#like -chan is certainly more girly but could be used for boys in a young boyish very friendly way

[nicosbrainrot]

nothing like a kori post to make me absolutely seeth with rage at the fact that tumblr cuts me off at 30 tags </3 fucking hell on earth

[gregrulzok]

Mitsuya, Hakkai, and Gay Coding

So the Tokyo Revengers' fandom's notorious and rampant homophobia makes this topic almost impossible to discuss anywhere outside of Tumblr... But I at least wanted to touch on it here.

Mitsuya and Hakkai are almost certainly gay coded, and there's a reason it's important.

Mitsuya is gay coded individually. He's written to be read as a young gay teen.

The most compelling piece of evidence to this is his Home Economics class. He is the only man there, seemingly friends with a ton of girls, who all seem to trust and like him.

Note here that Japanese culture isn't American culture - men being casual friends with women isn't as normalized as it may be here, and in most places a man in an otherwise all-woman club would be considered to be trying to "get with" one or more of them. We never, ever hear this about Mitsuya.

In fact, Mitsuya is one of the few TR characters that we see show no interest whatsoever in women. The most notable scene here is the beach scene, Kazutora and Pah-Chin both stare at the women in bikinis, but Mitsuya and Draken instantly dash to the ocean without paying it any attention. This is even pointed out by Kazutora, who remarks on how strange it is that neither of them cared.

("So is Draken gay coded?" My heart says yes, but his relationship with Emma says no. Draken is just desensitised to seeing female bodies.)

And of course, sewing and fashion, very stereotypically feminine things, are Mitsuya's main interests. While it's not exactly progressive to say that effeminate = gay, I implore you once again that this is all being written by an old Japanese ex-gang member, and not a modern day American LGBT teen.

My point is that, though it's a little stereotypical, Mitsuya has many qualities that would liken him to an old-school depiction of a gay teen. Which, in a way, is in line with the old-school aesthetic and worldview of Yankees and Yankee culture.

Now - Hakkai.

Hakkai is not gay coded individually - he's a model, but that's not seen as a particularly effeminate thing, and he's shown to have some interest in girls, seeing as he freezes up talking to them.

However, Hakkai is absolutely intended to be read as having a crush on Mitsuya. Honestly I can't even bring myself to write a paragraph explaining it, so here's a bullet list of things Hakkai has done:

Repeatedly remarked how much he "really likes" Mitsuya, coupled with other characters talking about this. This is not something that happens to any other duo with this frequency.

Set Mitsuya's face as his phone lockscreen.

Immediately thought of Mitsuya when the words "I like him" were spoken.

Said "Who wouldn't fall in love with him" after something that Mitsuya did almost exclusively for his sake.

Immediately upon finding out that it WASN'T about Mitsuya, was completely baffled and confused about how it could possibly be anyone else.

Gave Mitsuya a specialised nickname that consists of shortening his given name and adding "-chan". Given names are seen as more intimate in Japan, while the "-chan" suffix is mostly used for girls, younger relatives, or romantic partners. Mitsuya isn't a girl, and he's older than Hakkai, who looks up to him. So... Again, this is not mimicked by any other duo.

Chose a career based on what Mitsuya wanted to do in an attempt to be close to him.

Then, when he got more famous and busy, still carved out time to visit him seemingly very regularly.

Seemingly ignored a crowd of girls that all wanted to talk to him to make his way to Mitsuya as quickly as possible.

Straight up called Mitsuya "hot".

Maybe some of these things individually could be read as a coincidence, or a joke, but compiling it all in a list definitely shows that this was, more than likely, very intentional.

"But he says he sees Mitsuya like a brother!!" Hakkai looks up to and admires Mitsuya, who, as a child, taught him how to act and inspired him to be better. This is how Hakkai thinks brothers should be, and given his issues with his real brother, it's not a surprise that he's looking for brotherly guidance elsewhere.

However, three things.

Hakkai is very young and inexperienced. At that age, it's not difficult to confuse romantic feelings for familial ones.

Relationships change and grow with people. Many childhood friends-to-lovers feel as if they're siblings when they're little kids, but then transition to a relationship. This is also a VERY common anime trope that seems to only be an issue when they're both boys. ����

"Like a brother" is, sometimes, used as a euphemism in East Asian countries to censor or hint at gay lovers.

Mitsuya is almost certainly coded to be gay, and Hakkai is almost certainly written with a crush on Mitsuya in mind.

And why is this important?

Because they're both scrappy, edgy, shitty teenage boys.

Neither of them are misfits or outcasts. Neither of them are weak or dainty or need protection. They're not perverts, or deviants, they're not girly or looked down on. They're loved, respected by their friends. Their friends don't question their interests, or their bonds.

They're allowed to just be two teen boys that happen to be gay.

Two teen boys that happen to be gay, that are accepted at face value for who they are by their friends, no questions or conditions.

Nothing more, nothing less.

You can't pay for that kind of representation.

[go-dark-turtle]

(Sorry for the delay but here it is! A one chapter Joseph x fem reader Saucy n Spicy edition fan fiction. Don't worry I have a Saucy N Spicy warning so you if you don't like NSFW stuff you don't have to read those parts. Please enjoy and please let me know what you think 😊)

 Hamon Daze

(A Joseph x female reader fanfiction 

Saucy N Spicy edition)

You raised your hand and stepped forward "Lisa Lisa pick me!"

Caesar huffed at your request and bowed before his teacher "No! I'm more experienced, please pick me!" 

"Pfft, you just want a moment to flirt with Suzy and other other girls in town!" You shrugged at the young blonde

"How dare you accuse me Y/N!" He folded his arms and rolled his eyes at you. 

While the both of you were arguing, Joseph sat on the bench behind you all enjoying the sparks, finally a girl that didn't fall head over heels when he flirts. 

Lisa Lisa held the bridge of her nose from the bickering from you both "Honestly Y/N show some respect for Caesar, he is training you after all!  Ceaser I thought you would be mature about this." She sighed "It's not my choice, it's up to Suzy Q,  who she wants to accompany her on the shopping trip." 

Suzy Q walked in and saw you and Ceaser huff at each other with Joseph waving behind everyone.  Lisa Lisa placed her hands on the young woman's shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

"Suzy Q please for the love of hamon please pick one of them to go with you." Lisa Lisa took a deep breath and did her best from snapping at you both. 

"Ah I pick Y/N! It's been a long time since I've had a girly day." Suzy smiled and gave you a small peace sign. 

"YES! In your face Ceaser!" You giggled with glee and poked his cheek as you walked past him. You walked with Suzy Q and went straight to the docks. Caesar wasn't impressed. 

