#like i think ichiro’s speakers are the way they are because he’s got a love of music he wants to spread to world

[akkivee]

kuukou meant that when he said kids imitate their parents lmao

[hyphypmic]

Samatoki/Ramuda/Ichiro React to Pick-up Lines

Hello lovely people! This is a commission I made for @iloveuro-san-blog <3 

Thanks for your support!

--

Samatoki

Samatoki didn’t know how to respond the moment the pickup line left your lips. He smiled at first, then tried to suppress it, but then he failed. It looked more like a grimace if anything. He was trying so hard to keep his hard facade, but honestly he was one song away from humming the tune and one inch away from wrapping an arm around your shoulders.

“You okay?” You asked cautiously. “Did you pull something?”

“Um.” He looked at you. “Haha.” He managed. “What was that?” He felt his cheeks heat up but did his best to ignore it, even though it kept growing.

The two of you were seated on the couch in the warehouse, watching a movie when you simply said: “You’d make a great troy bolton. And I’d be your Gabriella.” (Yes, you convinced Samatoki to watch High School Musical with you. It involved a bet of some sort and you won it.)

“It was a compliment!” You blushed, turning back to the screen.

“Y/N.” He said and you looked at him, and you were shocked by the unreadable expression he had on his face.

“I—.” He made a motion with his hand, but aborted it. “I…” Samatoki really had no idea what to say.

You blushed, and realized you were looking into his eyes for too long. “Movie’s great.”

“Not as great as you though.” Samatoki muttered. Then his eyes widened when he realized what he said. “I mean…” He tensed up. “You… well… you are, great.” He looked down and sunk deeper into his hoodie.

“What?”

“Fuck you.” He said louder, the blush apparent on his cheekbones. “Go back to watching, idiot.”

You leaned your head on his shoulder, smiling to yourself. “I’m glad we’re watching this together.”

Samatoki scooted closer, tension fading from his shoulders. “I am too.”

OTHER REACTIONS:

“Well I like you too!”

Then it just

You know

Everything breaks and he’s like a soft mess

Or he goes like: well what was that? stupid?

Then you get hurt then he goes like: gah no I like you you fucking IDIOT!”

—

Ichiro

Ichiro stood there soaking wet, him falling for the simple bucket on the doorframe prank. He was smiling at you and laughing, admitting that you got him.

However, the prank backfired on you because Ichiro naturally had to be wearing the thin white t-shirt. And naturally his abs had to stand out. You started blushing furiously.

And of course Ichiro noticed this. He smiled at you. “Do you want a hug?”

You weren’t exactly dating him, but you weren’t exactly not dating him. It was weird, but there was definitely something in between you two. The fact that you stared at Ichiro’s abs is definitely a sign that you didn’t just see him as a friend.

“No!” You backed up, picking up the bucket. “Don’t you dare—“

“Come here!”

“No!” You screamed and you started running away from him. The apartment was small, but the two of you managed to obstacle race around it. Ichiro even went as far as to do flips in between the love seat and the couches. The most you could do was jump haphazardly.

The two of you were laughing, eventually ending up in the bedroom, you jumping on the bed and standing, Ichiro doing the same.

You brandished your bucket. “You can’t get me, Ichiro!”

He smiled. “Try me!” And quicker than you could react, he grabbed your bucket and pulled it away from you.

“Nononono!” You managed right before Ichiro crashed into you and tackled you on the bed, giving you the biggest, wettest hug. “Get off me!!!” Ichiro started tickling you and you cried out. “St-o-o-o-op!!!” You said in between laughs, Ichiro only laughing in response.

You managed to roll the two of you over and pinned him on the bed. He laughed, but then the two of you quickly realized in what position the two of you were in.

The laughs quickly died into silence, and Ichiro reached up to tuck a lock of hair behind your ear. “Gotcha.” He said softly.

“Got me.” You replied, a soft smile on your face.

OTHER REACTIONS

Tbh I honestly think this is perfect for Ichiro haHAHAHA

But I feel like he’d be the type to confess his feelings properly and make you smile while he says it

—

Ramuda

Ramuda wasn’t expecting a pickup line from you, however, he knew just how to respond to it. Ramuda immediately hugged you. “Oh! You cutie.”

Your eyes widened. “I—“

Ramuda laughed and held your hand. “Your shirt is indeed made up of partner material.” He then kissed your hand. “How did you know?”

There was this thing between you two, but only now was Ramuda taking seriously… or maybe he was playing with you.

Ramuda smiled and giggled. “I like you!” He said and hugged you again. “Wanna get some ice cream? Though I’m sure it won’t taste as good as you!”

“I—“ “You’re definitely the dessert to make me finish my meal.”

“I—“ Ramuda pulled you along, rattling off pickup lines like there was no tomorrow.

“Oh.” He paused. “I forgot where the ice cream place is. I’m lost.” He looked at you with big eyes. “Can you show me the way to your heart?”

“R-Ramuda!” You managed, blushing furiously, though enjoying him holding your hand.

Ramuda laughed. “Let’s go! I’ll feed you something creamy!”

“RAMUDA!”

He only smiled at you and continued to pull you, as if starting on an adventure.

OTHER REACTIONS:

Doesn’t respond and just takes you somewhere

Is the type to go like: aren’t we a thing?

Or he claps back immediately and makes it super smooth because its ramada

And he’s having so much fun with you and stuff


—

Saburo

Saburo blushed and his mind went blank. For all his intelligence, he couldn’t come up with a retort. “I—“ He blushed even harder. “I— thank you.” He paused. “Um…”

You didn’t think about what you were saying at the time, the “did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” just popped out. You were blushing as hard, if not harder, than Saburo.

“I…” Saburo put his hands in his pockets. “Are you from Tennessee?” He mumbled

You were taken aback. “What? No, I’m from Japan—“

“Because you’re the only ten I see!” Saburo blurted out.

The two of you both stared at each other, neither of you processing anything.

