#my guy you do realize you’re playing a card game based on the manga where the GOOD GUYS are all some flavor of queer and want to make a

[demonio-fleurs]

transphobic one piece fans continue to confuse me

[jassycatx33]

Everything that includes "chocolate" in the title!

IWow!!! Thank you, you’ve given me something to do!This will probably be pretty long so I’ll put it under a read more!

chocolate: when was your first kiss?

When I visited Gigi we kissed but I can’t tell you which day it was exactly that we had our first kiss!! (We’re lowkey both babies so we actually haven’t done like a proper kiss, we just did little pecks but I still count them)

french vanilla: how old are you?

I am 21 years old! (Feels really weird to say that still, even 2 months after my birthday lol)

cotton candy: three places you want to travel to?

Top place I want to travel is to visit Gigi (my girlfriend) again, but I’d also like to go to Japan one day and to California!

strawberry: a language you wish you could speak?

Hmmm… Probably Spanish because it seems most useful to know as a second language and it seems like a pretty cool language from the bits I learned in high school (and have since forgotten rip)

coffee: favorite cosmetic brands?

I really don’t use makeup enough to have a legitimate answer to this question lol

mint chocolate chip: indoors or outdoors?

Indoors for sure, I’m really not big on the outdoors. There’s bugs and the sun burns me (in the summer at least, during fall and winter it’s not so bad but I still prefer indoors)

cookie dough: do you play any instruments?

I can sort of play piano but I’m really not good at all lol

rocky road: favorite songs at the moment?

One of my all time favorite songs forever, even if I haven’t been listening to it much lately, is hold on by florI don’t know what I’ve been really into lately, I jump around a lot and I’ll be honest I’ve been listening to songs from anime the past few days and I don’t feel like listing them because it’s embarrassing lol

butter pecan: favorite songs for life?

Okay I didn’t know this would be mentioned but like I mentioned before, hold on by flor. I don’t know why but it’s really hard to think of others because my music mood changes all the time. But I can always jam to hold on by flor.

cheesecake: what’s your zodiac sign?

Gemini!

toasted coconut: the beach or the pool?

Pool, I don’t like the beach that much??

chocolate chip: what’s your most popular post?

Oh idk I think one from back when I was into Achievement Hunter in 2013 or 2014 lmao. I wouldn’t even be able to find the post to show you I’ve been on this site too long

bubblegum: books or movies?

My answer to this used to be books but I find it so hard to read for fun ever since high school so I’ll say movies

pistachio: manga or anime?

Definitely anime, although I do enjoy manga (especially the Fullmetal Alchemist one)

salted caramel: favorite movies?

Castle in the Sky!!! That’s my main favorite but some others I like are: the Incredibles, Moana, Shrek 2, and Megamind (those are the only ones coming to mind right now and I realize these are all “children’s” movies lol)

birthday cake: favorite books?

The Book Theif is my main favorite. I also really like the Ender’s Game and Warriors series (even though I haven’t finished reading through either series yet lol)

moose tracks: favorites for manga?

Fullmetal Alchemist!

orange sherbet: favorites for anime?

This might come as a surprise but… Fullmetal Alchemist (specifically Brotherhood, but I enjoy the ‘03 one as well!) I also really like Soul Eater, Tokyo Ghoul, and Ouran High School Host Club (These are all the anime that I rewatch like 400 times instead of watching new anime lmao)

peanut butter: favorite academic subject?

I like English a lot! But I also like math (certain kinds, mostly algebra)

black raspberry: do you have any pets?

Yes I have 3 cats they are my babies!!! Starfire, Sparta, and Brianna!

mango: when and why did you start your blog?

I think I started it back in 2011 or 2012 because I had heard about it on twitter or something and I wanted to look up Harry Potter stuff lol

mocha: ideal weather conditions?

A partly cloudy day with like 60 degree weather so I can wear a hoodie, but don’t need anything heavier. And I don’t like too much sun so clouds are good!

black cherry: four words that describe you?

Annoying, dumb, stinky, ugly … I mean I would use those but that’s just me being mean to myselfSome actual words I could use to describe myself: Emotional, caring, weird, kind

neapolitan: things that stress you out?

So many things oh gosh. School, family, life… You don’t want me to go on really.

raspberry truffle: favorite kind of music?

Probably like rock/alternative and pop to an extent? Idk I like most music really, if it has a cool beat that I can jam to then I probably like it

chocolate marshmallow: favorite brands of candy?

I love m&m’s, Hershey, Dove and that’s probably it?? I especially love mini m&m’s those are the best

toffee: a card game that you’re good at?

I’m awful at all of them honestly and also I barely know any actual card games lol

lemon custard: do you eat breakfast?

Typically no I don’t.

dark chocolate: turn ons?

My girlfriend

fudge: turn offs?

