#kurahashi island

[kurahashi-island]

New Years First Sun Rise Kurahashi Island (初日の出倉橋島）

Every year Kurahashi Island has a special event on New Years called the Hatsu hi no de (First sunrise of the year) event.  For this event, people start out in the dark before sunrise approx 530am and start their way hiking up the Hiyama Mountain (408m) to catch a glimpse of the first sunrise of the year. By doing this it is believed to receive power for the start of the new year and after doing it now in Kurahashi for 4? years now I can sure attest that it does.  The weather forecast was clear skies the day before and it was seeming to be a good day to watch the first sunrise.  The 360 degree view at the top of Hiyama allows for some awesome glimpses of the first sunrise. Facing south west towards Matsuyama you can see the sun starting to rise. 

Everyone had their cameras read to take photos of this majestic sight!

Even children enjoyed climbing to the top at taking pictures.

It was such a beautiful site with the floating islands in the foreground with the glowing red sun rising in the background.

Check out the red glow!

This year there was approx 100 participants with the walk portion having 66 participants and the run having 30. 

People from Kurahashi/Kure/Hiroshima and those returning home from all over Japan were able to enjoy a special start to the New 2023 year together. By participating in this event, you receive a hot spring ticket which opens at 8am on this day! There was so many people there!  Can't forget to mention the Amazake served at the hot spring entrance!

This event has always remained special to me and hope can participate in this event every year. 

Have a great year everyone!

[youkaigakkou-tl]

tanami sensei making kurahashi art is making me hopeful he pulls a 'betraying you in order to betray my enemy to save you' sorta move and not a plot twist im a bad guy.

That or im coping a lil too hard 😭

man i feel like u guys think kurahashi and ebisu and the gods by extension are like actually out to do something bad

if the gods actually wanted to do something they would have straight up smited hyakki island by now, so they either dont care or theyre cowards

really the extent of what kurahashi has done is like. lying about his identity. half the characters do that ur not special kurahashi 😩

[shukufuyu]

[Event Story TL] Weeping Star On a Summer Night (Chapter 6)

Hisoka: …Earlier, I saw a boy by the beach saying that he was “looking for Orihime”

click below to read more

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location: inn

Izumi: Woah, these seafood dishes look amazing…!

For you all to even prepare an entire welcoming party for us, I feel bad somehow…

Kurahashi: When the locals heard there’s going to be a popular theater troupe coming to this island, they were honestly excited. Now, please don’t hold yourself back.

Local A: Boy, want anything else for your drink refill? [1]

Azami: Boy…

I’ll have cola.

Local A: Right, then what about that boy over there?

Sakuya: Uhm, me!?

Um… I’ll also have cola, thank you!

Local A: O–i! Two colas over here!

Local B: Aye!

Azami: You only drank one cup of sake, don’t you wanna get more?

Sakuya: …Well honestly speaking, I’m not really used to going to drinking parties. So I’m a bit worried about drinking too much when I’m outside.

Azami: I see.

Local B: Alright, here’s your cola.

Sakuya: Thank you!

Azami: Thanks.

Sakuya: Let’s raise our glasses filled with soft-drinks, cheers

Azami: …Cheers.

Local C: Ooh, you guys are big drinkers ain’t ya?

Local D: ‘Course, youngsters should be that way. Here, don’t hold yourself back and drink more!

Chikage: Thank you for your kind offer.

Juza: In our troupe, once someone starts drinking sake it’ll get unstoppable, so they’re bound to get stronger gradually. [2]

In our troupe, it’ll get hard to stop once someone starts drinking, so a lot of us are strong drinkers.

Local D: Heh, that’s a good troupe right there. 

When you get back, bring some sake for them, aight?

Kazunari: Big thanks～!

Time to send invites to everyone in LIME～

Kurahashi: Do you want seconds?

Hisoka: …Yeah, please.

Kurahashi: Are the snacks enough?

Hisoka: It’s okay.

…Also, there’s something I want to ask.

Kurahashi: Is something up?

Hisoka: …Earlier, I saw a boy by the beach saying that he was “looking for Orihime”

Kurahashi: Orihime…?

…Ah, Kousei? Then, Orihime is…

location: outside, at night.

Sakuya: Woah, the stars are so pretty!

Azami: So this is what a starry sky looks like huh…

Izumi: Yeah, A sky lit by stars doesn’t happen a lot in Veludo Way…

Kazunari: Speaking of which, I heard that you can see shooting stars here.

Hisoka: Is that so?

Kazunari: I had a few chats at the welcoming party. They told me stuff like recommended diving spots, or hidden gem spots where there aren’t many people

Azumi: I thought your table was quite loud, so that’s what was happening.

Kazunari: Don’t wanna drink too much so gotta save it by lotsa talking! Wasn’t I cool?

Sakuya: I see…I’ll remember that.

Kazunari: Ah, right! They also talked about something interesting…

In the Weeping Island, “If you wish during the Meteor Shower Night in the Sacred Mountain, it shall come true”...something like that.

Izumi: Now that you mention it, our play this time also involves a meteor shower. I’m guessing the idea was inspired by that saying.

Juza: …A meteor shower, huh.

I wonder if it’ll happen during our stay here.

Chikage: At least compared to Veludo Way, our chances are high, so we might be able to see them.

Izumi: In case we actually see them, let’s think of a wish!

Azami: But we already wrote them back in the dorms, aren’t we asking too much?

Kazunari: Right! …Uhm, has everyone written down their own share of wish?

Sakuya: Yes! I’ve already written and hung up mine!

Azumi: Yep, me too.

Kazunari: Hyodle? Still stumped?

Juza: ..Yeah, thought I could narrow it down to one at least until we get back.

Azami: He’s so humble; Kamekichi needs to learn a thing or two from him.

Kazunari: For real. What about Chikachon and Hisohiso?

Chikage: …I ended up not coming up with anything at all.

Becoming an adult basically means making those wishes come true yourself.

Hisoka: …I’m also at loss. Couldn’t come up with anything, so I’ll make it something about marshmallows.

Chikage: As always.

Hisoka: …I’ll write yours too. Something like “I hope I’ll like marshmallows”

Chikage: You…

Kousei: I love Orihime! I love Orihime! I lo–...!

Izumi: …A kid? What’s he doing here?

Hisoka: (That kid, the one I met earlier at noon…)

Kousei: One more time…!

Izumi: Hi, what’re you doing here? It’s already late, so it’s best if you go home, alright?

Kousei: …!

…This is my home, so I’m fine!

Izumi: Ah…

Wait, did he think I was a suspicious person…!?

Azami: Don’t think too much about it.

Sakuya: Even so, what’s that kid doing at this time?

Juza: He said something about Orihime.

Kazunari: Oho, practicing a confession? Orihime-chan!

Azami: Huh…!

Doing something like that in public is just shameless!!

Hisoka: …Orihime is that kid’s family.

Chikage: Family?

Hisoka: I met him earlier today. He was looking for Orihime, he said.

I got curious, so I asked about him at the welcoming party.

Hisoka: His name is Kousei, Orihime disappeared around last year. It’s a cat that’s like a family to him, so he’s been looking for it since then.

Sakuya: So Orihime’s the cat’s name.

Hisoka: At first, everyone in his family looked for it, but a few months had passed and they seem to have given up

Even so, it ended up with him looking for Orihime by himself, so people around him offered to help but…

Each time, they got rejected. I also offered to help but he said no.

Juza: Was he just shy?

Kazunari: Yeah, but if it’s outsiders like us I might understand but…

Chikage: …Whatever it is, he must’ve had his own reasons.

Izumi: We don’t really know the area well, so we probably don’t have that much free time…

But, let’s spare time the best we can and go look for Orihime too.

Azami: We might be able to by paying attention to whichever way we go.

Chikage: …Even here, their goodwill is in effect.

Hisoka: Chikage too, thank you in advance.

Chikage: How many times do I have to say I’m not good with cats.

…Well, I’ll try to be on the lookout.

translation notes

[1] the original, "島民" in english translates to islander, not sure why but it felt weird. Probably because I’m Indonesian and the word sounded a little too familiar in a negative way, so I used the word Local which sounded better.

[2] I had to change the wording from the original a bit because Juza wasn’t being specific enough; it sounded like everyone in the troupe drinks. But kinda sounds funny coming from him?

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[fumiko-matsubara]

Describing Chiba's personality like he's a main character on a well-written wikia page

Because way too many people mischaracterized him for my liking and enough is ENOUGH!

Note: I am ignoring the anime adaptation because the changes they made completely ruined Chiba's character.

Chiba generally appears to be a calm and serious boy whose maturity and professionalism for his age was always noted by others during missions. He always gets the job done with little to no complaints, simply allowing his results to speak for his high skills. Along with his fellow sniper Hayami, Chiba tends to be compared to a working adult.

