#look it’s mr shonen jump himself wow

[pkstarstruck]

Chat send this guy to the Deshas Dick Smasher IMMEDIATELY

[queen-ofsunflowers]

My favorite moments I've written for Shujin Assassins so far:

Kayano: How do you say ‘unkillable’ in Japanese? (Ren pauses and thinks about it.)

Ren: Korosenai. (The entire class whips around at the sound of Ren speaking.) Korosenai… Koro… sen...nai… Koro...sen...sei? ...Korosensei? Huh? 

Nagisa: Korosensei? (Ren pauses. Oh crap, he said all that out loud.)

Korosensei: A pleasure to finally hear more of that voice of yours, Amamiya. Five whole words!

---

Korosensei: Shoot and stab all you want, class! Even with this handicap, I am too fast for you! (Ren looks up and takes the gun from Nagisa.)

Nagisa: Hey, what—

Korosensei: Only in your dreams do you have any hope of getting the deed done— (Ren fires, not aiming for Korosensei but the rope tied to the tree. The rope breaks and Korosensei, stunned, falls. They watch as the rest of the class takes the initiative to attack him, forcing a panicked Korosensei to roll around on the ground.)

Ann: Wow. I didn’t know a BB could break a rope like that!

Ren: It was starting to break anyway.

---

Ren: You’d really help me?

Ryuji: ‘course. We’re friends, aren’t we? (Ren blinks. But they’ve only known each other for like… a week and half. He still smiles all the same.) Ain’t that right, Ren-Ren? (A shiver goes up Ren’s spine at the sound of that nickname. Of all things to call him…) So call me Ryuji, got it?

Ren: Thanks. I think I’ll stick with Sakamoto.

Ryuji: Oh man, that's cold.

---

Kataoka: Does anyone else think it's weird that she’s all over Korosensei?

Ryuji: I dunno. Maybe she’s into tentacles. (Someone swiftly kicks his seat.) OW! Hey! What was that for?!

---

Ann: But we bought those for ourselves! *groan* I was so looking forward to that for later…!

Shiho: I’m starting to think that he just used this lab to feed his junk food habit until payday.

Ren: Why does an octopus need to get paid a teacher’s salary…?

Shiho: Huh. Eleven words now.

Ren: What?

---

(And the door opens before Ren can run away.) Oh.  

Ren: Uh… H-Hello. Sir.

Principal: (more warmly that Ren expected) I look forward to your midterm results. Let your mother know that I said hello, would you? (Ren swallows and nods. When he leaves, that warmth disappears and is replaced by ice cold.)

---

Ann grabs Ren’s wrist to pull him back to her.)

Ren: Huh? What’s up?

Ann: Did you really mean all that? (Ren raises a brow.) What you said to those guys back there. About us. Did you really mean it?

Ren: ...Every word. Why?

Ann: ...Like I told Kayano, I always thought I was an outcast because of my looks or the fact that I didn’t grow up here. So hearing all that… Thank you. I really appreciated it.

Ren: No problem. It’s like Ryuji told me. We outcasts have to stick together, don’t we?

Ann: *giggle* Right! ...um, hey. If you want to, you can call me Ann, alright?

Ren: Okay.

Ann: Okay! And… thanks again. ...Ren-Ren. (Ren bristles, turning bright red. Ann laughs out loud, patting his back.) I’m just messing with you!

Ren: Please don’t do that… (Nearly killed him…) Can you maybe… not call me that?

Ann: Okay, okay! (She’s still laughing.) I promise!

---

Nagisa: What did you even do to them?

Ren: I have no idea. I got this really bad headache… and I think I heard a voice in my head? There was this thing… I’m not sure what it was.

Nagisa: Whatever it is, I could help with it. We’ll figure out what it is.

Ren: You don’t have to.

Nagisa: I’m already figuring out Korosensei’s weaknesses. Who knows? Maybe whatever that was 

Ren: You’re not… freaked out?

Nagisa: Amamiya, our teacher is a giant yellow octopus. Whatever happened to you is the least strange thing that I’ve seen this year. We can figure out what it is. And hopefully it’ll help us with our assassination.

Ren: *nods* Right! Let’s do this! (He holds out his hand. Nagisa stares at it for a moment before shaking it.)

---

Ryuji: Wow, she’s seriously cute.

Ren: She doesn’t really look like an assassin.

Shiho: Neither do we. But still… I’m curious about what this new girl’s all about. Amamiya turned out to be quite the joker.

Ren: Joker?

Shiho: A wild card! I mean, you didn’t hesitate to jump out a window or off of a cliff.

---

Ann: Uh, no offense but I don’t think your usual tactics will fool Mr. Karasuma. He knows your M.O.

Irina: Don’t you think I don’t know that!? (She sighs.) It’s like a paid escort trying to put the moves on her old man. (Ren shivers at the image.) If I don’t get this done, I’ll have to leave.

Ann: What?!

Irina: C’mere, I wanna try something. (She drags Ann off.)

---

Kayano: Here’s the thing, if they really are related… I mean, don’t you think that Korosensei would’ve known about it?

Fuwa: Hmm… not necessarily.

Ren: Right. They could’ve been separated at some point.

Kayano: Um, that still doesn’t explain why Itona’s human.

Fuwa: Easy. He’s a mutation.

Kayano: You’ve totally glossed over the core issue here!

Ann: Uh, no offense, but the whole separation thing is really kinda cliche.

Fuwa: Hey, no one asked for your criticism.

Ann: If you didn’t notice already, we’re sorta dealing with real life!

---

Sugino pitches and Shindo swings again. The ball hits the bat, and Ren leaps back just in time, flipping backwards and actually sticking the landing.)

Karma: (jumping up to catch the ball.) Oh, now you’re just showing off. Heads up, Nagisa! (He tosses the ball to their catcher, who tags the home plate.

Ren: Maybe.

---

(The whole time Ren had been taunting Takaoka and keeping everyone’s eyes on him, Nagisa had come around to sneak up behind him. The cat and the snake both strike, Ren flipping over Takaoka’s shoulders as Nagisa brings him down to the ground, knife at his neck and a hand covering his eyes.)

Nagisa: Looks like we win.

Ren: Nagisa, you’re using the back of the knife.

Nagisa: Huh?

---

 (She jumps onto his back.)

Terasaka: What the hell?!

Shiho: What the heck did you mean when you called me a rabbit?! If I’m a rabbit, does that mean you don’t think I can kick your ass?! Because I can! (Her weight eventually toppled them both over and they landed in the water. Ann laughs as she goes to help them up. Ren moves over to get his glasses from Karma.)

---

Ren: And finally, the grand overachiever himself holding the top spot: student council president Gakushu Asano. He got the top spot in the National Mock Exams, and tends to get perfect scores in just about every subject. He’s the principal’s only son, so I think that might have something to do with it. if we could somehow catch him off guard, surprise him somehow, it could get him to mess up and make a mistake. He’s always been like that as far as I can remember. For example, despite being adept at martial arts, he didn’t remember how to catch himself when he fell after I… might’ve shoved him.

Shiho: You know a lot about Asano. It’s kind of creepy. (Ren only hums in reply. It’s not that creepy when you think about it.)

---

(Ren’s eyes widened. He… He actually did it?)

Ryuji: Way to stick it to that know-it-all, man! (Ren softly smiles.)

Ren: I guess.

Ryuji: You guess? The guy’s ranked nationally! Even Nakamura only beat him by the skin of her teeth!

Nakamura: What was that, Sakamoto?

Ryuji: Uh, nothing! Just sayin’! Ren challenging the King of the Hill is definitely awesome!

---

Ann: Yup! (as she and Shiho take the drinks from the waiter passing them out. Ann takes a sip from hers) C’mon, guys! Drink up! These things are like… super good. So sweet!

Ren: (holding up the water bottle he thought to bring with him) I’m fine.

Ryuji: Don’t mind if I do! (He takes Ann’s, which is still at least a three-fours of the way full. He drinks right from the glass)

Ann: Hey! Get your own!

Ryuji: Too late! My backwash is in it! It’s mine now. I LICKED the glass! (He does so to drive his point home. Ann huffs as Shiho chuckles, downing the rest of her glass.)

---

Karma: Oh, sorry ‘bout that. Let’s see if there’s a way to help you out there. (He gestures over to another classmate, who brings him a sea slug. Karma plops it on the sphere.) This do anything?

Ren: (as Korosensei screams) Karma, knock it off.

Karma: Why should I? Not like he can do anything about it. (Ren pulls himself out of the water and the sea slug off of Korosensei.) Now, I wonder if we could find a creepy old beach hum anywhere. I want to shove Korosensei down his pants. (Ren groans. What the hell…? In hindsight, taking this form probably wasn’t the best idea. Especially around Karma. That is why Ren snatches up Koro Sensei and runs over to Mr. Karasuma.) Hey!

---

Ren: ‘Eliminate the impossible and whatever remains is the truth’. 

Fuwa: Hey, yeah! I didn’t know you read Shonen Jump, too!

