#nyan (one punch man)

[rocket-man-major-tom]

I am so in love with this individual, and I will not apologize for it

[no1monstersimp]

Kitty kitty 🥺

[star-fiend]

One Punch Man, Chapter 118, "Drive Knight"

[2001-a-selfship-odyssey]

Feeling a bit bi about these three tonight 💞💞💞

[sexymonsterotd]

sexy monster of the day: nyan from one punch man

[saitama-vs]

Can Raku-Chan from Nyan Neko Sugar Girls Defeat Saitama?

Rules: a character can only defeat Saitama if they

1: Can avoid getting punched, AND

2: It is funnier for them to win. Do not apply powerscaling logic to this poll.

Vote under the cut if you read the rules

[isassaur]

Nyan from opm

[badjohnspeakeasy]

Drive Knight has fused with two people.

When Nyan went into his armor, he got a full body skin burn and was stabbed repeatedly.

When Genos fused with Drive Knight, Genos was thrown several miles to the ground and abandoned to die.

...Garnet from Steven Universe would highly disapprove of Drive Knight's fusion methods

Link

[weeb-polls-with-pip]

Autistic Anime Boys Round 1 Matchups!

Side A

L Lawliet (Death Note) VS Muichirou Tokito (Demon Slayer)

Gohan (Dragon Ball Z) VS Kiibo/K1-B0 Idabashi (Danganronpa)

Haruka Sakurai (Milgram) VS Seishirou Nagi (Blue Lock)

Satoru Gojou (Jujutsu Kaisen) VS Seto Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Umetarou Nozaki (Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun) VS Tamaki Suoh (Ouran High School Host Club)

Gin Gagamaru (Blue Lock) VS Taisei Yoshida (Assassination Classroom)

Itona Horibe (Assassination Classroom) VS Souichi Tanuma (Those Snow White Notes)

Light Yagami (Death Note) VS Tenma Matsukaze (Inazuma Eleven)

Shouto Todoroki (My Hero Academia) VS Sunny (Omori)

Broly (Dragon Ball Super) VS Kaworu Nagisa (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Yu Narukami/Souji Seta (Persona 4) VS Sechs (XBlaze)

Kiyotaka Ishimaru (Danganronpa) VS Kento Nanami (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Nate River/Near (Death Note) VS Kyouya Ootori (Ouran High School Host Club)

Mash Burnedead (Mashle: Magic and Muscles) VS Noiz (DRAMAtical Murder)

Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist) VS Kabuto Yakushi (Naruto)

Lan Wangji (Mo Dao Zu Shi) VS Rui Kamishiro (Project Sekai)

James (Pokémon) VS Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece)

Yuusuke Kitagawa (Persona 5) VS Tsubasa Yuunagi (Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure)

Hitoshi-san (Nyan~ Neko Sugar Girls) VS Illumi Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter)

Mikazuki Augus (Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans) VS Wakatoshi Ushijima (Haikyuu!!)

Homare Arisugawa (A3!) VS Kamille Bidan (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam)

Subaru Mikazuki (My Roommate is a Cat) VS Atsushi Murasakibara (Kuroko no Basket)

Tanaka (Tanaka-kun is Always Listless) VS Natural Harmonia Gropius (Pokémon)

Haru (Tsuritama) VS Giorno Giovanna (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Floyd Leech (Twisted Wonderland) VS Laios Touden (Dungeon Meshi)

Touma Akechi (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.) VS Trafalgar D. Water Law (One Piece)

Lotte “Roy” Carmine (BlazBlue) VS Gon Freecss (Hunter x Hunter)

Nahoya “Smiley” Kawata (Tokyo Revengers) VS Senkuu Ishigami (Dr. Stone)

Ash Ketchum (Pokémon) VS Mafuyu Satou (Given)

Alhaitham (Genshin Impact) VS Shichirou Balam (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun)

Shintarou Kisaragi (Kagerou Project) VS Izuku Midoriya (My Hero Academia)

Toshinari Seki (Tonari no Seki-kun) VS Takashi Natsume (Natsume’s Book of Friends)

Side B

Haruka Nanase (Free!) VS Tsukasa Tenma (Project Sekai)

Takeo Gouda (My Love Story!!) VS Karna (Fate)

Shintarou Midorima (Kuroko no Basket) VS Kim Dokja (Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint)

Roronoa Zoro (One Piece) VS Junpei Tenmyouji (Zero Escape)

Sig (Puyo Puyo) VS Kanata Shinkai (Ensemble Stars)

Kyoujurou Rengoku (Demon Slayer) VS Yugi Mutou (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Legoshi (Beastars) VS Gaien "Enkidu" Enkidou (Under Night In-birth)

Doppo Kunikida (Bungou Stray Dogs) VS Hiroshi Odokawa (Odd Taxi)

Kusuo Saiki (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.) VS Katsuya Serizawa (Mob Psycho 100)

Nagito Komaeda (Danganronpa) VS Haruhito Yano (Odd Taxi)

Yotasuke Takahashi (Blue Period) VS Manjirou "Mikey" Sano (Tokyo Revengers)

Kyouya Onodera (Talentless Nana) VS Misumi Ikaruga (A3!)

Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney) VS Shu Itsuki (Ensemble Stars)

Meguru Bachira (Blue Lock) VS Ren Mihashi (Big Windup!)

Ranpo Edogawa (Bungou Stray Dogs) VS Kaito (Vocaloid)

Zero (Puyo Puyo) VS Masayoshi Hazama (Samurai Flamenco)

Genos (One Punch Man) VS Jotaro Kujo (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)

Vivia Twilight (Master Detective Archives: Raincode) VS Sora Harukawa (Ensemble Stars)

Satori Tendou (Haikyuu!!) VS Miles "Tails" Prower (Sonic X)

Houtarou Oreki (Hyouka) VS Kabane Kusaka (Kemono Jihen)

Ghiaccio (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) VS Tenya Iida (My Hero Academia)

Malleus Draconia (Twisted Wonderland) VS Tetsuya Kuroko (Kuroko no Basket)

Kensuke Aida (Neon Genesis Evangelion) VS Goku (Dragon Ball)

Shinichi Kudou/Conan Edogawa (Detective Conan) VS Toya Aoyagi (Project Sekai)

Rei Suwa (Buddy Daddies) VS Gin Ibushi (Your Turn to Die)

Jade Leech (Twisted Wonderland) VS Akihiko Sanada (Persona 3)

Xiao (Genshin Impact) VS Loid Forger (Spy x Family)

Souya "Angry" Kawata (Tokyo Revengers) VS Sabro Sabnock (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun)

Apollo Justice (Ace Attorney) VS Tobio Kageyama (Haikyuu!!)

Kurapika (Hunter x Hunter) VS Saitama (One Punch Man)

Sol Badguy (Guilty Gear) VS Langa Hasegawa (Sk8 the Infinity)

Subaru Natsuki (Re: Zero) VS Yusei Fudo (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds)

[fabseg-creator]

Tinky Winkynos VS Everyone Season Two (part 1)

This is the Season Two of the conquests of Tinky Winkynos.

Tinky Winkynos has escaped and he menaces the different franchises universes again. He fights against a maximum of possible fictional characters from different franchises (it can be against entire franchises).