"Oh Caesar chan, looks like she wrung you out to dry didn't she?" Joseph smirked 

"Oh pack it in JoJo." He glared at him. "Shouldn't you be training?" Caesar raised his eyebrow 

"Oh about that...." He quickly backed out the room and bumped into his trainer, Loggins.

He wasn't happy that the trickster pulled a decoy on him during their intense training session. The tall man dragged him out of the room as he pleaded to stay, Caesar shook his head and followed behind. 

***Meanwhile*** 

"Ah Suzy thank you for picking me over Ceaser, you know what he'd do. 'Oh mamma mia, you look ravishing, my darling,  ooohhh~' I swear he says the same thing to all the ladies right?" You sat beside her on the boat ride to Venice. 

"Don't pay any attention to him when he acts like that. I learned the hard way." She giggled. 

 You certainly had gained more confidence from the last 10 days. You smiled at how quickly you've picked up the basics, at least it's one thing Caesar is good at, training the basics of hamon. It was thanks to a friend who knew Messina that you got invited to Air Supplena Island to help the boys and Lisa Lisa defeat the pillar men, they were due in less than 2 weeks. You had to be ready for everything. 

It wasn't much longer you both arrived and Messina helped you off the boat, "Remember ladies I leave in 2 hours and if you miss this boat you'll have to find your own way back." 

You both nodded and headed for the market stalls. You both had a list of food and supplies needed for that week and one more item, a new dress for Lisa Lisa. After much debate you both agreed on a navy blue dress and with that you decided to treat yourselves to a light but late lunch. 

"I know you don't think much of Caesar but you got to admit he is really cute." Suzy blushed holding her cheeks while waiting on her red velvet cake slice to arrive.

"Alright I wont admit to his face but I guess he is." You sipped your tea and bit into your biscuit in a slight annoyance. You couldn't believe you just admitted Caesar was attractive. 

"I knew it Y/N. Hee hee. What do you think of JoJo?" Suzy teased you 

"JoJo? Hmmm I honestly couldn't say. I don't see him very often to have an opinion..." You tilted your head. 

That was a lie, you of course liked him, like  a lot, any chance you had you would have a quick glance at his abs or his buttocks. But it wasn't very often you got to see him due to most of your training being with Caesar or Lisa Lisa. 

"Oh what time is it Y/N?" Suzy Q asked out of the blue. 

You looked at the clock tower behind her and noticed you had 10 minutes to get back to the dock. 

"AHH SUZY WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE!" You grabbed her arm and the bags of shopping.

You both ran as fast as you could and Messina folded his arms and waggled his finger. Suzy sat down, you passed her the bags and that's when you realised the dress was missing. 

"Messina, please just wait another 5 minutes. I need to pick up the dress from the cafe." You pleaded him. He nodded and you headed back. 

"Sorry Y/N I forgot to pick it up!" Suzy called out to you. 

You dashed the streets and you made it back to the cafe, thankfully the owner was closing and handed you the dress, the owner was thankful that you came with Suzy Q and had a quick chat about how amazing Lisa Lisa is. You smiled patiently before you had to make it clear you had to leave.

The docks were just in sight and you ran straight for them but time was up. Messina pushed the boat out and headed straight back, you dropped to your knees in disbelief. 

"Great... Ceaser won't let me hear the end of this..." You sighed 

You pulled up your trousers and held the dress high over your shoulders.  You charged Hamon through your legs and made a slow and long way back to the island via river. 

****Three Hours later****

"Well, well, well, look who finally shows up. Honestly anything could have happened to you. I was so worried about you! Look at you! You are a complete mess!  Though I am impressed you used your hamon to walk across that whole river" Caesar was perched on the fence by the docks and watched you struggle on the boardwalk. 

You lay on the boardwalk and caught your breath your lower half soaked  "Oh shut it Ceaser! It wasn't my fault I missed the boat. I had to get Lisa Lisa's dress."

Caesar smirked and took the dress from you "Tell you what, if I can steal a kiss from you I won't tell anyone you are this late" His face was so close to yours.

"Ceaser! I'd rather do push ups than kiss you." You pouted and shoved him back

"Oh is that so Y/N? Well then as your trainer and for punishment you need to run 20 laps around Fight Island." He smirked at you 

You stared at him in disbelief and before you had your say he dragged your tired body over the long walkway. 

 ***One hour later*** 

It was early evening and you had made it back to the main part of the island, your legs were aching from all the running and walking, you were finally done for the day but you knew you really needed food. You yawned and pressed your hand against the door to the main hall way and realised it was locked. You rolled your eyes and sighed, of course Ceaser was making a point about this, but he wasn't going to make you walk around the whole island to go in the back door. You looked above and saw an opened window, from your memory you knew it led to the hallway above the kitchen. You smirked and stretched your body and walked to the bottom of the wall.

"Heh Caesar thinks he can outsmart me well looks like I've won this time, Caesar chan" You chuckle to yourself. 

You use the hamon in your hands and feet to stick to the wall and start your climb. It reminded you of the pillar climb in your first few days on the island.  You knew compared to the pillar climb that the wall climb would be over soon and you could sneak in the kitchen,finally get something to eat and sneak to your room. You saw the windowsill in sight and you sat on it to catch your breath. 

"Phew! Man what a climb." You looked to the moon that lit up the whole island and enjoyed the view. You sighed happily at the moon's beauty and that's when you felt yourself falling backwards.

You landed on something soft and you paused for a moment and thought to yourself  "Wait a second this isn't the hallway I was thinking about, is this JoJo's....?" You turned slowly and realised you fell not only on Joseph's bed but on his lap also. 

Your eyes widen and you almost let out a shriek and he scrambled forward and held your mouth.

"Oi Oi Oi Oi! I've already got into trouble once today, I don't need you to get me into more. So shhhh." He whispered as he slowly moved his hand away from your mouth. 

You quickly shifted yourself to the floor and knelt on the floor looking down, with a bright and embarrassed red face. "Oh my god I'm so sorry JoJo" You whispered "I thought this was the window to the hallway. Bloody Caesar..." 

He smirked and knelt beside you "Hey I saw how mean Ceaser chan was with you, 20 laps around Fight Island is harsh. Hmmm how about we play a prank on him. What are you thinking Y/N?" 

You nodded with him, you wanted to get him back in any way possible. You both headed to the door. Only there was one problem, Messina and Loggins were on guard duty with how late it was and patrolled the hallways. Joseph opened the door ajar and saw them at either end of the long corridor, he pulled your hand and dashed across from his room to Caesar's bedroom door. 