“I’m sorry!” Saburo put his hands in front of him. “Don’t hurt me!!!”

“Why will I hurt you?” Your eyes widened.

“My pickup line is so bad!!!” Saburo exclaimed. “I’m sorry!”

“Mine is bad as well!!!”

The two of you stood there awkwardly, but you noticed Saburo’s eyes get wider and you started laughing. “You’re so cute!” You managed and you fell to your knees laughing. The whole exchange was so dumb you could barely take it.

Saburo watched you with a surprised expression, his face red, only to get an even louder laugh from you. It wasn’t long though until Saburo started laughing as well. The way you were rolling around on the floor was too much for him. He lay down beside you on the floor, ignoring the stares from everyone else. The two of you stayed like that for a while until the laughter faded and you were sitting back to back to each other. Your hand found Saburo’s and held it. “I like laughing with you, Saburo.”

Saburo giggled and squeezed your hand. “I like laughing with you too, Y/N.”

OTHER REACTIONS:

It’s a permanent 404 error

Instead he just goes like: I like you too

And it just evolves into a cute baby confession and it’s wonderful

—

+BONUS Samatoki: surprise confessions

“I like you!”

Samatoki stopped rapping and the speakers just disappeared. He then walked towards you. “The fuck did you say?” He shouted from where he was.

“I said I like you, you dumb fuck! That’s why my attacks are so fucking weak towards you!” You yelled, putting a hand to your chest. “You and your stupid fucking hair and your stupid eyes and your eyebrows and your fucking CHEST FUCKING BUTTON IT UP!” You knew you were rambling but he was walking towards you and at this point there was no point stopping your confession.

He looked like he was going to punch you, with his fists balled like that.

“What are you gonna do about it huh?” You shouted at him, your rival turned crush. “What? Wanna kick my ass personally?” You didn’t care if the two of you were from separate divisions and would occasionally fight, you liked him and that was that.

Samatoki stopped right in front of you. He growled. “Say it again.”

You stepped closer so you were mere inches from his face, your emotions and adrenaline high from the battle the two of you just had. “I. Fucking. Like. You.”

The air was silent for a beat. “What?” You furrowed your brows and balled your fists. “The fuck are you gonna do?”

He then grabbed your shirt and pulled you in closer. “What I’m supposed to do.” He said lowly and kissed you.

You weren’t expecting that and you instantly melted into it. He pulled away after a few seconds. “I fucking like you too, dumbass.”

You kissed him again and you couldn’t imagine a better way to end the day.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Moriarty 8 - 11 (FINAL) | HypMic 12 - 13 (FINAL) | Taiso Samurai 7 - 9 | Akudama 9 - 12 (FINAL)

Hopefully I’ll be able to get on to all that backlog soon, because...I don’t want it to keep accumulating and Skate-Leading Stars (first winter 2021 anime) already has an advance 1st ep. up...

Moriarty 8

(Moriarty 8 notes deleted accidentally…)

Moriarty 9

If you want a modern equivalent to the Baker Street Irregulars, then I’d suggest you look this way *jabs finger at Odd Jobs Yamada (from HypMic)*.

These CGI background horse and carriages are…kind of distracting…

I’m guessing back in those days, the Irregulars were better than Google at finding info…because Google didn’t exist until the internet did.

Moriarty 10

Just this ep and one more until the end…at least, until spring 2021.

Wow, the use of colour here is really striking!

White lilies mean…purity/chastity…?

I’ve never heard of “bending someone’s ear” until now. It means to talk to someone, especially to ask a favour or to talk at length.

Probatio diabolica: the devil’s proof. I didn’t even know that was a concept until now…(I never once studied law, as you can tell.)

“William” isn’t normally shortened to “Liam”…It’s normally “Will”…also, notice all the footprints on the floor…

Moriarty 11 (FINAL)

Last ep. before spring 2021.

LOL, kabedon.

The fishy thing about Brits is that they’ve named things across the world names from Britain. I know there’s a Doncaster which isn’t anywhere near Britain, for one thing…

Observe the weird finger-like marking made by one of the bloodstains and the scratches on the suitcase. The latter was probably forced open.

Considering the number of signs the killer left, he was clearly in a hurry…

Well, based on that shoeprint we can find the killer if we can find traces of blood on his shoe.

“Duram” (sic).

Ah! If it was raining in Durham, then there would be traces of mud on the killer’s shoes. I remember early on in Detective Conan Shinichi, then newly shrunk, deduced Agasa was running in the rain based on the mud on his pants…this is similar.

Chloral (hydrate…?).

The “washroom” (apparently a Canadian term, the British term is “water closet”) has privacy and a place to get rid of the evidence, to some extent.

What about the rest of Eddie’s clothes?

Considering there are still 5 minutes of the ep. left…there’s going to be some kind of stinger for the next season. I can feel it.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait…Director Holmes??? Y’mean, Mycroft?! That is a good stinger! See you next time.

HypMic 12

“Ever since I was born, there was never a time I’d felt I’d accomplished something.” – Aw, Doppo, sweetpea (<- this blogger calls people “sweetpea” when they’re feeling lots of moe feels for them). Please don’t say that. You’ve accomplished more than enough in your life!

…Oh, almost didn’t notice it until Hifumi hid behind Doppo and the angle changed to confirm the jacket was on the bed, but Hifumi doesn’t have his jacket on.

I think I saw a tweet that said something about a wall being wrecked (specifically “Wall: Ow…”) but I wasn’t sure of the context, so I saved it in my bookmarks…LOL, so that’s what it means?

Samatoki, I know you don’t like Ichiro…but please stop trying to preach what his 2nd character song says in the title…(i.e. Break the Wall, LOL)

Jyuto’s very much a “I’ll leave this problem to the other guy” guy.

When the Funi subs say “dame”, I think Samatoki is just referring to an “onna” (woman). It’s a bit of an odd choice, really…although I can’t go and interrogate whoever was responsible for it. I don’t have the authority or the contacts that will allow me to.