The action: Tinky Winkynos invades the targeted suggested franchise. You must vote for the side of your choice.

The rule: You can help him conquer or you can stand against him by voting.

The result at the end of the poll will decide the fate of the universe(s) issue of his conquest(s). If The Mad Teletubby wins with more 50% of votes, he succeeds his conquest. If the franchise (TV show, video game, movie, novel, etc) wins 50%, the invasion is repelled.

If you have a franchise to purpose as challenge, say it by message or commentary.

List of Battles [Season Two]:

Vs Pirate of the Caribbean REPELLED

Vs One Piece REPELLED

Vs One Piece (Netflix) REPELLED

Vs Stranger Things REPELLED

Vs Yu-Gi-Oh! REPELLED

Vs Bleach REPELLED

Vs My Hero Academia REPELLED

Vs One-Punch Man REPELLED

Vs Hunter x Hunter REPELLED

Vs Spy X Family REPELLED

Vs Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (Joestar Family: Joseph, Jotaro, Josuke, Giorno and Jolyne) REPELLED

Vs Winx Club REPELLED

Vs Sailor Moon REPELLED

Vs Sonic the Hedgehog REPELLED

Vs Minecraft REPELLED

Vs World of Warcraft REPELLED

Vs The Legend of Zelda REPELLED

Vs Grand Theft Auto (San Andreas) REPELLED

Vs Mortal Kombat REPELLED

Vs Fortnite REPELLED

Vs Undertale REPELLED

Vs Danganronpa REPELLED

Vs Angry Birds REPELLED

Vs Transformers REPELLED

Vs Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss REPELLED

Vs RWBY REPELLED

Vs She-Ra and the Princesses of Power REPELLED

Vs Steven Universe REPELLED

Vs The Dragon Prince REPELLED

Vs Amphibia REPELLED

Vs Phineas and Ferb REPELLED

Vs How To Train Your Dragon REPELLED

Vs Nimona REPELLED

Vs Avatar The Last Airbender REPELLED

Vs Shrek REPELLED

Vs Puss in Boots REPELLED

Vs Disney (Mickey Mouse) REPELLED

Vs Disney (Donald Duck) REPELLED

Vs Disney (Encanto) REPELLED

Vs Disney (The Lion King) REPELLED

Vs Disney (Elena of Avalor) REPELLED

Vs Disney (High School Musical) REPELLED

Vs Disney (Descendants) REPELLED

Vs Disney (Wish) REPELLED

Vs Bluey REPELLED

Vs Paw Patrol REPELLED

Vs Spongebob Squarepants REPELLED

Vs Rick and Morty REPELLED

Vs The Scorpion King (The Mummy) REPELLED

Vs Black Adam REPELLED

Vs Jumanji REPELLED

Intermission (not a poll)

Vs Loki (Marvel) REPELLED

Vs Percy Jackson REPELLED

Vs Lord of the Rings REPELLED

Vs Jurassic Park/Jurassic World REPELLED

Vs Family Guy REPELLED

Vs Delicious in Dungeon REPELLED

Vs Pokémon REPELLED

Vs South Park REPELLED

Vs Baldur's Gate REPELLED

Vs League of Legends REPELLED

Vs Overwatch [100th battle] REPELLED

Vs Fairy Tail REPELLED

Vs Miraculous (Re-Verse/The Supreme) REPELLED

Vs Miraculous (Re-Verse/Shadybug and Claw Noire ft. Hesperia) REPELLED

Vs Miraculous (Awakening) REPELLED

Vs Yu Yu Hakusho REPELLED

Vs Hokuto No Ken REPELLED

Vs Final Fantasy REPELLED

Vs God Of War REPELLED

Vs Gummy Bear CONQUERED

Vs Dora the Explorer REPELLED

Vs Crazy Frog CONQUERED

Vs Nyan Cat REPELLED

Vs Uncharted REPELLED

Vs Ninjago REPELLED

Vs Kirby REPELLED

Vs Pucca REPELLED

Vs Hello Kitty REPELLED

Vs Ever After High REPELLED

Vs Adventure Time REPELLED

Vs Star vs. The Forces of Evil REPELLED

Vs Robocop REPELLED

Vs Fallout REPELLED

Vs Jujutsu Kaisen REPELLED

Vs Chainsaw Man REPELLED

Vs Mob Psycho 100 REPELLED

Vs Totally Spies! REPELLED

Vs Dofus/Wakfu REPELLED

Vs Kim Possible REPELLED

Season Two part Two here:

Summary here:

Season One

Halloween Special

Trial

Escape Plan

Christmas Special

[rocket-man-major-tom]

I am still in the process of coming up with a backstory for the hero and monster Nyan ends up with, but I like to imagine a moment sometime later where one of them gets seriously hurt, and Nyan just goes completely berserk on whoever did it. No words, no mercy, just pure, incandescent fury, and lots of blood.

[thecyannyan99]

Nyan from One Punch Man! He works very well with charcoal.

[acidproofnotebook]

I posted 44 times in 2022

19 posts created (43%)

25 posts reblogged (57%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@gofancyninjaworld

@katyatalks

@koumbaya

@opmanime

I tagged 41 of my posts in 2022

Only 7% of my posts had no tags

#opm - 31 posts

#translation - 19 posts

#manga - 14 posts

#mob psycho 100 - 9 posts

#revisions - 9 posts

#omake - 7 posts

#genos - 6 posts

#drive knight - 3 posts

#update 160 - 3 posts

#update 163 - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 114 characters

#and it's good to see sekingar carefully weigh up his options before deciding to trust the hero with the dodgy past

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Volume 26 Bonus chapter “The Great Selection” -- partial and rough translation

The first four pages (of eight).  It’s not joking about being rough and there may be some passages that will be understood differently once a fuller translation is done.  But it’s still interesting!

Translator/ Typesetter: u\Bald_Caped

Date: 3 June 2022

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n-UghKI90sQY1vT6WNBgk_vjiCyzfTaL/view

14 notes - Posted June 4, 2022

#4

Update 160 (previously 159). Changes between online and print versions, part 2

Yup, this goes on!

Unlike the previous version, this time Nyan ignores Food Battler and was dragging just Waganma off to his most painful doom when lo, an intervention!

Fear not! Drive Knight is here!

See the full post

18 notes - Posted February 26, 2022

#3

Update 163 (previously 162). Changes between online and print versions. Part 2

So, where we left off, it looked like a tense standoff between Genos, who wants to go back to the battle, and Sekingar and Waganma, who most desperately don't want to be ditched by an S-Class hero. Food Battler Futoshi steps up to offer a solution (revised version on top, old at the bottom).

Sekingar does some thinking before deciding to trust Genos (no equivalent in older version)

See the full post

25 notes - Posted February 26, 2022

#2

ONE/Murata 2015 Joint Interview

Because I'm always concerned about old blogs going down and taking material with them, please find below a transcript of one of their first interviews on the subject of One-Punch Man.

