#kotoko modeling gig

[polarmary]

Technically Dressing Kotoko #4 but we got too silly

[roseofcards90]

peeks in am i allowed to ask for your muu headcanons if you have any...

YES OMGGG my daughter I would love to talk about her!!!

- I think Mu would take up embroidering as a small hobby! She loves making designs, usually flowers, and she hangs them up in her room and on her school desk :D very proud of her creations!

- Haruka also loves to share his art book and sketches with her!

- Her and Yuno would do karaoke together often, and they would get extremely petty about it on whoever gets the higher score lol (it’s all in good fun tho :3)

- Baby Mu would frequent her mother’s modeling gigs a lot and just be in awe with how beautiful she is, she tries to copy her movements and stuff but falls to the ground because she’s too tiny 😭

- Iirc she mentioned tropical fish in one of her interrogation questions, so I think it would be cool if that was her special interest! Very knowledgeable on many species of aquatic life :3

- She would help tutor occasionally with English and French (I feel like Amane would be curious enough to learn some French phrases), along with helping kids read and write if they’re having trouble!

- It would be interesting if she just never learned how to swim well, so she has a bit of a fear of large bodies of water as a result and she doesn’t feel comfortable swimming in them. At the beach she’s more of the person sitting in the shade and tanning lol

- If she’s ever at the pool or something, Mappi and Mikoto would help her swim and encourage her, much to her embarrassment (she appreciates it secretly tho <3)

- I feel like she would try and sneak in alcoholic drinks at a teen party and she would fail horribly LMAO and then Shidou and Kazui would lecture her and tell her to at least be discreet about it 💀

- During Halloween, she is easily spooked and Futa likes to mess with her sometimes because of that. She “accidentally” throws him down the stairs the next day <3

- ALTHOUGH she is the top person when it comes to costumes and stuff, so she always goes all out for her Halloween costume, or any outfit in general for an occasion

- Kotoko, who is not so big on Halloween, would be dragged by Mu all around because she wants to make a good costume for her, and Kotoko in the end, would begrudgingly end up mumbling about how she likes it just a little bit, and Mu would clap and yell in her own personal victory ✨

[aparticularbandit]

Haiji is the eleventh (or thirteenth, if we include Hina and Hiro). He'd be there to fight with Makoto for including Monaca; he's the leader of Towa City now, and his arm has never recovered, although it's no longer in a cast. This makes sense: even in backstory, he hated her, and after everything in UDG, he has more of a reason to do so. He's never forgiven her, never gotten over what she did to him or to the city. (Similar to how the Warriors of Hope feel about her, to be honest.) His hair's normally pulled back in a neat ponytail, and he's in a black suit with his rosy button-up unbuttoned the first two buttons.

I also think it's likely that in a similar manner to Byakuya taking Nagisa under his wing, some of the others have taken the Warriors as their not kids but still their kids.

Komaru and Toko have Kotoko (and Hina is her overly involved aunt, especially when she realizes Kotoko is getting into boxing - she's a swimmer, she's athletic, and fighting reminds her so much of Sakura). (It's more like Komaru has Kotoko, though, because while Toko is there frequently, she's also going back and forth between Hope's Peak and wherever Byakuya is. Even if Byakuya doesn't want her. (This leads to Nagisa having mixed disdain and pity for Toko. They know each other really well.))

Hiro has Masaru, because con artist teaching a pickpocket sounds right (even though Hiro mostly doesn't run cons anymore, now that he has a teaching gig at Hope's Peak and their protection; he definitely teaches Masaru to be a lot more careful with his hits so he doesn't run into the same trouble Hiro did). (And Hiro's mom probably also helps parent Masaru, so he's just. all the maybe not great adult role models. But they all love each other, so that's okay, right?)

And while Hina is definitely Kotoko's overinvolved aunt, Jataro is hers, because he needs more than anything the bubbling love and affection that Hina can provide (also donuts, she wants to know how he can eat that many donuts and stay so super thin, where is he putting them), and because Hina's best (lost) friend was also seen as ugly and an ogre and she doesn't want that for Jataro. Toko also helps with Jataro, but more on the art side of things, not because Toko is an artist, but because she's a writer, and she gets that aspect of him better than Hina does.

But Monaca is still, as much as she can be, Junko's, even though Junko isn't around anymore. (Eventually, I'd say she becomes Makoto and Kyoko's, but I don't know if she'd want to belong to Makoto. At all. Ever. He killed Big Sis Junko, after all, and she's never going to forgive him for that.)

