonus of making him physically stronger, faster, and durable than the average Human or Sorcerer, it also has the side effect of making him Biologically Immortal, meaning he can effectively live forever, provided he isn’t killed in combat.

GENERAL SKILLS AND TRAITS

Special Grade

Great Tactical Intellect

Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant

Master Weapon's Specialist

Master Assassin

Supernatural Endurance

Enhanced Strength

Immense Speed & Reflexes

INNATE TECHNIQUE

THE SEVEN WAYS OF GOING

A Cursed Techniques that is known to run through the Momochi bloodline, and the rarest of them at that (so much so that Tanba is only the second one in the family's long history to ever possess it), it allows Tanba to transform into anyone, or anything he wishes, with all of the implications that carries. Tanba need only look upon a target and hear their voice once to assume their complete identity, while also gaining the skills, Techniques, and even Domain Expansions they have displayed despite not truly possessing them himself. The effectiveness Tanba has when using these mirrored skills and techniques can vary, but generally, he can wield them with terrifying efficiency (though when mirroring the skills and abilities of particularly powerful opponents, he likely won’t wield them as proficiently, especially if he is trying to use said abilities against their original owners).

Being ‘killed’ while assuming the likeness of someone or something else does not kill Tanba himself either, but it will force him back to his normal appearance, and leave him in a severely injured state. This Innate Technique is technically always active for Tanba, allowing him to utilize it to only change certain parts of his body at a time, but to utilize it fully, he must recite a chant that had been passed down through his family, ‘This crow has many faces, as the world will soon see; Writhe in fear, for I now walk the Seven Ways of Going’.’

DOMAIN EXPANSION

FOREST OF CROWS

A massive domain tied to Tanba’s Innate Technique, it envelops the area around him in a shadowy forest that appears to stretch on for miles, with an ancient, mountainous Sengoku-era castle looming off in the distance. Upon the branches of the trees, will be countless numbers of crows, all of whom can transform into life-like copies of the various individuals or creatures Tanba has ‘mirrored’ over the years with his Innate Technique. Thanks to the inherent electrical nature of Tanba's Cursed Energy, opponents who find themselves within this Domain will also find themselves mortally electrified should they not present proper defenses when interacting with anything within.

In particular, Tanba’s Innate Technique is at its most powerful within this Domain Expansion, with its capabilities expanded even further, allowing him to take on forms he normally wouldn’t be able to.

CURSED TOOLS AND OTHER ITEMS

The Thousand Golden Blades: They are kunai-shaped Cursed Tools with golden trimmings that Tanba uses as throwing weapons or for close melee. They are Cursed Tools of the passive nature, their blades inflicting a devastating poison-like effect upon enemies (though they can be easily deflected by Jujutsu). They are most effective when used in mass, and can utilized in such a way easily, with Tanba being able to multiply their number whenever they are thrown at a target if he wishes. The Thousand Golden Blades are especially effective during surprise attacks, too, though Tanba can utilize them in just about any combat situation with deadly skill.

Getsuruitō - (Sword of Lunar Tears): A Cursed Tool said to have originally been forged by the moon god Tsukuyomi, it is a katana-like blade that was passed down between leaders of the Momochi clan, and was bestowed upon Tanba when he became head of his family. This Cursed tool possesses the ability to manipulate moonlight and the shadows it casts, allowing it a number of effects during combat. This Cursed Tool’s power will vary depending on what phase the moon is currently in, though it is always an immensely useful tool to utilize outside of completely moonless nights.

Tsuki no kage (Shadow of the Moon) Allegedly crafted by the same entity responsible for Getsuruitō, this set of light armour was passed down between leaders of the Momochi clan, and like Getsuruitō, it was bestowed upon Tanba when he became head of his family.  From dusk till dawn, this armour type Cursed Tool will completely protect the wearer from projectile attacks, ranged hostile Jujutsu attacks/effects, and from the effects of poison, with the arm and shin guards in particular resisting all manners of damage. However, the armor isn’t as effective against the Jujutsu or attacks of Curses-- its purely made to fight against other Sorcerers.

Raijū (Thunder Beast) A Cursed Tool that resembles an obsidian colored kusarigama with gold trimmings, it possesses qualities that liken its slashes to bolts of lightning. This Cursed Tool pairs well with Tanba's inherent Electrified Cursed Energy, though even so, he doesn't tend to use it as much as his other Cursed Tools, only finding it truly useful for very specific combat situations.

MISCELLANEOUS SHINOBI TOOLS: Along with the Cursed Tools Tanba possesses, he also has access to a wide array of lesser, though still useful, weaponry and tools, see here, and here.

[dilebe06]

Samurai High School

Is it your wish.... to bear my children?

[akakris10]

I drew Melt and then I was like, “well, now I have to draw ALL of my faves...”

... I guess I didn’t have anything better to do anyway

[housespecialfriedrice]

https://redd.it/diclag

[kcwells94]

Maybe the assassin has found some form of purity in the afterlife.