Link: http://opmcityz.blogspot.com/2016/04/onemurata-2015-joint-interview.html

Translator: Herms

Translation Date: 2 April 2016

For no Earthly reason, it’s taken me this blasted long to finally translate the ONE/Murata joint interview from the 2015 guidebook OPM: Hero Encyclopedia. The notes throughout are the same ones as in the actual book, although towards the end I got lazy and didn’t write out the full details on such topics as the plot of Eyeshield 21 or the explanation for what fencing is. The curious may look that stuff up on Wikipedia. --Today I’d like to ask you two to provide the “definitive edition” of the story of One-Punch Man’s birth ONE: I’m much obliged. Yusuke Murata: Yes, thank you very much. --ONE-sensei, tell us how you began drawing One-Punch Man. ONE: Well, I wanted to try drawing manga digitally; that’s how it all started. There was this place (*1) online for posting up manga, and lots of people submitted their stuff there, so I wanted to submit something too. I bought a PC and some tools for drawing pictures digitally (*2). I tried out drawing 15 pages, and uploaded it with my PC for the first time…that was One-Punch Man Chapter 1. I didn’t have any real plans for continuing the story, and just posted it up without thinking of what to do next. But perhaps because I submitted it as “Chapter 1” it got a great response…OK, maybe not “great”, but a decent response. So I figured I might as well try drawing a continuation of the story. That’s when I really sat down and worked out how the story would continue, which made me realize this could turn into quite an interesting manga. And that pretty much brings us from Chapter 2 right up to the present. --Where did you get your ideas? ONE: To start with I simply tried to draw the sort of manga I’d want to read myself. I’ve read loads of Shonen manga throughout my life, and am particularly fond of battle manga. Generally speaking those types of stories are all about growth, meaning that by the last chapter the main character has grown stronger than anyone else and lives happily ever after. So I wondered what would happen if I started the story off with the main character already in peak condition. That became my jumping-off point. --So it’s a complete 180 from existing Shonen action manga? ONE: Which makes it fun for people who have already read lots of those typical Shonen manga. It’s like they’ve run the first lap, and this is their second time around. Murata: Yeah, it’s really exciting for Shonen manga aficionados. ONE: I also love it when a series creates friction between drama and humor. With One-Punch Man I wanted to try doing that through the worldview itself, rather than through specific plot points. The series is set in a dangerous, monster-infested world, but since Saitama’s there you don’t really notice just how bleak the world is. I think it’s that friction between Saitama and the rest of the world that makes things interesting. --Murata-sensei, what do you think makes One-Punch Man so appealing? Murata: It all boils down to Saitama’s appeal. In some ways, Saitama is incredibly similar to Son Goku from Dragon Ball (*3). It was Dragon Ball that first got me started reading Weekly Shonen Jump, so I find those similarities particularly appealing. Dragon Ball’s Goku (*4) is a very memorable protagonist: he does whatever he wants, fights strong guys…he’s only after excitement! He goes through life full of spirit. Even when the world’s in peril and he’s surrounded by chaos, it doesn’t bother him one bit. Like when Piccolo’s reincarnation entered the Tenkaichi Budokai (*5) and if Goku lost the world was doomed, even then Goku himself simply fought to win the tournament. After he beat Piccolo, he didn’t care that he had just saved the world, he was just happy to finally be crowned tournament champion. It’s that sort of detached easy-goingness, the sense of operating under a completely different logic than those around him. This type of aloofness, of doing things at one’s own pace, really screams “hero” to me. That’s what Goku and Saitama have in common. Another similarity is that they’re simply the strongest guys around. When things are looking hopeless, the moment

they show up you know things are going to be OK (laughs). --How did you find out about One-Punch Man, Murata-sensei? Murata: I follow this illustrator called “Akiman” (*6) on Twitter, and when I heard about One-Punch Man on his blog, I read the entire series overnight. I got a bit frustrated, because I realized I had become a manga artist precisely to draw something like this (laughs). At the time I was in sort of a dead-end career-wise, and (my apologies to Ootagaki-sensei[*7]) thanks to my incompetence things weren’t going very well with Donten Prism Solar Car (*8)…It’s safe to say I ended up causing Ootagaki-senseiand the readers a lot of trouble. Back then, I viewed my job simply as illustrating the stories given to me. But really, isn’t an illustrator’s job to visually convey the charm of the characters? You’ve got to understand what makes the characters appealing, or otherwise you’ll have nothing to show the readers. Once I read One-Punch Man, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. I sent ONE-sensei a message right away, asking if we could meet. I told him point-blank I wanted to work with him… ONE: I was surprised to get a message from Murata-sensei. Frankly, at first I thought it might be a prank… Murata: Sorry… ONE: It was a real shock! (laughs) --Did you two hit it off? Murata: Yeah. I was so nervous about meeting him that I ended up being 30 minutes late (laughs). By that time I was already starving, so first I suggested we go get some yakiniku. (laughs) --What did you talk about at the yakiniku restaurant? Murata: I asked “hey, why don’t we do a one-shot together first?” --Your first collaboration was Earth Monster. ONE: With Earth Monster, I made storyboards so that Murata-sensei would have something to work off of, and to give us something to show the editorial office. I took it as an opportunity to make something really flashy, the sort of thing I could never draw on my own. I stayed within manga contest regulations (*9), so it was probably around 31 to 45 pages. Murata: But I wanted to use bigger panels, and expanded it to roughly 60 pages. --So you submitted Earth Monster (*10) to the editorial office as a one-shot? Murata: Actually, wasn’t Cockroach Busters (*11) the one we ended up showing to Young Jump first? ONE: That’s right. Before that we showed it to your then-current editor at Weekly Shonen Jump; I think we made about four copies. Murata: At the time I had an exclusive contract, so I felt obligated to draw it for Jump, but it wasn’t really panning out…And while I was wrapped up with that, I came down with gastroenteritis. ONE: Your wife found you and called an ambulance. Murata: I couldn’t move at all…That’s when I started thinking that if this exclusive contract was going to keep me from doing the work I wanted, then I had better do something about it. I called ONE-sensei from the hospital and told him “I’m terminating my contract, so how about we get a bunch of different one-shot manuscripts together and shop them around at different companies?” And that’s how things went. --How did you end up at Neighborhood Young Jump? ONE: Several different people had approached me with proposals for commercializing One-Punch Man. The question was, would I handle the illustrations myself, or get someone else to do them? Although personally I thought Murata-sensei was the best man for the job…Later there was discussion about me trying to draw a revised version, but after drawing about two chapters worth it became painfully obvious it would never sell. At that point Murata-sensei asked if he could take a stab at it. He redrew the first chapter with a felt-tip pen, and it blew me away. From there we started thinking about the best place to distribute this out to the world. With Murata-sensei’s connections we hooked up with an editor at Young Jump, and this led to the plan to run it in Neighborhood Young Jump, on condition that it be drawn by Murata-sensei. I thought it was incredible of Murata-sensei to publish this manga on the web rather than in print form, and I was sure