Ren: I uh... 

Karma: He doesn't. I saw him reading a little something else on the way over. Sherlock Holmes, wasn’t it?

Ren: Maybe… ...okay, no. ...It was Arsène Lupin. ...I finished the Sherlock Holmes books a while ago. A friend recommended Arsène Lupin to me and I haven’t been able to put it down.

Ryuji: Nerd.

Ren: You were reading over my shoulder.

---

Ann: Hey, are you okay?

Ren: Yeah… just a little bit of a headache. I’ll be fine.

Ann: How long have you had it? (Ren looks down at the ground.) Ren, how long have you had it?

Ren: ...Since the mastermind called, saying he poisoned everyone. It’s just a small one, Ann. I’ll be fine.

Ann: Liar. You know what happens when you get those headaches, though. Don’t act like none of us noticed. I saw your phantom try to come out when that guy had Karma. Ren, I know it’s hard, but you need to keep calm.

---

Ren: Ryuji, you’re-- (Ryuji puts a hand over Ren’s mouth, shushing him.)

Ryuji: I’m fine. It’s just a fever. Ann and I split the drink, so if she’s fine, then I’m fine, too. (Ren takes Ryuji’s hand off of his mouth.)

Ren: Ann barely drank any of it at all. You drank most of it. The virus is deadly, Ryuji. 

Ryuji: I don’t care! It’s like everyone said earlier. I’m the fastest in the class. I can’t just sit and wait for help while this creep gets away with it. I don’t care if I’m sick, I’m not gonna let everyone down!

Ren: Ryuji--

Ryuji: Please. Don’t tell anyone. Especially Ann… I think she already blames herself for what happened to Shiho, I don’t want her to blame herself for not stopping me earlier, too. (Ren bites his lip but nods either way. Once Ryuji decides to do something, it’s hard to stop him. But still… He really hopes that they can get that antidote.)

---

Ren thrashes against whoever’s holding him and loudly screams, dropping to his knees and letting it all go. He doubles over, catching himself on forearms as wind whips around him.)

“Nagisa, back away from him! NOW.” (There’s a blue light streaming around him, travelling up his body as the voice in his head now echoes in his ears.)

“I am thou, thou art I. Thou who would accept blasphemy for the sake of thine own justice, call upon my name and release thy rage!” (Ren shakily pushes himself up, his knees feeling like they’re about to give way as he stands. The light shifts and morphs into a figure behind him.) “Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou shall be chained down to Hell itself!”

(A single name appears in Ren’s mind.)

Ren: ARSÈNE!

[bakugoukatsuki-rising]

I'm. The new covers, op. The new covers. Gosh. Both of them hold so much symbolism. And technically they both are canon, they are both original ideas that could perfectly be valid. Horikoshi simply found something better. But anyways, I'm going to go ahead and ramble about it because Im- Op, prepare for a long ask! Hope you like it!

So!

On the one where Katsuki's the one in the picture, he's not on his knees like he is in the other two covers. Instead, he has his face down, body forward, one hand on one leg, the other one holding out for something...He's bowing. Bowing in Japanese culture is a pretty big deal. Hes not just tilting his head a bit, his head and body are on full on commitment.

Such a tilted bow means a LOT, specially from THIS guy, Mr dont let anyone walk in front of me. Even more when hes not just bowing, but accepting such an open display of given help, Mr shonen anime lone wolf. Accepting something he always has trouble admitting to. Accepting the past, accepting the wrongs. Accepting Izukus help means so much, and that's what these three covers have in common.

His hand is sctretching out. He's ready to say yes to that hand out in the air.

(Ps. I wonder if he's watching his own reflection on the water in this panel, as well?)

Hes in middle of the picture with those childhood friend at the back, which means audience. It means letting people see what hes done, what he's sorry for. He is being open and exposed and vulnerable. That's no fighting stance.

Remember guys, in case you haven't noticed before, Horikoshi puts lots of metaphorical value in his manga and on his covers. Sometimes you've got to dig in deep and think to get the bigger picture. And in this case, the bigger picture screams regret and wanting to make things right from the start.

This cover occurs in the past, at the moment where everything started, and Katsuki fully remembers this. Katwuki has thought of this, is thinking about this. He's had eye bags for gods sake, he's clearly troubled by all of what it means.

These three covers are the visual explanation of what's going on inside Katsuki's head, because this is clearly focused on him and his perspective.

(Ps. Rivers symbolise the massage of time. If that doesnt add to everything else, I dont know what to tell you.)

So! Next!

Wow, if this isnt one of my favourite things ever. Okay. Christ.

I have two options here. Scratch that, three options. Scream into the void, scream into this post, or actually make a good presentation of my inner turmoil. I'll have to go by the third option. (Haha. Just like horikoshi did. Dont # me, I'm funny in my head.)

This cover melted my insides, froze them all over, and hit me with them like a hammer.

I know they're kids, but let me get this straight-so kids seriously look at their friends with these looks in their eyes and think "ah, yes. This is my very good friend. This gentle smile and kind look I'm giving him as if he was my whole world? Well, hes just a very good friend."

I looked at my childhood crush this way, I dont know what to tell you.

Anyway, let's actually jump to the information at hand.

This panel seems like it's making a reference to what Katsuki wishes could have been. And if that's not absolutely soul-crushing...this cover is Katsuki's feelings, guys. These are probably his very thoughts. This scene has gone through Katsuki's head at some point.

We've got Izuku in his stuck up pose all over again, in just an awkward angle. It's like katsuki isnt looking AT this katsuki right now, but at the spot where the actual past Katsuki, at some point, was. As if this Isuku is frozen in time. Dont believe too much in this paragraph, I still have my doubts about that, but I feel it's a possibility. Izukus eyes seem to be focused on the water, while Katsuki is just the tiniest bit back, reaching for Izukus hand. And gosh.

I dont think I've ever seen older NOR child Katsuki have this look plasted into his face before. He's...sheepish. Kindly, awkwardly sheepish. No hate, no anger, no shame, no nothing. His face is clear and sweet and has this "Whoops. You got me. But thanks." kind of expression on.

The hand behind his head, just the tiniest but embarassed? That little smile? It's all so soft.

Rambling about softness though- I really liked the hand scene in this particular panel. If you close up your view, you realise that theres no effort to pull anyone out of nowhere. In this panel, they are simply holding hands in frozen time for no purpose at all.

Katsuki has his hand around Izuku...simply holding there.

Again, because the angle is awkward, it's kind of messy, but you get the point.

It's all simply beautiful. Horikoshi clean likes give me life.

And lastly. The actual cover.

I screeched so hard when I saw this. My first instinct when seeing this for the first time was to straight up go trigger happy fingers and write about it to my friends. Christ.

Everything is so...SOft. horikoshi made a good decision by mixing both previous drawings in one. We have parts of the two covers in one, which is amazing. In this one, Katsuki isnt alone, as Izuku's there too. But we dont have the audience either. Probably because the main focus on this panel is no one else except them two.

Again, Katsuki looks like he's bowing, but instead of looking all the way down, he's in the middle. Not looking at Izuku nor looking at the ground, like it shows in the previous covers. Instead, Horikoshi found a middle ground. He's looking at his hand. At the gesture.

Hes not holding hands quite yet, but his hand is there. At arms reach. Not close enough but there. Wanting.

Theres so much regret and again, softness.

Again, like you Op said a bit bad, the angle is off here. This is present Katsuki remembering his past. The angle is off because this Izuku isnt holding out for our Katsuki. This is a memory. A wish. Katsuki's wish.

(Ps. Izukus trousers drenched in the rivers water. This detail was so nice. It's a subtle action that describes Izukus characterization so much. Izuku went in the river with Katsuki in mind, not caring if he got his clothes soaked in the process too. For Izuku, only Katsuki was there. And for Katsuki, only Izuku is.

As a plus, I can't believe the cover of this is literally called Bakugou Katsuki rising. They named the entire thing after that one chapter. Actually, I very much, totally believe it. It's the moment so many people have been waiting for, after all. The moment so many scenes have been amounting for, little by little.

*dreamy sigh*

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this little thing, I had to get it out of my system and dont want to bother my dear friends anymore than needed.

Have a good day, OP! I'll stay updated!

You kinda just...took my heart and curb stomped it, not gonna lie. Your observations are so beautiful and so accurate. The sketch with little Bakugou taking Izuku’s hand is so...raw, and yeah, that expression is definitely one of love. Those eyes, the way he is HOLDING Izuku’s hand, not TAKING it. He isn’t taking it to stand up, he is literally just...holding it. 

That isn’t the way you take someone’s hand when you’re trying to pull yourself up. It’s an awkward angle and just...wouldn’t work right. No, he is literally just holding his hand, and that’s exactly what Bakugou wishes he did all that time ago. He wishes that he not only took Deku’s hand, but held onto it. Held it as if it were something precious, something to be cared for and protected. 

