#nubatama

[cardinal-procrastination-des]

I damn near jumped at this.

[alafi]

Following yesterday's homage to Luard, today the tavern looks back at all previous iterations of my personal favourite archetype of all time, Shiranui! The abyss dragon that tried to destroy Vanguard in the anime will be coming back in D Series very soon. Will he bring ruin once again or will he be reformed (as his ending suggested)?

[sallytwofeets]

[maiji]

[image set: 1) Digital watercolour-style illustration of three characters standing next to each other. Left to right: smiling woman with hair cropped to slightly longer than shoulder length holding flowers and a Buddha statue in one hand; a handsome monk with a frazzled expression; a sparkling round-faced Heian nobleman wearing the tall tate-eboshi and fanning himself. 2) Lineart of the same illustration. 3) Details of the three characters' facial expressions]

Byakken, Princess Nubatama, and Prince Momiji from ぬばたまは往生しない Nubatama wa Oujou Shinai (Nubatama Will Not Pass Away) by Kuze Banko!

I've had this on my list for a while, got around to reading it on the weekend and oh my goodness I am in love! It’s super fun and packed with stuff that is all up my alley. And these three are a huge part of the entertainment. The dynamic that they have as they go about solving mysteries and rendering assistance to people in their slice-of-Heian-era-lives, all while turning Heian tale tropes on their head, makes me chortle with glee. 

More gushing below the cut~

Princess Nubatama (Nubatama-hime) is a noblewoman with the incredibly long luxurious black hair that marks a true Heian era beauty - and an equally long line of suitors. But she’s been possessed by a mononoke! and the famed rising star monk Byakken has been called upon to drive the demon out with his prayers.

-Or not. For we quickly learn that Nubatama isn’t possessed at all. Instead, she turns out to be an extremely bright, sharp and headstrong young woman who wants to see the world! She requests Byakken cut her hair and make her a nun to free her from the constraints of material society. It's a super shocking demand, and Byakken refuses. So she dramatically cuts her own hair, forcing her way into his life… and also into the lives of others!

Nubatama is a delightful female lead in a Heian setting. Her cheerful attitude, sly practicality, and straightforward compassion make her a fantastic character. Her relationship with Byakken is really charming and a joy to follow. I love their wonderful growing mutual support, not to mention her ability to put him in an apoplectic fit even when he agrees with her.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, I’m a huge fan of Byakken. Dubbed the incarnation of the Bodhisattva of Wisdom (Manjusri/Monju Bosatsu), he has many actual fans (as in, within the actual story itself) who fawn over him and want to listen to him chant sutras and exorcise demons all day long. The reality? He’d much rather hermit up in the mountains and study than interact with people. No such luck for he’s stuck in the great capital Heian-kyo dealing with terrifying screaming children on a regular basis (it’s the de facto exorcism technique of the day) and being egged on by his superiors to help fundraise for repairs to a five story pagoda/stupa (not for the first time, apparently, since it burned down twice??), while also basically being Everybody’s Mom and keeping people out of trouble. The contrast between his adoring fanbase’s perception of his handsome face and serene, enlightened manner and his actual frazzled private thoughts amuses me so much. He really makes me think of my favourite Tale of Genji character, Kaoru, if Kaoru actually managed to achieve his goal of becoming a monk. (They even have similar backstories! Or at least what’s been revealed thus far… hmmmmmm….)

And then we have the dashing, sparkling, best-dressed Prince Momiji (Momiji no Miya), Nubatama’s (former) betrothed whom I am fully convinced is the Hikaru Genji of this universe. He certainly seems to keep himself busy with lovers everywhere. Equipped with his tate-eboshi and elegant fan, he keeps randomly popping up in his oxcart to help Nubatama and Byakken out with the shenanigans they run into. As with the legendary Genji, the intentions behind Prince Momiji’s supportive actions may be less than honourable, which leads to many hilarious interactions such as a fight between him and Byakken that Nubatama breaks up. I think his design is amazing, he totally made me think of an exaggerated manga version of one of those classic Genjimonogatari artworks from the Tosa school of painting the moment I saw him!

Nubatama wa Oujou Shinai is only available in Japanese at this time. You can find it on various Japanese ebook sites - I read it on Renta!

https://renta.papy.co.jp/renta/sc/frm/item/275790/ - volume 1

https://renta.papy.co.jp/renta/sc/frm/item/216412/ - the separate issues including two chapters/stories past vol 1 I haven’t read yet

I really hope this is picked up for English distribution someday, though I appreciate the setting might be considered a little… niche?? My Japanese is very far from fluent so I'm sure I’ve missed quite a few details. But I'm grateful that I can discover it and read it digitally in this day and age!