And I think in terms of theme, that's kind of what the point would be. Recovering from abuse, to an extent, because that's important re: Warriors of Hope. But also what it looks like to accept multiple facets of someone you love - or loved - how they may have saved your life, but that doesn't mean they were good. How to let go of an obsessive love that's not doing you any favors. How to grow up and adjust.

But also you don't just have that re: the Warriors' relationship with Junko, you also have that with their relationship with Monaca, who definitely did use them and was fine with them dying as long as she got what she wanted. How do you accept that someone who hurt you and who you hate can also grow and change and become someone different? Even if you don't want to be friends anymore, how do you address that? Can you address that? Can you forgive someone for hurting you, even if you don't want anything to do with them ever again?

(And yes, this also includes Haiji and Monaca's relationship because that's baked in there, as well, between the level of abuse he and their father gave to Monaca and her destruction of Towa City - she might say it wasn't for revenge, but there was probably something warm in being able to hurt her brother the way he hurt her. They have never loved each other (and that's the difference between Haiji and Junko or the other Warriors; Junko and the others loved Monaca (and Monaca loved them), but Haiji never did and probably never will) - and can they move on from that? Is that even possible?)

Etc. Etc.

....

Also the idea that Monaca keeps at least one Monokuma with her (and has always kept the Monokumas with her) because she programmed them all with Junko's Monokuma voice and even though Junko isn't there with them anymore, it's a piece of her that still is.

That she's programmed at least one of them to read her bedtime stories in Junko's voice (because she probably has an audio recording of that somewhere), that she's programmed some of them to talk to her like Junko does, but it's hollow and empty because no matter how much she makes them speak Junko, it still isn't Junko. Just the underlying ache of that.

(And the final chapter really has to come down to whether Monaca would bring Junko back or not. Maybe not. But Monaca being able to get everything she's wanted since Junko died - which is having Junko back - and having to decide...is it worth it? After everything in the entire fic, does she still want Junko back? Or does she just want who she imagined Junko to be - who Junko was to her - a Junko devoid of all the other horrible things that Junko is and was? And is it really Junko she wants? Or just someone who stands in the gap and says she's valuable and worthy and chosen and loved?)

I keep going back to the idea of Monaca finally coming back from outer space and ending up being invited to be a student at the new Hope's Peak Academy.

All of the Warriors of Hope would be invited and would be there, maybe, not just Monaca, but she's the most wary of it. (DR3 implies the other four were helping Komaru and Toko, so maybe they've still kept in touch. Monaca, meanwhile, is both Monaca and has been living her best life in outer space, far away from everyone and everything. Except television, which DR3 implies she somehow still has.)

But like. They're all radically different.

Jataro's still some sort of Ultimate Art because that's the best way he knows to express himself, but he's all willowy and thin and never wears his mask anymore and his hair's kind of long. He's kind of a pretty boy, the exact opposite of himself.

Masaru's maybe the Ultimate Pickpocket because it's all a game to him. Sometimes he gives stuff back, and sometimes he doesn't. But he likes the running, likes the chase. He's not a hero anymore, not a leader, but he's still a little bit Peter Pan, and he never wants to grow up.

Nagisa's maybe the Ultimate Manger - not like Nekomaru because he's not into sports, but corporate positions. He's good at arranging people, good at scheduling, good at making businesses better and more effective. He's best at knowing when people need to take time off, when to let them rest and take a break, and because he's so good at his job, the corporations tend to listen to him. His hair's grown long and bushy, like a fluffy cat's tail, and it's always kept back in a ponytail. At some point in the past several years, he's gotten glasses, and while he knows he's good at his job, he's grown more shrunk into it.

Kotoko, meanwhile, has gone full tilt into her fighter class and become the Ultimate Boxer. She hates gentle, hates it, and having something else to beat up, to rough up, to punch has been a healthy way for her to get all of that negative energy out. (I like to think she and Komaru took a self-defense class together, and she liked it so much she kept going with it.) All of her hair has been chopped short, and she has the band-aid on the side of her face that Masaru used to have across his nose. But it's still a cutesy band-aid; she still loves adorable things. (In fact, it's probably the same bunny-covered band-aid that Junko used on the Steering Committee member.)

And Monaca, herself, is also something other, something different, but she's not necessarily better. She's spent all that time alone and away from everyone and everything. I don't know what her Ultimate might be, but they call her the Ultimate Space Case as a joke. And she still knows just what buttons to push to rile everyone up.