"Judging by the time, Ceaser chan should be asleep by now" Joseph smirked 

He opened the door gently and just like he said he was asleep, you both walked in quietly and Joseph closed the door behind you. 

"Here take this Y/N and go to town" He handed you a small eye shadow pallet

"Um why do you have this...?" You asked looking down at the small compact case.

"Ah well" He twisted the bright pink lipstick and brought it to Caesar's lips "I'll explain later." 

After a few minutes you both made a beautiful masterpiece on Caesar's face, his lips were bright pink, he had a gorgeous shade of purple on his eyelids, red rosy cheeks and the biggest and the most fabulous eyelashes. He looked beautiful, Joseph stood back to admire both your work and he bumped into the table behind him and broke a vase. 

"Shit!" Joseph panicked

He pushed you into Caesar's wardrobe and he quickly climbed in after you. You both crouched and hid under Caesar's various jackets. You peeked out the crack of the door. The whole room was quiet with Caesar's light snoring. You both looked at each other and wondered how long it was going to be until Messina and Loggins arrived. You were both calm but you both sat there listening. 

BAM! The door was swung open and both the tall trainers entered. They saw the broken vase and they grew suspicious, they wondered the room to see if anything looked out of place. They both looked at the still sleeping Caesar and raised their eyebrows and shrugged and carried on like they hadn't even noticed. Just then you saw Messina heading straight for the wardrobe. Your eyes widened, your heart felt it was going to pop out your chest and your body began to shake. You were going to get caught and you didn't want to think about what punishment awaited you. Joseph had to do something and quickly otherwise you both would be in deep trouble. 

Messina was getting closer and you panicked more almost letting out a gasp, it was now or never, Joseph held your face and swiftly brought his face to yours and kissed you deeply, his tongue forced its way and lightly brushed against yours. He gripped but  gently held your arms in place. At first you were frozen on the spot but you melted into the kiss. You held onto his shoulders, your face blushing so much you could feel the heat on your cheeks. He got the message you were enjoying this as much as he was, even though danger was on the other side of the door and approaching fast, that didn't matter right now he was in pure bliss and you were too. The kissing was so deep and very intense.

"Ah that's better" Messina walked to the window by the wardrobe and closed it. "I've told the boys a million times to close the windows at night, the high winds around this time of the year can be troublesome." 

"You said it, we should address this to Lisa Lisa straight away." Loggins stood by the door and waited for Messina. 

They both left the room and you both gasped for air and looked at each other breathing heavily. You both felt a rush of emotions. You held Joseph's hands in yours and you inched closer again, he smiled and encouraged you. Your lips gently brushed against his pecking him gently your hands began to wander all over his abs he softly moaned into the touch he ran his hand up and down your back and you felt the warmth of his hand you gasped at his touch.

He broke out of the kiss "I doubt Caesar chan would be too thrilled to find us making out in his wardrobe." 

You giggled "No. He wouldn't" 

He opened the door and helped you out the wardrobe. You saw the light blush on his cheeks as he smiled softly down to you. You held his hand and you both dashed across the hallway straight for Joseph's room. 

Once in there he closed the door and smirked at you.

[SAUCY N SPICY WARNING!]

"Shall we continue?" He asked as he slowly approached you 

"Please Joseph." You begged for him 

He loved the tone in your voice and he pinned you to the back of the door, his hands locked into yours. You both looked each other up and down breathing heavily. He leaned in and kissed your lips softly before deepening it. His tounge forced it's way again but this time you were prepared and pressed your tounge against his. You both breathed heavily moaned into the deep kiss. He broke out the kiss and admired you, breathless and exhausted from his kiss.

He freed one of his hands and slowly brought it down your side you softly moaned at his touch, he reached your abs and traced his finger on them down to the belt buckle. He looked up at your lustful state and smirked, licking his lips, he crouched down and unbuckled your belt and gently pulled down your trousers and underwear. You gasped at the cool air hitting against your lower body. 

"Relax I know it's cold but don't worry I'll warm you up" He gave a cheeky wink 

He brought his other hand down and gently rubbed both his index fingers along the outside folds. You moaned softly at his touch and held his head. He could see how excited you had got and the wetness dripped on the floor. He gently poked and rubbed your nub and he brought his tongue to your opening and lapped up the excited juices. You bucked your hips into his face. 

"Ah JoJo you are so incredible!" You moaned more and more with each touch. 

He pulled away and a string of wetness was on his lips, he gently entered two fingers into you and slowly plunged deep. He loved hearing the soft moans you made from his actions, he picked up the pace and softly kissed up your thigh, you felt your whole body shake, you gripped his hair as your legs bucked into him one more time before you unleashed a wave of juices all over his fingers. 

"Oh you were very excited weren't you." He licked his lips.

He slowly slid his fingers across his tounge. You grew more excited by his cheeky and lustful stare. He kissed down your neck and then gently lifted you up and carried you to his bed and laid you down. 

You looked up at him as he kneeled in front of you and pulled down his zipper and his long member sprung out. You couldn't believe this moment was happening, you swallowed hard admiring his length in all its glory.  He smiled down at you and gently held your mouth open. You had no objections and he gently inserted himself into your mouth, you gently sucked the tip and licked the sides every time he reached the opening. He threw his head back in bliss and moaned softly and bucked gently into your mouth. You held onto his buttocks and deep throated him the tip of his member poking the back of the throat, the saliva built up and it dripped down your chin and onto your chest. He groaned more and more as he thrusted into you, he slowed down his pace and gently entered the tip for you to lick on.

Joseph pulled out and looked down at you panting hard you looked up at him your mouth was drenched. He lustful grinned and gently hosited your hips to his lap, placed your left leg and ankle on his shoulder. 

"Next you'll say 'JoJo please I'm all yours' " Joseph pointed at you 

You gasped "Jojo please I'm all- wait how did you know?" 

He grinned and at that moment he plunged into you, gasping softly you grabbed his pillow to hold onto something and to muffle your moans. He grunted softly while gripping your leg and ankle bucking harder and faster. He pulled the pillow away from your face and leaned in and deeply kissed into you, you moaned into the kiss, wrapping your legs around his waist you bucked back into him and this caused him to pin your arms into the bed and he thrusted faster, harder and moaned loudly. 

"Ah Y/N I'm about to..." He moaned

"I am too JoJo please don't stop...." You moaned 

You both closed your eyes and you held onto his shoulders having that one last final deep plunge. You moaned loudly at the wave that he had unleashed inside of you. He collapsed on top of you and hugged you tightly, you wrapped his arms around his, you were both exhausted. He kissed your cheek and snuggled against you, you shifted your body against his and rested your head on his chest. 

