#max watches boruto

[pelipper]

Akita Inuzuka? A relative of Kiba's is in charge of Konoha's Scientific Ninja Tool Research Lab?

Oh my gosh, my sapphic heart is beating so fast right now it's not even funny.

[mdr-reikas]

I feel like when I watch videos explaining what's currently going on in Boruto, you can kind of tell that their trying to separate Boruto from Naruto; the plot focusses on weird aliens a lot more, the older characters are slowly starting to get killed off, and all that fun stuff. Generally, I'm a fan of when the next story an author writes tries to stand on its own two feet, and tries to be its own thing.

There's own issue (specifically with Boruto) though: what other reasons does anybody have to watch it? Boruto is inherently not a separate work (as in opposition to Fullmetal alchemist and Gin no Saji; the latter doesn't rely on the former for setting and story, and can therefore stand on its own), since it plays in the same village, and the main character is the son of the prequel's main character.

Boruto is inherently a sequel, and will always be one. Trying to stand on its own and be its own separate story is not only stupid, but impossible; Boruto will always be Naruto's son. There's no point in trying to separate the stories by adding new weird villains, because Boruto is inseparable from Naruto in the first place.

This is how Boruto generally fails its writing. It's obvious that Boruto is a cashgrab, and only exists to milk more money out of its predecessor. But then why do the writers try to make it anything but the spin-off of Naruto, which it objectively is? No one cares about what happens to Boruto most of the time, the only time I ever hear something related to Boruto is when people think that a Naruto character (ex. Sasuke, Sakura etc.) Died.

It's even funnier when you consider that there basically isn't any target audience for Boruto anymore. Most Sasuke fans are largely disappointed to see what happened with Sasuke, Sasuke/Sakura Shippers are also disappointed because Sasuke is an absent father, and the same goes for Naruhina. Meaning, they completely failed they're target audience, which should've been shippers (since a lot of shippers would love seeing their couple together at the end).

Instead, Boruto should've been a slice of life, not a one shot, but maybe like five volumes max. You could've gone into the relationships that formed over time, show how Naruto made Konoha a better place when he became Hokage (which they don't do in Boruto for some fucking reason), and how the main characters children would interact. There's no need to start this whole bullshit all over again, Boruto shouldn't have been a goddamn Shounen.

[now-we-say-c0ral]

September 10, 2023

I'm feeling a bit better now. I don't think I'm being a drama queen. It's a problem that's bound to happen again until I start to do something about it.

Slept around 2am last night and woke up at 7am today. It sucks. I just watched some Boruto and replayed the Bleach episode from yesterday because it was just so good. I ordered some doner that's scheduled to get here around 12:20pm. I slept and woke up around 1pm. Thank goodness that I was able to get some sleep despite it being a bit hot.

I did the laundry today and yes I did both our laundry. I took a shower after and met Helric, Ross, and Carl in Odeon in Camden. We watched The Nun II and it was a 5/10 for me though I screamed for like 5x in the cinema. The story was meh but the scare factor was decent.

We went to Camden Market and browsed in the stores. We went to Cyberdog and the sex shop was a bit freaky for me for a guy who's so vanilla. We then ate at Max Orient and it was a buffet-kind of restaurant. I didn't each much because of my diet.

Went home around 9:20pm. Texted Eddie I was already home. I hope we can finally move on from all this by tomorrow.

[justice--maybe]

I'm Matthew

He/him and all that stuff

I like a lot of things (some of which can be found below) I do a lot of creative things drawing, animation, 3d stuff, and music yet I usually don't finish a lot of my things

Things I like

MHA(manga), mob psycho 100, chicory, psychonauts(1, 2), persona(3, 4, 5), jojo(1-9), ssbu, high-fi rush, Sam and Max(HTR, seasons 1-2), trigun, wandersong, roblox, demon slayer(manga), one piece, naruto(havent watched boruto), nimona, bee and puppycat, fire force, chainsaw man, Steven universe, Phoenix wright(AA, JFA, TT, AJ, DD, SoJ), TADC, Scott pilgrim(movie, anime), Powerpuff girls(origional), fnaf, wii games, VR, South Park (only games rn), neurodivergent stuffs, smiling friends, RENTAL, Heather's, Jujutsu kaizen(manga), Femtanyl, bunny maloney,

This is Justice btw

[lecliss]

The English voices for the Boruto era characters in Shinibi Strikers is so jarring cuz Ive only watched the sub. What do you mean adult Konohamaru is voiced by Max Mittelman???? What do you mean??? Who is this Konohamaru??? I dont know this man!!! This is a stranger to me!!!

[crazycatgirl420]

Crunchyroll Complaints

My boyfriend's premium subscription comes back on Wednesday so while I wait for that I decided to scroll through Crunchyroll alphabetically and see what I could watch with commercials.

My results so far? Not much.

Animes

'Tis Time for "Torture", Princess (3 eps)

86 Eighty-Six (3 eps)

A Galaxy Next Door (3 eps)

Akira (1 eps)

Anifile (21 eps)

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest (3 eps)

Assassination Classroom (3 eps)

Attack on Titan (3 eps)

Beast Tamer (3 eps)

Black Clover (3 eps)

BOOCHI THE ROCK (12 eps)

BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense (3 eps)

BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS (25 eps)

Buddy Complex (13 eps)

Chainsaw Man (12 eps)

Classroom of the Elite (3 eps)

Classroom of the Elite Season 2 (13 eps)

Combatants Will Be Dispatched (3 eps)

Cowboy Bebop (3 eps)

Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School (3 eps)

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (26 eps)

Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp (3 eps)

Domestic Girlfriend (12 eps)

DON'T TOY WITH ME, MISS NAGATORO (3 eps)

Live Action

Dr. STONE (3 eps)

Dragon Ball (3 eps)

Akagi (10 eps)

Angel Heart (9 eps)

CLIF (20 eps)

Movies

009-1: The End of the Beginning

Aachi & Ssipak

Arcana

Cardcaptor Sakura the Movie 2: The Sealed Card

Chanbara Beauty the Movie: Vortex

Death Bell: Bloody Camp

Death Kappa

I'll keep adding to this list as I go. I can't be the only one who finds this a bit of a scam or something right? If I choose to endure commercials I should have enough to watch to actually make the commercials worth it for me as the customer right? Idk it's practically saying Premium is the only way to use it, but at that point just make the Premium the default. You sign up, subscription payment included. There doesn't seem to be a reason for a commercials option with such a limited selection of episodes in each series to watch.