These are Bakugou’s true feelings expressed in these drawings, and I think Horikoshi released them on purpose, to show us more of what he wanted Bakugou to be feelings through all of this. Since after all, we know that Bakugou expresses himself in action, not so much words. And because Horikoshi is an absolute genius, he thought to give us these other glimpses in how he feels through these actions. 

And the other sketch with him bowing his body to Izuku, and the way the log looks like it’s on his back with his ‘friends’ on top of it. 

The pressure of needing to be the coolest, the strongest, the best. Those kids put that kind of pressure on him, even if they never realized it. They encouraged his behavior and fed his ego, and it never allowed him to see how he was wrong. But now he is realizing it, and he is bowing himself in light of that acknowledgement. He is lowering his head and putting his pride away, so he can get back what he lost all those years ago; the opportunity to take Izuku’s hand.

To take the hand of the only one of those kids that ever loved him unconditionally. Who never pressured him or expected him to be invincible. Who saw all of his flaws and was completely prepared to support him despite all of it. The only one. 

I’m just a mess over all of this, and I am so incredibly thankful to Horikoshi for creating this beautiful relationship. AND IN A SHOUNEN MANGA, NONETHELESS!!  

Thank you friend, for your beautiful thoughts. I think they’re spot on, and I am so emotional all over again because of this. 

[itsclydebitches]

YYH Recaps: Episode 4 “Requirements for Lovers”

Hello, everyone! It's been quite a while, huh? Ah, the endless cycle of wanting to write and yet, astoundingly, not writing. I know it well.

Good ol' writer's block has skedaddled for a time though, so let's make good use of that and dive into Episode Four: "Requirements for Lovers." 

Ohhh, YYH getting spicy with its titles 😏

Actually wait, I shouldn't be making dumb jokes just yet. First I want to acknowledge a slight change to future recaps: YYH, RWBY, and anything else I might try my hand at. Namely, a lack of pictures moving forward. A few weeks ago — months? I honestly can't keep track — tumblr implemented a new limitation where no post can have more than ten images in it. It's a move that, while I'm sure has its justifications, makes sharing analyses of visually-based media all the more difficult. I'll be doing my best moving forward to describe scenes as needed, as well as combining connected images together to stretch out my limit, but I'm not going to pretend that it'll be the same as getting the visual play-by-play we’re used to. 

Tumblr certainly is a website, huh?  

Anyway, we open on Yusuke once again lamenting the difficulty of hatching a spirit beast that doesn't immediately devour him from the head down. On the one hand this is an admittedly easy way to reset the story over the course of this arc — the storytelling equivalent of waking your character up each morning — yet I cannot deny that if I were undergoing a resurrection test, it would consume my every thought too. Can't really blame Yusuke for endlessly bringing the conflict up when the conflict is this deadly.

Well, deadly for a ghost, anyway.

Specifically, he's worried about how embarrassing it would be to get eaten by something that came out of an egg this tiny. I'm torn between reminding a fictional character that things grow — a pissed off chicken could kick my ass and it started out in an egg too — and just shaking my head over the absurdity of worrying about embarrassment when, you know, you would cease to exist. It's not even a matter of, "What if I die and then I'm embarrassed about it in the afterlife :( " Yusuke is already IN the afterlife. He's got nowhere to go but oblivion!

Luckily, Botan takes a more practical approach to these worries, pointing out that he'll be just fine provided he does some good deeds. Yusuke starts a rant about how do-gooders are only ever out for themselves.

Yusuke, you dumb-dumb, you're a do-gooder now. What was all that help for Kuwabara, hmm? As said, these early episodes exist in a semi-reset loop, where Yusuke needs to stew in his main character flaws for a while before any real growth starts to stick. Those flaws being, primarily, "I'm a pessimist" and "also I hate myself."

Case in point, Botan accuses him of always seeing the glass as half empty. Which, while true enough (outside of his confidence in fighting, anyway), by now we've got a pretty good sense of where Yusuke developed this attitude. He affirms this by talking about how Koenma's got him by the balls, "just another idiot abusing his power!" With an alcoholic mother and those teachers from last episode, it's no wonder Yusuke thinks this way. Mr. Takenaka's interest and Keiko's care aren't enough to combat the rest of Yusuke's experience, not when Takenaka is an outlier and Keiko is Yusuke's peer. Her desire to keep him on the right track reads only as an inevitability at best (the downside of having a perfect childhood friend), or a legitimate annoyance at worst. Or, as we'll continue to see in this episode, a way for them to flirt.

Is it any wonder Yusuke would sneer at Koenma's offer then, expecting the worst? The fact that Yusuke is still undergoing the challenge at all, no matter what he says, speaks volumes to me.

However, Botan is less than comfortable with his criticisms. She panics a bit at Yusuke insulting the (junior) ruler of the underworld so blithely. That, and the fact that he's carelessly tossing his egg around.

(Yes we’re using precious picture space for memes are you SURPRISED?) 

Anyway, Botan isn't just concerned for the sake of concern. She cautions Yusuke against speaking too freely because there may be investigators checking in on his progress. No sooner does he ask what those investigators look like than one appears.

Thunder! Lighting! An energy so intense that Yusuke is briefly blinded! It is, as he says, quite the entrance. What kind of being could possibly be at the heart of such an astounding show?

Why, this teeny-tiny cutie, of course.

Remember, few appearances in YYH coincide with the character's true self. Would you ever assume this is the all-powerful investigator who holds Yusuke's future in her hands? Of course not. That's the point.

The investigator introduces herself as Sayaka and immediately demonstrates that she has no more patience for Yusuke's attitude than Botan does. "These damn kids," he mutters and my brain briefly blue screens because Yusuke. You're fourteen.

Plus, Sayaka and Botan clearly have some sort of eternal youth situation going on, so there's that too.

Sayaka is, in a word, fantastic. She pulls no punches with Yusuke, teleporting away from him with what can only be described as a shit-eating smile, all while refusing to tell him what exactly she's investigating. “I’m sorry, but that’s a secret!” However, Keiko is clearly at the forefront of her interest. She refers to her as Yusuke's "girlfriend."

Botan is more than happy to point Keiko out — because of course they're still following her around! — and pulls a Et tu, Brute? on Yususke, leading Sayaka right to her. Like most of the Underworld, Sayaka is rather shocked that the pretty, popular, scholarly girl is supposedly into the delinquent. It's the power of childhood friendship, you fools! Specifically, Sayaka references the "positive markings" that Keiko has accumulated, but the audience already knows by now that such markings are suspect at best. Yusuke himself is proof of that. So if his terrible marks don't preclude him from being a young kid's savior, should we really view Keiko's as proof of superiority?

I mean, Keiko is fantastic, but that's not really the point here.

Starting her own investigation into Yusuke's life, Sayaka begins with one hell of a bombshell: "There's no point in doing [the resurrection] if the people closest to you don't care." WOW. Not only is that a harsh assessment, it's one I don't think I can personally get behind. The offer to restore Yusuke to life is built on the acknowledgment that their system is flawed (even if there's no work to change or dismantle that system): they thought he was worthless, his sacrificial death seems to have proven them wrong, and now they want further evidence, in the form of this trial, that Yusuke is a good person at heart. The whole point of this challenge is to give him a second chance, with testimonies like Mr. Takenaka's emphasizing that Yusuke has always been capable of more, so long as he applies himself. This, as we'll see throughout the series, applies to relationships too. The Yusuke with one friend he play-fights with, a distant mother, and a school worth of kids who are terrified of his very name is not the future Yusuke they expect him to become, so... why base his resurrection on what he's already (not) accomplished? Granted, the show is very unclear about what, if anything, Sayaka will do if she decides that Yusuke doesn't have a life worth going back to (even if I have my own theory discussed at the end), but the fact that this is suddenly a factor at all seems grossly unfair, not entirely unlike Kuwabara's rigged promise. We as the audience know that people love Yusuke. Yusuke himself is beginning to acknowledge that. But if this fourteen year old delinquent truly had no one that wanted him back from the dead... isn't that all the more reason to allow a resurrection and give him the chance to build a life where he would be missed? 

This stupid shonen got me thinking too much istg. 

Yusuke, ever the self-deprecating pessimist, bypasses all of the above thoughts and jumps straight to, "It's clear if [Keiko] had any sense she'd want me gone." I'd find that attitude incredibly sad if I wasn't distracted by how cute Botan and Sayaka are, sitting on the oar together. The spirit girls who fly together, thrive together! 

Botan starts teasing Yusuke about having a crush, which just feeds his temper and Sayaka's confusion. Deciding that she needs to gather more info, they follow along for an average day of school because these earlier episodes are, apparently, ghost-stalk Keiko hours. 

We see her reading aloud in class from Heart of Darkness (not the easiest book for some middle schoolers), scoring a point during volleyball practice, refusing to let one girl cheat off her homework, but happily helping another who runs up with a question. So she's pretty, athletic, and academically successful, the trifecta for any good love interest. Sayaka is impressed not just with her "nearly perfect" scores, but also the maturity that Keiko demonstrates, such as maintaining her morals about cheating while remaining compassionate. 