But outside of assassination, Chiba is surprisingly fairly social and bubbly, often seen wearing a wide smile on his face and is rarely alone. He seems to enjoy the company of others and is always present whenever his classmates gather to do an activity together. Because no one can see his expression with the way his hair covers his eyes, Chiba becomes frequently misunderstood by strangers, but his close classmates described him to be a very gentle and soft-hearted person.

Chiba is very tolerant and tends to be a little bit of a people pleaser, always putting other people’s feelings over his own even at the risk of possibly wearing himself out. The reason why he hides his eyes is to accommodate his peers when he was younger since his intense gaze made him appear to be always on guard. Similarly, he dislikes letting others down. It’s why he never complains when his classmates began putting their faith in his skills when he was assigned the most important role in the Island Assassination attempt. He fears that letting his concerns be known before the attempt was made might shake his classmates’ confidence and he doesn’t want that. Hence, he swallowed his feelings and continued on with the job. Later, Chiba outwardly admits that he felt so pressured by the amount of faith his classmates had in him that it inevitably affected his usually near-perfect performance. 

Chiba is notably keen on logic and prefers to only rely on solid facts when taking in information. He is a realist who lives in the present, using his five senses to quietly observe the world around him, thus noticing details that most people tend to miss. After the announcement of their final exam results when he noticed the dejected Karma despite the nonchalant front, he knew exactly what to do to cheer him up. Another example was when he decided to check on Kurahashi who was feeling down after Takaoka began taking over their PE classes, aware of her interest towards Karasuma.

His spatial awareness was what makes his sniping accuracy be of high level, easily being able to determine the distance between point A and point B while taking account of outside factors such as wind direction and trajectory of the bullet. In the Korosuu novel, he even shows his disinterest towards Hayami’s suggestion of using his “intuition” to shoot because it clashes with his extremely calculated sniping method.

Although he never brags about it, Chiba is rightfully proud of his skills and despises it when his abilities gets undermined and ridiculed to the point that he becomes very petty about it. When the Legendary Sniper called him a hindrance after giving him a warning shot in chapter 5 of the Korosuu novel, Chiba meticulously instructed Hayami to shoot back at the sniper out of pure spite.

His learned tendency to swallow his concerns when in the middle of a job makes other people mistake him for someone who always hides what he feels. But the surprising truth is that Chiba finds it easy to be completely transparent about his feelings, especially with how self-aware he actually was. Right after the Island assassination attempt was deemed a failure, Chiba wasted no time asking Ritsu to confirm what he had observed during the assassination attempt. He did not hesitate to express the pride and confidence he always has in his skills from how extremely well he typically does in rehearsals and practice sessions, as well as the growing pressure he felt from not wanting to let others down finally dawning on him the second he was about to pull the trigger.

By the time he returned to the hotel, Chiba was able to navigate through his feelings and let them out in the open for Ritsu and the others nearby to hear. Throughout the entire infiltration, Chiba did not once think back to his prior failure, more concerned with what is currently happening around him, like Korosensei entrusting him and Hayami to use real guns, which he finds to be an absurd thing for a teacher to do. Chiba’s method of instantly facing his feelings after the concerned matter is done with is what allows him to move forward without regrets.

Ever since the pep talk Korosensei gave to them, Chiba slowly began to voice out his concerns and share the details he had observed more often. It later turns out that he deeply respects Hazama because the ease she has to string her words together outloud with hardly any care about what others may think was something he couldn't replicate himself.

In Korotan B, Chiba noticed the direction of the conversation he and Puey were having and thus tried his luck to ask about the boy’s backstory while he was still being talkative. When the class became divided in whether they wanted to continue the assassination or not after learning the truth about Korosensei, Chiba volunteered to be the first to pick his side with no hesitation, which was the Kill Team. He expressed that he had long decided on what he wanted to do and will go through with it.

A rather hidden side of him was that he is an adrenaline junkie who gets very excited at the notion of doing something fear-inducing and borderline dangerous, like going to space or riding intense amusement park rides. He has a liking towards intense things in general, given his love for hardcore punk and metal bands.

Navigation

Chiba Ryuunosuke Masterlist

Differentiating Chiba and Hayami's sniping methods using MBTI

This panel of Chiba and Nakamura I found interesting

[shuuenmei]

Fic masterlists and tags

General tags:

black or white general tag: #black or white (fanfic)

nychthemeron general tag: #nychthemeron (fanfic)

green ray general tag: #green ray (fanfic)

silver lining, gray skies general tag: #silver lining gray skies (fanfic)

tabula rasa general tag: #tabula rasa (fanfic)

Master list

growing in color verse

silver lining, gray skies (AO3)

| Rhodes Island Operator rosters (Updated frequently) | Doctor and Minato Yuzuki |

tabula rasa (AO3)

Kurahashi Yuzuru | Kurahashi Family |

[diamondsandlemons]

Tulip's best of 2023

by which I mean, my Top 5s of stuff that I experienced for the first time during 2023. sorry this is just a list and I don't really expand on my thoughts abt any of these, just narrowing down my choices took me all day to do. on the plus side though I do enjoy making graphics:

MOVIES 2023 originals:

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Kaguya-sama: Love is War - The First Kiss That Never Ends

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Suzume

Nimona

belateds:

Knives Out (2019)

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Glass Onion (2022)

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

TELEVISION 2023 originals:

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake

Scavengers Reign

The Owl House

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

HONORABLE MENTION: ★☆SPARKLE ON RAVEN: The Life of DrillGirl☆★

belateds:

The Tatami Galaxy (2010)

Lycoris Recoil (2022)

Yuru Camp (2018)

Seinfeld (1989)

Gunsmith Cats (1995)

BOOKS 2023 originals:

Jo Firestone - Murder on Sex Island

(…that’s the only new book I read this year. kinda surprised I even got one to be honest. Helps that it was a free audio book. I like Jo Firestone’s voice)

belateds:

(yeah I won’t bother ranking within a series. anyway here’s all the books I read this year)

Tamsyn Muir - The Locked Tomb (Gideon the Ninth (2019) and Harrow the Ninth (2020))

Jennette McCurdy - I'm Glad My Mom Died (2022)

Nagaru Tanigawa - Haruhi Suzumiya (most of the books in the series, from Boredom (2003) to Intuition (2020))

COMICS 2023 originals:

Ryoko Kui - Dungeon Meshi

Tamifull - How Do We Relationship?

Winona Powers - Girls With Horns

Cam Marshall - Ethernet Cable Girlfriend

Sumito Oowara - Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

belateds:

Cam Marshall - Matchmaker (2021)

Masaoki Shindo - Ruri Dragon (2022)

Hitoshi Ashinano - Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (1994) Deluxe Edition (2022)

Tatsuki Fujimoto - Chainsaw Man (2019)

Aki Hamazi - Bocchi the Rock! (2019)

(dates refer to when a series started, but volumes depicted are the ones I’ve read most recently. sorry if thats confusing)

VIDEO GAMES 2023 originals:

Pikmin 4

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Hellscaper

(that’s all, sorry gamers)

belateds:

Pikmin 2 (2004)

Super Lesbian Animal RPG (2022)

Pikmin (2001)

Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (2011)

Kirby: Planet Robobot (2016)

ALBUMS 2023 originals:

smiling broadly - smiling broadly

Rebecca Sugar - Spiral Bound

Louie Zong - Hurricane Louie

beatrix quinn - Susan Taxpayer Demo OST

Claudi Martinez - Monster Roadtrip OST

(can you tell I don’t go out of my way to find new music? lol)

belateds:

Yoeko Kurahashi - Tokyo Piano (2004)

The Beths - Expert In A Dying Field (2022)

A crow is white - Himitsu (2015)

Yorushika - The Summer Grass is Getting in My Way (2017)

The Orion Experience - Cosmicandy (2006)

[jordanlangen]

This past week in Kurahashi Island I got the chance to visit Mr. Handa's farm in Karoto to check out his chickens. He has over 50 and it was super cool seeing them!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeOErukb2UU&feature=youtu.be He gave me a pack of eggs to take home and try

and they look like easter eggs! They are different sizes and different shades of brown/green. He has two chicken breeds one being 翡翠鶏 Hisuidori and the other 烏骨鶏 Ukokkei. The Ukokkei was super fluffy and looked more like a cat/dog than a chicken.  Right away after getting home I made some white rice to try out the eggs in a Japanese typical dish call Tamago Kake Gohan which is cracking a raw egg into pipping hot rice. 

It was delicious!

It seems super fun to raise your own chickens and be able to eat the eggs they provide!  This past week I got the chance to visit Mr. Handa's farm in Karoto to check out his chickens. He has over 50 and it was super cool seeing them! 日本語 今週倉橋島の半田さんの鶏を見に行けました！５０匹以上おって初めてあんなに見るのをすごく楽しかったです！ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeOErukb2UU&feature=youtu.be 半田さんから卵1パックいただきました。　Easter eggな見た目でした。卵は茶色いも緑やつもありました。鶏２つの種類がおって翡翠鶏と烏骨鶏です。烏骨鶏はフワフワでワンチャンか猫の方似てます。w早速、家に帰ってから白ごはんをたいて卵かけご飯作ってみました。やっぱりすごい美味しかったです！ 自分で鶏を育ってて卵を産んでくれるとものすごく楽しそう！

[holespoles]

Rei Kurahashi

Treasure map "There must be an island of treasure here."

