#like he knows zero thinks the worst of him already and he wants yuuki to think the worst of him too so he says that zero is right about him

[eternalpassions]

Me not being able to tell whether Kaname is serious or not when he said Zero is the one who understands him the most. Like it’s half and half. He sounds like he’s being self deprecating to make Yuuki hate him cuz he knows Zero hates him already 😪

[pinkanonwrites]

I loved the animal crossing vs karasuno boys hcs u did!! Do u think u could do another one with a different team? Maybe nekoma but u can choose whatever!! Thank u 😊

AAAAAAHHH This has been sitting in my drafts almost-completely finished for MONTHS and I’m FINALLY GONNA POST IT! Thank you for the request, I love Nekoma so, so, so much! (Fukunaga please call me. I’ll do all the talking)

(( Also also since I did all boy villagers in the Karasuno one, this one has all girl villagers))

LONG POST BELOW!

Kuroo Tetsurou

“Celia is so pretty!~ I love her so much!”

Kuroo’s attention snapped to you, doing his best to keep his face neutral as his brain went rocketing off in the worst direction possible. Pretty? Pretty girl? You like a pretty girl?

He had no room to judge, he also liked pretty girls. But there’s no way you liked this pretty girl more than you liked him, right? Right?

He pulled his attention back to the practice match just in time to avoid getting wailed in the face with a volleyball, able to turn it into a clumsy receive at the last possible second. If his teammates noticed, they were at least kind enough not to call him out.

When he sidled up to you at the end of practice he did his best to sound fake concerned, not legitimately worried.

“You replacing me with some cute girl? I could hear you mooning from all the way on the court, you know?”

You just laughed and shook your head, lifting your phone to show a character from the game you and Kenma had been gushing about. Your phone lockscreen had been set to a picture of an, admittedly adorable, cartoon eagle.

“I finally found someone who had Celia in their town. I wanted her so bad!”

Kuroo snorted, ruffling the top of your head. “Well I’m glad you got her. Next time give me a warning before you start going all mushy for video game birds, alright?”

Kai Nobuyuki

“Oh, Lily! Lily, you’re so beautiful!”

Kai barely gave more than a twitch to indicate that he’d heard what you’d said. He’d heard you gush about celebrities or anime characters you’d liked before, but not to the degree that you’d call them just by their first name.

“New favorite character?” He offered, continuing to pack his practice bag and try not to look too curious about who you were fawning over.

Luckily for him, you were more than happy to supply the answer yourself, squiggling under his arm and holding your Switch up to his face so he could see your colorfully-dressed character sitting at a picnic table with an adorable cartoon frog.

“She’s so cute! I can’t believe I got her in my town.” “I didn’t know you liked frogs so much.” He breathed a silent sigh of relief, feeling silly for letting himself worry, even the tiniest bit.

“Yeah, well she’s the cutest frog!”

“Cuter than most frogs I’ve seen.”

Kai fought a smile as you began passionately debating the cuteness of real life frogs, tugging you a little bit closer with his arm.

Yaku Morisuke

“Ah, Cleo! How could anyone ever be so cute?”

Yaku didn’t much enjoy it when you called him cute, but hearing you call somebody else cute was somehow a thousand times worse. He could swear he felt his own blood pressure spike with that sentence alone.

“Ooh! Who’s cute?”

And there’s Lev. So much for his blood pressure.

You held up your phone screen to Lev and he began nodding along in agreement with you, which somehow made Yaku feel even more irritated than he already did. A stray volleyball rolled across the floor near him, and he sent it spiralling into Lev’s lower back with a kick.

“Quit talking about cute girls and focus on your receives, shithead!”

“OWWWW!!! Yaku-senpai, so mean! You could’ve missed! Then how would you feel?”

“Get back on the court, Lev.”

“I’m sorry!” You said when you pulled Yaku aside after practice. “I just was just really excited about Animal Crossing, I didn’t mean to distract Lev.”

“Animal….. Crossing?”

“Yeah! I got a really cute villager!” You held up your phone and showed Yaku a picture of the pastel horse that had just moved into your village.

“...Oh. Cleo.”

“Mhm!... Are you okay? You’re turning a little red. Maybe you should drink some more water.”

Kozume Kenma

“Rosie! Oh, Rosie is definitely best girl.”

Despite being very well-versed in Animal Crossing, it still caught Kenma off-guard for a half a second to hear you so openly mooning about your favorite villager. Luckily for him the two of you had been talking about Animal Crossing since the new game was announced, so he’d had plenty of time to get to know your favorites.

“Did you find someone to trade with you?”

“Yep! I just need to get Egbert to leave so she can move in! Get outta here, chicken!”

Resting his chin on your shoulder, Kenma watched with a small smile as you started building cliffs around the perimeter of Egbert’s house, determined to get him to move away. Maybe someday he’d have to deal with the discomfort of hearing you openly moon about someone attractive. Thankfully, today was not that day.

Fukunaga Shouhei

“You’re so perfect, Ellie! Don’t ever leave!”

Fukunaga glanced at you and quirked an eyebrow, but you were far too immersed in your Switch screen to notice. Your expression had dropped into this soft, moony-eyed gaze, one that Fukunaga wasn’t used to seeing directed at anything that wasn’t him when you thought he wasn’t looking.

It felt… weird.

“Oh! Shouhei, do you wanna see?” You finally seemed to notice him glancing in your direction, scooting over to show off your screen. “Ellie was moving out of Kenma’s town and he let me take her! Isn’t she cute?”

While your character ran circles around the little tan elephant all Shouhei could do was watch you smile with a warm, fuzzy feeling blooming in his chest.

“Second cutest here.” He quietly replied.

Yamamoto Taketora

“Molly! She’s so cute I can’t even handle it!”

Normally Yamamoto would find the idea of you fawning over a cute girl to be equally cute. That way the two of you could fawn over cute girls together!

But it was significantly less fun when it meant that one hundred percent of your attention was on your phone and zero percent of your attention was on him. He spent the majority of the day landing awesome spikes only to snap his attention towards you and see you fully immersed in your phone screen.

Finally his not-so-quiet grumbling about your lack of attention got the better of Kuroo and he hollered over to you, asking what you were looking at. Before Yamamoto could shush him you raised your phone, showing off an adorable cartoon duck.

“I finally got Molly in my town!”

Kuroo burst into laughter as a blush crawled its way across Yamamoto’s face and up to the tips of his ears, taking a swing at Kuroo to try and get him to shut up.

Haiba Lev

“She’s so stoic and cool. How can you not be completely in love with Whitney?”

“I can be stoic and cool.” Lev grumbled.

“She’s got such pretty white hair and sharp eyes.”

“I’ve got white hair and sharp eyes.”