[starburstsobsessions]

I have lost about ten consecutive vanguard zero rank fights

[mtbluecat]

DAY 3 (favourite clans/archetypes)

today's prompt is just a long textpost + my competitive decklists lmaoooooo since somewhere down the line, i accidentally became a sweaty tryhard vanguard player

warning: this post is really long but i would appreciate if even one person reads my ramblings about projecting onto characters really hard and my descent into coping the tcg full-time

tl;dr i like luard and shiranui a very normal amount

shadow paladin - luard

i definitely can't go without first mentioning my eternal main, shadow paladin luard. and there is a story behind this except it's like half just me being unhinged and projecting really hard but what is that but the spirit of vanguard itself. so i sat down to learn the actual tcg a while back and i was like "okay i need an avatar card. whomst will do" and eventually settled on luard since i liked his card art/aesthetic and his premise being "a member of this group of wizard researchers who study how to shapeshift into dragons". as a researcher and as a fan of shadow paladin from ever since i started watching this show, i was sold. oh yeah i also read the luard lore sometime after this (forgor how long after) but yeah i was definitely committed after that lmaooo yall should go read his lore you will not regret it hslkdfjklsdjlsk

at some point i also rewatched g next and for some reason, i noticed kazuma a lot more that time and the projection became real. like. man. we're a lot alike and at some points it was honestly kinda uncomfortable to watch but i think that also changed my perspective a bit lmao. anyway i'll be cringe i'll own it: my avatar card is luard.

if yall are interested in my v-prem list here it is: https://decklog-en.bushiroad.com/view/LKRM

nubatama - shiranui

so like when i watched g next for the first time, the character i did the most projecting on was actually kazumi, not kazuma. nowadays it's a pretty good mix of both + luard, but i am also very much attached to kazumi and his deck.

tbf the main reason why i picked it up was because i thought dominate was a really funny mechanic and also i first built it in vgzero (rip that game btw) because it was meta and also can be pulled from one set. but like. i really liked playing it in zero and it was the only deck i mained from that point forth. flash forward to when they announced history collection (histcolle) in en and all my competitive player friends were talking about nui making its way back into the meta and i was like "wait this is perfect actually zero is dying but i can finally learn premium with a deck i like".

anyway the deck is really fun except when rinne just rips out your opponent's shield tickets smodge. my only "complaint" is that when people lose to nui they are unreasonably saltier than if they lose to any other deck. it's the villain deck curse i think but at the same time it's pretty funny to watch people mald over mizukaze.

uhh the decklist is honestly probably gonna change but i'm pretty happy with it rn: https://decklog-en.bushiroad.com/view/9CWP

[universestreasures]

Cardfight Vanguard Clans Themed Headcanon Questions!

Royal Paladin: Does your muse prefer to tackle problems alone or with others?

With others, for sure! Aichi is definitely the kind of guy who is all ‘power of friendship’ and all that. The only time he usually goes at it alone is when he feels like it will put others in danger (Like with the whole S4 situation)

Shadow Paladin: Is your a muse the ends justify the means kind of person?

99% of the time, no. However, when there are desperate times (like again S4), there come desperate measures. For the most part when it comes to Aichi, he doesn’t like doing anything if it means someone else is going to get hurt, even if it is to save the world. Like if he had to sacrifice a friend to save the world he wouldn’t do it. 

Gold Paladin: Does your muse have trouble asking others for help? 

Depends on what it is. Aichi can be pretty stubborn. If it’s something small like help with a homework problem or a suggestion on his deck, then he can do it easily. It’s more the big personal stuff he can have trouble with sometimes. 

Oracle Think Tank: What does your muse see for themselves in the future?

Aichi sees himself not as a professional cardfighter, but rather a professor at a university teaching astrophysics and astronomy, all the while researching Earth and Cray’s connection on the side. He plans to go for his P.H.D! 

Genesis: Does your muse often read their horoscope? 

Aichi isn’t into things like that. Just not his thing! I think he wouldn’t mind hearing about it from someone else. It’s more he won’t go out of his way to read it. 

Kagero: Has ever been a time where your muse has just been like: Man I just wanna burn everything down to the ground?

Nope. Even after all the pain Aichi has gone through, he’s never really had that sort of thought before. He does know people who have though and how destructive that mindset can be (COUGH KAI KUN COUGH)

Narukami: Does your muse like storms?

