#miyako commentary

[imperishable-prayers]

Gasp! “Thhhe Enngish is baaak!!”

[lovelysincerity]

She is not responsible for anything Daisuke does as the result of her gift to him.

[glassesandpassion]

"Ahem."

"YOU MAJESTY, THE GREAT DIGIMON KAISERIN, THEREBY DECLARES HER UNSTOPPABLE ARMY RECRUITMENT RALLY OPEN. THE STRONGEST AND, wait, Miyako-sama, seriously? FAIREST ARE INVITED TO HELP BUILD THE ULTIMATE UTOPIA IN FORM THE KAISERIN'S EMPIRE."

[koushirouizumi]

M E: TAKERU I'm Not Sorry. Burgundy is nOT YOUR COLOR

[jariten]

Recurring themes in 2023: my year of lesbian and yuriful manga

Doing this a little different when summarizing 2023. Since I stuck to my decision to not start buying any new licensed series and mainly did cultural catchup for both english and japanese manga I didn't really read enough hot new releases in 2023 for them to warrant a list of their own as they usually do. So to catch up on the months without a roundup as well as a year end summary I will do some themed lists!

The first came to easy since a noticeable trend was how much lesbian and yuri manga i made time for. For clarity I make a subjective distinction of lesbian and yuri works, just as some works I'm more inclined to describe as a Gay or LGBT story rather than a BL if it wasn't published in a BL imprint or invests time to do cultural or social commentary. Now to the list:

Among my favorite lesbian manga read in 2023 are: The Girl That Can't Get A Girlfriend by Mieri Hiranishi Moonlight Flowers by Mutsumi Tsukumo Indigo Blue by Ebine Yamaji Umibe no Kain by Minori Kimura

I won't reiterate too much as I already talked about it in a roundup but Hiranishi gave an extremely refreshing perspective on being a woman who loves masculine women, the dark story of her first heartbreak and the path forward. Love that Viz took the initiative to give her a graphic novel edition and promote her platform by licensing The Girl That Can't Get a Girlfriend. I've always found women's manga to be a not that secret treasure trove of lesbian stories yet I hadn't read the classic that is Moonlight Flowers... Just a truly suspenseful and romantic story of lesbian love as liberation and freedom that I can't recommend enough. Just with a clear warning of depictions of intimate partner violence that could be upsetting.

Yamaji has a well known track record of exploring lesbianism as well as bisexuality and I think Indigo Blue was extremely interesting in its explooration of the protagonist and her journey to figuring out what she wants as she's caught between two relationships. Another story of a woman's journey to confront who she is and what she wants: Umibe no Cain was a rather heartbreaking story of a young woman seeking refuge with a woman older than herself and as they start forming a frienfdship she begins to face the hurt and trauma she faced from her mother. But as the two women grow closer their relationship might take a turn that they can't come back from.

In the yuri-ish category: Kimi no Kureru Mazui Ame by Kaiko Fuyumushi OL to Ningyo by Mai Shiba

Won't reiterate too much of Kimi no Kureru Mazui Ame as I already talked about it in a roundup but love bite sized depictions of a miserable adolescence and toxic yuri but not quite. And if you found yourself taken by the more supernatural stories in this collection then may I recommend OL to Ningyo? Described by the author themselves as yuri-ish this collection depicts the bonds of human girls and their non-human counterparts. Humans, vampires, tengu, mermaid, and oni all face their own challenges and conflicts both romantic and otherwise.

In the Now That's What I Call Yuri category: Natsu to Lemon to Overlay by Ru & Miyako Miyahara Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko Janakatta (The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy At All) by Sumiko Arai Sukeban to Tenkousei by Fujichika

Natsu to Lemon to Overlay is the manga adaption of a yuri award winning novel novel that I picked kind of at random. An aspiring voice actress struggling to make any career moves are requested by a mysterious woman to read the obituary at her own funeral. What happens next will warm your heart. The Guy She Liked is one where I'm just going to assume most if not all of you are aware of so I'm just going to say that I like it and am looking forward to the next volume 👍 And last but not least: an adorable 80's throwback with some truly heartwarming moments and developments not to mention very funny: Sukeban to Tenkousei by Fujichika

[aihoshiino]

Thanks for pointing out the absence of Ai in ch165 on all things 15YL... The chapter is such an uncomfortable read to me, the last page showing how the finale might be about how the world became better because "Aqua did what he had to ie the noble selfless path"... but it's hard to expect any satisfying storytelling in the final twist when there's only one chapter left.