“I should get her some flowers.”

“Can’t you get your boyfriend some flowers?”

“Hm? Lev, hun, did you say something?”

He’d been quietly murmuring under his breath since you started gushing about Animal Crossing but honestly, how could you not? Whitney was one of your dreamies and finally, after many a Nook Mile Ticket spent, you finally had her on your island. Maybe you had been going on about it for a bit, though.

“I’m sorry, Lev! I’m just excited. I wanna know what you said though!”

Lev puffed up, jabbing his thumb into his chest. “I’ve got all those things you love about this Whitney girl so much, so you shouldn’t need anyone else!” You stared at him in disbelief for a long, painfully awkward moment, before snorting hard as you dissolved into laughter.

“H-Hey!”

I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh!” You choke out between giggles, just silently holding up your Switch to Lev’s face to show off your character presenting some roses to a cartoon wolf…

… Named Whitney.

You don’t think you’ve ever seen someone turn that shade of red before.

“W-W-Well she must be your favorite because she’s so much like me! Right? Right?!”

Good save, Lev. Good save.

Inuoka Sou

“Piper’s just so cool and chill! That’s why she’s my absolute favorite.”

Oh. Oh! You liked cool and chill people? Inuoka had no idea. But that’s okay! He can be cool! He can be chill!

“Dude, you okay? You’re like… Vibrating.”

At least, that’s what Inuoka had thought at the beginning of the day. Truthfully he had no skill when it came to containing his energy, especially since every time he saw you it felt like his heart was doing the equivalent of spam texting you a dozen lines of heart emojis. By the time he had gotten to the end of practice he felt jittery and uncomfortable, like he’d been holding a lid down on a boiling pot of water. He just hadn’t been acknowledging it until Yamamoto pointed it out.

“Sou?” You had been waiting for him outside the gym! Waiting! For him! His heart felt like it did a kickflip off the inside of his ribcage as he enveloped you in a hug.

“I tried! I tried to be calm and chill like you like but I just can’t do it! And whenever I see you my heart goes a RAAAAAHHH so it’s basically impossible anyway! I hope you don’t mind!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on.” You cupped his face in your hands and he melted into your hold, smiling like an idiot. “When did I say I like calm, chill guys?”

“This morning, you were talking about some girl named Piper and you said she was so calm and cool and that's why you liked her so I thought if I could be like that you’d like me more too and-”

You pressed a finger to his lips and he couldn’t help but sigh, turning to putty at your merest touch.

“Babe, I was talking about a character from my game! You know, the one with all the animals?”

“Really?”

“Really?”

“So I don’t need to act all calm and cool for you to like me?”

“Of course not! I love you just the way you are.”

“Heehee~… I feel a little silly.”

“You are a little silly, babe.”

Shibayama Yuuki

“I’m in love! Flora is so perfect! I’ve never loved so much in my life!”

Shibayama stumbled over his own two feet when he heard you professing your love of this ‘Flora’ to one of your classmates during lunch. Glancing just around the door to your classroom, you were holding your phone in one hand and wildly gesturing with the other, leaving your friend chuckling at your excited antics.

He felt an uncomfortable sort of chill in the pit of his stomach, making his just-eaten lunch feel more than a bit unwelcome. Did you even like this Flora more than...him?

It was easy to tell that Shibayama was a bit out of it at practice, doing his best to stay focused but still uncharacteristically quiet. It wasn’t until you met him after practice to walk home that everything was cleared up to him.

“S-So, um… Who’s Flora?”

“Huh? Oh! Oh, lemme show you!”

You pulled out your Switch and ran your little character over to a flamingo and began talking to her, and Shibayama felt all the tension in his body rush out in a single breath. He let out a small chuckle as you fawned over the character.

“Yeah, she’s pretty cute!”

[medea10]

My Review of The Rising of the Shield Hero

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!

Yeah, this warning because apparently I curse more than normal here. That should give you a fun indicator of what you’re in for.

Is this a joke? Is Medea really going to watch a recent Isekai anime?

No joke. I am. Yeah, since just about every Isekai I’ve ever watched was made before the year 2012, I thought it was time. And in case you’re not hip to the lingo, Isekai is where a random person is transported to a strange world (different from their’s) and go on an adventure. Things like Escaflowne, InuYasha, Fushigi Yugi, Kyou Kara Maou, and to a far-lesser extent, Sword Art Online! But because I haven’t watched anything made past 2012, and haven’t watched things like Konosuba, ReZero, or Overlord, my knowledge is shit and I should be ashamed.

So I’m going to start with one of 2019’s best animes, The Rising of the Shield Hero.

Naofumi Iwatani was checking out light novels when he was transported into another world. But unlike many other Isekais with this similar setup, Naofumi isn’t alone.

He and three other boys (from alternate timelines of Japan) are transported as well to the kingdom of Melromarc. These four boys are going to be the saviors of the kingdom as the “Four Cardinal Heroes” where they must combat against these entities known as “waves”. However, Naofumi is seen as the weakling from the very beginning due to being the holder of the shield (and is now known as the “Shield Hero”). But it goes even further than that! The king of Melromarc immediately shows his disdain for the shield hero due to the previous shield hero doing something to him. I don’t know what, just fuck the king. The kingdom, the other heroes, and the people of the kingdom did just about everything to Naofumi to make him feel like trash. If he was on fire, they wouldn’t even spit on him to put him out!

Being the lowest-level weapon user, no one will join his team and even if they did…they would swindle him, set him up for failure, and spread the worst lie you could ever lie about. But Naofumi can’t return home due to all four weapon users must be there until they defeat the waves. So Naofumi is stuck in a new world where literally everyone hates him or fears him.

That is until he buys a slave (named Raphtalia) and their EXP points can grow. Along the way, he obtains an egg that hatches into a filolial (later named Filo) who has the ability of turning into a human female. And every now and then, the second princess of Melromarc (named Melty) will come along with Naofumi. Trust me, she’s the nice one in that family.

Let’s watch the struggles and rising of the Shield Hero!