Anyone who isn’t my gf lol. Ah but a real answer is people who are mean for no reason, I really hate that

peach: how do you relax?

What is relax????? Um usually I just kind of watch stuff or play video games, talk to my girlfriend, hang out with my two friends. That’s about it lol

praline: a popular book you haven’t read yet?

So many honestly. But um… Of Mice and Men? That’s a big one right? Haven’t read it

superman: do you like sweaters?

I like the look and aesthetic of sweaters but I don’t like wearing them? Or I’ve just never found ones that work for me

cherry: do you drink tea or coffee?

Neither, I only like hot chocolate for hot drinks

dulce de leche: an instrument you wish you could play?

Drums! I’ve been wanting to learn drums for a while now. Idk if I ever will or if I’d even be good but it seems so fun!

blackberry: have you ever laughed so hard you cried?

I do this a lot honestly lol

ginger: a new feature you wish tumblr could have?

Ummm???? I have no idea lol

blueberry lemon: favorite blogs?

I don’t use this site very often anymore (I put stuff into my queue and I go through the tags) but like I love all my friends blogs!

almond: favorite mean girls quote?

“I don’t know why I did it. I guess it’s probably because I’ve got a big lesbian crush on you. Suck on that!” It’s like my favorite part of the movie lol

butterscotch: what color are your nails right now?

Black. I always paint them black lol

cinnamon: have you ever been confessed to?

Yes? Like confessed love or like having a crush on me? I’ve had people confess that they have a crush on me a few times.

blue moon: have you ever had a crush on someone?

Yes, quite a few really and most of them I regret but I have a crush right now on this really pretty and funny girl named Gigi and she’s the best

cappuccino crunch: do you take naps?

Usually I don’t, even though I probably need them sometimes lol

mint: the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done?

Please don’t make me think about embarrassing things. I can’t think of what is the MOST embarrassing thing I’ve ever done over my whole life because I probably blocked those memories out but in more recent times (like a few months ago or something) I went to Dunkin Donuts and I wanted chocolate frosted donuts but they had none and so I panicked and I just stood there saying “Um… um… um” out loud to this poor cashier dude who was offering suggestions that I kept turning down until I decided to just get a plain glazed donut. When telling this story to my friends I told them that I basically broke lol. It was pretty embarrassing though and the Dunkin Donuts I went to was in the mall and sometimes when I walk past I see the cashier guy and I’m like I can never go in there at least not when that dude is working lol

brownie batter: do you like sushi?

I’ve never really had it so I can’t really say. I can say that based on my pickiness when it comes to eating I probably wouldn’t enjoy it much but idk

key lime: where do you want to be right now?

Not to be too gay (even though that’s my mood all the time) but I wish I was with my girlfriend which is where I always want to be tbh

red velvet: do you wear prescription glasses?

I do! It was weird I didn’t need glasses for the first 19 years of my life and then suddenly I did. I like them though, I think they make me look better (also they help me see lol)

green tea: favorite flavors of ice cream?

I like chocolate chip cookie dough and vanilla, that’s basically it lol.

Thanks for sending the ask Ace! I don’t know if anyone will read through all of this but I had fun answering them all! 

[megareviews]

Okay I’m pretty late on this one as the Spring 2018 season is about 4/7ths finished by this point, and I could be giving excuses, or I could just get to the review. I’ll opt for the latter, so here we go for first impressions of Spring 2018, under a read more because this season is pretty massive, and I realized the first one should probably also be under a read more.

3D Kanojo (3D Girlfriend): The main character is a super otaku in high school with only one other friend who’s also an otaku dude. After being late one day he gets stuck cleaning the pool with another late student, who happens to be female. Judging her on her appearance and tardy frequency, he assumes she’s not going to come help clean. Surprise surprise, she shows up and is earnest in her work cleaning, and they end up getting along. I like the female lead, but I hate the main guy and also the concept of the show in general so that’s a no watch.

Aikatsu Friends: There’s a lot of Aikatsu and I’ve never planned on watching any of it as of this point.

Akkun to Kanojo (Akkun and His Girlfriend): A guy who’s a jerk to his girlfriend, but actually loves her very much and can’t express it well. The show is a short about a guy who’s a tsundere, but it’s pretty painful to watch for even a few minutes, especially since I’m not a big fan of the tsundere archetype in the first place.

Alice or Alice: Siscon Niisan to Futago no Imouto (Alice or Alice: The Siscon Brother and His Two Sisters): Well the title of this show is one of the largest red flags I’ve seen in a while, and it’s just about as bad as what can be expected from the title. From watching one episode it seems like the sisters are more into their brother than the other way around but that’s still pretty bad the way the show portrays any of the characters.

Amai Choubatsu: Watashi wa Kanshu Senyou Pet (Sweet Punishment: I’m the Pet of the Guards): This is pretty much a hentai that just barely sneaked by without the hentai tag. Don’t.