[yeoboseyokyu]

We know that InoShikaCho have always been so close with each other and their clans have so much history, traditions, and legacies together.

But I adore how the Boruto anime (few things i love about that show xD) showed us the 16th generation of InoShikaCho's bonds with each other's spouses and children.

-How they collaborated, watched, and take turns to train their children.

-even their relatives (e.g Chouji's uncle) pampering the babies and monitored their training.

PLS. WE NEED EPISODES WITH SHIKAMARU AND KARUI TRAINING THEM TOO.

-also so cute at how they are going home together, and when one of the inoshikachos kids aren't with their respective parents, they would walked them home. Like how Chouji took Shikadai with him since Dai's parents weren't there, and Inosai walked Chocho home.

-and i noticed how Shikamaru-Ino-Chouji don't refer to each other's parents as Auntie and Uncle? Based on the episode 178, Shikamaru called Inoichi as "Inoichi-san"/ "Mr.Inoichi", instead of Uncle.

But this current generation of inoshikacho do. They called each other's parents as Uncle and Auntie aww.

In Boruto manga

-Shikadai and Inojin are scared of their mom's wrath, and lol at how Temari and Ino both wrote letters for their sons in case they backtraced and being lazy for their chunin exam training.

-Sai stand in front of Moegi and InoCho to protect them from Amando, and tried to negotiate with him to let Shikadai go

I believe there is more about the wholesomeness that is inoshikacho's bonds😭 but sadly, i can only post max 10 pics so yeah

Anyway in conclusion,

INOSHIKACHO BESTEST TEAM 💖💖💖

[kimbureh]

Promised Neverland is interesting as an anime, not because of its setting or plot, which are intriguing enough to an audience that isn’t satiated yet with a “nurturing people turn out to be evil” plot twist.

Much more original than that is the fact that this story revolves around female trauma. It has a female lead, the average “bad guys” are not guys but women, conceptually mothers even, as “nurturing” as the social stereotype of women gets. For one, it’s rare to find stories in mainstream that have the average goons be female. And for another, it is even more surprising that this fact isn’t sexually exploited to the max, which is, let’s be honest, something anime in particular thrives to do.

But what intrigues me the most about Promised Neverland is that it first sprung from *shounen manga* of all things. Shounen is a genre specifically aimed at *boys*. You know, like Dragonball and Naruto and whatever the kids read these day (One Piece? Boruto? MHA?). There is usually a boy, wanting to be the best, the strongest, or the one who catches all them Pokémons. Female characters are usually just curvy shaped foils that serve as the superficial concept of “the female”. Which is to say, female characters are far in between seas of male characters, and are commonly less developed.

So, yeah. Think about Promised Neverland what you will. The manga entertained me for a lazy afternoon, after which I lost interest in the premise. But now I saw the anime was on Netflix and was immediately electrified. What if, hear me out, anime could be less sexist? Less painful to watch if you care about female characters (I’m looking at you, Goblin Slayer)?

What I try to say is, my days as anime binging weaboo are long over. But I still care about the medium. I *want* to love anime and manga again like I did back when I was a less critical reader. I want stories that are for me, I want to see the whole range of human storytelling depicted in popular manga and anime, not just the dichotomy between romance stories on one hand and stories about stand-ins for a cis male audience with one-dimensional foils of the female other to spice up the look on the other.

I know manga and anime is the wrong place to look for that, which is precisely why I don’t look there. Only one or two stories continue to spark my interest. I am not holding my breath, but maybe anime and manga can and will change, that would be nice.

[itachi-uchiha-deserved-better]

Itachi Uchiha RP Blog

This is an Itachi RP and Ask blog. It is a side blog. I follow from @halfelfvetling​. this blog is only semi-active due to life circumstances.

About the Mun

I am a 26 year old vet student in my clinical year. I’ve had this blog for over a year, though my schedule currently does not allow me to be as active as I used to be. I’ve been doing text based RP for most of my life in some form or another. Any pronouns are fine, though I primarily use she/her in day to day life. My ask box is open, but I am slow to answer things or reply to threads because real life comes first. I promise I am a pretty approachable person, you just need to be patient with me when it comes to asks or replies. But my inbox is always open. 

About the Muse

Itachi Uchiha is the primary muse for this blog, though I may occasionally post drabbles from other character’s POV. My Itachi is a personal interpretation of the character and often diverges from cannon. I RP a variety of AUs, many of which are non-massacre AUs. If you have a particular AU you’d like to RP in, just let me know. 

I RP Itachi at a variety of ages, depending on the plot, but most often the Itachi I am RPing is in his mid twenties. 

Some personal headcannons for my Itachi: 

Fugaku is not a good father. This can range anywhere from being neglectful to being downright abusive. If you’d prefer I don’t reference this in RP, let me know. 

Itachi is bi. 

Itachi is afraid of thunderstorms and blood.

I will add more as they come to me.

Rules

I am an adult and for that reason I prefer not to interact with minors. This blog may contain NSFW. If I find a minor interacting with ANY NSFW posts on my blog, I will block you. End of story. Do not PM me if you are a minor, you will be blocked. end of story. 