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: So this is licensed by Crunchyroll (but I think FUNimation dipped it’s cookie in this milk). I know these two companies divorced some time ago, but FUNimation sees no problem piggy-backing off of Crunchyroll when they get a hit. And yes, this got an English dub and because of that, YES I watched the whole thing dubbed! Done by the good folks in L.A.! I gotta say this was a well-done dub. Well, they did one thing right by hiring Erica Mendez to play Raphtalia. Just about everything Mendez plays is friggin’ gold! Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Naofumi is played by Kaito Ishikawa (known for Kiawe on Pokemon SM, Genos on One Punch Man, Mitsuo on Golden Time, Urui on Tokyo Ghoul :re, Sakakibara on Assassination Classroom, and Rinne on Kyokai no Rinne)

*Raphtalia is played by Asami Seto (known for Officer Jenny on Pokemon SM, Mado on Tokyo Ghoul, Young Yukiatsu on Anohana, and Shizu Delta on Overlord)

*Filo is played by Rina Hidaka (known for Last Order on Index/Railgun, Ririchiyo on Inu x Boku SS, Kohane on xxxHOLiC, Silica on SAO, Nemesis on To Love Ru: Darkness, and Urara on Food Wars)

*Melty is played by Maaya Uchida (known for Norman on The Promised Neverland, Rikka on Chunibyo, Rui on Domestic Girlfriend, Frenda on Railgun, Yoshino on Food Wars, Irina on High School DxD, and Yusa on Charlotte)

ENGLISH CAST: *Naofumi is played by Billy Kametz (known for Jousuke/JoJo on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part IV, Osomatsu on Mr. Osomatsu, Metal Lee on Boruto, and Galo on Promare)

*Raphtalia is played by Erica Mendez (known for Ryuko on Kill la Kill, Haruka/Uranus on Sailor Moon redub, Emma on The Promised Neverland, Nico on Love Live, Yuuki on SAO II, and Tsubaki on Your Lie in April)

*Filo is played by Brianna Knickerbocker (known for Rem on Re:Zero, Akane on Durarara x2, Arisa on Love Live, Anna on The Promised Neverland, Iori on Charlotte, and Erica on Berserk 2016)

*Melty is played by Jackie Lastra (known for Conny on The Promised Neverland and Selka on SAO: Alicization)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: I know I’m gonna have fun with the next category, but I think I spent most of this series hating on several people where I forgot to pick a character I liked.

Well folks, I gotta say that I loved Raphtalia. And after her, Filo! Then Elhart, Queen Melromarc, Melty, and Fitoria! With the exception of Elhart, it’s all women! That’s rare! Don’t worry, there’s one woman that has received a restraining order from this category. On with the worst!

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!

Y’all know what’s coming!

DISLIKED CHARACTER: Prior to watching this series, I have gotten several warnings about one particular character! Princess Malty or Myne, whatever people call her. This woman is despised throughout the anime community and even going so far as to say she’s on “horrible character” status left only to infamous characters like Griffith, Makoto Itou, and Shou Tucker. And I’m like, “WOW, what did she do, kill a pope?” I mean seriously, how bad could she possibly…?!

*one episode later*

FUCK THIS BITCH: Oh this bitch can burn at the stake for all I care! Yes, everyone else who treated Naofumi like shit can go jump off a bridge. Because I hold no sympathy for towns-idiots that treat a hero with no respect (as I’ve said before with One Punch Man and Dragon Ball Z)! But Myne just took that zero respect and pushed it to a crispy 425 degrees of fuck-roast! In the first episode, she seemed genuine with pitying Naofumi because no one would join his team. That didn’t even last a whole day. Myne ends up faking a rape by lying to the kingdom that Naofumi sexually assaulted her.

Faking a RAPE!

Faking a FUCKING RAPE!

Bitch, this is 2019 (I KNOW IT AIN’T THAT IN THIS KINGDOM, I’M JUST FUCKING PISSED). Faking a rape is a big, fat, NO-NO!

After he spends the little money he had on her to buy equipment, she double-crosses him by setting him up for immediate trouble and switches to the Spear-Hero side. Well fuck you too, you skank! Have fun with your dickhead Spear Hero. And may that be the last time I ever see you!

*several episodes later*

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! You cheating, lying, slut! Just when you think she can’t possibly get any worse, this bitch takes worse and shoves it off a fucking cliff. As if faking an assault wasn’t bad enough, screwing townspeople for your own gain is another story. She would take over a whole town and give no fucks if it’s destroyed by her or her fuck-face spear-hero. Add to that fuck-cake, every time you run into Naofumi, you find some way to screw him over time and time again. This bitch tampered with a fight between the shield and spear hero so that Naofumi could fail and they could steal his only team member away from him! You have your father, the church, your dickhead boy-toy of yours, and the royals wrapped around your little finger. Myne just continues to be worse than tainted peanut butter. I wish she would catch the worst STD imaginable and die a painful death!

*several more episodes later*

AAAAAAAH gabba da da ffuuuu worble BITCH FACE gararba fruznuss SET FIRE plskay adkkin aidnnlwjsnda UP DONALD TRUMP’S ASS galidamdh amoiejwm wwwaasosoh A POPCICLE! FUCK! AAkajrriaja DIDIA LEJHE KLHAEHAE FYUEEajejioqih3hv SSLLSHE3V ADKDKDDHEI333!!!!

Oh, you do not want a translation from my…whatever the fuck I just wrote. Just know that Princess Malty or Myne is worse than hemroids up the ass. I can’t believe this woman is still around, breathing and shit. Also, I’m tempted in re-writing my Top 10 Least Favorite Anime Character list because Myne would definitely be at #4 after Griffith from Berserk.

Okay…Okay…I think I’m calm now.

WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE CUT THIS FUCKING CUNT’S HEAD OFF LIKE A CHICKEN IN CHINA TOWN?!

Now I’m calm! Now then…

ANYONE ELSE WHO NEEDS TO DIE IN THIS SERIES?: So obviously I hate Bitch and Trash (Myne and the King). And I have the same kind of respect for the townspeople who treat Naofumi like shit. I ain’t got time to be dealing with townsidiots again. But if there was anyone else that should get a mention of how much I want for them to be set on fire and I’ll just sit there drinking my ginger ale, it would be Motoyasu.

Now by no means do I hate him more than Miss Bitch over here. But I hate him on the same level as Shinji from the Fate series (which is now teetering on my top 10). I question why he’s still alive and why no one has introduced his face to a jagged boulder. Unlike the other heroes Ren and Itsuki, this guy has got a vendetta against Naofumi from the get-go. And this was like before the sexual alligations came about. After that incident, this fuckturd tries at every turn to make Naofumi’s life worse than it already is by stealing away his crew and challenging him every chance he gets. And when he’s not doing that, he’s screwing over the townspeople and doing very little to be a “hero” (which is his freakin’ title). Then again, Ren and Itsuki aren’t great heroes either, it’s just I really need to lay into Spear-Dick for the shit he’s done.