"That was incredible JoJo thank you for a great experience" You smiled as you were about to drift off to sleep.

Snuggling his head into your hair Joseph mumbled  "It was my pleasure Y/N, and don't think this is just a one off event. I want more of this in the future." 

***********

The next morning you both woke up in each other's arms smiling, you couldn't believe how far you both had come from the night of lust. You leaned in close and kissed him softly.

"MAMMA MIA! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CRAP ON MY FACE!" Caesar screamed as he looked at himself in the mirror.

You both giggled in bed knowing your prank was a success.

"Sounds like Caesar Chan is a fan of our masterpiece eh?" Joseph giggled 

"Oh most definitely" You smirked knowing you had revenge on Ceaser. 

(<----To be Continued-----)

Chapter 2

[sparklyjojos]

CARNIVAL EVE recap

Or: way too many characters to remember, Ryusui sending people weird stories YET AGAIN, an ominous prophecy, and horses and deers and cats, oh my!

[This is a sequel to Cosmic and Joker, please check these out first if you haven’t]

[tw: mentioned suicide]

---

This book is more of an introduction to Carnival than its own thing (although Seriyoin claims in the author’s note that it’s a separate whole, so YMMV). It’s set in August 1996 – 2,5 years after the Locked Room Lord case – and so we have to catch up on what the characters have been up to.

Because of the sheer amount of old and new characters, I’m doing what Seiryoin does and bolding names that you Really Should Remember For Later.

THE ‘CATCHING UP WITH CHARACTERS’ PART:

Hikimiya Yuuya, the statistics expert of JDC, is going through a rough patch. He’s so concerned with the vague Internet rumour about the worldwide “Crime Olympics” coming soon that his work performance suffered and landed him back in the Second Group of JDC. Cue imposter syndrome. Hikimiya is also afraid that were the worldwide crime event to really occur, his sweetheart Ryuuguu Otohime (the older sister of Ryuuguu Jounosuke) would have trouble surviving because of her disability. Right now Hikimiya’s leaving for France, where he will assist / learn under one of the seven S-rank detectives in the world, nicknamed Deus Ex Machina.

Yaiba Somahito, the leader of JDC's First Group, recently had to be hospitalized after he’d collapsed from stress. He’s worried that the stress brought on by the Crime Olympics -- will they occur -- could finally trigger his (still unclarified) hereditary psychiatric disorder. In the hospital he befriends a young boy, Amano, who with his prematurely white hair looks a lot like Yaiba’s brother Amato (who committed suicide years ago because of the aforementioned hereditary disorder). Amano was given only a few months to live.

While Yaiba’s hospitalized, Kirika Mai takes over his duty as the First Group’s leader. While people seem to like her in this position, she considers herself a temporary replacement. Since the last time we saw her she cut her hair short and has started dating a forensics expert Hazama [who showed up briefly in Joker]. She’s still confused about whether or not she has/had A Thing for Juku or was it just deep respect or what, and she certainly feels a pang of jealousy whenever she thinks about him surrounded by other people but not her.

Kirika mentions getting an author manuscript of a book describing the Locked Room Lord case. Every detective concerned gets a copy so they can approve the scenes they show up in. The book is written by a mysterious writer using the nickname Seiryoin Ryusui and is called Cosmic. It seems Seiryoin is already working on another book, Joker, this one about the Geneijo case. [WE META NOW, WE META HARD]

Tsukumo Nemu is there, but doesn’t really do anything in this book. Aside from instilling JDC representative Ajiro Souji’s “stupid parental feelings” and indirectly making him remember his dead son Souya, that is. [Have I ever mentioned that my favourite JDC AU is the one in which Ajiro inexplicably becomes the dad to Juku, Nemu, and the Ryuuguu siblings in addition to his own son? Just the 30-something Ajiro and a bunch of quirky genius kids he’s dadding over. Perfect.]

Amagi Hyouma is distraught after his work partner Yakuma Suzume was arrested for drug possession. Yakuma was a JDC detective whose reasoning ability was at its height when he subjected himself to risky activities like bungee jumping. Adrenaline and all. Nicknamed “Akuma”, or demon.

Later Hyouma is entrusted by Ajiro to take a bottle of alcohol to Yaiba as a get-well-soon gift, but predictably drinks it all right there in JDC’s lobby – his own meta-reasoning method relies on him getting drunk and, well, it didn't have the best influence on his life. Hyouma thinks a lot about his mysterious past: he can’t remember his parents, and all that his early childhood left him are vague memories of a terrifying fire and burn marks he usually hides under his bandana. He still dearly remembers his dead girlfriend Takabe Yuu (the one who died in Cosmic) and always wears a locket with her picture.

Later in the hospital Hyouma spends some time playing UNO with a fairly new detective Suzukaze Unomaru. Unomaru talks and dresses like a samurai completely with a wooden sword strapped to his back. His reasoning power increases when he’s playing card games (any and all, though UNO is his favorite), and in fact he got hospitalized because he’d somehow fucked up his hands due to too intense card game playing.

Later Hyouma is given a lift back to JDC by Kasumi Fuyuka (whose D-name, that is her “detective nickname”, is Fuyuu Kasumi), who’s similar in looks to Kirika and reasons better while she’s sleeping. (I'm starting to think they just pick someone's characteristic at random and call it a reasoning method.). The two were an item once, but nowadays Kasumi is more into someone else.

That someone else is Christmas Mizuno, a girly young man wearing all red except for the white shirt. People often call him Joya (“New Year’s Eve”) as he was born on 31st December. He’s the younger brother of the late meta-detective Pyramid Mizuno (who was ironically the one born on Christmas), and has a baby sister simply called JDC (born on the anniversary of the establishment of JDC). He was once Ajiro Souya’s friend in school, and sort of became a detective inspired by him. As of recently, Christmas became Ryuuguu Jounosuke’s assistant. His reasoning, sometimes called “anti-reasoning”, is kinda… searching for the truth via randomly wandering around or rambling to eventually stumble into the right thing. It doesn’t help that he has zero sense of direction. He’s trying his best, but can clearly see the barrier of talent between him and the big name detectives. Really wants a stuffed Catbus.