Shipping- I have a decent number of established Itachi ships. The biggest ones you’ll see on this blog are ItachixShisui, ItachixTenzo, ItachixTemari, ItachixSakura. I am open to other Itachi ships, but I dont ship characters with a large age gap (I tend to stick to a max of about 5 years, with the caveat that characters meet as adults), I do not ship ItachixKakashi or ItachixKisame and ABSOLUTELY NO ItachixSasuke EVER on this blog

As far as RPing, I tend towards multiparagraph threads. Short replies are fine, but I like to write and don’t really have much interest in nonsense threads. I prefer to have a plot to follow that I can develop with my RP partner. I RP a lot of angst, but if you want to RP some fluffy stuff, lemme know. 

I am ok RPing smut/romance with established adult RP partners. Please do not send in random smut starters without talking to me first. Occasionally I will post NSFW drabble prompts. Any adult blog is welcome to send these in on or off anon for me to write. 

For new RP partners: a lot of our initial RPs will probably be centered on missions as I get used to your RP style and get comfortable RPing with you. But the more we RP together, the more we can branch out into other threads and plotlines. 

Please talk to me before jumping into any particularly dark or potentially triggering plotlines. I’m open to most topics, but clear and open communication is an important aspect of RP and no one wants to wake up to a very disturbing prompt in their askbox without warning. 

I have watched all of shippuden but I haven’t touched Boruto so I know basically nothing about that. 

Don’t power play/godmod (by which I mean do not tell me what my character does or says. You control your character, I control mine.)

I will not hesitate to block people who blatantly break my rules, make me uncomfortable, or are biggoted in any way. 

whump tier list

[moonandblossoms]

For the ships ask:

2, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35.

For any fandom.

2. Your newest ship: Megumi/Nobara from Jujutsu Kaisen, Licht/Tetia from Black Clover.

7. Most innocent ship: Kenny/Ming Ming from Beyblade.

9. Most angsty ship: Not sure, but maybe Obito/Rin and Yahiko/Konan from Naruto (?).

11. Ship I never wanted in canon but like to see them in fanworks: Sasuke/Tenten from Naruto, Naruto/Ino from Naruto, Rock Lee/Sakura from Naruto and L/Misa from Death Note.

12. Characters that I can imagine only in one ship: Hinata in Naruto/Hinata from Naruto and Boruto, Miguel in Miguel/Mathilda from Beyblade, Frankie in Mario/Frankie in beyblade, Neji in Neji/Tenten from Naruto, Sasuke in Sasuke/Sakura from Naruto and Boruto, Mitsuki in Mitsuki/Sarada from Boruto, Both Itachi and Izumi in Itachi/Izumi from Naruto.

13. Most shippable character: Hmm, maybe Sakura from Naruto? There is no such character as of now.

14. Character that I can't imagine any ship: Hmm, mostly Orochimaru from Naruto. I imagine him only with science, not a person XD. 

16. Characters that you kinda ship but prefer as BROTPS: Naruto/Sakura and Naruto/Sasuke (favorite BROTP) from Naruto, Boruto/Sarada from Boruto, L/Light from Death Note, Itadori/Megumi and Nobara/Maki from Jujutsu Kaisen.

17. Characters that I only view as a ship only and not as friends: Hmm, there isn't any such ship I like that way because I like to view them as friends before they become lovers.

19. Ship that you never expected to ship: Tala/Queen and Tala/Julia from Beyblade, Yami/Charlotte and Yuno/Charmy from Black Clover. Also Gojo/Utahime and Megumi/Nobara from Jujutsu Kaisen.

20. Ship that I liked but not anymore: Boruto/Sarada from Boruto.

21. Ship that I was one day thinking and thought, "Wait, when did I start shipping them?": Tala/Queen from Beyblade. I honestly have no idea when I started shipping them lol. Even Tyson/Hilary. There was a time when I equally or slightly liked Kai/Hilary more too but now I am clueless about when I started preferring Tyson/Hilary way more than them. Also Ozuma/Mariam and Kane/Salima from beyblade. I am kind of sure about KaneSal but sorta forgot when I started to become a die-hard fan XDXD

22. Ship that I immediately fell in love with after a scene despite not considering it earlier: Kane/Salima from Beyblade. It's the scene when Kane and Salima where put against each other to test cyber bit-beasts and each of them had the hella amount of trust they put in each other in episode 20 and also because of episodes 25,26 and 27. Also Ozuma/Mariam where Mariam was concerned about Ozuma in episode 39. Neji/Tenten from Naruto where Neji saves Tenten from Kisame's water prison in episode 14 or 15 from Shippuden.

24. Biggest NOTP: Sasuke/Karin from Naruto. Pah, had enough with these anti Sasuke/Sakura fans.

27. Ships that I expected to ship before watching the franchise and I still do: Naruto/Hinata and Sasuke/Sakura from Naruto, Ray/Mariah from Beyblade.

28. Ships that I expected to ship before watching the franchise but I don't: Nothing as such, but maybe Max/Mariam and Ray/Salima (?). I thought I would actually be shipping both these ships for the longer go until I saw Ozuma and Kane having some potential chemistry with them in the series. Another reason being Ray marrying Mariah and Max having some moments with Emily. I just prefer their relevant rival ships, that’s it. Also Boruto/Sarada.

29. Favorite crossover ship: Gojo/Shinobu from Jujutsu Kaisen/Demon slayer! I too like Kane/Karin from Beyblade/Naruto.

30. Favorite canon ship: Sasuke/Sakura from Naruto and Boruto (especially the latter).

31. Favorite non-canon ship: Neji/Tenten and Suigetsu/Karin from Naruto, Giyu/Shinobu from Demon Slayer. I would want to tell Kane/Salima too but they still have a chance to become canon in my opinion since the future of beyblade characters aren’t elaborated yet.