Aichi doesn’t mind them. When he was younger, he was pretty terrified of them, but that fear has faded away. The only time he’d really not like them is it was super severe weather (like a hurricane or typhoon). 

Tachizake: What dinosaur would you associate with your muse?

I feel like Aichi vibes well with a Plesiosaurus, which is a type of aquatic dinosaur. IDK why, but that’s just what I feel. 

Murakumo: How would your muse react if they found out they were a clone?

Oh goodness...He’d uh...Not react well at all. A full on meltdown and extensional crisis. It would just be a hot mess, let me tell you. 

Nubatama: Is your muse good at gathering information discretely?

Being subtle is not a strong suit of Aichi, so I’d say no. He’s not the person you trust to gather info on what to get someone for your birthday, or to secretly follow someone to get information about them.

Nova Grappler: How much does your muse rely on technology?

Honestly, Aichi could live without it. He doesn’t always have his phone on him, doesn’t really use a computer unless it is for school, and isn’t glued to the TV. He’d be content with just his physical Vanguard cards, honestly. 

Dimension Police: Does your muse have a strong sense of justice?

Yes, even if it may not seem like it from the outside. Aichi very much embodies the knight archetype when he matures, and takes to heart what those values of courage, nobility, and justice mean. 

Link Joker: Has your muse ever lost all hope and fallen into despair?

Several times, actually. Aichi may be a very hopeful person, but there even times when that hope can die out. Season 4 is a great example of this since not even he believed there was an answer to the Link Joker seed other than sacrificing himself. 

Spike Brothers: Does your muse enjoy sports?

No, unless you count Vanguard as a sport (which Aichi doesn’t so). He’s not very good with much anything that involves a lot of physicality. 

Dark Irregulars: How well does your muse handle horror and general scary things?

Not well...Aichi is very easily frightened so even the most tame horror movie will cause him to get all spooked. Avoid that as a date night thing, folks. 

Pale Moon: Does your muse enjoy being the center of attention?

Absolutely not. Aichi hates whenever unneeded attention is on him, which is why he prefers to sit in the back of the class in a corner where no one will notice him. He also has stage fright and sucks at public speaking. 

Gear Chronicle: Does your muse think they are running out of time?

Not really. He still think there is a ton of time he has left on the planet, and looks forward to his future. 

Granblue: If your muse could bring back anyone from the dead, who would they pick?

His father, no question. 

Bermuda Triangle: Does your muse enjoy idols?

Even with some of Aichi’s friends being idols (AKA Ultra Rare), it’s not something he’s into. He could enjoy their music, but wouldn’t be an obsessed fan or anything. If it was one of his friends though, he would of course support them. Depends on the context and the person.

Aqua Force: Is your muse afraid of the ocean?

Nope! Aichi enjoys the ocean very much. He finds it relaxing. If he does swim in it, he won’t go very deep, but he enjoys it. 

Megacolony: Is your muse afraid of bugs?

Aichi is not a fan of bugs and will get anyone else to get rid of one. So, yeah. He is not a fan.

Great Nature: What animal do you most associate with your muse?

I know this is kinda obvious considering his deck/aesthetic, but a puppy. Aichi is a cute, soft puppy who is very loyal, loving, but will not hesitate to bare his fangs at anyone trying to hurt his loved ones (if they cannot be reasoned with, of course. He is, again, a pacifist). 

Neo Nectar: What flower do you most associate with your muse?

Blue Hydrangeas! They are the blue flower that is seen in the movie version of him and Kai’s meeting. It is a flower that has various meanings, but the most relevant ones to Aichi are apology, understanding, and gratitude which I think fit Aichi very well.

Tagged By: No one! I made this up cause I thought it be fun and wanted to share!

Tagging: @abysseeker​ (Choose your fighter) @duskshrouded​ @fragmentedimensions​ (Choose your fighter) @highseaskxng​ @whorunthewcrld​ (Choose your fighter) @thcsevoices​ (Choose your fighter) @tcthinecwnself​ (Choose your fighter) @adversitybloomed​ (Choose your fighter)  @acollapsar​ and anyone else who’d like to do this!

[littleeyesofpallas]

Nubatama Orochi, Shiratama Orochi[ぬばたまおろち、しらたまおろち]

[lacunasbalustrade]

So! To have a Reverse AU we need to transplant the Buddyfight characters into the Vanguard universe, or we transplant Vanguard into the Buddyfight universe. The first one was more plausible to me as the second would require huge worldbuilding changes due to Buddyfight's influence on the world.

So below I have a breakdown of what happened to our main characters.