Amanchu! Advance: It looks pretty cool like the first season, but I have that on my plan to watch so I can’t say or watch anything about the second season.

Beyblade Burst Chouzetsu: I generally preferred playing with Beyblade toys or games rather than watching the anime is most cases, and this is the third season of Burst, so there’s really nothing I have to say on this one. Why are there so many sequel seasons at the beginning of the alphabet this year?

Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu HAPPY KISS! (Cute High Earth Defense Club HAPPY KISS!): I was not a fan of this for the first episode of the first season, so I’m definitely not watching the second season of it.

Boku no Hero Academia 3 (My Hero Academia 3): Finally, a second (third) season that I’m actually watching and can talk about with knowledge. While the first episode was kind of pointless and more of a recap of the previous seasons, two of my favorite characters will be introduced in this season, so I’m looking forward to it.

Butlers ~Chitose Momotose Monogatari~ (Butlers x Battlers): I almost understood what was going on in this show, and then everything, including the genre, changed. Then I look up the description of the show and got even more confused, because there’s like butlers who travel through time and fight things, which wasn’t indicated at all through the first episode. I’d only suggest this for people who could be oddly curious as to what the heck will happen in the show.

Caligula: Our main character here is a psychology geek, but besides annoying his friends every so often with attempted psychology lectures, lives a normal high school life. That is, until he goes into his high school graduation ceremony and the speakers start giving entrance ceremony speeches. After that people start turning into monsters and attacking the people who are still normal. After fleeing the school, we run into a guy with a black spike running through him and a black arm holding a black gun. I really liked the character designs from the game this is based on, which I never got to play, so I’ll be watching it to see how it goes. I’m also a fan of the importance the music seems to play in the show, so bonus points there.

Captain Tsubasa (2018): Probably like the one from 1983, but in 1080p. It’s an elementary soccer anime, so there’s pretty much no reason that I’d watch it, but it’s probably fine for fans of sports anime or the original.

Cardfight!! Vanguard (2018): Another season of a card game anime. I physically own a deck of CV cards and that’s about the extent of my knowledge of the series.

Comic Girls: After ranking poorly in her magazine, a young mangaka moves to an all-female dorm for mangaka to learn from / with others. Knowing that she has issues writing high school kids despite being in high school herself due to the fact that she has no friends or communication skills, she accepts readily. After meeting her roommate and some neighbors she finds out she’s got a long way to go in the manga business, but is hopeful of the possibility of getting better with the help of her new friends. I’m a fan of many of the content creator anime, and this feels like a moe version of Bakuman., but I think I’ll just put it on hold now for other shows that I’m more interested in for this season.

Cutie Honey Universe: Another reboot of a popular Nagai Go series, I’m not sure how much information I’m supposed to have of the series before watching this iteration of it. The other series, Devilman: Crybaby, seemed much more comprehensive in how the story was told so that someone starting the series from there could understand what was going on. Either way I’m applying the same decision to this as to D:C, watch the original first, and then try this one.

Devils Line: Don’t let the title fool you, this is about vampires. Vampires who get sexually aroused by human blood. The show has the main female plot device and the actual main character is a half-vampire in a police division for fighting vampires. There’s plenty of shows with similar concepts that are better than what I’m feeling from this with the amount of murder and rape alluded to as of ep 1 and the fact that there is a romance tag in the genres.

Dorei-ku The Animation (23 Slaves and Me / Slave Ward): The main object of this show is called an SCM, and what it does is let the users of It engage in duels, with the loser becoming a slave of the winner. The term duel seems to be pretty loose and left up to the users, which is pretty interesting, mostly consisting of some type of game. The show seems pretty edgy with characters being introduced with an into card of their name and them in bondage, plus the whole “slave” thing, and the implied rape scene. Since I pretty much consume any media with characters fighting each other through games, no matter how edgy (No Game No Life, Rengoku Deadroll, etc.) I will be watching this, and I’m pretty sure it’ll be interesting, if nothing else.

Duel Masters!: It’s a children’s card game anime, there’s a million of them and I have no clue what season of this it’s supposed to be. It could be the first or the fiftieth, and I would be none, the wiser, not that I care.

Fullmetal Panic! Invisible Victory: My friends all say FMP is good, so I’ll watch it… eventually. This is a sequel, so not much I can do to change people’s opinions on watching this.

Fumikiri Jikan (Railroad Crossing Time): It’s a short about conversations that people have while waiting at the crossroad for trains to pass. It looks like just a series of episodic conversations that are only slightly absurd from the description and the first episode, so you’re not losing much by trying it out.

Future Card Buddyfight X: All-Star Fight: I feel like I’m repeating myself a lot at this point, but there are so many children’s card game anime airing this season. And this one is coming in as the fifth season, so my dig at Duel Masters! Is justified as I write these all in alphabetical order.