くらはしれい「宝の地図」

[tuulikannel]

The kanji in AC characters' names

It feels like my life’s nothing but endless procrastination… This time, I started going through the kanji in the AC characters names, just… because? It’s not like I actually lacked stuff to do. But as I now did this, might as well share…

One general note: the names don’t necessarily ‘mean’ anything, even if the kanji they’re composed of do. They’re just names. Often the kanji are read quite differently in names than they would be otherwise. Some kanji might also have several, very different meanings. Akabane 赤羽 Karma 業 赤 red 羽 feather 業 karma, fate, destiny; uncontrollable temper (normally read ‘gou’)

Isogai 磯貝 Yuuma 悠馬 磯 seashore 貝 shellfish 悠 quiet, calm, composed; distant, endless, eternal  馬 horse

Okajima 岡島 Taiga 大河 岡 hill 島 island 大 large 河 river

Okano 岡野 Hinata ひなた 岡 hill 野 field Hinata is written in kana, but it means sunny place, in the sun

Okuda 奥田 Manami 真奈美 奥 inside, interior 田 rice field 真 truth, reality, genuineness​ 奈 obsolete meaning: apple tree (current meaning is apparently ‘what?’ I’m going with apple tree here) 美 beauty

Kataoka 片岡 Meg メグ 片 one-sided, sheet; incomplete, imperfect 岡 hill Megu doesn’t mean anything.

Kayano 茅野 Kaede カエデ 茅 grass/sedge used for thatching 野 field Kaede is written in kana, but it means ‘maple’

Yukimura 雪村 Akari あかり 雪 snow 村 village Akari is written in kana but it means ‘light’ Aguri’s name is written with kana too, but there are a bit too many options for which kanji to use for it to give any guesses. (agurii in kana is a loanword from English, tho, and means agreement. This amuses me a little, cause Aguri sure is a bit too agreeable at times…)

Kanzaki 神崎 Yukiko 有希子 神 gods, mind, soul 崎 cape (on coast) 有 possess, have, exist 希 hope; rare, phenomenal 子 child

Kimura 木村 Masayoshi 正義 木 tree 村 village 正義 justice, normally read ’seigi’ or ‘Masayoshi’ if a name. However, what Kimura’s parents call him is the English word “Justice” – or Jastisu, or something like that, as the word gets a bit twisted in Japanese. I noticed the wiki claims they call him Seigi, but that’s wrong. You can hear people clearly saying Justice here: https://youtu.be/yoAYw4ksoa8?t=714 and later again at 17:37 in that video. Also, in the final roll call, Korosensei calls him Kimura Justice-kun.

Kurahashi 倉橋 Hinano 陽菜乃 倉 warehouse 橋 bridge 陽 sunshine 菜 greens, vegetables 乃 possessive particle

Shiota 潮田 Nagisa 渚 潮 tide, salt water; opportunity 田 rice field 渚 water’s edge (His mother Hiromi 広海 : vast/wide & sea)

Sugaya 菅谷 Sousuke 創介 菅 sedge 谷 valley 創 genesis, originate; wound, injury 介 shellfish

Sugino 杉野 Tomohito 友人 杉 cedar 野 field 友 friend 人 human, person

Takebayashi 竹林 Koutarou 孝太郎 竹 bamboo 林 small forest 孝 filial piety 太 grand, magnificent 郎 son

Chiba 千葉 Ryuunosuke 龍之介 千 thousand 葉 leaf 龍 dragon 之 this (one); possessive  介 shellfish

Terasaka 寺坂 Ryouma 竜馬 寺 temple 坂 slope, hill 竜馬 these kanji literally mean “splendid horse” but then the word would be read ryuuma, not ryouma.

Nakamura 中村 Rio 莉桜 中 middle 村 village 莉 jasmine 桜 cherry

Hazama 狭間 Kirara 綺羅々 狭間 The kanji of Hazama are “narrow” and “space”. The word itself (Hazama) means such things as interval, ravine, crenel, eyelet. 綺 thin twilled silk fabric​  羅 lightweight fabric or clothing; silk gauze; thin silk 々​ repeats the previous kanji (kirakira means glittering, sparkling, twinkling​)

Hayami 速水 Rinka 凛香 速 fast 水 water 凛 cold, dignified 香 fragrance, scent

Hara 原 Sumire 寿美鈴 原 meadow, plain 寿 longevity 美 beauty 鈴 small bell (I guess it isn’t a coincidence that hara, written with different kanji, also means stomach. I almost left that out cause I feel it’s a little stupid, but whatever.)

Fuwa 不破 Yuzuki 優月 不 non-  破   break, rip, destroy 優 excellent, gentle, graceful 月 moon

Maehara 前原 Hiroto 陽斗 前 front, ahead 原 meadow, plain 陽 sunshine 斗 Big Dipper, sake dipper

Mimura 三村 Kouki 航輝 三 three 村 village 航 navigate, sail, fly 輝 radiance, shine, gleam

Muramatsu 村松 Takuya 拓哉 村 village 松 pine 拓 clear (the land) 哉 question/exclamation mark

Yada 矢田 Touka 桃花 矢 arrow 田 rice field 桃 peach 花 flower

Yoshida 吉田 Taisei 大成 吉 good fortune, joy 田 rice field 大 big, large 成 (to) become

Ritsu 律 Okay, we all know it’s short of Autonomously Intelligent Fixed Artillery (自律思考固定砲台 Jiritsu Shikou Kotei Houdai). The Ritsu part of all that means law, regulation. (Jiritsu is sort of a philosophical concept of autonomy, or self-control. It’s literally something like “self regulation”.)

Horibe 堀部 Itona 糸成 堀 moat, canal 部 section, department 糸 thread 成 (to) become

One interesting piece of trivia: the names of the students are based on the names of the 47 ronin, which is a rather famous story in Japan about a group of ronin (masterless samurai) who in the 17th century avenged the death of their master. It is rather interesting, though, that the master they were avenging was called Asano… the exact same kanji too, in that case.

Most of the names are pronounced exactly the same, except the kanji might be different. Here’s a list of all the students and the corresponding samurai. (I know I saw a post about this the delved even further into it, but I can’t find that post anymore. I’m sure I reblogged it, too.)

·

Asano 浅野 Gakuhou 學峯 浅 shallow, superficial 野 field 學 learning, knowledge 峯 peak, summit; back of the blade

Asano 浅野 Gakushuu 学秀 学 basically the same kanji as in his father’s name, just simplified 秀preeminence, supremacy, excellence (note: gakushuu written as 学習 means study)

Sakakibara 榊原 Ren 蓮 榊 sakaki (species of evergreen sacred to Shinto) 原 meadow, plain 蓮 lotus

Araki 荒木 Teppei 鉄平 荒木 logs in bark, unseasoned timber 鉄 iron 平 peace; flat

Koyama 小山 Natsuhiko 夏彦 小 small 山 mountain (i.e. hill) 夏 summer 彦 boy, lad

Seo 瀬尾 Tomoya 智也 瀬 rapids, shallows 尾 tail; lower slope of mountain 智 wisdom 也 to be

Tsuchiya 土屋 Kaho 果穂 土 soil, earth 屋 shop, roof, house 果 fruit; achieve 穂 ear (of a cereal plant), point (of a brush, spear, etc.); crest (of a wave)​

·

Karasuma 烏間 Tadaomi 惟臣 烏 crow, raven 間 interval, between (incidentally, written with different kanji, his last name would be “crow demon”) 惟 this (one) 臣 retainer, subject

All of Karasuma’s subordinates have birds in their names. We have

Tsuruta 鶴田 (crane - rice field) Hirokazu 博和 (esteem - harmony)

Ukai 鵜飼 (cormorant - raise/domesticate) Ken’ichi 健一 (healthy - number one)

Sonokawa 園川(park/garden; river) Suzume 雀 (sparrow)

And then there’s his boss, Onaga 尾長 Gouki 剛毅. Onaga is azure-winged magpie, gouki fortitude/firmness of character/manliness​ Onaga’s daughter, btw, the fake Ritsu, is Nise 仁瀨 (benevolence - swift currents). But, with different kanji, nise can also mean imitation or fake.

Oh, let’s throw him here too, I guess

Yanagisawa 柳沢 Kotarou 誇太郎 柳 willow 沢 mountain stream, swamp 誇 boast, pride 太 grand, magnificent 郎 son

(Almost the same given name as Takebayashi’s, but for Yanagisawa the first o is short. Also, the meaning of the kanji is very different, for Takebayashi it’s filial duty, for Yanagisawa, pride.)