34.  Ship that you never expected to ship when you were younger but here you are: Suigetsu/Karin and Neji/Tenten from Naruto, Tala/Queen, Ozuma/Mariam, Kai/Julia and Tala/Julia from beyblade (Seriously, there was a time when I hated Tala/Julia but now I think that they are an awesome duo). 

35.Ship that you have kinda love/hate relationship with: Maybe Ray/Salima from beyblade, but more than even because of the ship, its because of some of these fans (except for two/three girls who I know are very civil and nice :) ). Maybe Rock Lee/Sakura and Sasuke/Karin too.

[pelipper]

Can we just talk about this scene? The fact that the power of science is able to help this disabled pup live a normal life again.

I had a prosthetic for part of the year (an ostomy bag) because of my disability, so seeing something like this brought up in an anime literally brings tears to my eyes because it's true that thanks to my surgery I was able to do all of the things I had to miss out on when I was too sick to leave my bedroom.

[ohhipstaplease]

Hey hope you're doing fine✨I was wondering what you have in mind about 'blueberry eyes' 🤔😊

Alright, I received three requests for the same title 😂

So I literally only have a few lines written, but this is my planned sequel for Strawberry Sugar. It would cover parenthood for our fave couple and how their baby Boruto has some very sweet “Blueberry eyes” that are the perfect mix of his mommy and daddy 🥲

That’s all I’m giving you bc that’s all I have. Maybe it’ll be a one shot for naruhina week? We’ll see...but strawberry sugar still has a long way to go soooooooo TBD

Ah, watch the “Blueberry Eyes” video by MAX, that’s where this idea all started 🥰

Tagging @vegebulsoup + @chloelapomme since they also inquired lol

[magneticflower]

eyoooo my dear - G, K aaand V and any other you'd like to piiick! hope you're doing weeell 💛

Fandom ABC’s

G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it?

Of courseee, I’m sure there are some people in the world that haven’t had one, but I definitely did haha. I’m thinking my first otp was probably Fran x Maxwell on The Nanny when I was little lmao. As for my first otp I had in a fandom I was actively participating in--- probably ShikaIno (Shikamaru x Ino from Naruto). I was INVESTED in that ship even though I knew canon was never going to give it to me because canon is lame (and naru’s post-canon sucks so bad that I am actually so glad they didn’t get butchered by being a ship in that trashfire that is boruto). My first blog name was teamshikaino and everything haha. It is still an OTP for me (I’m rewatching naruto for my older cousin who never watched it and it’s just bringing me bACK) and always will be.

 oh WAIT. OKAY, if not Max and Fran, it was probably Laurie x Jo from Little Women haha.

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

My mind went blank for a second but then I remembered someone that is perfect for this question and it is Marilla Cuthbert in AWAE. She just--- the GROWTH that she had from s1 to s3 of AWAE was amazing. She went from someone so guarded, so closed off, so unwilling to change her perception of things, far too quick to cast judgement, and unable to allow anyone inside her heart to someone that is able to openly show how much she cares, that is willing to stand up for herself and for others, able to open her heart to others and her mind to things more, and just someone that no longer keep everything buried in here locked away. It was so beautiful to see her growth every season and I miss her sO MUCH.

V - Which character do you relate to most?

Since I’m already in an AWAE mode. I feel like I relate to Marilla/Anne. I relate to how Marilla bottles up feelings a good deal (though she got a lot better throughout the series of being more honest about them) and just how she can sometimes be so very stubborn about things. For Anne, seeing her going on tangents like she does and just talking so, so much sometimes was something I can completely relate to and in a way it was like watching what I probably look like to people sometimes when I’m on a subject that I’m probably far too into. I think I can see myself in them and that’s why I really loved both of them so much right off the bat. 

[migila]

Fic time! It’s Inojin’s birthday!

December 5th

“Sai?”

“Yes, Beauty?”

When Ino didn’t answer, Sai turned to look at her, seeing her biting her lip, her eyes going around the room, looking at anywhere but him. That was never a good sign, the man had learned. Insecurity, slight fear, sometimes quilt. It made him wonder what his wife had done “What’s wrong?”

Ino took a deep breath.

“I’m pregnant”

There had been many life changing moments in Sai’s life, but none topped that one. His wife, pregnant. He was going to be a father… probably.

“Am I the father?”

The answer to that question was Sai having to sleep on the couch for the rest of the week.

XXXXX

It had been months since then, and Ino was now in labor. Sai had been kicked out of the room, against his wishes, but Sakura had insisted that his insensitivity would only make things worse for his wife. Maybe she’d been right; Sai knew he still didn’t have a proper instinct on what words were considered okay when and what weren’t. He was studying hard though, both from books and in practice.

“Waa…” Sai looks down at Sarada, Sakura’s daughter, who’s tugging at his shirt. Naruto had shoved the toddler in to his arms not too long ago when he’d left to change his own son’s diaper “Waa-aa…”

“What is it, Sarada?” he asks “Is something wrong?”

The baby just raises her hands, like trying to reach for something. Sai blinks.

“I have no idea what she wants” he thinks, frowning “I don’t think I’ll be able to understand our baby, either.”

This wasn’t the first time he had these concerns, and he’d asked advice from Sakura, but she’d only shrugged and told that no one knew what to do immediately, that he had to “grow in to the role of a parent.” Sai honestly didn’t even know what that was supposed to mean.

“What if our child learns from me too much and becomes as hopeless?” he wonders “He’ll have a hard time making friends.”

“I think Sarada wants you to pay more attention to her, you know” Chouji, who’d just arrived with his daughter in his arms, says. Looking at the baby girl, Sai supposes that at least one of his fears was unnecessary; his baby would be part of Konoha’s legendary Ino-Shika-Chou; it would have at least two friends.

“Is that so?” Sai asks, just staring at the baby “…What exactly am I supposed to do?”