SHIPPING: Hmm…aaaaahhhh….eeeeee…urrrrggggh…

Naofumi x Raphtalia: I know Naofumi doesn’t see Raphtalia as a romantic partner and more as a partner on his team, but Raphtalia doesn’t see it that way. She is 100% loyal to Master Naofumi. Who could blame her? Naofumi saved her from a lifetime of enslavement and cured her from an illness she’s had for years. She’s grateful and every other hero is crap in her eyes! She’s worshipped the shield hero since she was younger when she would hear stories about the shield hero. So imagine her worry every time Naofumi talks about going back to his home world, she gets horribly upset. Me being very skeptical here, I can’t really imagine this going any further than team partners. I can’t see at the end of the day Naofumi staying in Melromarc forever or Raphtalia somehow returning to Naofumi’s world when all of this ends. So for now, I’m just going to see where this takes us.

FUNNIEST MOMENT: Whenever Motoyasu gets conked in his frank-and-two-beans by Filo! If anyone deserves to be whammed in the nuts, it’s Motoyasu.

SADDEST MOMENT: I don’t usually mention sad moments in anime anymore, but one moment touched me and that was episode 15 where we learned a little more about Raphtalia’s past. Raphtalia, even after losing her parents in a wave attack, she tries her best to keep a smile on her face. But shortly after that, she and many other demi-humans were taken away from their homes and sold off to a nobleman. This is when we see some pretty inhumane moments where Raphtalia and many of her friends are whipped for the fun of it, starved to death, and sold off to traders.

In this episode, we learn about a few of Raphtalia’s friends (Keel and Rifana) from her younger days. The day Raphtalia got sold off, it looked like Rifana was teetering towards death. When the Shield Hero’s party came to rescue the surviving demi-humans (like Keel), Raphtalia went to see if Rifana could possibly be alive. And if the disturbing picture of Rifana’s skeleton doesn’t churn your stomach, I really don’t know what will. God damn, that was just messed up!

I CANNOT TELL A LIE, THIS ANIME HURT: I know I have sadistic tendencies and take joy in the misery of others. But I seriously cannot enjoy any second of the humiliation and degredation given to Naofumi. And it was because of the abuse put on the Shield Hero that made me feel sick to my stomach just watching all this happen to this guy. I thought it would last for a few episodes at the most, but it carried on a lot further than I imagined. Almost to the very end! And every episode you put on, you just wish for some kind of karma to kick in or for one more person to be nice to Naofumi or something, anything to happen!

But because the king has a vendetta against the previous Shield Hero, Naofumi has had to pay a heavy toll by having every horrible crime or offense thrown at him including rape, murder, attempted murder, cheating, witchcraft, and treason. AND HE COMMITTED NONE OF THESE OFFENSES! So you spend just about 20 episodes watching this poor boy having to go through this hell. I can’t even imagine having to go through this kind of torment and some of these moments make me ill in my stomach and quite pissed off. So like I said, this anime hurts to watch.

ENDING: As it turns out, the kingdom is corrupt under the rule of the king and his daughter, Princess Cunt (yeah, BIG shocker there). How corrupt? Well, they were in cahoots with the church that had their own religion praising only 3 of the Heroes (guess which one they don’t praise)! That was until the pope decided that everything must be wiped away because they are “unclean”. That includes the monarchy, the heroes, and their crew! Thankfully, they were able to put an end to this cult, with a little help from the true leader of Melromarc, Queen Mirelia of Melromarc. She finally shows herself and her powers on the battlefield. And now ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the moment everyone and their mama have been waiting for.

JUSTICE IS SERVED: With the queen’s return, come some harsh sentences to her own family. Her husband, the king and her daughter, Princess Malty! I gotta tell you, seeing these two in chains makes my heart so happy. The king was guilty of summoning the four heroes prematurely and causing a lot of harm to the kingdom of Melromarc with the church. Then the queen puts a seal on Myne’s chest, giving her unimaginable pain whenever she lied. That still didn’t stop the bitch from lying! In one swoop, it’s proven that Naofumi was innocent the whole time and that the king and princess were worse than period cramps. And for their crimes, THEY ARE SENTENCED TO DEATH BY GUILLOTINE!

FUCK YEAH! BRING IT ON!

CUT THEIR FUCKING HEADS OFF!

Yeah…unfortunately for my blood-lust self, that didn’t happen. Instead, Naofumi stopped the queen seconds before blood was to splatter. Claiming that the princess and king should be stripped from their titles and must go through life with new names! The king will be named “Trash” and Malty/Myne will be named “Bitch” (or “Whore” when she’s traveling). Okay, I guess it’s all good. With that, the church of the three heroes is abolished and handled a lot better than I thought.

But seriously Queenie, was it really, REALLY a good idea to keep your daughter alive? I know she’s your own daughter and you felt severe hesitation (in the anime) before calling for her execution. But for fuck’s sake, literally a day after she’s spared from the guillotine, she’s poisoning food meant for her sister Melty, Naofumi, and his friends!

IN THIS AFTERMATH: Now has Naofumi finally obtained acceptance throughout the kingdom? Yes and no! Yes, it’s true that the people of the land respected Naofumi after all he’s done. It’s just that some of the other heroes and castle men who still treat Naofumi with such disrespect. The queen wishes for all four heroes to be treated equally and to get along so that maybe they can defeat the waves without too much trouble. Hell, the queen of the filolials also said the same thing! I think Ren and Itsuki have kinda been on board with this for a while (even if they are kinda dickish about it). It’s just that Motoyasu’s still a condescending dick to Naofumi! Sigh!

FINAL WAVE ATTACK: Final one for now! On their way to another land, Naofumi ends up getting chummy with two travelers (L’Arc and Therese).

We meet these fuckers three episodes before the finale.

They’re bad guys, aren’t they?!

Something like that! Yeah, the next wave attack was coming up real quick. And the heroes have to go up against Glass again (the woman who caused a lot of trouble in the midway point of the series). But it turns out L’Arc and Therese are in cahoots with Glass. But it gets really…complicated here!

Glass and L’Arc are both fan and scythe heroes from another world. And they’re destroying the waves on this side along with destroying the people of this world to prevent catastrophy in their world. Yeah, finale time guys! How many parallel worlds and heroes are there?

READ THE LIGHT NOVEL!

Fuck me! Well, Naofumi and the other hammy heroes were able to stop the wave attack once more. And we even get to watch Queen Melromarc in action again! In this aftermath, Naofumi gets a new member on his team. Yes, it’s another female, but at least this one is older than all the other girls that hang with him (making this a little less ewwwie). Rishia was abandoned by Itsuki’s team for…reasons. So she’s going to join Naofumi after she helped in the last wave attack. And we get some last-moment hopeful scenes as we see things that give me hope for people in this series. Raphtalia’s old friends and homeland is getting back into the swing of things and Naofumi will take control over the land. And we wait for this promoted second and third season Crunchyroll swears by. Seriously guys, when are we getting more Shield Hero?

DON’T KNOW! READ THE LIGHT NOVEL AND STOP ASKING STUPID QUESTIONS!

