#misaki: articles

[mi5a-ki]

BLACKPINK's Misa and Seventeen's Wonwoo are reportedly in a relationship!

Local news tabloid Dispatch released a report on December 31st that the idols are dating. Misa is the second BLACKPINK member caught dating by Dispatch and also the second to be revealed as the new years' dating couple of Kpop! According to the report, the Seventeen member was seen leaving Misa's apartment in Cheomgdam-dong with her dog in a leash, presumably taking the pet on a walk.

According to Dispatch, the duo have also traveled to Japan together to visit the BLACKPINK's member family. They were seen on the airport with matching couple items in December, before Christmas. They traveled in secret, without sharing their schedules.

It has also been rumored ever since Misa's speech during one of her lives, where she ended up almost saying the male idols name and got flustered by her actions while her fellow member, Jisoo, just laughed it off.

Both YG and Pledis have yet to either confirm or deny the rumors.

[zukazukazuka]

2025 Show Announcement: Hanagumi (Flower Troupe) to perform "CASTLEVANIA: Awakening in the Moonlight" alongside "Ai, Love Revue !" , starring Towaki Sea and Hoshizora Misaki.

The Castlevania play will be an original story and production based on the classic video game by Konami Digital Entertainment, written and directed by the revue's Suzuki Kei.

Performance dates:

Takarazuka Grand Theater in Takarazuka, Japan: June 7 - July 20, 2025 (Tickets on sale May 17)

Tokyo Takarazuka Theater in Tokyo, Japan: August 16 - September 28, 2025 (Tickets on sale July 13)

PSA for Castlevania fans not familiar with Takarazuka but interested in seeing the show under the cut:

unless weird copyright things happen, the Takarazuka revue almost always releases the majority of their performances on Blu-Ray / DVD before the end of the Tokyo run. You can purchase them on sites like CD Japan and Rakuten.

Since 2020, Takarazuka also does livestreams of the last performances in Takarazuka and Tokyo. You will need a VPN to buy tickets and watch the shows, which typically air at 1 or 1:30 PM JST.

If you'd like to see the show in person, please note that tickets can be very difficult to obtain and probably even more so for this show, but it's not entirely impossible! Some tickets will be available through the revue's English language website, but you can also purchase through their regular website (in Japanese), but need a Japanese phone number to sign up.

Many current foreign fans will be happy to give more info about both livestreaming and ticket purchasing processes, there are some guides already here on tumblr, but don't hesitate to ask for an update on anything that might seem outdated.

[lilyginnyblackv2]

What are Kazuki and Rei’s Options? - Buddy Daddies - Episode 10 - SPOILERS!

In Japan, same-sex couples cannot adopt children:

Text:  Adoption and parenting Same-sex couples are not allowed to legally adopt in Japan. Lesbian couples and single women are unable to access IVF and artificial insemination.

(From the Wikipedia page on LGBT rights in Japan, which will be linked in the comments.)

However, fostering children is currently an option for same-sex couples:

Now, in another sign of increasing acceptance of the LGBT+ community, it’s come to light that the city of Osaka has awarded foster care of a child to a same-sex male couple. While city administrators confirmed the couple’s foster parent status on April 5, 2017, the pair, consisting of one man in his 30s and another in his 40s, were approved as foster parents back in December of last year. Foster parent certification falls under the jurisdiction of local authorities, but Japan’s central Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare says that it has no previous record of a same-sex couple being awarded foster parent status, so the decision by Osaka appears to be the first of its kind in Japan. The Ministry also confirmed that its guidelines regarding foster parent selection make no specifications barring or giving preferential treatment to same-sex couples.

(Source: All About Japan - “Same-Sex Couples Can Now Be Foster Parents,” full article will be linked below in the comments.)

This is basically what we see Kazuki and Rei do, as of right now, with Miri. They foster her for a year, and she has returned back to her birth mother.

Now, what will happen next is unknown. There are options like Miri never returning to them/staying with her mom, one or both of them dying, etc. etc., but we aren’t going to be looking at those possibilities right now. Let’s look at ones where Miri is a part of their lives.

If they want Miri back in their lives then Kazuki and Rei will have to take care of the Organization and their connection to it, and then find alternative jobs to support themselves. Buddy Daddies takes place in modern day Japan, that is the setting, and they are treating the situations as functioning within the framework of what can and cannot be done in modern day Japan, in regards to childrearing, childcare, and so forth.

Unless they go the route of having Kazuki forge paperwork to be her birth father, since they look very similar:

Of course, this option would be a bit more convoluted. He couldn’t take on Miri’s birth father’s actual identity because he was a mafia boss and is currently, very much so, dead. But, they might be able to change it so that Miri would be Kazuki’s daughter. Then, Kazuki and Rei would be able to raise her, since she would be Kazuki’s birth child. 

But, unless Misaki were to pass away due to her cancer (which is a possibility, especially since she mentioned that it was spreading), the end result would still be a blended family situation:

Because even if Misaki had given Miri up for adoption or had abandoned her, the birth mother is still the legal guardian of their child. Unless the birth mother dies or goes completely MIA or the child isn’t put into the system at all (essentially just living on the streets), then there isn’t a way, in current Japanese society, for a birth mother to be completely divorced from their child.

That being said, blended families do exist in Japan, especially in the modern day when divorce, remarrying, and same-sex relationships being recognized are all becoming more common place. But, we rarely see blended families being portrayed in anime (specifically, I’m sure there is some exploration of this found in manga), and certainly not at a central level of any kind (like with what we have been seeing with Buddy Daddies and how it has been centralizing its focus on childcare and childrearing).

An blended family ending would still be just as queer and progressive as before. This sort of family dynamic would exist outside of the norm, and outside of the nuclear family expectation. The framing has been interesting too, because Miri’s mother is the one that essentially has to prove herself to both Kazuki and Rei and to Miri. She was brought back into the picture because it was the safer option for Miri at this moment, not just because she is Miri’s birth mother.

So I feel like, if a blended family situation does end up happening in the end, they won’t approach it in quite that way. Though, I also think that would be a point of contention at times (especially between Misaki and Kazuki) that wouldn’t be that uncommon for a blended family situation. Navigating issues like that is very common, I see my friends who are step-mothers and step-fathers have to navigate those waters often. If it were depicted in anime, even if it were for a brief bit (or in more depth if there were a second season and this is the route the series ultimately goes down), then that would be pretty neat.

Something else to note is that when Misaki states: “If you consider yourselves her parents as well,” she uses the word “parents,” 親 (oya), not guardians, 保護者 (hogosha) or other similar/related words. 保護者 (hogosha) does mean parent, but in a more inclusive way that is also referencing legal guardians as well. But she is acknowledging them as parents, the same as her.

Of course, there are some who are weary and skeptical of the integrity of Misaki. I think she is talking honestly and sincerely here, along with the rest of the episode, but if she’s not, then what will happen to Miri is that she will likely go to live with her grandparents or, like I mentioned before, the series goes a bit more of a convoluted and complex route with making Kazuki’s Miri’s “birth” father through forgery and the like. Or, they break the more realistic boundaries they’ve been working within so far, and make it so that Kazuki and Rei can just magically adopt Miri, but given the “realistic” mentions in a lot of the interviews with Uchiyama and Toyonaga, I don’t think that is likely.

If the series does go the route of having Miri go to live with her grandparents or mother and Kazuki and Rei aren’t brought into the family in a blended family way, but more so kept out (maybe with only the occasional visit or something). Then another possibility, especially if they do end up leaving the Oraganization and kind of “starting over” with new jobs and the like, is them becoming foster parents in general. 

Miri would be the first and the most precious one to them, but then they find a “normal happiness” with each other and become foster parents to other kids in the future. It would be a nice way to really show them changing right, in the sense of, instead of taking human lives, they would be caring for and fostering children - the future, and hopefully helping them turn out to be good people. That’s always a possibility, especially if there is some kind of large time skip in the last episode. 

Of course, the series could instead go in the direction of criticizing the cruelty that same-sex couples cannot adopt and therefore are basically only left with the option of fostering, unless they have a blood-related child through natural means of birth. That is always a possibility as well, and is something that I feel they do kind of hit on a bit in Episode 10, especially with Rei’s line here:

(Rei: “To say that after we’re all attached...it’s cruel.”)