The absence of Ai, is like a vacuum to the narrative. She is the personification of the entertainment industry in the narrative, representing the hope and the despair. ONK was (is) advertised as a comment to the industry itself, yet the last few characters, including Aqua's death, had nothing to do with the industry at all. It's just about a psychopath murderous villain and a hero who sacrificed himself to stop him. Kamiki's story COULD be a comment towards the industry, but in the end Aka decided it's not. And that in turn made Aqua's suicide (which the story refused to acknowledge as) unrelated to the exploitation entertainers experience. We didn't even feel the prying eyes of the press during Aqua's funeral — unlike Ai's where we saw BKom members crying for the camera and the twins far away in a car, not even allowed to grieve in public. Ai's absence is loud because she symbolised what the story is about, but these chapters didn't intend to include her, and that makes it feel like a different story to me.

YEAH, IT'S SO. JUST.

^ image of me reading those last 2 chapters and realizing all the 15YL promo shit was about aqua and ai was nowhere lol

It really feels like past a certain point Aka either lost his steam when it came to the industry commentary or it just interfered too much with the story he'd already decided he wanted to tell so it was more convenient for him to just arbitrarily have it not affect the characters and world even when really, it should have done.

I've pointed this out re: Ruby but it really is bizarre when you pay attention the degree to which she just is entirely untouched by any kind of systemic issue or friction even when it's actively harming Kana and Mem. It ends up coming off like she's being coddled and protected by Miyako at the expense of the other talents, especially because um. Ruby literally says Miyako is doing this lmao.

But it also pokes its head out in other spots - there's a point made that the drama from the LoveNow incident will almost certainly follow Akane for the rest of her professional life but there's never any indication that it's a continuing issue, even when Kana points out to her like "wtf are you doing posting photos of your current location when ppl were sending you death threads Two Months Ago"

Idk, in general Akasaka has a bad habit of like... rather than letting the world state and consequences of the story have verisimilitude with what has been previously established about this in-universe society and systems, he just kind of forces the story to stay on the course that is most convenient for the beats he wants to hit. He is simultaneously too prone to improvisation while being bad at compromising enough to kill his darlings.

[melonchanverse]

( ͡ ° ͜ʖ ͡ °) INSANE QUESTION TIME.

If one day Miyako & Nadeko stumbled into a time machine and accidentally ended up in a medieval knight arena, would he they fight with a sword or offer commentary from the side of the arena? Or something else?

my own weapons are being used against me.... anyway, i finally have time to respond!!

damn, another of miyako's inventions has failed miserably.... nadeko was definitely unlucky enough to be in her lab at this time.

Anyway! If Miyako stumbled into a medieval knight arena, she would probably be the commentator in the stands, throwing out witty one-liners and using modern slang like, "These dudes are sword fighting like it's the middle ages!" She'd be that sarcastic historian, cracking jokes about the ridiculousness of the whole situation. No way is she swinging a sword; she'll leave that to the knights, but will definitely have a field day laughing from the sidelines.

Nadeko in a medieval knight arena? She'd be the most sought-after lady, that's for sure. But she ain't about to wait for some knight in shiny armor to come save her. She'd probably be like, "Hold on, let me get this straight. I'm the prize, and yet I'm supposed to let some dude fight for me? No, no, no. I'm gonna fight for my own self, my own way." She'd grab a sword and be like, “Who's ready to duel for my hand?”

[puellamagishowdown]

Round 1 Has Finished!

Thank you all for voting! Some results are exactly what I expected but quite a few were confusing to me. Sometimes I wish I knew why people voted the way they did. Also, just for the record, I did randomize these. None of these pairings were planned.

Now for something important I'm going to say before things get too bad.

