#no seriously why does this thing have so many similarities to PV

[screamsofanoutlawbrain]

It looks kinda similar to the yellow gem in the body of the Avatar of Destiny.

Guys, sudden offtopic

Has anyone even noticed that the Light of Truth is radically different from the other Lights of the other Ancients?

(we will omit the fact that the light of Freedom is broken here; if it were collected, it would glow exactly the same as the others)

[franeridart]

Anon said: [Spoilers for non-manga readers] opinion on Baku's hero name?

Very Bakugou, honestly don’t mind it at all! Mostly just surprised it’s, like, legal in the bnha universe for heroes to call themselves stuff like explodo-kills (and also that there isn’t a character limit for hero names??) but that Bakugou would stick with it is pretty damn in character for him so I like it xD still, I’ll probably just call him Dynamight if I’ll ever need to use his hero name lmao

Anon said: not to be the most romantic sap but uh just a kiss by lady a is killin me

Nothing sappy about letting romantic songs get to you!!!! I say, as I’m constantly crying over romantic songs so this mindset benefits me as well lol

Anon said: i may or may not have stumbled across some of your older kiribaku art, the stuff with akane, and she's the best child oc tbh. i actually like her and i tend to not be a fan of child ocs but she's just the cutest darn thing 🥰

I’m so glad you like her!!!!! She was a lot of fun, what a good gremlin ;;;

Anon said: uve heard of dragon!kiri w his hair spikes up, now get ready for dragon!kiri w his hair dowm lookin like the softest boy

AW HECK I think I’ve drawn him in the past, actually!!!! Spike-haired Kiri will forever be my fav Kiri, but there’s just something about hair down Kiri isn’t it!! What a cute boy ;;;; all sharp edges and soft curves, what a lovely sight

Anon said: can i just say your itafushi art is so cute? these two already make me feel and then your art just (つω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

THANK YOU SO MUCH I really need to draw them more, don’t I! goge kinda monopolized my attention there, but the way itafushi makes me feel..........boy the way they make me feel ;;;;

Anon said: good day, poké au thought: 12 y/o bakugo somehow catches a dreepy as like his 2nd pokemon and never questions it

WHY NOT WHY NOT I have a whole team in my mind for the boy tbh but dreepy is so cute ;;;; and anyway, I like my poke!bakugou with as many dragon types as he could possibly get his hands on hahaha

Anon said: Please know that, amongst other factors, you were one of the maon reasons I stsrted Jujutsu Kaisen two days ago and there isnothing more to say except thank you and I'm absolutely in debt with you for that, thank you so much 😍

I’m so so SO glad you’re liking it!!!!!! It can get kinda heavy but it’s such a great story.... honestly I’d been wanting to start it since I saw the first pv for the anime all the way back last year but I was like, you know it’s a mappa anime! so I wanted to watch the anime as a new thing, cause I love mappa, but three episodes in I couldn’t hold back and just binged it. It’s kind of story that just makes you wanna drink it all in one go, isn’t it? so good so good

Anon said: makeup artist kirishima and model bakugo or makeup artist bakugo and model kirishima? :0c

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm can’t say I see either of them much into fashion tbh, but if I had to pick probably model Kiri and artist Baku? I just don’t think Baku would be able to stay still enough to get photographed, and he wouldn’t like the photographer bossing him around anyway, and catwalks would be impossible for him to stomach imho, he’s too restless for it! At least it’s the way I see it haha

Anon said: fdgdhdkfhdafs i had a thought, what if bakugo prefers dogs and kirishima prefers cats and when they meet each other and become friends it's like, "oh." because they have some striking similarities to their fave animals

That’s been my headcanon for a while now, actually!! I think for me it came from two characters in a manga I like that are a lot like a dog and a cat but have inverted fav animals and when I read about that I was like “oh, right, makes sense since they like each other” and then my brain turned it krbk because when does it not lmao

Anon said: your art is the soothing balm to my soul recently, thank you for posting so much beautiful content. i hope you have a lovely week. ♡

sob thank you so much, I’m glad my doodling can help you feel better ;; <3

Anon said: Friendly reminder anon from last time: that post I left last time I had only eaten 7 gingersnaps that day and hadn’t drank any water. So that encouraged me to actually self care. Thank you.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well I hope you’re taking care of yourself today too! And as fair trade, I’ll do the same myself! <3

Anon said: Hi! I'm an artist and I'm thinking of making a sideblog for my art. Do you have any tips?

Ah man, I’m sorry but I’m not the best person to ask this to! I started this sideblog cause I had too many followers on my main and I didn’t want my stuff to be seen by that many people at first, so whatever I did probably isn’t what you’re looking for :( but really there isn’t much to it, just post whatever you like to draw, tag it as best as you can (but remember that only the first five tags appear in the search page) and be patient, since whatever you do at first you won’t get much attention anyway - the only real advice I can give is to draw something that makes you happy and that you’d draw anyway even if no one were to see it, it’ll make keep posting despite a possible lack of activity a lot easier!

Anon said: Your goge art🥺🥺

I just love them so much ( TT’’’TT)9

Anon said: how the fuck have i not been following you? I remember seeing your bakushima art in the bnha tag and always thinking it's so cute. Now you're into JJK too??? and the satosugu art??? fuckin, diabetes incarnate. I love it. I love you. Your art 10/10. I'm tired lmao.

WELL thank you for the follow!! And for thinking my stuff is cute!!!!! I do my best with that, I want all the soft things for my favs 😌

Anon said: Are you gonna draw Gojou/Getou comic?? 👉🏻👈🏻 WOULD LOVE TO READ IT

you mean an actual doujin? I don’t think I will, sorry! I’m really no good at long projects orz but thank you so much for wishing to read something like that from me!!! ;A;

Anon said: Hello! YOUR ART IS SO FREAKING GORGEOUSSSS!!! I love them so much!! If I may ask you one question. Between Getou amd Gojou, who do you see as top/bottom? Just curious

THANK YOU!!!!! And I honestly don’t care as long as they’re happy and together!!! please let them be happy and together 🙏🙏🙏

Anon said: i want you to know!!! i followed you for your kiribaku art but!!! i love your art so much that idc what you post because it's all just!!!! incredible and wonderful and stunning!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!! this means a lot to me so seriously thank you so much!!!!

Anon said: d'you think bakugo has like headaches or migraines after training or battles because of how loud his quirk is? like, i listen to music slightly too loud and my head is sending me to hell. (unless you go with the hoh hc which is also 👌)

I like to think Baku’s body is attuned enough to his own quirk that he wouldn’t get drawbacks of the kind tbh, though that wouldn’t be a bad thought for when he just starts to increase the output/width and strength of his explosions............ well, I myself suffer from chronic headaches and migraines so I’m always up for projecting on my favs ngl lmao

Anon said:  so like... dragon kirishima's eyes glow right? like, if we equate his dragon-ness to unbreakable his eyes glow? they also glow when he's half shifted? honestly i just live glowing eyes

Oh hell yeah I’m all for that, definitely definitely, I love glowing eyes with my whole heart and Kiri’s eyes in unbreakable are just so!!!!!! NGH *chef kiss* the more of unbreakable there is in his dragon form the happier I am ( TT^TT)9

Anon said: me, scrolling through your blog: ah shit guess im gonna have to start watching jjk

!!!!! hope it won’t hurt you too much, anon!!

Anon said: dragon!kiri and bakugo having a tug-of-war match over a piece of meat. both have it in their mouths. both are determined to win.

Kiri is turned into his dragon form and Baku still wins, hell yeah

Anon said: your satosugu is top tier!! it's hard to find stuff for them that isn't straight up angst so your art has been super cool and also very very cute!! (tho if you went with angst, it wouldn't be a bad thing obviously)

AH I’m so happy to hear you like them!!!! but also happy you wouldn’t mind angst, as I do like them the best happy and soft but my brain, my brain has been throwing sads my way for a while now 👀 I got some ideas

Anon said: What program/device do you use??

Easy Paint Tool SAI and a wacom intuos!! Though I got myself an ipad+procreate just yesterday and I’ve been messing around with it, let’s see how that one goes!

Anon said: *inahles* i am simping for mohawk man please tell me everything about your ocs immediately or i will detonate

THANK YOU FOR LIKING HIM HE’S CALLED DAVIDE Dav for short, he’s a cat of a man and a music instrument enthusiast (mostly string ones, but he’s very good with the piano as well) - he works in a music instruments store, and he’s a uni student majoring in philosphy! He doesn’t like bothersome things, he isn’t very good at taking anything seriously or putting effort in stuff, but he’s very chill to spend time with and generally a nice chat both if you want mindless thoughts or deep conversations (he’s a philosophy major after all). He can’t sing for shit, he’s got two cats (tago and schelly!), and he just wants a quiet life to laze around but all his friends are hurricanes in human bodies, but then again, he picked them himself so he can’t complain. He’s a good boy!! I’m planning a comic for him and his boy Ross >:]

[x0401x]

Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun: After-School Radio #0

I have seen bits of the Hanako-kun radio show translated here and there, but never the entire episodes, so here’s to the people who wanted to know how the rest of them goes down. The whole thing is ridiculously funny.

Raw || Index || Next →

Ogata: Everyone... happy... New Year.

[Quiet chuckes]

Ogata: I’m the one who voices Hanako-kun from “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun”, Ogata Megumi.

Akarin: *giggles*

Ogata: I was—

Yuu-kun: What’d you say?

Everyone: *laughs*

Yuu-kun: Sorry, what’d you say??

Chikape: Cut it out, Handsome.

Ogata: You’re such a clown, huh! I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! I was put under a spell that took away my voice for today.

Akarin: A supernatural! A supernatural! It was a supernatural!

Ogata: I’ll leave the progress of things to Yashiro from now. Here. Counting on you, Yashiro!

Akarin: Yes!

Everyone: *laughs*

Akarin: Ah! Ogata-san has stood up from her seat. *laughs*

ChibaShou: If it was a supernatural’s fault, there’s just no helping it!

Akarin: It was a supernatural’s fault.

Yuu-kun: Hey, hey, go on!

Akarin: Yes! Anyway! Hello, all!

Everyone: Hello!

Akarin: I voice Yashiro Nene from “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun”. My name is Kitou Akari! Also, happy New Year! Cheers!

[Applause]

Akarin: Eh, the very popular original work by AidaIro-sensei, serialized in G Fantasy, “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun”, will finally have the first episode of its much-awaited anime adaptation broadcasting from next week onward, on January 9! For those who can’t wait for it to air, today, I, Kitou Akari, who play the role of Yashiro Nene, am intruding into the studio in the middle of the recording, to ask everyone in the cast about their passion for it! Yaaay!

[Cheering]

Akarin: It’s already clear that it’s pretty lively here, though!

Yuu-kun: Thanks!

Akarin: *laughs*

Staff: Aren’t you the same?

Akarin: True. That’s right. I’m the same. *laughs* Talki—Talking like that to your Senpai— *laughs* That’s true. It’s a bit—

Ogata: *whispers* Yashiro, take it seriously!

Akarin: *laughs*

Yuu-kun: She ain’t taking it seriously!

Satou: She is! Come on!

ChibaShou: It’s a supernatural! A supernatural just came by!

Satou: A supernatural is doing this!

Akarin: A supernatural passed us just now. *laughs* Okay, anyway. Well, let’s get right to it. Eh, then, first... I want to ask about the enthusiasm of Kou’s voice actor—

ChibaShou: YES!!!

Chikape: Whoa! He’s so eager!

Akarin: *laughs* Chiba Shouya-san!

ChibaShou: Yes!

Akarin: Chiba-san, how about it?

ChibaShou: Please stop playing around like I’m so cool when we’re at a stage where I haven’t said a single line yet!

Akarin: *laughs*

ChibaShou: That’s a pretty good retort! Hum—

Ogata: The one who played around was Mizushima Takahiro!

Akarin/ChibaShou: *laugh*

ChibaShou: That’s right. It was Mizushima-san. Hum, speaking of Mizushima-san, I’m Chiba Shouya!

Akarin: *laughs harder*

ChibaShou: Hum, I voice Minamoto Kou. My name is Chiba Shouya. Everyone, happy New Year!

Akarin: Cheers!

ChibaShou: Cheers. Man, seriously. This was such a long-awaited anime adaptation.

Akarin: Hm-hm!

ChibaShou: Ever since this work was announced, as expected, each of the viewers were like, “Ah! That thing’s gonna get animated!”, so it seems this series is truly loved by people of many age groups.

Akarin: Right?

ChibaShou: Anyhow, the more you read it, the more you become a captive of it! Hum, for me, this year is coming after a bad one...

Akari: Oh!

ChibaShou: Erm, things are going horribly...

Akari: “Horribly”... *giggles* Huh? That’s awful.

ChibaShou: Kou-kun has really been exorcising all of it this whole time.

Akari: Oooh.

ChibaShou: Because he says in the PV, “Hanako, I’ll exorcise you”.

Akarin: Hehe, true.

ChibaShou: So maybe he’s exorcising my bad year too.

Akarin: Whoa!

ChibaShou: That’s what I think.

Akarin: You said something kinda smart. *laughs*

Yuu-kun: *laughs* Aaaah...

Akarin: You said something smart.

Yuu-kun: He said something good.

Akarin: *giggles*

ChibaShou: Hum, I’m the first, so I’m just contemplating. Being the first in turn and all.

Akarin: *laughs*

ChibaShou: Hum, but anyway, for real, I want a lot of people to watch it.

Akarin: Yep!

ChibaShou: And we’re very... how should I put it? We’re recording a fun series with a fun atmosphere.

Akarin: Yep, yep!

ChibaShou: That’s why I kinda guess it’ll be a fun start of 2020 for the people watching. So please do look forward to the broadcast every week together with us! We’ll be in your care.

Akarin: All right!

ChibaShou: That’s it.

Akarin: Thank you very muuuch!

[Applause]

Akarin: Okay! Anyway! Then, next is... Uchida-saaan!

Yuu-kun: Yeees! Heeere! Hellooo!

Akarin: Welcooome! Hellooo!

Yuu-kun: ‘Ello, thanks!

Everyone: *laughs*

Yuu-kun: Ever since this thing started, my “little brother” has been kinda—my “little brother” has been kinda—

Akarin: *laughs*

Chikape: You’re stammering!

Yuu-kun: *laughs*

Chikape: Sorry!

Yuu-kun: Now the older brother—the older brother is here!

Akarin: Oh! Onii-chan!

Yuu-kun: Hello. I voice Minamoto Teru. My name is Uchida Yuuma.

Chikape: Onii-chaaan!

Akarin: Counting on you.

Yuu-kun: Yeees, I’m in your care~. There’s an (illustration of the) Onii-chan right behind me too~.

Daichuu: So handsome!

Akarin: Handsome!

Yuu-kun: Of course you’d bring that up!

Everyone: *laughs*

ChibaShou: We’d already been saying it since earlier!

Yuu-kun: Of course you’d bring that up! What kind of malice is this?

Akarin: It’s because the Onii-chan is indeed handsome!

Yuu-kun: Oh, yeah, yeah. The Onii-chan is really handsome.

Akarin: That’s right!

Yuu-kun: You see, in the Minamoto family, Kou is still quite a lively kid and he’s all over the place.

Akarin: Hm-hm!

Yuu-kun: So the brother watches over him gently, kind of as if cherishing him, and by God, he’s also student council president and can manage his studies well.

Akarin: Hm! He’s brilliant.

Chikape: Wow!

Yuu-kun: What a brilliant Onii-chan he is.

Daichuu: He’s gotta be popular!

Akarin: *laughs*

Yuu-kun: “Popular”! *wheezes* My bad!

Akarin: He’s definitely popular.

Yuu-kun: *villain voice* M-My bad!

Everyone: *laughs*

Yuu-kun: My bad, Kou! *evil laughter* Well, he’s not that kind of character, though! But, that’s right, he has quite some popularity amongst all the fans, so I keep thinking that it’ll be great if I can perform Teru-kun well. The pop-like and cute worldview of the series really does unravel in the anime too, so it’d make me happy if people could look forward to it! That’s what I think.

Akarin: Hm-hm!

Yuu-kun: Yes, I hope everyone will look forward to “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun”~~~!

Akarin: All right~.

Yuu-kun: Thank you very much!

Akarin: Thank you very much. *claps*

ChibaShou: *Kou voice* Onii-chan just said something nice!

Yuu-kun: That’s right! *rough voice* Praise me, praise me!

Akarin: *laughs*

ChibaShou: Awesome!