[shinichameleon]

データで見たいと要望があったので by Enuma.

※Permission to upload this was given by artist. Please support the artist by favoriting and retweeting the artwork.

[thefgostrategist]

Is this the Shimosa crew? Am I missing Katou Danzo?? Or anyone else?

[kamadaeva]

stressromance | 一応修正デスストーム！

[sweet-pinkitty]

🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 

Finally, in Love Again

Aki Fujishima: It's a very cute decoration. Thank you. Would you like to make a special cake for celebration now?

_

Our Private Homeroom

Ryota Mochizuki: Good luck with the decoration. Thank you. The present from me is "House hamburger steak". Let's eat together later

_

Love Brings You Home

Taiyo Inami: Oh, I got a nice present from you again. Yes, let's finish it together

_

Kings of Paradise

Taki Kozaki: I'm glad to celebrate this year with your decorations. Good luck, let's celebrate at the end

_

When Destiny Comes Knocking

Seiya Fushimi: …Beautiful. Happy has a good taste. Thank you

_

Rose in the Embers

Kyosuke Takatsukasa: This venue is the most cozy in the Imperial City... because it's full of your thoughts. Thank you... Thank you so much tonight

_

A World With(out) You

Kotaro Kamiyama: Yeah, you did your best. Well, if you look closely, it's a little messy around here. You don't have to be like you. I like it. I'll kiss you as a reward, so come over here

_

Love's Hella Punk

Tengoku Shima: Sooooooo...!!! I'm such a great ski. Thank you

_

Masquerade Kiss

Kazuomi Shido: Even though the small decorations aren't patterns, everything is for me...? If so, do I have to thank you enough?

_

Romance MD: Always on Call

Toshiki Kasumi: Yeah, it's cute. I wanted to see you decorating. Do it again

_

Destind: Mr. Almost Right

Takane Momochi: I want you to praise me for your hard work. You can tell that much by looking at your face. I'll reward you later. Look forward to it

_

Oops, I Said Yes?!

Kunihiro Kasai: This is amazing, thank you. It's very nice. This venue and you who worked hard

_

My Last First Kiss

Ayato Hidaka: Wow, did you do it all? It feels like a secret base for adults. Thank you, let's all make a noise until morning today

_

Professional Boyfriend

Banri Saki: Haha. You did your best to decorate it. thank you I'm happy

_

Era of Samurai: Code of Love

Soji Okita: Did you decorate it? Well, thank you. I have to give a reward to the hard worker

_

Bad Boys Do it Better!

Ryoji Ryukai: Thank you for the decoration. It was really gorgeous. Are you happy to have a party with you? It may be floating

_

After School Affairs

Rikiya Mononobe: Sugee... I did my best so much. Did you do your best for us...? Don't say it with such a smile... I'm shy

_

Dangerous Seduction

Kentaro Inui: Isn't it nice? I was impressed because I was in a hideout recently. Thank you for us.

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Tokyo Love Hustle

Suzumu Mado: Wow... it feels like it's being celebrated. I'm so shy. Is this love?

_

Sakura Amidst Chaos

Masamune Date: I heard that there is a big event, but it's very gorgeous. Thank you for your hard work

_

Butler Until Midnight

Yuma Akagi: It's not bad sometimes to be exhausted like this. Do I have to thank you a lot later? Miss Sama

_

Be My Princess

Yakov Chernenkov: When did you prepare it? It's a beautiful decoration. Let's celebrate together tonight

_

Metro PD: Close to You

Hiroshi Kirisawa: Did you decorate it? It's gorgeous. Thank you! I'll eat a lot and enjoy it

_

My Sweet Bodyguard

Subaru Ichiyanagi: If you did your best to decorate it like this, I wouldn't do anything. Say you want to eat spareribs or whatever

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Pirates in Love: Captain's Cut

Ryuga: It's a big feast! well done. You can drink with me tonight, and I'll have a drink with the Sirius Pirates.

_

Kiss Me on Clover Hill

Bunta Kurimaki: A lot of presents. thank you. glad. ...Can I squeeze?

_

In Your Arms Tonight

Genji Higashiyama: It's really beautiful. I think I'll be spending various events together in the future

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Seduced in the Sleepless City

Ryoichi Hirose: It's a big party venue. Ready for you. I have to give a lot of rewards to Yome who is a hard worker

_

Kissed by the Baddest Bidder

Eisuke Ichinomiya: Not a bad party venue. If you want a special reward, come now and within 5 minutes

_

Her Love in the Force

Takaomi Tsugaru: You like us so much that you're so enthusiastic, right? Okay, believe me.

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Star-Crossed Myth

Leon: It's still incomprehensible what the goldfish do, but... it's not bad to think that you're worthy of decorating. Can you still entertain me?

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Irresistible Mistakes

Shunichiro Tachibana: I don't think it's so decorated. You really don't always go beyond your imagination... I'm looking forward to tonight because I have a competitive return

_

At the end of Koi100+ 5th Anniversary Party!

🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 

Part 1➡️(click)

[facets-and-rainbows]

Please tell me some of your favorite books 👀 (I trust your tastes and I need more things to read)

Book recs! Book recs!

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang: Short story collection, all of them very good. Really captivating blend of mythology and sci-fi. The movie Arrival was based on one. Another was the only time someone has ever pulled off the "what if we made a guy's brain better" premise without giving me an allergic reaction from bad neuroscience.

The Three Body Trilogy (The Three Body Problem/The Dark Forest/Death's End) by Cixin Liu: Incredibly interesting series about aliens making first contact with China during the Cultural Revolution. Author has a way of making you actually appreciate the scale of things happening in space. I have never feared extraterrestrial life except while I was reading The Dark Forest holy crap.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman: I know tumblr already knows about Neil Gaiman because he lives here in our house like our collective favorite uncle, but Neverwhere is my favorite of his. Nice vibes. Draws you in.

Basically every book Terry Pratchett ever wrote: I'm a giant Discworld simp. It's not just funny fantasy with occasional biting social commentary--which is good on its own!--Terry Pratchett also has THE BEST PROSE I KNOW. People will post clever sentences online but it doesn't capture the way the cleverness is effortlessly woven into the very fabric of every paragraph. The whole book is like that. All the way through. My whole blog is gushing about nitty gritty details of sentences being neat. I'm all over that sh*t. Eternal favorite author.

There's a lot of Discworld books, many of them at least loosely connected in little mini-series with multiple other books. Don't get overwhelmed by reading order suggestions, most orders are fine. My own favorite starter/standalone books are Mort, Guards! Guards!, Small Gods, and Going Postal. Pick one. Read it. The prose is like that all the way through.

Pandora Hearts by Jun Mochizuki: okay that's a manga series but not enough people have read it. Come for the pretty people acting mysterious, stay for one of the best plot twists I've seen in fiction.

I also desperately want to recommend some books by Kotaro Tsunekawa, but I don't believe there are English versions of any of them (though his prose is simple and efficient if any learners want to take a crack at 夜市 or something!) Hot damn that man can worldbuild. They don't WARN you when you start learning a language that you're gonna have book recs for people who can't read them. Maybe one day I'll finally snap and fan-translate a short story on here.

[deus-ex-mona]

the honeypre startbook ✨character relationships map✨

tl under the cut—

Key: ♥︎ = requited love; ♡ = unrequited love

Old Third Year Students:

Setoguchi Yu

Yu → Natsuki: ♥︎

Yu → Hina: Siblings

Enomoto Natsuki

Natsuki → Yu: ♥︎Confessed to him♥︎

Natsuki → Kotaro: Siblings

Mochizuki Sota

Sota → Akari: ♥︎Confessed to her♥︎

Sota → Koyuki: Influenced by his positive attitude towards love

Hayasaka Akari

Akari → Sota: ♥︎

Akari → Sena: Friends since Middle School

Serizawa Haruki and Aida Miou

Haruki ⇔ Miou: ♡Friends who walk home together every day♡

Ayase Koyuki

Koyuki → Yu: Declaration of Rivalry

Koyuki → Natsuki: ♡Wants to protect her♡

Hamanaka Midori

Midori → Sena: ♥︎

Narumi Sena

Sena → Mona: Sisters

Sena → Midori: ♥︎

Sena → Akari: Friends since Middle School

Old First Year Students:

Setoguchi Hina

Hina → Yu: Siblings

Hina → Hiyori: Senior and Junior from the Track and Field Club

Hina → Koyuki: ♡Has had unrequited feelings for him ever since Middle School, and attends the same High School as him♡

Hina → Kotaro: Soccer idiot

Enomoto Kotaro

Kotaro → Natsuki: Siblings

Kotaro → Hina: ♥︎

Kotaro → Arisa: Worried about how she was isolated from others in her class

Yamamoto Kodai

🧍🏻 (not even Natsuki)

Shibasaki Ken

Ken → Arisa: ♥︎Confessed to her♥︎

Ken → Kotaro: Urged him to help Arisa

Ken → Aizo: Brothers who do not get along

Takamizawa Arisa

Arisa → Ken: ♥︎Confessed to him♥︎

Arisa → Sena: A big fan of hers. Looks up to her.

Arisa → Kotaro: Proof of friendship

New First Year Students:

Suzumi Hiyori

Hiyori → Hina: Senior and Junior from the Track and Field Club

Hiyori → Aizo: His manager

Hiyori → Yujiro: His manager

Shibasaki Aizo

Aizo → Ken: Brothers who do not get along

Someya Yujiro

Yujiro → Mona: Stared at her coldly, thinking that she’s not qualified to be a pro

Narumi Mona

Mona → Sena: Sisters

Mona → Midori: Not pleased about the relationship that he has with her older sister