I've seen a few heated replies that are getting too close to aggressive for my taste. Guys, this is for fun. There are no real world consequences to the result of this poll bracket. If I believe someone is getting too aggressive or insulting towards other voters (or me), I will block. I don't want any true negativity here and if preventing some people from interacting keeps peace, I will do it. You all are free to try and convince others to vote the way you want, but keep it civil.

If you would like a list of results along with some commentary, feel free to click the keep reading button. Otherwise, see you all soon for the next round.

Suzune Amano vs Ayame Mikuri (54.3%) - The first result gives me sadness. I'm a real fan of Suzune's character.

Niko Kanna vs Miyuri Yukari (63.8%)

Pia Undo (59.2%) vs Yuuri Asuka

Tsubasa Hanekawa (50.4%) vs Alexandra Kurusu - This one was close. It was switching back and forth until the end.

Toyo (81.1%) vs Ebony

Sasa Yuuki vs Madoka Kaname (91.2%) - I wonder how Sasa would have done against someone other than Madoka. You know, the magical girl who will probably be in the top 5 if not win the whole bracket.

Livia Medeiros (67.1%) vs Hikari Kirai

Hayate Yagami vs Rena Minami (81.3%)

Tart vs Sana Futaba (67.1%)

Arisa Narumi vs Asahi Miura (68.1%)

Manaka Kurumi vs Kaede Akino (68.9%)

Ranka Chizu vs Sudachi Suwa (52.6%)

Mikoto Sena (81.5%) vs Hagumu Azumi - I'm sad we'll probably never see Mikoto animated. Her design is really pretty.

Hotaru Yura (83.3%) vs Moka Megumi

Himika Mao vs Saki Asami (60%)

Melissa de Vignolles vs Mikage Yakumo (58.9%)

Yukika Nanase vs Sasara Minagi (55.4%)

Amaryllis (61.3%) vs Shizuka Tokime

Ren Isuzu (83.1%) vs Pernelle

Shizuku Hozumi vs Kokoro Awane (56.1%)

Kuro (58%) vs Kaoru Maki - The character without eyes won. Okay.

Kagome Satori vs Nanaka Tokiwa (54.1%)

Kagari Hinata (66.7%) vs Mayoi Hachikuji

Alina Gray (69.1%) vs Ria Ami - I really love Ria's design. I would like to think she would have moved on if she wasn't against a major character like Alina.

Mikura Komachi (60.3%) vs Umika Misaki

Yu (77.5%) vs Lavi Himuro - Why? Is there some real love for Yu out there for some reason or is it just voting against Lavi? I really don't understand this one.

Kushu Irina vs Himena Aika (50.6%)

Sayuki Fumino (51.7%) vs Chika Aoba - The first of two tiebreakers. What a peculiar duo to be a tie. And I messed up the title of the poll like a loser.

Ashley Taylor (73.2%) vs Akira Shinobu

Yuuri vs Meiyui Chun (87.7%)

Hinano Miyako vs Mel Anna (67.1%)

Satomi Usagi vs Ryoko Natsu (76.1%) - Satomi was the reason I decided to use fan art for the Kazumi girls. The only colored art of her I could find had SAMPLE across the front of it. And she didn't even win.

Ayase Souju vs Hazuki Yusa (75.7%)

Tsukuyo Amane vs Eternal Sakura (75.3%)

Kanami Honoka vs Mayu Kozue (92.3%) - Poor Kanami got bodied.

Kako Natsume (58%) vs Hanna Sarasa

Maria Yuki vs Rui Mizuki (65.8%)

San Kagura vs Kanoko Yayoi (65%)

Chizuru vs Masara Kagami (70.4%)

Ryo Midori vs Juri Oba (66.7%)

Isabeau vs Kyoko Sakura (84.6%)

Tsubaki Mikoto (70.8%) vs Chisato Shion

Riz Hawkwood (83.9%) vs Temari Kira

Kanna Hijiri (52.6%) vs Jun Kazari

Sunao Toki vs Chiharu Hiroe (55%)

Aimi Eri vs Mito Aino (66.7%)

Kuroe vs Corbeau (51%) - The cloak girl showdown was really close. I really never knew who would win.