Actually, I really love the contrast this provides for us, the viewer. Meaning, Keiko is shown to be at her least mature when in Yusuke's presence. Not that her responses aren't justified, but watching her dramatically snatch gum from his mouth, slap him across the face, or pull crazed expressions as she yells at him is a far cry from this calm, poised, soft-spoken Keiko. It's a way to visually show us that she's comfortable in his presence, despite the suspect humor attached. Not that the Keiko we see at school is faking or anything — she is legitimately that kind and articulate — but we see that being with Yusuke allows her to relax in a way she doesn't with others. School!Keiko is, as Sayaka says, pretty much perfect, 24/7. Yusuke's Keiko is a little rougher around the edges, in a way that implies a multifaceted personality shining through. 

However, the only conclusion our trio draws is that, given Keiko's accomplishments, any attraction must be one-sided.

Poor Yusuke lol. 

In a plot move that is so ridiculously contrived, just as Yusuke is grappling with the accusation that Keiko couldn't possibly like him back, a "handsome boy" arrives to ask Keiko out. He says that he couldn't bear it when she stopped reading Heart of Darkness because he's fallen in love with her voice. "Will you be my girlfriend?" 

Please excuse me while I lose my shit over how ridiculous this is. I legitimately straight up cackled when I watched this scene. 

Luckily for Mr. Absurd, Keiko takes him seriously — and lets him down easy. She says she can't be his girlfriend and when he presses the "Why?", asking if she already likes someone else, Keiko confirms that she does. This is done through a shot of her feet. Not a POV shot given the angle, but close enough that it feels like we're stepping into Keiko's shoes (haha), shyly staring down at the floor in embarrassment and regret. 

Rejection complete? The guy screams. 

I mean he screams. 

I mean this nobody we're never gonna see again unhinges his jaw and lets out an unholy shriek the likes of which makes me shriek in utter GLEE. 

It's insane. It's wonderful. I'm going to use one of my coveted image spots to show you his face: 

Look at that and tell me this show isn't amazing. 

Okay, I'm focusing again. As Keiko runs off Botan and Sayaka start dragging Yusuke, teasing him about how Keiko chose him over that "charming handsome boy." 

...Please scroll up and look at that image again. I find YYH's definition of "charming" and "handsome" to be hilariously wrong. 

Yusuke, as per usual, throws himself into damage control, claiming that Keiko didn't say who she liked, so really it could be anyone. They're not buying it. “'I like Keiko' is written all over your face!” Botan crows. Meanwhile, Sayaka is scribbling in her little investigator's journal that feelings on both side are severely misunderstood. "Suggest serious counseling." 

Fantastic idea, Sayaka. I'd personally suggest counseling for the whole dying/best friend getting resurrected thing... but relationship woes work too! 

We cut to later when school is out and Keiko has gone over to Yusuke's. To say that Atsuko has done a poor job of keeping the house clean lately would be a serious understatement. 

Keiko points out the old food and broken glass specifically, cluing us in that this isn't just a messy environment, but a dangerous one as well. This is proven when she accidentally knocks a stack of books over and a used bowl falls onto Yusuke's face. What's interesting is that Keiko says that things are "back to normal" now, though I'm not sure if that's in reference to the state of the house, or just the note Atsuko left behind, asking Keiko to take care of Yusuke while she's out. I'm inclined towards thinking it's just the note, partly because of Keiko's shock when she first arrives, because the house wasn't shown to be in this state prior to Yusuke's death (first image above), and because the note is accompanied by a great voiceover that makes Atsuko sound quite sloshed when she left. That's what's normal, the drinking and carefree attitude, not the state of her home. If we buy that reading, it allows for another fantastic look into Atsuko's mental state. If she's already an alcoholic, the trauma of her son's death and the following revelation that he's coming back might make her struggle in other ways. Like finding cleaning to be an impossible task. 

She's depressed. It doesn't excuse the state she's left Yusuke in and, as previously acknowledged, YYH is definitely not a show interested in this nuance, but I still find it fun to take what little we've gotten and run with it. 

However, Keiko is firmly on team "WTF Atsuko." She hurries to make sure Yusuke wasn't hurt by the falling bowl, bemoans him being "covered in garbage," and says that leaving him in this state should be considered a felony. Knowing it's far beyond her power to fix Atsuko's failings, Keiko swears to come here after school every day until Yusuke regains his body. It's as she's cleaning him of the dust that's gathered that Keiko becomes entranced with Yusuke’s features. Particularly his lips. The soft lighting returns, their theme song swells, and Keiko gets thiiiis close to kissing Yusuke for the first time. 

Which is a little weird, right? I mean, we know why Yusuke is freaking out. Beyond the embarrassment of a middle schooler receiving his first kiss while two ghost girls eagerly watch on, he's made a hobby of denouncing his interest in Keiko to anyone who will listen. But for the average viewer — for Keiko herself — don't we care the he's, you know, dead? Or if not technically dead, very unconscious? Don't get me wrong, I fully understand the appeal of this situation in a generalized, cultural sense (with the side disclaimer that I'm reading a Japanese product through an American lens). Sleeping Beauty exists for a reason and there's definitely an element of that here: a gender-reversed setup where Keiko’s kills may break the "curse" of Yusuke's untimely death. Even his in-between state of being mirrors the "death like sleep" of the fairy tale. But when you strip away those Disney-esque thoughts, we're left with a girl about to kiss an unresponsive body, not as a common gesture of care (the parent who kisses their child while they sleep), but as a first time, romantic milestone. 

It's a little weird lol. 

But embrace the romance! As well as its inevitable interruption. Just as Keiko is about to land a peck, the neighborhood watch committee announces a heat and fire warning, startling Keiko out of her thoughts about Yusuke's "beautiful face." (There's another gender reversal for ya.) She gasps at her almost-action, conveniently remembers that her mom wanted her to do some shopping, and hightails it out of there before embarrassment can really kill them both. 

So she runs off for food... in a sweater? The outfit is cute and all, but I wonder what the animators were thinking, putting Keiko in a puffy pullover during an episode all about a heat wave. 

It's about at this point that the plot goes from cute romance to absolutely buck wild. The fires the neighborhood watch committee mentioned are not, in fact, due to the overwhelming heat, but an arsonist that's going around tossing molotov cocktails through open windows. Why is he doing such a thing? I don't know. Arsonists be doing arson, I guess. The important bit is that Yusuke's place is his next target, considering that Atsuko forgot to lock the windows when she went out. Within seconds all that garbage is set ablaze, quite obviously putting Yusuke's resurrection chances at an all time low. 

"Wake up, stupid!" he shouts at his unconscious body. Mood, Yusuke. That's me every morning. 

So this is a full scale emergency now and everyone is scrambling trying to think of something to do. Yusuke comes up with the idea to possess himself like he did Kuwabara — nice attempt at a loophole there — but since it would technically count as his resurrection, no dice. Botan decides to go get Kuwabara himself, even though he's too far away to do anything. It's still worth a shot. Sayaka, meanwhile, watches all this unfold with a somewhat clinical detachment. She's not quite indifferent and she's definitely not cruel... she’s just not as emotionally invested in this as the other two. Which not only re-emphasizes her purpose here, as an observer judging Yusuke, but also highlights the bond Botan is forming with him. As mentioned before in regards to her hanging out with Yusuke rather than ferrying souls, Botan is well past someone assisting Yusuke simply because it's a part of her job. He's her friend. 

We get some shots of the growing fire which includes a hazy texture to the animation I quite like and then we cut to Keiko several blocks away, shopping bag in hand. Word of the new fire spreads, with one bystander mentioning that it's the twelfth today. 

"This is eerie.” 

“Yeah, I can’t help feeling we’re under attack.”

That's because you are! Someone stop that man! 

Sadly, I don't think the arsonist is mentioned again, let alone captured. We'll just have to relegate that to my incredibly niche fic wishlist. 

Keiko also overhears that the latest fire is on fourth avenue, which of course is where Yusuke lives. Recognizing that he might be in trouble, she takes off at a run. 

Meanwhile, Botan finds Kuwabara practicing his kicks against a Yusuke dummy. Amazing resemblance, right? 

Watching for the purpose of recapping, I'm picking up on a lot of details in the animation I quite enjoy. I don't think anyone would claim that YYH, at this point in time, has the most impressive or flashy animation (the fight scenes later are another matter entirely), but there's a clear love for the product that shines through. The scared expression on Kuwabara's dummy. His unexpectedly dainty kick, complete with pointed toes. Botan's more translucent coloring to emphasize her supernatural status compared to Kuwabara. There are a lot of nice touches despite the overall simplicity. 

Plus, you can't forget the lovely irony of Kuwabara fighting a defenseless "Yusuke" while the real guy actually lies defenseless amidst a fire. We already know that despite his tough talk, Kuwabara would be horrified to learn that his friend rival had died (again) in such a manner. 