But yeah, thinking about it, when it comes to positive outcomes, in the sense of Kazuki, Rei, and Miri living and Kazuki and Rei being able to escape the Organization, then I think the ending options are going to be one of the above. Everything in this post is pure speculation, since the series is anime original, we don’t know for sure what direction it will ultimately go in.

But these options here are the ones sticking out the most to me at the moment (once again, if we only look at potentially happy endings, rather than any potential overly tragic/bad end ones). It’s also possible that they may be critical of something (like with Rei’s words on the cruelty of it all), while also still painting an option, like Kazuki and Rei deciding to become foster parents, as something that is still an overall good and positive change for them, specifically. 

I like there is a potential messiness to the situation and overall premise that is presented in Buddy Daddies, because it makes it feel like the series is properly exploring the realities of the situation and the options that are open and available to Kazuki and Rei. It’s bleak in some ways, hopeful in others, and I am intrigued by what direction they will ultimately go in.

As always, feel free to add your thoughts to this as well! :D I always love reading them! <3

[ridiasfangirlings]

Fushimi and Yata became parents and they get a call from school that their kid got in a fight (and wins). Their kid explains that it wasn't his fault cause the other guy started it and was trying to bully them and some other kids. What would Fushimi and Yata's reaction be?

I mean let’s face it, their reaction is absolutely ‘did our kid win?’ XD Imagine they get a call from school that their kid got into a fight, Yata’s on the phone and without even thinking asks ‘who won?’ and then quickly has to backtrack when the principal is clearly unimpressed by that reaction. They have to come pick the kid up and Yata’s worrying a little that maybe their kid started bullying people, like Yata got in trouble for fighting all the time too but he only beat up guys who deserved it. Fushimi rolls his eyes and says if their kid was fighting it’s all due to Misaki’s genes anyway, which means they were probably trying to stand up to bullies. Yata feels a little proud about that before being like wait what do you mean my genes made our kid get into a fight. 

When they get to the school the principal is waiting with their kid, telling the kid to explain things to his parents. Before Yata and Fushimi can say a word the kid starts in on how the other guy started it and was bullying other kids, the teachers weren’t stopping it so Yata and Fushimi’s kid had to. The principal is like ‘now that’s not a reason to fight, you should tell an adult’ but Yata’s already like I knew my kid wouldn’t fight without a good reason, good job showing that bully who’s boss. The kid beams while the principal is like I don’t believe we should condone fighting, Yata’s all fuck that if someone’s getting bullied and no adults will help you gotta take things into your own hands. He’s all ready to take the kid out for ice cream, the principal is scandalized and trying to explain their kid is going to be suspended. 

That’s when Fushimi speaks up and mentions that this school has a history of bullying incidents not being taken seriously by administration, pulling out his PDA to show all the news articles he just hunted down, and wondering if this is something that should be taken to the media before it gets more serious, it’s clear that there’s a failure of the adults in charge if kids have to take things into their own hands. The principal stares at him blankly, just getting bulldozed by Fushimi’s rapid-fire explanation of the facts, Yata and the kid are grinning because they figured everything would be taken care of once Fushimi decided to say something. In the end the kid is not suspended and gets ice cream, Yata wants to hear all about how his kid beat up a bully (while Fushimi’s actions with the principal are shown as ‘here’s another way to deal with bullies when you can’t punch them’).

[sephyrrr]

No but seriously how do they plan to explain to miri where her mother went? You can only keep the “she went somewhere” lie up for so long, eventually they will have to either tell her that misaki is dead or that she abandoned miri both of which will traumatise her…

Edit: they could say her mum passed away from cancer but kyu called the police so there should be at least one online article about a women shot in her own apartment, one google search of her mums name and jig is up right?

[sweetiesicheng]

_world

debut journey - 01

word count : 1,546

warnings : none (at least i don’t think so)

author note : i have like seven chapters done, but i keep getting shy about posting lol

previous : debut journey - 00

next : debut journey - 02

—

"get off your phone."

you look next to you and notice that dino had sat down next to you. instead of replying to him right away, you just look back at your phone screen and scroll through the various news articles that have been published in the past few days.

"i haven't read anything too horrible about me yet," you mention as you click on a new article. "oh! this one called me pretty," you say with a smile on your face as you skim through the first paragraph.

all of a sudden, dino takes your phone away from you, turning the screen off in the process.

"hey!"

"i'm just looking out for you. you know that all of us agreed to not read any articles about you except for the company and s.coups," he lightly scolds you and stands up. "can someone take misaki’s phone away from her?" he asks out loud while holding your phone in the air. some of the guys look over at you two. you jump up from the floor and start jumping in attempt to take your phone back, but dino keeps dodging your attempts by moving his arm around.

"i'll go hide it somewhere she can't reach," mingyu says and starts walking over to you two.

"hey! not again! stop using height as an advantage around me!" you yell and tackle dino to the ground in attempt to get your phone back from him. you both landed with thumps but again, dino keeps your phone out of your reach somehow.

"guys, food will be here in an hour. let's keep practicing," hoshi announces while you continue to attack dino.

“maybe we can practice once this fiasco ends,” you hear jun say.

"mingyu hyung, catch it!" dino shouts and slides your phone towards the rapper.

"lee jungchan!" you yell and get up, going after the rapper, who started running across the practice room. "kim mingyu!" you start chasing after him before hearing someone call your name.

"kang hyunjin. stop acting like that so we can practice," s.coups speaks, using his leader tone.

you come to a stop and turn to look at the leader with a pout on your face.

"that's not working on me this time. come on, let's practice."

you groan and cross your arms while someone turns the music back on. you start getting back into the groove of things despite having your phone stolen, and you focus on the choreography for the title track.

"hey, let's practice the lift," woozi suggests after a few minutes. "and don't throw me this time, mingyu."

"oh come on! that was one time!"

—

"and then you two switch spots and then the next spots," the choreographer speaks while walking through the formations. he's making sure they were okay and that no one would bump into each other due to minor things that have occurred at previous rehearsals. "misaki, take a small step to your left. okay, then you guys will walk out and join everyone, and then it'll jump into the chorus," he explains and continues walking through the formations.

after a few more changes, you rehearse about half of the song, taking in the changes while putting a lot of energy into the dancing.

the choreographer looks through their notes with someone before looking at you. "misaki, can you do something cool here?" the choreographer asks you.

"something cool?" you question, not really sure what they meant by their question.

"they're lifting woozi, but the counts before he gets down, i think it'd be good if you did something," he says to you.

jun turns around since he is in front of you. "can you still all that cool stuff?" he asks.

you nod. you used to tumble and do cool tricks just like the8, but it has been awhile since you practiced. plus, the guys were overly cautious since the8 was still injured.

"oh, i could do this," you say and gesture the guys behind you to move out of the way. you do a trick and land on the floor. despite feeling a bit uneasy after landing, you look up at the choreographer and watch their expression.

"do you need a running start?" the choreographer asks you.

you nod, "it'd be a lot easier if i have one," you say.

"go to the spots where woozi is lifted up," the choreographer instructs and everyone follows. "if you're there, do you have enough room?" they ask you while pointing to a spot.

"yea, that's plenty," you reply.

"alright. if there's a stage where it's dangerous or not enough room, just stay in your original spot," the choreographer says to you. "or actually, you could mirror jun so both of you look cool."

you nod your head.

"jun, you'll need to stay where you are when misaki tumbles and make sure you don't move too much so no one hits you," the choreographer says to jun.

"okay."

"can we just do that part? and make sure the music works?" hoshi asks, "misaki's next spot is kind of far," he adds.

"play the music. dance full out please, no marking. be aware of spacing," the choreographer instructs.

everyone changes spots and the music starts playing around the8's part. you dance at full power, making sure you have enough energy for the ending of the song.

once it gets to jun's part, you move to a certain spot. then, you start running and do the trick as it goes into woozi's part. then, you slide to your next spot and start dancing to the next part before the music turns off again.

"misaki, was that okay?" the choreographer asks you.

"uh huh," you nod, "i can do it."

"okay, let's check spacing again. stand in the spots for the8's part," he instructs and rehearsal continues on with your new trick added to the choreography.