There. Let me know if I’ve forgotten anyone!

[snakeboistan]

Just Out Of Reach

My exams are finally over so have some touch-starved!Nagisa 

Pairing: Nagisa x 3-E

AO3 LINK

Shiota Nagisa was a loner. He always had been for as long as he could remember.

When he was in elementary school, he was the weird kid - the strange girl-boy that hardly talked and no one could understand. His male classmates thought that he was too girly to take part in their games or join their conversations and whilst his female classmates didn’t mind his appearance that much, they knew better than to associate with him lest they too fall victim to the taunts and sneers that followed him everywhere, or the relentless bullying that inconvenienced him every breaktime. However, he didn’t mind - friends were a luxury he couldn’t afford anyway (his mother didn’t approve of him spending time out of the apartment, away from her). He would have his own fun by sitting himself down in his school’s library and bury his head in a book, getting lost in worlds that weren’t mean, or cold, or judgemental. Or he’d sit on a bench in the school playground, homemade lunch in hand, and observe his peers hug and high five and laugh together, whilst ignoring the strange pang of something that would curl in his stomach, wanting more than ever for something he could never have.

 Even during his first year of Junior High, when he met the red haired genius of a delinquent called Karma, he didn’t let himself indulge in what normal friends would do. Sure, he felt comfortable around the first friend he’d ever had (though the unnatural comfort was often overshadowed by the awe and admiration that he was allowed in the company of someone as brilliant as Akabane Karma) but Karma had his own walls, his own issues and lack of trust, so there was always that unspoken distance between them, that slight tenseness that lingered between every (very) rare arm that was slung over his shoulder. Though they walked side by side, it was never hand in hand. Though they spent every free minute together there were never any fist bumps or high fives or hugs (Nagisa wondered if Karma even knew what hugs were). Karma kept to himself and so did he - they both had boundaries that the other respected.

 Until, Karma left. And he was alone again. 

 And as much as he said that he didn’t mind it - as much as he told himself that he was used to it ever since he woke up that one day and his father was nowhere to be found, the shouts and screams of his parents having their nth argument ringing in his ears even though his house was pitch quiet for once - it hurt. So when he was sent to E-Class with his head hung low and the voices of his former classes whispering their disgust trailing after him, he looked at the grenade in his hand and knew that he had nothing left to lose.

  (So why did Koro-Sensei save him? And why did it feel so good? )

  (And why did that mucus-like membrane shrouding him make his chest heat up with a feeling he’s never felt before?)

  It was during their lunch break when it happened.

 Nagisa was sitting by cross-legged at the base of a tree, reading an article about an upcoming superhero flick, whilst a group of his classmates were throwing, hitting and bouncing a ball in a game that Yada had called ‘don’t let the ball touch the ground’ but Kimura dubbed ‘the floor is lava for the ball and not us’ (he’ll let the jury decide which title was better) when he heard some rustling above him followed by groans.

 “Okajima,” Maehara whined, “you hit it too high.”

 “I’m sorry okay,” Okajima said, “I didn’t mean to get it stuck in some branch.”

 “Don’t worry,” Yada smiled at him, “I’m sure that we can get it down if we stand on each others shoulders or something.”

 “I don’t know,” Kataoka frowned. She looked up, making sure to cover her eyes from the sun, at the cursed branch, “it’s pretty high up. It’s safer for us to go and get a ladder.”

 “No need,” Nagisa said. Unbeknownst to them, the moment Nagisa had gotten whiff of what had happened, he jumped up and, as silent as a serpent, leaped nimbly from branch to branch until he reached the one with the ball. He carefully plucked it from where it was nestled in a groove before making his way back down again, all just before Kataoka spoke. He threw it into her hands.

 “What the- how the hell did you even do that?” Maehara’s jaw was dropped, frantically looking between the ball and the branch it was (he swore) a second ago.

 “How did no one even see him?” Okajima whispered.

 “Thank you, Nagisa,” Kurahashi beamed with the intensity of a thousand suns and threw her arms around him in one of her famous bear hugs, laughing in that usual bubbly way she always does. Nagisa freezes mid-flinch, almost petrified at the sudden contact. An unfamiliar warmth starts to spread across his chest. It was nice and almost comforting, drowning him with bright yellows and gentle goldens - making him feel like he was special. It took everything in him to not melt into it, a keening noise stuck at the base of his throat.

 When his mother touches him, he feels the sharp talons of her nails digging into his skin. When she pecks his cheek or forehead, he has to stop himself from wincing at the way cyanide seems to burn him where her lips leave. In all honesty, he’d rather the sharp slaps and objects flying at him, at least those forms of pain where only physical and didn’t leave a confusing sense of dichotomy where his emotions that craved for the positive contact to linger battled where his fight-or-flight survival instincts screamed at him to scrub every single atom of her off of him. Touch was something he could neither afford nor understand. 

 If he wanted warmth, he’d wrap himself up in scarves and throw on soft jumpers; if he wanted to feel safe, he’d make sure to do everything he can to not trigger his mother into another eruption; if he wanted contact then he’d find his old plushies buried deep in the confines of his closet and embrace them in hopes that it would be enough. For him, the closest he’s ever gotten to feeling that void in his chest was when words of affirmation would wash over him (it’s no secret to anyone that compliments can render him unable to function)(but can you blame him when compliments to him are as rare as painite?).

 When Kurahashi let go of him to go regale Yada with stories from a nature documentary she watched the night prior, he’s still stock still, dumbstruck, from that momentary embrace. He wanted her to come back so that he could feel it again. He wanted to feel her arms around his body like a safe little cocoon. He wanted to submit to that sunshine-like comfort and never get out of it. He craved that warmth so much it hurt him - why did it hurt so much?

 It made him feel so wanted . And lov-

 Is this why people hold hands all the time? 

 Later that night, he crushed one of his stuffed animals against his chest as he wrapped his arms around his body. He wondered why his pillowcase had wet stains on it when he woke up the next day.

 (He ignored the answer that gnawed him at the back of his mind)

  The second time he felt it was during a ‘completely necessary class bonding sleepover extravaganza’ (as Fuwa had put it) at the Nakamura household. With the blonde’s parents out of the country to visit her older brother, she had her entire house to herself - a house that was miraculously large enough to house twenty-seven teenage assassins in training (as well the phones that contained ‘Mobile Ritsu’).

“I still don’t understand why we can’t watch anime,” Fuwa pouted from her position on the kitchen island, her One-Piece-themed-socks-clad feet kicking up and down as she took another spoonful from the bowl of snickerdoodle cookie dough she had nicked from Hara and swallowed it, “it’s practically a staple for every good sleepover.”

 “Because, Fuwa,” Nakamura drawled in reply, her own hands busy pouring popcorn into bowls, “none of us want to see you go full otaku during our relaxing evening.”

 “It’s nothing against you Fuwa,” Nagisa had cut in quickly, having had made eye-contact with Isogai and Hara as the three of them were washing and drying the baking equipment they were using (“‘You know we have a dishwasher right?” Nakamura had called in amusement) and their combined parental instincts had deemed it necessary to extinguish anything that could potentially start something (and knowing this class, mountains can be made out of molehills as quickly as Koro-Sensei can fly from continent to continent), “it’s just that we think it might be a good idea to have more variety tonight. Next time we have a class movie night, you can choose anything you want.”

 “I’m holding you to that, Shiota,” Fuwa pointed her spoon at him with narrowed eyes before sliding herself off the table and sauntering off towards the living room.

 “She’s not going to get sick, eating all of that raw cookie dough, is she?” Nakamura asked, staring at the doorway.

 Hara smiled at her, “don’t worry, we made the dough edible.” She gave Nagisa a head pat with a slightly soapy hand, “you can finish with that bowl you’re drying and help me bring these trays to the living room, ‘kay Nagisa?”

 Nagisa nodded bashfully, trying to hide the redness that blossomed over his cheeks in reaction to Hara’s hand making contact with his scalp.

  "What do you mean 'we should watch a horror movie'?" Isogai asked his friend.

 "Exactly that class prez," Maehara grinned at the brunette, "you can't have a sleepover without a few screams."

 "Nor can you have one without anime but here we are," Fuwa grumbled to herself.

 "But what if people get scared?" Isogai asked, as always being the Ikeman he is and thinking about others. Bless him.

 "That's the point," Nakamura chirped, "it's the perfect bonding exercise. Nothing can bring together a group of rag-tag misfits like fear."

 "But-"

 "Don't worry," Nakamura said, "we have Karma and Hazama with us. I can assure that whatever we see on the television will be nowhere nearly as scary as them."

 "True that," the class sighed as the two students in question gave eerie, self-satisfied smirks.

 "Not to mention that we're all assassins in training," Okano said, "no evil spirit or crazy murderer would stand a chance against us."