Capitalizing on that transparency, Botan runs a hand through Kuwabara's back to catch his attention. He gets his "tickle feeling" and instinctively looks around towards Yusuke's house, seeing the smoke. "Something tells me I should go that way." Gotta love a guy who drops everything to chase a vague, supernaturally induced hunch. 

As Kuwabara leaves we cut back to Keiko arriving at the house, staring in horror at the blaze. We get an audio flashback to her talk with Yusuke where she promised to take care of his body until he got back. So she tries to run in, only for a couple of the onlookers to snag her, quite correctly keeping her from undergoing a suicide mission. We learn later that Keiko absolutely would have died without Yusuke's sacrifice, so her "You cowards!" is born more of emotion than justified accusations. It's not cowardly to look at the raging inferno in a small apartment and realize that recklessly running in will only result in two dead teens, not one. 

I mean, the flames are already right there, licking the door. Even if Keiko somehow managed to avoid burns, the smoke alone would do her in. Still, Keiko tries to mitigate the damage by dumping a bucket of water over her head. As a kid I remember thinking this was the smartest thing ever. Utterly inspired. Keep that in the back of your mind, kid Clyde, for future reference. As an adult... I have no idea whether this would actually help or not lol. Any firefighters doubling as YYH fans? 

Recklessness and iffy precautions aside, I can't express how much I appreciate the story giving Keiko things to do. Yusuke recognizes that she's the only one with the maturity and open-mindedness to believe in his resurrection. She's the one picking up Atsuko's slack regarding his day-to-day needs. She never hesitates for a moment, heroically throwing herself into this blaze for Yusuke's benefit. Yeah, a lot of that still falls into the emotional/domestic sphere — what we expect of the love interest in a 90s anime — but too often action stories don't have a clue what to do with their non-action characters, not even when it comes to just supporting the fighters. They're simply... there. Keiko, however, isn't window dressing. Whether it's helping Botan survive an upcoming, supernatural plague, or cheering the team on at the Dark Tournament, Keiko is an important part of the story, despite lacking the fighting prowess of the rest of the cast. 

Just as important, this episode establishes a core equality between her and Yusuke. We just watched Keiko reject a (presumably) accomplished guy for him, telling the audience that these surface differences — academics, power levels, popularity, looks — don't matter to them. Yusuke is not Keiko's lesser just because he doesn't have the same scores in Sayaka's book and Keiko won't become Yusuke's lesser just because she doesn't have spiritual power like he does. The only important thing here is that they love each other and they're both willing to sacrifice everything for the other. In the span of about ten minutes, Keiko nearly gives up her life for Yusuke and, in turn, Yusuke gives up his resurrection for her. The level of care they show towards one another is balanced, despite those differences. 

They’re a good ship, y'all. Even if this recapping's got me noticing Yusuke/Kuwabara potential lol. 

To get back to the plot, a drenched Keiko charges into the fire, yelling Yusuke's name for the drama of it because we all know he can't respond. Despite the audience (hopefully) recognizing Keiko and Yusuke's equality, that memo hasn't reached Yusuke yet. "You're a lot more important to this world than I am!" he yells, hammering home that despite everything — knowing he instinctively saved a child, watching his loved ones grieve for him, helping Kuwabara just because he can — Yusuke still, deep down, believes that he doesn't deserve to come back; that he doesn't measure up to those around him. The self-sacrificial nature this insecurity produces shocks Sayaka. She points out that if Keiko doesn't save his body, he's not coming back. "What's the point of being alive if Keiko has to get killed for it?" 

Keiko means more to Yusuke than the rest of his living existence. Jot that down in your notebook, Sayaka! 

Kuwabara arrives and runs into one of his friends who informs him that Keiko just went inside. “Yusuke’s girl? The one we saved from those thugs?”

BOY does that tell us a lot about their rivalry! I mean yeah, we've already established several times over that Kuwabara — just like Yusuke himself — is not the cruel street thug he'd like to present himself as. If these characters actually wanted to hurt each other outside of a martial arts challenge, don't you think Kuwabara would capitalize on the "Yusuke's girl" bit? Everyone seems to know that they have feelings for each other, but Kuwabara never once wields that as ammunition against Yusuke. There are no taunts about him not being good enough. Or rather, I should clarify there are no serious taunts — Kuwabara is well known for his teasing. There's also no attempt to steal Keiko out from under him, the common treatment of the love interest as a "prize" that many stories fall into. Indeed, later this episode YYH will deconstruct this a bit. Yusuke sees Kuwabara grab Keiko's hand and yells that he better not be getting "fresh" with her. But it's purely Yusuke's worries shining through. The audience gets a crystal clear picture of the situation and knows, categorically, that Kuwabara has only the most innocent of intentions in holding Keiko's hand. 

(Well, running from the police isn't innocent, but...) 

I keep getting sidetracked. Plot! Keiko makes it to Yusuke's room and finds that he is already on fire. She then proceeds to try and put it out by patting it with her hands. I take back what I said about Keiko's smarts in this scene. Now we know where that supposed recklessness comes from though. Apparently they're both immune to fire! Nothing to worry about here, folks. 

JK she's actually in danger, despite the animation choices. By this point everyone, including Keiko, realizes that there's no way out: the fire has blocked the door. Sayaka then reveals that there is one way to save her. If Yusuke throws his egg into the fire, the energy of the spirit beast will release and guide her to safety. The catch? Hatch the egg early and it won't complete its intended function of guiding him back to his body. This beast is gonna guide one person and that is it. 

Cue Yusuke's near immediate decision to sacrifice his life for Keiko's. Granted, it's not precisely one life for another. Yusuke's resurrection was always contingent upon the beast not devouring him whole — something Koenma claims would have happened at the end of the episode — meaning that it's not technically a fair trade. Yusuke might have sacrificed Keiko's life for his own... only to fail to get that life back anyway. (There's a tragedy for ya.) To say nothing of how Yusuke is currently dead and has been for at least a couple of days, whereas Keiko very much is not. There's some sort of philosophical discussion there about potential being pit against current reality. 

BUT that's not the point! The emotional point is that he sacrificed his life for hers — the potential of his resurrection, the potential of that life he might have led — all technicalities aside. And I, for one, think that's very neat of him. 

A blue light shines as the egg's energy is released, providing a lovely contrast to the fire surrounding them. A path forms to the door and Keiko, recognizing Yusuke's presence, follows it. "We'll make it, Yusuke," Keiko says, which is one hell of a sucker-punch now that we know she's just carrying a corpse. Unbeknownst to Keiko, Yusuke is very much not making it. That's the only reason why she is. 

Kuwabara appears to help them the rest of the way which is also a pretty awesome thing considering that, from everyone else's perspective, the fire is still raging and blocking the door. Despite his spiritual awareness, Kuwabara gives no indication that he noticed this strange light, or Yusuke's hand in the rescue. Which basically means he lunged into a bunch of deadly fire for Keiko and doesn't question how in the world he isn't burned. 

Keiko's hands are fine, Kuwabara's whole body is fine... fire immunity must run in the friend group! 

Yusuke has another rare moment of vulnerability — "They're both okay" — and I cackle happily at the "both" because see. You love Kuwabara too, Yusuke! All this bluster about hating him and finding him annoying. The second he rushed into that fire you were crawling up the walls. 

Except then that happiness gives way to something that sounds a little more shocked. Devastated. "Well, I sure am... relieved..." Kudos to Cook's voice acting. You can hear the exact moment Yusuke realizes what he's done. Not that he regrets it, but the consequences are finally sinking in. He's relieved that they're safe, yes, but now he's never going to be able to rejoin them. 

As Yusuke has an(other) existential crisis, Kuwabara peels back the blanket Keiko had wrapped Yusuke in, revealing his face. “What are you doing with Yusuke’s body?! Are you some type of sick grave robber?” he shouts. God I love when a story actually keeps track of who knows what. Kuwabara, for all his recent involvement in the plot, doesn't actually know what's going on. From his perspective Yusuke died, he made a scene at the wake, he saved "his girl" from a bunch of thugs, lost a huge chunk of time only to wake up with her randomly hugging him (then slapping him), participated in a bet with his awful teacher and had a couple weird, Yusuke related dreams while studying, and has felt the presence of ghosts perhaps a little more frequently than usual. Now he's trying to help save Keiko from a fire only for her to reveal she risked her own life for Yusuke's body. Of course he's freaking out! What's she doing with that? 

What's utterly fantastic though is that Kuwabara takes all of five seconds to process this and then enters immediate Ride or Die mode for Keiko. She's been hoarding Yusuke's body for undetermined reasons? Well, who is he to judge? The important thing here is that people are arrested for keeping bodies, so they've gotta skedaddle before the firefighters show up. 

Hence, hand-holding and avoiding arrest. 

As Yusuke starts threatening Kuwabara not to get "fresh" with her, Botan sadly reminds him that he no longer has a say in who Keiko does or does not fall in love with. The switch in tone is jarring. Whereas before Botan would have teased him mercilessly for the crush, now she knows that nothing can come of that — and it would be cruel not to remind Yusuke of that too. 