This is not the time for fighting one another!!!

Notably, in the manga, Jakurai was going to chaffeur Hifumi and Doppo to their place, but then he had to go to work and so they rode the train with their prize money. This “run from Special Forces” ending is better, I think, since people got grumpy at Jakurai for having to abandon them with the money.

“…permission to cover a story.” - Permission from…who?

*screams* I was thinking Tom, Rex and Iris worked for a foreign government! They work for Ichijiku – why didn’t I think of that?!

LOL, I couldn’t even tell what Tom was saying until I played it back…it’s English, just…said in a spot where you don’t expect it.

“…that scares me.” – This may be nitpicky of me, but osoreru is actually a derivative of osore (fear), so “it strikes fear in me”…? “It strikes fear in my heart”? What would sound right…?

Go, host mode Hifumi! (...but does that imply host mode Hifumi is the only “version” of Hifumi able to rap? Certainly, he was able to do Wrap and Rap without his jacket, right…?)

You can tell Tom still respects Jakurai after all this time because he (the former) calls him (the latter) “Sensei”. Also, this’ll be interesting, we haven’t seen many mics and speakers beyond the standard bad guy ones (depicted in both the anime and the manga).

My gosh! All I knew of this song was that m-flo, also responsible for Human Lost’s theme song (and notably they’re a hip hop group with techno influences), was responsible for this song. Man, this s*** slaps! It’s great! (Sorry, I’ve just never really had the chance to capitalise on all the info I gathered on EDM DJs when talking in terms of things from Japan…m-flo is basically the only act I know which does that, so I’m really excited…can’t you tell from how verbose I’m getting in this note?)

That’s interesting that Matenrou won and Tom still took the gold chair symbolism to represent him and the Secret Aliens as the victor instead.

Iris’s parts are awesome. M-flo has a female vocalist and so I’d assume Iris takes on Lisa’s (m-flo’s vocalist’s) parts.

…Hmm, Gentaro’s made a reference to the track “Me Against the World”, has he?...Maybe.

I’m not quite sure, but I think Ramuda said “majo” (witch) when he was referring to Beauty and the Beast in the English subs.

…gosh, what is up with that airhorn…? Still, next time is the last time. See you on Christmas…no, Boxing Day.

HypMic 13 (FINAL)

This is the beginning of the end and the end of the beginning…y’know, considering how stuff trended on Twitter, I’d say this anime’s gonna get a 2nd season, but you can’t really say that until it actually happens. I mean, Boueibu is much less popular than HypMic and that got a 2nd season…

This is the 1st episode where I woke up early enough to watch without spoilers and had no obligations to place over it, so…this is exciting, in its own sense, but in a sense, it could also be called “profoundly disappointing” because this experience is only available to me as of the final episode.

One of the tweets I saw a few weeks back came to mind – someone became interested in sakuga houkai (terrible animation, literally “animation collapse”) because of HypMic…I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing…

…Dude, you probably shouldn’t answer a call from someone who just revealed themselves to be a traitor last episode…*sweatdrops*

(Spoiler for rest of franchise) Hmm…Dice’s face is pretty straight. Assuming at this point we knew Dice was Otome’s son, this is a good poker face from him…!

This thing about gangs was mentioned in their profiles (although the words used implies they “went delinquent”), so it actually doesn’t surprise me.

I wonder if this subway exists in the mainline story…?

According to the next ep. preview I saw on Twitter, TDD will reform to take down the Secret Aliens. I’m not sure if that was a guess or whether that’s true, so I’m waiting for the shoe to drop on it.

Samatoki-san, not -sama. Hmm…

There was definitely the word “team” in Dice’s line, so it’s “what the legendary team was made of”.

…oh gosh…they’re still using that airhorn…?

Again with the play on “lonely thunder”. It’s a really fun pun, but one I’d like to see in the rest of the series more.

Notably, Iris’s rap in English missed the word “charisma” where it could have fit (unless I missed reading it the first time).

Note Samatoki does actually use the word “shinsensa” (freshness), so there’s no lie there.

I still love how much they went in on Rex’s theme, even in his raps.

Huh, that’s new. Never seen a tag team like this before.

It seems Tom’s signature is using a lot of English, which makes it easy for us English/Japanese pair translators.

Saburo didn’t actually say “Ichi-nii”, did he…?

…based on the rock intro, this is Rhyme Anima, the OP, or something that sounds similar. What I’d need to confirm this is the “nautilus” line and the “ends corruption” line, which are the OP’s two biggest tells for AMQ.

“rainmaking” – Hmm, another link from Gentaro to Rei. This might be a different part of Rhyme Anima (OP) that wasn’t used as the OP proper.

“this white light invites and heals” (<- paraphrased) – Sounds like Sensei, alright!

…now that (rainbow bit). That’s sakuga!

*a silhouette appears* - Oh nooooooooooooooo! Now they‘ve done it! They’ve included Rei! That’s more than enough spoilers to last a lifetime for y’all anime-onlys!

I wish someone would work on this collaboration between Saburo and Riou…

Hmm…what is the series endgame? Putting in Dice as the new ruler??? I mean, Dice is the worst possible politician ever. He’s far too lax about things.

*Nemu enters* - No! Nemu!

Not only is Iris a “ramen shop owner”, it’s Tom’s favourite food…No wonder ramen has significance to her.

…ooh! A new song! Update: I don’t know what this song’s name is, although it probably will become clear what its name is on the 13th. I’ll keep my eye on Twitter in case the answer is there.

…I knew it was far too early to say if there was an s2 – the DVD’s live events go until September 5th and the 2nd DRB finishes in March. That almost felt like a stinger right there. Oh well, I’m more than happy to call this anime a success, even if I would call it the worst of the arms of the franchise. All HypMic’s anime had to do was deliver fun, before anything else, and it delivered on that front. See you around!