If you can’t already tell, I liked this series! Yes it was unbelievably painful to watch certain things where all of these people gang up on Naofumi and screw him eight ways from Sunday, but I guess good stories have a little struggle. Except here, it’s a lot of struggling! It was an interesting tale and is giving me a little hope for the Isekai genre as a whole. Will I get into all the other recent ones so I can one day watch Isekai Quartet? Don’t get too cocky! I’ll stick to this and maybe head on over to Konosuba later on.

Rising of the Shield Hero was definitely a tale and I highly recommend it. It’s just that if you’re prone to anger when it comes to absolute injustice, half of this series might be a little unbearable to handle. But there were several great moments (particularly from Raphtalia) that kept me going with this series.

Especially episode 4! Best episode of the series! Her undying devotion for Naofumi was definitely one to behold! I can’t wait to learn more about these different kinds of worlds, kingdoms, and heroes in the upcoming stories. In the meantime I will await for these seasons two and three Crunchyroll assures us are coming…They are coming right? You guys weren’t just blowing smoke up our asses in the last CRX convention, right?

READ THE FUCKING LIGHT NOVEL, YOU AUTISTIC TWAT!

I can’t do it! There are too many chapters!

Currently, both FUNimation and Crunchyroll have the entire series subbed and dubbed.

Okay, great stuff! What’s next on my Amazon/Netflix…or Crunchyroll licensed anime!

Magical Girl Site?

Oh fuck. I heard about that first episode. This is gonna hurt.

[zerolover66]

Hello! What do you think about the new VK chapter?

Hi there anon. After having gone over both sets of translations a few times and discussing this chapter with my friend I am finally ready to answer your question.

I like the fact that Hino is drawing parallels between our siblings in the VK and VKM universe.

I still stand by my thoughts that Ai and Ren are on a sibling journey to show how the other siblings could have been and how they might have turned out but instead fell into despair, guilt, anger, self-loathing, pettiness, obsession etc.

The first clue in this chapter is Ren sharing her thoughts with Kaname about being afraid to show your true nature. We know that she has gotten past all of that and she and Ai share a healthy sibling relationship full of love and trust.

 We are then taken back to the past after Ren talks about understanding Kaname’s fear of wondering how others viewed his true nature. For Ren having said she had those same feelings I thought of two people from the original series that she represents. The two that were afraid of showing their true nature (in different ways) for fear of not being accepted for who they truly were.

 Kaname was my first thought. He hid his true nature from Yuuki for fear that she would no longer view him in a good light if she knew what he was truly like.

My friend then said to me during our discussion that Zero himself had the very same feelings as he was turning into a full vampire. He hid that part away and refused to accept it. Hurting and pushing Yuuki away in the process much the way Ren is doing to Ai. Fighting your natural instincts as a vampire only leads you to feel miserable. All that Ren is experiencing is quite normal and natural as a vampire. Yet she insists on fighting it for fear her sister (the person she loves the most) will hate her.

So our feelings are that we will see how this set of siblings overcome that rather than cause each other a tremendous amount of pain. 

I also took notice to Hino clarifying for sure that only the blood of the one you love the most can quench your thirst. She shows this through Ren’s closeness to Ai. Ai is Ren’s most loved person as of this point in time. So only Ai’s blood will be able to quench Ren’s thirst. It is the natural instinct of a vampire to be drawn to and desire the blood of your most beloved person. Ren is fighting that urge for fear that Ai will hate her for not being who she thinks Ai believes she is. Ai’s beautiful and innocent sister. There is so much conflict going on inside of Ren because she is fighting the natural instinct that she has as a vampire. This mimics Zero’s struggle with desiring Yuuki’s blood and being ashamed of himself for it. He didn’t want to hurt Yuuki. He couldn’t understand why it was only her blood that he wanted. It was because she was his most loved person. He didn’t want to be a vampire yet finally could no longer fight the instincts within him because Yuuki was just always so close to him. 

It also mimics Kaname’s desire for Yuuki’s blood when she was but a child. At that point Hino is showing us that there was no romantic feelings needed for Kaname to desire Yuuki’s blood over anyone else’s because Yuuki had become his most important person. His most loved person. Be it romantic or not at that point. I will say though that I don’t believe that Yuuki’s blood ever satisfied Kaname after he was able to drink it. I was always left with the impression that he desired it but it never fulfilled him. Unlike Zero and Yuuki who, once they drank from each other, both thought how the other’s blood had calmed them. We never got those thoughts from Kaname. He always seemed unsatisfied. Always leading me to believe that the hooded woman was his most loved/beloved person.

I also discussed with my friend about the blood satisfaction issue and we both completely agreed on one thing. Hino clearly has shown that the blood of your most loved/beloved is what you need to quench your thirst. I will not go on and on about this but we clearly know whom needed whom’s blood to quench their thirst.

I feel like Ai is treating Kaname like an invalid rather than just a person without his memories. It is one thing to want to help him but she is treating him like a child and I don’t really want that for him if I am being honest. I want to see him progress and become a functioning member of human society. I want him to live a life that is full and happy. I never thought I would hear myself say that. But even though I don’t forgive his sins of the past, especially the numerous ones against Zero, I still want Yuuki’s sacrifice to be worthwhile and meaningful. So I want him to branch out and find his someone who will “quench” his thirst.

I thought Hino having Ai mention that her worst trait came from Kaname and having all three of them go silent was really well done. We know Kaname is worried about what his true nature was. We know that he fears finding out.

 We then ended up with Ai choking the elderly vampire for saying something against Ren. Ai is very protective of Ren. Her reaction was exactly like Kaname. But Hino also showed us how it was wrong by having Seiya and Ren step in to stop her. Something someone should have had the guts to do with Kaname. But Ren is smarter than Yuuki ever was and Seiya might like Ai but is not a pawn like Aidou was. So they are good for Ai. They are good compasses in leading Ai in the right direction. Not allowing her to be consumed by her hatred. 

I also see how Hino has Ai watching Ren in the same way that Kaname watched Yuuki. The differences are that Ai is not interfering in Ren’s life and friendships and Ren is not oblivious to what Ai is doing in the way that Yuuki was totally oblivious to everything Kaname was up to.

Overall I love the sibling dynamics between Ai and Ren. They are breaking out of the mistakes made by all the other siblings in VK. I really love them to pieces.

I have one complaint with this new chapter. For the life of me I don’t think Hino needed to add another b**ch of a pureblood to the mix. All I can smell is a Sara 2.0. I don’t want that. I feel like we could have gotten along just fine without any stupid new additions to the story. But we will see where it goes.

Also we are finally going back to the “mad” scientist. I am glad. 