"Oh no. I didn't think..." Yusuke whispers, further establishing that he knew the risks of using his egg, but hadn't allowed them to sink in yet. Now they have. 

He gives a fake little laugh with, "Just when it was getting good" and I cry at the development in the span of just four episodes. Despite what I said at the beginning about the show resetting each week, there has been a lot of change thus far. Yusuke wants to live now! He wants to be there for Keiko! He looks down on his tiny family and screams at the unfairness of it all! They're talking about how they can't wait for him to come back and now that's never gonna happen!!

It hurts, friends. It hurts a whole lot. 

During this conversation between Keiko, Atsuko, and Kuwabara, we see that a couple of hours have passed (it's nighttime now, the fire is out) and Atsuko is apologizing for putting them all in danger like that. And by that I mean yes, she does technically apologize with an "I'm sorry" and everything, but it's also a one sentence apology pit against... well, near death for the three people standing (and sitting) before her. Atsuko seems just as concerned by Keiko losing her hair as she does Keiko nearly burning to death and she kneels by Yusuke's wheelchair, baby-talking to him about how he forgives her, right? I love Atsuko, she's great, but objectively speaking she is not a good mother. Not right now, anyway. 

Oh yeah, and just to reiterate that: Keiko's hands are fine after patting down Yusuke's on-fire body, but her hair, which I'm pretty sure never catches, has to be cut short. Ah, anime logic. Funny thing is, YYH isn't the only story to take the love interest and give her a cool, short cut thanks to a traumatic event. Anyone read Ranma 1/2? 

During this conversation we also learn that, sometime between the fire and now, Keiko filled Kuwabara in on everything that's happening with Yusuke. Makes sense. He kneels beside the wheelchair, joining the others in telling Yusuke that they'll wait patiently for his return. Yusuke, above them, continues yelling about how they're waiting on a dead man. 

“It can’t be helped. He made this decision on his own." 

Except it can, in fact, be helped!

Just as all hope is truly lost, Koenma appears and announces that Yusuke will be returned to life. Why? Because sacrificing his egg for Keiko is a better indicator of his worth than the egg itself could have been. Despite feeding on his negative outlook and heading towards biting Yusuke's head off — something the animation backs up by showing us teeth during the fire

— Yusuke's act demonstrates a tendency towards being a "decent human being" that is "so rare." Wow. That's depressing. Still, yay that Yusuke has those qualities! And this, to my mind, helps explain Sayaka's presence. Koenma recognized that judging Yusuke couldn't be left to the egg alone and indeed, Sayaka took note of his worth before he ever threw the egg into the fire. First it was questioning why someone as amazing as Keiko would go for him, then it was solidified through the shock of Yusuke announcing that coming back to life was meaningless if she wasn't in it. Even if Keiko had somehow, miraculously escaped the fire before Yusuke's sacrifice, I bet Sayaka's report would have tipped him in resurrection's favor anyway. 

Everyone is, of course, overjoyed and my heart swells at the intense gratitude Yusuke displays. My favorite part though is when Koenma cryptically says that “Your added experience with death could make you very useful" (a nod towards future events that goes right over Yusuke's head) and his response to this is a yelled, "YOU THINK I'M USEFUL?" This poor kid. The God of everything ever is chucking out revelations left and right, about resurrections and spirit beasts, but the only thing that really penetrates is the realization that someone thinks he's useful. Talk about relatable. 

You know, I've been thinking about why this moment works so well. I mean, there are a lot of other stories where undermining the consequences our hero faces — either with humor, or by erasing them completely — can feel like the audience was cheated. I think YYH dodged that with a couple of crucial factors. First, Yusuke's consequence isn't something new that he's now avoided, it's just a permanent extension of something he was already dealing with. We did get to watch him inhabit the space between life and death, grappling with whether he'd ever be able to return. The story didn't deny us that growth, it just confirmed something we all instinctively knew: this tale won't end here with Yusuke permanently going to some afterlife. Second, the Deus ex Machina fix doesn't happen too soon. Yeah, it's only a couple of minutes in a single episode, but we (and Yusuke) still get to sit with that outcome for a while, soaking it in before its removal. Finally, there's no doubt that Yusuke earned this reprieve. Koenma's timing might be sudden and (if you're not genre savvy) unexpected, but looking back at the series as a whole thus far, we're able to agree absolutely that Yusuke deserves this. Far from feeling like we were cheated, this solution invites just as much celebration as we're seeing on screen, for the simple reason that we can buy into Koenma's reasoning. We know now that Yusuke is a good person. We saw him selflessly sacrifice his future for Keiko. We agree that he deserves a second chance. 

Thus, the episode ends with Yusuke flying up to fill the screen in his joy, a far better, final shot than Harry Potter and The Prison of Azkaban managed 😰

And that's it for Episode 4, folks! See you later for Episode 5 💕

[shih-coulda-had-it]

jettin’ around, the christmas tree

Notes: Crack treated seriously. If you squint and tilt your head sideways, you can see pre-Nanahiko vibes, but this is mostly about kid!Toshinori going crazy over Santa!Torino. Toshinori refers to Mrs. Claus as Santa-okusan, because I still struggle with honorifics, and Santa Claus is already acknowledged as Santa-san. Word count: 1,526

//

Sorahiko had messed up. Not only had he lost the damn sack of presents, but he’d been caught red-handed by a brat that didn’t even look old enough to attend primary school. The kid was still staring at him, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, awed into miraculous silence.

Without a doubt, Sorahiko knew he’d broken the sanctity of being a Pro-Hero Santa.

It wasn’t truly the brat’s fault that Sorahiko had lost the presents. Sorahiko should have been paying attention to the skies; from one suburban roof to the next, while he was shifting the bulky weight from shoulder to shoulder, Sorahiko had been ambushed by some shitty villain who didn’t understand that Christmas was strictly off-limits for misbehavior.

Someone slammed into him mid-air. They had made off with the toy sack while Sorahiko, thrown off-balance, crashed against a roof and tumbled to the snow-covered ground. To add insult to injury, his collision had caused a small avalanche of snow to crumble straight into his face, cold crystal dust filtering into his collar.

And of course, the kid in residence couldn’t just sleep through the noise. Of course someone would be drawn to investigate.

Sorahiko had been cursing quietly to himself, struggling to his feet and shaking off snow, when the front door creaked open to reveal the kid.

The kid was, as aforementioned, tiny enough that Sorahiko couldn’t see him attending primary school yet. He had fluffy pale hair, with two long bangs in the front, and he was awfully fragile-looking. Sorahiko wondered if he could get away without talking to said kid.

“Santa-san?” whispered the kid, finally breaking the tense silence.

This was the absolute last time Sorahiko would sign up for the Pro-Hero Santa program. No monetary compensation was worth this.

“You’ve got me,” said Sorahiko dully. He took off that stupid red triangle hat and brushed off the lining of faux white fur. His face didn’t need any assistance being warmed up; he could feel his ears burning. Embarrassment might have overtaken him, if Sorahiko’s pro-hero senses didn’t twig onto something weird. He looked critically at the darkened household; the lack of yellow lamplight signifying a parent waking, searching for their waylaid child.

“Santa-san!” the kid repeated. With quick, darting footsteps, he slipped out from the house and went to hug Sorahiko, jumping a little to latch his twiggy arms over Sorahiko’s belt. “They said you weren’t real! They said you wouldn’t give presents to,” he faltered, then redoubled his quiet enthusiasm, “to kids on the naughty list!”

“You’re not on the naughty list,” Sorahiko said, absentminded. He was reviewing his list of addresses. The Pro-Hero Santa program had many, many letters sent in from children all around the country, and consequently, many, many pro-heroes were enlisted to help deliver presents.

Sorahiko checked the address; it didn’t look familiar. In fact, this was probably one of the few households in the neighborhood that hadn’t sent in a letter. He had chalked it up to residents too old to be eligible for the program.

“I’m not?” the kid gasped.

“Have you done something naughty?”

“No!” he said, almost desperate in his protesting. “No, I swear, I’ve been really, really good.”

“Where’s your parents?” Sorahiko tried to cut off any possibility of crying. He was not emotionally prepared to deal with a crying child. Speaking of, he needed to track down the villain who had stolen the presents—or else there would be so many more crying children by the morning.

“Not here,” said the kid, and Sorahiko swore the moonlight was somehow angled just right to reflect the building tears. “Isshin-san said I wasn’t allowed to go to the party.”

“’Party,’” echoed Sorahiko. “I—are you alone? They left you alone in the house?” No. Bigger problems, Torino, focus up. He stared at the kid, and the kid stared back, childlike trust in his open expression. “You can’t just open the door like that, kid, that’s inviting danger.”

“But you’re Santa-san,” he argued.

No, I’m not! Inner-Sorahiko howled. Outwardly, Sorahiko schooled his face and pried the kid off him. And then, not because the kid was visibly shivering (thin clothes, barefoot, light as a feather), Sorahiko picked him up and tugged his cape around the trembling body. Those twiggy arms crept under the wide, layered collar, seeking warmth.