Taiso Samurai 7

Anime burnout means I’m coming back to the anime after the day it finishes.

This dancing scene is kind of like the one at the start of ep. 2 of IWGP, except it has the owl to represent the setting as well as the dance stage.

Leo doesn’t seem to know kanji or katakana, only hiragana.

Even though this part of the anime is set in London, the characters are still speaking Japanese (lel…?).

LOL, Edward Scissorhands much?

LOL, these background gossips are like the Plastics from Mean Girls…haha.

…LOL, that’s not one of those dismounting moves, is it? It’s just kind of…jumping off the bar.

Lookit how Leo’s sticker is 90 deg. sideways from what it should be, haha.

I don’t think it’s true that Olympic gymnasts have never failed. Like other people at the top of their game, they’re probably failed millions of times, but only outside the view of most of the world. Persistence and passion are what’s key to becoming the best at what you are, no matter what field you’re in.

Now Aragaki’s what I call a “determinator” (see TV Tropes on what that is).

Taiso Samurai 8

Notably, the word used for “clothes” is specifically for Western clothing, like dresses.

Well, now we know why Leo can do those stretches…

They’ve clearly sped up the dance here, but…it’s basically the same sort of movements Yuri on Ice used to suck me in. I’m here for it!

Leo seems to be the type who tries to push away his worries by distracting people (including himself) with other things…I see. I didn’t have much of a grasp of his character beforehand.

Britney! F*** you, Britney!

Ah, that must be the (a?) fabled owl of Ikebukuro. I’ve never actually been to Ikebukuro…the closest I got was Akihabara (to memory) and even then, that was for electronics, not anime…so I’ve never seen the owl statue I’ve been talking about close up.

Rei does kind of look like her mother like this.

Ah! Rei and Kitty have a pair look now! “Twinsies”, they call it.

Amakusa’s head is located right next to Leo’s butt, so I end up staring at it…LOL.

The Hoover mission.

“I <3 Ninja”, LOL.

LOL, “Nyapoo!”

*sighs* The problem with being multi-talented is that you’re going to be told to one day put one passion above the others, even if you don’t want that.

LOL, you can be a ninja with this WikiHow article. (I was looking for Kitty’s quote, but found that instead. It seems to be a quote from one of Tomoyo’s movies.) Update: I was right.

There’s a movie in the back where the title is “Black Rainmaker”. (Tomoyo, I presume) Mifune is the 1st person credited.

Considering this is 2003…you won’t be on Mars in 2013, Kitty.

Wow, a tape! That brings me back to 2003, indeed.

Charlie’s Angels…so that’s what the tape was.

LOL, a shoebill.

“blade in your heart” – That would refer to the character for “ninja”, which has a blade over a heart. Y’know Kiss Shot Acerola Heart-Under-Blade (from Monogatari), yeah? Like that.

…you might think emails were out of place in 2003, but a virus from an email caused me to be an avid reader and that virus was unleashed around the late 90s – early 2000s.

LOL, Kitty’s cat belt buckle.

You said it, Rei. You said it.

Taiso Samurai 9

Lausanne, Switzerland.

I noticed one of the boxes at the start of the OP says “Horizontal Bars”, rather than some random name to make the boxes look like they were discarded.

Someone encoded the video funny…

LOL, BB’s getting possessive of his territory.

Fuku-chan the fukurou (owl) in Ikebukuro…LOL.

LOL, randomly there’s a skeleton with a hat in the background of Britney’s clinic.

Notably, one of the wall hangings says “heart” on it – alternatively, “soul”.

Notably, Atlanta was the 1996 Summer Olympics…there is no 1997 Lausanne Olympics, as far as I know.

Akudama 9

I watched the part where it glitches twice and I can’t quite figure out what that circular symbol is…maybe it’s Hacker’s symbol…?

Ah! Only now they properly confirm Swindler used to work in the Seal centre.

“Life that never dies is defective.” – Doctor

Does that mean Doctor is actually older than she looks, due to plastic surgery…?

Marker? What marker?

Apparently that flower is a cherry blossom…according to Detective Conan.

…I know this anime wasn’t made in America (it wouldn’t be “anime” otherwise), but Anime Feminist is going to have a field day with this one…if they haven’t abandoned it already due to their idea of morals.

…now I can even see parallels between HypMic’s authorities and Akudama’s. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

“Why did this have to happen when I’m chief?” – Sounds like…basically every authority during COVID and BLM, to be honest.

See? Akudama likes the S word. I told you.

I haven’t watched The Shining, but reading the synopsis, you can figure out why Cutthroat is the way he is…sort of.

How does the iconic quote go? “Heeeeeeeeeeeere’s Danny!” (or something…?)

They even copied the iconic eye shot! There you go!

Way to take a guy out (with the door, LOL).

…with all this killing, I can see why Akudama Drive was only in one magazine now. (Then again, HypMic was in basically all of them and that also has a tonne of problems…)

Akudama 10

万死 literally means “10000 deaths”.

Babel.

That police chief is such a mood, LOL.

I can see why people didn’t recognise Swindler, but Courier never changes his look, so…uh…

You can’t become a police chief without a sense of justice, no?

“Since when did you know that I’m not-“ - *facepalms*

Is this what they call an “ass-kickin’ Christmas”? (LOL)

Y’know, Sister, you could just do the whole “wherever you are, I’m also seeing the same sky as you” thing some other anime do.

Notably, there are shide (the paper strips) and a rope over the vault…they really do treat the shinkansen and its immortal children as a single god, huh?

Hmm? They don’t care about Sister anymore? Just Brother? (Somewhere along the way, the priorities must have shifted.)

In the end, the best ship is Brawler and Hoodlum (lel).

Akudama 11

One more ep after this. I’m gonna miss this anime, even if it was crazy over-the-top and I didn’t finish it until after the day it ended.

I think the scariest scene in all of Akudama Drive is the one where the “cleaner” tosses the girl aside.