Hope's Peak isn't what it was either, so we get to see what Makoto's done with it. It still focuses primarily on the growth of its Ultimates, but it's more about giving them a safe space to continue to pursue their passions while also making sure they get a well-rounded education. There are other students, too, Talentless ones, but they're not treated any different from the Ultimates. In fact, sometimes the Ultimates are asked to teach on their passions, if they want, and Talentless students go and learn intricate stuff from them to get better at stuff they like. (Kotoko teaches a self-defense class primarily for girls; Masaru is not allowed to teach pick-pocketing, but sometimes he does anyway.)

....

And then, of course, because it's Danganronpa, they somehow find themselves locked in the school and Monokuma shows up to start a Killing Game.

The Warriors of Hope immediately pull a DR2 vs. Nagito bit and tie Monaca up and leave her in one of the rooms because obviously it's her. Everything was good and fine until she showed up, and no one wanted to emulate Junko as much as she did, and she's still kind of a bitch, and no one knows what she's been up to in space, maybe she's been planning this for years!

Except it's not Monaca and Monaca desperately wants to figure out who it is because she's pissed off. How dare whoever this is use Big Sis Junko's legacy this way? (Yes, she still loves Junko. The other Warriors still do, too, but they've got a bit of better perspective on her. She could be good to them and still be a horrible person. It can be complicated. There's no such it can be complicated with Monaca.)

And Monokuma comes to Monaca all tied up and talks with her a bit. Asks her what she would do if it actually was Junko. Which Monaca refuses to believe because Junko is dead, Junko has been dead for years at this point, there's no way she's coming back, no way she's alive. But Monokuma plants enough of a seed of doubt that she's left unsure.

Then the story proceeds from there.

I like to think Monokuma untied Monaca. That would give her a lot of extra suspicion from the Warriors, especially if she's honest and says Monokuma did it. She wants to be honest because that's the only way people will believe her, and maybe Komaru and Makoto do, when she says she's not involved, but Kyoko holds off because she's all investigation mode and the Warriors absolutely refuse, absolutely are certain this is her fault, because it's always her fault. And if she's telling the truth, then she's obviously in cahoots with Monokuma because he's helping her! Also who is the one who still has Monokuma servants? Just Monaca. She has to be doing it!

Excepting that this Monokuma is clearly not Towa City design. Toko has seen them both - the ones Monaca used and the one Junko used - up close and personal - and they're not the same. Monaca's are mass-produced copies of the original, and they're servants. Junko's was an exquisitely designed one-of-a-kind original (she had more than one, but there's no Monokumas like Junko's Monokumas). And these are Junko's Monokumas.

Which leads to concern for the Remnants. Whether they've reverted, whether they're involved somehow. And maybe they're able to contact them (or maybe one of them is there with them, too), and nothing points in that direction either.

And so on.

Despite being dead, I think Junko's still involved somehow. Because it's always Junko, at the end. And because the idea of Monaca specifically having a reunion with some form of Junko is just. a very strong pull here. Of a Junko who can look at Monaca and say she's proud of her and who she's become, who maybe can look at the other Warriors and say the same, although that's less important. (The other Warriors would not want her to be proud of them. Monaca still does.)

Anyway, these are the thoughts. Idk if I'll ever actually long form write the thing (between the Warriors of Hope, Makoto, Kyoko, Komaru, Toko, and maybe a Remnant, that's 10. I don't know who the other six would be, unless I rope in Hiro and/or Hina (who could be teachers at Hope's Peak) and/or more Remnants (which I like less). No Byakuya, although I feel like he's been taking Nagisa under his wing. And while it'd be interesting to rope in new characters, new Ultimates, I don't want to "clearly these don't have plot armor but everyone from canon does" you know? So. That's a thing.)

Just. Thoughts.

[expshared]

this season was kind of whack, but at least we had Eizouken

Heya Camp is just kind of a lazy reminder that Yuru Camp exists, and will continue to exist in the future. You remember these characters?? OK good, just making sure. That said, did I immediately feel the tension release in my entire body when I heard the OST? Duh. Did I sing “it’s coffee time” to the ending not knowing these were the incorrect lyrics? The entire time.