Ryuuguu Jounosuke hasn't changed much – still wears the same black clothes everyday, loves word plays, has autistic traits out the wazoo, is as aroace as they come (yay!), and is affectionately known as “JDC’s greatest weirdo”, or sometimes “the black-wearing Joker” because of his cheerful disposition. He’s horrible around machines and WILL break your laptop or phone if you let him as much as touch it, which is in a way really impressive. Ryuuguu lately feels exasperated because of one of JDC’s new detectives…

... Somedaring Amagoi [or Same Darling Amagoi? It's romanized differently on the cover and in the annex]. She's pretty much the teenage female version of Ryuuguu (that is, a walking pun hell), except she dresses like a shrine maiden. Her D-name is Amagoi Samidaare? (yes, with the question mark), but most people call her Ittai-chan because of how often she says “ittai” (“what the hell”). She considers Ryuuguu her teacher and constantly challenges him to riddle battles. Even Ryuuguu is a little done with it at this point.

On the day most of Carnival Eve is happening, Ryuuguu is giving a welcome to a new detective who has recently passed the hellishly difficult JDC entry exam. It’s Hoshino Tae, the very same person that survived the Geneijo case. Tae accepts a D-name that Ryuuguu created for her: Fuumonji Jouka, which honors the memory of Tae’s brother known under his pen name of Fuumonji Kousei.

Another future detective is Yuiga Dokuson. For now we’re just told that he was Hyouma’s school friend. Emphasis on “was”. Dokuson is a self-proclaimed narcissist (his reasoning method apparently relying on that) who claims to be thousands of years old, and rumour has it that he once drove a man to suicide simply by talking to him. If Tsukumo Juku’s beauty could be described as godly, Dokuson’s unusual good looks (fortunately not to the point of making others faint) feel like the demonic equivalent. Hyouma doesn’t have the highest opinion of the guy, and is pretty pissed off that Ajiro let the dude come anywhere near JDC.

As for other JDC detectives we haven’t met yet, there are two we need to mention:

Ushiwaka Gigolo (that’s her D-name, not real name) usually dresses in traditionally male clothing, and while she may seem brash and bold at first sight, she’s actually very amiable. Her reasoning abilities rise whenever she falls head over heels for someone, but as soon as the case at hand is solved the feelings for the partner fizzle out completely, which understandably leads to Problems. While she feels attraction to any gender, it seems she likes other ladies the most. It’s mentioned that a lot of female JDC employees certainly like her a lot. Think of that what you will. [...I don’t think I have to point out that having your bi/pan character be the one who’s defined by changing partners like socks is uhhhh not good.]

Kakuusan Kanke (this D-name being a pun on a relationship triangle) is a talkative woman with round glasses and okappa hair which gave her a nickname “Kappa”. Her reasoning ability soars whenever she’s jealous about something (a relationship, talent, fame…). Before JDC she worked as a DJ. She’s also an amateur hypnotist, weirdly enough. Kakuusan and Ushiwaka worked in a trio with another female detective, who unfortunately was murdered fairly recently.

While we’re looking at JDC, we should mention that Ajiro Souji’s usual secretary Hanto Maimu had to recently take maternity leave. (She already named her yet unborn kid Hanto Kuraimu. 'Crime Hunt'. That’s metal.) The new secretary is Mito Muramasa, a young office worker guy with low levels of self-confidence who’s fairly anxious all the time, described as evoking maternal instincts in everyone, and who basically isn’t sure how to adult properly and feels completely out of place. Relatable.

For reasons that will only come into play much, much later, we also have to mention one of JDC’s security guards called Nakamoto Hiroya, whose secret dream is to become a writer.

--

As for the God of Detectives Tsukumo Juku, he’s taken a paid leave -- which he never does, mind you -- to return to Shunkashuutou, the Tsukumo family’s residence in Shimane Prefecture. He invited two people along.

One is Tousen Yomiko, a private detective specializing in criminal psychology who was Juku's childhood friend and at one point in life his fiancée. Yomiko previously showed up in Cosmic helping others solve the Jackie the Ripper case. Just like Juku, Yomiko has the atmosphere of being an extremely loving and understanding person to the point that it kinda wraps around to feeling uncanny. Yomiko’s father Yomi was good friends with Juku’s father, and in fact was the one to built Shunkashuutou.

The other invited person is Inugami Yasha, now around 17-year-old private detective who helped JDC during Cosmic. Walking to Shunkashuutou, Yasha accidentally remembers that time he saw Juku’s eyes and faints (hfjsjkhf), and while he’s unconscious the black cat he brought along goes missing. The cat had been entrusted to Yasha by a randomly met dying man who introduced himself as Kanai Hidetaka, or Employee D who once worked in Geneijo. [Kanai Hidetaka is our world's Seiryoin's real name, btw.] The cat is called Kanaihidetaka ( Yasha says you’re not supposed to split that name, so I write it together). Apparently it’s connected to something called “the last case of humanity” that also has to do with a mysterious "Shinrui” (Yasha has no clue what it is, but thinks it should be written with the kanji meaning “God's tear”).

In a conversation with Yasha, Yomiko reveals that there’s something that even Juku still can’t solve -- he still can’t figure out the tricks to his father Saimon Ryuusui's “Miraculous Illusions”. The illusions in question were only ever shown once, and only to little Juku, before his father died during the Saimon Family Murder Case. The Miraculous Illusions were still unfinished at the time, but Juku thinks that if they were perfected, they could lead to some sort of an “ultimate trick”.

As for the missing cat, there’s a Shimane legend about people and animals being spirited away, so who knows if that didn’t happen to Kanaihidetaka too? But thankfully the cat is soon found by Juku, and everything's fine. (For now.)

THE ACTUAL PLOT (what little there is of it for now):

Hoshino Tae / Fuumonji Jouka brings to JDC a letter that Dakushoin Ryusui sent her a long time ago. It was sent on 26th October 1993… that is, during the Geneijo case. It contains another envelope and a curt note from Dakushoin asking the recipient not to open it until the date given (yesterday as of now). The envelope contains a short story consisting of 7 acts and called:

ANOTHER JOKER ---The Revised Detective Myth (But The Culprit Is The Same?)

[Note: Joker’s full title is Joker: Detective Myth As The Old Testament]

This short somewhat absurd story takes place in a building without an entrance or exit called Gensoukan (Phantom House? Phantom Mansion? Either way, it’s a clear riff off of Geneijo). Aside from the lead character – Ryuuguu Jounosuke – the story features only people who are already dead: Kirigirisu Tarou (apparently the owner of Gensoukan) with his wife Kano; Ajiro Souya; everyone else who died in Geneijo; as well as Kosugi the butler and his son, who both died during the Locked Room Lord case. (Incidentally, the kid’s name is now furigana’d as Katsutoshi and not Shouri like it was in Cosmic and Joker. This is never explained, but I’ll go with my Meta Instinct and assume this is an intentional change. None of the detectives reading the short story seems to notice the change. Oh, and the kid is reading a certain book called Joker. Meta intensifies.)