—

"are you sure you can do it with the timing?" the8 asks you during your dinner break. you're currently waiting for more food to be delivered before eating with the rest of the guys.

you nod, "yea. i just haven't tumbled in awhile, but i'll be fine," you say to him.

he's definitely still skeptical but nods his head at you. "okay, just be careful," he says to you. "just look cool if you can't do it depending on the stage."

"i always look cool," you reply and both of you smile at each other. then, he walks away to go eat his dinner.

there's a decent amount of space cleared since a lot of the dancers were out of the room. you decide to do a few tricks to see if you could still do them, knowing that the guys were probably eyeing you to make sure you were safe.

you carefully did a few easy things before moving into actual tricks. after doing one trick, you notice wonwoo move out of your way.

"did i land too close to you?" you ask him.

he shakes his head, "you're good. keep going," he says to you. you nod and smile at him.

you did a few more tricks and did the trick for the song a few times, making sure you could land it and easily slide out of the way.

"misaki, do something again. i wanna record you," dk says to you while holding up his phone with a spoon also in his hands.

"don't record me! i probably look ridiculous right now!" you say, covering your face with your arms and turning your body away.

"misaki, you look pretty as always," jeonghan compliments you.

"yea, you look great! come on, carats will want to see you," dk says to you, still holding his phone up.

"come on, misaki. you'll look so cool," seungkwan says, also holding his phone up to record you.

you sigh but jog over to one end of the room to get some more space. you decide what to do and shake your limbs to get the nerves out of your body.

"misaki, misaki, misaki," mingyu chants for you along with dino and vernon.

you run and do a round off into a few back handsprings before ending with a back flip. however, you don't stick your landing and fall to the floor.

you immediately panic and look at the guys, "don't keep that recording!" you yell and get up from the floor.

"too late!" dk yell, "i'm posting it right now!"

"yah!" you yell and run up to him, trying to swipe his phone away but failed. "s.coups!" you immediately whine, looking at the leader with a pout.

"let them post it. you haven't started posting yet," s.coups says to you from the chair he's sitting on.

you roll your eyes in response. "you said to start after the album comes out," you sit on the floor and cross your arms, still pouting.

"she's mad at you, dokyeom," joshua laughs, patting your back in attempt to comfort you.

"want me to make it up? watch this," dk says to you and goes to the center of the room.

"oh god."

"is he doing it again?"

"dk, just stop it."

"can i be mad at him even more?"

"hey! what am i doing wrong?" dk asks.

"everything, that's what."

—

previous : debut journey - 00

next : debut journey - 02

back to series masterlist

[historyhermann]

Bang, Bang, Pop!: Reviewing Girls With Guns Anime

Created in Microsoft Paint.

In recent years, there have been even more anime featuring girls with guns, expanding the genre. I decided to examine this genre and offer my thoughts.

Reprinted from The Geekiary, my History Hermann WordPress blog on Feb. 17, 2023, and Wayback Machine. This was the fifty-first article I wrote for The Geekiary. This post was originally published on August 16, 2022.

When you think of girls with guns in popular culture, you might think of Lara Croft, Sarah Connor, Alien, Foxy Brown, or Coffy. However, there are more than just hundreds of films featuring girls with guns. In anime, there are over 20 girls with guns series.

While there are many strong anime gunslinging girls, there aren't as many anime which are truly "girls with guns". It is a genre defined by series such as the 1980s sci-fi comedy and space opera, Dirty Pair, centered on two women: Kei and Yuri.

Since then, there have been many more series, including the recently-ended Vampire in the Garden and currently airing Lycoris Recoil. There are also older series such as Gunsmith Cats, El Cazador de la Bruja, Noir, and Otherside Picnic. This article reviews these six series and four others. It is sample of a much wider array of girls with guns anime.

This post contains spoilers for the ten series that I'm writing about. So, without further ado, let me begin!

Girls with guns are stars of the show in Lycoris Recoil 

Chisato Nishikigi defends herself from those trying to kill her in the show's sixth episode

This original anime series by Spider Lily and Asaura is all the rage. The /r/yurimemes subreddit is filled with posts of Chisato (Chika Anzai) and Takina Inoue (Shion Wakayama), the show's protagonists, as is /r/wholesomeyuri. The show's yuri subtext is often noted. Furthermore, the show's subreddit, /r/LycorisRecoil, has over 4500 subscribers. The show's story, characters, animation, and dialogue make it easy to like.

The series begins when Takina brazenly uses a machine gun against criminals, threatening the life of a fellow "Lycoris", an armed intelligence agent. The covert organization, Direct Attack (DA), fires her. She is then transferred to Café LycoReco, a DA front organization, where she meets Chisato, a fellow Lycoris. She also meets a former DA member named Mizuki Nakahara (Ami Koshimizu) and an Afro-Japanese man named Mika (Kosuke Sakaki) who runs the cafe.

The series pulls you in due to Takina's struggle with fellow DA agents who resent her, and villains who attempt to take down Lycoris. The same can be said about Chisato's mysterious past and a hacker named Kurumi (Misaki Kuno) joins the show's heroes. The series often focuses on growing friendship between Takina and Chisato, arguably with romantic undertones. Unlike other anime about girls with guns, Chisato only uses rubber bullets. This means that those she does not kill anyone, a practice Takina adopts, as they work together as a team.

Momo shines through in Vampire in the Garden

Momo defends herself from a vampire girl, Alicia

This original dark fantasy net anime features many girls with guns. Front and center is Momo (Megumi Han) who runs away from home, where she is a soldier, and trainee in a war against vampires. She meets Fine (Yū Kobayashi), queen of the vampires, learning to love life and experience music all at the same time. Unfortunately, her controlling mother, Nobara (Rika Fukami) sends out a search party to find Momo. She wants to bring her "back" to "civilization" and way from the purportedly "barbaric" vampires.

In the process, Fine and Momo grow closer to one another. Like many other girls with guns anime, there are many yuri vibes in the series. In fact, neither of these protagonists gets a chance to live together. They are chased throughout the anime and do not have a chance to rest. This is because society sees relationships between humans and vampires as "unnatural" and does not accept them.

The focus on the relationship between Fine and Momo parallels those who do not accept queer relationships and those othered by society. Rather than an anime solely about girls with guns, Vampire in the Garden is a mature dark fantasy filled with blood, death, explosions, and serious injury. Even so, there are scenes with a slice-of-life feel. This five-episode anime ends positively. Momo founds a society many years later where humans and vampires can live together in peace.

Gunsmith Cats exemplifies the girls with guns genre

Irene "Rally" Vincent at the shooting range in the episode "Neutral Zone"

This adventure-crime series is based on an eight-volume manga of the same name illustrated, and written, by Kenichi Sonoda. It is different than other series in this post because it is loosely set in Chicago. It centers around Irene "Rally" Vincent (Michiko Neya), a 19-year-old woman who operates "Gunsmith Cats" gun shop. She works with 17-year-old explosives expert and former sex worker named "Minnie" May Hopkins (Kae Araki) as a bounty hunter in the underworld.

The anime is an original video animation (OVA), released between November 1995 and September 1996. It is only three episodes long.  Some reviewers praised the animation as colorful, fun, and a "solid piece" of filmmaking. Others praised the action, artwork, and said it sounded like a "gritty" suburb of Chicago. Moreover, there were those who described the animation as smooth, said it has the same amount of humor as the original manga, but complained that the series should have been longer.

Like Vampire of the Garden and Lycoris Recoil, yuri themes are implied. Although Yuricon's founder Erica Friedman does not write about the anime on her blog, Okazu, she did review each volume of the five-volume manga, Gunsmith Cats BURST. In her reviews, she notes the yuri subtext between Rally and Minnie. She also noted that mafia donna Goldie Musso is a stereotypical "evil" lesbian. In the manga, all three of them live together. Otherwise, the series fits within the girls with guns anime genre.

Love, amnesia, and guns in El Cazador de la Bruja

Nadie, Ellis, and nuns shelter in a basement, hiding for people out to get them, in an episode

This 2007 series, a mix of modern Western, adventure, and yuri, is a classic girls with guns anime. It centers around Ellis (Ai Shimizu), a fugitive who has amnesia, an unknown past, and powers of some kind, and a bounty hunter named Nadie (Shizuka Itō). Both travel south in hopes of finding the key to who Ellis is, where she was born, and what she did.