Gegege no Kitarou (2018): A youkai child who goes around helping humans not be annihilated by other evil youkai. This is a reboot for the fiftieth anniversary of the series, and it looks pretty interesting. From the first episode, it’s probably going to be episodic and aimed in the family friendly direction, so anyone can watch it and enjoy.

Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu – Die Neue These- Kaikou (The Legend of Galactic Heroes: The New Thesis – Encounter [wow, one of the few times I can use my German and Japanese knowledge at the same time]): There sure are a lot of reboots this season too, and I’ve seen a couple of people with mixed opinions on whether you should watch this or not, whether you’ve seen the original or not, so I decided to skip this one until I make it through the original Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu.

Golden Kamui (Golden Kamuy): A war veteran of the Russo-Japanese war is trying to eke out a living during the Hokkaido Gold Rush, and hears about a hidden Ainu stash of gold with a map etched into the bodies of a bunch of prisoners as tattoos. As he starts his search for the pieces of the map he runs into an Ainu girl, who helps him survive in the wild and collect the map on the condition that she won’t kill anybody for the map. I enjoy the dynamic between the two main characters and the show has a really good balance between comedic wilderness survival sections and brutal combat scenes, so this is near the top of my watchlist.

Gundam Build Divers: I got no clue on how the Gundam Build series fit together, and maybe I never will.

Gurazeni (Money Pitch): It’s a major league baseball anime where the main character is a left-handed relief pitcher, who enjoys studying the salaries of other players in the league. The show description says that player’s performance determines their salaries, but as far as I know, that’s just how it works in America, and I don’t know if it’s a different system in Japan, or if the show just gets really focused on the money aspect of it.

High School DxD HERO: BOOOOOOSTO! (I’ve watched literally no DXD). This is the fourth season, and the studio animating the show changed for this season, from TNK to Passione, a newish studio that I’ve enjoyed how all their shows looked, if not the shows themselves.

Hinamatsuri: After a tough day of yakuza work, the main heroine drops onto the yakuza man’s head in metallic egg thing. A day later the yakuza releases her and she starts going on a psychokinetic rampage and breaking a bunch of valuable vases. After the yakuza generously decides to accept this girl into his house until further notice they just try to live together in as peacefully as possible. It’s full of a lot of goofy scenes played completely straight, which is pretty funny. The artstyle constantly reminds me of Tsuki ga Kirei, which is pretty much the only reason I’m not adding it to my watch immediately list, despite the comedy being right up my alley.

Hisone to Maso-tan (Hisone and Maso): The main character is in the Japanese Self Defense Force’s air force when she gets transferred to an assignment that very few people have been able to qualify for. This assignment involves being eaten by a dragon that can transform into an aircraft and piloting it from inside it’s digestive tract. The artstyle is pretty unique, and I can’t quite pin down a genre to call it, so I’ll say check it out, but I won’t be keeping up with it in season.

Hoozuki no Reitetsu 2: Sono ni (Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 2: Part 2): Have you watched part 1 of season 2? Then you can now watch this.

Inazuma Eleven: Ares no Tenbin: You only need to have watched the first Inazuma Eleven to understand what’s going on in this soccer anime. Unfortunately, I don’t even have that fraction of the Inazuma Eleven series watched.

Juushinki Pandora: As humanity continues to make scientific progress, accidents are going to happen. One such incident caused the world to be blanketed by a mysterious energy, that caused most life on earth to start hybridizing with machines. These hybrids then started evolving at a faster rate than humanity’s technological progress, and start destroying humanity. Various mechs are piloted by humans to protect the dwindling lands that can support humanity, and that’s where the main character steps in. A brilliant scientist on the verge of a breakthrough that will bring the mechs built by humanity up to par with the wildlife, or even stronger. While I like how the hybrid wildlife looks, that’s about the only thing I like about the show and don’t care to sit through CG mech fights for that purpose. That’s what Horizon Zero Dawn is for.

Kakurio no Yadomeshi: The main character of this show has grown up being able to see youkai, and enjoys feeding them to prevent them from harming other humans. One day a youkai shows up and brings her to an inn in the youkai world, telling her that her grandfather owes him a large debt, with her being the collateral. To this she responds with a swift “No way” and decides to work off her grandfather’s debts instead. To this end she tries to find someplace in the inn where she can help, and by the end of the episode finds a café in the yard that’s about to be closed down, so she decides to work with one of the kitsune employees to reopen the café so she can start paying off those debts. Not my cup of tea so I’ll be passing on this one.

Koneko no Chii: Ponponra Daibouken 2 (Chi’s Sweet Adventure 2): CG kittens doing CG kitten things I would assume from what I know about the series, but it’s the second season, so, even more kitten things.