Still hoping that Ren’s DNA will be needed for the cure. She is the rarest of rare vampires having come from a hunter/human turned vampire and a pureblood. I really hope Hino goes that route. I have all of my fingers crossed for it to happen. I do fear Zero’s inevitable death scene. The first time in December of 2015 when I saw the spoilers I sat there and cried like a baby. So I am not looking forward to seeing how it happened. But I know that is where Hino is headed.

I also wish we could see rukain and shima having children as well. 

Overall the chapter was pretty good. 

One final thought. When I saw Ai in her dress with her hair to the side the only person that came to my mind was Sara. I don’t know why I thought she looked like Sara but I did. Anyone else have that pop into their head?

 Hino is definitely paralleling our original trio at different points with Ren and Ai. In order to get her message across that she feels she failed in the first series, she chose to show it through Ai and Ren.

What other parallels did anyone see? I saw a few but this is already really long.

Sorry for my rambling. Thank you for dropping by :)

[getoffthesoapbox]

[VKM Spec] Ridiculing VKM 18

As expected, Hino’s obsession with dreary funerals continues.

Obligatory disclaimer for my anti-fans: This post is zeki criticism, vkm criticism, hino criticism, and anti ky. Please blacklist those tags accordingly.

Scanlations can be found in the usual places.

The Good

Gotta give credit where credit is due!

Hallelujah! Kaien Cross bites the dust (literally) at last! Praise the heavens! At last, one of the cancers of this story has been eradicated! Screw you, Hino, for trying to make him more than oozing pustule he was. (And LOL @ that guy facepalming in front of his coffin, who the hell is that anyway, I want his autograph? XD)

Kaien’s melodramatic “woe is me, what a shitty way to die” and then his pathetic “oh a girl is finally crying for me after all this time!” dramatics were hilarious. Like...how sad of a person are you that you’re relieved any girl is crying for you at your death?

Ren is a girl. I repeat: Ren is a girl. At last we can put to bed all that nonsense.

Ren is null!Zero’s and Yuuki’s child. I repeat: Ren is null!Zero’s and Yuuki’s child. Farewell, fantasies of test tube babies and clones and in vitro. Not only that, Ren was clearly conceived in the usual fashion of conceptions, not via any Zeusian head-births or immaculate conceptions. 

Null!Zero lived to raise Ren. I repeat: null!Zero lived to raise Ren. At least the “null!Zero can’t have anything Kaname doesn’t get” rule no longer applies. 

Kaname is too much of a chicken to look at the photo album of a man who worshipped him. Methinks nu!Kaname has received some intimations about how much of a shithead he was in the past. Makes me think better of him.

Kaname is actually interested in someone from the past who isn’t Yuuki and what that person might think of him. Also that he actually genuinely seems interested in finding out how much Ai suffered from Kaien’s loss and is trying to empathize for the first time in his life. 

Ai finally showed up for a funeral. ‘Bout time, since she didn’t even bother to show up for Yori’s. 

The little girl the Prince was living with is not the mayor’s daughter, thank god. 

The mad scientist got a stylish cameo! 

And that’s about it!

The Bad

Perhaps I should rename this section to “The Stupid”? I’ll have to consider it.

Hino forgetting her own lore and that pureblood blood can cure wounds and illnesses--see Shizuka with Ichiru. Ai was right next to Kaien--she didn’t need to offer him vamprism, she could have just fed him her blood. For him to die in such a stupid fashion, despite how great it is, is positively mind boggling given the established vampire lore in this story. 

Hino retroactively trying to act like Kaien meant something to these characters when he’d routinely fucked them over in order to rescue his precious Kaname. 

Yuuki boo-hooing over Kaien dying when she didn’t bother to spend any time with him during the 100 years of life she had to enjoy his company.

Kaname’s unexplained “curse” on Touma that came out of the clear blue nowhere with no foreshadowing or set up in order to “justify” Touma’s insane behavior. Hino’s just phoning it in at this point. 

Touma is the Prince, snooze. Boring and obvious and a narrative dud. 

The “Mayor” is useless and already under arrest, and why the hell does anyone even still care about him?

Kaien’s funeral was a joke and got more panels than Yori’s, which is ridiculous.

The timeline is fucked. Ai was acting last chapter like a bunch of time had passed between the mad scientist kidnapping and the Ren pregnancy being discovered, yet the little girl is still the same age. Either she’s a vampire or Hino has no clue what the timeline is.

Instead of talking about how excited they are to meet Ren, Yuuki spends most of her pregnancy screentime rehashing bullshit about Ai’s childhood with Ai. We already spent 6 chapters on Ai’s childhood Hino, you might want to give us some time to enjoy Ren for once yeah? 

Yuuki whining about Kaien and Yori not being there is a complete joke. Bitch, please, you waiting seventy years to get in bed with your side piece is the reason they’re not there with you now. You have no right to complain because this is your own fault. You squandered the time you had with your precious people.

Null!Zero’s apparently barely there as a father figure since Hino didn’t care to show him in more than one panel with his child. 

The Ugly

All of the ugly this chapter was packed in at the end, appropriately.

Hino just completely excised null!Zero from the family. In the montage of raising Ai images, Zero doesn’t even get a panel with Ai or Yuuki--he’s separated in his own itty bitty panel as if he’s still an outsider in his own family.

No sex scene, no waiting for the baby scene, no naming Ren scene for Zeki. That’s a pretty low blow to make us wait all that time and then skip over everything, Hino. Fuck you, too.

Zero’s and Ai’s little argument at the end would be cute if we’d actually gotten some fucking answers as to why Zeki didn’t get together for an entire human lifetime, but no, Hino doesn’t care to tell us why, we can just make the answer up for ourselves!

Whether Hino intends to “make good” on this implication or not (and my bet, given how gross Ai and Ren act in the future, is that she’ll make good on it), it is utterly reprehensible that Hino made Ai have a sexual attraction to a fucking innocent baby. We all know the VK/VKM world has established that vampiric hunger the way Ai experiences it in VKM 18 is sexual in nature. Hino trying to act like it’s cute there at the end is not ever acceptable. It was not even remotely acceptable when Kaname did it, and it’s not at all acceptable now just because the girls are sisters. Just like slapping Aidou, child grooming is not appropriate or laudable behavior. Ai having a sexual interest in her baby sister is not okay.

And last, but certainly not least, null!Zero and Yuuki approving Ai’s interactions with Ren without having any concerns is deeply disturbing to me. Hino trying to play this off as a cute and normal happy family is even more troubling. I’m very concerned about how this all is going to play out in the future. 

General Aside

@vampireknightmeta brought up a few ways in which Hino might be able to salvage the story as it is now in our private conversations, but I will leave any public speculation on future positive developments to her should she choose to share them with the fandom at large. 