Yuu-kun: See ya! Bye!

ChibaShou: “Farewell” seems better!

Yuu-kun: Farewell!

Akarin: “Farewell”! *laughs* Farewell. Then, next is Satou-san!

Satou: Yes!

Akarin: Come over, come over!

[General cheering]

Satou: I’m in your care~.

Akarin: Please!

Satou: Yes. Erm, I play Akane Aoi-chan. My name is Satou Minako.

Akarin: It’s a pleasure!

Satou: Pleasure is mine.

Chikape: Eeeh, she’s so cute!

Akarin: Cute! *laughs*

Satou: Eh, hum—

Everyone: *laughs*

ChibaShou: Radio! It’s your first time on the radio, right?

Satou: Yeah, it’s my first time in a radio show—

Akarin: Ah!

Chikape: Ah! Eeeh!? Waaah! Yaaay!

Akarin: Amazing!

Satou: Yes! It’s amazing. My first!

[Commontion in the background]

Akarin: That’s so rare! Having your first time on the radio with a scene like this!

Satou: Yes. I’m super nervous!

Akarin: It’s not a sight you get to see everywhere.

Satou: Yes! I’m incredibly nervous.

Akarin: Hm!

Satou: Erm, “Hanako-kun” is my first participation in an anime—

Akarin: Oh!

Yuu-kun: Eeh??

Akarin: Waah!

Satou: Yes! I didn’t know left or right at the beginning, and even now—

Daichuu: You still don’t know?

Satou: I don’t! I don’t know where right or left is!

Akarin: Right is... Right is that way~.

ChibaShou: There’s only the right side in here!

Everyone: *laughs*

Satou: I get nervous even now, but I keep challenging the recordings while being helped by these Senpais and the people behind the production every time.

Akarin: Hm-hm!

Satou: The one I play, Akane Aoi-chan is the most super popular girl in the academy.

Akarin: She’s cute!

Satou: Very. And I—

Akarin: Both so popular!

Everyone: *laughs*

Satou: There’s both a popular girl and popular guy here. And she’s quite different from me, but—

Akarin: No, no!

Satou: —I want to do my best from now on too, so that I can keep performing Ao-chan with all my might!

Akarin: All right!

Satou: I’ll be in your care.

Akarin: Counting on you!

[Applause]

Akarin: Thank you so much! Then, next is Anzai-san!

Chikape: Yes!

Akarin: Please!

Daichuu: Ah. Cute.

Chikape: I voice Nanamine Sakur—you liar!

Akarin: “Cute”! *laughs*

Chikape: You liar! That was such a monotone!

ChibaShou: Hey, beauty!

Chikape: Liar!

Ogata: There are only supernaturals in this studio!

Everyone: *laughs*

Ogata: Only “supernaturals”!

T/N: This is a pun with the similar pronounciation of the words “supernatural” (kaii) and “cute” (kawaii).

Akarin: “Supernatural”~.

Yuu-kun: They called her a “supernatural”~.

Chikape: It’s full of “supernaturals” here~. I voice Nanamine Sakura. My name is Anzai~! Yay~!

[Cheering]

Akarin: Counting on you!

Chikape: Hum, today, Mizushima-san and I were revealed as part of the cast.

Akarin: Ah! That’s right.

Daichuu: Yeah.

Yuu-kun: Hm-hm!

Chikape: Right. Well, we can’t talk much about what kind of roles they will be. *chuckles*

Akarin: Hmmm, true.

Chikape: That’s right. We’re in charge of two mysterious figures!

Akarin: Yes! *laughs*

Chikape: I want to keep this up mysteriously!

Everyone: *laughs*

Akarin: That’s just like them!

ChibaShou: Can’t tell what’s on the inside!

Chikape: But really, she’s kind of occasionally here and there all of a sudden, and it just makes you go, “Uh, could she be...?”

Akarin: That’s true.

Chikape: So I hope people will eventually become a bit interested in her.

Akarin: Hm-hm.

Chikape: The recordings are fun. *laughs*

Akarin: *laughs* Right~?

Chikape: It’s fun. We always do it like this, don’t we? *laughs*

Akarin: Right~? *laughs*

Chikape: Is it enough yet?

Everyone: *laughs*

Akarin: Nothing else to say about your enthusiasm?

Chikape: None at all, none at all!

Akarin: “None at all”?

Chikape: From now on—

ChibaShou: What kind of year do you want this year to be?

Chikape: What kind of year I want this year to be? An olympic...

Everyone: *laughs*

Chikape: An olympic year??

T/N: This has to be the most ironic thing I’ve ever translated, omg.

ChibaShou: That’s got nothing to do with the series!

Chikape: Ah, the series? For the series, let’s see...

Daichuu: May it become a series worthy of a gold medal.

Chikape: Ah, that’s right!

Akarin: Aaah!

Chikape: *claps* As expected of you~~~!

Akarin: *claps* As expected of you!

Chikape: I hope we can convey this joy right now to everybody through the anime.

Akarin: That’s right!

Chikape: We’ll be in your care. Look forward to it! Wey!

Akarin: Thank you very muuuch!

[Applause]

Akarin: Now, Mizushima-san!

Chikape: Yay, yay!

Daichuu: Yes!

Akarin: Daichuu-san, counting on you!

Daichuu: I’ll be in your care. Haah~!

Chikape: Whoo! So cool!

Everyone: Cool~~~!

ChibaShou: Coo-coo!

Daichuu: For real?

Everyone: *laughs*

Daichuu: Do you think that from the bottom of your hearts? Do you?

ChibaShou: He seems pretty happy.

Daichuu: Then I am.

Akarin: Yes.

Everyone: *laughs*

Daichuu: Okay, eeeeeh... I play Hyuuga Natsuhiko. My name is Mizushima Takahiro!

Akarin: All right, counting on you!

Daichuu: Okaaay!

ChibaShou: Yay~!

Chikape: Whee~!

Daichuu: Man, it makes your heart race, doesn’t it? That the show will soon be running.

Akarin: Hm-hm!

Daichuu: And also the fact that we’re now here—we’re now here, in a situation like this.

Akarin: “In a situation like this”?! *laughs*

Daichuu: My heart’s racing right now.

Chikape: This isn’t some matchmaking date!

Daichuu: Eh, it’s not? I think this whole thing about being interviewed by Kitou-chan...

Akarin: *laughs*

Daichuu: ...is kind of... really nice.

Akarin: Ah, really?

Daichuu: Hm.

Akarin: What are your hobbies?

Daichuu: My hobby is—

Ogata: To create an air of misunderstandings.

Everyone: *laughs*

Daichuu: My hobby is Akari Kitou, I guess.

Akarin: Uh? Your hobby is me?

Chikape: Shouya, run.

Akarin: *laughs*

Chikape: Hurry and run away~.

Daichuu: No, this is my role! My role! I’m incorporating my role!

Akarin: “Incorporating your role”?

ChibaShou: Your role is already showing!

Akarin: Ah, you’re in your role?

Daichuu: Yeah, I incorporated it a bit too hard.

Akarin: You’re in your role, huh. I see.

Satou: We’re in a recording site, after all!

Daichuu: Erm, might kinda happen when I get in front of a microphone.

Akarin: Indeed.

Ogata: *whispers* Liar!

Daichuu: It’s part of me—

Akarin: “Liar”, she says!

Satou: “Liar”!?

ChibaShou: *laughs*

Akarin: Ogata-san is calling you a liar!

Ogata: *whispers lower* Liar!

Yuu-kun: *laughs*

Daichuu: Eh, Ogata-san, what was that?

Ogata: *gets close to the mic* Liaaaaaar!

Everyone: *laughs and claps*

Daichuu: Please just re—

Akarin: Daichuu-san.

Daichuu: Please—please rest. Please go rest.

Akarin: Please let her rest. *laughs*

Daichuu: That’s right. Okay, anyway. Well, the recordings are really like this—I mean, they’re not that messy, but they’re extremely fun.

Akarin: Hm-Hm!

Daichuu: And it’s almost like it leaks from the series. So the serious part of it is hoping that people will enjoy it like this, I guess.

Akarin: Hm-hm.

Daichuu: Also... what was it again? I’m... what again?

Akarin: *giggles*

Yuu-kun: You’re what?

Daichuu: Eeeh, anywaaay...

Akarin: What is it?

Daichuu: Anyway, I’m... thinking of chopping Chiba to shreds.

Chikape: What do you mean?!

Akarin: *laughs*

Daichuu: In a cool way.

ChibaShou: I’m gonna be chopped up!

Daichuu: I’m gonna chop you up.

Akarin: *laughing* “Chop you up”...

T/N: This is a joke with Chiba Shouya’s name and the term “chop up” (“chibachiba”).

Daichuu: *laughs* Really, none of the things I’m saying have substance!

Akarin/ChibaShou: *laugh*

Daichuu: But this is how it is! This is it.

Akarin: This is it!

Daichuu: Yes!

Chikape: We won’t lose!

Daichuu: That’s right!

Akarin: That’s true, indeed.

Daichuu: Story-wise, we’re still not there, I really want people to look forward to us.

Akarin: Hm-hm.

Daichuu: That’s how I want to conclude it.

Akarin: *laughs*

Daichuu: Anyway, I’ll... I’ll be gone.

Akarin: “I’ll”... *laughs*

Daichuu: Thank you very much!

Akarin: Ah, you’re leaving?

Chikape: Please don’t create a misunderstanding.

Daichuu: Yes! Well, we’ll be in your care~~~!

Akarin: So we will!

[Applause]

Staff: Now, the last is... Kitou-san.

Akarin: Ah! Is that okay?

Staff: Yes.

Ogata: Yashiro!

Akarin: Ah!

Ogata: Go, Yashiro!

Akarin: “Yashiro”...! Can Yashiro... Can Yashiro also speak? *laughs*

Staff: Please proceed straight to the point.

Akarin: *laughs* Okay. Well, I, Kitou Akari, want to talk about my excitement—

Daichuu: Waaah. Cute.

Akarin: *laughs*

Chikape: Sooo cute.

ChibaShou: AWESOME!!

Akarin: “Awesome”?

Chikape: That sense of transparency is extremely good.

Akarin: No, no!

ChibaShou: It’s like she’s the heroine!

Yuu-kun: So cute~!

Akarin: No, hum, I am, in a sense, playing the role of the heroine, Nene-chan. *laughs*

Daichuu: Behind you! Behind you!

Akarin: Ah, Ogata-san is behind me... *laughs*

Daichuu: You just can’t relax looking at that!

Everyone: *laughs*

Akarin: Well, about the anime “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun”, the staff transmits even to us when we’re recording that they made it with a lot of enthusiasm, and all of us, the actors, are performing with our very souls, so I think it’ll become a truly wonderful series when it broadcasts. Thus, I would be happy if everyone could watch and stick with it until the very end! We’ll be in your care!

[Applause]

Akarin: All right! Thank you very much! So, lastly, is it okay to have Ogata-san, who voices Hanako-kun, talk about her excitement with a bit of whisper voice?

Ogata: *whispers* It’s all right.

Everyone: *chuckles*

Akarin: “All right”, you say?

Ogata: Because everyone is doing this properly.

Akarin: *giggles*

Ogata: I think it will turn out to be a series that will stick to the viewer’s backs like this.

Akarin: *laughs*

Ogata: What an unpleasant series that would be!

Akarin: *laughs harder*

Ogata: All right, that being said, please support us. That’s it.

Akarin: Okay! Thank you very much!

[Applause]

Yuu-kun: Her attitude was incredible when she sat there.

Akarin: When she sat there?

Daichuu: It was a different atmosphere.

Akarin: *laughs* Okay, anyhow. *laughs* I think Ogata-san will soon be able to carry out this show in a better condition.

Daichuu: If not, I’ll do it.

Akarin: Ah, then, do that.

Ogata: I ain’t letting you! Buzz off!

ChibaShou: That’s the only thing she’ll do whatever it takes for!

Akarin: Okay, we’ll be in everyone’s care. Now, here’s some news! Chiba-kun, please!

ChibaShou: Ah, yes! I’ll do it!

Chikape: Choppily!

ChibaShou: “Choppily”?

Akarin: Choppily! Please do it choppily!

ChibaShou: Eh, let’s see. “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun” has... This isn’t working. Forget the “choppy” part, seriously.

Everyone: *laughs*

ChibaShou: The comic version of “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun”, from volume 1 to 12, plus volume 0, the artbook and the official spin-off comic, “Houkago Shounen Hanako-kun” are all on sale.

Akarin: Hm-hm!

ChibaShou: Eh, it turned into a end-of-year sale. Everyone, did you buy them? I did. Eh, please try reading them during New Years break!

Akarin: Please!

ChibaShou: Now, information about the TV anime. It starts airing on TBS, a Thursday, at 25:58 on January 9! And other than TBS, it airs on Friday, January 10, at 24:03 on Sun TV. On January 11, Saturday, at 26:03 on BS-TBS. On January 15, Wednesday, at 26:03 on CBC. It’ll be aired in sequence. Please look forward to it and wait for the broadcast!

Akarin: All right!

ChibaShou: Gonna be aired in lots of places, huh?

Akarin: Hm-hm!

ChibaShou: Also, “Hanako-kun” can be watched in the streaming sites of each. For the people who can’t watch it in real time, please check the official home page!

Akarin: Okay! Moreover, we—

ChibaShou: *sighs* I ended up talking seriously like normal.

Akarin: *laughs*

Daichuu: What the—Why are you saying that now?

Satou: He’s regretting it.

Akarin: He regretted it! He regretted it. Also, we have happy news from this After-School Radio too!

Chikape: What is it?

Akarin: From the next episode onward, guess what!

Chikape: “Guess what” what?

Akarin: We’ll stream it live~~~!

Chikape: Eeeeeh??

Daichuu: What the...!

[Applause]

Akarin: Amazing!

ChibaShou: Awesome!!

Akarin: Live!

ChibaShou: Live streaming!

Akarin: My, my!

Daichuu: We’ll be on live.

Akarin: So, the scheduled date for the next streaming is January 17, Friday!

Daichuu: That’s when it’ll stream?

Akarin: It’s the day just after the second episode.

Chikape: Oh! Amazing.

Akarin: People will get to hear everyone’s voices live, immediately after the anime’s broadcast!

Chikape: Amazing!

ChibaShou: Amazing!

[Applause]

Akarin: Whee, hooray!

Chikape: Amazing, amazing!

Daichuu: That’s so awesome...

Akarin: Yes! The details of the streaming will be publishd in the anime’s official Twitter, so please look forward and wait for the news flash!

[Background music starts playing]

Akarin: We’ve promoted the “Hanako-kun” anime right before the broadcast here in the radio! Everyone, let’s enjoy both the radio and the anime together!

Everyone: *laughs*

Ogata: Whether or not we managed to promote “Hanako-kun” will depend on each of the fans when it airs.

Akarin: *laughs*

Ogata: Soon enough, I want to be delivering more of our excitement to everyone live.

Akarin: Hm!

Ogata: Look forward to it~!

Akarin: Look forward to it!

Ogata: These have been Hanako-kun and everyone that will make an appearance in “Hanako-kun”~!

Akarin: *giggles* Bye-bye~!

Everyone: Bye-bye!

Chikape: Look forward to it!

Akarin: Look forward to it!

ChibaShou: Look forward to it. We’ll be in your care.

Akarin: We will!

[shorilicious]

Sexy Zone - Angel or Devil!?

“Innocent days” is the new song that is featured on the drama “Miss Devil” starring Sato Shori.

Kento: Finally “InoDei” will be released!! Fuma: InoDei (laughing). I’d love people to appreciate InoDei with its PV. The PV is really good. Marius: It also shows the relationship of us five, it’s like a short drama. Fuma: It’s like... our good old innocent days. Young boys who leave the countryside to debut in Tokyo... Shori: In “Innocent days” the five of us create music together and so our story begins. Kento: Each one of us was able to act a half-fake story. Fuma: The scenery was beautiful as well.

“Innocent days” has a gentle melody and words with a deep meaning where the five members of Sexy Zone were able to act out their story.