 "And if they do, we can just sacrifice Terasaka to them," Hazama piped up, not even looking up from her book.

 "HEY! WHAT THE HELL?!"

 "Yeah, Hazama," Karma smirked, "as if they would even want him."

 "OI AKABANE, WHAT'S YOUR DEAL?!"

 "Hey, Nagisa," Kayano turned to her friend as Karma stuck his tongue out at Terasaka, "what kind of horror movies do you like?"

 “I don’t know,” Nagisa replied, idly tracing the outlines of the cartoon sushi pieces that patterned his pyjama bottoms, “I’ve never watched any horror movies so I wouldn’t know what is good.”

 Maehara grinned at them from under the hood of his Pikachu onesie, “Then have no fear, Nagisa. As a movie connoisseur-”

 “I thought that title was reserved for me?” Mimura raised his hand with an arched eyebrow.

 “-I would be more than happy to educate you, my young padawan-”

 “-I’m pretty sure he’s older than you,” Okano pointed out.

 “On the art of Horror Movie Binge-athons,” Maehara declared, ignoring the interruptions and pointing at the blunette in a very Fuwa-esque way.

 So that was how Nagisa found himself on one of the couches, two scream-fests later, sandwiched between Karma and Sugino, watching the end credits of The Ring. From his perch, he watched in interest at the horror-struck faces of his classmates below.

 “Dude,” Kimura breathed out in fear when the screen turned black, a shaky hand attempting to comfort a very visibly distressed Okajima, who had the athlete in a bone-crushing hug from behind as he hid behind him, “I am never going to answer a phone again.”

 After a full ten seconds of silence, the smartphone that was lying in front of him lit up, and the Sonic theme song ‘Gotta Go Fast’ cut through the air like a knife. Kimura jumped about a foot in the air, screaming, whilst the others around him did the same. Muramatsu and Yoshida, clung tighter onto Hazama, yelling about how they were too young to die whilst Okajima and Okano began praying to the gods.

 “Karma, stop it,” Nagisa sighed without even looking at the redhead next to him. When Karma smirked and ended the call on his phone, thus terminating the ringing, he turned and raised an unamused eyebrow at a snickering Nakamura who was filming the entire scene on her own phone. The blonde winked at him and raised a peace sign.

 “I know what we should watch next,” Yoshida said after a while and took the remote. He began to scroll through the movie suggestions on the screen, “Coraline.”

 “Isn’t ‘Coraline’ a kids’ movie?” Kataoka furrowed her eyebrows as she eyed the cartoonish movie poster on the television.

 Coraline was not a kids’ movie. It was a horrific abomination of nightmare fuel dolled up with pretty colours and a talking cat. At least with the other films they had watched that night, he was able to stand - jump scares don’t really work on someone that’s constantly on edge and no CGI generated creature of the supernatural could terrify him as the very real harpy that he shares a roof with. At most he stiffens up or just trains his eyes onto the kernels of popcorn that get sent flying whenever Okajima gets particularly frightened. He usually just tries to deconstruct the story from a logical standpoint, making sure to point out to himself the plot-holes to enhance the fact that it’s nothing more than fiction (instead of making these comments out loud like Sugaya and end up having a brigade of throw pillows assaulted onto him). However watching The Other Mother, who spoke with a honey-sweet tone but had that distinct aura of ‘threat threat threat’ made him feel more chills than watching the disfigured Samara Morgan crawl out of a television and murder people and whilst the revelation of her true colours weren’t completely unpredictable, it didn’t and the fear and acid crawling up his stomach.

  ‘You may come out... when you've learned to be a loving daughter!’

  ‘How dare you disobey your mother!’

 It was after watching that vile woman drag Coraline into that dark chamber and locking her inside it when he couldn’t take it. His frozen facade and almost petrified posture just broke. He lurched, fumbling for the blanket draped over his legs and pulled it up so that he could cover his head and buried himself under it. With his knees drawn up under the covers, he focused on controlling his breathing and trying to steady his shaking hands and starting-to-blur eyes in an attempt to push away the unpleasant flashbacks hissing around in his head like a viper. Suddenly out of nowhere, he felt a hand gently circle his wrist. He tensed, heart rate speeding up in a panic, before his skin registered the familiar feel of polyester - the material of Sugino’s red sweatbands (wait, does he even wear them to sleep? ). When he had physically relaxed, the- Sugino’s hand slowly and carefully - giving him ample time to pull away - moved his own and away from his legs and then interlocked his fingers between his. The skin on skin contact at the base of his fingers had caused the same warmth he had felt with Kurahashi spreading across his entire arm, stopping at his chest and swirling around like a mixture of comfort and elation, like he had just drank a cup of steaming milk tea. He steadily curled his own fingers downwards, letting the tips press down against the baseball-lover’s knuckles. The only response he got was a tight squeeze in return - not hard enough to sting but still grounding in a sense.

 Okay.

 He was okay, he can do this.

 It was during the climax of the film, when Coraline confronts that button-for-eyes-wearing she-devil, when Nagisa abandoned all inhibitions and pulled on the hand intertwined with his own, simultaneously pulling Sugino down and bringing himself up so that he could wrap his arms around the black-haired boy. His uncharacteristic actions even shocked himself but all of his usual anxiety’s of forcing his problems on others were pushed back by the voice in his head saying ‘safe safe safe get closer closer ’. With his eyes squeezed shut so tight they almost hurt, he felt something wet roll down his cheek and so he tightened the hold he had on his best friend. Sugino reciprocated, one of his own hands gently cupping the back of his head, fingers burying past silken blue hair, so that he could very lightly bring the other’s face closer and tuck it underneath his chin. Now normally, Nagisa would have combusted with embarrassment at being so close to another student, especially in such a public setting like this, but right now he felt like nothing more than some primal urge begging him to soak in as much of that embrace as possible. To be selfish for once and just stay as close as he can even if it means he dies there. To let himself be vulnerable for a change. The movie, those memories they all washed away and he felt nothing but safe….

  The next morning he woke up with his head on someone’s shoulder, a fluffy blanket raised upto his chin. He blinked the haziness out of his eyes to find himself in front of inky locks.

 “You alright there, Nagisa?” Sugino looked at him with a smile. Oh he was already up. That’s new.

 Nagisa’s eyes widened, his face erupting with redness as the events of the previous night replayed in his inner-theatre like those epic fail compilations Karma likes to laugh at. He jumped back to the other end of the couch, as far away from Sugino as possible.

 “Oh god, Sugino, I am so sorry,” Nagisa whispered as loudly as he could without waking up his still snoozing classmates, “what happened last night was so weird and I put you in such an awkward position and I’m super sorry I swear that will never happen again and you must’ve been so embarrassed honestly you should've just pushed me off when I fell asleep I really wouldn’t have minded this was so weird and-”

 “Nagisa, chill,” Sugino moved closer and placed a hand on the rambling boy’s shoulder, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards with slight amusement, “it’s cool. It’s normal for people to get scared during horror movies - it’s kind of the reason why they were made, you know. Besides if you looked really distressed and if I couldn’t do anything to help you then why are we even friends.”

 “Yeah but-”

 “No buts,” Sugino cut in, “you’re always ready to help others so don’t be surprised to find otu that others want to help you.”

 Nagisa sighed. He looked up at the other boy with a slight blush, “well, um, thank you. For that. It was really nice of you.”

 Sugino’s hand squeezed on his shoulder and he felt that familiar thrill shoot down his arm as the taller smiled, “no problem, Nagisa.”

 (“Next time we decide to do a bonding activity,” Fuwa says during breakfast as she’s munching through a honey dripping pancake, “we should all go camping.”

 Collectively the class shuddered, their minds being filled with visions of Fuwa holding up a chainsaw on full speed and running around like a mad woman, of fire enveloping a forest and demolishing a once peaceful campsite and dark grey mushroom clouds puffing out like an ashy eruption, “no thank you.”)

  For some reason he finds himself in these sort of situations more and more. Like when he feels himself clinging closer to Okano when she bridal carries him up the mountain after he had injured his leg during a training exercise (which is interesting because normally being in such an unmasculine position would make his insecurities flare up like crazy); or when his arms tighten around Karma so much that it feels like their bodies are going to fuse together when the red head piggy-back carries him during a race; or when he just sighs in contentment when Maehara slings him over his shoulder instead of flailing around like he usually would when the brown-eyed boy declared that he was studying too hard and ‘offered’ to take him karaoke singing with everyone else.

 In the back of his mind, he feels like the amount of affectionate touches he receives have almost quadrupled in size -  there hasn’t been a day where he hasn’t gotten either a head pat, friendly noogie or side hug. There was even a tickling incident that led to his male classmates dogpiling him (because in 3-E the A in PDA can also mean aggression).

 No one comments on it though.

 It’s almost like Irina-Sensei’s comment about the students of 3-E having ‘some creepy hive mind’ is actually true.