Nemu Hiiragi vs Tsuruno Yui (70.2%)

Kazumi vs Yuma Chitose (52.6%)

Hitagi Senjougahara vs Mitama Yakumo (59.6%) - I'll be honest, I kinda thought the Monogatari fans would have risen and voted. Then again, I have no idea how large the Monogatari fanbase is in the first place.

Shinobu Oshino vs Yuna Kureha (62.5%)

Yuuna Kaharu vs Riko Chiaki (70.5%)

Ayaka Mariko (53.5%) vs Takina Inoue

Meguru Hibiki (60.8%) vs Akari Mai

Nadeko Sengoku vs Momoko Togame (55.6%)

Mirai Wakaba vs Ui Tamaki (86.2%)

Ao Kasane (57.3%) vs Matsuri Hinata - I'm actually a bit crushed. I love both Matsuri's design and character. The fact she didn't get through but her sister did is almost worse.

Suruga Kanbaru (52.8%) vs Fate T. Harlaown

Seira Mihono vs Gunhild (69.8%)

Rion Yuzuki vs Homura Akemi (93.1%) - Rion was destroyed. I almost feel bad.

Asuka Tatsuki vs Sae Kirino (58.1%) - Fun fact, when the poll ended the first time it said 50.6% Asuka. Only the next day did it say it was tied. That's why the tiebreaker poll went up so much later.

Nagisa Momoe (83.2%) vs Sakuya Suzuka

Iroha Tamaki (66.9%) vs Chisato Nishikigi - I have no idea what Lycoris Recoil is about, but both of the crossover girls had really nice designs.

Mitsune Miwa vs Yachiyo Nanami (74.6%)

Seika Kumi (61.9%) vs Emika Kisaki

Nayuta Satomi (52.6%) vs Tsuyu Mizuna - The first time I saw Tsuyu, I just thought Ayaka Kamisato. Keep in mind, I was not playing Genshin at the time.

Yozuru Sasame vs Karin Misono (50.9%)

Urara Yume vs Kanae Yukino (75%)

Konoha Shizumi (61.5%) vs Eliza Celjska

Shigure Miyabi (62.4%) vs Haruka Kanade - Really? I thought Haruka had one of the better designs but apparently I'm wrong. Or maybe Shigure's story is really that good.

Tsukasa Amane vs Oriko Mikuni (63.8%) - Also a little sad neither Amane twin got through. I like their designs but that might just be my personal bias towards kimono-styled outfits.

Hotori Yuzuki vs Lapin (72%)

Tsumugi Wakana vs Olga (75.2%)

Mifuyu Azusa (59.2%) vs Mabayu Aki - Mabuyu has a design I think would have fit with the Holy Quintet if she was released back in the day (and the clothes were green). But I have heard Scene 0 is pretty meh so that probably held her back quite a lot.

Natsuki Utsuho vs Felicia Mitsuki (83.3%)

Mami Tomoe (71.4%) vs Touka Satomi

Rika Ayano (58.7%) vs Heruka

Sayaka Miki (86.1%) vs Nanoha Takamichi - I also thought the MGLN fans would have risen from depths and really voted for their titular character. But then again, Sayaka is a force to be reckoned with in this bracket.

Mitsuru Inami (73.6%) vs Luca Souju - Every single one of the characters I used fan art for didn't even move onto the second round. I could have just not included them and nothing would have changed. And that's a shame because I feel Kazumi has some real underrated designs, especially the Soujus.

Ikumi Makino (66.3%) vs Minou

Kanagi Izumi vs Kirika Kure (52.9%)

Konomi Haruna (76.5%) vs Leila Ibuki

[ladyofthecastleproject]

The Knight and the Detective

[AO3 version]

Summary:

Ken vs Lightnimon showdown, Fight the Knight!! The detective (prince) Ichijouji Ken finally reaches his conclusions and unmask the mysterious yet terrifying digimon's secrets.