In a review of El Cazadar de la Bruja first episode, Friedman noted that there were clear yuri vibes. But, she worried there would be another "ambiguously yuri" relationship like other Madlax series. However, in a review at the end of the series, Friedman praised the growing romance between Nadie and Ellis. She said it is different than Noir in more ways than one.

Others were more critical of this series, especially purported "filler" episodes. They noted that even the show's gun violence is restrained. This series is unlike other anime in this genre as it is set in the Southwest United States and Mexico. As a result, it shares similarities with Western animations like Nomad of Nowhere and The Legend of Calamity Jane. Both series have gun-toting female protagonists.

Girls with guns are at the center of Noir 

Kirika and Marielle in the front, with Chloe in the background, in an image on the show's now-defunct official website in 2003

This adventure anime is as well-known as El Cazador de la Bruja. It is often noted as exemplary of the girls with guns genre in anime. It centers on two female assassins, a Corsican woman named Mireille Bouquet (Hōko Kuwashima) and a Japanese woman with amnesia, Kirika Yuumura (Kotono Mitsuishi). Both journey together to learn about their past. They ally together and assassinate "bad" people under a code name: Noir. They face a French secret organization named Les Soldats, led by Altena (Tarako), which is out to kill them, and a skilled assassin named Chloe (Aya Hisakawa).

Friedman, who I've mentioned earlier, criticized the series for weak animation at times. But, she praised the show's music, settings, and yuri vibes in the series. She added that people will put up with the series, despite absurd storylines because it has an attractive woman with a gun. TV Tropes, on a page about LGBTQ fanbase of anime and manga, stated that the series garnered a "sizable lesbian fanbase" due to the "ambiguous" relationship between Mireille and Kirika. They also noted the subtle lesbian attraction shown later.

Director Koichi Mashimo described this series, Madlax, and El Cazador de la Bruja, as his "girls-with-guns genre trilogy". Some praised the 26-episode series for redefining girls with guns series, with an elegant, and sleek story. But they criticized it for having repetitive actions sequences. Others said that Noir was an original anime which "stands out". In the end, the series changed the girls with guns genre for years to come, although no series since then has been exactly like it.

Girls with guns are focal point of Otherside Picnic 

Sorowo aims a military-style weapon while Toriko sits next to her

This adventure sci-fi yuri series centers around two women. One is a college student named Sorawo Kamikoshi (Yumiri Hanamori) who enters parallel worlds named the Otherside. The other is the woman who saves her, a former Canadian special forces soldier named Torika Nishina (Ai Kayano). The series focuses on Nishina's quest for her friend, and their repeated attempts to return to the Otherside to gain artifacts, with the help of Kozakura (Rina Hidaka). However, the world affects them physically and mentally in ways they didn't expect.

Early last year, I began watching this series, excited to watch it since too many yuri anime are either set in schools or fantasies, with the implication that lesbian relationships will be short-lived and even replaced by heterosexuality. Unfortunately, this series did not deliver on that promise. Friedman criticizes the series for being a "children’s version of the novels". My bigger qualm is that the series did not deliver on the yuri that seemed present from the beginning, despite romantic vibes throughout.

Otherside Picnic remains within the girls with guns genre. Even in a few episodes, Sorawo and Torika save U.S. military soldiers from Okinawa who are stuck in the Otherside. Unfortunately, this becomes imperialist apologia. It glosses over problems with U.S. military occupation, and presence, in Okinawa, and Japan. It marks a low point for the entire series.

Girls with guns have an important role in Blue Drop

Yūko takes out a gun to defend Mari from harm in the show's sixth episode

This 2007 yuri sci-fi drama contains some girls with guns. On the manga cover, a girl named Shōta has a gun. On the other hand, neither of the show's protagonists, Mari or Hagino, uses a gun during the series. Instead, secondary characters like Yūko and Tsubael have guns. Yūko even confronts Hagino at gunpoint. Otherwise, there are armed sentries on the ships from another world.

Blue Drop delivers more on yuri themes than Otherside Picnic or even, arguably, Lycoris Recoil. And you don't even need on yuri goggles to see it. It is more than a "fun watch" with likable characters, some of whom are morally ambiguous. Instead, it is an enveloping story which draws you in, with its plot and animation. Even the ending is heartbreaking.

Since the series is usually put into the sci-fi and yuri genres, reviewers don't often put it into the girls with guns genre. Although there are fewer girls with guns in Blue Drop than other series noted in this article, it has positives which go beyond other series. It is a classic that can be watched over and over. The same can likely also be said about the affiliated manga which ran from 2004 to 2008.

Badass girls with guns are central to Canaan

Canaan about to fire her pistol during the show's opening

This 2009 mystery thriller is little-known, despite the fact that a Japanese game company, Type-Moon, created it. It's based on a special scenario originally outlined in 2009 game, 428: Shibuya Scramble. This anime centers on a gun-toting assassin and mercenary named Canaan (Miyuki Sawashiro). She faces a rival named Alphard Al Sheya (Maaya Sakamoto), a skilled assassin who heads a terrorist organization named Snake. Canaan also has a pretty reporter friend named Maria Ōsawa (Yoshino Nanjō).

Canaan and Alphard are both skilled at using firearms, as is ex-mercenary Siam (Akio Ōtsuka), Alphard's lieutenant, Liang Qi (Rie Tanaka), and many others. Predictably, yuri themes are spread throughout this anime. Canaan often saves Maria from sticky situations thanks to her ability to perceive people's emotions as colors. They clearly are attracted toward each other. The series ends with Canaan being, in the words of Friedman, "awarded equal status to Maria in her heart."

Otherwise, Canaan is action-packed, with fast-paced fight sequences and chases. In some ways, it makes me think of chase scenes in Carmen Sandiego, although the ones in that series are never filled with guns, but with other deadly weapons instead. This series is unique because Canaan is from an unnamed country in the Middle East, presumably Syria or Lebanon. It adds another dimension to the story.

Guns, love, and demons in Engage Kiss

Shu, Sharon, and Ayano pictured on the show's official website.

In this ongoing, and currently airing, romantic comedy, one character stands out as a girl with a gun: Ayano Yugiri (Lynn). She is the former girlfriend of Shuu Ogata (Soma Saito). He lost his memories of their relationship after partnering with a demon named Kisara (Saya Aizawa). To give her the necessary demon powers to fight, he kisses her, which erases a memory every time he does so.

While it seems, at first, that she chooses his memories to erase at random, it is later shown that she can choose which ones to erase. She even eliminates a time that Shuu and Ayano have sex, enjoy each other's company. She also eliminates a time when Shuu had sex with the demon-hating priest, Sharon Holygrail (Rumi Okabo), and poisoned her in a devious way.

Ayano has the most skills at using firearms apart from Shuu. It has not been revealed how she is so skilled, but she may have on-the-job experience. Unlike Lycoris Recoil, the only other people who use guns are the police, as the villains often manipulate demons instead. None of the show's characters without faults, and have all likely done deplorable things.

A gun-toting protagonist in Venus Versus Virus 

Lucia fires her gun in the show's opening

This dark fantasy and supernatural thriller centers around two girls with guns: Lucia Nahashi (Ayahi Takagaki) and Sumire Takahana (Minori Chihara). Although it has been rightly described as a series to avoid by Stig Høgset of THEM Anime Reviews. He argued that it is "lazy and dumb", with mild fanservice and violence. That makes it different from others in this genre, which are usually more violent and bloody.

In Venus Versus Virus, Lucia, especially, is skilled with use of a firearm. She works to protect Sumire, along with others, from harm that demons, known as "viruses", can inflict. Predictably they both bond in the process. Even so, the yuri themes in this story are not very strong, with neither Lucia nor Sumire appearing to be lesbians.

On the other hand, the series is strong as an anime that features girls with guns. As such, it is relatively well-established in the genre. In fact, when bullets hit Sumire, it causes her violent personality to surface, which can be harmful to anyone around her.