“This nowhere place!” – Around this time, the bunny and shark’s shirts say “morning”/”afternoon” (shark) and “evening” (bunny).

The blue bird of happiness…literally. That character on the birds is the one for “happy”.

…LOL, that one glitched Courier looks more like Cutthroat.

Hacker’s drone matches Courier’s head angles, LOL.

I guess if you think you’re falling in Kanto, you’re falling in Kanto and if you think you’re floating (like Courier did), you float. I always liked that concept.

War Games. Now the title makes sense!

…but they can be together if they stay here in Kanto as vessels for the citizens? (That sounds mighty antagonistic of me, but…that logic does compute.)

Maybe swindlers play games with the truth…? (What an interesting concept.)

“Just fine.” – I think Hacker needs a “This is fine” meme.

“We can hear your heart talking.” – It means something like “We can hear you spouting your true intentions.”

“…worth every last penny…” – That’s a weird thing to say for someone whose life got changed by 500 yen…Just goes to tell you how American the subbers can be sometimes.

Swindler’s smug face is so good, LOL.

Akudama 12 (FINAL)

This episode isn’t named after a movie. It’s named after the anime itself.

The TV says “Please watch away from the TV”, i.e. stand back from the TV while you watch.

“They came and stole the offerings…” – At this point, bunny’s shirt says “freedom” and shark’s says honpou, meaning “wild, uninhibited, rampant, extravagant”.

…where did Shikoku come from? Is that where Swindler and Sister landed after they tried going to the moon?

Ohh! That Christian imagery! That’s scary!

Is Akudama Drive a tragedy? No, I think…on the contrary, it’s a story of hope.

LOL, “s*** guy”.

I thought the girl had a bomb. Turns out she has a gun, which is…far worse, come to think of it.

Instead of red characters which say things about the situation, now Shark and Bunny have Hacker’s symbol on them.

There’s no way anyone who wasn’t immortal would survive the attack Courier took…

…why is it that falling over represents vulnerability in children in all of these stores where a war has happened and/or there’s a chase? Hmm?

Wow, Sister did everything with heels on…?!

Anyways, that was a fun time. See you next time!

[astro-break]

Quick first thoughts on the first ep of the Hypmic Anime. Spoilers beware (and im writing this as I watch so :p)

Otome’s speech is.... questionable from a persuasive point of view. Manga did a great job of introducing her (which you can read here) but they really cut out the more terrifying parts of her speech and how she uses force to show people that she's not to be messed with

Its cool seeing everyone in their respective environments though. thats cool. Though they could have added Sasara and Kuuko (shhh i know why they didn’t let me dream)

I love how poppy the typography is. Its amazing how the visuals just leap out at you. The OP does a great job of this. The first few seconds before the title really gives me Persona 4 OG OP vibes with the influx of information given. The rest is a clear concise and streamlined way that still gives character. Animation is sparse but still carries across a general idea of each character and shows off each character object. Rendering is really nice and pays a bit of homage to the posing artwork thats done for the MVs. They also do their division hand signals and thats cute

Love how the OP has blatant HifuDoppo and DRB matchup foreshadowing

so far I really like what theyre going for. BB is about brotherly familial bonds and they show the goods and the bads. Jiro and Saburo bickering right out the gate really cements the fact that they get along like cats and dogs but you can still see that they love each other, working together when the situation calls for it

Now the 3d models. Theyre... not great but usable if you don’t look too hard. They serve their purpose and don’t actively detract from the viewing experience.

Visual typography in the rap itself are fun and poppy but they dont.... speak to me? like theyre there yes and I appreciate them but the only ones that got me excited were from Ichiro’s rap

I take my words back the group portion was kickass and I apologize

I love how they interpret the Hypnosis Speakers though. Esp. Saburo’s organs. That was super creative and I love it! If there was one thing that I felt was missing from the franchise was a deeper exploration of the speakers but the anime puts a new and fresh spin on it! Love it, especially with their attack patterns!

If the production team ever feels inclined to, Id love to see those info sheets on Otome’s desk released. There seems to be very interesting info and stats written out about each member (like capabilities, personal status etc.) They all seem unique too so I really really really hope they release images of those sheets

OOOOOOOOKAY MTC. I have such a big biased for them so Im very torn to see what unfolds

Rio striking out on his own is interesting. Out of everyone in MTC hes the biggest team player yet here he trusts his teammates to go ahead. This either displays Rio’s willingness to trust his teammates or it becomes very OOC if the anime wants to set him up as a lone wolf like character

I love how they specify its a drug deal. It means that Jyuto surely will show up and it also shows that Samatoki knows Jyuto’s motives and willingly gives black market info that he knows aligns with Jyuto’s goal. Thats A+ detail writing there and a great establishing characteristic for both of them

OOohhhhhhhhhhhhh man Asunama-san’s voice acting is god tier his work as Samatoki is phenomenal. He pulls of Samatoki’s threatening voice so well with those almost calm words before his voice becomes loud and confrontational. Those rolling syllables in contrast to Komada-san’s almost lyrical and airy speech and Kamio-san’s strict and enunciated words is such a delight to hear. It just speaks to how amazing and great these Seiyuu’s are in order to pull of such amazing work

Im so biased but MTC has such a better rap than BB im so sorry. Just by watching Samatoki’s part, the imagery is amazing. Even the arrival of his Hypnosis Speaker was awesome and sent a shiver down my spine. using the lyrics to form blades and blood was such a great thing to do. Theres so much more variety that just him standing there and shots of his hypnosis speaker. The old fashioned vignette shots, the four panel spread, the nods to old Kurosawa era films are great and I love these small details. Even the typography looks better.

Again, the interpretations with the speakers is fresh and new. Its great and I love the different imagery and attack patterns. Each one is so unique but carries across each different style of rap.