Another Joker’s Ryuuguu is quite confused about how he got into Gensoukan and why all the dead people he saw die in Geneijo are alive and acting like nothing happened, but he feels like he may as well go with the flow and solve the case. The victim is one Employee O, or Ousetsu Kan. The locked room he was in burned down. Witnesses heard the victim yell something like “dou, dou”. While everyone was running around and trying to break the door open, the victim must have tried to extinguish the fire by turning on water, but he was too late to save himself from burning down to a pile of bone fragments. (Ryuuguu realizes that a normal fire wouldn't be hot enough to leave only bones, but whatever, this is Gensoukan, it’s weird.) There seemed to be more bones left than just one man would have, though. The only other clue is a message carved into the floor that “the culprit is ZI”.

Murder aside, two animals held in Gensoukan's stable went missing: a man-eating horse called SIKA (“deer”) and a deer called UMA (“horse”).

Ryuuguu was apparently chosen to be in Gensoukan as Dakushoin's guest, whatever this means. Dakushoin helps the investigation by making a map of Gensoukan including everyone present's name and room location. This helps Ryuuguu eventually figure out the case and who 'the Joker' (the culprit) is. He gathers everyone in the recreation room to explain it, but the story ends just as he points and yells “You are the Joker!”

Attached to the story is a short bonanzagram (a riddle in which you substitute free spaces with letters) that prompts the reader of Another Joker to fill it in with the answers to the case.

–

The real Ryuuguu Jounosuke and Tae / Jouka solve the story's case incredibly quickly, but still have to help Christmas through his own stumbly reasoning.

The title having that But The Culprit Is The Same? part would seemingly point to whoever committed the Geneijo murders as the culprit of the story.

However, Christmas says that the person he suspects is not the culprit of Geneijo, but the Kosugi boy. [A statement which should give everyone who read Joker a long pause, but then again, Juku and Yaiba probably didn’t reveal the truth to anyone.] Ryuuguu and Jouka think the boy is just a red herring here.

Christmas’s next guess is the story’s rendition of Nijikawa Ryou. The map that Another Joker’s Dakushoin made has everyone’s pen name and real name. Everyone without a pen name has a note that “(Real Name Is The Same)”. However, Nijikawa Ryou has a slightly different note that “(Real Name = The Same)”, which can be read as him being called The Same, and since The Culprit Is The Same...

If a person was called 同じ, onaji (The Same), then the last name would be Ona and the first name would be Ji. Or maybe the last name would be Dou (same kanji, different reading) and the first name Ji. The syllable “ji” can be romanized as “zi”. And that’s why the victim yelled “Dou, Dou!” (the murderer’s last name!) and the dying message said that “the culprit is ZI”.

[I feel like this is a good time to remember Juku’s final observation in Joker about Dakushoin’s manuscript having a message that mina onaji, or “Everyone’s The Same”. I sense multiple meanings here.]

Since Story Nijikawa shared alibi with Story Miyama Kaoru (they were playing hanafuda in the recreation room), this means they were partners in crime, and maybe lovers. See, there’s apparently a proverb that “the one who interferes in love will die kicked by a horse”, so the two could symbolically use a horse as a murder weapon to deal with Ousetsu Kan, who threatened their relationship in some way.

Nijikawa planned to get the horse and the victim in the same room, scare the horse with fire and make it trample the victim. Things went awry and Nijikawa had to flee the now burning room. The victim locked the door in fear of Nijikawa returning and tried to extinguish the fire, but the unhinged horse ate him. The bones found at the scene belonged to the horse.

As for what happened to the deer, well, there’s this proverb that “the person who chases a deer does not see the mountain”. Yama, mountain, is also a term for a card deck. Like the hanafuda card deck Nijikawa and Miyama used. Hanafuda, which has a deer card in it. The deer called UMA was a card all along, and Nijikawa hid it inside a deck of cards in the recreation room.

[A somewhat absurd story, as I said.]

--

The filled-in bonanzagram looks something like this:

“KAN died. HANnin [culprit] ZI. UMA was brought into GORAKUshitsu [the recreation room]. DEKOI [the person used as a 'decoy' killer] was the KOSUGI boy.”

Ryuuguu and Jouka notice that there's a hidden message obtainable by making an anagram of all the filled-in letters. Poor Christmas Mizuno feels inadequate as he's not able to guess it as easily as these two did (and the reader will share his pain of being denied the knowledge of the message before the end of the book). Concerned about the message, Ryuuguu brings the story to Ajiro, who then arranges one-on-one meetings with each of the big name detectives to ask them what they personally think of it.

While this is happening, Ryuuguu thinks about a dream he had that night in which he talked to someone. He can’t actually remember anything else, but he has a vague feeling that the dream was important. What was it about...? 

–

[This chapter is called “The real short story: Cosmic Zero”]

Ryuuguu is in some empty space in which he can only hear Dakushoin's voice. Dakushoin talks about vague and weird things, about space-time curved into a Moebius strip in which the cases are recurring again and again, and the dead are coming back to live and repeating their deaths without noticing.

Ryuuguu asks about Another Joker and the manuscript from the Locked Room Lord case. Just how much does Dakushoin know if he was able to hint at future events in them? Dakushoin answers that since Ryuuguu will forget this conversation even happened (because it shouldn’t be happening in the first place), there's no harm in telling him some things.

A plan to exterminate all humanity is under way. It started back in 1979 with the Saimon Family Murder Case, one of the Four Great Tragedies. The other three are the Geneijo case, the Locked Room Lord case, and the future Twin Disappeareance case of 1999. The Crime Olympics are not included in the Four Great Tragedies, as it's a worldwide event that doesn't concern just Japan, and it's really just a preparation for the last Tragedy.

The Twin Disappearance case will be the last one. Then, on the night of the last day of the current century – 31st December 2000 – Tsukumo Juku will be murdered, and the human race will perish soon after.

All of the culprits of those giant cases – Shiroyasha, the Artist, the Locked Room Lord, Kamikakushi of the Twin Disappearance case, as well as the Billion Killer of the Crime Olympics – are nothing more than decoys. They are all controlled by a mysterious Tsukumo Jaki (九十九邪鬼), who will be the one to kill Juku. Tsukumo Jaki is apparently someone Ryuuguu knows – why, it's one of his fellow detectives!

Ryuuguu is upset, but Dakushoin points out that since he'll forget this anyway, and all is destined, there's no reason to care a lot about it now. The two have a conversation about language and writing, and Dakushoin hints at there being a root language that all others came from, and that Ryuuguu should look into it.