everyone else would be impressed with it too. So with that, we made our proposal to Young Jump, and it began. --Murata-sensei, were you in any way reluctant to publish the series online? Murata: Back when I was doing Eyeshield 21 (*12), I had never read any webcomics, and my thoughts towards them didn’t extend much beyond “eh, doing one might be interesting”. But when this proposal came up, I had by then read ONE-sensei's One-Punch Man, so I felt like publishing on the web had real merit. For instance, with a weekly magazine each issue disappears from stores when the next one comes out a week later, but on the web people can read the previous chapters too. And since it’s available to the entire world, it seemed like a good way to gain a larger audience. Viewing something published online on my monitor, I was amazed at how pretty the lines were (laughs) (*13). But since up until that point I had only ever worked with lines on paper, I had absolutely no skills at making them look pretty on monitors...So me and my staff went through a lot of trial and error. That's what made it so interesting! Mastering a new field was a lot of fun. Another advantage of drawing on the web is that you can make corrections. With Eyeshield 21, I was always pressed for time, which didn’t leave room for much trial and error…I’d question if what I was drawing was really up to snuff…then realize it wasn’t. But even after a chapter ran in Jump, there still wouldn’t be any time to fix it, so it would just remain as-is forever. This happened all the time, and really stressed me out. Online though, I can fine-tune things until I’m satisfied. Particularly the characters’ faces. I mean, when anyone other than ONE-sensei draws Saitama, he ends up a different character. Though at first I was real keen on putting a Shonen manga spin on him. --I hear there were a lot of rejected Saitama faces. Murata: That’s right. It wasn’t until I had drawn a good number of pages that I finally got the hang of his expressions. It was when he and Genos are listening to Sneck’s lecture at the Hero Association, and he’s noisily chewing gum. The moment I saw this bored-looking Saitama, a lightbulb went off in my head (laughs). I realized that because Saitama is so strong, for him everything is always boring. This made me want to redraw the whole thing from square one. Me and the staff had by then learned the ropes of drawing online and were really into it. I told them that this was the first step in what would be a historic manga; I was drawing in a daze of ecstasy. --How do you two work together during the writing process? Does ONE-sensei create new storyboards? Murata: With the main storyline or anything else where I’m going off of ONE-sensei’s original, I’m generally given free reign with page distribution and whatnot. But I’ll ask ONE-sensei if I have any questions. ONE: That’s right. Murata: For the main storyline, the dialogue stays pretty much the same. But with side-stories, sometimes I’ll try adding in scenes to ONE-sensei’s storyboards, or change the dialogue up a bit. In such cases, I’ll always ask ONE-sensei’s opinion. We’ll go back and forth fine-tuning it…and sometimes it’ll just end up reverting back to how it was in the beginning (laughs). ONE: Murata-senseialways shows me whenever he thinks up new scenes or dialogue to add. For instance, with the A-Class hero Spring Mustachio, my storyboards just had his name and general appearance. He talked a bit and got beat up by the monster, nothing more. I didn’t plan to highlight what weapons he used or anything like that; that part was really cut short. But the storyboards Murata-sensei came up with featured him using his weapon against the monster, showing off his fighting chops so that the monster looked even more impressive by comparison. It was fantastic! Murata: When I heard his weapon was a fencing (*14) rapier (*15), it reminded me of that cool swordsman from Wheels on Meals (*16). Sometimes it’s fun to add in more action like that. --On the flipside, has ONE-sensei ever given you pointers on how

to draw something? Murata: On occasion. For instance, during the big showdown with Boros. Since I felt this was the heavyweight championship of the universe, I tried to make it as flashy as possible. However, midway through when Boros starts losing ground to Saitama, there were places where he appeared clownish…ONE-sensei pointed out to me that the reason Boros is popular is because he always retains his dignity, even against Saitama. That made it all click for me, and I redrew things from square one. When it comes to the storyline, characters, and dialogue, all of that flows from ONE-sensei’s head, so I constantly check in with him. --Thank you very much. Finally, what do each of you consider a “true hero”? Murata: "Even if you’re the strongest around, not letting it go to your head”, I guess. Abiding by your own rules. A true hero never waivers. ONE: I agree; someone who never waivers. A true hero is someone who follows their dreams to the very end. ==[Notes]== *1: ONE-senseibegan serializing One-Punch Man in Weekly Shonen VIP on the community site Toshanai in 2009. *2: A graphics tablet and related software. *3: One of Weekly Shonen Jump’s most well-known series, a battle/adventure series by Akira Toriyama that ran in Jump from 1984 to 1995. *4: The protagonist of Dragon Ball. A member of the Saiyans (a warrior race) who grew up on Earth. Though pure-hearted, he is also a super-warrior who loves fighting against strong opponents. *5: The 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai (“Strongest Under the Heavens” Tournament). The reincarnation of the supposedly defeated Demon King Piccolo entered the tournament and battled Goku. *6: A Japanese illustrator who has worked on numerous games and anime, including Street Fighter II. *7: Yasuo Ootagaki-sensei. Wrote the story for the series Donten Prism Solar Car, which ran in Jump Square from 2010 to 2011. *8: The aforementioned series which ran in Jump Square from 2010 to 2011, depicting the struggles and friendships of young people involved in the development of solar cars. *9: There is a set number of pages for Rookie of the Year awards. For instance, the Tezuka Prize requires 31 pages. *10: Original story by ONE-sensei. A doujinshi by ONE-sensei, Yusuke Murata-sensei, and Kinu Nishimura-sensei. An action story depicting the struggles of a father who becomes a giant to fight monsters, and his frustrated son. *11: Comedy depicting the adventures of soldiers who undergo special training to exterminate cockroaches. Ran as a guest one-shot in the July 2015 issue of Young Gan-Gan. *12: American Football manga series which ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2002 to 2009. *13: The current Neighborhood Young Jump browser is improved constantly to allow everyone to read the latest One-Punch Man as soon as possible. *14: A European style of swordplay, and now an Olympic sport. *15: One-handed sword with a sharp point. *16: 1984 Jackie Chan movie.

27 notes - Posted January 22, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Update 171 (previously 170). Changes between online and print versions

Murata has taken advantage of the revisions he's doing for volume 25 to make a few small but important changes to update 171.

Amai Mask calling for help

No excuses, just a straight out plea for help. Which isn't forthcoming

See the full post

28 notes - Posted February 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[2001-a-selfship-odyssey]

Strong-ass motherfucker

One spine-shattering embrace from him, please

[ichigopuddingmuslima]

Caught in the Middle- Chapter 2

I know the first few chapters are slow but I promise it picks up soon.

Links to her outfit is at the bottom

Warnings: None

Word Count: 3.5k

Chapter 2

Nyane waited for the train to arrive. The subway station was hot, humid, and smelled like a wet diaper. There were a few other people scattered about the platform. Nyane approached the edge of the platform and peeked her head down the track, she saw the bright lights of the train and stepped back from the edge. The train whooshed down the track and the squealing of the brakes flooded the station. Warm air blew on her and the smell of the station invaded her nose. The train stopped and the doors flew open. Walking to the nearest car, Nyane peered inside and noticed it was completely empty. Stepping back, she hurried to the next car that was occupied by various people. She took the seat closest to her. Putting on her headphones and searching for an album to listen to, she settled in. There was a forty five minute ride ahead of her. As she got closer to her destination of home, the more crowded the train got until it was about halfway full. 

About thirty minutes into her journey, the doors connecting the train cars opened and a man carrying a speaker entered. “Alright, y’all, get ready for some entertainment!”, the man announced as he sat the boombox down and pressed a button on it. Lil Kim’s “Suck My Dick” began blaring loudly from it as the man began to swing around the poles on the train. Nyane paused her music and watched his performance. It was pretty tame all things considered until he began to strip off his clothes. At that point, the other passengers all began to look around wildly and make eye contact with each other. The collective consensus seeming to be “what the fuck?”. The man was now only in striped boxers and his beat up Air Force Jordan’s. His pale skin had a few bruises on his arms and legs. Nyane recognized them as pole kisses. His blonde hair stuck up wildly in various directions. The blonde pole dancer approached a young woman sitting a few seats down from Nyane. The woman clutched her purse tightly to her chest and stared straight ahead, refusing to make eye contact with him. The man began to gyrate in front of the woman in a poor imitation of a lap dance. 