Kento: Although it’s a fictional story, it’s similar to the five of us. Sou: When I first heard the five of us are going to be in a short movie like that, I was like MGK! Kento: Ma...Ji...Ka! (laughing) (t/n: that’s what Sou meant with MGK, majika means “really?!/seriously?”) Marius: At first it was challenging to act with the five of us but I was happy that I was actually able to experience that with everyone. Sou: Right! I have always wanted to act together. Since I’m the least experienced one when it comes to acting, I also studied a lot. Even though I was also embarrassed. Shori: It’s a PV but we also prepared our lines properly. Sou: For Shori it was difficult as well since there was a guitar scene. Because his role was to compose “Innocent days” on his guitar. Shori: Yeah, there was no guitar coach on the scene while filming (laughing). But I was optimistic and did it myself. Marius: While shooting, I was singing along to Shori’s guitar. We had a session together, it was fun. Shori: We also enjoyed the making of. Kento: It was a wonderful shooting. Sexy Zone turned into adults with their music as well...it was a feeling like that. Fuma: This time even with the coupling tracks you could feel these five people have grown up. Kento: All the coupling tracks are also really great songs. Fuma: That’s so true. I like “Twilight Sunset” the most. Kento: I feel like the emphasis on Marius’ voice is gradually getting stronger. Marius: Really? I’m glad~! Kento: Marius voice really came out!! In “Unstoppable” I really want to dance to it with all my might.

Sexy Zone who turned into adults even in their coupling tracks had a great lineup. Their presence in “Innocent days” shows their graceful and intimate friendship.

Kento: That’s right. We grew accustomed to each other. Marius: I think people who listen to it will feel each one of our different feelings in the lyrics. Shori: I think up until now this will become a song in which we want to remember many things! Kento: Right. I think I want to remember the pain of the past as well and cherish it.

Shori x Kento x Sou “Miss Devil” talk:

Shori: Regarding my role, since Tsubaki Mako-san is punishing bad people, I don’t like fighting in reality but (in the drama) we work together, so I wonder if I feel empathy like Saito Hiroshi does. Kento: Rather than that, I wonder if I can make him do those things. Now I can curse but I don’t know if I can have someone eat out of the palm of my hand. Shori: That’s amazing. I didn’t have such an idea. Sou: Since it’s not good to spoil he tries to be strong but when I succeed in a big job, he doesn’t have a devil’s face, he praises me with the face of an angel...! Shori: It’s good to look at things properly. Sou: Kenty is often like that. He gives me proper advices. If I do some extra moves during our choreography, he gives me a funny nickname like “Okaka” (laughing). (t/n: finely chopped bonito flakes) Kento: Right. Matsushima is already delicious with white rice only but he still adds some “okaka”. Since he includes weird arrangements in the choreography I tell him “Don’t put more okaka in here”. Shori: That’s a nice way of putting it. Sou: Right! When it comes to onigiri I like umeboshi in them but I got to like “okaka” as well. Shori: Sometimes strict instructions are important as well. Kento: Because my mother is totally like the devil, I’m used to scary women. Even now she often gets angry with me. When I tell a joke that isn’t funny she says “Huh? You’re plain boring”. Shori: Eeh, that’s scary (laughing). Kento: When it’s something funny I can really make her smile but other than during that time she is really too scary. But I think that it was thanks to my mother that now I grew into the person I am.

Fuma x Marius “Miss Devil” talk:

Fuma: Shori’s doM side in “Miss Devil” is quite nice...Marius said that even though he’s not watching it!? Marius: Right now, I’m resisting to watch any television that’s why. By the time it is released I will watch it all at once. Fuma: Mako-san is beautiful but she gives me the chills (laughing). Marius: Would you seriously obey her? Fuma: Maybe, but I have a rebellious spirit so (laughing). Marius: For me, I want to respect and follow her along. Fuma: I feel like Marius would say something like “Why are you doing such mean things!” (laughing). Marius: I will properly tell her my opinion. Fuma: With a close friend you can say things like “let’s solve that” but it’s better to reveal your real intentions. Marius: Probably. I think Fuma-kun would be the most successful employee in such a company. Because I feel like he knows the world. Fuma: No~ that’s more like Shori, right? Marius: Shori would be good at that too. Fuma: I would get eaten by my bad bosses (laughing). Marius: Fuma-kun as well, since you can’t say no I worry about you being used by bad people (laughing). Sou-chan as well. Fuma: I wonder how Nakajima would do. Marius: I cannot imagine it! Fuma: I don’t know how hard Japanese companies can be on someone so let’s go to an Arab one or somewhere else! (laughing)

Keep in mind I am not a native speaker therefore there might be mistakes in my translations. Also I’m not exactly translating word for word. Feel free to correct me in my ask box any time you want, I’d appreciate it! I apologize if someone already translated something before me and I didn’t notice, I hope you don’t mind.

[fuckyeahkagepro]

Kagepro theories / random analysis / questions of sorts?

so, funny things seem to happen when you directly compare [play at the same time against each other] the music videos for - Otsukimi Recital [of all songs] and - Outer Science ... while trying to find more Outer Science parallels ..... ... and then compare those findings to other things too ..... [bonus: some novel 8 spoiler bits from recent translations] [ even if this ends up being totally false maybe consider it like a fic that wrote itself? (hhhha) ] [ but seriously please try comparing the two videos by playing them at the exact same time against each other, some parts time up timing wise surprisingly well! ] [ also it’s very amusing ] [ also includes some “Additional Memory” arc from Manga Route analysis ]

ok so if you weren’t here for Outer Science’s release in the past, this happened at one point: [spurring off a series where everyone tried to catch more parallels]:

..... (and so on) ..... uhhhhh “[this] is the real thing!” - “Kagerou” in Wannyanpuu’s KageDaze pv [TOO] (also in original KageDaze’s song lyrics still) (UHHHHHHH) naturally, I recently was reminded of it [in the year 2k18 at that] and thought, “hey, did anyone ever directly compare Otsukimi Recital too? i didn’t have any caps from it in my archives just thematic parallels--” and well um [disclaimer: most of this is just for fun ok] [ but also to try and connect together thematic parallels if indirectly ] [ Outer Science re-translation from Kagepro wiki ] [ CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ALL MAJOR ROUTES ] [ skip to the end for more important Routes questions! ]

[^ opening: Momo pan-up, Saeru pan-up] [ ^ Momo’s eyes flashing red as she points to the viewer, Outer Science intro ]

[^ oh hey (the one on right flashes by very fast too)] 

[^ “...Daze you too”] [”hey, you (prayed too, right?)” -Saeru]

[^ also just before Momo’s “nee!” face at the exact moment Saeru says “nee”] (that’s more of a fun timing thing though)

[^”young master”] [similar mouth placements...] [”it’s pointless” -Hibiya, and also Kagerou in old fanmade [but later Kagepro artist though] Wannyanpuu versions] / [”it’s (an unpleasant) story” -”Azami”]

[^ compared better to young Seto in Shounen Brave up there but]

(a bit earlier) [^the wires?] [there are a lot of TVs in certain Music Route songs ....] [^”(just saying supportive things) wasn’t going to cut it” as Konoha flashes by]

[^ hmmm] .....

[^ ok but what if Momo DID know more than she’s letting on] [or later on, too]

[^ all of them flash by in these and related parts but]

[^ ”...go together”]

[^ HIBIYA NO]

[^”(Legends, life, and even people’s fate)”] [^ oh hi cat] [still a KageDaze reference]

[^ disclaimer: I am not writing these ok. it does it itself] [”...(And inadvertently falling in love, too)...” - right side]

[^ THIS ENTIRE SECTION LINES UP TIMING WISE PRETTY CLOSELY] [ PARALLELS WITHIN PARALLELS (ON THE LEFT SIDE TOO) ] [ Hibiya’s FACE there ] [”(Such stupid things.)” -Saeru] [”i don’t even know what’s going on...” -Hibiya] [“(Ah, how difficult, what a challenge, I can’t stand it)” -Saeru]

[”*(Embedding in those eyes)”] [ ... the soda hits Hibiya in the eyes literally right then ] (maybe more fun but wow timing)

[”the power to combine the eyes together...”] [...?] (oh hi Mary) ( they DO need Focusing Eyes too ..... )

[^ Momo WATCH OUT]

[^ I mean literally] [ PARALLELS WITHIN PARALLELS WITHIN ] [’sobbing ”I don’t want this!”’] [”(You knew it, right? That's fate)” -Saeru]

[^ he obviously wouldn’t want this to happen to Konoha either ok] [ much less the rest ] [^ in Otsukimi Recital he’s also having Hiyori flashbacks here] [”(first tragedy)”]

[”I wanted us to be together” -Hibiya] [ ... uh oh]

[^ Momo: must help Hibiya get FOCUSING EYES] [^“Outer Science”] (RIGHT HERE) [ in between during Otsukimi Recital interlude: Outer Science deaths, including Saeru pushing Hibiya in front of truck, like so ]

[ bonus: the street light in between flashing as Seto particularly dies too ] [ maybe related .... ]

[”(No matter how many times you deny it This foolish life you're living)” -Saeru] (.... ok seriously, this comparing aside, Saeru’s watching them?) (is that also why there’s so many TVs that pop up in Music Route videos?) (certain novel 8 spoilers too seem to indicate similar things) (also especially in some particular songs ... [see below for more on that])

[”(No matter how many times you just cry)” -Saeru]

[^ RIGHT AS HER EYES FLASH RED] [ the right side flashes by very fast reds too ] (tw epilepsy if you compare um) [^ same timing though]

["( You asked for too much and now serve to sin)” -Saeru] (ok but if it was said to Mary AND Hibiya ..... it’d fit)

[^ ending smirks/grins] [^ video ending on Otsukimi side with Momo grabbing Hibiya to pull him along]

[ ..... ok all that for fun stuff aside ] [but then I was reading Hibiya bits from novel 8 and TAKANE / ENE NO] [ DON’T GIVE HIM IDEAS TAKANE / ENE NO ]

.... ........ ........... ..... .. .

it was “MOMO’S PHONE”

- OK BUT WHY DOESN’T HE HAVE THE PHONE IN MOST MAIN TIMELINES - LITERALLY HE WAS ALMOST ALWAYS TRYING TO BUY A PHONE - LITERALLY THE FREAKING PHONE

[”i’ll do it!” -Hibiya]

[”the next next next”] [”(Let’s ridicule it!)” -Saeru]

^ “Kagerou” Hibiya, from the old Wannyanpuu fan pv

[”continue?”] [“yes”]

[ ... and after Saeru!Hibiya kills Momo ..... ]

BONUS:

[ is ... is Saeru holding Momo in Outer Science too ..... ? ]

(or if it’s not Momo, Shintaro maybe? either way) (Momo still dies by Saeru!Hibiya in Manga Route)

(BONUS THE NTH: MY TAGS FROM WAY BACK THEN EVEN:) “#... #Momo...?”

more of a fun bonus (i’m sorry) (don’t take this one seriously)

(”WELCOME TO MY WOMB” [mis?]translation)

THE POINT OF ALL OF THIS REGARDLESS OF PARALLELS OR LACK OF BEING:

WILL HIBIYA STILL CHANGE THE TIMELINES / GO PSUEDO-“DARK” (EVEN IF HE’S NOT THE “HEAT HAZE” SPECIFICALLY BUT SIMILAR) [ or like unintentionally corrupted Hibiya in a way ]

WILL HIBIYA WAKE UP NEXT ROUTE HOLDING [MOMO’S?] THE FREAKING PHONE [ IN THE PAST WE ALL THOUGHT IT’D BE HIS OWN PHONE BUT ]

- WHAT WILL HE REMEMBER (.... OR NOT) [ because even if he WAS he might not remember everything / not intentional ] - WHO DIES FIRST (HIYORI OR HIBIYA) - WHO GETS FOCUSING EYES (HIYORI OR HIBIYA) - DOES KONOHA TRY TO SAVE HIYORI OR HIBIYA FIRST OR BOTH - WHAT WILL MANGA ROUTE NEW FORM SAERU DO IN BETWEEN - (NOW THAT HE LACKS ‘KUROHA’S FORM ?) - IS THE LOST TIME MEMORY SCENE WHERE SHINTARO SAVES KUROHA AND OR KONOHA / HARUKA FROM BEING KILLED STILL IMPORTANT TOO (I’M BETTING IT IS) - ARE THERE ANY POTENTIAL ROUTES AT ALL WHERE MEKAKUSHI TRIO DON’T KNOW EACH OTHER PRIOR TO AYANO’S THEORY OF HAPPINESS [YES] (SEE: The Deceiving [novel 5], young Kano meeting young Ayano at the playground BEFORE he dies and enters the Daze / by being stabbed when still young) (SEE: Shounen Brave possibly ? ??, the period of time in between Seto drowning before he eventually revives and winds up at the orphanage (later on); later  [or possibly BEFORE that in some spinoff Route[s]?] meeting Mary) (this goes for all three members of the Trio by the way, ‘that time they died before they all met Ayano / Tateyamas’ because yes this is what messes up Mekakushi Trio dynamics and can change with every route) - IS NEW ALBUM A NEW ROUTE OR IS IT PART OF CURRENT MUSIC ROUTE CONTINUED [FORMER SEEMS LIKELY] - IS MEKAKUCITY RELOAD (WHEN IT HAPPENS TOO) A NEW ROUTE OR IS IT PART OF ANIME ROUTE CONTINUED [THE FORMER SEEMS LIKELY] - WILL ANYTHING ELSE BE ANNOUNCED COME AUGUST 15TH [LIKELY] - WAS MOMO [AND/OR KONOHA AND REST] A CATALYST EITHER WAY (IF SOMETHING LIKE THIS STILL HAPPENS) - IS MANGA ROUTE / NEW FORM SAERU DOING THINGS ON HIS OWN IN GENERAL [MAYBE?] - WHO ELSE IS IN ON THIS IF IT’S EVEN AT ALL A POSSIBILITY STILL (BECAUSE I’M HIGHLY SUSPECTING - MARY [RESETS .... ] - SETO [MAYBE] [IF HELPING MARY] [looks at novels volume 8 summaries] - HIYORI [OBVIOUSLY] - A Y A N O)

LITERALLY AYANO LITERALLY TALKS TO HIBIYA IN THE DAZE [IN NOVELS, MANGA KIND OF?, AND MCA TOO]

AYANO YOU COULD HAVE TOLD HIM ABOUT THE FREAKING PHONE !!!

BONUS THE NTH (MORE...): - Otsukimi Recital is like an “Extra Edition” type of song - Shounen Brave is/was “Episode ?” - other episode ?s: Shinigami Record, Dead and Seek [Kenjirou, also Saeru], Ene’s Cyber Journey [Route XX Ene?] - other extra edition type songs: Toumei Answer [Ayano & Shintaro], Yuukei Yesterday [Haruka & Takane], Yobanashi Deceive [Kano]* is technically listed but isn’t included in the main/first Music Route, neither was Toumei Answer?, Ayano’s Theory of Happiness*, Otsukimi Recital* ..... .... because maybe they are “interfering with the Routes” type songs ?

BONUSES THE NTH (AGAIN): - we’re confirmed to [eventually] be getting an “Additional Memory” song [note that’s the title for the Saeru!Hibiya involved mini-arc in Manga Route] [even if it doesn’t center completely on Hibiya, well....]

a bit from ‘Additional Memory’ (I)? summary:

Ayano asked when the snake entered Hibiya’s body, to which he answered from the very start, long before he killed “Concealing Eyes” and met Ayano. He continued that this body was a “miss”. It was good that the boy who didn’t have any wish began to have a desire to “save the girl”, but it was a little bit immature. Regardless that the snake was a being that eats up “desire”, that wish causes him a sour stomach. “[LONG BEFORE HIBIYA (&SAERU)] [MET AYANO]”

^ “THE BOY WHO DIDN’T HAVE ANY WISH”

^ “A DESIRE” TO “SAVE THE GIRL”

^ ok but why the HECK would it be “IMMATURE” if Hibiya ALWAYS WANTED TO SAVE HIYORI FROM THE START and WHAT DOES SAERU MEAN “DIDN’T HAVE ANY WISH”

..... unless .....

... if SAVING HIYORI alone isn’t a strong enough wish ......

... and in the beginning of some routes SAVE HIYORI alone wasn’t his wish .....

what if it eventually [slowly] becomes [over time] “SAVE MOMO [TOO]”, “SAVE KONOHA [TOO]”, “SAVE EVERYONE [TOO]”

(some Saeru somewhere, probably: “oh, NOW his wish is strong enough”) (mangaverse New Form Saeru: [takes advantage of all of this])

a bit from ‘Additional Memory II’ summary:

Ayano questioned the snake: “You can’t do anything without using Hibiya-kun’s body right?.” Then suddenly, Hibiya regained his self consciousness, asking if Hiyori was alright!? He seemed very happy to see Hiyori. He was very worried that he could never meet her again… Then he was shocked to see the situation and tried to break out of Konoha’s hold. The snake used that chance to break out of the window, of course without forgetting to smirk at the kids: “Didn’t say I no one can stop this anymore?."