Finally they bid each other goodbye. Dakushoin says that he himself can only return to 'the beginning' and tread the same path over and over again, but Ryuuguu can now continue walking forward in new time.

[End of Cosmic Zero]

--

The hidden message is finally revealed:

KAN HAN ZI UMA GORAKU DEKOI KOSUGI --->

HANZAI GORIN SUGU KOKO DE KAIMAKU

“The Crime Olympics will be starting here soon.”

–

At exactly 1 PM on 10th August 1996, the Crime Olympics really do start.

With the JDC building -- and about 300 detectives inside it -- exploding.

And that's where Carnival Eve ends.

[To be continued in Carnival]

[marshmallowgoop]

Why is Kill la Kill considered a magical girl anime? Just because of the transformations?

Short answer: It’s Complicated.

Long answer: It’s complicated. Incrediblyso. The magical girl genre—and shoujo mangaand anime in general—is… pretty neglected when it comes to serious analysis. AsDeborah M. Shamoom writes in the book PassionateFriendship: The Aesthetics of Girl’s Culture in Japan, “… writing on shōjo manga even in Japan has lagged behindacademic study of manga for boys. Although Yonezawa Yoshihiro published ahistory of postwar shōjo manga in 1980, for over a decade it was the onlybook-length study of the genre. In the late 1990s, women who had grown upreading these texts, such as Fujimoto Yukari and Yokomori Rika, began writingabout shōjo manga from a feministperspective” (5-6). And, when you consider that Sally the Witch and SecretAkko-chan, the first (arguably) magical girl anime series ever produced,were put to TV screens in the mid-to-late 1960s,it’s easy to see that there’s kinda a dearth of study here (Saito 147).

While there is a lot moreresearch devoted to shoujo today, inregards to Western, English-language discussions on something like the magicalgirl genre, it’s super important to note that—in my experience, anyway—therejust ain’t a lot of access to this work in English. Additionally, what is available in English is often writtenfrom a foreigner’s perspective. Even while working at a university and havingaccess to loads and loads of material, I struggle to find much of anything on shoujo written by someone who actuallygrew up and spent most of their life in Japan.

So, maybe it’s no surprisethat—for lack of a better term—Westerners get their panties all in a twistabout what’s actually magical girland what’s not. It’s just hard to get anything concrete on the matter. I mean,it’s hard to get much of anything onthe matter.

I also acknowledge that I am inno way an authority here. I’ve only dipped my toes into serious shoujo analysis, and I am not Japanese,nor have I ever even set foot on Japan. But I can provide a little bit ofreasoning for why Kill la Kill mightmaybe be magical girl. Hopefully.

First things first: what is a magical girl show, anyway? In thearticle “Magic, Shōjo, andMetamorphosis: Magical Girl Anime and the Challenges of Changing GenderIdentities in Japanese Society,” author Kumiko Saito offers a basic idea:

In public discourse, the general definition of the magicalgirl anime tends to solely focus on the content. Largely influenced by TōeiStudio productions in the 1960s and 1970s,mahō shōjo as a genre signifies (usuallyserial television) anime programs in which a nine- to fourteen-year-old ordinarygirl accidentally acquires supernatural power; majokko suggests the alternative setting that the female protagonist’ssuperhuman power derives from her pedigree as a princess of a magical kingdomor a similar scenario. In either pattern, the plot often revolves around theway she wields her power to save people from a threat while maintaining hersecret identity. She frequently uses magical empowerment gadgets, such as wandsand accessories (to be sold as toys), often accompanied by little animal pets(to be sold as toys). (145)

So, let’s consider Kill la Kill. Ryuko is older thanfourteen, but you might argue that sheaccidentally acquires supernatural power in the form of Senketsu as in mahou shoujo series... well, at first, anyway. When it turnsout that Ryuko was designed from birth tohave superpowers, maybe there’s something to be said about how Kill la Kill actually fits more into themajokko category rather than the mahou shoujo one, but at the same time,it’s not that Ryuko’s exactly a princess,nor do her superpowers really have much to do with her lineage; her dadjust used her as a literal science project. Right off the bat here, it’s lookin’like two nopes already for the Kill-la-Kill-is-a-magical-girl-show thing.

Still, moving on to the nextpieces of Saito’s definition, Ryuko doesn’t have a secret identity, and thoughshe does wield her power to savepeople from a threat, she’s also super motivated by her own self-interests fora good chunk of the plot, so I’ll be conservative here and say that Ryukodoesn’t fit either of these classic components. For the last two bits, Ryuko’s“empowerment gadget” could easily be argued to be Senketsu, and Senketsu couldalso be argued to be her “little animal pet,” especially when he won thirdplace for “Best Mascot” in the Newtype AnimeAwards 2014. Kill la Kill characterdesigner Sushio even drew Junketsu getting kinda jelly about it.

Satsuki: Seems like Senketsu won an award…

Junketsu: !!

Translation from @sushiobunny here

But let me stay conservativehere. Let’s say Ryuko’s “empowerment gadget” doesn’t count because Senketsu’s neithera magic wand nor a compact mirror, and let’s say that Senketsu ain’t a “littleanimal pet,” either (and I mean, he really, really, really ain’t, thanks). Out of the six common elements of magicalgirl anime that Saito presents—young girl, accidental acquisition ofsuperpowers, saving people with superpowers, secret identity, “magicalempowerment gadget,” and “little animal pet”—Kill la Kill arguably fits noneof these. Even being as generous with this as possible, Kill la Kill would still only score a 3/6at the most.

Do people who call Kill la Kill a magical girl series haveno idea what they’re talking about? Well, again, it’s Complicated. Saito’s definitionis super-duper extremely general. That’s why you got words like “often” and “frequently”stuffed in there. Even pretty unquestionably magical girl series like Princess Tutu aren’t fitting inperfectly. The magical girl genre encompasses a lot more than any simple plot outlinecould ever convey.

So, maybe the question of Kill la Kill’s magical girliness isbetter answered by examining more specific tropes commonly utilized in thegenre. In the article “Shoujo Versus Seinen? Address and Reception in Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011),” authorCatherine Butler provides a table that, though self-described as being “far from… an exhaustive list of mahou shoujo tropes,” includes some establishedfeatures of magical girl anime and notes whether or not they appear in Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, LyricalGirl Nanoha, and Puella Magi MadokaMagica, which are all series that, unlike Kill la Kill, are widely accepted as magical girl shows (5):

Following Butler’s table, Kill la Kill scores much higher on the “magicalgirl” scale than it does following Saito’s general synopsis. Ryuko doesn’t havea “‘dream’ that is more than a dream” (unless you count her Senketsu death dream),and maybe clothing isn’t quite the same as jewelry, but Senketsu is officially considereda “cute mascot character,” Ryuko does sortof rescue him from eternal sleep, and he also turns out to be an alien. On topof that, Kill la Kill hastransformation sequences and named attacks. The increased specificity of thetable has Kill la Kill coming in anywherefrom a 4/7 to a 6/7—and a 6/7 is higher than even Cardcaptor Sakura, a show that I don’t think anyone would deny as a magical girl anime.