“I can show you” Chouji says, holding out his daughter to Sai “Hold Chou Chou for me.”

Sai takes the sleeping baby, watching as the bigger man picks Sarada off his lap. He can see the baby’s smile fade.

“Hello Sarada~!” Chouji says, making a face that Sai assumes is meant to be funny. Sarada however, seems to disagree as she starts crying.

“Oh no” Chouji panics “No no no, don’t cry!”

“Chouji has yet to grow in to the role of a parent, it seems” Sai thinks. In a way it’s a relief; the man had been a father for a while now, yet didn’t have a hang of it, so Sai wouldn’t have to hurry, either. But if even Chouji had trouble with it…

Another scream joins Sarada’s crying, and Sai notices the older baby had woken up the younger one.

“Oh no, not Chou Chou, too” Chouji whines “It takes a forever to calm her down!”

That Sai was not so eager to know, but it made sense; the girl had apparently inherited her mother’s temper. He just hoped that their baby wouldn’t inherit Ino’s… though the more it’d be like its mother otherwise, the better. Ino would be able to raise the baby in to a proper shinobi and tell him what to do, too.

Sai jolts as a third scream joins in, but this time it’s not a baby’s, it’s his wife’s. Again.

“It has been two hours already” he thinks. He’s read about childbirth, so he knows it can take a long time, but the wait is agonizing as he fears that Ino and the baby won’t be fine. Not that he has any right to complain; Ino obviously has it the hardest.

“It’s like a concert in here” Shikamaru says as he walks in, his baby in his arms “Troublesome.”

Sai cringes, seeing that the baby boy had been asleep, yet was now waking up. Another one to join the concert-

…Or not. Shikadai opened his eyes, frowning in annoyance, which Sai hadn’t known was possible for one so young, before closing his eyes again, seemingly undisturbed.

That was weird.

“Looks like we have Lazy Junior here” Naruto snorts as he returns with his son in tow “I’ll bet a dinner that his first word will be “troublesome!””

“Haha” Shikamaru huffs as the others laugh “But I’ll take you up on that bet; there’s no way Temari’s letting it happen.”

“We’ll see” Naruto laughs, then frowning “Why are Sarada and Chou Chou crying?”

“Chouji scared Sarada, and that made Chou Chou cry, too” Sai tells honestly, getting a frown from Chouji. Naruto sighs.

“Alright, Chouji, switch with me” he says, holding out Boruto for the bigger man to take “And don’t make my son cry while you’re holding him.”

“I won’t I won’t” the man assures, taking the boy as Naruto takes Sarada. Sai watches as the Hokage to be, yes, he’ll definitely be one eventually, coos at the toddler, swaying her up and down slightly, and soon the baby’s crying turns in to laughter.

It seems that at least one of them knew what he was doing. Sai was surprised by the fact that it was Naruto.

“Phew” Chouji was relieved “Sai, take Boruto. I’ll handle Chou Chou.”

Sai did, and watched the baby calm down as Chouji pulled out a bottle and started feeding her. Figures. But it did work.

He winces as Ino screams again, and hopes that it doesn’t upset the babies.

“…I think we should take the kids away from here before they start crying again” Chouji says.

“Might be a good idea” Naruto agrees, taking Boruto from Sai, balancing two toddlers in his arms “We’ll see you later, Sai.”

“Yeah” he mutters. He could’ve used the distraction from his worries, but he couldn’t ask them to stay; they had their own families to take care of. And in Naruto’s case, Sakura’s family too since the woman was aiding with the childbirth and Sasuke was off on a mission.

Sighing, Sai tried to get his emotions under control, wincing as Ino screamed again.

“Ino’s going to be fine, you know” Sai jolted, having not realized that Shikamaru had remained behind and sat down next to him. He saw Shikadai still in the man’s arms, his small face holding a frown again, but the boy didn’t let out a sound.

“I hope so” Sai says, not taking his eyes off of the baby “…Does he ever cry?”

“Our Dai? Mostly only if he’s hungry” Shikamaru laughs “Temari has been worried, but mom assured her that I was like that too when I was a baby.”

“Ah” Sai says “Lazy from birth, then. Is it a medical condition?”

“Shut it” Shikamaru answers “If your baby is anything like its mother, you might want to invest in some earplugs.”

“I’ll tell Ino you said that” Sai laughs, and Shikamaru glares.

“One doesn’t get friends with that attitude” he grumbles. Not too long ago, Sai would’ve thought the man was angry, but now he knew it wasn’t the case, not really.

They were friends after all.

XXXXX

Ino slumps back in her bed, exhausted. Eleven hours, eleven! She knew childbirth could last long, but she’d thought it’d be a few hours max. She should’ve read those books Sai had bought, too.

“Congratulations!” Sakura says, holding the newborn heir of the Yamanaka clan “You have a healthy baby boy!”

As tired as she is, Ino smiles, holding out her hands. Getting the hint, Sakura hands the baby over. Holding her child for the first time, Ino can’t help but get emotional as the tears start falling down her face.

Understanding the privacy of the moment and that they’re not needed for now, Sakura and Shizune leave the room, the former saying that she’ll tell Sai as she goes. Not long after, the fresh father enters the room. And stays at the doorway, unsure of what to do from here. All those books hadn’t prepared him for this.

“Sai, it’s okay to come closer” Ino says “He’s your son, too.”

Son. It was a boy.

Nervously, Sai does walk over, seeing the little bundle in his wife’s arms. The baby had its mother’s hair, he notices.

“Hold him” Ino says, holding the baby out, but Sai hesitates. He had never held a child that small before.

“It’s alright” his wife says “You’ll do fine.”

Sai smiles, though still unsure of himself, but it’s not like he could say no. Like Ino had said, this was also his child, also his responsibility, so he hesitantly takes the baby in his arms.