The 3d modles aren’t any better tho lol

(Hi this is Astro who is reading over their assessment again and making a note. Yeah I’m a bit harsh on BB’s rap. I’m not going to change it since I still stand by it and this post is supposed to be a documentation of my first impressions. I think one of the reasons why I’m so harsh on BB is because of their dynamic as a trio of brothers. They Have to have a more uniform approach than the other divisions. Which in of itself isn’t a terrible thing, it just doesn’t catch my eye as much as MTC did. Thats all! I definitely don’t hate BB, they’re maybe my 3rd favorite division out of the current lineup [not including TDD era teams like Kujaku Posse, MCD, and Naughty Busters] its just that their rap was pretty meh)

Samatoki crouching like a real gangstar and the cigarette kiss killed me

sadjkhfjkasdghsadjkcsdjhsdfsjhf im dying i love these trio of dumbasses so uch oh y fod someone save me aaaaaaaa (Astro note here! yeah i died when the jyuto and samatoki’s stomach growled im weak please. Samatoki’s face is just so precious and funny I might set it as a profile pic somewhere)

But also my initial assessment of Rio possibly being characterized as a lone wolf is very much jossed and im very thankful for that. It seems that Rio was simply trusting his teammates to carry out their part of the plan while he carried out his own. I like that, it really shows how much of a team these three are and that they genuinely trust each other. He’s also comfortable enough around them to invite them to dinners after work casually and not just for special occasions.

I really love MTC guys

Oooh! we get Ramuda on his design process which is really cute. the inside of his studio is super cute and retro and i love it. the poppy old music you would hear in a cafe or 90′s resturaunt is also really cute (astro note: yeah i know that in ARB you see the interior of Ramuda’s office but its kinda different seeing it animated)

the translation i have has gentaro speaking in early modern english (Shakespearian english for those who aren’t english nerds like me) but from what I can hear, he doesn’t speak in a particularly old fashioned way? Its more formal than old? and hes speaking without any of his character persona lying thing that he likes to do (as he refers to himself as “Shousei” throughout the segment where hes in Ramuda’s office which is kind of his default pronoun of choice). so its kinda odd for the translation to go in that direction but im not complaining

Gendice banter is gold but it feels... flat? a little? it doesn’t have the same impact as in the drama cds or in the manga? i feel? Also Ramuda using gratuitous english is??? idk how to feel about that

kjshf thats against the rules Ramuda omgggg,,,,,,,, (astro note again: while watching i was under the assumption that using your hypmic for monetary gain such a as buskering [which is what FP is doing] is against the rules. May not be the case but whatever)

FP’s rap might be my favorite in terms of tune and lyrics though. It’s a nice laid back bop and really gives of chill vibes. the integration of 3d and 2d is really nice and i love how they play off each other in the rap. The wordplay is so fun with little nods here and there and the beat is poppy too so it really energizes me.

Ramuda’s rap concerns me slightly since he makes very subtle and small nods towards his past (being created in a laboratory, warfare, and his overall very unpleasant life experiences) but spins it into something cutesy. It could be a coping mechanism, it could be me overthinking it. But it does make me worry a bit. Gentaro and Dice’s rap really play off each other with Gentaro sticking to stories and Dice taking up the baton by carrying on that same imagery but putting his own spin on it.

the self awareness of how scattered they are as a team is interesting though. It doesn’t seem like something you’d speak about in a rap? but i guess since its not really a do or die situation they can afford to be looser on things like this.

Right off the bat, i don’t like how they handled Hifumi and Doppo in relation to Hifumi’s fear of women. Slug made a post once talking about this and I echo many of his sentiments. Hypmic has never been very tactful about tackling this particular issue and while I didn’t have high hopes that the anime would be any better it hurts to see Doppo take away the one thing that allows Hifumi to function within society.

Doppo’s breakdown mirrors a lot of my own mental state when I spiral though its shown a lot quicker than what happens to me oof. that hits close to home. though Jakurai’s advice is. Questionable. Its not the best advice to give to someone but we have no idea what kind of doctor Jakurai is so ill let it slide

Jakurai’s pose looks like hes going to do a mahou shoujou transformation lmao

I don’t have many thoughts about the rap though again. How they visualize the rap is interesting. the different imagery is quite interesting for each of them and the typography is nice a distinct but im still on the fence about the visuals here

The sound is in the same boat. The sound effects either drown out the rap or are too quet but some parts are nice at least. When they talk about Tokyo’s beating heart, the heartbeat sound is a but distracting especially since its only played once. But the imagery is at least nice

I wonder if for the eds they’re going to take a similar approach to what Enstars did and have a four different endings, one for each division. I love the blend of styles here and it really accentuates that although they’re different they mesh well together.

Ramuda’s silhouette though is hilarious. Love it.

:p and thats it. Uh not bad for a first episode. Established all 12 characters really nicely and their dynamics. I had some problems with it but then again nothing is perfect. I look forward to what they show us next week

[hypmic-translation]

Gimme the Mic

Hypnosis Mic!

ALL: Gi-Gi-Gi-Gi-Gimme the mic!

ICHIRO: Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, gimme the mic A leader going his own way, bad Ichiro’s appeared Unanimously admitted as the head Do you wanna get eaten up today too? (1) In control, I’m the rhyme master Buster Bros!!! This street will now become our front line ‘Bukuro will trample on anyone who dares declare war These wack bastards won’t get my mic off me

JIRO: The bomb’s been ignited, take cover This blast’s attack will rock your body Oi oi, ain’t this fight all just for show? (2) Hey, only meet my eyes if you wanna know pain, got it? In ‘Bukuro every time we cross each other’s paths You’re sure gonna end up in tears two or three times Go on, run away with your tail between your legs Like I thought, you’re just a faker after all

SABURO: You’re totally something like a cocky online troll (3) Seems like the mob is finally making its appearance (4) I can see that you’re in high spirits Scattering like ants after stomping on their nest Boasting like a caged monkey Morons for opponents aren’t even worth my time Merely yelling won’t win in a debate against me With an IQ that low, it simply isn’t enough