“Don’t be shy, baby. Give me a tip and I’ll go away.” the man said as he continued to grind the air in front of her. Nyane struggled not to laugh as her lips twitched from side to side and she held it in between her teeth. Making eye contact with another passenger, she could see that they were doing the same. The train arrived at its next stop and the woman bolted out of the train. Nyane observed her run down the platform and disappear- no doubt into another train car. A few people got on the train and quickly exited upon seeing the half naked man. The train began moving again. The blonde man looked around at everyone and approached his next victim, a bulky, muscular man wearing a black tank top and shorts scrolling on his phone. 

“Tip me and I’ll leave you alone.” the pole dancer said. The song changed to “My Neck, My Back” by Khia. He began to bend over and shake his ass in front of the man. The man with the black tank top twisted his face in disgust and slid over in his seat away from the man shaking his ass. The blonde man followed him and began to twerk on his lap. This enraged the man wearing a tank top as he harshly pushed the man off of him.

“What the fuck! Touch me again and I’m beating your ass.” The man wearing the tank top stood up and began to back away from him. The blonde man laughed and pulled down his boxers. Nyane’s mouth dropped open and the passengers began yelling at the now exposed man.

“Put your damn clothes on!”

“No one wants to see all that!”

“Oh my God!”

The man in the black tank top punched the blonde man in the face. He fell to the ground, knocked out cold. There was a moment of silence with Khia’s song the only thing to be heard. Then the train stopped and people began rushing off the train. Nyane spotted someone stealing the man’s speaker as they exited the train and it became silent again. She decided to walk the rest of the way home. Ten minutes later she entered her apartment, closed and locked the door behind her. The events of the train ride in the back of her mind as it was a typical day in Gotham. She took off her shoes, changed into her slippers, and rushed into the bathroom to relieve herself. 

Immediately after using the bathroom, she carefully took off her new shirt and hung it up in the closet. Then she removed her slacks and threw them in her laundry bag. Putting on an oversized Metallica band t-shirt, knee length denim shorts, and a pair of socks, Nyane planned out the rest of her day. It was a little after eleven in the morning and she had a list of things to do before her first day of work.

Laundry. I have to do laundry. I need to plan out my outfits for the week. Go to the post office. I have to return these library books. And I need to be at the gym by 6 so I can be home by 8 and in bed by 9. Shit! I need to get some stuff for lunch this week too. 

Nyane fixed herself a quick lunch of pb&j and then cleaned up after herself. She stripped her bed of the sheets and put her laundry bag in her portable shopping cart along with the laundry detergent, scent beads, and dryer sheets. Grabbing her purse, she put her bag of quarters in it before exiting her apartment and heading to the elevator. Calling the elevator, she pulled her hair out of the tight bun and pulled it back into a loose ponytail. The elevator doors opened and she stepped inside. A few moments later, the elevator arrived on the ground floor and she made her way outside. Thankfully, the laundromat was only a block away. While on the walk there, she called her mom but it went to voicemail. She dialed her father and was met with the same response. A slight frown painted her face. About five minutes later, she arrived at the laundromat.

Nyane put all the bedding in one washer and her clothing in another. She put in enough quarters for fifteen minutes on each machine. Taking a seat nearby, she pulled out her phone and began to check her notifications. Immediately catching her eye was an email from Wayne Enterprises. Opening it, she saw that it was an offer letter. She quickly typed out a response accepting it. A minute later, another email from Wayne Enterprises arrived and it contained a link to a secure portal for her to upload all the documents that HR requires. Nyane submitted all the required information and buzzed with excitement. The washers stopped and she moved her laundry into two dryers and inserted the coins for thirty minutes on each machine. 

While waiting for her laundry to dry, Nyane cleared her phone’s notifications before opening up Depop. Noting that a vintage Ralph Lauren bag and Gucci shoes had been sold for a total of $150, an excited smile crossed her face. Heading over to Etsy, she saw that there were no orders there and her face fell. Money was tight and she was hoping for a bigger sale. Waiting for the dryers to stop she quickly did the math and calculated that her paychecks will be about $3350 before taxes. More than enough for her monthly expenses. She was looking forward to this first paycheck from Wayne Enterprises. 

Once the dryers stopped, Nyane put her laundry in the shopping cart and made the short journey home. She quickly made her bed and checked the time. Being a little after 1:30pm, she decided her next stops were the post office, library, grocery story and then the gym. 

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It was about 8:30pm when Nyane returned home from the gym. She had already showered there as her apartment lacked hot water. After brushing her teeth and her nighttime skincare routine was complete, Nyane decided to make a simple meal of chicken stew in her slow cooker. Once she finished putting all her ingredients in, she turned the slow cooker on. Dinner for tomorrow would be ready in the morning. Next, she put all her clothes away and set an alarm for 6am on her phone. Sighing, she began to go through a mental checklist of what she needed to do.

Laundry? Done. The bed is made and I have dinner cooking. I guess all that’s left is… What to wear!

After checking the weather and noting tomorrow would be another warm day, she pulled out a pair of wide legged, beige slacks and laid it on her bed. She tapped her chin with her index finger as she contemplated which shirt she wanted to wear. She had settled on wearing her black flats again as they were comfortable for a long day's wear. Picking out a plain, black button-down, tunic blouse that fell just past her hips, her outfit was complete. She ended the night by steaming her clothes and hanging them on the back of her closet door and packing her “work” bag. It was a Jason Wu brand tote bag that was a cream color base with the brand's logo adorning the bag in black print. Once the bag was packed, Nyane settled into bed and drifted off to sleep.

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“Now that all that boring, HR stuff is done, the real fun can begin!” Lance Bruner said as he and Nyane rode the elevator up to the executive floor. Lance was Dick’s current assistant and another of Bruce Wayne’s adoptive sons. He had blonde hair, green eyes, and a freckled face. Like all of the Wayne family, he was quite attractive. He was a little younger than Nyane at 22 years old. Dressed in khaki pants, a light blue button down shirt, and tan loafers, his outfit was business casual. Nyane had spent the first few hours of her work day obtaining her photo ID badge, fingerprints taken (company policy), meeting various colleagues, and having a grand tour of the Wayne Enterprise building.

Nyane smiled at him brightly. “I’m looking forward to this. It will be nice working with you these next few weeks.” 

“I’ll teach you everything I know so the transition can be as smooth as possible.”

“Why are you leaving the position?”

“Honestly, my relationship with my father and brother haven’t been the best since I started working so closely with them. I think it’s the combination of seeing them both at work and home so often. There’s no fights or anything, just a lot of tension. We all agreed it would be best if I moved to a different position in the company.” Lance let out a small sigh.

Nodding her head, Nyane responded,”I can understand that. It’s hard working with family. I don’t have the best relationship with mine either.”

“On to a lighter topic, do you have any plans for lunch? I would love to take you out. There’s a nice place nearby.” 