Gao Mikado; age 15

Attends: Miyaji Middle School

Clan: Murakumo! (I wanted to do something less obvious than Kagero, and Murakumo seemed to fit the bill for a slightly darker Gao, given that his upbringing would be less open than in Buddyfight. I envision that Suzumi stayed in Japan instead of moving to America to teach aikijujtsu, and that he was punished severely for breaking his mother's pupil's wrist, having a lawsuit slapped on them. As a result, they are significantly less wealthy.)

Avatar: Stealth Cation Dragon, Batzz

(Obviously a made up card. Grade 2, Power 11000, Restraint. Other abilities? Well....do you have ideas? Cause I sure don't.)

Personal History: got into Cardfight!! Vanguard as a way of stopping people from spreading rumors about his mother's teaching. Ever since he became violent and was subjected to the lawsuit, he realised his wrong but did not want Suzumi to be stereotyped. Since Vanguard was popular as a way of settling disputes, Gao took it up, inadvertently making friends with the rest of the cast when they bumped into each other at Card Castle.

Reversed Form: extremely insecure about his personal history. If questioned, he will resort to violence to silence the perpetrator. Motive is to remove Vanguard as a way of solving disputes, stating that Vanguard changes nothing about the world, and that all should be decided through Link Joker's will.

Zanya Kisaragi; age 15

Attends: Fukuhara Middle School

Clan: Nubatama (Zanya is nothing if not a ninja aspirationist.)

Avatar: Nanomachine Stealth, Tsukikage

(Also made up. Grade 1, Power 7000, Sentinel.)

Personal History: got into Cardfight!! Vanguard first when (insert his ninja backstory) and he was given a pack as a birthday present from his classmate, who thought he could stand to loosen up a bit. He was enraptured by the ninjas of Nubatama and resolved to become a Cardfighter. Eventually, bumping into the rest of the cast through the Middle School Vanguard Koshien, they become friendly rivals. He is the top fighter in the middle school division and currently ranks second in the nation at Nationals.

Reversed Form: Obsessed with the orthodox way of Vanguard. He aims to purify the world from those who play the game halfheartedly, and has given up the way of the swordsman for the sake of fulfilling the purpose of Vanguard; to bring advancement to the world through Cray technology, and thus perfect justice.

Tetsuya Kurodake; age 15

Attends: Miyaji Middle School

Clan: Pale Moon (as similar as I could get to Magic World.)

Avatar: Closing Act, Asmodai

(Again,made up. Grade 3, twin drive, 11000 power, ability on v when a card is placed on the rear from the soul, counterblast 1 to force the opponent to move one of their rear guards to soul.)

Personal History: Got into Miyaji through a dance scholarship, and became Gao's friend. Has parents with high academic expectations of him, but thankfully they're away most of the time and hardly pressure him. Playing Vanguard since it came out when he was given a pack as a promotion attempt by local shops and acquired Asmodai, he plays mostly for the fun of it and hardly understands how to play the complicated Pale Moon.

Reversed Form: attempts to to force non-players of Vanguard to play with him, unintentionally exposing the dangers of the card game to those who don't love it and want to ban it. Wants everyone to enjoy Vanguard whether they win or lose, and forget about getting stronger, but does this to the level of compulsive force. Will use his physical ability as a tactic to achieve this goal.

how about you continue on? It's more fun if we brainstorm together :D

Can anyone make a link joker au for buddyfight i think it will be realy cool like gao zanya and tetsuya cab reversed !

[ininjagamer87]

My inspired “ninja girl” character of Nubatama from Ninja Scroll The Series - drew: 11/2/05 #ninjagirl #ninjascrolltheseries #ninjascroll #nubatama #ninja #draw #drawing #art #artist https://www.instagram.com/p/CPLxmRdB7ui/?utm_medium=tumblr

[cardfightcentric]

Evil-eye Wisdom King, Shiranui "Rinne" [STRIDE] Dominate-[ACT](VC)[1/Turn]:[Counter Blast (1) & Choose a face down card from your G zone with the same card name as this unit, and turn it face up] Your opponent chooses two cards from his or her hand, calls them to separate (RC), and they get [Power]+5000 until end of turn. Dominate all of them, and each attacks your opponent's vanguard one at a time. Your opponent cannot activate the [AUTO] abilities of the card called with this effect until end of turn. [CONT](VC) Generation Break 3:All dominated units get [Power]+10000/[Critical]+1.