 (That comment actually lead to the class planning via group chat to speak in monotonic unison in front of her for an entire half an hour just to mess with her. It worked.)

  “I still don’t understand why you people like drinking this leaf juice,” Fuwa scrunched her nose at the ceramic cup in her hand. Due to the pleasant weather, Kanzaki, Kayano and Okuda decided to have a tea party and Nagisa being the tea lover that he was was more than happy to accept their invitation.

 “Hey,” Kayano glared at her, making a shooing gesture with one of her hands, “Group four only.”

 “Kayano,” Nagisa said firmly, “she can stay if she wants.”

 “But she’s disrespecting the tea.”

 Nagisa shook his head and sighed whilst Kanzaki giggled into her cup.

 “Listen Fuwa,” Kayano rounded on the female otaku, “whilst I stand by the statement that pudding is the closest thing to perfection humanity has ever created and I would sell this entire class for a lifetime supply of pudding cups without a second thought (“Say what now?” Nagisa backtracked), a cup of nice warm tea can truly heal your soul. It’s science.”

 “That is true,” Okuda piped up, gently pushing her glasses up, “a cup of hot anything in your hands mimics human warmth which is said to have calming properties. So it basically means that warm drinks can mimic the need for human care and touch.”

 ‘ Well ,’ Nagisa blinked, thinking back to the mountain of tea bags that reside in his bedroom’s dustbin, ‘ that explains a lot. ’

 “So if you guys ever feel too single,” Fuwa laughed and gave them double finger guns, “you know what to do.”

 Whilst the rest of his company gave responding giggles, Nagisa felt a tug on his elbow and let it go limp to allow the greenette sitting next to him to tug it downwards. When he felt her link her pinky with his he turned to look at her to see a sunny beam directed straight at him.

 And he smiles back.

 Because he’s not alone anymore.

[kurahashi-island]

First time preparing Japanese Sashimi!　人生初の刺身料理！

日本語版は下にあるよ！

This month, my friend Junko came over with a several of the fish she caught with her fishing buddies and taught me how to prepare Japanese Sashimi and various other fish dishes. This is a picture of the Tai fish that Junko’s friend Kazu caught! Big size! Tai in English is Sea Bream but since have never even heard of that before, I just call it Tai in English too. 

Junko and her friends seem to be like professional fisherman/woman.

We starting out cutting the Tai fish first and was surprised at how well Junko could use the knife. Sine I am left-handed, she actually presented me with a universal knife so that even being a lefty, can still use it safely. 

This picture is the “maboroshi” phantom fish Akou that Junko caught. She said that this fish goes for over $100 if it were to be sold in Tokyo.  Unfortunately had a little accident with the new sharp knife, but patched it up quickly and continued! haha

We tried both Ako and Tai pieces of Sashimi and they both were delicious!

After that we made Karupaccho with the Tai fish and I was surprised how it it was. It was just mixing fresh greens with the raw fish, sprinkling the Karupaccho pack on and topping it with olive oil. It tasted super fresh and wish I could eat it everyday!

After this we headed inside to prepare various dishes in the kitchen. Junko showed how to make the beautiful fish presentation that you sometimes see at fancy restaurants.

If you look carefully, you can see that the fish is actually being propped up with a pieces of a Japanese radish and broken ends up wooden chopsticks. 

This dish that Junko introduced is soy sauced dip Yazu with mayo topping and fire grilled. This was also super delicious.

We grilled some of the sections of fish in the oven which turned out to be really good too! In addition we made fish nabe and it was delicious enjoyed the fresh with with various vegetables all cooked together in a hot pot. We ate it with Ponzu vinegar. I was so surprised that Junko knew how to cook at various dishes and was very impressed at how delicate and thought out all of them were.  Back in the States I’m used to larges portions of pasta, tons of pizza but I’ve been realizing that Japanese food fits best for me! Ever since coming to Japan, I have loved being able to eat fresh fish all the time. Most of the time I eat fish, it’s from the grocery store and have no idea where/how it was caught. This time it was pretty cool knowing who caught the fish and where they were caught. Preparing all these different dishes motivated me to want to be able to catch fish and prepare it at my house! Living this close to the ocean, it’s a shame to not be able to catch delicious fish like these! https://youtu.be/Mw-9cmbWd_U 日本語版 今月、友達Junkoが俺の家に来て友達と釣った魚を持ってきて刺身も色んな魚料理を教えにきてくれた。 この写真はJunkoの友達Kazuで釣ったの鯛。デカイ！英語では鯛はSea Breamじゃけど1回も聞いたことないけ英語でもTaiに読んどこう。

Junkoと友達はみんなプロ漁師みたい。

最初は鯛から捌きはじめてJunkoの包丁の擬実でびっくりした。自分は左利きじゃけわざわざ左利きの人でも使える包丁をプレゼントしてくれた。

この写真はJunko釣ったのアコウ（幻の魚）。東京だったらこの魚は1万以上行くと言われた。 残��ながら、新しいシャープの包丁でちょっと事故したけどバンドエイドしてから続けた。w

アコウも鯛も両方刺身で食べて美味しかった！

そのあと鯛の魚とカルパッチョを作ってみてあんな簡単なんてびっくりした。ただ野菜と新鮮魚とカルパッチョふりかけみたいなパッケージとオリブオイルだけだった。凄い新鮮な味で毎日食べたい！

次、家の中に入って台所で色んな魚料理してみた。 Junkoが時々オシャレなレストランで見る魚料理を作るのを見せてくれた。

よく見ると、魚は大根で組み立てて折れとるの割り箸でも使っとる。

この料理は焼き醤油付けたYazuとマヨ上に載せて。これもめっちゃうまかった。

他の魚の部分をもオーブンで焼いてみてそれも美味しかった。 他に魚鍋も作って色んな野菜と新鮮な魚で鍋で作ったのは美味しかった！ポン酢と食べた。 Junkoが色んな料理ができて全部はあんなに繊細で作られてとても感動した。

アメリカではよく大森パスタとかピザとか食べとるけどやっぱり、和食は俺には合う！ 日本に来てからよく新鮮な魚を食べれて大好き！今まで食べてる魚はだいたいスーパーから買って誰がどうやってとったのかさっぱりわからんかった。今回誰か釣ったのもどこで釣ったの知っててすごく楽しくてもっと意識的にいただけた。 こんなに魚料理見れると自分も魚を釣って、家で魚料理をできるようになりたくなってきた。せっかく海の近く住んどるのにまだこんな美味しい魚をまだ釣ってなくてもったいない！ https://youtu.be/Mw-9cmbWd_U

[youkaigakkou-tl]

Chapter 99 translator's notes thoughts

ACTUALLY unorganized thoughts this time unlike last time

first off, here's page 2 without any text.

These two use the same two kanji in their names (田岡 taoka and 岡田 okada) which is just a really funny sight in jp and cn but doesn't come across nearly as well in english.

This is called a "trompe l'oeil", they're very fun to look at. The word used here in japanese is 騙し絵 damashie, meaning "trick painting"

these two are also in my mangadex tl notes page, but i wanted to expand on them a little here

the chinese translation made up a totally different title for this chapter, insane. it says "picking a dorm room", while the jp says "boys' dorm tour"

I didn't want to use "tour" though, since there's already been 2 recent chapters that also had it in the title (94 and 95). this wasn't a problem in japanese, these 3 chapters use 3 different words for it, but "tour" is the only english word that really means "tour".

while on the topic of repeating words, sano just keeps saying ちなみに chinamini (by the way). 4 times in like 7 pages. if i actually wrote "by the way" that much you would have noticed it. (he heard me complain about him always changing the subject with "i dunno" and doubled down, real)

i've figured out my 2nd favorite part of translating, after seeing people's reactions and thoughts: typesetting the silly little background details

by the way, that piece of paper above the umbrellas is for kokkuri, basically japanese ouija board.

Details about the dorms

First off, this tweet from 2020 that sensei actually deleted?!?!?

(It still shows the preview on discord though. Nothing is sacred on the internet)

Stuff about the Hyakki Academy dorms Hijita + Nyuudou, Mujina + Tama room together Sano + Mame, Toubyou + Kurahashi, Gida rooms alone Ogoso (1 person room), Fuji + someone from another class, Odawara (same as Fuji), these three are in a different dorm. There's a cafeteria, but its quite expensive, so many students cook for themselves Also, Miki + Hatanaka's room was renovated and later became Hijita + Nyuudou's room.

It was deleted sometime between july 2022 (when i posted that discord message) and today (probably sometime in the past week or month). I mean, understandable you'd delete tweets with outdated info, I'm just surprised she remembered she tweeted this at all

So, what's changed is Ogoso (had) a roommate, Mujitama and Sanomame and Kuratoubyou are in a different dorm.

I'm inclined to believe Mikihata and Hijinyuudou still have the same room though, which would mean building two already existed when Hatanaka was in school.