“He’s so small” Sai says. Babies always were, but somehow, theirs seemed smaller than he’d expected… but then again, he hadn’t seen one right after birth before.

“Maybe a bit more than he should be” Ino says, but after Sai looks at her in alarm, she continues with a reassuring smile “But Sakura said that he’s healthy, so everything’s fine. I’m sure he’ll grow up to be strong.”

“…Strong, huh” Sai mutters. He supposes their son will be a shinobi like them. That’s natural, of course, but Sai’s surprised how reluctant he feels about the idea. Somehow, the thought of his son willingly putting his life in danger out there doesn’t sit well with him.

“Yes” Ino says, smiling “But even so, we’ll always be there to protect him.”

“Absolutely” Sai agrees “…I just really hope neither of his teammates have inherited the tempers of their mothers; if they have, we’ll really have our hands full.”

Ino laughs.

“Well if our baby got my temper, he’ll be fine even if they have!”

Sai shivers.

“I think I might need some protection in that case”

Ino just laughs. Normally, she’d let Sai have it for a comment like that, but she’ll let it slide today. Only today.

“So…” she says “Do we still agree on the name?”

“We decided it together” Sai says “It’s a good name.”

Ino smiles, and right then there’s a knock on the door.

“Ino, can we come in?” Chouji calls “Chou Chou and Shikadai want to meet their teammate to be!”

Sai’s about to retort that the babies are too small to express wanting something like that, but holds his tongue. Not the time for that.

“Of course!” Ino calls back “Come meet our Inojin!”

[zerochanges]

2020 Favorite Anime

I am sure I don’t have to exactly spell it out that 2020 was a different year, we all know the spiel now. It was in particular a bad year for me for a lot of personal reasons on top of the whole world wide pandemic thing killing millions and shutting down business and and all our hobbies--so I really was straight up not having a good time. It’s because of that I honestly didn’t really keep up with a lot of my hobbies this year so when it comes to choosing my favorite anime and games of 2020, I don’t have as much as I usually would. 

So this year I decided to just say screw it, there are no rules. I usually try to impose some on myself every year for my lists: rules like no sequels, no long running shows, no shows that technically started last year, only new content from this year and not older stuff I watched/played this year but came out from a prior one. This time, there are no holds barred. I am just going to list my top whatever the hell I feel like listing. So starting with anime and in my usual alphabetical order; here we go.

The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me?

Maybe a guilty pleasure? Maybe I just enjoy some trashier shows? It’s hard to say. There is nothing that great about 8th Son, it’s very bland and doesn’t stick out amongst the million other isekai (another world) power fantasy series that are all the rage now and yet there is a strange draw to it. Perhaps it’s because almost all the isekai elements in the series feel more forced than anything else, like they are just tacked on to appeal to modern audiences. 

8th Son honestly feels more like a good old fashion fantasy series from the 90’s that just had to add isekai elements in it to appeal to kids today. I really enjoyed it for that aspect. The power fantasy isn’t too out of control (although the protagonist is quite strong), and there is no real end goal or attempt to return to your previous life. The protagonist Wendelin is more or less just cool with how things are now. Instead it focuses on his growth as a mage and how he tries to navigate the political intrigue of this feudal world being one of the youngest born in a noble family with no clear line of succession to take over yet being the most talented and magically gifted child of said family. 

Ascendance of a Bookworm

Proving that not all isekai series have to be a power fantasy, Ascendance of a Bookworm plays out more like an educational take on medieval times, think something among the lines of Spice and Wolf, if you will. One day Motosu Urano wakes up in the body of the small child Myne in a fantasy world much like medieval Europe but with a few other elements like magic and sorcery. While at first that may sound like a high flying adventure it really isn’t. The series is more about following the average life of a peasant in this world and how far out of reach literature is to them, given the lack of printing press and the like. Urano now Myne tries her best to create books for the common people and spread literature, a herculean task considering the insane douchebaggery of the higher caste in this world. But armed with modern day knowledge of the 21st century Myne is able to create modern conveniences and wow most people around her.

Black Clover

So I am going to include long running shows now this year, get over it. Black Clover has been a favorite of mine in recent years. Out of the modern Jump battle series I find myself more and more drawn into Clover (and also my one true love, the ever underappreciated World Trigger) than the other more popular ones that seem to rule all the anime conversations today. Since I was following the series dubbed as it aired on Toonami this year brought me the end of the first part of the series; finally seeing the epic conclusion of Clover Kingdom’s long standing battle with the Eye of the Midnight Sun and revealing some pretty great and shocking twists behind the war of elves and humans along the way. 

This finale was fantastic and honestly while I am glad to see the series continue on and grow from there, and look forward to seeing more of this new second part of Clover that focuses on a war with the Spade Kingdom, I absolutely would not have complained if the whole thing ended right here with this story arc. It wraps up so beautifully and is a compilation of three great years of episodes. 

BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt so I’ll Max Out My Defense

Bofuri is not a series I thought I would enjoy as much as I did but it really won me over. Essentially just a ‘cute girls do cute things’ kind of show but with a twist of it being in an MMO game, there is something about it that made it so comfy and easy to watch. There’s always something enjoyable about watching the protagonist Maple, an absolutely clueless newbie at video games continue to be the bane of existence to the developers and admins of the game as she constantly breaks it and becomes insanely overpowered on a regular basis all from her own cluelessness. 

As the title suggests she is the only person in the world to get scared of taking damage in a video game and puts all her stats into defense and literally nothing else entirely. After so much grinding the girl is such a tank she can just walk through enemies to kill them. It’s fun little things like this that make the show always worth a chuckle as her legendary player status continues to rise while in reality she just has no clue how to play RPGs whatsoever. 