Kiratto Pri☆chan: With a massively popular system for a variety of user created shows and capabilities to upload from any device, the Pri☆chan system can let anybody be a star. The two main characters decide to become an idol duo basically through a challenge, and end up doing well with their debut live show. The CG for the live show is pretty good, but I’m not really a fan of idol shows so I don’t have any plans on further watching this.

Kuroneko Monroe (Monroe the Black Cat): I have not been able to find a source on this one, which is an issue with a lot of the children’s shorts.

Ladyspo (Lady Sports): After getting about 5 minutes in, I had to give up. It was a different still image every 15~30 seconds of women on the toilet while some kind of mascot character talked to them. There is no subbed version of this so I only got the gist from listening myself, but this barely qualifies as animation.

Last Period: Owarinaki Rasen no Monogatari (Last Period: Story of an Endless Spiral): A show of magic-users called Periods fighting monsters called Spirals. Though the guild branch of the main characters suffers from the theft of everything of monetary value, and the main characters are tasked with taking quests to recover enough money to buy back their guild hall. That’s the setting at least, and as revealed later in the show, the show’s just really about making fun of gacha games while (probably) following the plot of the game it’s based off of. I think the roasting of gacha games is an untapped anime market, so I’d recommend this to anyone else who suffers on their own quests for full ☆☆☆☆☆ or UR teams.

Layton Mystery Tanteisha: Katori no Nazotoki File (Layton Mystery Detective Agency: Katri’s Case Solving File): An anime about the famous professor Layton’s daughter, solving mysteries, just like her dad. It’s a mystery show for kids, the first episode’s mystery was kinda quick and weak, but the characters are pretty interesting. I can’t think of a detective mystery show that’s come out since Kindaichi R2 finished so this show can be useful for scratching that itch, and later episodes might have more interesting mysteries.

Lostorage conflated WIXOSS: There’s so much WIXOSS and I have no idea how they are ordered, but this definitely isn’t the first season of a show, which may not be obvious to people who don’t know the series. Unlike a lot of the other card game based shows that have way too many seasons for me to understand, I do actually plan on watching this one at some point.

Lupin III: Part V: Part 5?!

Mahou Shoujo Ore (Magial Girl Ore): There’s just… so much going on. The basic premise is a comedic magical girl show, except the transformation is into a buff dude. As of episode 1 it is a series of absurd comedy skits leading up to this reveal, and the show can go literally anywhere from here. Being a fan of absurdist humor is the main reason to watch this show.

Mahou Shoujo Site (Magical Girl Site): And now, the complete opposite, a psychological horror magical girl show. We spend the first half of episode 1 watching the main character get brutally bullied, then she becomes a magical girl through one of the creepiest ways possible, and then accidentally exacts revenge. The show finishes introducing another magical girl who seems to have her schtick down a bit better than the main character. I really like most of the visual aspects of the show, and am a big fan of dark magical girl series in general so this was a no-brainer watch for me.

Major 2nd: It’s a baseball show about a kid who’s father casts a large shadow of baseball greatness on his son. You get to watch the kid play baseball with his team.

Megalo Box: While this show was created for the 50th anniversary of Ashita no Joe, this show is unlike the reboots and alternate series of this season as this show is completely unique and separate from the old show. An underground boxer who makes a living throwing matches who wants to compete for real is given a goal of a countrywide boxing tournament called Megalonia. There are many issues with a nameless man with no citizenship trying to get into such a tournament, but a fight with the number one ranked boxer sparks a fierce desire within the main character. In addition to the show looking amazing, the boxing is also upgraded in the future that the show takes place in, with mechanical boxing gear that increases the offensive and defensive capabilities of each boxer.

Neko Neko Nihonshi 3rd Season (Cat’s Japanese History 3rd Season): Another short this season about cats, but now they’re teaching Japanese history. It’s the third season, so there’s about 12 hours of the show to catch up on if you want to watch this season.

Nil Admirari no Tenbin (The Scales of Nil Admirari): This story is about books which become infested with negative emotions to the point of causing readers to injure themselves. The main character’s brother nearly committed suicide due to one such book, and the experience caused the main character to see these negative emotions in books. Due to this ability she gets scouted for a secret branch of the government that deals with these books. I honestly can’t figure out how to make the show interesting with the way the story is set up now, so I might actually watch more of this to see what happens.

Nobunaga no Shinobi: Anegawa Ishiyama-hen (Ninja Girl & Samurai Master: Anegawa and Ishiyama Arc): The third season of ninja comedy shorts.

Omae wa Mada Gunma wo Shiranai (You Don’t Know Gunma Yet): As the main character is moving to the Gunma prefecture, he texts one of his old classmates that moved there before, telling him about the move. An immediate warning to not to is the response, but as he gets it, the mood on the train suddenly darkens and he can’t get off the train. Overall the show seems like a weird comedy with factoids about the Gunma prefecture, if you want to learn about it for some reason.