“I would love to get lunch with you. I usually bring one but I forgot mine at home.” The elevator arrived at the executive floor and both stepped out of it. Giving a quick wave to Amber, Nyane followed Lance around the corner and down the hall to Dick’s office. Across from Dick’s office was Lance’s desk. There were papers scattered all over the desk with a bag of chips and a half a cup of coffee on it. Lance gave two quick, firm knocks on Dick’s office door and then opened it without waiting for a response. Nyane hesitated for a moment before following Lance inside.

Dick’s office had a large window that overlooked the Gotham skyline with the blinds drawn open. The walls were painted a light cream color with dark cherry wood shelving on either side that stopped halfway down the wall with cabinets on the lower half. A mini fridge and refreshment area with a small sink were located to the right. His desk was in the center of the room and matched the shelving. The floor was light hardwood with a large, black area rug on the floor.

Dick was sitting at his desk with his phone pressed to his ear. He glanced up for a moment before holding up his finger in a “one moment” gesture. Lance sat down in one of the chairs across from Dick’s desk and put his feet up on the desk as he leaned back. Dick shot Lance a glare and Nyane sat down next to Lance. Lance pulled out his phone and began to scroll on it while he waited for Dick to finish his conversation. Nyane admired the Gotham skyline as she patiently waited. A few minutes later, Dick ended the call. 

Shoving Lance’s feet off his desk, Dick said, “Dude, stop putting your feet on my desk.”, turning his attention to Nyane, he continued, “How’s your first day been so far?”

“It’s going well.”

“And how’s Lance? I hope my idiot brother hasn’t been too much of an idiot.”

“Hey! I’m right here!” Lance chimed.

“He’s great! He’s been very welcoming.” Nyane replied with a chuckle. 

“I just got off the phone with Isuma Kato of the Tokyo office. He needs the sales report from the Gotham team sent to him. He’s still waiting on it. Make sure that Kevin Morris sends him the report ASAP.” Dick says as he turns his attention to Lance.

“I thought Morris sent it already. I told him last week he needs to send the report.” Lance says as he lets out a groan of annoyance.

“Clearly he hasn’t done it. I need you to do this now.”

“I’ll let him know he needs to send the report by the end of the day. Come on, Nyane, let’s get to work.” Lance stood up and Nyane quickly rose to her feet.

“Lance, you handle this on your own. I want to talk to Nyane.” Dick said. Lance nodded before he walked out of the room leaving the two of them alone. Nyane stood there awkwardly for a moment before she sat back down. Dick waited for the door to close before speaking, “Be honest, how’s Lance treating you?”

“Lance has been great. He’s really gone out of his way to make me feel comfortable here.” Nyane said as she tucked her black hair behind her ears. 

“Good. At times he can be a bit much but he doesn’t mean any harm. He just doesn’t know when to be serious sometimes.”

“Like all younger siblings.” Nyane laughed. 

Dick let out a chuckle. “Exactly. How has everyone else been treating you?”

“Everyone’s been nice.”

“Let me know if anyone gives you a hard time.”

“I will.”

“I have a meeting to attend in a few minutes but I just wanted to check in with you. Let me know if you need anything.”

Nyane stood up. “It was nice talking to you, Mr. Grayson.” She walked to the door and quietly closed it as she exited the room. Lance was sitting at his desk with his phone pressed to his ear. He rolled his eyes as he listened to whoever was on the other end.

“Morris, this isn’t up for negotiation. The report needs to be sent to Kato today. I told you last week to send it.” Lance said as he began to type on his keyboard. He was silent while he listened to Morris speak. “I am forwarding you the email that Kato sent a week ago about the report. If you don’t like the deadline, take it up with Dick!” Lance hung up the phone without waiting for a response or saying goodbye.

“Sorry you had to see me get ugly there.” Lance said as typed rapidly. 

“I take it Morris is difficult.” Nyane replied as she sat on the edge of his desk. 

“You have no idea. He always has to be tracked down for a deadline or a signature or something. Everyone else can respond in a timely fashion but not him. I swear he only has this job because my father is too chicken to fire him.”

“Your father is too chicken?” Nyane raised her eyebrows, “I highly doubt that. He’s probably just being nice. Perhaps too nice?”

“Well regardless of the reason, Morris is a headache. He’ll soon be your problem.” The next hour was spent with Lance giving Nyane the rundown on several key players at Wayne Enterprises (Gotham office) that Nyane will be interacting frequently with. Besides Kevin Morris, Eugene Silva and Annetta Abel were also difficult to work with at times. Silva was an elderly man who had a hard time maintaining a straight response and often contradicted himself. He was a legacy employee from when he was hired by Bruce’s father and refuses to retire. Abel was a shrewd woman who seemed to have ulterior motives. She was not to be trusted and was only kept on because Bruce wanted to keep a close eye on her. Miriam Anwar was a kind woman whom Lance describes as “very helpful and one of the best people to work with”. There were a few other people mentioned but Nyane couldn't remember them all. 

“Alright, that's enough work. Let’s go to lunch.” Lance announced as he stood up and walked to Dick’s door. Nyane followed him. Lance let out a quick knock and then opened the door. “We’re going on lunch!”, he announced and then closed the door without waiting for a response. He then began to walk down the hall. Amber was busy typing on her computer and didn’t bother looking up. 

Is he allowed to just come and go like that? Or is this just because he’s Dick’s brother? I’ll follow his lead for now unless Dick says otherwise.

Lance led Nyane to Bruce’s office and he gave a quick knock on the door. He waited a moment before entering and Nyane hesitantly followed him inside. She closed the door quietly behind her. Bruce was sitting at his desk filling out some paperwork. Dick’s office was amazing but Bruce’s was far more impressive. Like Dick, he also had a lovely view of the city and shelving lining his walls. His walls were pure white and the floor a light brown hardwood with a red decorative area rug. His room was much bigger with a dark brown leather couch and a walnut wood coffee table. His desk matched the coffee table. 

Bruce looked up and smiled, “Hey, son. How is everything?” 

Bruce is soooo hot! Too bad he’s my boss.

“Fine. Morris is being a pain in the ass as usual. He didn’t send the sales report.” Lance vented as he flopped on the couch. Nyane debated on where to sit before opting to sit across from Bruce at his desk. 

Too soon to be laying on his couch.

“Should I have a word with Morris?” Bruce said as he raised an eyebrow. He put down his paperwork and focused his gaze on Nyane as he spoke. His eyes met hers and her cheeks started to heat up. 

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I told him he needs to send it today. Didn’t give him any room to argue.” Lance responded. 

“If that report isn’t sent out today, let me know.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Nyane, how has your day been so far?” Bruce asked as he smiled at her warmly.

“Great. Lance has been showing me around. It’s a lot to take in but it’s only the first day.” Nyane smiled back shyly. Her heart began to speed up in her chest. She looked down at the paper’s on the desk. 

“I’m glad to hear that. Lance can be… silly at times but he’s a great asset to the company. Have you eaten lunch yet?”

“Not yet. We were on the way to lunch when we stopped in.”

Standing up, Lance stretched his arms out before walking to the door and said, “We just wanted to stop in and say “hi”. We’ll be off to lunch now.” Nyane stood up and followed him to the door. 