A similar look at Kill la Kill and particular magical girltropes can be found in the article “SentientSailor Uniforms are Serious Business: Trope-Twisting in Kill la Kill,” where author R looks to the TV Tropessite and examines what (presumably largely) Westerners have to say regardingthe magical girl genre:

Notably, consider what [TV Tropes] credits to have been pioneered by Majokko Meg-chan, a magical girl series from 1974that allegedly “codified many of the tropes that would later become staples ofthe magical girl genre”:

Another important early Magical Girl showwas Majokko Meg-chan in 1974. This was the firstshow to be marketed to boys as well as girls, and featured a number ofdevelopments—it was the first Magical Girl show to…

have a Tomboyish heroine—all magical girls prior to this had been sweet feminine girls;

feature a rival to the main character (Non, Meg’s rival and the local Dark Magical Girl);

include a really evil character. Prior to this, there was a perception that young girls couldn’t handle such things;

feature Fanservice (in the form of Panty Shots, slight nudity, and Megu being a borderline Fille Fatale), as well as Lovable Sex Maniac characters (Megu’s stepbrother Rabi and Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain Chou);

touch on more serious social issues, like Domestic Abuse, extramarital relationships, and drug abuse; and

have the heroine not only lose fights, but having to face serious consequences (deaths, injuries, humiliations, etc.).

Kill la Kill has all of this. Ryuko Matoi is certainly portrayed astomboyish, Satsuki is her rival, Ragyo is a really evil character,the fanservice is notorious and we have the Mankanshoku boys and dog as(supposedly)-lovable perverts, sexual abuse is present with Satsuki’snarrative, and Ryuko loses and faces humiliation, severe injuries, and shock.Combine all this with the magical transformation sequences that this genre isfamous for, and Kill la Kill absolutely feels pretty magicalgirl.

Hey, maybe anyone who considersKill la Kill a magical girl anime might have some idea of what they’retalking about?

But then again, isn’t a genremore than some tropes mashed together? After all, many series simply featuringa female protagonist could probably fit into several magical girl tropes just ‘cause they’vegot a female protagonist, but I wouldn’t call something like Birdy the Mighty: Decode a magical girlshow, even if it does have a transforming heroine and a robot alien mascot buddy.

The question of whether or not something is a real “magical girl anime” also has a tendency to turn into even more questions about intended audience. Can amagical girl show be made primarily for boys? What about for adults rather thanyoung children? When Kill la Kill seemspretty clearly aimed at the seinen (oldermale) demographic, it’s easily dismissed as a magical girl series simply forthat aspect alone. Something designed for adult men just can’t ever be considered“magical girl.”

But—and I bet you can alreadyguess where I’m gonna go here—it’s Complicated. The 1973-1974 anime Cutey Honey is widely understood as theanime that began many of the commonmagical girl tropes of today; in fact, authors Brian Camp and Julie Davis describeCutey Honey as “the classic seriesthat served as a prototype for anime’s magical-girl genre” in the book Anime Classics Zettai!: 100 Must-See Japanese Animation Masterpieces, and they furthernote that the famous magical girl transformation sequences that make mostpeople think Sailor Moon were actuallystarted by none other than Honey herself (86-87).

But… the original Cutey Honey anime was initially intendedfor boys. Though the story got adapted into a very “classic” magical girl series with CuteyHoney Flash in the late 90s, which “add[ed] more romance and expand[ed] therange of Honey’s fashions,” as well as marketed itself primarily to young girlswith merchandise that consisted of “fashion dolls in the style of the popular JapaneseJenny and Licca doll series” (Camp and Davis 88), the pieces of the magical girl genre werealready right there in the original. In fact, Camp and Davis argue that “Honeyneeded only a slight cosmetic makeover and bust reduction to qualify for the[magical girl] genre” (87)! If so much of magical girl is built off of Cutey Honey,can’t even the original Cutey Honey beconsidered a magical girl series itself?

Cutey Honey isalso extremely relevant when it comes to Killla Kill because Kill la Kill drawsa ton of influence from old anime—especially the works of Go Nagai, of which CuteyHoney is (another example is Devilman,and it was allegedly even confirmed that the coloring of Ryuko/Senketsu’sberserk form was modeled on Devilman himself in Trigger’s Christmas commentary for Kill la Kill’s 12th episode). Many, many others have written on the comparisons between Kill la Kill andCutey Honey before me—actually, Iwent to a Cutey Honey panel a fewyears back, and the panelist actually noted that talking about Honey’s influence on Kill la Kill would be “cheating” becauseKill la Kill is so clearly and heavilyplaying homage to the show—but here’s just one visual example:

On top of all this, the2004 OVA Re: Cutie Honey was even writtenby Kill la Kill’s scriptwriter KazukiNakashima, and the first episode shares Hiroyuki Imaishi as director! Magicalgirl stories are nothing new for these two—I mean, if you count Re: Cutie Honey as a magical girl story,anyway.

In the end, I can’t say I really got any dog in this Kill la Kill magicalgirl fight personally, though I do scratch my head a bit at the inclusion ofPanty and Stocking as magical girls but not Ryuko and Satsuki. What interestsme more than how anyone categorizes the show is how the show utilizes its “magical girl” tropes andwhat it’s trying to do and say with its utilization of these tropes.

But that’s just me! However yousee it, I do hope that this provides some reasoning for why Kill la Kill could, perhaps, be categorizedas a magical girl anime.

Sources

Butler, Catherine. “Shoujo Versus Seinen? Address and Reception in Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011).” Children’s Literature in Education, Springer Netherlands, 2018, pp. 1-17.

Camp, Brian, and Julie Davis. Anime Classics Zettai!: 100 Must-See Japanese Animation Masterpieces. Stone Bridge Press, 2011.

Saito, Kumiko. “Magic, Shōjo, and Metamorphosis: Magical Girl Anime and the Challenges of Changing Gender Identities in Japanese Society.” The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 73, no. 1, 2014, pp. 143–164.

Shamoon, Deborah M.. Passionate Friendship : The Aesthetics of Girl’s Culture in Japan. University of Hawaii Press, 2012.