[Note: It takes place in 2008; this is one of my favorite drabbles btw]

The dark night didn’t stop Ichijouji Ken from running after the mysterious shadow who had been spotted. He let the group sleep, and then with Wormmon he dived into the forest.

His investigation was leading him to a conclusion -- The mysterious digimon named ‘Lightnimon’ who had been a hot topic through the Digital World as some terrifying savior for the victims of Frostmon and Ranamon’s armies, had not been alone. He got an accomplice, a partner which probably had been doing all the dirty job for him.

However, Ken did not believe it could be him . He’s a nice person and wouldn’t hide behind a mask or pretend to be who he isn’t. The time he had done this on Valentine’s Day five years ago, Ken immediately snapped him out of it. But why would this now be an option?

Unmasking Lightnimon became Ken’s priority. If he were a digimon, then this means Daisuke had yet to be found. However, what if…

“I can’t think about it being a possibility” Ken shook his head.

“What’s wrong Ken-chan?” Wormmon frowned, he was on Ken’s back.

“Nothing… Do… Do you think that that silhouette we saw was Lightnimon?”

“Hmmm… Maybe?”

“I’d hope to be Daisuke though…” Ken whispered, “Where did you go, you dumbass…”

“If it’s not him, what should we do?” Wormmon asked this time.

“Maybe we can fight… or retreat to call for the others” Ken replied, musing about his plans.

“I… I sense something…”

“Huh?”

“Right there!!” Wormmon stared at the unknown, and threw his silk web at the bushes. Something the web hit and stuck on it. So, Ken took the other end of the silk from Wormmon’s mouth and held it tightly.

“We know you’re here. Show yourself, whoever you are!”

“My my…. You’re quite smart hm?”

That voice…

“Who’s there?!”

“What, you have been looking for me and don’t even know my name!?”

“Show yourself!” Ken repeated, gritting his teeth.

The silk started to loose as the digimon-or-human appeared from the bushes. The Lighdramon armor revealed that it wasn’t no one else than…

“It’s him, the digimon were talking about him!” Wormmon gasped.

“Who me? Ah yes, I forgot I became pretty famous” Lightnimon shrugged, “Anyway, isn’t past your bedtime Ichijouji-kun?”

Ken felt so much anger at that mysterious enemy (?) sassing him. But, instead of losing his mind, he smirked.

“I don’t sleep when I’m investigating something. Say, what makes you think you’re different from us? You said you and us have the same goal, but also threatened us to not mess with your plans. This is quite contradictory, don’t you think?”

“Kh… You…”

“Ah, this reminds me of someone who tends to lose his coolness once dealing with some critique.”

Then Lightnimon started to laugh, louder and louder.

“You think I am someone you know?” he said with a serious tone of voice, “Ichijouji-kun, you know nothing about me, but I do know you. Or you think slipping back into this cocky Digimon Kaiser persona would intimidate me?”

“You lost your mind!! I’m trying to make you get back to your senses!”

“Again you keep insisting I’m someone you know… Sigh, you’re so boring. I’m going off--”

“You won’t escape this time! Wormmon!”

Wormmon jumped from Ken’s back and evolved to Stingmon. The insectoid digimon flew in Lightnimon’s direction, but then the digimon got blocked by a Lighdramon-motif Glaive. This probably made Ken realize he was right about not only Miyako and Iori had gotten such weaponry based on their Digimentals of Sincerity and Reliability.

“I knew it… You’re him.” Ken clenched his fists, but this commentary kept stuck in his mind.

“You got one of those too!?” Stingmon exclaimed.

“Tsk, I stole it from your friend.”

“If you’re not him…” Ken said aloud, “Then where is he!?”

“You want to know? I can’t tell you where he is” he held the glaive on guard “It would put his life at risk.”

“If you know… We will make you tell it!” Stingmon attempted another kick, but Lightnimon dodged it “Where’s Daisuke-san and V-mon!?”

“Are you ignoring me!? I said I CAN’T tell that! His life’s in danger, you all saw Frostmon saying he was dead!”

“That information was incorrect though” Ken said seriously, glaring at him “The Digital Gate can only be opened by a D-3. The gate to the Digital World was locked, but someone managed to open it. Daisuke is alive, and you also confirmed it.”

