#nine months no anime

[tokiro07]

Martial Master Asumi ch.32 thoughts

[And Then There Was One]

(Contents: speculation - cancelation)

I wonder how I would have taken the news that MMA was ending had Cipher Academy not ended at the same time?

I wonder how I'd be reacting if I hadn't been told prior to the previous review?

I wrote last week's fresh off of that news, so I almost feel like I already did my end-of-series review

I almost don't know what to write here, but I owe it to this series and Kawada to at least try

Like with Cipher Academy, the roadmap that we skipped is pretty well laid out here - we see the key opponents that Asumi would have needed to face in the J-Future Cup (Takanori obviously being one of them, and I'm willing to bet would have been the final one), we see that Baku had a violent and deadly past that likely would have been a major revelation that raised the stakes for the entire series, and finally we see Asumi vs. Kazuro, with Kazuro's bloodlust manifesting as fire to complement Asumi's water. I don't remember if I predicted that specifically, but it doesn't come at all as a surprise

I definitely would have liked to see other characters show off their bloodlust like that, and I think it's a tremendous shame that no one ever got the chance to. I don't have a good idea of what it is that prevented the series from catching on, but if I had to guess, I think it might be that it established itself as a continuation of Hinomaru Zumou without matching the level of escalation quite quickly enough

To illustrate: Hinomaru revealed the concept of bloodlust around chapter 60-ish as I recall, while Asumi did it around chapter 20; now that we know that they're using the same mechanics, we would expect to see it being used by other fighters just as quickly rather than having it sprinkled through, but the only glimpse we ever got of it after that was from Okiba. I think since Asumi reached the professional stage in about an eighth of the time it took Hinomaru, then we as the audience should have been given a glimpse of how the ceilings of the professional worlds compared

The moment we knew Kunisaki was here, I think it would have helped if we had gotten to see him fighting. Maybe we could have seen the fight that inspired Amagaki, or the first professional bout we saw could have been one of his rather than Okiba's one-sided beatdown. The sense of escalation was fine for me, but maybe it felt too laid back for everyone else. Hinomaru fans know that we could be seeing people with lightning coursing their entire bodies, why are we only seeing Asumi splashing a little bit of water?

Like I said, this is just my best guess, but I think the connection to Hinomaru established too strong of an expectation that wasn't really being delivered on. That said, wow did people not give it any time to do anything with it! It's been what, a quarter year since we saw Asumi enter bloodlust mode?? That's nothing! We only got to see two fights since then! But I guess maybe people were just impatient?

Or they just...weren't up for reading an MMA manga? Maybe MMA's not that popular in Japan? I think Hinomaru Zumou found a really good niche cus sumo itself is big, but also from how Kawada portrayed it, kind of dwindling. It seems like sumo is having a harder time connecting with the youth, so maybe Hinomaru helped bridge that gap, or appealed to the fans who felt like their favorite sport wasn't as popular as it should be?

Or maybe there are too many MMA manga. I don't read any, but I've seen a few here and there like Teppu, so maybe the market's oversaturated with them and I didn't realize it

There are so many possible factors, but in the end, knowing what to blame wouldn't really change the fact that another one of my favorites is gone. It's especially disheartening because of how Kawada seemed to take the news, berating himself in the author comments this week. Maybe his tone was more light-hearted in Japanese, but calling himself an amateur and blaming himself for his own failures leaves such a negative taste in my mouth. I hate to see an author I love get down on himself, and it makes me so worried that he's going to give up, like I said last week too. I want to see his work again; his art style is so pleasing, his choreography is great, and his character writing is fantastic. I think it would be a tremendous loss to the art form if he were to quit, but alas, he will never hear me say that. I hope someone feels like I do in Japan and sends him a nice, heartfelt letter expressing how much he means to people like us, and that we'll get to see him again as soon as possible

I'm going to stop here, lest I work myself up into a lather. I know I pretty rarely had engagement on these posts compared to UU and CA, but I hope that the few of you who read them enjoyed yourselves, and I hope it deepened your experience and appreciation for the series like it did for me. Hope to see you all again with Kawada's next work

Until next time

[ladyylavenderrr]

Garak goes into heat and doesn’t explain it to Julian cause he’s embarrassed, but Julian is totally convinced this is just some weird role play and so he’s just loving life

(Wow, Garak, round 8 was pretty intense! We’re done though, right?)

[abstrekt]

Finally got around to doing some redraws of THE BEST lower decks episode!!!! No I am not biased

[goldkirk]

I’m so excited. I finally ordered the HDMI port conversion connector for the Nintendo Wii and it’s coming TONIGHT

[ragsy]

oops i thought about scavengers reign too hard again and now i'm going to lie down and die oops oops oops oops

[what-happens-to-the-heart]

Sign ups!