..... [later]

Hiyori finally reached their place, just to see Hibiya cry and say "I’m sorry” right before her eyes. http://fuyuyuu.tumblr.com/post/167573767600/

..... i’m done (sorry)

[miraitaxi]

BUCK-TICK DIQ-2017 live report

Kyoto Rohm hall - Nov. 9th 2017 (Part 1)

First I’d like to state that I don’t consider myself a hardcore fan in the sense that I don’t care for personal lives of the artists, leaks, bootlegs or other obscure contents. Call it a different word if you may, but I think I’d call it a passionate fan - I love the artists for what they do more than their works themselves, and I am always cool with whatever road they wish to take. I think that each song that the band creates has its own life, and although the band can do the best performance of that song because they know it best, the song exists to be brought to life by anyone and everyone. Thus the band is only there to materialize what needs to be materialized, and not for analyzing the expectations of their current fans and producing music only to please them. I started thinking about this when I frequented the perfume fandom and saw how much hate there was when the new album didn’t meet their expectations. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard Otsuka Ai say that she doesn’t want to go back to her previous style, and I’ve also read several reviews of people complaining that her new stuff doesn’t sound like it did before. Artists create what they believe need to be created, even if that means disappointing their previous audiences. I guess that’s what makes some artists go mainstream, which is not a bad thing at all either. It’s just that some people criticize artists for going mainstream, and others for not taking the mainstream path. This is one of the reasons I usually don’t read critics that judge bands with personal opinions, but read instead analyses of the music itself (Cayce does some great analysis at https://sites.google.com/site/lyricsyndrome/articles/reviews). And maybe that’s also one of the reasons why I myself don’t do live reports…

But the reason I had to share that rant, and the actual reason I don’t do live reports, is because I rarely remember what happens at live concerts 😂 Every time I go, the music goes directly from my ears to my follicles and I spend two hours in ecstasy and when I come to my senses I’m all sweaty with a sore throat and arms. I really feel lucky for being a person that experiences musical frisson several times almost on a daily basis. I also enjoy concerts with my eyes closed for considerable amounts of time - missing a few visual seconds of the band is nothing compared to the feeling of being bathed with the raw sound (and the screams of people, if there were any😒. Seriously, listen to e.g. Jupiter live from the Catalogue 1987-2016, disc 3 song 2 - it is CHILLING!). Plus, the last images I see before closing my eyes get burnt right into my brain and they’re the most precious memories that I get to keep. When I got this ask I had to google the playlist of the concert because all I remember was it starting with Dokudanjo beauty and finalizing with New World. So here is the playlist I found. Now that I see it I didn’t even recognize oriental love story

01.独壇場Beauty -R.I.P.- 02.ICONOCLASM 03.ANGELIC CONVERSATION 04.THE SEASIDE STORY 05.Oriental Love Story 06.スピード 07.LOVE PARADE 08.ノクターン -Rain Song- 09.サファイア 10.BABEL 11.BOY septem peccata mortalia 12.Django!!! -眩惑のジャンゴ- 13.絶界 14.Memento mori 15.COSMOS

-アンコール- 16.MACHINE -Remodel- 17.夢魔-The Nightmare 18.愛の葬列

-アンコール- 19.JUPITER 20.MY EYES & YOUR EYES 21.New World

So let’s start. As usual, the audience wasn’t very loud, compared to their early years. I mentioned this sometime before, but I don’t know if it’s because:

A) social behavior has changed - shyness, loudness not being socially acceptable, etc. (I remember seeing other artists with a much livelier audience so i don’t think that’s it)

B) only new fans are loud, and now that only long-term fans remain for BUCK-TICK, the loudness is gone (the 夢見る宇宙 tour dvd sounds amazing and it wasn’t that long ago, so I doubt this either)

C) the idol culture has spread everywhere; people go only to admire their idol and not to listen to me butcher their songs

D) the loudness hasn’t changed, they just used to hide microphones between the audience but I can’t tell because I didn’t go to the first concerts

E) it is forbidden by law

Whatever the reason it is, the band now needs to adapt to it, and I think Dokudanjo beauty was a great opening song, and if it had to be one song from a single it’d have to be either this or Glamorous in my opinion. This song has it all: music starts before the band is revealed, it’s followed by heavy snare and bass with good rhythm, and even though it has one of the easiest choruses which I hoped would have people singing along at least to this, it does have a lot of clapping which people love so at least that created good ambience.

Then we got some ICONOCLASM, but since I pretend to be able to play the bass for this (all the 3 notes!! 😏0530 3053) I was too busy getting U-ta blow his load all up in my ears to care about everyone else. I did expect Sakurai to let us say “5 for japanese babies”, but that was something that did not happen.

Then there was Angelic Conversation, which also gets the people wild like Jupiter does, but this time I did expect more heat from the fans. Also this is one of the favorite songs of the person who introduced me to BUCK-TICK so it’s a song that I enjoy on a very personal level. Since I was on the 3rd floor and most of the stage lighting was shining upwards directly on my face I had to listen to most of the songs with my eyes closed, but as I said before that’s not problem at all.

After that there was The Seaside Story. The song had the same intro as it did on the Atom Miraiha No. 9 Tour. With the playlist from that tour, the intro blended well with FUTURE SONG, but on this tour I might have missed something because I didn’t feel the same flow between songs. What I’m glad they kept was Sakurai singing the end of the second line from the first and third verses with full throttled anger (どうってことないわ ＆ でもかまわないわ）.

I’d like to skip Oriental Love Story here and instead talk about their wardrobes. Hoshino and Yu-ta were wearing standard Hoshino and Yu-ta clothes, respectively. Yagami先生 was wearing his long-tailed coat and no top-hat. I can’t recall what Imai was wearing, but his hair looked like it was on fire like in the  BABEL single and several if not all the other The Parade photos. Sakurai was wearing, and I haven’t seen other photos of it yet, thigh-high tights with a vertical fishnet strip on the front, with magenta velvet high heel short boots. They weren’t as hidden as his tights from the Atom Miraiha No. 9 tour. I just loved that there were several 12 year olds or so in the audience with their mothers, learning since young that a displaying your tights as a 50 year old male is something to take with pride and confidence.

Speed and LOVE PARADE followed. Both are great songs that are enjoyed without needing to add anything more than their studio versions. In LOVE PARADE, Sakurai stood back in the dark while the parade silhouette was projected on the wall, so it was more of a “letting us sing the lyrics” kind of song, as it was originally designed to be in my opinion.

After that they played Nocturne. Assuming you don’t download all their collection illegally (i’m watching you) without the struggle of finding out of press discs , I don’t think all the people are familiar with maxi-single songs like Nocturne. I don’t even know if they sell the singles in digital format now. The song had beautiful lighting effects, so I hope that those who weren’t familiar with the song before loved this performance enough to go get the single.

It was then that I hit my climax, when they performed Sapphire. One life, One death is one of my favorite albums but other than Baby, I want you I don’t really see other songs from the album being played live. I was just recovering from ICONOCLASM when Yu-ta dropped this on me. I never expected I would be able to experience it live. What I love from this song is that it feels like there’s a part of the lyrics reserved especially for the audience (Don’t let me down - take me to the end of life), that we can sing while Sakurai does his part. It is songs like these that really make me feel connected to the band during live concerts.

Right as I was on my second recovery from bass overload, they played BABEL (after some promotion by Sakurai). I purposely didn’t watch the BABEL PV until after I got my copy, which was to be after the concert. I let the band surprise me with a live performance, and boy did they overdid themselves. I loved the bass line for this song, which I think I have heard before somewhere on a different song but I can’t put my finger on it. (I also think Baby, I love you has a similar to rhythm to Enter Sandman by Metallica but my friends say I’m crazy…). The chorus of this song was also easy to catch up to. Before I knew it I was singing along to a song I’ve never heard before. By this time the fog inside the theater was getting really thick and I think that for the lighting to match the mood in BABEL this would be a song better played on the beginning.

Then they played BOY -septem peccata mortalia-. I still can’t pick a favorite song from Atom Miraiha No. 9, but as its live versions go this is one that I really like. I feel that for songs where they project the lyrics on the back wall, this is one where it really adds to the song (the other one I like: DADA Disco). I really wanted to see Imai play lying on the ground with his feet on the air, but this didn’t happen this time (or at least I don’t recall it).

[flyonmylovee]

FRIDAY TRI-DAY

[I HAD PLANS to make a giant Tri predictions thread with tons of proof for my ideas and theories and then... school happened. Suddenly, it’s the day before [well, technically it’s today] that Tri 5 comes out and everything got away from me. Really. I just failed a reading quiz before plugging my payment information into crunchyroll and logging on to write this up. I had all summer. With that being said, I still want to briefly type some predictions up just for the satisfaction of being able to expand on this post should anything I have to say become relatively true. I swear I’ve thought all these out, don’t @ me. Tri spoilers (given PVs and the first 5 mins) below the cut:]

Before I get started, I wrote out more detailed thoughts on Shoushitsu here. A lot of my thoughts build off what I had to say there so... yeah. Alrighty, let’s do this.

I bet you all a million dollars that they’re not in the digital world- not the one they know, anyways. If you look closely at the beginning of Shoushitsu, right after the title screen, the film takes us through a weird dark dimension where you can see those strange floating planet-virus shapes if you squint hard enough. I don’t think they’re in the digital world. Unsure if these are technically the *same* partners. I just... I got the vibe while watching Shoushitsu that ...too many things were off. I can’t get deep about it right now. As something to back this up though, in one of the recent games, Meicoomon is featured searching for Meiko and she talks about different dimensions. 

With THAT being said...

I bet that finding out an entire version of *reality*- one with a cute, snuggly, untraumatized Tailmon freed from torturous memories of Vamdemon and Wizarmon- isn’t real would totally drive Hikari nuts. Shoushitsu made a point of showing us that Hikari likes this new reality, at least for her partner’s sake. It seemed like she was the only one seriously considering that this situation might be better than what they had before. Perhaps this is enough to push her over the edge? I have my doubts that it’s something to do with Taichi, although something may happen to him. I just don’t think he’s the trigger, as many of the PVs haven’t been reflective of actual order-of-events imo.

I think the original battle between Maki, Daigo et al and the dark masters was the digital world’s version of Ragnarok. I think Yggdrasil already reset the digital world. I think that Daigo’s partner, along with the 3 others were chosen to cross over into the new world while Maki’s partner wasn’t. Maki asks “why wasn’t he chosen”. I’m thinking something along the lines of Digital World-Iliad. It’d help explain why Alphamon, Jesmon, et al never bothered to show up in a crisis before. Perhaps there’s an alternate world. Perhaps that’s where Taichi and the other chosen have landed. Tbh, I’d cry if the digimon haven’t actually lost their memories but are actually just completely new digimon who the kids have accidentally tricked into believing they have long lost human partners. That’d be emotionally traumatizing, right? Anyways, if Ragnarok happened, I think there’s a good chance we’re dealing with the x-antibody here (with implications for alphamon, meicoomon, new evolutions??? Also, I think the digital letters on omegamons sword are different than they usually are??)

Additionally, if Taichi truly does disappear and go somewhere, I wonder if he makes it back to the digital world we know. I think that’d set us up perfectly for the 6th movie. Perhaps that’s where the 02 kids are, as well. Either that, or in the no-man’s land we keep seeing (seems to be the place where Maki + Daigo’s original battle was fought? Looks like the kids will end up there again, and I think that’s where the 02 kids went up against Alphamon?)

I could write some stuff about angels and archangels and seven demon lords here but I’m gonna hop skip over that for right now in the interest of time. 

ALTHOUGH, I’ll put forth an idea that Meicoomon came straight from the dark area. I think it’s interesting that Meicoomon has been depicted as appearing to Meiko from out of the forest, and conveniently, the Tri card set has a card called “From Within the Forest” with Meicoomon’s adorable yet untrustworthy face plastered on it. I can’t decide if Meicoomon just... walks out of the forest a lot and it’s as simple as that, or if it’s alluding to the evil forest in the dark area. I think it could make sense for Meicoomon to have originated there. I remember reading on some long lost wikiimon page that some digimon moved to the dark area after being driven to near extinction (HMM) and developed mutations in order to survive the violence.

I’m actually more inclined to say that Meicoomon was artificially created (by Meiko’s dad tbh). The Tri crew said that the similarities between Plotmon and Meicoomon are important, and there’s info out there telling us that Plotmon was a man-made digimon. This could make sense given the first 5 minutes we’ve seen of tri. I’m less sure about this but am totally willing to dive back into the lore if we don’t get an answer by the end of tomorrow.

Anyways, the final thing my theories hinge on are the artistic similarities between Tri and this. Those cards scream “Tri” to me. I really think a “crisis” already happened, but I suppose we’ll see.

To finish this off, I’d just like to point out that we have one movie left and we’ve seen p much every evolution we were expecting to. There has to be excitement left for the 6th film. First- I still stand by what I said in my linked post that Yamato hasn’t gone through a personal crisis yet. That could be movie 6, and it could end up tying everything back together, but it could definitely be messy. 

I’m also gonna throw one more hot take out there and say that I think we’re going to see everyone jogress evolve. Either that, or we’ll see mode changes or SOMETHING. Idk. Once again, the Tri card set has implications for Tentomon + Piyomon being on the field together. Same thing is said for Palmon and Gomamon. I highkey don’t really care if we see jogress evolutions- what I really want is that Sora/Koushiro team-up. 

...And I’m sure Toei would love to make that $$$$ of new merchandise. 

WELL. That’s it. It’s not everything I had, but it’s most of it, and it’s all I have time to write for now. I have more homework to do and I’m probably going to be up for hours. I’m so excited for the 5th movie. I can’t wait to watch it and read what you all think. Like I said, if ANY of this turns out to be relevant I’ll expand. If this entire post turns out to be a worthless stretch... I’m probably going to leave it here and never acknowledge it again. Have mercy on me and my ask box. And, uh, please continue to after this one final hot take:

*I don’t think Meicoomon is making it out of Tri alive* :X 

OOP I’m off. See you all on the other side [and by other side, I assume we are all aboutta “know the darkness” and go beyond].

[polandspringz]

I Started Trying To Replicate “What’s In A PV?” and I Ended With An Essay Comparing “Neo Yokio” and “Children of Ether”

I wish I could post this on /r/ anime but I’ve never posted on their before and after a brief rundown of the rules it seems like this would most likely be removed for not fitting their definition of anime. Still, I’d like to make everyone aware that when I call this property an “anime” I am referring to the fact that it is a part of the anime-inspired movement as defined by Mother’s Basement. (See his video titled “Avatar is an Anime: Fuck You, Fight Me)

So, “Neo Yokio”, a very obvious and not so clever allusion to Neo Tokyo. Where to begin? Well, within two days, this trailer has not received much attention, and those who have been talking about it are split on not whether it will be terrible, but whether it will be terrible in a good way, or terrible in a bad way, and by that they are referring to being nonredeemable, even through memes. After jumping into this two days late, I was only able to scan the comments underneath the trailer on Youtube, and I saw this split very prominent. However, I was surprised to find a few people who saw some worth in this series, that it may in fact be good- in a trashy but comedic way.

I think the main thing many people are missing from this show is that it’s a parody. If you do any few seconds of research, hell- even simply typing the show title into Google- you’ll instantly be shown several articles that all include the word “parody” in the title. So, we should already be aware the show won’t be taking itself seriously, which I think is good. The last time Netflix tried to make an anime inspired thing, which was less than a month ago, it turned out badly, almost as bad as everyone fears this series will be, un-memeable (I tried to avoid typing that, I really did) However, with what the trailer shows, I think this series will offer plenty in terms of comedy, as I don’t think the lines of dialogue we heard in the trailer in context will be as similar to Jaden Smith tweets as we are being led to believe. At the very least, there is hope that when put into context, they won’t intentionally sound cringey and forced as if to replicate the hilarity of his most famous tweets.