“Yes, but which part of ‘His life is in danger so I can’t tell where to find him’ you two did NOT understand!?” He used the glaive to block Stingmon’s kick again, then repelled the digimon with it.

“You will tell us or else…!!” Stingmon and Ken said together.

“Or else what, you will destroy me knowing I know where he is and then ruin the possibilities of finding him again?” behind that helmet, he was smirking.

“We won’t kill you!”

“Oh interesting~ Well then, I’m not alone and you know it.” Then he snapped his fingers, making a wild claw come from the shadows.

“What?!” Stingmon dodged, and stood in front of Ken, “Is…”

“As expected, he indeed has a partner-in-crime.”

“Impressive! As expected from the prodigy genius boy” Lightmon clapped his hands and laughed, and Ken cringed at being called 'genius' by him “Now if you excuse me, I have to go. There’s more enemies around and I can’t let them attack those innocent lives.”

“We… We won’t give up!”

“Ah, you still want to fight” and then he sighed, “Isn’t it a disadvantage for you? Two against one?”

“Kh…” Ken bit his lips, “Fine, you won. You can go, but before… Allow me to ask one more question.”

“Another one?” Lightnimon said, totally uninterested in it, “Fine, fine… Go ahead. If it is about your friend he’s fine and safe but I can’t tell you where he’s hiding--”

“Oh no, I know Daisuke is an idiot but can survive alone. My question is about you though.”

Ken smirk was denouncing some tricky question, or a trap. He couldn’t fall on it.

“If you’re not Daisuke, then how do you manage to get his partner to evolve?”

Wh-what!? How did he…

Stingmon had taken that distraction to attack the clawed monster, revealing Fladramon from the bushes.

“S-shoot…!!” he muttered.

“Answer me, Lightnimon… Or should I say...”

“Fladramon, now!”

“W-what are you do--”

Fladramon’s form changed to a crimson armored version of himself, and wings of flame appeared from his back, causing a huge explosion in which both him and Lightnimon used to escape as Stingmon couldn’t pass through the flames.

“Ken-chan, he escaped…!”

“Darn it, you moron…!!” Ken thought, now knowing that Lightnimon wasn’t a digimon at all and yes…

“I’m sorry Da-- It mean, Lightnimon. I messed this up…” BurningFladramon said, holding Lightnimon in his arms.

“It’s not your fault, buddy… Ichijouji Ken’s an amazing detective after all.”

 “But now he knows…”

“Well I suppose that cannot be helped, as long he doesn’t spread the word and put their lives at risk. The trees have ears y’know?”

“Was… Was that a…”

“No, I meant literally. If any digimon from those two’s army heard us, this might put everyone’s lives in danger.”

“Don’t you think it’s the right moment to reveal ourselves?”

Daisuke did not respond, he was thoughtful. Something in his mind was going on and BurningFladramon knew.

“I’ve… Turned into some despicable person right now. Except for Mimi-san, Palmon and Gummymon… All of them do not like me. Do you think if I reveal myself they would understand?”

“We’re all friends, of course they will.”

“... But not now, we need to keep beating those meanies and save villages. We will settle this some other time.”

“Right…”

“Should we tell the others?” After Stingmon had put out the fire to prevent it hitting more and more trees and the local towns, he returned to Wormmon form.

“Hmm… I think we can--” Suddenly, his D-terminal beeped, “Huh?”

Ken took his device from his pocket and opened it. He noticed Daisuke had sent a message to him:

Ken, for the sake of everyone… DON’T tell anyone what you know. You might be putting everyone in danger if you do that. Wait for the right time, I trust you. P.S.: Put out the fire and uh, sorry for lying.

“What does he mean by ‘wait for the right time’ Ken-chan?”

“I guess he’s still been tracked” Ken mused, “If the enemies know.... They could find him wandering alone and then…”

“I don’t like that, he should’ve come back to us.”

“I know Daisuke is not a genius, but… He might have a reason for this. His ideas usually backfire, like now. So I’m concerned.”