Oretacha Youkai Ningen G (We Are Youkai People G): I literally cannot find anything about this show, and the image provided is kinda terrifying to be honest. It seems to be related to the series with the same name minus the G, but they don’t look anything alike. Hopefully I can purge knowledge of this show from my mind after writing this.

Oshiri Tantei (Butt Detective): Another short that I cannot find any traces of online, even though it seems to be something Crunchyroll picked up and was supposed to air sometime this month. I’m just gonna go ahead and say it’s probably a lot of butt puns while vaguely following some mystery.

Persona 5 The Animation: An anime of Persona 5, just like it says in the title. The show seems to follow pretty closely to the game, so this looks like it might be a good way to get the story of the game without a lot of the grinding battles and relationships. It will be 24 episodes, so the entirety of the show is about 10 hours, rather than the game’s 60+, though whether this is a good or bad thing will only be known after the show is well on it’s way.

Piano no Mori (TV): This show is about two pianist children who meet each other in elementary school. One is the son of a prostitute who lives in the forest and plays an abandoned piano he found there, and the other is from a prodigious family who’s had piano lessons since he could reach the keys. I think this show could an interesting watch, except the CG used for the piano scenes is ugly as hell and keeps switching on and off depending on if a character’s fingers were on screen. CG on it’s own is fine, but the constant switching during a singular scene drives me crazy, the same issue I had with Toji no Miko last season.

Puzzle & Dragon: I cannot find subs of this version of the PAD anime, as it is completely different from PAD Cross. Now that I actually play the game it’s based on on occasion, I thought I’d check out the anime based on it.

Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori: A couple of dudes running a tea shop. That’s about it and judging from the first episode I’m going to say it seems like an episodic show focused on relaxing, both for the viewers and the characters. Probably a fine show if you’re okay spending your time watching the staff interacting with each other and learning about their individual traits and how they interact, but it’s not doing anything for me.

Saredo Tsumibito wa Ryuu to Odoru (Dances with the Dragons): The story of two bounty hunters in a world of magic and dragons. A human with offensive magic fighting with another humanoid species who fights with a sword and strengthening magic. The show’s visuals are pretty average and the story seems to be of the main characters balancing their personal lives and expenses with their abilities to defeat dragons. I wasn’t feeling like keeping up with it from the first episode, but it doesn’t look like a bad choice to watch.

Shiyan Pin Jiating (Jikken-hin Kazoku / Creature Family Days): Okay so a genius, a dog, a plant, a spider, and a psychic walk into a Chinese restaurant. This isn’t a joke, this is just what happens in the first episode. The main characters are all siblings who are exceptional in some way, the oldest four as being experiments of their parents, and the youngest child who is the genius. The story takes place some time after the parents of this family are arrested for performing illegal human experimentation, and are about the family trying to live the most normal life they can. I like the characters and their mix of supernatural traits, and it’s a pretty cute show overall. It’s a bit shorter than a normal show, but longer than a short, and airs with both Japanese and Chinese audio, so there’s a lot of oddities mixed into the show in many ways.

Shokugeki no Souma: San no Sara – Tootsuki Ressha-hen (Food Wars: Third Plate – Totsuki Train Arc): I still gotta catch up on the third season of this, but I’ll finally be able to see Rindo animated, so that’s great.

Souten no Ken: REGENESIS (Fist of the Blue Sky: REGENESIS): The second season to the prequel to Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star), I think?

Steins;Gate 0: The Science Adventure Series will eventually be watched by me, as people keep yelling at me to watch it.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online: I can’t watch this until I fulfill both conditions of finishing the main SAO series and another project I’m working on, so it might be a while before I get to this. The author for this story is completely different from the main series writer, and I’ve heard that this is a vast improvement.

Tachibanakan to Lie Angle (Love to Lia Angle): After moving from her hometown as a child, the main character returns to a student dorm to start high school. Soon after finding it her dreams of a high class dorm are shattered, but at least there are plenty of other friendly girls living there, and two of them were friends from back when she used to live in her hometown. Other than that, the main premise seems to be related to the residents chilling in various states of undress, so I’m planning on just skipping this short.

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai (Tada Can’t Fall in Love): After saving a foreign girl from the rain by bringing her to his family’s café, the main character learns that she came to Japan and even learned Japanese almost exclusively because of an old samurai anime. That’s all I really remember, and it’s a romance show where none of the characters really resonated with me, so I can’t vouch for it, and my reason to not watch is that I couldn’t find a reason to watch it.

To Be Heroine: A sequel to To Be Hero, which I couldn’t finish, so I couldn’t start this. The art looks pretty good from what I saw when searching for a screenshot.

Tokyo Ghoul:re: I don’t understand the order and relations between the Tokyo Ghoul series, so I’m still stuck somewhere in season 2.