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations

If you think Black Clover had a great run of episodes this year in 2020 just wait until you see what Boruto had to offer. While not a perfect year, the series did take off for about 2 months thanks to a pandemic hiatus, once it came back it was stronger than ever. We came out of the gates running and kicked off the return of Boruto with a fantastic 20+ episode long story arc centered on introducing the main group of villains in the series, the Kara. The world of Boruto became much bigger and much darker, and the series in the last year has started to bring in a lot more manga content and moving at a brisker and faster pace, changing the status quo up quite a lot. Watching the New Team 7 grow so much and rise to these challenges was rewarding and I am so excited for the vessel story arc teased at the latest Jump Festa this December. 

Ultimately though their first encounter, crushing defeat, and subsequent rematch with Deepa; a new anime only member of Kara meant to introduce the organization to anime viewers was an insane show de force of animation and one of the best battles in 2020 anime, dare I say. These kids are growing into great warriors and the stakes have been raised so much.

Cardfight!! Vanguard Gaiden IF

The 2018 reboot of the Vanguard series saw not only the card game get refreshed but the television anime as well. Dubbed the V Series by fans thanks to all the new card serial numbers starting with a V post reboot, these last two years have been fun and full of fan service for long time viewers of the anime. Gaiden IF is the final season of this reboot before the fourth entry of the franchise Overdress begins in 2021, and was a very strange and experimental one at that. Gaiden IF holding true to its name was a gaiden, or spinoff of the series that wasn’t necessary in the same canon as the regular show and more fascinating had zero card fights during the entire show--instead being one huge parody of card game animes in general and the beloved cast of characters the series has built over its ten year run. 

It’s quite hilarious and a great round of fun, especially since there isn’t a main character in sight. Gaiden IF is carried entirely by a cast of side characters and former villains now taking over the role of protagonist. I’ve never seen a show go for an entire season with such minor characters playing such a huge role and that is one of the best aspects of it. Every week watching Ibuki Kouji, one of the most feared and powerful villains in the series being tormented and kicked around as a would-be hero now honestly carries the entire show. 

But really, this was one of the first anime to air post pandemic hiatus and it was so refreshing to have Vanguard back. Every week it reminded me how much I loved the franchise and anime in general, it was such a delight to finally have something enjoyable back in my life after such a grueling pandemic hiatus of nothing. 

Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken (2020)

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think there would be a modern adaptation of Dai no Daibouken, or The Adventures of Dai as it is being called in English now. This was one of my all time favorite Jump manga growing up and I always thought the original unfinished 1991 anime was the best we were ever going to get as far as animation goes, so to see this beautiful new series with its fantastic storyboarding and animation, great use of CG mixed in with hand drawn, and what seems like an outright declaration from the series itself that it will adapt the series in its entirety this time, it’s all too much. 

This new Dai adaptation is like a dream anime that was made just for me. Every Saturday morning I giddily log on to watch the new episode just like being a kid again with Saturday morning cartoons. If you are sleeping on this show, don’t! You won’t regret watching it, Dai was one of the all time great Shonen Jump properties of the 90’s and is ready to show kids today what that era has to offer!

Gundam Build Divers Re:rise Season 2

Rerise was hands down one of my favorite shows last year when the first cour aired, and this year is no different either, dare I say once again this was probably my favorite show of the whole year. It’s hard to really go into what made this second cour so good without flat out spoiling all the best parts, and all the character development, and all the amazing battles, but suffice to say, this may be one of the best Gundam shows of the entire decade, Build series or not. Hell I ain’t afraid to say this kicked G-Tekketsu (Iron Blooded Orphans) ass this way to Sunday, I don’t care that this is a toy commercial for a much younger audience. Basically, watch Rerise, it’s going to be a great time. 

If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die

This was another series that I expected very little from but ended up really enjoying each week. The basic premise is pretty simple, a super fan obsessed with an idol (singer) goes to insane lengths to support her and thinks her love will never be reciprocated but maybe it just might be. It’s kinda strange and an unusual romance series that isn’t really all that big on romance. In fact it seems to be much bigger on being informative about idol fan culture and nerd culture in general and poking fun at that while never being too mean spirited. 

I think that’s the charm of this one. These are by all extent weird kinda creepy people that are obsessed over young girl singers but it never demonizes its cast for that nor does it ever go too far in the power fantasy of them ‘getting the girl’. It’s about the struggle of fan life and the tightknit and utterly bizarre groups of friends you can make in a fandom--and also maybe some love might happen along the way.

Jujutsu Kaisen

Another big modern shonen jump battle manga got its chance to be animated this year, and this time courtesy of studio Mappa who are the real stars of this party. Everything about Jujutsu Kaisen feels like Mappa throwing down the gauntlet and trying to one-up the highly praised and beloved Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba from last year that wowed everyone with UFOtable’s signature beautiful animation. It’s very fascinating to see the insane levels of gorgeous jaw dropping action set pieces between these two series, both raising the bar to ridiculous levels in their own ways. On top of the animation front though are some very easily lovable characters, a much darker feeling supernatural story than one may expect, and probably Crunchyroll’s best dub produced in 2020. 

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken is another series from beloved auteur Masaaki Yuasa. Bringing with it his signature style and wonderful animation, his hardworking compatriots at studio Science Saro deliver something truly special, an anime about why anime is great and just how the heck it is made to begin with. I think one of my favorite aspects of Yuasa’s work is just how sincere almost his entire output is, and how you can really feel a certain kind of emotion and vision behind each work that is unique to it. For Eizouken it is definitely the joy of creation and what it means to pursue something creative. Easily one of the best watches of 2020 for both its visuals, sound design, characters with great chemistry that have to deliver very heavy and technical dialogue but do so in a really natural and enjoyable way--and hey the shows within the show that the girls make are also usually pretty interesting and good too.