(Side note, the principal won the lottery and built the new school building in Hatanaka's 2nd year, so about 9 years ago. I believe this is after brogida destroyed the school in ch26. From these two tweets)

From the tweet linked on the image, here's how the dorms are set up

According to ch 2, the faculty dorm is fairly close to the school itself.

And according to ch 4, dorm building 2 is about 7 minutes away from school.

Again from ch 4, it already says "building 2" here, and it's drawn exactly like in ch 99, so that's probably part of the setting that was planned all along. THAT SAID. GOD I WANT A MAP OF HYAKKI ACADEMY ISLAND. Where the hell are all these places???

Assuming 305 means floor 3 room 5, it would mean all these other guys are also on floor 3. completely useless info but yknow.

The principal's house is actually shown in ch 57 (pointed out in this tweet), it's a building connected to the back of the schoolhouse. The 3rd floor where that bridge connects is the principal's office, the other floors are his private quarters. So this is what "Sano spends his long vacations at the principal's home" means, it's just.... at the school.

THAT SAID. What does "the last few years" mean?? Sano would have only been at Hyakki for 1 year, unless the principal was also looking after him the years prior for some reason??

Anyway, I considered the possibility that maybe the dorms were built to be near the old schoolhouse, which is why they're not super close to the school, but that wouldn't make sense given this map from ch 58

If the dorms were close the the old schoolhouse, they wouldn't meet at the train station ON THE OTHER ISLAND to get to the mall. (And considering there's a train at all, I don't think you could get from island 2 to the school within 7 minutes)

Which then begs the question, why are the dorms on island 1 if the schoolhouse is on island 2? (<- person who cares too much about details nobody gives a shit about)

ok enough about the dorms now

Sano-kun

ok i know this is just a dress shirt and tie and glasses but its also a reference to april fools teacher sano to me. which is also a reference to beta yohaji teacher sano. it came full circle and finally ended up in the main story

he's so nice to haruaki now...... back in the day he used to be the one dropping him in acid.... hes so nice now....

him doing favors for haruaki is my favorite thing.....he doesnt even need bribes now..... hes so cute.....

(wonder why. surely not because we just got back from him almost accidentally murdering haruaki)

aha! it was a harusano chapter in disguise all along!!

anyway thats all i have to say about this chapter i think. goddammit this got kinda long as well what the hell

[shukufuyu]

[Event Story TL] Weeping Star On a Summer Night (Chapter 5)

Chikage: I’ll throw you off the ship then.

click below to read more.

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Juza: When will we be arriving?

Chikage: I suppose about 30 minutes from now.

Azami: Faster than I thought it’d be.

Kazunari: Time flies by when you’re rehearsing the lines huh～

Hisoka: …Sleepy.

Sakuya: Eh!? We’re almost there!

Azami: You’ll definitely oversleep if you sleep now…

Sakuya: Yeah… Umm…—!

Chikage: Goodness.

Have a marshmallow, now open your eyes.

Hisoka: …Chikage, carry me when we get there.

I’m going to sleep…

Chikage: I’ll throw you off the ship then.

Go swim all the way to the island.

Izumi: (...Pairing these two together was the right choice after all)

Ah, please hold on. If I’m not wrong, Homare-san has already prepared Marshmallows for Hisoka-kun inside his luggage.

—Um, Are all of these just marshmallows!?

This bag seems unfamiliar, but does this also…

Chikage: This is…

Hisoka: “Wish-granting cookies”

The owner of the store I worked part-time back then brought a few treats, so I brought some of them back.

Chikage: …It’s been a while since I’ve seen these.

Hisoka: You wanna have some? It’s sweet and tastes good.

Your wish will come true….probably.

Chikage: Don’t wanna.

What are you, a shady salesman?

Hisoka: …It had an opposite effect on him.

Weeping Island

Sakuya: The sea looks beautiful!

Kazunari: Right! The weather seems great right now.

Diving for a bit doesn’t sound so bad～

Juza: Diving huh, that sounds great.

Azami: Even so, the sunlight today is quite strong.

Don’t forget to wear your sunscreens, guys.

???: Do you folks happen to be from Mankai Company?

Izumi: That’s us, my name is Tachibana, Mankai Company’s supervisor, and these are 6 of our troupe members.

Kurahashi: I’m the tour guide of this Island, you may call me Kurahashi. I’ve been assigned to guide and inform you all.

Izumi: We’ll be in your care.

Troupe members: Thank you for having us.

Kurahashi: Then, I’ll guide you all to the inn. As you all need to put down your luggages before going through the island…

Hm? There seems to be a person missing…?

Izumi: Eh!?

Sakuya: Hisoka-san isn’t here…?

Chikage: Sigh… that guy…

Somewhere afar

Hisoka: …It’s so hot.

(Glad I found a shade to rest under. So refreshing…)

Cat: …Meow

Hisoka: Where did you come from?

Cat: Meow meow.

Hisoka: (Ah, the shade over there also has a cat under it.

I wonder if it’s actually cat’s hanging out spot)

I guess I’m the one disturbing then.

Cat: Meoww.

Hisoka: (This planet feels more like Cat Island rather than Weeping Island)

(I’m sending a picture for everyone in the Winter Troupe)

???: …Not here.

Hisoka: (...Is the kid over there from this Island?

They seem like an elementary school student…)

Hey…

???: !? …Who…?

Hisoka: …Sorry for surprising you.

I was wondering if there’s a problem, did you lose something?

???: I’m looking for Orihime.

Hisoka: Orihime?

Sakuya: Director, he’s here!

Izumi: Finally! Hisoka-san, we’re going to the inn—!

Chikage: Unless you want to be left behind.

Hisoka: …Ah, is it fine I leave it to you? If you need it—

???: …Not really.

Bye.

Hisoka: Ah…they left.

(That kid said they were looking for Orihime)

(Orihime… the one from Tanabata’s…?)

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[trashexplorer]

BLCD Review: Shangri-La no Tori

Title: Shangri-la no Tori (シャングリラの鳥)

Release Date: 2020/10/28

Author/Artist: Zariya Ranmaru

Cast: 

Mastuda Kenichiro x Nakajima Yoshiki

Ichijou Kazuya

Ishiya Haruki

Tsuboi Tomohiro

Inoue Go

Kitayama Kyousuke

Haruka Jinya

Hidenori Takahashi

Okano Yuu

Tadokoro Hinata

Zenzai Tatsuya

Synopsis: With troubles hanging over his head, Apollo arrives on the island for a new job, at a brothel known as Shangri-La. What he didn’t know was the job description–to be a stud to get the prostitutes in the mood before servicing clients. And they’re men! Will he be able to handle it…?

Review Proper

Excuse me for one second—

Finally got that out my chest. 😌 

Anyway, Shangri-la is actually my least favorite Zariya work now (it was Coyote before). There’s not a lot to go on atm because things between Teo Phi and Apollo haven’t even begun to progress yet. Y’all should be tired of hearing me say this, but I’m trash for Zariya’s settings and sensuality. This, however, is the first work of theirs in a long while that’s more serious and realistic in tone. It does scream Saezuru a lot, but I’m not exactly mad at it. Again, it’s still the first volume, so we’ll have to see it through to judge it. I also do like how Zariya portrays prostitution in here in a more legal and consensual light which I think is very important and nouveau. Seldom can you see regulated and consensual prostitution in BL manga; and the respect the owner, birdies, studs, and clients have towards each other is commendable. Makes you wanna dip your toes into the world as well since they’re all safe and having fun. Rights for sex workers, y’all!

Moving onto the voice work, if you’ve read my October Releases post, you’d know that I was skeptical about the casting because even though I knew that Matsuda Kenichirou would be a perfect for stoic Apollo, I wasn’t so sure that Nakajima Yoshiki could pull off Phi. This is Marine Ent we’re talking about; the studio who cast the highly underwhelming Liquor and Cigarette. Doesn’t help that I’ve been listening to nothing but Nakajiki top roles for the past year. The last time I’ve heard him bottom was in Kurahashi Tomo’s Hello Morning Star which overall was as underwhelming as L&C despite Nakajiki delivering a good performance. Thankfully, however, Nakajiki blew all my worries away because after finishing this BLCD, I can confidently say that there could be nobody else who was more perfect for this role than him.  👏👏👏 The tone he used is definitely reminiscent of both his Atsuto and Akira-san, but unlike those two, his Phi was clearer and how do I describe it? buttery? And that’s exactly how I want my Phi to be. What was I even worrying about? He’s a fucking vers, so of course he’s going to be perfect for Phi! I’m certain that his Phi will be my favorite performance of his when volume two comes out. 