Closing thoughts

There are many other examples of girls with guns anime.  Some of the most prominent, apart from Dirty Pair, include Bubblegum Crisis, Miami Guns, Gunslinger Girl, and Burn-Up. One critic argued that while there aren't many true girls with guns anime, the ones that do exist have been so influential, it has created "an entire thematic genre and stereotype of anime."

Princess Principal and the film, Kite Liberator also fall into the genre. Even Izetta: The Last Witch might fall into the genre since Izetta rides an anti-tank rifle. Apart from Sabine Wren, Padme Amidala, and Zam Wessell, who tote guns in the Star Wars franchise, there's no Western animated equivalent of the genre. On the other hand, there are some gun-wielding women elsewhere, like Millie in Helluva Boss.

There are many girls with guns within anime, but even with newer series, it remains to be seen if the current trend toward more girls with guns will continue. Many of the series within the genre, such as Strike Witches, Michiko & Hatchin, Grenadier, and Upotte!! are years old. The same is the case for Madlax, set in the same world as Birdie Wing.

With anime production companies flush with cash, there is a possibility of further girls with guns anime in the future.

© 2022-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[yuzukahibiscus]

【Performance Review】Flower Troupe “MAYERLING” “ENCHANTEMENT －A Luxurious Perfume－”

A royal love romance that Takarazuka Revue is proud of, Yuzuka Rei creates an ultimate aesthetic for the tragic Crown Prince

(This article was taken from Ronza, which you can find the original article here. This is the free coverage of the whole review.)

Flower Troupe performance Musical Romance “MAYERLING” “ENCHANTEMENT – A Luxurious Perfume –” opens its first day (Shonichi) in the Takarazuka Grand Theatre on January 1st.

The stage performance “MAYERLING” is set in 19th century Austria, describing the poignant love story between Crown Prince Rudolf and Baroness Mary. It has been performed several times since its premiere in 1983 and is now proudly a representative performance in Takarazuka Revue. This is both the 40th anniversary since the premiere and performed again in the stage of Takarazuka Grand Theatre after 30 years, adding in new direction that follows current modernity.

The one playing the tragic Crown Prince Rudolf is of course Flower Troupe Top Star Yuzuka Rei-san. Beyond the solemn image of the pure white military outfit, she creates an aesthetic world with her expressions full of despair. Together with Hoshikaze Madoka-san who plays as Mary, you have the beautiful and compatible Top Combi. This ephemeral, beautiful, ultimate love romance opens 2023 for Takarazuka Revue glamorously. (Spoilers below.)

Yuzuka’s beauty in the tragic prince

When we talk about “MAYERLING”, the first we remember is the opening scene, right. Symmetrical to the crimson red grand staircase are Rudolf and Mary standing and just from that alone, Takarazuka fans can’t hold their enthusiasm anymore. Then comes the dramatic introduction of Rudolf and Mary’s lines, which is definitely the signature of this production. That moved feeling when the curtain opens up as the beautiful melody plays, is unchanging in any era.

–– January 26 1889, the German embassy in Vienna. In the ball where the royal family attended, happily dancing are Crown Prince Rudolf (Yuzuka) and baroness Mary Vestera (Hoshikaze). But both of them already secretly made decisions in their heart. Going back in time 9 months ago. Heralded as the next emperor, Rudolf was burdened with affairs and conventions, having a cold relationship with his wife Stephanie (Haruhi Urara) and living the stifling days. On the other hand, (Rudolf) praises the lives his cousin Johann (Minami Maito) and his lover Millie (Hoshizora Misaki) lead, despite (Johann) being a member of the Habsburgs. One day, Rudolf met Mary in the celebration of Burgtheatre. Since he also wants to live a life like Johann... He couldn’t stop thinking about it and he was strongly interested by the girl ––

The prologue continues with a Vienna Waltz, a graceful one. The beautiful musumeyaku and the princes, whom look like they came out from mangas, danced ballet and right from there, the atmosphere is dreamy.

In that kind of world view, Rudolf who appears in that Viennese ball is especially beautiful. Her sadness concealed in her gaze and her flawless and smart actions made me realise again that this is the charm of Takarazuka otokoyaku which cannot be found elsewhere.

Responsible for the next era of Europe is successor Rudolf, who doesn’t have a day of rest in heart. The feud with his father, the relationship with his mother, his childhood education... You could see that invisible heavy pressure, and that loneliness clouded on Yuzuka-san’s Rudolf and by seeing that alone makes me heart wrenched. It is eerily fascinating to see how fitting it is for this prince chained in this decadent and aesthetic world, to have a horrifying skull and pistol on his table. Above all, when he couldn’t meet Mary, his sexy aura is exquisite as he rumages his military outfit in the bar. This process enhances persuasion as we see how Rudolf is forced into where he was.

Yuzuka-san has already played Rudolf in 2014 Flower Troupe performance “ELISABETH”. Even though she was also amazing then, this depth accumulated over the year adds onto a new layer of charm. I can experience yet a different depth of emotions.

【公演評】花組「梅耶林」「ENCHANTEMENT －華麗的香水－」

寶塚歌劇團引以為豪的皇室愛情羅曼史，柚香光為悲情的皇太子打造極致審美

（本文摘自論座，您可以在此處找到原文章。這是整個評論的免料部分。）

1月1日，花組公演浪漫音樂劇「梅耶林」「ENCHANTEMENT – 華麗的香水 –」初日在寶塚大劇場開幕。

舞台劇「梅耶林」以19世紀的奧地利為背景，描述了魯道夫皇太子與瑪麗男爵夫人之間淒美的愛情故事。 自1983年首演以來已多次公演，現已成為寶塚歌劇團的代表公演。 這既是首演40週年，也是時隔30年再次登上寶塚大劇場的舞台，增添了符合現代性的新執導方向。

扮演悲慘的皇太子魯道夫的，當然是花組的TOP STAR柚香光了。 在純白軍裝的莊嚴形象之外，她充滿絕望的表情營造了一個唯美的世界。 與扮演瑪麗的星風まどか一起，就是美麗且兼容的TOP控比。 2023 年，寶塚歌劇團以這種短暫、美麗、終極的愛情羅曼史開場。（以下劇透。）

悲劇的王子，柚香的美

說起「梅耶林」，我們最先想到的應該是開場吧。站在赤紅色大階段與之對稱的是魯道夫和瑪麗。光看這一點，寶塚的粉絲們就再也按捺不住了。然後是戲劇性的序幕，魯道夫和瑪麗說出台詞，絕對是這部作品的標誌。伴隨著優美的旋律拉開帷幕的那種感動，在任何時代都不會改變。

——1889年1月26日，德國駐維也納大使館。 在王室一家都出席的舞會上，皇太子魯道夫（柚香）和男爵夫人瑪麗維斯特拉（星風）歡快地跳舞。 但兩人心裡都已經暗自做了決定。 在9個月前，被譽為下任皇帝的魯道夫身負繁重的事務和慣例，與妻子斯蒂芬妮（春妃うらら）關係冷淡，過著令人窒息的日子。 另一方面，儘管（約翰）是哈布斯堡王朝的成員，（魯道夫）讚揚他的堂兄約翰（水美舞斗）和他的情人米莉（星空美咲）的生活。 一天，魯道夫在城堡劇院的慶典上與瑪麗相遇。 因為他也想過著約翰那樣的生活⋯他不禁想到這裡，對這個女孩產生了濃厚的興趣——

序幕以優美的維也納華爾茲繼續。 美麗的��役們和彷彿從漫畫中走出來的王子們跳著芭蕾舞，一開始就營造出夢幻般的氛圍。

在那樣的世界觀裡，在那個維也納舞會上出現的魯道夫格外美麗。 她那眼神中隱藏的憂傷，那完美無瑕的動作，讓我再次體會到，這就是寶塚男役的魅力，在別處是找不到的。

本身應承擔下一個歐洲時代的是繼任者魯道夫，他心中沒有一天可以休息。 與父親的不和，與母親的關係，從小的教育⋯可以看到籠罩在柚香桑魯道夫身上那無形的沉重壓力和孤獨感，光是看到這些就讓人心痛。 看到這位被困在這個頹廢又淒美世界中的王子，桌子上放著可怕的頭骨和手槍竟然是多麼合適，是不可思議的感覺。最重要的是，在無法見到瑪麗艾的情況下，他在酒場弄亂了軍裝，散發著性感的氣質是極致的。當我們看到魯道夫是如何被逼迫時，這種過程增強了說服力。

柚香桑已經在2014年花組公演「ELISABETH」中飾演魯道夫。 儘管她當時也很了不起，但多年積累的這種深度，又增添了一層新的魅力，體驗到不同深度的情感。

[himebushou]

Okay, so let's say that Buddy Daddies goes into realism realism.