CHORUS: Gi-Gi-Gi-Gi-Gimme the mic! Signal the beginning, hear the cue, it’s my mic Stalling won’t bring you victory here Division battle, rule the stage Now, cry out your best words and style different rhymes Steal everything and show off, make an original flavour

Now stand up, gladiator Retreat all cowardly haters Mightier than sword or pen, Hypnosis Mic Divide the world, my punchline (Bang bang bang!) (5) Adrenaline (Pump pump pump!) We’ve got no choice, it’s kill or be killed, so don’t look back

SAMATOKI: No questions asked, here’s MAD TRIGGER Your mouth is shut, swallowed up by this blue coffin (6) C’mon, this is Samatoki-sama’s grand entrance Props like you lot should bow down to me In the end you’re all just puppets Ain’t it chivalrous of me to yank on your strings ‘Hama’s not a joke; not somethin' you can make light of I’ll make you drink the saliva that you’re spittin’!

JYUTO: Amateurs like you should fear my handcuffs You think puny weapons’ll ever spook me? Hah? Disobedience means immediate arrest Forge you a warrant, throw you in the slammer Wandering streets with no care for city limits I’ll turn a blind eye to the law, unchained and unattended Without good sense you’ll be in danger My badge decides your case as black or white (7)

RIOU: Cool and collected, I’m Crazy M From ‘Hama’s soldier into a focused laser No gaps in my focus, I’ll keep you in sight Can’t run in this city; stand your ground, take the beef You’ll get no mercy going up against me Stabbing you with my words just like knives No room for hesitation, I’ll pull the trigger and take your life You know what I’m saying?

CHORUS: Gi-Gi-Gi-Gi-Gimme the mic! Signal the beginning, hear the cue, it’s my mic Stalling won’t bring you victory here Division battle, rule the stage Now, cry out your best words and style different rhymes Steal everything and show off, make an original flavour

Now stand up, gladiator Retreat all cowardly haters Mightier than sword or pen, Hypnosis Mic Divide the world, my punchline (Bang bang bang!) Adrenaline (Pump pump pump!) We’ve got no choice, it’s kill or be killed, so don’t look back

KAZUSATO: Dark liberty, North Bastard Now we’ll take front stage I’m the general of Akabane’s sacred grounds Burn into your memory this wondrous retreat (8) Pursuing forms without sharpness (9) The background is nothing but darkness Scream and cry out as you’re swallowed by all of these wicked shadows You have to die

RYOZAN: I’m a talented trickster A jet roller coaster of lies MC Griffin rolls up, quick-talkin’ deceit (10) But I’m gone once shit starts goin’ down (11) A flippant, young, master MC Aah, y’couldn’t hear me? Don’t worry ‘bout it A cowardly lawbreaker, and slanderous too You gotta win to fit in with this loyalist society (12)

KENEI: Since the day I was born I’ve had dangerous thoughts Armed with logic instead of chasing delusional ideals We will put terror into all of your hearts How shall I mangle you? I’ll dissect you at once Crazy doctor, MAD SNAKE Getting involved brings your life close to the end Before you can notice my dark, hidden impulses I’ll administer my poison, just like a serpent!

ALL: Gi-Gi-Gi-Gi-Gimme the mic!

ICHIRO: A rebellion’s beginning, it’s time for justice SAMATOKI: All you spineless cowards hurry up and go home KAZUSATO: Thug life is superior, a dirty highway to success ALL: A revolution of words, gimme the mic!

CHORUS: Signal the beginning, hear the cue, it’s my mic Stalling won’t bring you victory here Division battle, rule the stage Now, cry out your best words and style different rhymes Steal everything and show off, make an original flavour

Now stand up, gladiator Retreat all cowardly haters Mightier than sword or pen, Hypnosis Mic Divide the world, my punchline (Bang bang bang!) Adrenaline (Pump pump pump!) We’ve got no choice, it’s kill or be killed, so don’t look back

Welcome to the division (Gi-Gi-Gimme the mic!) Welcome to the division (Oh, oh yeah) Welcome to the division (A revolution of words, gimme the mic!) Hypnosis rings out this masterpiece! Now, don’t look back It’s kill or be killed so don’t look back

NOTES:

“Eaten up” is slang.

Mirroring Ichiro, Jiro’s rhetorical question line also includes a slang term (“for show”) which refers to an event being staged or faked. Essentially, he’s saying that the battle isn’t even interesting enough to be real.

First line and already Saburo is making otaku references. He says ikiru/ikitsu, which is a derisive term used online to refer to someone arrogant or cocky, and chuubou, which means “internet troll” (and is also slang for middle-school student? It could be that he’s referring to himself in that line too, but I wasn’t sure).

The word Saburo says here is uzoumuzou (“crowd”), which is basically him calling the other two divisions about as challenging as anyone else.

A punchline in rap is the second half of two bars; one for setting up and one for delivering a blow. These can be both funny and insulting, and usually incorporate heavy wordplay. As you might expect, Sasara is very, very good at this.

“Blue coffin” is a reference to both Samatoki’s speaker and his last name Aohitsugi, which is what that directly translates to.

In Japanese police terminology, “black” means that you’re extremely guilty and “white” means you’re more or less innocent.

This guy loves sounding fancy. Akabane is a relatively small but popular neighbourhood for nearby Tokyo citizens to relax at night, where it tends to come to life, so calling it a “retreat” basically means it’s somewhere nice to go.

It was difficult to find a way to make this sound good in English while keeping the lyric format, but essentially Kazusato’s saying that “you can’t find us because we’re impossible to focus on”, like they’re hidden.

Ryozan says beshari here, which is a term used in the entertainment industry to refer to someone who is talented at communication with others, and good at thinking fast and ad-libbing on the spot.

Here he says tonzura, which is slang usually used when someone runs away from a crime they’ve committed.

A loyalist is someone who sides with the government/whoever’s in charge when an uprising is happening.