Uchuu Senkan Tiramisu (Space Battleship Tiramisu): The show follows the ace of humanity’s alien defense fleet, one of the youngest men fighting to protect Earth. This age difference causes the main character to not get along well with any of his teammates, and he usually just ends up isolating himself in his mech’s cockpit for some peace and quiet. But things never go as smoothly as he likes, and the show is just watching this poor man struggle to relax in space, which has been pretty funny as of so far.

Uma Musume Pretty Derby (Horse Girls Pretty Derby): A show where we got racehorses, but instead of actual horses they are anime girls. I was somewhat dubious of this as an idea for a show, and watching made me realize how wrong I was to doubt this show. It’s pretty funny and while the main character doesn’t enter a race, one of the other main characters does race, and it looked pretty good. There’s plenty of factors coming together to make this into a promising show from the first episode, like the writing, the animation (90% of the time), and the fact that it’s exactly like an actual sport, but not actually.

Usagi no Matthew (Matthew the Rabbit): It’s a kid’s short, and therefore, nobody has bothered ripping and subbing the show, so I can’t really say anything about it.

Wakaokami wa Shougakusei! (The Inn Mistress is an Elementary Schooler): After her parents die in a traffic accident, the main character moves into an inn run by her grandmother. Then after a few misunderstandings mostly caused by trying to talk to a ghost and real people at the same time, she ends up getting formal training to take over the inn for her grandmother. I’m not particularly interested in where the plot goes and the characters are all kind of annoying, so I’ll be passing on this show.

Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii (Love is Hard for an Otaku): This is one of the few shows where I’ve read the source material before watching the show so it’ll bias me a bit, but it’s a good rom-com. The main character broke up with her former boyfriend after he learned she was an otaku, and even changed companies because of how ashamed she was, only to find an otaku friend she hadn’t seen since elementary school. They start to date each other because they’re good friends and don’t have to hide their otakuness from each other, and just go through office life balancing work and fun. I relate very strongly with the guy and how he lives his life so I will follow this show to the end of the universe.

Youkai Watch: Shadow Side: Season ??? of Youkai Watch. What else can I say at this point?

[recentanimenews]

What I Learned After 'Outgrowing' Card Game Anime

My first favorite anime was based off a massively popular trading card game. Or rather, it might be better to say the massively popular trading card game turned it into what I love. Long-running franchises like Yu-Gi-Oh! haven’t always been about card games, but the parts people remember best always seem to center the game’s consequences: the glory of winning, the heartbreak of defeat, the fiery passion of competition. Recent shows like Cardfight!! Vanguard and the current Shadowverse both follow a similar formula. And also like my other earliest anime loves — red hot shōnen fighting and sports series, the kind full of epic tournament arcs and match-ups — these card shows also chase those high highs and low lows. For as uncool and dorky as a competitive trading card game might sound on paper, I keep finding myself being pulled back in. Not because I’m a technical nerd or obsessive with the mechanics of epic children’s card games but, just like the most epic of spectator sports, I’m always down for organized smackdowns.

  Is Rock Lee dropping his weights no better than slamming an Exodia and subjecting your opponent to permanent ego death? With card games on my mind, it was time for me walk down memory lane and find out for myself.

Winners and Losers

“That means you haven't known the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of high school basketball" 

Everyone knows what sports anime are all about: underdogs joining a team, befriending rivals, winners and losers. Most importantly, the whole world revolves around an organized sport with clearly defined rules. In other words, you thrive under competitive pressure or don't — you make the team or don’t. Series like Captain Tsubasa tremendously popularized the sports genre during the '80s, and with that, spearheaded the classic tropes of that genre. An emphasis on the young male demographic beget the rise of popular sports manga like Prince of Tennis and Slam Dunk in magazines like Weekly Shōnen Jump. With Slam Dunk ending its serialization in Jump in June of 1996, Kazuki Takahashi’s Yu-Gi-Oh! would begin that subsequent September in the same year, right at the tail-end of that sports manga’s fever-pitch popularity. Closely following in 1999 was the Wizards of the Coast-sponsored Duel Masters franchise aimed at a younger audience, further cementing the card game genre’s place in the male demographic. Stories hyper fixated on a singular competitive game were still hot — even if they didn't assume the standard sports-themed shape.

Yami Yugi puts everything on the line dueling Maximillion Pegasus for the first time

Simultaneously publishing alongside Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind and a continuation of Captain Tsubasa, Yu-Gi-Oh! focused on a very broad definition of “games,” making it initially an odd bird among Jump’s typical battle and sports line-up. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t compelling. After the appearance of the in-series trading card game “Duel Monsters,” demand for a real-life counterpart became so overwhelming that publisher Konami eventually released the game’s first set in 1999. Since then, the card game itself has become the primary force in the series plot. Characters resolve conflicts through card games in flashy duels where, despite just standing around, they revel in quote-worthy monologues about attack phases, trap cards, and their tragic backstories. With that plot integration came a whole new way of exploring larger than life stories, something better than plain advertising. In lieu of special moves or kicking soccer balls, the card game scenario created its own organized ecosystem of winners and losers. There are rules — and if you break them, well, the consequences can be far worse than a bad day at the hobby shop. 