“Enjoy your lunch. Nyane, it’s good to have you here.” Bruce replied. Nyane blushed as she rushed to follow Lance out of the office.

Since when do I start acting like this? I can’t have myself getting fired for acting like a moron.

Shirt Pants Bag

If you read this far- THANK YOU! Any and all feedback encouraged.

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

03/17/2024 – 03/23/2024

Sunday

Week 6 of missing Cipher Academy.

Finally got around to watching the new Drag Race episode, and it was fine. At least it was better than last week… Plane Jane trying so hard to read Dawn was funny, when I also thought that Plane’s dress was pretty basic and barely even fit the brief. The mini challenge was fun – it seems like they’re going to make this a regular thing going forward, and I think that’s a good idea. It really showcased how well Sapphira knew the other girls lol The maxi challenge was also okay…I did have to skip Mhi’ya and Dawn’s presentation because I can’t stand secondhand embarrassment, but the others did relatively well. I know a lot of people were up in arms about how Plane and especially Q should’ve won, but I found their set a little…overly rehearsed and over the top to the point of being alienating. And their jokes were just okay. Sapphira and Nymphia also had pretty okay jokes, but Sapphira’s charisma just draws people in, and I think that’s what gave her the edge. And, if I’m being really honest, it’s extremely funny to see Q so shocked at Sapphira winning, and it looks like there’ll be an entertaining fight about it next week. The Mhi’ya and Morphine lip sync was…interesting…the cape throw was certainly a move… It was a nice cap on the Mhi’ya and Morphine rivalry storyline, I suppose, but as a lip sync it just felt awkward to watch.

Watched Nijigasaki’s 4th Live, Love the Life we Live while I did some reading, and it was pretty cute. This batch of solos were all decent, and I loved seeing Shu Uchida performing – she looks like she’s having a lot of fun and is super in her element. Seeing Akina Homoto perform is also great, and Lanzhu hasn’t had a bad solo so far. The cat ears for Happy Nyan Days were cute, the Santa capes for Twinkle Town were cute, and the Osaka-ben for MIRACLE STAY TUNE was fun. A decent live overall.

Manga Sunday time! Undead Unluck continues to deliver on the lore and the stakes raising – it’s hard to imagine actually losing anyone in this loop after the failure of the last loop, so I’m glad to see Tozuka finding ways to still make each victory feel earned and against insurmountable odds, because otherwise the victory lap would go on for way too long. I’m excited to see what Language can do, and how Nico and Ichico will counteract her. This loop looks like it’ll be a battle of wits between the two Round Tables, and that’ll be a blast to watch play out.

RuriDragon is more of the same…once again the dialogue writing is really verging on cringe and alien for me, and for such a story light/character driven narrative, it’s making me want to drop the series entirely… Okay, one more week, and then I’ll decide.

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OKAY I TAKE IT BACK…OR RATHER, OSHI NO KO SAVED ITS ENERGY PULLING ALL THOSE PUNCHES JUST SO THIS ONE WOULD LAND LIKE A TRUCK… I mean, I do appreciate Aqua and Ruby’s relationship on a level of like, it must be somewhat comforting to Aqua to see a patient he failed in his past life living out her dreams now…but man, I have no idea how they’ll move forward with this storyline or resolve the incest of it all… Are we to expect that Aqua and Ruby are actually…lovers now? And that they’re just going to go through their whole lives hiding this relationship from the world…? I imagine Aqua will put an end to it eventually, but Ruby doesn’t seem like she’ll ever give up, so…? And man, if this movie came out in the real world I feel like there’d be people pushing to stop its release due to the on-screen actual incest kiss LMAO Well…either way, I’m in it for the long haul just to see how the story ends, so. Also side note but the art was really cute this chapter. They were really building up to this, huh.

Magilumiere fine.

Chainsaw Man… The Guillotine Devil’s design is super cool.

Woah… One Piece… seeing the Five Elders in their true monstrous glory is amazing… I especially like Bakotsu, the skeletal horse. But wow, this truly feels like an all-out war at this point.

Godddddd that was the best SpyFam chapter in a long while…I actually laughed out loud at the comedy for once, and the climactic payoff was so moving… It’s enough for me to want to do a livetweet of the chapter: I love Loid practically breaking his arm to marionette Anya around, and her childish need to show off just added to the comedy. The obstacle course was also cute, complete with Anya’s secret talent of “moving weirdly.” And then there’s Loid panicking at the quiz, only for Anya to obviously excel – but I do appreciate that she would’ve gotten the last question even without her mind reading (in this moment, at least), because she’s genuinely gotten to know Damian better. This whole competition thing was pretty silly, but it was a nice way to find an excuse for Damian and Anya to dance because Damian’s pride would’ve never let him do that otherwise. AND THEN SUDDEN HENRY/MARTHA SHIP FODDER????? I guess I should’ve expected it since they’re both named characters who are single and of the same age bracket, but damn I didn’t expect to actually be fed…I love seeing weird side pairings, and Martha’s super cool, so this was a fun surprise. AND THEN THE DAMIANYA DANCE it’s so cute… Loid leaving Anya to handle the situation on her own because he trusts her… Damian and Anya actually having a private conversation without their usual hostility or tsunderism or friends butting in with their own assumptions… Damian letting some cracks in his armour show and Anya noticing this… ANYA DECIDING TO TELL HIM SHE CAN READ MINDS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS IS THE MAJOR STATUS QUO SHIFT I WAS DESPERATELY WAITING FOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Of course Damian wouldn’t believe her right away, but I hope to god it doesn’t take another hundred chapters for him to be like “wait…this literally explains everything about why she’s so weird.” It’d be so cool if he and Anya could share this secret, and maybe they could even help each other out if they ever face something like the bus jacking again… Anya’s weakness has always been that she doesn’t have the skillset to effectively use the crucial information she can gather, so if Damian could help her strategize, I think that would make for some really fun developments. But for now, I’m just glad we seem to be moving forward.

Watched through the Karen Bee arc in Nisemonogatari, and it was…okay? I find it hard to follow some of Monogatari’s long winding conversations sometimes… Like, why does Araragi say that Karen’s conviction isn’t enough because she’s fighting for other people when he’s literally doing the same thing…? Why put down her self-sacrificing tendencies when Araragi was literally ready to give up his life to save a random vampire he just met…? And why was this enough to convince her to back down? I like Kaiki as a villain, and I like his jaunty little theme song and his tired sounding voice, but why did he agree to leave town so easily…? Maybe his motivations will be answered later on? Was he lying about leaving? But surely Araragi and Senjougahara would’ve realized that he was just saying he’d stop so that they’d leave him alone? It often feels like Monogatari is operating on a level of specificity and pedanticisim that leaves me feeling lost, because all this high-minded talk of being right or wrong or enacting the “right” kind of justice or enacting justice for the “right” reasons just feels sort of like…at a certain point, I’d rather see some actions being performed rather than long diatribes about how and why certain actions should be performed. I don’t know, I’ll go read some essays I guess, but I feel like I’m just not getting into the groove of Monogatari the way so many people seem to have done. I do like Araragi and Senjougahara’s insane little romance, though, and the way Senjougahara is so unrelenting but he accepts her anyway. Senjougahara and Hanekawa’s relationship is also interesting, and it seems like that branch of the love triangle will be explored further so I’m looking forward to it. And oh my god I’m so glad I watched things in novel order, because I would’ve been so much more confused if I hadn’t watched the Kizumonogatari films before this.