Liquidation Stealth Rogue, Sadatsugu [AUTO](RC):When this unit attacks a vanguard, if you have a vanguard with "Shiranui" in its card name, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of that battle. [AUTO](RC) Generation Break 1:[Counter Blast (1)] At the end of the battle that your other rear-guard attacked a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, retire that unit, draw a card, and this unit loses this ability until end of turn.

[myworldofpassion]

Kazumi and Shiranui part 2

[maiji]

[image set: 1) Digital ink brush-and-watercolour-style illustration of the Buddhist monk Byakken from Nubatama wa Oujou Shinai in ceremonial robes. His lifted head, hooded eyes and slightly open-mouthed expression give the impression that he is in the midst of giving a talk. 2) Same illustration, but with only the lineart. 3) Byakken with a variety of facial expressions, looking serene, shocked, stressed out, annoyed, etc.]

説経の講師は顔よき。講師の顔をつとまもらへたるこそ、その説くことの尊さも覚ゆれ。 - Sei Shonagon, 枕草子 (Makura no Soushi / The Pillow Book)

“A priest who gives a sermon should be handsome. After all, you're most aware of the profundity of his teaching if you're gazing at his face as he speaks.” [translation by Meredith McKinney (2006)]

"A preacher ought to be good-looking. For, if we are properly to understand his worthy sentiments, we must keep our eyes on him while he speaks [...]” [translation by Ivan Morris (1967)]

More commentary below the cut!

I chuckled at this quote from The Pillow Book (and the entire story built around it) in Nubatama wa Oujou Shinai. (If you’re unfamiliar with The Pillow Book, it very much is like reading the blog of a thoughtful, witty court lady from the Heian era! Sei Shonagon can be quite tongue-in-cheek, even sarcastic, and in a lot of ways it’s amazing to see how little humanity has changed over a thousand years.) I also thoroughly enjoyed drawing Byakken-sama in ceremonial robes!

On the topic of faces, one of the many reasons I love Byakken is because of his extremely relatable facial expressions. Kuze Banko gives him a lot of these perfectly serene expressions, but also has no problems pulling him in extremely over the top directions too - usually from shock or stress, he seems to get into those kinds of situations very easily lol. I feel his emotions one hundred and ten percent! Because of the well-done range and writing, it really gives you the impression that even his serene expressions have something more behind them (like exasperation, resignation…).

For example, the (very minor early story spoilers!) context for “That was a BIG FAT LIE” (smiling outside, dying inside) is that Nubatama happily tells all the sobbing wailing people in her household that she decided to become a nun because she was so profoundly moved by Byakken-sama’s preaching and decided to leave the material world behind. Which as we know is a complete fabrication especially since Byakken spent most of his time with her arguing with her about why she shouldn’t become a nun. But everyone who hears the story is like hmm yeah!! That makes total sense!!!! And thus The Amazing Tale of How Princess Nubatama Was Inspired To Become A Nun gets around. The panel that cuts to Byakken standing in front of a bunch of people talking about this, with his beatific Mona Lisa smile that somehow manages to be really flat at the same time, captioned with a giant USO (“lie”) kanji, is pitch-perfect. The entire setup and background gives him this impression of “Ah, yes… that familiar feeling… of THE DESIRE TO COMMIT MURDER”. Every time I look at it, I laugh.

It was a good challenge attempting all the different faces while still trying maintain a sense of consistency about the character, especially thinking about how I would render him differently relative to all the other Buddhist monk characters I also draw. I tried to manage that through his eyes - his very expressive eyebrows, heavy lids, and the little lashes at the corners of his eyes and his lower lids, and some of the dips/head shape near his temples. It’s also interesting to click between the colour and the ink/line-only versions and see how the effect of an image can change subtly, yet noticeably once you bring in shading and colour.

[exotahu]

HOLY SHIT that was massive pain in the ass. Nubatama is a hell of a time. #vanguard #cardfightvanguard #cardfight #bushiroad #nubatama #vanguardex https://www.instagram.com/p/B7hT58wpTNl/?igshid=1k4n61ct7s2du

[krisscrossed]

All of your drive checks are belong to me

[fedhai]

Nubatama by Yamomark #nubatama #yamomark #kaiju #sofubi #sofvi #softvinyl #softvinyltoy #sofvitokyo #japanesevinyl #japanesetoys #arttoy #toyphotography #toy #toys #toystagram #toys4life #designertoy #toycrewbuddies #instagood #picoftheday #monster #tokusatsu #manga #anime #tattoo #otaku #japan #whale @yamomark https://www.instagram.com/p/BhnDbqaFZif/?igshid=1oczn5qa088ac