Mind Games

Oh to be an anxiety-ridden teen astral projecting in front of a cool dragon

Unlike a typical sports anime, a card game’s rules aren’t always obvious. Everyone knows what basketball is. But what does it mean when your life points drop to zero and you’re exiled from a plucky gang of card game-playing teens, forever destined to angst and booster packs? At first glance, it’s hard to find the real stakes in losing a card game. For example, series like 2011’s Cardfight!! Vanguard don’t necessarily start off on such a dramatic note compared to the heavy hitters like Yu-Gi-Oh. Based on the trading card game published by Bushiroad, Cardfight introduces us to Sendou Aichi, a seemingly hopeless and insecure kid in a world full of deck-wielding jocks. He’s a far cry from the typical hyperactive Jump protagonist. But after years of indulging in bigger-than-life characters dueling for their lives on top of blimps and virtual reality, I found Sendou to be a breath of fresh air. He’s a total newbie and, to be frank, probably more patient than I could ever be when it comes to learning the ins and outs of a competitive tabletop game.

Kai is dead serious about two things: card games and dignity

The more I dove into Cardfight, however, I realized it wasn’t really about mastering the rules or whatever obscure stratagems this week’s bully had up their sleeve. Sure, it’s not meant to be overly complicated, but I couldn’t help deciphering the same story patterns that made me love competitive arcs of shōnen anime in the first place. Like Naruto’s famous Chūnin Exam arc or Yu Yu Hakusho’s Dark Tournament storyline, the context of an organized event changes everything. And best of all, these games characters play are a slow burn, meticulously planned — everything is a mind game.

The earliest parts of Cardfight are spent laying out the rules of the game, but after that, it’s all about Sendou gaining confidence and finding camaraderie. In his first match, he uses a monster called Blaster Blade as his “vanguard,” a kind of astral persona he takes on. Dressed up in Blaster Blade’s armor in Cardfight’s visualization of the playing field (sorry, no Kaiba Corp hologram technology here), Sendou’s adoption of the game as a vehicle for working out anxiety couldn’t be more obvious. Instead of a scared kid, he's now a confident knight, thriving on the astral battlefield. With all the rules on the table, what's left to learn other than the existential aches of teens dueling out adolescent troubles?

Screwing the Rules

Yugi summoned as Dark Magician during Bakura's duel

  Admittedly, this moment in Cardfight reminded me of Yu-Gi-Oh’s earliest episodes. During the Duelist Kingdom arc — a competition hosted on an island — protagonist Yugi duels against classmate Bakura. With the use of Bakura's “Change of Heart” card, Yugi and company’s spirits are forced to inhabit iconic duel monsters on the field while Yami, the Egyptian pharaoh possessing Yugi, commands the match. Trapped Yugi and friends are depicted as roleplaying in cosplay — acting out attacks and mock dying. After Yami wins, everyone returns to their bodies as though nothing happened. However, the symbolic implications of this episode are obvious. Not only are our protagonist's psyches tied up in their cards, but so are their sense of worth and how they see themselves. These games give us the very special privilege of seeing their inner-lives uncoil with every attack phase, card draw, and strategic retreat.

  Seto Kaiba loudly announces his new dueling tournament from a blimp, because of course why not

I’ve tried watching real, high-stakes world title trading card game matches. They’re boring. No one is astral projecting into the body of a cool sword guy. Tournament-style arcs like Yu-Gi-Oh's Duelist Kingdom and Battle City will always have a special place in my heart for their outrageous seriousness. The card game anime is inevitably tiered: you learn player backstories, their shortcomings, their hubris. Everyone, no matter their eccentric gimmick, has a story hook. Learning niche mechanics and why a kid is emotionally imprinted on a mass-produced trading card is its own shibboleth. Not “getting it” otherwise leads to everything looking just plain silly. The closest real-life comparisons I can think of are the melodramatic reels that play right before wrestling matches or the Super Bowl. What’s to lose? Not the game. But the legendary, mythic athletic persona behind the player.

Regardless of arcane gameplay, gibberish, or flashy cards, the unchallenged fiery hype and love that goes into fleshing out this particular genre and its characters is what keeps dragging me back in. I might not get a lick of what activates a card trigger or the hot new meta. I can always learn that later. Underneath the exaggeration and dramatic card tricks, however, was a sincerity I didn’t expect to find even though I’m older. Despite my time away, maybe the heart of the cards never truly left me after all.

  Blake P. is a weekly columnist for Crunchyroll Features. He likes old mecha anime, computer games, books, and black coffee. His twitter is @_dispossessed. His bylines include Fanbyte, VRV, Unwinnable, and more.

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