At this point in time, I myself have no interest in speculating about potential positive narrative developments because Hino has shown time and time again that she’s happy to sink lower than even the lowest bar I set for her. I’d rather be happily surprised by Hino saving this story on her own and just laugh at her bumbling in the meantime rather than investing my heart into trying to uncover the “secrets” of the story of a repugnant and morally bankrupt failure of a writer. From now on, I’ll only be speculating about worst case scenarios, the worst I can possibly imagine, and maybe Hino will do even worse than that just to prove to me that there’s no low she’s above sinking to. 

As such, if you’re looking for positive theorizing, you won’t find it here until I see some significant improvement in this sorry excuse for a story. Please look elsewhere for your hit of “positivity.” 

Crackpot Theory Corner

Can’t end this debacle without some crackpot theories. Here’s what could happen that could make this story sink even lower than it has already sunk!

Null!Zero might actually get suspicious of Ai’s “attentions” to Ren, but he’s going to die before he can stop anything. =P Null!Zero does still seem to have some fatherly instincts.

Null!Zero is up next for being killed, probably next volume. We’ll probably have a funeral or two every volume, because that’s totally what everyone’s reading for!

In the chapter where null!Zero dies, we’ll have Ren dying in the future while protecting Ai or Kaname! Gotta kill off dem pesky Kiryuus!

When Yuuki meant “short time after Zero” when he died in VKM 4, what she meant to say was “null!Zero died 20 years after I screwed him and I put myself to bed for 900 more.” Hence, “short time.” Time’s relative, doncha know.

After Ren dies, Kaname and Ai will mourn, then resurrect Yuuki to ease their sorrow and the Kurans will live happily ever after. 

Yuuki never intended to marry Zero, and that’s why she let Yori die before getting together with him officially so Yori wouldn’t have to know Yuuki loved Kaname and not Zero (why, only Hino knows). The wedding Yori and Aidou were waiting for will happen after they’re long dead with Kaname and Yuuki instead. 

The baby from Yuuki’s dream is her second kid with Kaname, a boy who she’ll name Zero. Ai will imprint on her new brother and the horror will start all over again with a new generation, this time blessedly free of Kiryuus, who are all dead.

Oh, and the Vampire King will never be found, because who cares. ;)

Until next time, see you later!

[natidraiman]

Zero Kiryuu

I'm not sure how to start this, 'cause I never planned to do a blog post about him. Let me begin by saying that I'm a huge fan of Kaname and I'm on Yume's side, nevertheless sometimes I don't understand such a huge war between the two sides, and how some people are so narrow minded due to their fanaticisms. I mean, we all love the same manga, right? (Although it's okay if we just fought for fun haha)

I know as a fact, that Yuuki loved Zero. I even cross my eyes when anyone tries to deny it. (And that doesn't make me feel insecure about my OTP)

Even more, I can say a few good things about Zero. I wanna clarify that there are many stuff I don't like about him, but this post doesn't plan to continue the war, so I'll just say the things I like. And I'm not just talking about how good looking he is (lol)

I like his ability to suffer in silence. The way he endured the pain for years, without wanting others to pity him... I’m talking about those four years he spent battling his vampirism, without even Yuuki noticing. That's being strong.

“I didn't understand anything. Zero suffered and suffered for four years. What were you thinking, all by yourself? He loathes vampires so much, he wants to kill them all. All this time, Zero wanted to kill himself too”

The way he tolerated seeing the girl he loved with his worst adversary, more than once. Or the times Yuuki talked to him about her feelings for Kaname, and (as far as I remember) he never complained. He would accept Yuuki's feelings, even if they weren’t for him. Even if they were for someone he hates. I believe this moment serves as an example.

And my favourite aspect about him, is how he stays next to Yuuki when Kaname leaves her. He loves her so much that he waits decades to be with her. He loves her so much that he wants to be with her, even if she already has a daughter with Kaname. He loves her so much that he is good with Kaname's daughter too. I really enjoyed their friendship during the begining, I think it has lots of funny moments. But, at this point, I also like the way he loves her.

There are more things that I like about Zero, but I think these are enough.

By last, this is my favourite Zeki moment... yes, I have one.

[akeithinshiningarmor]

some voltron aus i’ve been brewing up. might be triggering and nsfw, there’s too much to say so really proceed at your own caution and expect the worst.

> the one with all the strings: angry teenage punk keith dates hot dad college student shiro to get back at his parents. it fails because hes a kid and hes annoyed shiro's work as a nurse takes all his time and they break up. some time later, they get back together and it works cause im a sappy baby babeh (and then he dies) 

> lance is fucking appaled that li'l emo keith brough black polish in fucking space. keith puts it on in the common room. lance finds it dumb but shiro finds it hot. 

> klance where keith cross-dressed and makes lance think he's a chick thru thigh fucking (title, insp: cherry lips/go baby go by garbage) 

> psychiatrist!lance hypnoses his patient keith and jacks him after he talks about his feelings for his brother shiro 

> klance. fucked up, drunk, but con breathplay

 > (sh)klance. keith (15) is in wuv with upperclassman shiro (19) and really wants to get with him. but he's a virgin so keith's scared that would make shiro think he's innocent and immature so he asks well-known man whore lance (17) to take his v-card. ensue sweet gentle bonage + rimming and innocent blushing keith.

 > sheith. medical kink, hospital aesthetic. heartbroken shiro fucks his comatose hubby keith in his hospital bed before they pull the plug. he's mindful of keith's numerous iv, his body, of the cannula in his nose and maneuveurs him tenderly. he cries and he nuts and keith too because stimuli. lots of handholding and tender kisses and reminiscing. actually became a whole fucking thing too big for its own good about life, death, letting go and freedom.

> shklance. keith wears really short shorts with no underwears and it drives lance mad (and shiro too but he's been there did that) 

> au where the galras have already invaded earth and hold humans in slavery. young shiro (16) finds baby keith (12, altean-galra) as he's running away from the ship he was kept captive on. shiro decides he's going to protect that child and basically becomes a brother figure to him. 

> everything you have. lance looks at keith and shiro and ponders about their relationship and what they let show. basically hes in love with keith and can't compete because shiro and keith are so selfless and give without any barriers and he's a Sad Boi 

> bloodborne inspired au. shiro as basically gehrman and keith as basically lady maria. they're hunters and when keith dies in his arms, shiro makes a doll that looks just like him and uses dark magic to give it life. it doesn't have keith personality – it's docile and calm – but it's enough for him as he fucks it. possible titles: the doll maker, child's play, mirror images. 