Misaki's death would make the news, right?

In Japan, gun violence is incredibly rare. Have a look at this extract from a July 2022 article in Time magazine (emphasis mine):

Japan, a country of more than 125 million people, experiences significantly less gun violence and other forms of violent crime than the global rate. Annual gun death rates in Japan typically amount to single figures. In 2019, there were only nine deaths from firearms, according to the World Health Organization. That same year, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the rate of licensee firearm owners in Japan was 0.16 per 100 people.

It's easy to imagine local people being deeply shocked by what happened to Misaki.

I'm assuming that the police would interview staff and families at Aozora Daycare – and I'm pretty certain that the mothers would be forthcoming about what they saw...

Yes, Unasaka Misaki did drop her daughter off to Aozora, but she suddenly appeared out of the blue... before that, Miri was dropped off by her lovely father. Oh, Kurusu Kazuki? He's a comedian. Well, no, none of us have been to any of his shows. But what does that matter? There was a struggle at Misaki-san's apartment? Why do you think Kazuki Papa had anything to do with it? He dotes on Miri-chan! He's just on tour right now! There's nothing shady about Kazuki Papa! He's one of us!

[talenlee]

Story Pile: Tomo-Chan Is A Girl!

This time last year I wrote about the at-the-time meme-of-a-show, Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie. That anime was ‘renowned’, because it had a really good trailer, and by really good I mean it made a bunch of lesbians sigh. Perhaps because it was first brought to my attention by a bunch of women saying ‘I want to be her’ or ‘I want to be hers’ I first approached that series wondering if this was going to be an ultimately unsatisfying experience for y’know, queer women. This meant I watched all thirteen episodes expecting or imagining something else was going to happen, attentive and focused for some possible insight into whatever this anime was doing that was a bit different, a bit cleverer, and in the process, I wound up really enjoying the series. I liked it, I liked the characters it showed me, I liked a lot of the jokes (even wound up sharing a few of them) and I thought it was a really good launching off point for some discussions. I still think that it’s one of the better articles I wrote last year, and part of why was because I took an anime about a subject I’m normally not interested in – romantic comedy – and gave it a fully focused, critical look.

That was the lens for Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie, and it encouraged me to try the next thing in the same genre that caught my eye, which is why I watched Tomo-Chan’s A Girl, another anime that promised to be about relationships to gender, relationships, and how difficult it can be for two completely compatible people to get over their own hang-ups and actually talk to one another about how much they want to kiss. This is a great follow-up to Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie, though, because it means now I have a point of contrast for Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie with a much, much dumber show.

Content Warning and Spoiler Warning! Tomo-Chan Is A Girl is a series that has some low-key gender feels (a woman wondering about how she can be legitimised as a woman) and some pretty lousy ways for people to talk about girls, and oh also, an incident of sexual assault in the second episode.  I’m going to spoil things in this series, as indicated by that mentioning of something from the second episode.

That I spent three hundred words in the opening discussing a different show probably speaks volumes about how I feel about Tomo-Chan Is A Girl. It’s not that Tomo-Chan Is A Girl is somehow a show not worth your time, but it is a show that I found far less rewarding to watch. But what is this show, what is it about and what’s it include?

Tomo-chan is, you see, a girl. And you may be thinking ahaha, Talen, it’s time for you to trot out comparisons to Ranma ½ again, no, not in this case. No, this is not a whacky supernatural sex comedy farce, it’s instead a teenaged rom-com about a girl who is – as said – a girl – and the boy she’s interested in, who she is concerned, has not noticed. He has noticed, of course he has noticed, his best friend is a gorgeous girl with a huge rack and they’ve had this conversation years ago, as the show makes clear, but the tension of the show is how can Tomo-Chan convince the boy she likes to treat her like a girl.

This paper thin story is  further bulked out by the addition of three friends in flavours of hot, stupid, and evil (Misaki, Carol, Misuzu respectively), and facilitated by everyone in this universe being some kind of low-grade idiot. Since this is a show about a girl who is, of course, quite cute, and indeed, really hot, the show bothers to show you a lot of different ways Tomo rules, like her martial arts skills, her gamer prowess, and the way she has a literal reputation for turning girls gay. Tomo is a really cool character who is in love with the boy who they put on matchbooks captioned IF YOU CAN DRAW THIS BOY, YOU CAN HAVE A CAREER IN TEACHING AMERIMANGA. She’s so hot that when he thought she was a boy he was concerned about his interest in her and he’s so nothing that I’m not even going to bother making this sentence funny.

The show follows thirteen episodes during which ‘things’ happen, but of those things, you do not need to concern yourself overmuch with them or their order. They’re much more like sabots for jokes than they are any kind of narrative or plot as you might expect them from another series, or even a show like Shikimori. None of this is to say that Tomo-Chan is a bad series. I mean I watched it all, I didn’t hate it that much. But it stands out to me that compared to Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie, a show I already considered some extremely thin soup being served in some very big bowls, I kept thinking about the comparison with Tomo-Chan.

Look, Tomo-Chan has its charms. It’s a funny show in its own right, and it has a joke or two once the secondary cast get all introduced and you get to see Misuzu being more actively and deliberately mendacious. I don’t want to all draw it to a single cause, because I feel like Tomo-Chan is full of bad decisions, but the one that stands out to me is remarkable because of how superficial it feels.

The boy’s not hot. Sorry, there it is, that’s all there is to it. It’s not everything but it’s so much. Everything about the pathetic wet failson of Izumi was set up so that his partner’s interest in him made sense, and her immense competence in dealing with threats to him was necessary for the story. Basically, he was an escort quest (and yes I know that’s a joke the anime ending makes of its own, don’t be like that). Plus, he’s hot! He’s a hot boy, damnit.

In Tomo-Chan, the boy interest is a generic boy in the Nozaki-Kun mould that speaks to me of a mangaka who doesn’t actually know how boys are hot, or how boys can be hot, and instead picked all the parts out of a catalogue that they assumed were hot, because they saw all the other boys being drawn that way. And even when the story goes out of its way to try and explain why Tomo is into him, the way it describes things is much more that he is present than that anything about him was individually interesting.

The story of how he and Tomo fall in love, and why she’s so stuck on him, and the ensuing common interest is a weird variant of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse; what Tomo wants, at least at this point, is basically, herself, but without tits. And it’s really underscored by the plot with Misuzu: Junichirou is a character who was in love with her while they dated, but didn’t bother to learn anything about her, and then he retreated from expressing love for Tomo because he didn’t want to mess that up after messing things up with Misuzu. Neither of these are actually showing meaningful things about him beyond the story mechanic in the premise: This boy doesn’t want to commit to a relationship because doing so would end the story.

Where Shikimori was full of moments of looking at the show and asking ‘are they doing this on purpose?’ the feeling for Tomo-Chan was instead much more ‘oh, this isn’t going to be as good as it could be, is it?’ It’s not like the show isn’t telling jokes and trying to get you to enjoy the characters, and the ‘woo hoo’ gif from the beach episode is a true all star, but that’s kind of what the show is. It’s a set of reaction gifs strung together between a plot that doesn’t have to be any deeper than a teaspoon but still somehow feels shallower than it advertises.

I’m not saying the show should present a bi polycule with the three girls who want each other and the boys they put up with. That would be extraordinarily clever, just shockingly smart. But I wish there was a little bit more to Tomo-Chan than this sort of potpourri of moments waiting to be thrown together. Here are the mean girls gossiping about Tomo not even being that hot, here’s them reacting to how hot she is, here’s Misuzu being mean, here’s snap snap snap fingers try to remember her name, CAROL, that’s right, here’s Carol being oblivious and here are Carol’s boobs and Jun gets punched and we move on to the next bit. The jokes are often about Women Be Womening, and Jun Doesn’t Understand That. It all feels like a failure of its form, or rather, a too-sincere representation of its original form, the thing they were adapting into this anime.