So, now I’d like to jump into the trailer, stealing a bit of Mother’s Basement’s “What in A PV?” format, although I am not as eloquent as him, and I’m not being sponsored by the network this series is being hosted/licensed on. Now, if I’ve learned anything from the Anime Youtube community, it’s that sometimes one shot can encapsulate a whole show. In Made in Abyss, the opening scene that drags the camera vertically up from the bottom of the abyss has been analyzed by many this season as a key example of this. The shot right before the title drops, I believe is this show’s rather crude version of that. When we are shown the two girls playing tennis, the reaction of the girl breaking her racket is supposed to be seen as strange and over dramatic to the extent that our curiosity is awakened. We are immediately supposed to be led to believe that the rest of the trailer will show us a rather over the top reactions made by characters, and the entire show will be similar in nature. But, when the shot freezes and starts playing Studio Ghibli like music over top the brush stroke stylized title drop, the contrast is supposed to leave us with more questions than answers.

This show is a parody, so it’s going to be packed with references. These two contrasting shots that follow one another are very much that, references. The mecha robot seen throughout the trailer does not imply that the show will be attempting to invoke the mecha genre in anyway, but it exists for purpose of being an allusion to that genre, as well as a spin on the robot butler trope. When I found people stating that they thought this show had no direction and was plain cringey, I was a little surprised. I wouldn’t go so far as to say this was a passion project, as I am not familiar with Ezra Koenig’s works or interests, but another Google search has revealed to me the show’s intent is to be “a postmodern collage of homages to classic anime, English literature, and modern New York fashion and culture”, as stated by Netflix themselves. This explains how we got from Neo Tokyo to Yokio (New York + Neo Tokyo, although some of the narration about the city reminds me more of New Orleans, but I digress)  But, I feel as though people are fearing this is going to end up being like this season’s “THE REFLECTION” in nature rather than something like a comedic “Children of Ether”.

For those of you who went to Anime Expo this year or attended one of the Anime Movie Night screenings or encore screenings during the summer, I can hear some of you finding disgust with my comparison there. For those who are unaware, “Children of Ether” is a Crunchyroll original series created by LeSean Thomas and animated alongside the help of Japanese studio Satelight. An ONA is available on Crunchyroll and was premiered at the aforementioned events, and it too pays tribute to classic animes, but ones close to Thomas’s heart in terms of their animation, storytelling, and representation. The most notable and prominent influence on the work being Michiko & Hatchin, a series I thoroughly enjoyed and found to be a beautiful action and crime road trip story. Now, I would like to make it clear I am in no way saying that I think “Neo Yokio” is going to be an equivalent to “Children of Ether”, but I am saying it is possible to pay tribute to anime in your story in a multitude of ways. (Once again, see Avatar is an Anime, Fuck You, Fight Me). When I watched “Children of Ether”’s ONA short in theaters, I found it to be a rather interesting story that I looked forward to seeing more of. It had an art style similar to the works it had been influenced by, as the character designer was the same one from Michiko & Hatchin, and it’s voice acting for the main cast was well done and the world was fleshed out enough that it distanced itself from every other post-apocalyptic story we had seen in both eastern and western media. The only fault I had with the real short was the way the character’s mouths and bodies moved in accordance with their voices was always slightly off, both in mouth flaps and general motion. It ended up making some scenes very awkward to watch. Now, that can be explained away by problems with mixing Japanese animation and English voices, but the strange thing is, “Neo Yokio” doesn’t have that issue.

To be more precise, I understand that’s not enough to give Neo Yokio a leg to stand on or to place it above or on par with “Children of Ether” in any way. (I just figured it would be a good way to break paragraphs) “Neo Yokio” might have a better production team than “Children of Ether”, or at best one that has more experienced animating for another language, and as it would seem, that is Production I.G. But if you’re confused on why “Neo Yokio”’s art style has turned so many people off at the same time, it is being co-produced with Studio Deen. (So…) Yet, I feel it is unfair for people to treat “Children of Ether” so well when one can hold hope for “Neo Yokio” in the same way. The art style certainly does not have the same realistic edge as “Children of Ether” does, nor does it have KyoAni or A-1 Picture’s eye candy animation or anything like you would expect to see in “Ping-Pong: The Animation”, “Mob Psycho 100”, or “Tatami Galaxy”. In many ways, I think many people are forgetting what a lot of children’s anime or even mediocre anime looks like- it looks like “Neo Yokio”. It’s not trying to be anything special in that regard, and the typical art style one might see in a Pokemon episode is expanded upon by its western edge, which makes it into its own little mish-mosh creation. I understand it may not be pleasing to some, but it’s not trying to do what “Children of Ether” did where the production company literally was able to snag the exact designer of the work it was influenced by to create something equal. If anything, I think if “Neo Yokio” was given any sort of mainstream style (yes, at this point, I’d say even the oddballs with mixed media styles have enough to be grouped as a collective mainstream style decision) it would be worse off, because then it would be seen as trying too hard to be an actual anime. It would come off as obnoxious and be insulting.

“Children of Ether”’s purpose is to be its own work that visibly shows off the works that preceded it and influenced it in hopes of creating a compelling action and adventure story in a fresh post apocalyptic world. It also hopes to inspire more works to help increase the number of stories in anime that include diversity and representation amongst its cast. The tone of the serious is going to be serious but not melancholy, being able to build exciting suspense in fight scenes without ever falling too far away from the ability to turn a sad moment into a hopeful, but not heartfelt scene. “Avatar: the Last Airbender” and “The Legend of Korra” both are established in Mother’s Basement’s video essay as being a part of the anime community for their obvious art style and storytelling. While western media is meant to make people laugh first, Japanese media is always meant to make you feel for characters before you laugh at them, and although these two series often are known for their comedic scenes, they never break their emotional moments for comedy, they let them set in and simply be emotional and heart wrenching. Even shows like “Steven Universe” can be seen as not a direct western-anime equivalent, but have its moments where it allows itself to replicate Avatar and Korra it’s emotional scenes, but it plays more to the western cartoon art style. Yet, the idea of the story itself is not far from what would be found in Japanese media. And then there’s “Neo Yokio”.

Even though it is true that Japanese animation aims for emotion over comedy, there are countless animes that exist for the pure purpose of making you laugh. “Neo Yokio” is going to be much different than any other western anime purely because all of the aforementioned ones ended up following two main things: art style and storytelling. “Neo Yokio” is a parody though, so both of these are actually secondary. If it were to try to follow the storytelling style, it would end up being “edgy” with all its references being seen as though it was trying too hard to replicate anime that it would be cringey- as many proclaim it will be. The lines hashed out by Jaden Smith should be enough to explain away that, but the main point is that because this series is trying to include a variety of anime references (mechas, demon hunters, etc.) the story is going to be certainly original but not original enough that it can survive in a serious tone and not been called out as a blatant copy. By taking the parody route, the series will most likely be able to be consumed as a sort of an anime abridged video, but not to improvisation level and chaoticness of “Ghost Stories”. I deeply believe that by deciding to make this series a parody instead of your typical western anime, it will be much more successful and much less cringey than it is being expected to be.

(Here are two of the articles I referenced for some of LeSean Thomas’s comments about “Children of Ether”, besides my own viewing of the ONA:

https://goo.gl/NDeUub

https://goo.gl/UZRk7P

Thank you for reading this! Let me know if you want me to ramble/review about any series in particular!)

[thefinalcinderella]

DIVE!! Book 1 Chapter 2-WHO IS THAT CAT?

New chapter! And I’m starting on Book 2 today! 

Something trivial: when I rewatched the second anime PV, I noticed that the MDC seems to have their own club building, which is weird considering the book makes a point of talking about how hard the president of Mizuki had to struggle to even get the club running (It’s why they dive at Tatsumi and the Sakuragi pool instead of having their own pools)

Also, I wonder how would technology impact the story, since the book is set in 1999-2000, and the anime is set in modern day...?

Full list of translations here.

Previously on DIVE!!: I can’t believe Tomoki’s relationship problems (platonic and romantic, maybe even familial??) were foreshadowed from Chapter 1.

When Asaki Kayoko showed up again, Tomoki had thought “As expected”, and although he had expected that they would meet again, he still kept his eyes open for the unexpected shape their reunion would take.

A week after that, Kayoko showed up again at the Tatsumi Swimming Center, this time greeting Tomoki and the others in a black athletic swimsuit.

Tanned skin. Her long hair gathered at the top of her head. While she was slender, her body suggested hints of strong muscle. Long eyelashes framed her cat-like eyes as ever, and as soon as she spotted Tomoki, they shone like they had on that day, but there was also a mischievous light, like a child waiting for the moment a secret is revealed.

The reason for that would be discovered soon.

Today, when the stretching exercises before practice were finished, Coach Fujitani called everyone over and introduced Kayoko.

“From today on we will have a new coach here. This is Asaki Kayoko-kun.”

The elementary school students cheered over the unexpected appearance of the new coach, Tomoki and the other middle school students looked at her blankly.

This woman is their new coach?

Moreover, Kayoko said she would succeed Coach Nakanishi, who had transferred out of the club.

The MDC originally had three coaches: Ooshima, a portly man, was the coach of the elementary schoolers; Coach Nakanishi was in charge of the middle schoolers; and Coach Fujitani was the head coach who supervised both groups. In other words, Kayoko would be in charge of Tomoki’s group.

“I will work hard to send out strong competitors from this club.”

Before the dumbfounded middle schoolers, Kayoko greeted them like a cat hiding her fangs. In the circle, Coach Fujitani asked Youichi a question.

“What are you going to do? Do you want to be instructed by Coach Asaki from now on, or will you continue practicing with Coach Abe like before?”

“I’ll do the same as before,” Youichi answered without hesitation. “But I will do the dryland training together.”

“Well, okay. If you aim for the top, either way it’s better to practice with people older than you rather than younger than you.”

Coach Fujitani nodded, knowing that there was no opponent at Sakuragi High who could motivate Youichi. Despite being father and son, Youichi and Coach Fujitani had a certain distance between them. Tomoki always marveled at how strangely formal they were with each other.

“Well then, let’s start practice. Ah, a word to elementary schoolers. During practice, please don’t pluck the poolside plants. Plants are for enriching the eyes, not tearing…”

With their backs to Coach Fujitani’s voice, Tomoki and the others slowly went to take showers.

“Seriously? She’s our coach? Is she even qualified for it? Sheesh.”

Next to Ryou, who had a torrent of complaints, Reiji also looked uneasy.

“No way, she must be Mizuki’s spy, right? She must be a bad coach sent by them to destroy us.”

“I don’t think so. It’s a weird thing to do. Mizuki can close us down whenever they want. Besides…”

Besides, Kayoko had said that she hadn’t come to destroy the MDC, but to protect it. Tomoki now understood that this is what she meant.

Nonetheless, if Kayoko really was serious about wanting to protect the MDC, she would need to devote all her strength and perseverance into it.

Diving was a sport where the coach wielded a great deal of influence. Obviously, the diver would not be able to see their own form when diving from a platform or springboard. Things like how precisely is their body moving, or how big of a splash are they making during entry, were completely unknown. When they received the explanation from their coach about what they are missing, the diver would know how their performance was for the first time. At the same time, issues and problems were pointed out, and tips for improvement were given. Without that relationship of trust, there was no chance for improving one’s skills.

“Well, if she’s a fake coach, then she’ll be fired. Let’s check that today.”

While Ryou fixed his eyes on the diving board in an aggressive manner, Tomoki secretly made a checklist in his head.

First, how much did she know about diving at such a young age?

In conclusion, for today, it wouldn’t be Kayoko who would be checking them strictly, but the other way around.

“First of all, I want you all to try diving one by one.”

Prompted by Kayoko, the first one on the platform was Ryou. Being a show-off, Ryou tended to choose a fancy move that was more than he was actually capable of, perhaps wanting to display his good points in front of the new coach, and he was standing on the tip of the platform longer than usual to build up his fighting spirit. Finally, when he raised both his hands and was about to dive, Kayoko clapped her hands from the poolside.

“Alright, I see now. Get off.”

“Huh?”

“You don’t need to dive. Please come down from the stairs.”

The one who appeared next on the platform, Reiji, was by nature a careful diver. Today he also closed his eyes lightly, concentrating his mind on his performance from now. Then, before actually diving in, Kayoko’s cruel voice rang out. “Yes, it’s fine. Come down.”

Tomoki, who was last, was also similar. In order to not follow Ryou’s and Reiji’s examples, he was intent on diving as soon as he got onto the platform, but he didn’t stop at the edge for three seconds before Kayoko hurriedly clapped her hands.

“Yes, good, it’s over now. Please get off quickly.”

The three made their humiliating descent off the platform, and were made to do “standing posture” practice on the poolside. They hadn’t touched the water even once during today’s practice.

“A diver who can’t stand in the proper posture cannot perform proper dives.”

“You’re exerting too much force in your necks. Pull in your butts more. Your arms are straight, but not stiff. Align your fingers, but don’t exert force into it!”

“Relax your upper bodies, but stiffen your lower bodies tightly. Gather all your strength into the center of your stomachs.”

“All of you have been diving for years, but you can’t even do proper body alignment?”

Body alignment—something Kayoko fussed over a lot. In a few words, it meant the correct position when diving. She wanted them to imagine a plump bunch of grapes. If you drop the bunch from off the platform, it would be broken apart and rain down everywhere as its center of gravity was tilted, and landing in the water in an ugly way as its balance was disturbed. But, would this happen to a cucumber? A straight cucumber would fall in a straight line and cut into the water vertically. Body alignment isn’t the ability to distribute power around the body (e.g. grapes), but to turn your whole body into a stiff board during your performance (e.g. cucumber). It was the foundation of a beautiful aerial performance and a no-splash entry, and Kayoko tried to drill it thoroughly into their heads on the first day.

However, that persistence was opposed by Tomoki and the others.

“We just stood on the poolside for an hour!”

“She’s crazy. It’s just not sane.”

The first half of practice has passed, so Kayoko told them to take a ten-minute break before continuing. They had all dashed to jump into the Jacuzzi bath, where they let loose everything that they had been forced to put up with up till then.

“How many times did she keep talking about how body alignment is? It’s stupid thing to do for one and two hours. It’s like telling a land athlete to stretch their Achilles tendon for an hour.”

“It’s a strategy, a strategy. She’s making us do weird things on the first day, to freak us out. Isn’t this her true plan?”

“Yeah, she’s that type of deceiver. Those underhanded tricks are only used by those who have no self-confidence.”

Then, to the ears of the three people who yammering on and on in the same vein, came Youichi’s voice.

“It’s true that type exists.”

Turning around with a start, they saw Youichi’s shadow floating on the other side of the frosted glass that partitioned off the Jacuzzi bath.

“Youichi-kun…”

“I’ve met them too, that type of coach. When I was at a training camp in middle school, a male coach from America came and he taught exactly like how that woman teaches. The first day was all about body alignment. The second day was dryland training. The third day was take off and approach practice. In the end, we were never actually taught diving itself. Just like you guys are doing now, everyone was complaining nonstop about it.”

“I thought so.”

The three all nodded, but Youichi continued on. “But, after that coach went back, I saw that everyone’s diving had become almost unrecognizable. It was like a toddler who could only walk suddenly started skipping. The Japanese coaches were stunned. Also, I learned this later, but that coach also trained the American gold medalists.”

“…”

On the other side of the speechless trio, Youichi stood up with a splash of hot water. Tomoki chased after him as he went back to the poolside.

“Wait, Youichi-kun. Does that American coach have something to do with her?”

“No, not really. It’s just that their coaching styles are similar. But, it doesn’t seem like that woman is an ordinary person.”

“Why do you think that?”

“It’s said that you’d know a first-class diver just by looking at them standing on the platform. And somehow, you’d know a first-class coach just from looking at them on the poolside,”

Following Youichi’s gaze to the poolside, there was Kayoko’s figure, wearing a yellow t-shirt over her black swimsuit. It seemed like she was helping with the elementary schoolers, making it harder for her to return to Tomoki and the others. She was using hand gestures to instruct the little divers, who were moving around restlessly. Certainly, her unique presence and elegance were affecting.

Diving pool.

Main pool.

Sub-pool.

There was a lot of noise coming from these three inside the building.

Water was spraying on people.

The aloof diving tower that overlooked everything.

The springboard that’s next to it.

The sounds of the footsteps of the elementary schoolers running along the poolside.

The dazzling lights from the ceiling.

The smell of the pool chemicals.

The drowsiness that could attack him in a moment—

Because she’s used to it, Tomoki thought. That woman had been accustomed to all of it, as though she’d fused to become a part of it.

“She has a nice butt.” While blushing from what Youichi murmured, Tomoki was thinking about it once again.

Who is that woman?

“Hey, you’re Sakai-kun, right? Wait up.”