“He admitted it was him, so I guess… We should keep it a secret like he asked us.”

“I think the same, but he’s a terrible liar. This might only work if he’s not talking at all.”

“I agree.”

... Sigh, what do you have in mind, Daisuke…

[sidsinning]

Also this is fucking stupid and unrealistic bc when you have scenes minors, even actors in general, shouldn't be doing together- in this case, BLOOD RELATED SIBLINGS SHOULDN'T BE KISSING (nor acting as romantic leads in the first place but hey the author is too far into this movie arc to pull out now), in show biz they use BODY DOUBLES to avoid IRL corrupt shit from happening on screen to the actors

"U can't be a pussy and must commit to the role no matter what you have to do"

Yeah, and you do that while remaining PROFESSIONAL on set you absolute pair of weirdos I need yalls to be put on a watch list

See this movie arc is so stupid now bc they're trying to make realistic commentary on the entertainment industry while doing absolutely unrealistic insane shit like this so incest can happen

It's absolutely insane, and again, UNREALISTIC, that the only ones that are properly grossed out by Aqua and Ruby's behavior are Kana and Miyako

Like why's this bitch acting like anyone would wanna see siblings kiss? Also you're 27 years old? Gross

The gaslighting is wild

"We're making a movie as a tribute to our mom's legacy where we, her children, make out as her and our dad! Please buy tickets to support us and act like this is normal even for the shitty entertainment industry! <3"

[lovelysincerity]

"The day I get called senpai is the day hell freezes over." Though Iori would because he was a good kid.

[glassesandpassion]

TFW when your stalker is back in town.

[koushirouizumi]

M E: Actually, if (Chosen Child)!Steve doesn't show up for even 0.0001 seconds of screentime in "The Beginning" I'm gonna fLIP---

[yamayuandadu]

For anyone curious: #1 is Kamo no Yasunori no Musume:

(translation from Roselee Bundy's A Life Suspended: The Preface and Long Poem Accompanying Kamo no Yasunori no Musume’s Poetry Collection) #2 is Miyako no Yoshika:

(translation and commentary from Robert Borgen's Sugawara no Michizane and the Early Heian Court)

my two favorite heian period poets to study are a 40 years old neet who wrote about feeling sick and a guy whose best known work is a critical evaluation of a someone more famous' exam paper

[aihoshiino]

You've said in the past that OnK's prologue chapters make a lot of writing decisions that Akasaka may not have made with more foresight, and that Miyako's characterization is a prime example of this. Aside from Miyako, what else from the prologue comes to mind?

I don't necessarily have concrete events or plot points to gesture towards with this, it's kind of just a tone thing that sticks out to me. It's not that OnK isn't also a comedy or that it can't be really funny and lighthearted even after the major tone shift that occurs following Ai's death but there is just a big difference in Vibes that sticks out to me when I revisit the prologue arc.

If I had to pin down some specifics though, I do think the characterization across the board took a bit of a shift once the tone change was decided on behind the scenes. I think Ai's character is fully consistent and coherent across the entire prologue arc but I do personally have a suspicion that a lot of the stuff that reads as her intentionally playing dumb and airheaded as a defense mechanism in Oshi no Ko as we have it now may have been originally written with the intent of her actually being that hapless and dumb — her looking Saitou in the face and forgetting his name reads as Ai intentionally doing a bit now, with the full context of their relationship and knowing that Saitou is basically her dad but I do suspect that as Akasaka originally envisioned it She Just Forgor

IT'S KIND OF HARD TO PUT INTO WORDS WHAT I MEAN HERE… But I guess what I'm trying to say is that the prologue arc (at least prior to the decision being made to kill Ai) feels like it's being written as a comedy first and foremost with the industry commentary largely serving as a backdrop. As such, the scenarios characters can be in and the things they do and say can be sillier and less grounded without breaking your suspension of disbelief. Once the balance shifts and the industry commentary becomes what the series is primarily about, a shift necessarily occurs in how characters are perceived.

[destinedheroes]

“If you all are going to argue about screen time, come to me when your only appearance in a series of six movies is two quick shots of your silhouette.”