See, the comparison to Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie is pretty apt as both Tomo-Chan and Shikimori started their lives as, essentially, micromanga. Where in the west there’s a vision of Manga as periodicals a bit more like comic books, with a regular release date and a sort of sense of size. But that’s not every form manga can take. Shikomiri is a manga that got published three pages at a time, a sort of short-story scenelet narrative that mostly built itself around showing off a cute girl in cool fashion and the idiot boy around her being captivated by some detail or another each day. Tomo-Chan has a similar genesis, where it was essentially a manga version of what we’d consider a newspaper comic. Bigger than you know, a Peanuts strip, but still, about that level.

In both cases we’re talking about work that hasn’t been long on narrative but has been big on its own vibes. In Shikimori that is an artist who loves drawing Shikimori(the character) in a variety of ways, with or without glasses, with or without different contexts, in realistic skiing gear – that kinda thing. The story is about how she’s not just a cutie, but also, it’s very important you’re aware, she’s also very much a cutie. In the case of Tomo-Chan Is A Girl, the manga is also a single-page thing, which means it reads a bit like those serialised newspaper comics that try to tell you the story of Timmy being lost down a well while occasionally panning out to show you an enormous squirrel.

I do want to point out one place where Tomo-Chan Is A Girl decided to express something as bold as ‘an idea’ was the episode where Tomo gets sexually assaulted on a bus.

Deep breath.

The second episode.

There’s so much here that feels like you shouldn’t do it? Like, this is a character who’s struggling with the way she’s perceived and then the show dedicates a time to show her in-depth grappling with the conversation about her body, her relationship to how she’s perceived, how she feels about who she is versus how she feels about the way people treat her and all that potential story space you decide to wrap up in a really unpleasant little story about her being groped by a stranger on the bus, and it even dedicates time to focus on how her only recourse – this girl who can fight real good – is to just let it happen.

Hahahahah!

Jokes!

And this is just one unpleasant part of the overall extremely mid show. It’s strange because it’s not like this series is here to try and do any heavy lifting on this point. It’s not trying to make a point about chickan culture on Japanese public transport, it’s just a way of life and the show treats it as such. But it kind of underscores that this series brings it up and then just leaves it on the floor, for everyone to circle around. I bet if you asked people who’d watched this show about it, they’ve probably forgotten that it did this because why would it have done that?

Tomo-Chan Is A Girl is a series that has some hot girls in it, some really nice tomboy fashion, just some truly top tier reaction gifs, and simply as a matter of necessity, an entire television show strung between them.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[mi5a-ki]

(五) misa, or also known by her full name ito misaki, is the only japanese and fictional member of the globally known girl group; blackpink.

all rights reserved © mi5a-ki, 2023

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[isogashiro]

Tag 9 people you want to get to know better - thank you sm for tagging me (っ˘ω˘ς ) @venuseda​ @fangrui

Three Ships: wangxian, saebom & yihyun, yeonjoo & kangcheol

First Ever Ship: usui and misaki (*ﾉ▽ﾉ)

Last Song: fade into you - mazzy star

Last Movie: omg i think it was glass onion... damn it's been a while

Currently Reading: chi no wadachi & 982382 journal articles for research lmfao

Currently Watching: taxi driver s2, grey's anatomy

Currently Consuming: peach green tea

Currently Craving: decent omurice.. & graduation

Tagging: @gentil-minou @dimpledpran @zorokashi @gooseras @thoresque @nyx4 @sanoreo & anybody that wants to do this [idh enough friends for this :')]

[lilyginnyblackv2]

Buddy Daddies and Existing Outside of Social Norms:

I love how all of the named characters in Buddy Daddies has something about them that places them outside of societal norms. Some of them are more integrated into the regular systems and flows of society to some extent, but others are very divorced from it.

1. Kazuki, Rei, Kyutaro, and Ryo: They all work within an organization centered around assassination. 

We don’t know as much about Kyutaro and Ryo yet, but facts like how their names (either last name in the case of Kyutaro or both their first and last in the case of Ryo, seem to be aliases, due to them not existing at all or in the way they are written and read phonetically, also adds to this).

Meanwhile, Kazuki didn’t grow up with his parents. It seems he was a child who was part of the system. Many of these children often slip through the cracks.

And Rei...Well, Rei grew up within a hitman-based organization and did not have a normal childhood. We don’t know much about Rei’s past yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Rei didn’t get much traditional schooling (and therefore no traditional socialization) either because of this. We’ll have to wait and see on that though.

2. Misaki, Carol, and Dorothy: All women who work within the adult entertainment industry. This is an industry that faces discrimination in Japan still (for example, during the height of the pandemic, adult entertainment workers were excluded from the Covid Aid Package, thankfully, there was public pushback on this - link to an article discussing this topic will be in the comments below).

Misaki is also a single mother, which means she exists outside of the heteronormative “nuclear family” structure. Her being shown as a resentful mother is also something outside of the norm that is often presented of mothers in media (in general).

Meanwhile, in regards to Carol and Dorothy, we can see that Carol has darker skin. She may have naturally darker skin or she could tan her skin. Regardless, darker skin is often looked down upon on women (or fetishized due to the connection it has with the Gal street fashion, which is a whole other can of worms). And Dorothy’s two-tone hair makes her stand out instantly. 

Their names are also non-Japanese. They could be fake names that they use to sound more cutesy and appealing to customers (and for safety), but this could also be an indicator that they are biracial, which also makes them stand apart from “the norm” of Japanese society (despite the fact that number of biracial children in Japan is growing more and more with each year).

All of this is speculation that we may or may not get any further clarification on in the future regarding these two characters, regardless, their line of work and how they choose to express and present themselves makes them stand apart from the rest of Japanese society on some level.

The rest I’ll put under a Read More.

3. Yuzuko and Karin - Now, we don’t know much about Yuzuko, but her marriage to Kazuki instantly placed her outside of normal society, due to the nature of his work. 

And Karin states that she wants to study fashion abroad in France. The number of Japanese living permanently abroad is at a record high currently (as of 2023).

Her desire to learn and study abroad is an example of someone in the cast physically leaving the system and society in place in Japan. It’s for study, but it still shows her having a passion that requires her to exist outside of Japan.

5. Miss Anna - She works in childcare, an accepted field, and doesn’t have anything about her outward appearance that would set her apart (no tan skinned, no dyed hair). However, she isn’t skinny and that does set her apart from what is viewed as “normal” society. 

Being overweight in Japan is still viewed as rare, even though there are plenty of Japanese people who aren’t thin, however, the stereotypical image in society is still attached to thinness. That means Miss Anna exists outside of the societal norm. She won’t be able to walk into any clothing store in Japan and have any and all options available to her and there are also likely other issues that she faces in society because of her weight as well, that others simply would not, doubly so since she is a woman.

4. Miri - She is the product of a mistress and mafia boss. Her father was associated with the underworld part of society, and her mother is in an industry that is discriminated against (on a governmental level as previously noted). Now, she is living with Kazuki and Rei. She has always been in a family structure that was against the societal norms of the heteronormative nuclear family, but at least with her mother they shared a name. 

Whether Miri was registered under a koseki (family register) or not is unknown. But given the situation, it is possible she’s not or wasn’t. We don’t know exactly what Kazuki did for the forged paperwork to get her into daycare. But we do know that they all kept their own last names and that one of the themes the series wants to focus on is a “bloodless” family. So having a family set up like this and having Miss Anna point out that they all have different names, could be a social commentary on the koseki system, since it is so heavily tied to blood relation. (This is something I saw someone on Twitter mention).

Of course, we still have a number of episodes to go, so who knows how they will continue to handle Miri’s status in this regard, as well as the role of her mother, and if we will learn any more of how the relationship between Kazuki, Miri, and Rei is presented in the forged papers. 