MAJOR 2nd Season 2

I think my favorite aspect of this new middle school arc of MAJOR 2nd was seeing just how much Daigo has changed over the years since we last saw him in elementary school in the first season. No longer in little league and now trying to save his school’s baseball club, Daigo has grown into a strong leader and really feels natural with everyone he talks to. It’s a huge departure from the bullied and reclusive selfish kid he was in the first season. Seeing the kid grow up into somebody reliable and caring like this almost brings a tear to my eye. 

It’s an old cliché but saving the falling apart club in your school is a classic underdog story and the fact that Daigo built his own team from the ground up really sells it. The team is largely made up of girls too which brings a really great girl power aspect to it as well. With just 3 boys and the rest of the positions being filled with females, the haphazard team Daigo put together not only has to show that nobodies can make it but that girls are just as good as the boys.

Rent-a-Girlfriend

I love trashy romcom harem anime, I will be the first to admit it. I am not even their target audience, in fact I am probably the exact opposite of their target audience yet I can’t get enough of this kind of garbage, and Rent-a-Girlfriend brings in the garbagest of garbage it can! The name says it all right there, our hero is literally so pathetic he has to pay girls money to go on dates with him. And he just continues to ruin everything around him with his constant lying and all around patheticness. He is like a blackhole of suck that will drag down any and all that go near him. What more can you even want?! 

I am half facetious here of course, but to an extent what I said about Kazuya isn’t wrong. He’s the biggest loser around, and I love him. It’s fun to watch him squirm, and it’s nice to learn more about him and see he has a good side deep down too. In a lot of ways he’s probably one of the more relatable leads in these kinds of shows as he’s just as pathetic as all the rest of us who watch these kinds of shows are. But besides Kazuya there are plenty of nice leading ladies too and probably most surprisingly a fairly well fleshed out circle of friends that he hangs out with. Usually these kinds of shows will sideline the male friends of the leads and only focus on time between the lead and the girls, so it’s refreshing to see so much time spent with other boys in the show too. 

Also as an addendum to anyone who watches the series dubbed, Aleks Le‘s performance as the lead role is maybe some of the best casting in modern anime dubbing I have ever heard. He kills it in this show. It’s a performance that carries the entire show. 

Shadowverse

You might say, I saved the best for last, but honestly this was a coincidence. Shadowverse is a by-the-numbers card game anime. It starts very slow and very bland, and offers nothing new to the genre instead sticking entirely to the classic tropes and clichés of sports anime and Yu-Gi-Oh clones alike. That is for the first 12 episodes or so. It begins to evolve and gets a little more interesting from there, then something happens. Something I cannot explain. Something that makes no sense. Something that the production committee probably should not have allowed to occur. The show just goes absolutely, positively, certifiably, fucking insane. 

Out of nowhere, the plot suddenly turns into a straight Neon Genesis Evangelion knock-off, complete with plugsuits, random nonsense mysticism from exotic religions, and soul crushing nightmarishly harsh treatment of the child protagonists. Suddenly time freezes for everyone but the main characters, and the totally original not Kabbalah, Tree of Woe, begins to end the world. Now armed with their new psychic powers (that they just have now out of nowhere!) the kids have to fight brain washed former enemies and loved ones alike that seek to destroy the world via assimilation into the darkness. 

Suddenly we have moments like the above where Luca, the coldhearted and cool Shadowverse player who only ever began fighting in tournaments to earn money for his younger sick sister’s treatment has to face off against a possessed evil version of his sister who bemoans all the isolation he put her through, never being there with her, always away trying to earn money. She berates and destroys the young man’s heart for his well intentions. Luca with no other options has to put her down for the good of the world. 

You know, for the 12 year old kids in the audience that signed up for a show about a cellphone app.

I haven't even gotten to the best part yet, the show isn’t over! There’s still 12 episodes left in the series and do you wanna know the best part?! The heroes already failed! The world blew up and everyone got sucked into a blackhole and died! That’s not a joke. The bad guys won. And there’s still another season worth of episodes to go! I am not kidding, this is how the show ended the year 2020! This is legendary, no fucks given status if I ever saw it. The best way to end 2020 if ever there was one:

Every week I anxiously log on to watch Shadowverse after it jumped the shark just to see what insanity happens next. This is Tommy Wiseau The Room energy levels of pure insane dribble. Shadowverse might be the biggest disaster of a card game anime of all time, and I simply cannot get enough of it now.  

BONUS THOUGHTS For 2020

Random Anime Collecting: This year saw Discotek release three Case Closed/Detective Conan movies on blu-ray. Detective Conan is a series near and dear to my heart, and one I spent a lot of my college days obsessed over. This is a franchise I really went to great lengths to collect after Funimation reprinted many of the long time out of print volumes of the series back in 2013, and I bought them all back then. Buying new Detective Conan movies in 2020 felt super surreal, and also wonderful. I really hope I can keep buying more in 2021.

Hidive for these hard times: I didn’t include anything really from Sentai, I am not sure why, maybe none of what I watched this year would count as a favorite of mine, maybe I was just lazy and didn’t want to add to my list anymore. Honestly though I watched a lot of series this year on Hidive. I think my favorite has been the new dub of Pet Girl of Sakurasou. 

A Lost Classic: Nobody is talking about God Mazinger finally getting released in English from Discotek and that kind of bums me out. The series was one I obsessed over when younger, especially because it was rare to find even raw footage of it lead alone subtitled. It was never subtitled in fact, so Discotek’s release is the first time it has ever been in English. 

[givenanicatsomeanimecrack]

Wait...

Boruto cant really move right now, so, you're telling me he gonna watch his Dad or mentor being puched, tossed here and there and k worded in front of him just like that?? What the actual savage is that??!!!

Imagine the helplessness feeling at max when you know you can but there are things holding you down. Oh God!!

But, I doubt the plot will go this way. Either Boruto will push himself, fighting his broken ribs or his overwhelming determination would entertain Momoshiki to intervene in some way. Imagine his "Ahhh.. Your cute litte determination touched me"