I don’t know what to do with Isekai Quartet because like, objectively, I should hate it. I do not enjoy like 2.5 of the shows involved, and the addition of Shield Hero was not a welcome one. Turns out it doesn’t matter anyway because it was just Isekai Quartet and also Naofumi is Sometimes Scowling in the Background and that’s about as much of him as I want to see anyway. And yet? I do enjoy this Disney Channel Original Crossover. There’s something inherently fun about watching these characters from disparate shows interact with each other, and no matter what the original stakes were in their respective series, they’re all just doing homework and getting part time jobs and that shit’s funny when a big skeleton man is doing it.

After its first episode, Asteroid in Love was kind of a slog. This is your typical seasonal CGDGT show, and apart from that, I really can’t think of anything to say about it. I didn’t learn anything about the Extremely Niche Topic these girls are doing, and it wasn’t even that gay. Disappointing. 

I was really looking forward to Toilet Bound Hanako-kun because I am a big fan of the source material, but I was pretty let down by this adaptation. It seems that they prioritized the art style and the color scheme above everything else, but that essentially just meant the entire project ended up being colored manga panels. I wanted to see them move around! There was not a single moment of animation that justified it being an anime. You might as well have been watching a PowerPoint. I can’t think of anything nice to say. Let’s move on. 

Bofuri is my power fantasy. I want to play a video game so cluelessly I break it into tiny pieces and bumble into being the most powerful player in the world’s nicest MMORPG. Maple turns powercreep into powersprint. What Bofuri lacks in character development or plot, it makes up for in outrageous Maple feats. She holds the entire world in the palm of her hand and she doesn’t even know it. She named her OP pet turtle Syrup and then turned into an alien abomination unknown to the world and went on a killing rampage. This anime was Maple Crossing Online. Love you, Maple. Wreck shit, Maple. 

If My Favorite Idol Got Into Budokan, I Would Die walks a thin line and what separates it from being a slobbering idol otaku engine preaching how Cool it is to Be an Otaku and an Idol Show Watamote is the fact that Eripiyo is a girl. That’s it. If you took her and replaced her with your average Joe Schmoe-san, this show would be insufferably creepy. Every time I was waiting for it to topple over, Jenga-like, it managed to right itself and straddle the tightrope. It’s not a particularly subtle piece of media, nor does it do what I was hoping it would do and engage in any sort of conversation about the obsessive nature of idol otakudom, but you know what it does a good job of doing? Portraying being an idol as a job. Just some adults putting on underground shows and selling the same CD of like two songs over and over again. I was also hoping it would address what happened to Eripiyo, maybe talk about why at the beginning she’s dressed like an office worker and apparently gives that all up to follow this kinda-shitty idol group, why this fanatic escapism is preferable, or even maybe address how gay it is? Not in the cards, though. Honestly Budokan was, despite itself, pretty enjoyable? There are some great background lesbians. Also can we talk about how consistently good the production values were on this show? Why did this have such great dance sequences? Why did this look better than Love “Has More Money Than God” Live? Actually no I take everything back this show was kind of just Idol Otaku Watamote

Hey, let’s talk about the other idol show airing this season: the completely unhinged 22/7. This show is Whack. This show operates on an entire different plane of reality. I know nothing about the actual band, so I came into this blind and oh my god. Hey guys, the plot of 22/7 is that a Wall tells some girls to form an idol unit.  A sentient Wall whose orders absolutely must be followed. Why? Dunno! What happens if you don’t follow its orders? Never elaborated on. (Actually, is this a reference to Pink Floyd? I have no fucking clue.) In any case these eight girls, summoned by a letter from the Wall, are all invited to become an idol group, and then they’re magically an idol group. It’s unclear how they become successful, how they book gigs, who’s keeping the lights on at the agency, how they’re getting paid, who HR is, how their gorilla man agent found this Wall and determined that all its directives Must Be Followed, but shit, man. What follows in 22/7 is a one-member-per-episode serial that quite frankly stumbles far more often than it succeeds. One girl’s grandma died and that’s why she came to Japan. One girl had a traumatizing experience where she got lost in the woods for a week and it broke her family apart and now things just suck forever. These things are equal. One poor girl’s entire episode was about how she didn’t want to put on a bathing suit for a photo shoot and how uncomfortable she felt about it, but in the end she was made to apologize for dragging her feet for so long and takes her photo for a pin up. Yuck. Gross. Bad. The only valid girl is Jun, end of discussion. None of this even holds a candle to the finale-- wherein the girls are directed by the Wall to disband, and, defying an order for the first time, the girls return to their agency and throw shit at the Wall until it breaks down. It’s revealed that the Wall isn’t supernatural-- behind it are tv monitors, photos of the girls as children, records of their activities. A person or people are behind this. Why??? Are they being groomed?? Is the Wall a metaphor for the Industry? I’m so concerned. The girls aren’t, though, because after a little side eyeing, they ascend a staircase and wow! A Stage! Our fans are all here for our reunion tour! And then they’re fine and I guess their idol group is back together or something? Did I mention the stage where they perform? It’s at a zoo. I can’t tell if this is the most scathing condemnation of idol culture I’ve ever watched or just completely oblivious. The characters don’t engage in any sort of thought about what they’re being put through, but they are performing their final song, the lyrics of which are about how life is just too hard to keep on living, at a zoo and I don’t think you can have that sort of thing happen unless you’re trying to make a point. Right??? RIGHT?!? Dance and sing, monkeys.