We know that the “story” they are telling everyone is that Miri is a relative’s kid. Now, we know that Buddy Daddies takes place in Fukuoka, but what city isn’t made 100% clear (as of yet, as far as I know - if someone does know though, please feel free to share!). One city in Fukuoka, known as Koga City has a (ファミリーシップ) “Familyship” system in place (this is a system that allows same-sex households with children to be viewed as actual “families” and therefore have more access to rights, benefits, and tools that can help with childcare that a simple Partnership wouldn’t allow them access to).

In that system, the child in question has to be related to one of the people in the Partnership, either through birth or adoption (but in Japan, same-sex couples can’t adopt kids and adopted kids must change their last names to that of their adopted parents because of the koseki system). Miri could be viewed as being fostered by Kazuki and Rei, since same-sex couples are allowed to foster, but that still wouldn’t qualify them for the “Familyship” system. I’ll link to the Japanese page for Koga City that goes over the “Familyship” system for anyone interested. It also goes over the Partnership system too.

Anyway, given the nature of this series and how its focus is basically on found family and a bloodless family, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kazuki didn’t place them in a Partnership or Familyship and they are just existing as is. It would be the least “realistic” aspect of the more realistic child-care/SoL aspects of the series, but that may be due to the message they are trying to make. 

Of course, the above is all based on pure speculation, since we just don’t know the details of any of the forgery paperwork stuff. But, definitely some food for thought at the very least, and fitting for the “outside of normal society” message they have going on with all the characters thus far.

[ridiasfangirlings]

Saruhiko secretly donating to charity.

I totally imagine this as Fushimi’s way of quietly saying fuck you to his parents, by donating all his inheritance to charity. Like after Niki died he probably did get some money, since Kisa wasn’t that interested in Niki’s money (she’s got plenty of her own after all). Fushimi had no interest in touching ‘that guy’s’ money and just lets it sit in a random bank account somewhere, even when he moves in with Yata he figures he’d rather be poor with Misaki than live off that person’s money. Eventually he nearly forgets about it until he receives a letter from the bank, the account’s been dormant for so long it will be escheated if there isn’t some kind of activity soon.

Fushimi’s initial reaction is ‘good, I don’t want it,’ but imagine like Yata or Munakata spotting the letter and being curious about Fushimi’s plans for the money. Fushimi’s all it’s none of your business but the interaction gets him thinking that isn’t there something more he could do with this rather than letting it go to the government. Imagine he finds himself quietly researching different groups and finds this one charity that helps children with abusive parents get help and get out of their situation, setting them up so they can separate from their family and live on their own with support from the organization. It’s not like Fushimi would care about that sort of organization or support such a sappy thing — but wouldn’t that guy hate it, if Fushimi gave this money away to people who won’t even know who it’s from, wouldn’t that woman hate it if he just gave money away rather than investing, wouldn’t all those people at the funeral hate it if they couldn’t ever touch this money again. A few days later there’s something of a stir online, a charity thanking the anonymous donor who made an enormous donation to their charity. Fushimi reads the article and closes the page, thinking well maybe the money wasn’t totally worthless after all and hoping that somewhere Niki’s spirit is hating this.

[swimmingferret]

Do you know any good resources for researching Taishō era? Because I want to do Demon Slayer fic but Scottish/Japanese oc.

I typically just use the search engine with 'how to -' as a starter and then start going through the results lol I don't really have a 'go to' resource.

I'm a New Zealander so I have no real experience with Japan, so I have just been looking up articles and wikipedia sources while writing my KnY fic. When I wrote the chapter where Kanao was having a tea ceremony with Misaki I ended up watching several different videos where Japanese tea ceremonies are done, including one which was a step-by-step video and then based the chapter interactions upon those. (just like Rojin talking about the art of flower arranging, I watched several different vids of how they were made and how flowers would be selected) Same with the food, I usually just look up a lot of recipes and whatnot (including a video with a chef serving up the whole tuna head that Inosuke ate in one chapter) Same with looking up the proper naming for things, I spent a lot of time searching up how traditional Japanese houses would be like and the names of things, or what Daki's platform shoes would be like and watched videos on how Oiran's walk when she showed Kanao how in her chapter. Same with all the stories Douma tells, I just search up folklore and gods and etc and then pick my way through the results that show up.

Basically I just spend quite a bit of time toiling through the articles that show up on the search engine or going through youtube videos lol

[dream-meister-translations]

WOLF GAME

THE WOLF GAME - PART 8

━

Takeo Kojima, 35 years old.

A sturdy detective. The assertive type that often tries to take charge. Not fond of certain adults. Skilled in martial arts, making him a dangerous person if he were to become a wolf.

TAKEO KOJIMA : Even as a police officer, I never expected a real murder to happen…

TAKEO KOJIMA : Based on the condition of her body, there's no doubt she was killed with a knife.

TAKEO KOJIMA : Dammit… Things just keep getting more complicated…

━

Ritsu Kamiki, 21 years old:

A university student from Tokyo. She’s a cunning girl who doesn't trust easily, always speaks her mind and has a terrible attitude. Despite being 21, she still looks like a grade schooler.

RITSU KAMIKI : Did that wolf guy really go and kill someone...? Isn't that insane?

RITSU KAMIKI : And that much blood is just ridiculous...

RITSU KAMIKI : Ugh, it's so gross…

━

Maki Takayama, 25 years old:

A reporter for a major weekly magazine. Specializes in gossip articles and always carries a camera and voice recorder. Friendly and approachable, likely popular among older men.

MAKI TAKAYAMA : So, the wolf among us actually murdered someone…

ME : Yeah, it certainly seems that way.

MAKI TAKAYAMA : Yeah, well, just sitting around watching everyone won't help us figure out who the wolf is…

━

Satoru Yonemori, 33 years old:

A seemingly unlucky psychiatrist. His hairstyle is influenced by Jack Black, an actor he admires. Judging on appearance alone, he seems dissatisfied with his life and somewhat bitter.

SATORU YONEMORI : The victim likely died of shock caused by excessive bleeding.

ME : Indeed, there's a disturbing amount of blood...

SATORU YONEMORI : The wolf appears to have stabbed her through the heart with a knife."

SATORU YONEMORI : In all honesty, she didn't stand a chance of surviving...

ME : You're right…

━

Leaving the others, he finds a room containing the belongings of Ritsu Kamiki and Maki Takayama.

Ritsu owns a backpack shaped adorably like a cat.

And Maki seems to always keep a spare camera on hand.

━

Takuya Tsuchiya, 28 years old:

He’s a stage actor who has recently hit the big time, but before that had actually been commercially unsuccessful. He has a somewhat languid demeanor, but is straightforward when it comes to expressing his opinions. Since he seems to have a quick temper, it's better not to provoke him.

TAKUYA TSUCHIYA : Seriously... I never thought a real murder would happen...

TAKUYA TSUCHIYA : I’m not going anywhere near that body…

ME : Y-yeah... 

ME : (I wouldn't want to examine a dead body either if I could help it...)

━

ME : Oh, these are Takuya’s things. Better leave them alone, or he’ll blow a gasket.

ME : So these must be Satoru’s. That bag looks exactly like something a doctor would have.

━

Iida Rintarou, 18 years old.

Honestly, I have no idea what he's thinking. He's known for his eccentric fashion sense and slanted speech. He often ends his sentences with a musical flair. He may seem carefree on the surface, but he comes across quite sharp deep down.

IIDA RINTAROU : Phew! I feel so refreshed after taking a shower.♪

IIDA RINTAROU : Have you taken one too?

ME : No, I'll pass...

ME : (This guy doesn't seem to be too shaken up, even though there's been a murder.)

ME : (There's something suspicious about him...)

━

SATORU YONEMORI : I was thinking this knife could have been used as a weapon...

KOU NIIMURA : But this knife... it's not even clean, let alone bloody.

SATORU YONEMORI : Yeah, about that...

SATORU YONEMORI : I actually asked Misaki-san to cook for me last night because I got a bit hungry.

SATORU YONEMORI : She used this knife and I forgot to wash it...

OSAMU NAGAI : So, does that mean the knife has been left as it was after cooking last night?

KOU NIIMURA : In that case, it's unlikely it was used as a weapon.

SATORU YONEMORI : So it would seem...

ME : (They’re right, of course, but if that's the case, it seems it really wasn't used as a weapon. I guess I'll have to keep searching…)