[yahoo-big-league-stew-blog]

Mike Schmidt wouldn't build around a player who speaks Spanish

Philadelphia Phillies legend Mike Schmidt is an inner-circle Hall of Famer, a third baseman who smacked 548 homers, won three NL MVP awards and led his team to the 1980 World Series title.

He doesn’t sound like he’d be much of a general manager, though.

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The 67-year-old Schmidt said on Tuesday that he wouldn’t build a team around current Phillies headliner Odubel Herrera because, before anything else, he isn’t a native English speaker.

Here’s Schmidt on the 94WIP show (via CBS Philly) after being asked if Herrera is the type of player he would build a team around:

“My honest answer to that would be no because of a couple of things. First of all, it’s a language barrier. Because of that, I think he can’t be a guy that would sort of sit in a circle with four, five American players and talk about the game. Or try and learn about the game or discuss the inner workings of the game. Or come over to a guy and say, ‘Man, you gotta run that ball out.’ Just can’t be — because of the language barrier — that kind of a player.”

So, applying Schmidt’s own logic to the team-building process he’d also take a pass on building a team around — off the top of my head — Roberto Clemente, Miguel Cabrera, Manny Ramirez or Ichiro.

Just because English wasn’t their strong suit.

Schmidt’s thinking ignores convenient facts like 1) WAR and slash lines being a universal language or 2) the diverse nature of baseball means there will always be other teammates around who speak your language and might be in need of a batting tip or  ‘no bueno‘ after slagging it down the line. The Phillies have more than their fair share of Hispanic players on the roster.

(It’s here that I should also point out no one ever docks English-only players for not being able to speak with their Spanish or Japanese-speaking teammates in the clubhouse.)

Mike Schmidt has opinions on Odubel Herrera. (Getty Images)

Now, there are valid reasons to believe that Herrera isn’t the cornerstone the Phillies believe him to be after handing him a six-year, $30 million contract extension. The 25-year-old’s start to the 2017 season has been poor: Two months of severe slumping followed by a recent rebound at the plate.

You also wouldn’t put him in the class of the game’s other young stars:  The Mike Trouts, Bryce Harpers, Kris Bryants, Manny Machados and Carlos Correas of the league.

And Schmidt, to his credit, said as much:

“Odubel can be — you see what he’s doing the last three days and we saw the inconsistency that dropped his batting average all the way down to the low .200’s prior to the last three games, and that’s really the first time we’ve seen that kind of inconsistency from him.

But not before devolving back into more weird territory on how Herrera’s more enthusiastic approach to the game apparently disqualifies him from being part of a championship core.

“However, he’s more of a sort of, play the game, allow his exuberance for the game to kind of spread around the team. I think the fans love him. He’s not afraid to do things that sort of irk the other team if you will, and you know what that is. I probably would hate him if I played against him because of his antics on the field, but he’s not afraid. He’s not afraid to do that. He’s learning to play a really good centerfield. They haven’t figured out where he needs to hit in the batting order yet.

OK, so that quote is a bit confusing. Apparently Herrera’s bat flipping, which isn’t that unique on major league diamonds, is a drawback. But it’s also a positive? Or something?

Just where do you stand, Mike?

“To answer your question, those are the reasons that I don’t think you can build a team around him. Now, I truly think he can hit second or first on a championship team. There’s no question about that.”

Well, glad that’s settled.

But wait, there was more!

“To build a team around a guy he has to sprint every ball out like Chase Utley used to do. Be more of, I wanna say, a friend of every … not that he’s not a friend, it’s hard to describe what I mean. The language barrier means a lot because his communication with his teammates is limited because of the language barrier. So I don’t think I’m disrespecting him by any means. But when you say build a team around somebody you’re generally talking about a Roy Halladay as a pitcher, Cliff Lee, you’re talking about a Mike Trout kind of player. Players that, you know, are automatic All-Stars every year. So, um, I think an Aaron Altherr can become that kind of guy. Uh, you know, I think as Tommy Joseph learns and gets better and becomes a 30 home run, 100 RBI player … We got some young players in the minor leagues that could eventually become those kinds of players … um, but um, am I answering your question?

The audio is really something because you can tell Schmidt seems to recognize he’s stepping in something, but can’t stop himself from digging a deeper hole.

As you can imagine, Schmidt’s comments elicited quite a reaction — many people thought he was totally out of the line and some others defended him. By Tuesday afternoon, Schmidt released a statement half-way apologizing for what he said. He said he was sorry that a “misrepresentation of my answer occurred,” which isn’t exactly the same thing as owning the blame.

Mike Schmidt apologizes for comments about Odubel Herrera

“Im very sorry”#Phillies⚾️ pic.twitter.com/5eIT4y2ZTI

— John Clark CSN/NBC (@JClarkCSN) June 6, 2017

He also reportedly called Herrera and apologized for his comments.

Odubel Herrera said Mike Schmidt called to apologize for comments he made on WIP.

— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) June 6, 2017

Before Tuesday night’s game, Herrera told reporters that he and Schmidt had no problems, but he didn’t quite agree with the assessment. From CSN Philly’s Jim Salisbury:

“I don’t agree with his comments, but I respect him as a player,” Herrera said. “I know he’s one of the greatest Phillies players of all time, but I don’t agree with his comments.

“It is disappointing because you never want to hear negative comments, but he called me, he apologized, and explained what happened. Everything is good. It’s really not as big of a deal that people are making it sound like.”

Look, anyone who was around for the Phillies last run of success should be able to realize that sustained success doesn’t come from building around just one player, but from a strong core of team-developed talent that hails from all corners.

Who is Ryan Howard without Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Cole Hamels and Carlos Ruiz, a Spanish-speaker who’s revered for his leadership in the streets of Philly?

The Phillies may struggle to put championship-caliber talent around Herrera during the life of his contract, but it will have nothing to do with the language he prefers or how he circles the bases after a home run.

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