Sign ups so far! Multi sign ups are allowed, but I encourage anyone interested to take the empty slots if there are any available. We'll take sign ups until April 30th, and double up on days that have multiple sign ups. (If you determine later that you'll miss your posting date - don't worry, just message this blog to let me know!)

For posters who have "TBD" for their Fandom - remember to let me know what Trek(s) you chose to make fanwork for!

Date Name (Fandom)

May 1 @marymoss1971 (VOY)

May 2 @auguststargazer (VOY)

May 3 BlackVelvet42 (TBD)

May 4 @jellybeansarecool (TBD)

May 5 @pc-corner (SNW)

@70thousandlightyearsfromhome (VOY)

May 6 @seemaunbound (VOY)

@regionalpancake (PIC)

May 7 Servelan (TBD)

May 8 @go-tell-the-bees (VOY)

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May 10 @muizeke83 (VOY)

@sun-lit-roses (VOY)

May 11 @mytardisisparked (ENT)

@rocktherecorder (PIC or VOY)

May 12 @grissomesque (VOY)

@baylardo (PRO)

May 13 @madamairlock (VOY)

@whathappenstotheheart (SNW)

May 14 @theredheadedcaptain (TBD)

@gluecookie (DS9)

May 15 @curator-on-ao3 and @fiadorable (SNW)

@littleobsessions90

[tearlessrain]

I get the basis for the "all dogs are good dogs" thing but at the same time I think it's becoming dangerous not to acknowledge that in actual practice, not all of them are good dogs. police dogs are not good dogs. dogs with severe aggression issues whether due to upbringing or genetics that pose a danger to people are not good dogs. I've seen shelters straight up re-adopting out large dogs with a multiple bite history that have been returned several times for attacking someone's kids or pets (but Tank is the biggest lovebug in the world, we swear, those people just didn't understand him), I've seen conversations about police brutality derailed because nobody will hear a single bad word about the good doggos that are actively trained to maul people and give false positives so cops can search your car and harass you. even the police robots that are now having guns attached to them get sympathy because they kind of look like dogs and get called dogs.

like don't get me wrong I love dogs. but if a dog regularly causes harm and endangers people it is not fulfilling the societal function of a dog and it is not good.

[nalivaa]

sick and twisted that i made this like nine months ago and then was never able to finish it so it was left in my wips folder for all this time

fran @freetobeafcknriot beloved i'm so sorry, you did all that work and For What i promise to keep trying but like,, i have no idea what to do anymore o(╥﹏╥)o

this was directly inspired by this post by @quicksilver-castiel and alex i am so sorry ahsgdja

[shrimp-and-company]

Sweet girl

[exopelagic]

WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME BURROWS END WASNT FREE

[the-winters-prince]

Hello

(What should the dad's reaction be?)

baby fever!

[andrinearts]

My brother crying because there was no one pice episode this week

Me a bsd fan: that’s rough buddy

[demigod-of-the-agni]

Me celebrating the end of Nine Realms season 6 in June only to wake up after my exams on September 10 to see that season 7 drops in four days

I know what I'm going to be doing in a week's time

[apollo-zero-one]

Man I can't believe I had the chance to go to a performing arts school up through middle school and I fuckin quit after 6 months just because I got bullied. BRO YOUR HOMEWORK WAS POETRY!! YOU HAD TO PRACTICE DANCING TO COTTON EYE JOE AS YOUR BIG UNIT TEST. GYM CLASS HAD A CIRCUS UNIT!! YOU HAD A WHOLE DAILY CLASS ON IMPROV!!! YOU FOOL!! YOU ABSOLUTE IMBICILE!! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN A YOUTUBER!!! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF THOSE TWEENAGERS GETTING LOADED BY MAKING SHITTY YOUTUBE SHORTS IN 2008-14!! But noooOoooOOOoo little miss Noellie (who WANTED TO GO!! who worked SO HARD and sent in an application essay and did an INTERVIEW to get in!!) couldn't handle disruptive classmates or little scuffles and petty grudges and general Attitude of the other students and cried to mommy to put her back in public school. I am EATING MY HAIR over what Could Have Been. I COULD BE SOMEONE'S ANNOYING YOUTUBER!! I could be a DISGRACED DISNEY CHANNEL STAR!! I could be an America's Got Talent winner! A mild to moderately successful comedian! I could be making short films!! But no no no precious thin skinned baby me heard a few new cus words and watched a teacher get heckled and begged to give up The Dream in favor of?? Quiet math tests?? I am such a fucking quitter I quit everything the second it gets too hard I always take the out as soon as it's offered what's my fucking damage.....

[ozziesdisco]

Lee Yeon deserves a fucking break more than anyone else in the entire world and that's the tea

[pryordraws]

I'm dangerously close to hyperfixating on a movie that won't come out for a year. why