Smile Down the Runway was another show completely divorced from reality. So you got your main character, Chiyuki, whose thing is that she’s Too Short to Be a Model at her father’s very prestigious modeling agency. Which, like, is valid! Let’s see some variation in the modeling industry. Let’s shake it up. Let’s lead the charge for alternative models with bodies outside of the very narrow requirements of the fashion industry. What’s that, Chiyuki? You have no interest in that? You want to be a Hypermodel? I don’t know what that shit is, I think you made it up. Our other protagonist is Ikuto, the destitute, put upon, bobcut boy with a dying mother and 3 younger siblings who is trying to pursue his dream of becoming a fashion designer. Are you beginning to sense the problem here? There is a fundamental imbalance in the presentation of these characters’ goals and situations. Also? Emotions are at an eleven, always. Characters are always acting as if they’ve just seen someone get murdered in front of their eyes even when it’s like. There’s a messed up seam. They are constantly being mortified, crushed, and having their dreams ripped away. One time, two different assholes offered Ikuto magical mom-fixing blood money when he was struggling to come up with funds to pay off his medical debt at the cost of giving up his spot in the fashion show. Wildin’ 

Haikyuu didn’t exactly come in like a lion, but I’m sure it’ll be more organic upon rewatching. We were laying the groundwork for much of this season so I’m expecting it to payoff later, but the beginning definitely lagged. Every time Haikyuu hints at a women’s volleyball tournament, I want a volleyball anime with girls. Man, those ten minutes we got with Kiyoko? Those were great. 

I don’t have too much to say about Somali and Forest Spirit. Abe’s “Make Children” agenda feels at least a little more like a narrative choice in this anime, and I enjoyed Somali and the Golem’s relationship and their travels were in equal turns harrowing and heartwarming. And I did tear up at the end so you got me there, anime. 

In/Spectre has some balls being an anime. It’s existed as a light novel and a manga and those are both superior mediums for it because let’s put all our cards on the table here-- In/Spectre is a show about talking. Five whole entire episodes take place in a car. The finale is winning an argument in an anonymous 4chan chatroom. That said, I have such a fondness for In/Spectre. I think Kotoko rocks. I think a show willing to do nothing but talk at you for two hours is badass. Sitting through this anime is like watching a podcast. I think the show engages in some great dialogue about human nature and how we prefer stories that are theatrical, narratively-driven, and have a logical cause-and-effect, instead of the truth, which is more often than not grim, and disappointing, and illogical. I like that Kotoko’s only function, in-story and out of it, is to bullshit so hard she invents alternate realities. Anyway In/Spectre is good. 

There’s no praise I can lavish on Eizouken that hasn’t already been said. It’s powerful, it’s strange, it’s energetic, and it’s packaged with such love. It’s repurposed the CGDCT template into something deeply affecting. It’s an anime for people who love animation.  I hope everyone watches Eizouken.

[polarmary]

Well since her description says "body of a model" why not turn her into one am I right ;3

(I have other ideas but I am always open for suggestions *wink wink* my ask box is right there use it *wink*)

[polarmary]

*slides in* suit you say~? Hehe yes ma’am

She’s ready for business

[polarmary]

hi hi! your intro post says we can ask for doodles (please ignore this if it's only for moots or smth kgjfgkkg) so, could I ask for... a kotoko wearing a happi coat?

Hii! It's for everyone so no worries!! ^~^ Thank you for the ask btw <33

I went for a more traditional one....I don't know if thats what you had in mind but I hope you like it!

[polarmary]

I hear you! A serving coming right up cap 🫡🫡

[polarmary]

Dressing Kotoko #5 …I…uhm, yeah- women.