Tomoki was called by Kayoko after they were finally released from two hours of torture, as the others staggered off towards the showers.

“I want to give something to you. Will you come to the lobby before you get ready to go home?”

“Sure.”

While conscious of Ryou and Reiji staring at him, Tomoki tried his hardest to nod as though he wasn’t interested.

Something she wanted to give me?

However, while he was changing clothes, Tomoki was silently thinking about this a lot, making it very obvious that he was interested in it.

The three of them changed clothes in silence, and left the locker room which echoed with the shrill voices of the elementary schoolers. At some point while the atmosphere was strained, Reiji greeted his father and left with him, and Ryou said he’d “go on ahead” to Crostini on the first floor, and left quickly.

Crostini was a coffee shop which overlooked Akebono Bay from a glass window. The mother who was on pick-up duty usually waited for the two of them there while reading.

Left alone, Tomoki waited for Kayoko as the perfume of the synchro-moms flooded the lobby.

“Sorry for the wait.”

Twenty minutes later, Kayoko appeared, who had let down her hair in a pretty hairstyle, fixed her makeup, and glossed her red lips.

Even though she was keeping a middle school student who was exhausted from practice after school waiting, she still took the time to put on makeup. That just shows that I shouldn’t put much trust in this woman, Tomoki thought resolutely, but without voicing his thoughts, he said, “The thing you wanted to give me, what is it?”

Kayoko took out several pieces of paper clipped together from her well-worn leather bag (1).

“This is it.”

Taking them and looking at them, Tomoki was speechless.

“What are these?”

“A training schedule for every morning.”

“For who?”

“Don’t play stupid all of a sudden!”

“This…must be a joke…”

Indeed, he cannot believe that she was sane. The self-training schedule Kayoko made was intense. It seemed time-consuming, like digesting French food, and it would take two hours to digest a full-course meal properly. That was described how much time he was going to have to spend on this every morning.

“It’s self-training, so I’m doing this voluntarily, right?”

“I don’t have to tell you to, after all, since you’re all Japanese kids.”

“I will do it, sometimes.”

“What kind of mediocre athlete would you be if you only do this sometimes? Extraordinary athletes always do extraordinary training.”

“I’m mediocre anyways.”

“I know. During last year’s Junior High School Championships’ Kanto meet you were tenth place out of twelve. You couldn’t even participate at the national meet. When you were in elementary school you had no success at the Junior Olympics, and finished without leaving an impression in either the tournament’s records or in people’s memories. You might be even below mediocrity.”

Tomoki glared at Kayoko sullenly. Her beautiful face was armed with makeup, with eyeliner firmly applied to that hateful thing.

“So, is Coach saying that giving me self-training is going to turn me from a below-mediocre to extraordinary?”

“Exactly. But I will check on you in this case. However, what exactly do you think is extraordinary?”

“Like…winning the Japanese Championships.”

Winning the Japanese Championships. Tomoki smiled weakly at the extremely overambitious words he had just said.

But Kayoko did not laugh at him at all.  “You’re a small-minded boy, huh.” She told him seriously.

“What?”

“What we are aiming for are the Olympics.”

On Sunday the next day, on a road in Setagaya Ward brightened by the morning sunshine, Tomoki was running alongside his pet dog Chikuwa.

Chikuwa was a stray dog found by Hiroya six years ago on a rainy day. His wet fur was then blow-dried, and when he was shown the refrigerator, the pitiful little dog jumped in joy. He ate as much as he was given. He liked eating chikuwa (2) so much that Hiroya named him after it, but when Tomoki thought about it later, he realized that was probably because he was just hungry. He would have been named “Cheese” if there was cheese in the refrigerator, or “Kamaboko” if there was kamaboko (2). Every time he saw Chikuwa, Tomoki kept thinking about the role fate played in that.

The neighborhood in the freezing early morning was deserted, and still covered in an opaque thin mist, but when they passed by people occasionally, they looked surprised to see Tomoki and Chikuwa going through it at a fast speed.

Chikuwa swung his bushy tail, his milk-colored body shaking with delight. Tomoki, who constantly made Hiroya take a walk with him instead, rarely took him outside, and he made him run at a faster speed than usual at a much longer distance. No matter how much Tomoki panted as he gripped his leash, or how sweaty his whole body was, those things became irrelevant to Chikuwa.

Tomoki’s exercise clothes were damp. Tucked into his pocket was the schedule Kayoko had given him yesterday.

Why I am doing this?

Why am I doing exactly what that woman told me to do?

He kept running, not understanding anything. As he let Chikuwa drag him ahead, Tomoki’s head swirled with the words Kayoko had thrust at him yesterday.

“I’m telling you this for your own good. Even if you think about falling into the gutter, give up and listen to what I’m saying. First of all, do some jogging every morning. If you have a dog, you should run together for at least an hour. Don’t forget that anything that happens in your daily life can count as training. Of course, you don’t wear socks and stuff like that at home, do you? Diving is a barefoot sport, so isn’t it good to try to sharpen the sensation of being barefoot everyday?”

As soon as he finished jogging for an hour, Tomoki returned to his room as quickly as he could, taking off his jacket that was sticky with sweat. After a short break, he started to do stretches in his T-shirt. From his ankles to feet, arms, shoulders, neck…his whole body was stretched. Tomoki’s double-jointed body, which was discovered by Kayoko, certainly bended well.

“Basic physical strength is the basics of basics. Okay? There are a lot of intervals in a diving competition, and it seems easy at first glance compared to other sports like soccer and basketball, but in order to do the nerve-wracking performances that last until the end in those long competitions, you will need extraordinary muscle strength, concentration skills and mental strength for the performance. I think in the end these will all form the foundation that is basic physical strength.”

After stretching, it was muscle training. Since Tomoki was a middle-schooler, his body hasn’t matured yet and therefore he could not use machines to do full-scale muscle training. However, Kayoko said that the most minimal muscle strength should be trained from now on to create a foundation in the future.

Abs and back muscles, and then push-ups. He did fifty push-ups for one set for a total of three sets. In other words, he did a hundred and fifty of them. How much is minimal? Tomoki thought as he gasped for breath.

“And after that, though I’ve said it many times, it’s thorough body alignment. Every morning and evening, check your posture in the mirror. Are you exerting force into your shoulders? Is your stomach sticking out? Are your buttocks tight? You have to keep that posture until the very last moment to ensure that you have a good water entry. And in order to keep that posture, you must have the corresponding muscle strength and power.”

While doing it in bursts of intervals many times, he finally finished muscle training. He dropped down onto the floor and could not move. But he was still not released from Kayoko’s schedule yet.

He had to do handstands for thirty seconds ten times.

“Doing a handstand on the platform is in the sixth category of diving.(3) Many Japanese divers are not good at it. The reason for that is obviously from lack of practice. The muscles necessary for handstands can only be trained from doing handstands. Every day, do handstands to death. If you have free time, or during recess at school, do handstands. If you get called the Handstand Boy behind your back, that’s great. Since diving is a mental competition, if you’re confident about an event that everyone else isn’t good at, it will definitely lead to a wide margin during the competition.”

Tomoki summoned his remaining strength and got up, and placed his trembling hands on the floor as he kicked his feet about it. He raised his lower body with a great amount of effort, and felt lightheaded as his toes approached the ceiling. However, because his fatigue from the muscle training dragged on his arms, he had no strength to support his entire body and…  

Thud. Tomoki fell forward and hit his forehead against the floor.

It hurts. It’s painful. I feel dizzy. Oh, I feel awful!

“Hey, what do you think are the qualities that a diver must have? Good proportions, excellent leg muscle strength, explosive power, a feel for rhythm, strong force of will and expressiveness…as many qualities as there are, I think the most important one is flexibility. It’s obvious if you look at who’s at the top in the world. Their bodies are very pliant. That pliancy gives their performances beauty and stability. Speaking of flexibility, you are born with qualities that they cannot not defeat. And beyond that…well, we will do that another time.”

A cool wind blew through the open window, comfortable against his sweaty skin. On the other side of the billowing blue curtains was the even bluer sky with scattered pale clouds that hovered over it.

The sky looks like a diving pool this way, Tomoki thought suddenly.

A blue boxed in by a square border.

I’m always boxed in by the world outside the pool…

“I only promise one thing. You will definitely grow. You improve as much as you polish your skills, and perhaps you can become a greater diver. Of course, it’s not going to be easy for you, having to do self-training every morning and attend practice after school, not to mention homework. But, you will definitely seize that result only if you work hard. It should be a result that’s the most realistic thing that you’ve ever savored so far, pleasant, and easy to understand. Is there anything else in this half-hearted country that can make you feel like that?”

School and home were enjoyable in their own ways, but they always felt constrained somehow, and he felt like he’s surrounded by a box. A very small, cramped box. It made him sad to think that even he himself was small-minded.

It was an unclear feeling of suffocation, or an unidentifiable depression.

By comparison, everything looked so much clearer in the water.

“Aim for the top. You are a kid who can do it. Focus on ascending to a higher place.”

To a high place?

“Yes. Always ascend.”

Ascend.

“There’s a scenery that only you can see.”

Scenery.

I can go beyond the box—?

“Hey Tomo, phone.”

Suddenly, a voice from reality sounded outside his head. Tomoki, surprised, returned back to himself.

He looked up to see Hiroya peering in from the half-open door.

Hiroya, who was getting into river fishing recently, would be going to a river sometime today. He was wearing a thick navy blue down jacket, and was handing him the phone while telling him to “hurry up”.

“Miu?”

“No, it’s Hirotaka from Class A.”

Relieved, Tomoki raised his aching body up and took the phone.

“Hello, Hirotaka?”

“Ah, Tomo. Are you free today? Everyone’s talking about meeting up in Ishii.”

“Um���actually, I’m doing dryland training this afternoon.”

If it was before, he would have skipped practice after some hesitation, and go out with Hirotaka and the others.

While thinking this, he said, “That’s why I can’t go, sorry.”

“Diving again? Oh well, I’ll just ask someone else.”

“Sorry, maybe some other time…”

The other side hung out before he finished talking.

Beep—beep—beep.

Tomoki listened to the cold machine sounds for a while, slowly moving his gaze at the receiver in his left hand to his right hand.

In his right hand that was damp with sweat, he clutched Kayoko’s crumpled-up schedule.

Holding a handstand for thirty seconds ten times. Then jump fifty times. And lastly, cooling down exercises. Carefully massage the whole body around the wrists and toes.

Tomoki let go of the phone, and quietly continued his training.

Translation Notes

1. More specifically, “bag made from cow hide tanned using tannin”.

2. Chikuwa is a tube-shaped fish-paste cake, and kamaboko is a steamed seasoned fish cake in a semi-cylindrical shape.

3. There are six groups of dives: Forward, back, reverse, inward, twisting, and armstand.

Next time on DIVE!!: Saaaaaaaaalt.

[kuuxkat]

[EN]Lisani Vol. 27.1 Interview with Nanjou Yoshino

Translated and Typeset by: @kuuxkat / QC by: ~mega and @astralwinters @ #teamonibe 

Originally Sourced and TL by: 埃克斯 here

Images from: @emitsunosaurus-rex

DO NOT USE THE SUBS FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES!

Contents under the Cut!

Typeset images can be found: here

[Since we’ve walked this path together for the past 6 years, “Eli must be in good health somewhere out there, right now”, I really think is the case.] 

-- It’s been half a year since “μ's Final Love Live!”. Have you had the chance to reminisce on the past six years?

Nanjol: Everything ended on that day… although I would like to say that, but there wasn’t much changes after that. It felt similar to when I was at school and when spring break was upon us, thinking that [We really don’t need to go to school right?]. It’s similar that way. Although I do think that way, I’ve always been moving forward towards the new goal in front of me, this is how I’ll describe my situation recently. On the other hand, for the fans who put their all into cheering us on, and for them to be in a state of “μ’s loss”  where they’re constantly looking for fragments of μ’s in their daily lives. Those feelings, they have been expressed closely in the heels of other projects, and individual activities. They really have been putting their all to cheer for us, being able to say that experiencing this is reminiscing is right too. My real thoughts would be: [So it was just half a year ago, huh?]

-- Asking once more, what was it like before and till Final Live?

Nanjol: First of all, Tokyo Dome is really so big that I wasn’t really clear on how the situation was (laughs). But, on the day before the Live I took part in the dress rehearsal while thinking that: [In two days time we’ll hold the final Live here, in front of an audience that will fill up this entire avenue]. As it is final, us members were still thinking and searching until the last minute about:  [How do we express to everyone all the bright points of [LoveLive!] and μ’s so far]. Although physically it was very difficult, but more importantly was: [If we expressed just a little bit more would it be slightly easier to convey the message]. The degree of work that we put in to express this mentality, it can’t be compared to with the other Lives before this. It felt like each of the members faced the girls who they had performed as up until then once again and completed the live without regrets

-- How did you feel that day when you saw the audience for the first time?

Nanjol: I feel that what I saw on stage at the Tokyo Dome is what made [LoveLive!] distinctive , the audiences who carried the lightsticks in nine different colors. This time; I saw so many different colors in that extreme expanse at the Tokyo Dome. was the deciding difference between rehearsals and the actual performance. To be able to showcase the monotonous practices that had been done continuously for several months in such a beautiful and sparking place, was extremely touching for me.

If I don’t work hard, Ayase-san won’t shine! I carried this mood with me as I stood on the stage. -- When you were the MC, you said: [It’s not 9 of us, it’s 18 of us], during the Live, can you describe how does it feel to be to be together with Eli?

Nanjol: As I worked very hard to stand on the stage, I don’t actually quite remember at that time the distance between me and Eli. But from the different stages of the practises I can determine that, we voice actresses try trying our best to let people understand and experience the child that they are acting for, to show the project [LoveLive!] and to recreate those intense feelings together with [μ’s]. So rather than say that I am working hard for myself, why not say that I am working hard for Ayase Eli. If it is my own live, there would be many places that I can relax (laughs). But at that time if I don’t work hard, Ayase Eli won’t shine, so I want to work hard for her! I brought those feelings with me as I stood on the stage.

-- That performance was born from these kind of feelings right? Nanjol: In the time that I stood on the stage, there were times that I felt unadulterated happiness, looking in all four corners I would discover that there were audiences 360 degrees around me, they kept smiling, but at times they couldn’t stop crying, in some way it’s just like they were looking at Gods while looking at the stage. If that’s the case, from my part I’ll naturally try to go closer to the back or the seats on top, working hard to give: [I saw μ’s with my own eyes], this experience to everyone. So the time when I actually felt my body’s exhaustion is when the Live was over and I’m back to the hotel, [... There’s one tomorrow huh!] like that (laughs). Working hard by myself for Ayase Eli -- Going back to the time when you first saw Eli, what was your impression? Nanjol: As previously I wasn’t casted in a role [slightly big sister-like ]like Eli , I thought: “To think that I would get a child like this?”. After looking at the other 8 concept arts, I wondered how should I perform her? Six years ago it was still at the time where girls with high pitched voices were popular, so I felt [It would be difficult for Eli-chan to gather popularity]. I kept on thinking how should I perform to be able to draw this child’s charm out, to make her into a child who who would interest everyone.

-- Singing is an important aspect of expressing Eli, do you have any songs that leave an especially deep impression? Nanjol: If someone ask me that question, I always answered with [START:DASH!!], but in the end (Bokutachi wa Hitotsu no Hikari (僕たちはひとつの光 lit. We Are A Single Light)) left a very deep impression too. But during the recordings, the one with a stronger impression is actually: [Bokura no LIVE Kimi to no LIFE (僕らのLIVE 君とのLIFE lit. Our LIVE, Our LIFE with you)]. My heart faintly had the thoughts of: [Why not perform it with an adult feel?], but when I went for the recording everyone told me: [In any case, be lively a little!] (laughs), as the personalities hasn’t been firmed. But, if at that time I performed too lively, afterwards I would have fretted over the difference between the two. So I thought about the Eli that I had pictured in my heart, and expressed liveliness within the boundaries of that personality, until now I still remember that minor adjustment I made. -- If at that time you sang it differently, perhaps the Eli now would not have existed. Nanjol: It was only when the TV Anime started broadcasting did my initial blurry impression (of Eli)  became a closer match. Before that I always thought I performed a feeling of coolness, during the initial PV that formal and stiff feeling became more obvious….when the TV Anime began I had that feel of [Yes Yes, the Ayase Eli that I wish to perform for is there!] (laughs) -- The cool feel of the Student Council President? Nanjol: The cute points of Ayase Eli would be her inability to be candid, that clumsiness in her inability to express herself clearly. I feel that the previous: “Formal and Stiff-chika” could appear too, but seeing the process in which the distance between the initial concept art and the TV Anime started shrinking, I felt: [This-THIS! What I want to perform is this!] (laughs).