“Santa is not a good excuse,” he said. “What’s your name?”

“Yagi Toshinori.”

“Right. When are your guardians coming home?” Not parents, if Yagi is referring to them by their given name and using that honorific.

“Dunno,” the boy quietly answered, and he burrowed against Sorahiko, hugging him and hugging him, and Sorahiko should not be thinking about bopping a few civilians’ heads. He also should not be thinking about taking Yagi with him on the way to retrieve the presents.

“Will they be back by morning?”

“Dunno.”

Sorahiko felt a migraine coming on. The rules were adamant about getting presents delivered, come hell or high water, but they didn’t account for the unique moral test of leaving a child to fend for himself, or committing a minor kidnapping in the name of safety.

Also, Sorahiko didn’t want to see Yagi’s face crumble as he inevitably did not receive any presents from the Pro-Hero Santa program. Even Sorahiko could recognize when the asshole routine went from tolerable to unforgivable.

Ah, right, there was that option. Sorahiko dug out his phone from where it was strapped to his belt, and clumsily hit the speed-dial for Nana’s cell. It didn’t ring for more than two seconds before she picked up with a yawning, “Hello, hello?”

“Nana, it’s—” Sorahiko grimaced. His impulse to have Nana save the day had forgotten to take into account that Nana would milk this joke for the rest of Sorahiko’s career. Not to mention, he could see Yagi’s head rearing back. The kid looked at Sorahiko’s phone with interest. “Are you busy?”

“Santa-okusan?” Yagi inquired, excited yet again.

“Yagi, quiet.”

He hadn’t meant to snap the command, yet he had, and now Sorahiko had to suffer the sight of Yagi recoiling at the sharp words and hunching into himself. There was a beat of silence wherein Sorahiko wanted to lay down and die, except Nana’s spirit had never met a gauntlet it would back away from, so as usual, she put him back on his feet again.

“Put me on speaker,” she said, and Sorahiko complied.

“You’re on.”

Nana cleared her throat. Kindly, gently, she said, “Hello, Yagi-shonen! Santa-san’s pretty bad at talking. He’s usually so busy taking care of delivering presents, he never gets the chance to talk! Are you having a good Christmas Eve?”

Yagi perked up at the soothing voice. Something in Sorahiko settled too, in spite of the playful joke Nana had said at his expense.

“The best, Santa-okusan! Santa-san is good at talking,” the kid said loyally.

“That’s great!”

“Okay,” Sorahiko interrupted, before anymore exclamation points could be exchanged. He gave Nana the run-down. “I lost my, uh, presents to… a Grinch. Can you come over here and secure Yagi for the night? His guardians are out.”

“I’m suiting up,” said Nana, brisk and business-like. The playfulness slipped back into her voice, even as interference from the rush of air crackled over the phone: “Where you at, partner?”

He rattled off the address and curtly hung up on her. She would be here in less than a minute; the neighborhood wasn’t far from Nana’s place, and Nana could be wickedly quick when pressed.

“Santa-san,” warbled Yagi, “are you leaving?”

“I gotta get the presents back,” Sorahiko said, and did a double-take at the return of the tears. “What are you crying for? Are you too cold? Geez, why didn’t you get a bathrobe or something before coming outside?” He bounced Yagi up and down.

“I’m sorry,” the kid sniffled, hiccupping with every jolt.

“Sorry? What for?”

“The presents! I came out here and distracted you and maybe the G-Grinch,” he stuttered over the unfamiliar English, “will have gotten away with the presents! I ruined Christmas!”

“You haven’t ruined Christmas.”

“B-but—”

“Hey, Yagi, you wanna see how Santa-san gets around from roof to roof?” Sorahiko asked, hoping a distraction would help. At the tearful nod, Sorahiko readied himself for an easy, controlled Jet. He held Yagi close, breathed in the sharp, clean cold air, and Jetted.

Yagi was promptly impressed. “Wow!” he shrieked, little fingers digging into Sorahiko’s insulated jumpsuit as they rose above the household below. “Wow, Santa-san! You fly like this?!”

Before Sorahiko could lower themselves back to solid ground, he spotted a white comet streaking towards them. Frantically, he did a cursory look around the neighborhood—lo and behold, there was an incongruous van peeling away in a direction into Tokyo-proper.

They landed. Yagi babbled about how cool Sorahiko was; Sorahiko calculated how fast Nana’s outrage would propel her, and readied himself.

“Yagi,” he said, “trust me.”

“Okay, Santa-san—EEP!”

It was not very Santa-like behavior, but Sorahiko tossed Yagi at Nana (who could always be counted to catch a civilian Gran Torino passed onto her), shouted, “Merry Christmas!”, and bolted for the gang of villains.

[sarazanmai]

Thoughts on the “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure” English dub. Episode nine.

and thus one of my favorite variations of Dio was born, Floating Head Dio

something I like with this series is you don’t see major events undone, what I mean is things like Dio turning all these people isn’t erased much like how the Kawajiri family is still broken at the end of DIU

for how this series can get, there is a feeling of permanence to it that many other famous anime lack

Jonathan, Zeppeli, they don’t get a reset button and even if there are deaths within this series I did not want or see a need for I appreciate Araki committing to his decisions

“our work here is done” for now

I am gonna miss this intro

also they added sound effects over the music. hmmm.

sorry but I always hated Erina’s wedding gown

“Mr. Speedwagon! you almost missed being able to say goodbye” I’m sad

GET. OFF. THAT. BOAT.

“these tears that I cry are from joy, joy that I’m here with you” STOP

also can we appreciate that Erina is pregnant at this point?

just reminding everyone I guess

its too bad they axed some scenes with Jonathan and Erina as kids since I really like how Michelle voices her

THEY JUST WANTED TO BE HAPPY GOD DAMMIT

so in the manga anyway Jonathan swears after hitting his head, not sure if the Japanese anime kept it or not but eh it was an endearing moment

dramatic color change of drama

also the music that plays when Jonathan spots Wang Chan reminds me of the opening part of Jojo Sono Chi no Kioku (my second favorite intro by the way)

he got a splitting headache!

“where is...my body?” um it got destroyed? sorry?

Floating Head Dio will always be hilarious to me

so the family behind Erina is one I can’t take seriously anymore because someone a while back posted those screen caps of them and wrote “dammit honey I can’t take you anywhere!”

its still funny

“Dio...” “Jojo...” this sums up PB in a nutshell

“if there really is a God, one who plucks the strings that bind our fates, I am certain that our fates were bound together for a reason” a point further substantiated by SBR, but a point we still don’t really know much about

whatever reason it is that Jonathan and Dio are so bound up together we can only leave it to personal interpretation because Araki never tells us

maybe that’s intentional, maybe he just didn’t bother giving us a reason, for me I just see Jonathan and Dio as representing two opposing forces that are constantly at odds

granted Johnny and Diego are very different from their counterparts which is why they are characters in their own right instead of extensions of these two, but the fact that they still got tied up with each other in their timeline does prove that Araki sees the Joestars and Dio as two entities that will always be involved with each other

this is jumping the gun, but this ties into why I wish he explored Giorno’s connections to Jonathan and Dio more as he’s literally the byproduct of Dio forcing himself into Jonathan’s fate

look, look with your special eyes

so the fact that he shatters the glass with his eye beams and is still fine suggests that the jar was not necessary at all and just something he did for aesthetics

RIP Lisa Lisa’s birth parents

I’ll give them credit for making baby Lisa Lisa a brunette, since I recall the manga making her blond (oops)

“the body of my dearest foe has become my future!” you have no idea

all Jonathan wants to do is save Erina...

its Dio’s turn at exposition now

this is a beautiful moment and I also gotta say Araki might be the only person who wrote a shonen manga that was not afraid to show his couple kissing (well okay him and Togashi since Yusuke and Keiko kiss)

why are authors of shonen manga so afraid of showing any intimacy between their leading male and his love interest? do you assume the readers still think girls have cooties? even American comics show the heroes kissing women

unfriendly reminder that Erina is only 19

fuck you Dio

okay the way Dio says “velvet boudoir” is hilarious especially knowing a boudoir is something for women not men

GEWDBAI JOJO

he stabbed Floating Head Dio in his neck, a weird area to attack a floating head admittedly

“farewell to you my beloved” no....

back when the SDC finale aired I mentioned this series never making me cry before (though seeing Jotaro and Joseph say goodbye to Polnareff came close) but this is really effective

I think coming back to certain parts of the series has helped me realize that even something as ridiculous as Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure can move me