I do wonder, sometimes, if I’ll ever actually truly love Monogatari. I love Cipher Academy a lot, so I wanted to give Monogatari a shot as Nisioisin’s supposed magnum opus, but seeing people heap praise onto Bake and Kizu and not feeling particularly strongly about either of those series gives me pause… I guess it’s just like, none of the philosophical questions that Monogatari has posed so far actually interest me? I don’t really like altruistic to a fault protagonists who would do anything to help anyone no matter what, and that’s literally Araragi’s biggest character flaw. And the show supposedly explores this flaw of his, but so far it hasn’t really given him any lasting consequences. And while I can relate to Hanekawa in certain ways, (and honestly some parts of her emotional turmoil parallel mine a little too well) I still haven’t really gotten emotionally invested in her…perhaps because I tend to just compartmentalize and move on, while her compartmentalizing comes back to haunt her. And now Nise’s theme of real versus fake feels so boring…it seems obvious to me that after a certain point, if one’s tangible features and or actions are indistinguishable between real and fake, then it doesn’t matter if one had the intention of being a fake. In other words, intentions mean little in the face of tangible reality and how one’s actions actually affect others. This seems fairly basic, but it looks like we’re going to take 11 whole episodes to spell it out, so it feels a little frustrating. I don’t know…I really want to like Monogatari, but it’s just not hitting.

Did some reading of the second book in Pseudonymous Bosch’s Secret Series, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, and…I guess if I were to make comparisons to Mysterious Benedict Society again, it would be this: in Benedict it feels like the kids are rising to the challenge of the adults and the real stakes they pose, but in the Secret series it feels like the adults are lowering themselves to the kids’ levels in order to give them a fair shot. It’s satisfying to read Benedict to this day because the kids have to be genuinely resourceful and clever enough to not just solve puzzles but to social engineer their way out of harrowing situations with what resources they have. In the Secret series, the adults may threaten the kids’ lives, but as long as the kids conveniently know rope escape tricks or have some special gadget or can solve a basic riddle, they’ll succeed. It’s just not as compelling to read…but I’m a bit stuck because I actually own the third book in this series (childhood birthday gift) so I feel the need to read through the entire thing to see if I still like it. Granted I’m still in the first half of this book, but already the puzzles don’t feel that well thought out – first off, why give Max-Ernest a literal magic decoder that would either render all puzzles  moot or require a “oh it won’t work for This puzzle because of this or that,” rendering it useless?? Just don’t put it in the book… Secondly, you’re telling me that Cass has perfect pitch (so that she could sing the song accurately to Yo-Yoji) AND she takes oboe lessons, but didn’t even think to transcribe the notes to see what they said until the resident new kid mentions being in a band???? God, I had issues with Baccalario’s Century series and Andrew Clements’ Keepers of the School series, but at least they had some puzzles that felt like actual challenges instead of just being solved by happenstance or extremely basic lateral thinking. Also I wish Cass and Max-Ernest had some more personalized motivations as to why they’re doing all these things – just wanting to go on an adventure and become a part of a cool secret society isn’t enough…at least Century had one of their friends in mortal peril and Keepers had their whole school at stake. Also also I always liked how in Benedict, the kids being key agents in the plan to the save the world seemed to pain Mr. Benedict due to the danger it would put them in, but there was good reason as to why only children could’ve done it, and they went into the plan knowing the risks. Here, Pietro all but shoves the Magic Item du Livre at Cass and gives her some vague “only you can do it” platitude before seemingly throwing her into the deep end with the Midnight Sun, who already know where she and her friends and family live and could harm her at any time. (Speaking of which, what was the point of sneaking into her house and retying the floss she had set-up as a detection mechanism if you’re just going to leave her torn up sock puppet on her bed anyway…) I know it’s pathetic to complain so much about a children’s book, but hey other children’s books have done it better, so why can’t this one? Kids (and weird adults like me) deserve good literature too.

Monday

Work

Tuesday

Work

Wednesday

Work

Thursday

I’ve been grinding this work thing nonstop with little sleep and about one meal a day, but I didn’t want to miss DunMesh Thursday…plus, Senshi would be disappointed with the way I’ve been living lol so I decided to splurge and order some chicken tikka masala, and the local Indian place was nice and gave me some free naan to boot. Unfortunately the episode itself was a little underwhelming…? I didn’t like some of the directorial choices like the weird trajectory of that one digital zoom or the lack of impact for Marcille’s dark magic…the blood bubbling up to form Falin’s body was cool, but I was missing some of the darkness and solemnity that the scene had in the manga. Also I’m so sad that Laios’ hug was also pretty nerfed, his expression was so complex and layered in the manga but the anime only gave it about one single second of airtime… The bath scene was also missing some of its subtle ominousness from the manga… I don’t know, the vibes in this episode were just off to me, it felt like Falin’s return sunk in way too easily. But it’s nice seeing more of who Falin actually is and how she fits into this group, and Laios subtly bragging in that older brother kind of way was so cute and demonstrative of their bond.

Read the latest chapter of Asada Nemui’s Living Dead – I don’t have much to say about it but I’m nervous for Nogami getting too close to the truth.

A Second Goodbye to You finally ended…what a disappointing story this turned out to be. Whatever vague time travel rules the mangaka established just get thrown out the window completely as Hinata jumps around and teleports to key moments and locations in order to prevent disaster (which makes all of his earlier struggles with getting to certain places as a teen or as a kid feel so pointless). And on top of all that, he gets to relive his high school days and Sora gets away from his parents somehow (even though Hakuraku no longer being a part of their lives really shouldn’t have affected this much), and everything just magically and conveniently works out for everyone. I think the earlier part of this manga was intriguing because it could often shock the reader with sudden violent twists, but when it came to actually explaining what was happening and people’s motivations, it just completely fell flat. OooOOoOh he’s EVIL because he loves DEATH and DYING and wants to turn it into ART like this is some 12 year old’s conception of a “crazy” bad guy. For annoying me so much, I’ll give it a 2/10.

Friday

Drag Race was okay…I kind of don’t get how these room design challenges relate to the skillset that a drag queen needs other than like, improv comedy I guess? Q being heated continues to be very funny, especially as Sapphira and Plane Jane get a team win. It feels like Nymphia’s chances of winning are slipping further and further away, but I hope I can be proven wrong. But also, to echo the words of literally every single tweet in the Drag Race tag today, they really set Dawn up with that song.

Daraku Kazoku-ron caught my eye for being an interesting take on the “two guys raise a kid together” BL – I normally don’t really like them when they’re overly fluffy and moe-focused, but this one has been enjoyable so far. I like that Meguru isn’t just a cute kid but a little surly, and has her own opinions on the situation and how her mother treated her. The two guys already having a history gives their inevitable relationship a stronger base to stand on, and there are some actual themes of self-improvement and scenes of the two trading their differing philosophies that I appreciate. I also like that they didn’t cheap out on Touma’s shady occupation and he’s actually a yakuza, which should make for some interesting story developments in the future. I’m looking forward to the rest of this one.

Saturday

Work ahhhhhhhhhhhghhhhhhhhhhh