-- At the very beginning, she was written as being the opposition, among the members, the scenes of Eli’s internal conflicts is particularly vivid and the most memorable. Nanjol: I suppose she is fond of thinking all over the place? From worrying at the start whether if it would really be alright, even when Honoka who said: [Let’s try, alright?] and in the presence of all the other members with their [We’ll eventually find a way.], she’ll still ask: [Really?]. I myself had moments like this, so the resonance between us is very strong. -- Including that resonance, what is the relationship that Eli and Nanjou-san have now? Nanjol: At times I feel like she is my own child, and at times she’s my partner, and there are even times that I feel she is me. During the process of making this project, there are times when the members (μ's) would be close to their voice actress, and there are times when I, the performer, would be affected by Eli and naturally pick up things that are ice-blue in color in my hands. I feel that in this six years, there are many areas where we have melded together. There wasn’t any free time to allow me to seriously think about me and Eli’s relationship. We’ve been furiously preparing for Lives that’s just in front of us, recording large amount of songs, where Eli begins and where I end, even I wasn’t clear on that. But, when it came to Final Live, [to let Ayase Eli shine as brightly as she can, I need to work hard.] I’ve considered everything thoroughly. -- In the six years, the year before (2015) has been especially hectic in it’s development to the extent that it must have been hard to breath, what is your view on such a year? Nanjol: At the start, whether it was my confusion of [How to perform as Ayase Eli], those days where no one could truly understand no matter how strongly I stress [I am very cute!] (laughs), I feel that I can never forget them. I hope I don’t cause any confusion, I didn’t become a voice actress for [LoveLive!], as at the same time I took up roles in other projects. But all of them were swallowed up by [LoveLive!]’s wave, for a second I thought I’ll be swept away and cease to exist (as myself), so at that time I clearly felt the danger and had to calm down. The scale in which it expanded was shocking, the level was also indescribable, so it’s not unexpected that there would be a part of me that was afraid. -- At that time, even people who don’t watch Anime, you could hear them talk about the name[LoveLive!], right Nanjol: Although I often hear people say: [That’s amazing], but no matter what, the links I have with it is as a voice actress. Even if it was through TV or through media etc that they knew the ‘real’ μ’s, I really hope that they would continue to link it with the Anime and their related works. Words that you wish to say to those ‘comrades’ that love ‘LoveLive!’? -- After going through this packed 6 years, what are your feelings now? Nanjol: Although I’m doing well in the field of voice acting, but at times I do crossover that boundary to perform Lives. I’ve gone through many things that normal voice actresses won’t ever experience. Regardless as an performer or as a voice actress, there would be times that are very difficult, but I am really very thankful to have learned so much. I have met many people through my activities with μ’s. -- Among those that you have met, the eight other voice actresses. What kind of existence are they? Nanjol: As expected, even now they still have the feel of being family. After all we really went through the same thing together (laughs). As there were periods where we were together almost every day, although right now we don’t frequently meet with each other like before, but whenever we do meet: it’s like I can breathe easier. Even with other people that I have good relations with, there is that small part where you get a different kind of safety. -- If you are able to say one sentence to Eli who spent the same six years with you? Nanjol: I guess it’ll be: [How are you doing now?]. For six years, we have walked here closely together, and even if we have separated, I hope that we would be able to meet again somewhere else. To part ways with someone who has always been by my side, it’s a similar feeling as graduation. I really think that right now she is somewhere out there, full of energy now? Although it feels odd if I say that’s in the second dimension, but because I feel that she’s really living there right now, so I’ll think: [What are you doing now?]. As the comrades who have gone through the same experience as [μ’s], I hope everyone would definitely look forward and in many areas, continue working hard.

--- Lastly, please say something to all the readers. Nanjol: How does the μ’s loss feel? (laughs). There are people who really cried till their tears went dry, and to the messages of [I knew of you guys only recently, I really regret not knowing you guys earlier! ] from people who didn’t know us then. Like [Why didn’t I go to a Live!]. Although what you want me to say is [So didn’t I  let you guys see it?] (laughs) But it’s μ’s fans like this, those that have chased us for the full six years, and those that who only did so for a few years. But no matter the time that we spent together, those feelings can’t be faked. After Final Live ended, there are people who are still in a cloud of sadness, but μ’s hasn’t disappeared, the memories that we have created would never disappear. Especially to those people who say: [I’m so sad… I’m so sad that I can’t see tomorrow...], as the comrades who have gone through all this together with μ’s, I hope that they can stop crying and look forward. If in the future and somewhere out there, μ’s is able to reappear in front of everyone, I hope that we are able to talk about those memories from those six years. Those who have supported us think so, and us performers we think so too. As fellow comrades who went through the same thing as μ’s, you have to look forward, and in many areas, continue work hard. As everyone has their different schedules, there would be people who will discover their next target whom they would inject passion into, and there would be people who would continue to loiter around in discontent after what has already ended. When the haze dissipates and we are able to look back at this six years, if we are able to say [We’ve grown up huh?] , it’ll be great. So I hope that everyone, from now on would as always, continue to treasure the memories and music of μ’s, and in all of your different lives, continue working hard.

[kuwaiti-kid]

How often should I publish a new post on my blog? Hint: It’s probably not every day!

When we first start blogging, a daily new post routine might sound like the best strategy. After all, we are getting our content out there. Delivering new stuff each and every day, and our blog readers want to see that, right?

You might be surprised at how easy it becomes to burn out on new content every day – both for you, the blogger, as well as your readers.

How much is too much?

Your publishing schedule will be highly dependent on the type of content that you're publishing. As usual with blogging, a one-size-fits-all answer to this question simply doesn't exist. It almost never does.

However, we can look at the numbers from around the community to point us in the right direction. And, we can perform some experiments on our own to accurately determine what works best for our blogs.

That's exactly what we're going to do in this post.

Can we safely say that the more we post, the more traffic we'll get?

Source: Moz

Why publishing every day might not work

First, let's debunk a popular myth. To be a successful blogger, you need to publish something new every day. That's not true. Seriously, you just don't.

While Huffington Post publishes something new every 58 seconds, we aren't creating Huffington Post-type blogs with a huge writing staff with the intention of marketing our content through sheer volume.

Almost no blogger has those types of resources.

Publishing every day often kick-starts a cycle of content generation just for the sake of writing new content rather than taking the time and effort required to produce something valuable and engaging for your audience.

And, there are several reasons why publishing every day may not be a good idea:

Your readers feel burnout

Your latest post constantly changes

You reduce the time it takes to market each post

The writing will [probably] suffer because of “content-churn”

Well-said from the Blog Marketing Academy about publishing every day:

In other words, quality vs. quantity. Rarely do both of these exist at the same thing.

And, the basic elements of Search Engine Optimization have absolutely nothing to do with the frequency that you publish new content. Nothing at all.

Let me emphasize again: SEO is not affected by your posting frequency.

The two principles of content publishing

As we look at how often we should publish something new on our blogs, writing new content on blogs ultimately comes down to two major principles.

The goal is to write content that:

People want to read, and

People want to share

…all the while avoiding overwhelm. Giving them something that they want, when they want it, and offering our readers an opportunity to take it all in before they are hit with another piece of content.

Here is a question that you need to ask yourself:

If a blog published a piece of content every day, are you more likely or less likely to look at Monday's post on, say, Thursday? If you're like most of us, you'll probably skip it because there's something else that's newer. More recent.

You, like most of us, get busy with life. You sometimes don't get a chance to check in with your favorite blogs or websites. Finally, on Thursday or Friday, you pull it up and start reading. Most of us will start with the very latest content and, frankly, we might not get to the material that was posted earlier in the week.

The cycle can be relentless.

Quick! What's the #1 reason why people unsubscribe from email newsletters?

Source: GetApp.com

Too many emails is the #1 reason. This is called overwhelm.

And, most of us send out emails whenever we publish something new (the better emails are hand-written). If we publish every day, we risk annoying our audience.

However, if we publish one, two or three times a week, we stand a better chance of hitting the sweet spot with our readers.

Ask yourself two questions:

How much time do I need to produce something of value that's worth both reading as well as sharing? And,

How much time do my readers need to find it, read it, digest it and share it?

If you're like most bloggers, posting weekly is a good idea – though, that does not mean you need to be posting new content every single day.

How often should I publish a new post?

Like I said before, it is impossible to provide a one-size-fits-all answer because it's highly dependent on you, your blog and your readers.

However, most bloggers find that posting once, twice or three times a week works best over the long haul of running a blog.

Why? Because a less frequent posting schedule:

Gives bloggers the time to write in-depth, highly-valuable content that readers want to read. Good content dives deeper than surface-level stuff, and every one of us needs the time to dig a bit deeper with our writing.

Gives bloggers time to properly market and publicize the new post. Most successful bloggers spend more time marketing than they do writing, which is something that many beginner bloggers miss. If we post too often, we simply won't have the time it takes to successfully market our content.

Provides our readers with enough time to find and read the post. Most of us – which probably includes you, don't read each post from your favorite blogs the day it's written, right? Of course not. And, neither do your readers. Posting too often can create overwhelm. Too much content to go through.

Most bloggers – as this study confirms, post between two times a week to two or three times a month.

Experiment to find your blog's content sweet spot

As you probably know, I am a big fan of experimentation. And, I also hate hard and fast rules that supposedly apply to everyone equally, especially in the world of blogging. That's not how this stuff works.

The fact is you could follow the exact template of a highly successful blogger, write the very same stuff, post at the exact times they posted, build an audience of similar size on social but still see drastically different results.

The reason is that blogging isn't a mathematical algorithm that results in the very same answer each and every time. Blogging is organic, and so much will depend on exactly what you're doing, at the time that you're doing it.

Yes, it's true that there are SEO and marketing-specific tactics that generally work well for everyone. Writing content that readers want to read, marketing your content through email, getting involved in your community, etc. But, just doing those things won't automatically turn your blog into the next Wait But Why, or Mark Madson.

So, how can we experiment to find the best answer to how often we should post?

First, take note of your current numbers

Before trying anything new, establish a baseline set of numbers that you're already achieving each month. This could be:

number of pageviews

comments and engagement

email opt-in conversion rates

social media followers

bounce rate

You can find many of these numbers with Google Analytics straight from the Audience > Overview page:

Then, begin experimenting with your content schedule to see how changes affect your numbers. Here are several examples of what you might try.

Reduce weekly postings by one

If you're posting three times a week, try two. Or if you're on a two-a-week schedule now, what happens if you only post one? If your pageviews decrease, then consider reverting back. But, here is where the nuance comes into play.

What if your pageviews decrease but the number of comments and engagement actually increases (because you're giving your readers more time to interact with your content)? Which one is more important?

Or, what if your pageviews decrease a little bit, but your available time to market or do other important things increases more substantially? Maybe the PV decrease is worth it.

Clearly, only you can determine that answer.

If you reduce the number of posts that you publish, use that additional time to increase your marketing efforts of what you do publish. This could mean engaging more on social media, designing Pinterest images for your posts or writing super-clever emails for your newsletter subscribers.

If you're just starting, start with two posts a week

In my experience, two posts per week is a good baseline number to shoot for after just starting. This tends to get enough content out there for Google to see and index but also doesn't completely overwhelm you in the early days of your new blog.

After a while (say, three or four months), try altering your schedule and increase or decrease the number of posts. Then, take a look at how the change has affected your numbers. Adjust accordingly.

It's important to post regularly

All this being said, it is important to post new stuff on the regular. Google generally likes blogs that are updated routinely rather than sites that sit dormant for extended periods of time, updated infrequently.

It's a concept called Query Deserves Freshness, or QDF. “QDF, simply stated, is that for every query (“search term”) a search result list should include one (or more) piece of content that’s been recently published,” wrote Copy Blogger.

And, this tends to be true for individual posts to rank – though, not always. But, blogs that are routinely updated stand the best chance at climbing the ranks in Google, especially in the first couple of years of their existence.

Routine is key. Getting high-quality content out there, regularly, is the name of the game. And in general, the key is to maintain quality.

If you're able to publish new posts more frequently while maintaining high quality, then the more the merrier. But, be careful not to over-publish and sacrifice quality.

If you insist on posting every day…

A quick email tip if you're posting every day: Consider offering a digest version of your emails that get sent less often than daily emails. Some of your readers will get burned out of daily emails, but offering a consolidated email that introduces multiple posts, sent once a week, could be the sweet spot for some of your readers.

The post How often should I publish a new post on my blog? Hint: It’s probably not every day! appeared first on Your Money Geek.

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[thejpfdude-blog]

The Upcoming Fall 2017 Shows I’ll Be Watching

WHAT? Yes, I’m back! Long time no see. I’ve been busy with school, so unfortunately I have a huge list of episodes to watch (that let’s be honest, I’ll probably never get to).

But yeah, hopefully I’ll be able to start writing TWiA posts again and start watching stuff on a weekly basis. To start that off, there’s this post: the annual “looking at what shows I’m watching this season post”.

A reminder of the usual thing I say in these posts:

I might watch some other shows that are good or drop some shows if they aren’t good, but that’s for the future.

Like always, I’m organizing these shows into three categories: Full Chance are shows I’m giving the whole season towards, Short Leash are shows I’m giving three or so episodes towards, and One Shot are shows I’m giving one episode towards. As we progress towards categories, expect less words for each anime as I lose interest in writing. Also a reminder that MAL links to the shows are on the titles for those interested.

Before we start, a general comment about next season: it’s honestly looking pretty bare for somebody like me who likes them slice-of-lifes/comedies/romances/moe shows. Other than the few shows I have on Full Chance, there’s nothing I have a shred of hope towards. Even some of the Full Chance shows are questionable to me to be honest. But hey, some shows could still be good, and I’ll go into more detail about that below. So with that let’s get started with this post, starting with...

Full Chance Shows

Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World - The Animated Series: Well, I tried to watch the original show from 2003, but that was during my blue period. But apparently it’s okay, because this show’s actually a remake/sequel hybrid thing. What I got from the info given to me was that it will adapt some new content, but it’ll also remake some of the stories from the original series. So not a full-on sequel, but not also a full-on remake either. A little of both.

Oh I should probably say what this show is about. Well it’s kinda hard to describe. The best way I can put it is that it’s an adventure about a girl (who I thought was a guy) and her talking motorcycle traveling throughout the world, experiencing many distinct places. Sounds boring, right? But from the one episode I watched, it was actually super interesting. Now this show doesn’t offer much in terms of action, but it’s a nice relaxing watch that occasionally really makes you think. It’s also episodic, if that concerns you. I would definitely recommend watching this, or starting off with the original series. After all, you still have time to catch up.

Love Live! Sunshine!! S2: Who woulda thunk: not even six months ago, I shunned anything idol. But now, this is honestly tied with Shokugeki S3 as my most anticipated anime of the season.

I feel like I shouldn’t really describe this show: after all, if you don’t know what it’s about, you probably shouldn’t be watching anyway since it’s a second season of a spinoff series (though I honestly find the spinoff to be better than the original anime-wise). Just know it can be described in two words: SCHOOL and IDOLS.

I’m not expecting this show to be great - after all, I’ve never scored any Love Lives higher than a 6. But I’m still expecting some fun slice-of-lifey moments that’ll be even better now that we have the full cast of 9 members doing their thing. And honestly, that’s all I want in a show sometimes. I also honestly expect some more increased drama similar to how S2 of the original series contrasted with S1, but hopefully the slice-of-lifey moments make up for that. I’m also secretly hoping this isn’t the final season of the anime, but guess we’ll find out about that.

Mahoutsukai no Yome (The Ancient Magus’ Bride): So this show looks super interesting. Plot-wise it doesn’t really look like my type of show, but digging deeper it sounds pretty cool.

Basically the story is that we have our main girl Chise who has no hope in her life only to meet a magus who makes an offer to her to be his apprentice and his bride (wowzers).

Sounds pretty fantasy, which isn’t really my schtick. But apparently from sources, I’ve heard this show is actually quite the opposite: it’s more a darker fairytale-like slice-of-life with a evolving narrative, which I’m all about. Plus the PV was pretty hype, so that’s nice. There are prequel OVAs already out, but I haven’t had the time to watch them yet, and they aren’t too necessary to watch before watching the main series. Still, go watch them if you’re interested. I might do the same.