I mentioned previously that I once felt Jonathan’s death was undermined by SDC and how now I see that’s untrue. Jonathan’s goal throughout this climax was get Erina to safety, stop Dio but get Erina to safety at all costs. she is pregnant with their only son and leaving with the future mother to their only grandchild, the legacy is what Jonathan died for. it was not just about stopping Dio, assuming it was about that was very narrow minded of me. the fact that his bloodline carried onward even in highly complicated ways is his true victory. without his heroic death Joseph wouldn’t have been able to stop Kars, Jotaro wouldn’t have finished what he started with Dio, Josuke wouldn’t have saved Morioh, Giorno wouldn’t have defeated Diavolo, Jolyne would not have accomplished all that she did, because none of them would have existed

in the back of the official English manga there are nice writings from Araki about some of the choices he made. one thing he noted was that killing Jonathan was a very bold move as the idea of the hero dying, but the story moving forward was unheard of. and its because he chose to make this a generational series that Jojo is still able to exist as a manga and anime now. he did create a perfect formula for maintaining his story without it becoming redundant, whether he realized it or not

and even if fans will still argue that PB is so removed from the rest of the series or that its the weakest chain I disagree. PB laid the groundwork for some of the most significant elements of the series and gave us some of the most important characters that exist within it. there’s a reason they tried to make it into a standalone movie. granted the movie was so bad Araki scrubbed it out public access sparing the occasional screen cap and some dialogue free footage of Dio and Jonathan meeting, its still proof that in its homeland PB is regarded as something worthy of retelling

mind you PB isn’t perfect, I feel that every part of Jojo has something that needed to be worked on, but revisiting it has really helped me to appreciate it more than I already did. its too bad the anime cut some noteworthy things, but I really think fans still gain a lot from it and to deprive yourself of this experience just because you only care about Stands or you bought the unjustified hype that PB and BT are bad just feels like shooting yourself in the foot

as far as this dub is concerned, despite the accents slipping occasionally and some questionable line changes and translation choices I think they’ve done very well. I enjoyed myself completely.

back to the episode though (yeah I still got a few minutes of it left, God will I ever stop ranting?)

“his life was an important part of history, but invisible to ordinary people” WOW that is one meta ass line

“and the book of the stone mask was closed. for a time. but that was only the beginning of a new bizarre adventure” DUN NUN NUN

meanwhile, in the Aztec ruins, there is a new diva on the block

tune in next time where we go to New York to meet my absolute favorite character in the entire series

[recentanimenews]

Decade in Review: The Most Watched Anime of the Decade by Country

  We are mere hours before the end of 2019, which means we’re also just about to close out the 2010s. With the end of the decade within our grasp, we on the Editorial team thought it would be fun to look at some of the viewing habits and trends of our lovely Crunchyroll users over the past 10 years.

  In this article, we’re taking our viewership-by-country map and showing which anime was watched the most during the last decade in EVERY. SINGLE. COUNTRY. Let’s see which anime each country loved the most over the past decade. Throw on your hiking boots and take my hand as we go on an anime world tour together!

  North & Central America

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  Naruto, Naruto, Naruto. The Seventh Hokage can stand tall knowing that he is beloved not only by the US and Mexico, but a whole host of others like Puerto Rico, Panama, and about 10 more. There’s a phrase we use a lot around the office–“Crunchyroll is the house that Naruto built”–and that’s honestly really true! Shippuden was not without competition, of course. Luffy literally became a pirate of the Caribbean, with One Piece showing up in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Barbados. Neighboring island nations saw the Straw Hats’ shonen colleagues with Black Clover in a few countries including Anguilla, and BORUTO laying claim to Haiti and St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Taking a jump up North, our friends in Canada were quite the holdouts, being the only country that watched Attack on Titan the most. The scouts couldn’t oust Naruto from the throne, despite valiant efforts. Growing into a kind, responsible, loving person, achieving his dream of becoming Hokage, and now taking over the majority of North America–Naruto Uzumaki is a truly unstoppable force.

  Overall Most Popular in North America: Naruto Shippuden

  South America

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  While it may appear that we have another Shippuden-heavy region, that’s mostly thanks to the sheer geographic area of Brazil. In reality, we only have three countries where Naruto took the crown (and NONE where Boruto won!). The real MVP here is Mr. Shonen himself, Goku. Starting at Venezuela and Colombia, Dragon Ball Super makes an unbroken victory down the western coast of South America, through Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and numerous others along the way. Getting a new sequel to the Dragon Ball franchise was a truly historic event for anime. For many of us, Goku and his friends were the first characters to welcome us to the world of anime. Dragon Ball Super felt like coming home for many of us, and the fact that it was really, really good makes that return all the sweeter.

  Overall Most Popular in South America: Dragon Ball Super

  Europe

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Oh wow! Contrary to the Americas, Europe has no obvious winner, and many of the anime are well represented by multiple countries! Again, Shippuden makes a very respectable showing with Spain, Switzerland, Slovenia, and, interestingly, more ‘S’ countries. My Hero Academia gave our orange boy a run for his money with comparable representation. Users in the Vatican favored Academia, which makes me hopeful that at least a few priests and nuns are keeping up with Class 1-A. But despite Deku’s best efforts, Asta’s unending determinism can be seen through more countries favoring Black Clover over any other anime. Despite its relatively recent beginning in the Fall of 2017, Black Clover’s tale of unending perseverance and growth has become a mainstay in the shonen heavy hitter lineup. Asta and his friends have been embraced by the anime community, and, luckily for us, the series isn’t going away any time soon.

  Russia, a titanic country that spans two continents watched Black Clover more than any other Crunchyroll anime. We should keep in mind here that Crunchyroll was only recently rolled out in Russia, so there is a recency bias. This advantages Black Clover over other long running series that were airing in the earlier part of the decade–namely Shippuden.

  It must be noted that the tastemakers of Poland and Belarus are the first countries on our tour to have watched JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure the most in the past decade. Truly, two neighboring countries comprised of anime fans of the most refined tastes.

Overall Most Popular in Europe: Black Clover

  The Middle East

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  Contrary to their European neighbors, our users in Middle Eastern countries had a very clear cut preference. As with North America, Naruto Shippuden was the series of choice for Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and a bit more than ten others. Our boy is coming in clutch again. Black Clover made a showing in Iran and Iraq, and BORUTO ended up being Yemen’s favorite of the decade. Interestingly, the anime that show up in multiple countries always occur in contiguous countries. I guess Naruto and Black Clover fans truly do stick together!

  Overall Most Popular in the Middle East: Naruto Shippuden

  Africa

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And we have another clear-cut winner! Our users in African countries had a pretty clear cut preference for Black Clover, being represented by a tens of countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Coming in second is our stalwart Shippuden, showing up in Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan, and a few others. South Africa refused to conform and favored My Hero Academia above other anime.

  Overall Most Popular in Africa: Black Clover

Asia

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  Welcome……… to the world of Shippuden. If you thought North America and the Middle East had a lot of Naruto, Asia has both beat. In one unbroken, continental swath, Shippuden stretches from Kazakhstan in the northwest, east through India, Nepal, and China, and then down Southeast Asia through Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and countless others. The global influence of our favorite ninja really can’t be overstated, and that holds true for the region closest to the series’ country of origin–which, itself is rather interesting, but we’ll get to that.

  There are, of course, some holdouts. The contiguous trio of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan favored Black Clover (the former two), and BORUTO (the latter). Now we need to talk about the elephant in the room. Japan, the country that invented and is majorly the origin point of most anime, watched RWBY, an American-made series, more than anything else. While a big part of this is the fact that most anime viewing in Japan doesn’t happen on Crunchyroll, the viewership of RWBY in Japan is actually quite impressive. Anime is becoming a truly global industry and fandom, and the fact that the country that invented anime has embraced a foreign animated series is a pretty beautiful indication of this.

  Overall Most Popular in Asia: Naruto Shippuden

Oceania

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  Oceania is comprised of an extremely diverse set of island nations, and that diversity showed up in our results in some very cool ways! We’ll start with the largest member of the region, Australia, and neighboring New Zealand. The Aussies and Kiwis both favored My Hero Academia and were actually the only Oceanic countries to do so besides the US Minor Outlying Islands. Shippuden and BORUTO made appearances, of course, with the former showing up in Papua New Guinea and Guam, among others, and the latter hitting the quartet of Fiji, Niue, Palao, and Samoa.

  Heavy hitters aside, Oceania had some fascinating one offs. Micronesia’s favorite anime was long-running shonen series Fairy Tail, Nauru favored the lawyer video game adaptation Ace Attorney–the only non-action oriented title on this map–, and Norfolk Island favored Bladedance of the Elementalers–the only series with an episode count in the teens.

  Overall Most Popular in Oceania: Naruto Shippuden

Antarctica

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  We’ll end our journey with one of the largest, most sparsely populated regions on earth. Antarctica.

  Yes, against all odds, we did have some video views recorded from users in the land of ice and snow. Regrettably, the most watched show here was not A Place Further Than the Universe. The winner, however, was fan favorite shonen series Hunter x Hunter! Truly, one of the best anime arcs of all time has to be Chimera ANTarctica. THANK YOU, AND GOODNIGHT.

  Oh, and for good measure, here's the final score:

  Most popular anime WORLDWIDE: Naruto Shippuden

  ---

  Cayla Coats is the Editor-in-Chief of Crunchyroll News. She tweets @ceicocat

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com