As for Matsuda Kenichirou— ohhh I didn’t want to say this, but it’s almost going to be ten years since I’ve last heard him in a BLCD. 😂 I feel so old! Now, Matsuda Kenichirou voiced Mink in DRAMAtical Murder and I hated Mink so much that I mostly didn’t even pay attention to him when I played his route. I do still have a vague idea of how he sounds like (read: a big boring blah), but hearing him sound like Kawahara Yoshihisa and Yasumoto Hiroki combined still came as a shock. Maybe it was because Mink was in monotone for the whole game, anime, and BLCD that I didn’t realize. And you thought Apollo’s stoic? 😂 But I guess Matsuda Kenichirou was indeed a good choice for Apollo because of Mink. If the sir isn’t so busy and is interested in voicing something other than Apollo, then might I suggest he team up with Okitsu? 👉👈

Again, it’s too early for me to judge their chemistry because Apollo and Phi really have 0 chemistry in the manga at this stage. Both did well in their roles regardless, though. Our minor characters here were all voiced, by the way! I loved how they didn’t cut their dialogues out but even added to them!!! Marine Ent really hit it with this one. All the supporting casts were all good in their own right and are more than capable of starring in their own BLCDs which adds more to the atmosphere of them being prostitutes and studs!!! UGHHHHH!!! NOW THIS IS WHAT I LOOK FOR AN ADAPTATION!!! No wonder it’s been nominated for best BLCD!

I would definitely recommend listening to this if you’re a fan of the series. Reading the manga along is doable, too. SuBLime also has licensed this series, so you’re in for a superior experience if you’re going to do a read-along! I just hope that the healthy brothel relationship lasts until the end of the series. 🤞

[nagisasstunningpersonality]

About Assassination Classroom Characters - Yada Touka

Mini Bitch Sensei in the making. 

One of Yada’s biggest traits is that she’s kind of the ‘big sister’ of 3E, and it can be seen why. She seems to have a different kind of maturity, compared to a lot of the other students. 

Part of this may come from caring for her actual sick younger brother. She spent so much time looking after him, in fact so much so that her grades slipped enough to land her in 3E. 

The other side to Yada, though, is that she’s manipulative when she needs to be. We can see that in the way she uses this actual story to gain sympathy points during the cops and robbers game. 

According to the graduation album, both of her parents work, but it still seems a little selfish to me that they’d put such a high level of responsibility on their daughter. Deep down, I think that must have been tough to deal with so young. 

Honestly, Yada is just super friendly, positive, and caring. 

Due to this, apparently she gets attentions from girls as well as boys. 

Ah yes, we can’t brush over the fact that she a WLW icon. 

She did used to have a crush on Kataoka, though by around halfway through the series, it definitely faded. That makes sense to me, at least, due to the contrast of Kataoka’s more cool personality. 

It seems Yada is more focused on learning the art of seduction from Irina. 

Together with Kurahashi, they’re definitely the best of her students, and they’re certainly to be feared if they work together. 

She also shows a lot of bravery and quick thinking in the island arc, when she effortlessly stands up to some guys and pretends to be Yakuza. 

She’s not the best at the actual killing part of assassination, and it’s to be noted that she hates blood, gore, and violence. Taking the softer more sneaky approach is better suited to her. 

She basically excels in the more traditionally feminine areas of knowledge. 

What I like about her, though, is that she still has ambitions to work as a kickass businesswoman, rather than just settle down with someone. 

Due to all they have in common, her closest friend is Kurahashi. They’ll also frequently be in a group wirh Kataoka and Okano. 

It seems like she- intentionally or not- has Kayano taken under her wing, a little. It’s a love hate relationship I think. 

I don’t think she really spends much time outside of her general friend group much, but she’s kind and supportive to everyone, so I don’t think anyone would harbour too many bad feelings about her. 

She went to the same elementary school as Muramatsu, and it states them as ‘childhood friends’. I don’t think they’re particularly close now, but there’s probably positive feelings between them.  

They were in the same piano class, it seems.  

In summary, Yada is kind of interesting. She has such a nice exterior, with a terrifying skillset beneath it, which makes her quite a large threat. Still, there’s not too much to actually say about her. She just needs to keep working to develop those skills further. 

MASTERLIST

[alexthegamingboy]

Toonami Weekly Recap 1/16/2021

SSSS.Gridman EP#01 - Awakening: A young boy named Yuta Hibiki awakens in the home of one of his classmates, Rikka Takarada, with no memory of his past and sees hallucinations of a robot named Gridman in an old computer terminal in Takarada's family store. The next day, Yuta meets his friend Sho Utsumi, who helps him cope with his amnesia. Intrigued by Yuta's story about Gridman, Utsumi asks Yuta to show him the terminal (which he nicknames "Junk"), and they run into Rikka along the way. A kaiju then abruptly appears and begins attacking the city. Yuta is sucked into the terminal and reappears as Gridman to battle the Kaiju. With help from Utsumi and Rikka, Yuta is able to defeat the kaiju, but Gridman warns them that there will be more kaiju to come. Next day, Yuta and his friends are shocked to see that their school, which was destroyed in the kaiju attack, has somehow been completely rebuilt.

Attack on Titan: The Final Season (Marley Arc) EP#02 (61) - Midnight Train: At a Marley military strategy meeting, the generals express concern that the usefulness of the Titans is being overtaken by the armaments of the enemy nations. Zeke, who is also present, proposes to use his last year of life to attack Paradis Island and retake the Founding Titan, thus buying time for the reconstruction of Marley's military. On a train back to their homes in the city of Liberio, the surviving Eldian soldiers praise Gabi for her courage, while Reiner secretly encourages Falco to become the Armored Titan himself instead of Gabi. Cousins Gabi and Reiner arrive home and reunite with their family, while Falco supports a pair of returning Eldian soldiers traumatized by the war. Zeke believes that the independent Eldians on Paradis are preventing local Eldians from integrating with Marleyan society. The next day, Zeke informs the other Titan Warriors of his plan to use the Tybur noble family and their War Hammer Titan to announce an offensive against Paradis. The Tybur Family is influential because of their success in driving King Fritz into exile, so he proposes that the Tyburs publicly announce their involvement during a festival in Liberio where dignitaries from various other countries will be present.

Sword Art Online: Alicization: War of Underworld Part 2 (Alicization Lasting) EP#20 (44) - The Night-Sky Blade: To save the dragons from death, Kirito turns them back into eggs and while Asuna takes Alice to the World End's Altar, Kirito stays behind to confront Miller. Despite his new abilities, Kirito is easily overpowered by Miller until he releases the power of both his swords, which restrains the enemy and creates a night sky across all UW, with all of Kirito's friends sending their thoughts to empower him. With the help of Eugeo's spirit, Kirito defeats Miller for good just as the UW server reaches maximum acceleration, which forcibly logs out all other players from UW while Alice also departs to the real world through the altar. Realizing that he will be trapped inside UW for 200 years, Kirito bursts into tears until Asuna appears before him, much to his surprise.

Fire Force Season 2 Chinese Peninsula Arc EP#08 (32) - Smoldering Malevolence: Shinra believes the internal voice came from the Tabernacle. Scop explains the history of the Tabernacle and how a young woman in black robes taught them to speak and repaired the structure. Suddenly the group are attacked by cloaked sentient Infernals who have also set booby traps in the surrounding area. An Infernal states that the Tabernacle was built to destroy the world, but this is refuted by Scop who says it has benefited them, leading Shinra to believe that an Amaterasu can be used for good or evil. Meanwhile Tempe's Infernals have completed gathering a series of tablets which he plans to use to release the Tabernacle's full power. Purt Co Pan, Victor and Arthur enter the Tabernacle to investigate while outside Tempe leads an attack by his Infernal followers against the Fire Force. Tempe reveals his intention is to kill himself and ascend to Heaven by blowing up the Tabernacle. Because this will also destroy the forest and the surrounding region, Shinra vows to defeat Tempe who has the power of a demon. Suddenly, Shinra detects the Adolla Link as the young woman in black robes appears behind him. Meanwhile inside the Tabernacle, Purt Co Pan and Victor vainly try to decode numbers engraved on the tablets and the walls, when Arthur suddenly comes up with a solution.

Assassination Classroom EP#17 - Island Time: Prior to their trip, biologist Hinano Kurahashi helps Nagisa, Sugino and Hiroto Maehara hunt for bugs, while pervert Taiga Okajima shows them his own trap laid out for Koro-sensei using a pile of porn magazines. However, Kurahashi becomes fascinated when Koro-sensei spots a rare stag beetle worth a ton of yen. Later, Lovro is called in to help train the students for their island assassination, taking interest in the two top marksmen of the class, Ryūnosuke Chiba and Rinka Hayami. After telling Nagisa about the world's most infamous assassin known only as The Reaper, Lovro decides to teach Nagisa a surefire assassination technique. The students of Class 3-E soon arrive at their island resort, making all the necessary preparations for their assassination. After having dinner, during which Koro-sensei inadvertently uses up his emergency shedding technique to get rid of sunburn, the class begin their assassination attempt aboard an on-sea chapel.