> dark souls iii au. firekeeper keith + ashen one shiro. they fucc and shiro takes off his mask and kisses his closed eyes.

 > un homme et son péché + a/b/o au. keith is forced to marry grade a shithole sendak even though he's been in love with shiro since forever. follows the plot but keith aborts all of sendak's kids and only births one still born (messy abortions oblige) from shiro because sendak never discovers their affair. he dies from penumonia in the end when shiro comes back from the woods, right in his arms. 

> red room. the crew gets sent vids of lance being tortured after he's been captured by the galras. sheith, klance, shklance. (snuff movies basically, inspired from irl darknet red rooms where people pay to see people get murdered) 

> in reverse. fantasy au with vampires and werewolves. werewolf!lance and vampire!shiro. tropes and clichés about both monsters are reversed. boozy, dirty vampire shiro who lives in a cabin in the woods. like he's dirty, he smells, he's not very cleanly shaved, he ain't wild but actually really polite and a nice guy. everything he wears his plaid and jeans, he likes to go hunting and he's generally 100% not what you'd expect a vampire to be. as for werewolf lance, he's like personable, likeable, kind of a douche, lives at night in clubs, a rich boy who likes armani suits, perfume to cover up his wet dog smell and clean af. he shaves the fucking animal. he's kind of a dick but still a sweet boy. hates ripping his clothes when he transforms into a wolfie, hates losing his cool. basicaly not what u expect a werewolfie to be. obviously even in that world werewolf and vampires hate each others but actually lance and shiro really get along!! and like each others a lot!! and enjoy spending time together as well as with their tiny, angry little boyfran. 

> a/b/o horror. keith is with shiro when theyre at the garrison. so shiro is a teacher and keith is a student, which is super forbidden. and they're an alpha/omega pair. anyway shiro apparently dies and keith actually gets kicked out because... ah shit son he got preg with shiro's baby. it's either a) they know it's shiro and they kicked him out to cover up the fact their teacher was fucking a kid on school grounds b) they think he just went and got preg against school rules. anyway keith ends up all alone giving birth in the desert and his life is shit uvu or another terrible idea: the galras capture keith and realize he's preg, litteraly remove the kid from his tum while he's awake. 

> vampire knight au. with keith as yuuki except he's not useless and annoying, shiro as kaname except he's not a piece of shit and lance as zero because muh angst except he's not as emo.

[zerolover66]

I'm not concerned about her already being pregnant in regard to any wish for a sex scene. I am concerned we never saw Zeki talk through their very real problems before seeing this. That's what I crave much more than a sex scene. Is Zero comfortable now? Is he satisfied? Not much to go on here, and I wish Hino actually addressed plot points she introduced regarding Zeki. I'd feel much happier with this outcome. This feels a bit rushed in comparison to all other Zeki development.

Well right after the scene on the rooftop with Seiya and Ai the box says, “then again the time passed.” So we have had another time skip. 

I am really not the one to be asking about this since I have not been too put off by what was going on with zeki. They had troubles like any other couple. I personally feel that too much emphasis was put on needing words to come from them or actions for everyone to feel that they are in a better place. I don’t believe that couples in the real world work like that. Sometimes with time and patience things just become clearer on their own and you realize what you have and appreciate it a bit more. I do not need a grand talk or a break up for that to happen.

I watched my aunt and uncle who have been married for thirty years go through ups and downs. I have heard the stories they have told me. They just hung in there together. Eventually things work out or you part. No grand talks. No break ups in order to feel that they deserve each other. 

Life doesn’t work that way. We all have our gray areas. We are all imperfect but all deserving of love. My aunt and uncle after several turbulent years now have the deepest love and respect for one another. They find comfort in each other. They are each other’s home even when they were at their worst. So in the real world I just don’t see things going the perfect way. With the perfect wrap up to a story. Life is an ongoing series of trials and errors. Those who truly love us stand by us and those who don’t, well they weren’t worth our time to begin with.

Personally I think chapter 16 was Hino’s way of showing us that Yuuki and Zero were finally letting go of the demons that were holding them back. This is why she had Yuuki go to Ai and Zero go to Ichiru. With Zero he wanted somewhat of an okay for him to be happy with Yuuki knowing that Ichiru will never get that chance.

With Yuuki not only does her guilt where Kaname is concerned play a part but also the fact that she knows how Ai felt about Zero. So Ai was basically the spoke’s person for Kaname and herself when she told Yuuki that she would be happier if Yuuki was happy. Yuuki went to Ai seeking permission to finally allow herself to be happy.

I think that was why the chapter ended with the zeki hand touch and kiss. It was like a statement that they had decided it was okay to finally move forward and be genuinely happy.

Of course we could still get flashbacks of what took place between them. We could even get the big blow up or big confrontation that so many want and desire. But I don’t need it to understand that couples naturally eb and flow with time. Sometimes time takes care of everything. You learn and you grow together. 

I don’t blame those who feel zeki need to have this confrontation or break up. But I just don’t feel like the real world and real relationships work like that. You piss each other off. You sometimes say or do mean things in the heat of an angry moment. You carry scars with you from your past. You are selfish at times. You love the other more at times. You take the other for granted at times. All those things aren’t what make or break a relationship. Trust and understanding and love is what makes or breaks a relationship. So in the grand scheme of things life is just happening and you either work together and stay by each other’s side or you run away. 

So for me personally I have had a very different take on a lot of the chapters in vkm. This is why I have just decided to keep most of my opinions on here to myself. I no longer want to argue over things. You have your way of thinking and seeing things and I have mine. Two different people with two different opinions. 

So I am not disappointed since I saw these chapters very differently than some of you did. I read them differently and I took the subtext to mean things differently. And you know what? It’s okay for you to think one thing and me to think another. I just don’t want to argue about it or be drug down by reading negative things about a pairing that I hold near and dear to my heart. They saved me at a time when I was very lost. Zero especially. So, to see bad things written about a character that in every way reminds me of someone whom I loved with all my heart and left this world way too young, it hurts me. I feel that if reading vkm is no longer enjoyable for some the best they could do for themselves would be to take a break from the fandom.

I am in no way a surface level reader. I love challenges and the subtext underneath the words and scene. That is why I love the Japanese. Everything is contextual and subtextual. You can’t take the words that are written as gospel. You have to look for the hidden meanings underneath the words. I love looking for the truth. I love puzzles and riddles. I totally understand what Hino is writing and drawing. So I am not upset by not seeing zeki work through it. Sometimes you just make a conscious decision to get on with the living and be a better person. Sometimes between lovers no words are needed.

Sorry for the long post. I just don’t want to continue answering questions that probably should be directed at those who share your same train of thought. Sorry that I couldn’t be of more help.

Thank you for making me think about it though :)