Osake wa Fuufu ni Natte kara: So this is one of the few times where I can say that I read the source material before the anime came out (hopefully I can say the same later when Kaguya Wants to Be Confessed To gets an anime...). The best way I can describe this show is Alcoholism: The Anime.

Well, not really, but it’s pretty much like that. The main character is a reserved office worker who likes drinking alcohol. Unfortunately she becomes cute when she does so (oh no the horror) so she only drinks the concoctions that her husband makes. Some cute stuff, and if the manga’s any indication it’ll be a nice short watch. Already confirmed to be a 5-minute short, which is good because honestly the manga doesn’t offer much other than an occasional “aw that’s cute I guess”. I’m not expecting much, because honestly the last few chapters were pretty eh for me. Plus I don’t know how well the manga’ll translate into anime. Well still somewhat excited for a nice little short.

Shokugeki no Soma S3: So, it has come. After season 2 my hype for this died down a little, and so I’m cautiously excited about this installment. All that I’ll say is that as long as the show is able to balance the intense food battles with the funny slice-of-life moments, it’ll be a pretty good bet to be a favorite of the season. Though I am a bit worried that manga readers say that this portion of the story is when the manga started getting a bit questionable, hence the lack of hype for the show from said audience. I’m not too confident on that front though - details and all that are a bit unclear because I didn’t want to go into too many spoilers. But anyway, excited for some more food porn.

Short Leash Shows

Animegataris: So the general gist of this show is that a new girl shows up and makes an anime research club in school, slowly getting more and more interested in the medium (boy I can relate). Though there is one thing that confuses me from the synopsis, and that’s this part: “while they stand against the student council's continuous efforts to disband their club, and they ignore the impending end of the world, they talk about anime...”. Uhh... yeah that seems like it was brushed under the rug... like what? That part makes this seem different from your typical high school show (a la Konobi). Interested to see what the whole deal is with that since nothing from the promotional images or the PV shows anything referencing that. Plus the fact that this is an anime original series means nobody knows what’s gonna happen. Though otherwise not too remarkable of a show, and I’m not expecting too much from this.

Blend S: Oh boy another CGDCT. My favorite. 

In all seriousness, I do like this genre, but I don’t know about this one... Basically at first glance it looks kinda like a GochiUsa style show, but it’s a bit different from that. Yes, there are cute girls working in a cafe. But this is a bit different: the girls working there play out a role: for instance, we have the main character playing the sadist role. There’s also the classics such as the tsundere, the imouto, and so on. A bit like a maid cafe actually. I think what’ll make or break this show for me is whether or not the girls keep up their roles outside of work, or if there’ll be times shown when they aren’t so... typecast. Sorta similar to one of my favorite YouTube channels out there, Cow Chop, where they obviously play out a role during their videos, but we can see times where they’re actually genuine in videos like the Behind The Scenes or their podcast. Other info is kinda limited since like Animegataris, this is an anime original show. So I guess we’ll see how it plays out.

Boku no Kanojo ga Majimesugiru Sho-bitch na Ken (My Girlfriend is a Faithful Virgin Bitch): Uhh I can explain. So I’ve been told this show is basically similar to Seitokai Yakuindomo where it’s Sex Jokes: The Anime. Basically a guy confesses to the most popular girl in school in desperation, and she accepts. Only this girl is pretty deadpan, and in an effort to be the perfect girlfriend she “optimizes” her behavior, usually too far on the sexual scale to the dismay of MC. Comedy ensues, and so on. I’ve read some snippets of the manga, and it’s your standard “person does random stupid thing and MC responds”, AKA the boke and tsukkomi routine. I’m not sure how well that’ll go considering I’ve seen complaints that it’s just endless gags, which the recent Aho Girl showed me I’m not really about. But hey I’ll give this show a chance, because who knows?

Just Because!: Why am I watching this? Just Because!

I’m so sorry.

Ok, with that out of the way this show looks decently interesting. Guy comes back to school as third year right as graduation approaches. Apparently this causes four students’ lives to change in some way. Sure.

Looks to be drama-y, based on the PV I saw, but I don’t know too much about this show otherwise. One thing I can say is that those uniforms are comfy as heck, and I’m all about that. Though I’m not all about the character designs: the faces look a bit questionable. But I’m sure I’ll get used to it. It’s not Koi to Uso levels of bad.

Konohana Kitan: Oh boy another CGDCT, but with wolf girls. Wow.

Okay well this time I’m not being sarcastic. I’m not about the wolf girls, cat girls, whatever girls trend. Basically it’s your standard new girl comes to work at place, and slowly gets along with others. But apparently according to the synopsis it’s through “her simple cuteness“. No I’m not lying, go see the MAL page.

Well might as well give it a shot I suppose.

One Shot Shows

Juuni Taisen: Normally I wouldn’t usually watch these types of shows, but a friend of mine convinced me to give at least one episode to this one. Sort of a battle royale where 12 people who share names with the Chinese zodiac members fight for one wish. One interesting thing to note is that this was written by Nisioisin, the same guy who wrote the Monogatari series. So from that it has some good potential.

Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau: At this point I’m kinda getting tired, so I’ll just say this is a fantasy show. The PV looked super interesting though, which is the biggest reason why I’m giving this at least one episode.

RoboMasters the Animated Series: College students + RoboMasters competition = anime? Sure why not.

And that’s all for this post! Not as many shows as last season, but I think there are some potentially good ones in this batch, plus maybe some more that I haven’t listed here. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next post!

[thejpfdude-blog]

The Week in Anime (Week of 8/14/17)

Hello friends and welcome to another edition of TWiA! There’s a lot to get through, but first let’s head on over to...

The News Corner

This week didn’t have too much in terms of shocking news. The one thing I do want to highlight that came out this week is:

Violet Evergarden PV2

Mmm that’s good stuff. Not as amazingly animated as the first CM, but that was more or less done for the light novel so I don’t expect the whole show to be that level of quality. And even then the PV had some dang good animation, complete with some more information about the show. From the translation done here, one might think it has a big focus on romance. And that’s what I thought too, that is until I read another comment in the same thread that mentioned light novel spoilers but had a TL;DR stating it’s a coming-of-age story and not a romance. Good to know, otherwise I probably would’ve had the wrong expectations for it.

I’m not gonna lie though, I’m pretty hyped for this show. I’m trying not to be, but ever since the CM came out (which was the first glimpse of the show), my first question was “when?” (which has since turned into “how many days until January?”). I’m excited for the potential pairing between KyoAni animation and a great story considering the light novel won the Grand Prize award in the same yearly award that other light novel-turned-KyoAni shows like Kyoukai no Kanata and Chuunibyou only got Honorable Mentions in. Well, only four months to go. That’s not that long of a wait honestly.

Now before I get onto the rankings and awards, I want to write some blurbs about some shows I recently finished. Now some of these shows aren’t ones I finished within the last week, but I think it’s a good time to talk about them after having them stew in my head for a little. So let me start by talking about a show I might have an article on in the future...

Love Live Sunshine

With season 2 of this coming soon, I was determined to try and finish this show. And I did. So that’s nice.

On a more serious note, Sunshine was a nice sort of spin-off to the main Love Live anime. I think one of the biggest complaints I heard was that it was too similar to the original anime, and I can see that. The whole school-closing storyline was a bit too convenient, though it actually didn’t get resolved by the end of the season, so that’s something to keep an eye out next season. Another thing was the similarities of the leaders of each group, which I strongly agree with. I mean I wasn’t a huge Honoka (Honkers) fan in general, and Chika to me feels sorta like a ripoff of her (hence the reason I call her Ripoff Honkers).

But some of the other stuff wasn’t as bad to me. Like other than Ripoff Honkers (and Dia to an extent) I feel like each character is unique enough to be their own person, rather than be a clone of a previous μ‘s member. Sure there’s some obvious parallels that can be made. Ruby/Hanayo for shyness (which is even eluded to in the anime), Mari/Nozomi for being the memester, etc. But when I think of, say Hanamaru, I don’t think of anybody from μ‘s in particular, but about her zuras and her eating habits. Same schtick for the rest of them (except Ripoff Honkers). If anything, I like Aqours a bit more than μ‘s so far, if only because my favorite character from the Rabu Raibus is in Aqours (though favorite group is still a toss-up as of now).

Story-wise, I liked Sunshine a lot more than the original, if only because there was a minimum of the “power of friendship” stuff that the original had (like the final scene from the last episode of S1). And before episode 10 when the third-years joined the group, I actually liked how the drama didn’t feel too cheesy. Of course, that changed when the third-years joined, but it still wasn’t as cheesy as the original show, which was nice. Add in the fact that the slice-of-life scenes added some nice snark (making it less /r/wholesomememes cult-like happy), and in the end Sunshine > original (at least anime-wise). 6/10 overall, and actually somewhat excited for the next season in 2 months-ish.

Free!

Funny story. Actually not really funny, or a story: I had this on my list for some time, but it wasn’t until I visited my friend last week that we ended up watching the first 6 episodes of this show. And then from there I finished it a few days later, and now we’re here.

This show’s pretty famous for its manservice (fanservice of the male variety), and I’m not gonna deny that. In fact, I’ll confirm it: there were a lot of shots of those muscular sculpted bodies, toned to perfection.

...

Uh yeah. But other than that this show was actually pretty fun to watch. I don’t know how much of that is the fact that there was at least one main girl character in the show, who ended becoming one of my favorite girls and now has a place in my Favorite Characters list on my MAL profile.

But it’s really because in it’s core it’s a sports anime, and not of the shounen type. Like there’s competition and hype sports moments with none of the shounen tropes like explaining every single ilttle thing. It’s actually... like sports with just plain competing, which as a huge sports nut I’m down for. The races were pretty hype, and the drama between the characters wasn’t too out there (though the whole thing between Rin and Haruka seemed very ship-friendly).

So overall, a surprisingly good show, manservice aside. I’ll definitely be watching the second season of this soon (once I settle in to my new place). 7/10 would recommend for swimming shenanigans.

Teekyuu

In my quest to have Nisemonogatari be my 200th entry on MAL, I watched shorts/specials that wouldn’t take too much time to watch. So why not watch the famed 2-minute short known for having faster pace than the Roadrunner? Generally I don’t like fast-paced shows, but I think that this short does a really good job with itself. Content-wise this show is so freaking ridiculous and doesn’t take itself seriously. But it works for the most part, and it’s pretty hilarious. Though it’s technically about a tennis club, I think they only have tennis in like 3 of the episodes, with the others focusing on some other random subject.

If there’s one negative to this, it’s the pace. Because as well as they use it, it’s still super quick, and sometimes an episode goes by and I go “what just happened?” Still, it’s a stupidly fun show: overall 6/10, and definitely will be watching the next 8 seasons (no I’m not joking, the ninth season is airing right now).

Nisemonogatari

So that was an adventure. This was an interesting case study, considering these were the stories that Nisio Isin (the author of the light novel) never intended to be released. As a result this show ended up being probably the most controversial entry in the Monogatari series. And it showed: this version of Monogatari really ramped up on some questionable scenes. Before I get into the infamous scene this show’s known for, let me get into some other stuff I wasn’t really about. First, the bath scene in episode 4. I don’t doubt it was an important scene: in fact it’s probably one of the most important scenes in the whole of Monogatari. But it’s the whole showing a naked 8-year old girl for the majority of the episode thing that made me pretty uncomfortable. It’s funny looking at the comments of the rewatch thread, and people trying to explain why it wasn’t that bad. The most common thing I saw was that it wasn’t sexualized at all, what with Araragi not being pedo like he is with the others and the fact that there wasn’t any zoom-ins of the naughty bits.

Yet the problem I have with that is that at it’s core it’s still... a naked 8-year old for the majority of an anime episode. And I’m not denying what the people in that thread are saying: actually it makes a hella lot of sense. But it’s still a naked 8-year old. I’m not about that life, even with the deeper meaning and all that.

And now that toothbrush scene. That... was a thing. Yep, a thing. Indeed. A. Thing.

Sigh... that was honestly the most uncomfortable I’ve been while watching anime. I’m glad I live alone or else I would have feared a roommate or something coming into my room and seeing me watch that. 

Now before you start telling me “deeper meaning” and all that jazz, I’ll just say this: my least favorite subject was English. The reason? I always had to be on the lookout for some deeper meaning, some symbolism, etc., instead of just enjoying reading. Now with the Monogatari series full of its more deeper themes, symbolism and looking deeper into events is very necessary. But looking past the deeper meaning this scene is a guy brushing his sister’s teeth while she starts getting sexually aroused, almost leading to a kiss in the end. That’s... also not my thing. Big time.

Well, that rant’s out of the way. Not counting the above scenes (as well as some of the other questionable stuff like imouto boob touch), I actually did enjoy this show. Monogatari’s slowly becoming one of my favorite franchises, making what should like a boring dialogue-heavy show fun and interesting. And now that Nisemonogatari’s out of the way I’m excited for what’s arguably the best version of Monogatari, Monogatari 2nd Season (kinda misnamed don’tcha think?). Overall despite above statements still a 7/10 show, with hope for the future.

Now that that’s done let’s move on to the good ol’...

Rankings:

1 (0). New Game!! (9/10) [5/12]

2 (0). Princess Principal (8.5/10) [6/?]

3 (0). Kakegurui (7/10) [6/12]

4 (0). Tsurezure Children (7/10) [6/?]

5 (0). Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season (7/10) [19/25]

6 (+1). Sakura Quest (5/10) [19/25]

7 (-1). Ballroom e Youkoso (5/10) [6/24]

8 (0). Centaur no Nayami (5/10) [6/12]

9 (0). Isekai Shokudou (4.5/10) [6/?]

10 (0). Nana Maru San Batsu (4/10) [6/12]

Awards

The Tangent Award: Centaur no Nayami

After 6 episodes, I think I have a general idea of why I feel like this show is off. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do like the show. Some of the scenes offer some nice commentary on the small issues that these people face (like the whole toilet thing) that some people may think is pedantic but I think is super interesting. Basically the stuff like the first few episodes of Demi-chan wa Kataritai (with the nice interviews and stuff).

The problem that this show has is that it goes through different scenes that seem jarring in transition. It jumps from one thing to a completely random thing, leaving me wondering how they even got to a certain point in the episode. Though in the end they’re able to show that the disjointed events are somewhat connected, the connection’s as fragile as Troy Tulowitzki (sports fan explanation: a baseball player who’s seemingly always injured, hence he’s called “fragile”). And in the end I continue on, wondering what I just watched for the past 23 or so minutes. I feel like there’s a better way to organize the episode, but I’m not really sure how yet. For now I’ll just continue watching, because despite questionable organization it’s still a mildly entertaining show.

The Not Comfy Award: Kakegurui

Yo but actually what was that episode. Return of masochist queen = return of fear for my life. This show isn’t high on my “comfy show” list, but after this episode it’s sunken even lower.

On a totally unrelated note, I’ve changed my opinion from slightly liking Yumeko to not liking her at all. In fact it’s kinda funny that my opinions of Yumeko and Mary flipped, and now I find Mary to be the better girl (if not best girl of the show). Seeing how she’s not just one of the crazies and actually seems kinda nice is reassuring to say the least (even if the crazy leaks out at times). The return of Suzui was also nice, considering he’s a good dynamic compared to the insane characters in the show. If anything, I’m curious to see how this ends, considering the pace so far and the fact that it’s one cour.

Best Episode of the Week: Princess Principal

After three straight weeks of New Game!!, we finally get a new show for best episode of the week. It was a hard choice, considering this week’s episode of New Game!! was very good. But Princess Principal wins out with a great episode about Dorothy and her life before being a spy.

I won’t go deep into the episode because I want to try to not have too much spoilers in these blurbs. But what I will say is that dang, these girls have good reason for being spies. Also that the end of this episode was pretty sad, especially considering Dorothy’s final line. Princess Principal’s been impressing so far, and I love the disjointed style of storytelling (with case 6 last week and case 18 this week). Next to New Game!!, this show’s been my favorite of the season. I highly recommend it even if you aren’t the biggest fan of CGDCTs or spy stuff.

And that’s all for this week! Thanks for reading! Just a quick announcement/notice: I’ll be busy next week preparing for school and moving into my new place, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t have the time to watch the currently-airing shows. If that does happen I’ll mention which ones I didn’t get to, and if it doesn’t well then it’ll be business as usual. Anyway, thanks again and I’ll see you in the next post!