#or something in the lines of Katanagatari

[randomnameless]

I appreciate that at least they stayed consistent with the Sword of the Creator being Crest of Flames-exclusive and, as such, Byleth can no longer use it post-CF and is shown using a normal sword instead in their solo and S-Supported Jeritza ending pictures; makes it all the more baffling that they're still alive despite their heart being destroyed and that the Sothis S-Support exists in that route, but i'll give them credit where it's due for keeping the SOTC's lore consistent.

Post Tru Piss, there's no Crest Stone left for the SoC!

So I'd say it's not that it's CoF exclusice, but rather something like without a crest stone, a relic, even the SoC, doesn't "work" anymore.

Adding insult to the injury though, Post!Tru Piss Billy uses Rhea's sword, aka, a Holy Weapon that could be used by everyone (human and nabatean!) and even heal non-crested people : Billy uses at the end of the "we will make a world for humans!" route a sword that conveyed coexistence between humans and nabateans...

Sothis' S-support in this route really felt odd, because she acknowledges Rhea at least, but has no words for her passing when Rhea died crying for her.

Some people tried to theorise that this Sothis isn't the one Rhea remembers so she wouldn't have feelings about her... but idk, it still feels dead wrong, especially since Sothis remembered feelings of joy and sadness in Zanado, and ultimately remembers how Rhea is a her kid thanks to the lullaby (and in SS when she "talks" to her).

If Sothis was a better written character and not accidently written to be the most toxic parent in the FE series, I'd maybe write something about her feeling so bad that, again, she was used to slaughter one of her own children (Nemesis first in Zanado, and now Billy in Tailtean) but as canon!Sothis is, I'm not really motivated to do something like this.

[polaristranslations]

Maniwa Koumori

Age—Unknown Occupation—Ninja Affiliation—Maniwa Ninja Corps Gender—Male Height—5 shaku 9 sun 4 bu Weight—15 kan 1 kin Creed—Following suit without reflection Nickname—Self-reliant Koumori Ninpou Used—Kotsuniku Zaiku

Maniwa Kuizame

Age—Unknown Occupation—Ninja Affiliation—Maniwa Ninja Corps Gender—Female Height—5 shaku 3 bu Weight—12 kan Creed—Kill one to save a thousand Nickname—Tearful Kuizame Ninpou Used—Uzugatana

Maniwa Chouchou

Age—Unknown Occupation—Ninja Affiliation—Maniwa Ninja Corps Gender—Male Height—7 shaku 8 sun 3 bu Weight—28 kan Creed—Patience and prudence Nickname—Unfortunate Chouchou Ninpou Used—None

Maniwa Shirasagi

Age—Unknown Occupation—Ninja Affiliation—Maniwa Ninja Corps Gender—Male Height—5 shaku 9 sun 7 bu Weight—14 kan 8 kin Creed—Incomprehensible Nickname—Long Spear Shirasagi Ninpou Used—Gekirin Sagashi

Afterword

There are things I don't want to think too much about because I'll end up brooding over it if I do think about it. But when I do think about, say, Fukuzawa Yukichi-sensei's words, "It is said that heaven does not create one person above or below another person," I can't help but have the twisted reaction of, "But aren't there people to the left and right, and in front of and behind you?" Most of the time, you don't get to choose your superior, and you don't get to choose your subordinates either. You can't choose your seniors or your juniors, your teachers or your students. Not even the master and the apprentice always get what they want. Even if you are lucky enough to choose, you may end up being rejected by the person chosen, and even if you manage to change their mind and become the person chosen, you never know when, where, or by whom you may be dismissed. It's quite the frightening reality. Although, turning that around, it could mean that no one can be in the same position as another person; everyone may be in their own unique position, while still having a relationship with their surroundings. There's nothing more boring than if life was all about what you wanted and what you chose... Well, actually, that sounds pretty fun. But, either way, it's totally impossible, so today, tomorrow, and the day after that, you may be unhappily living out a life that you didn't have a say in. But, well, if you think that "almost everyone is like that", then it almost seems like we've reached equality, so perhaps what Fukuzawa Yukichi-sensei said was the right answer after all? If you say that "heaven created one person within another person", it would end up being exceedingly natural and obvious to say, and thus rather meaningless.

This production was a story about ninja. It's a story about the esteemed ancestors of the Maniwa Ninja Corps that first appeared in the "Katanagatari" novels, with the episodes "The First Generation Maniwa Koumori", "The First Generation Maniwa Kuizame", "The First Generation Maniwa Chouchou", and "The First Generation Maniwa Shirasagi". Content-wise, it has become something different from just an extra chapter or a spin-off, but, well, if you try comparing and contrasting, you may find that there are things worth comparing and contrasting. But of course! Well, these days, I try not to talk too much about the future, about what's to come, but if you are interested in reading the story of the remaining eight of the Twelve Chiefs, please wait for the follow-up volume, which may or may not possibly be published sometime in the future. Eventually, the remaining eight will also become a tremendous line-up of inhuman seasonal goods that are neither above nor below others—but anyway, this was "Maniwagatari".

I've had the pleasure of having take-san in charge of the illustrations, continuing from "Katanagatari". The Maniwa Ninja Corps is most certainly what it is today because of take-san's expressiveness, and if possible, I would like to continue to stay in touch like this for a while. Thank you.

Nisio Isin

Translator's Afterword

First things first, allow me to explain Shirasagi's speech gimmick, which is different from his gimmick seen in "Katanagatari" (as they are different people, of course). Shirasagi's gimmick in "Maniwagatari" is that he uses the "wrong" kanji—for example, his first line, "I refuse", would normally be written as 断る [kotowaru], but in his case it was written as 小永久る [kotowaru]. The "wrong" kanji still have the correct reading, so there wouldn't necessarily be a difference when spoken out loud (other than his alleged strange pronunciation).

It was a struggle coming up with a good English alternative for an entirely untranslatable gimmick, but ultimately I opted to use "variant" letters (specifically the turned 'e') in the hopes of preserving some aspect of the gimmick. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it (or perhaps didn't enjoy it, if that was the point of the original gimmick).

You may have noticed that, in contrast to the official translation of "Katanagatari", this translation had almost no translation notes at all. For one thing, the novel fortunately didn't seem to have any major linguistic or cultural elements that I thought needed to be highlighted—but beyond that, I think I wanted to provide a smooth reading experience that translation notes tend to detract from. This does have the side effect of leaving a few things somewhat hard to understand from the point of view of the average English-speaking reader, but I'd like to think of them as opportunities to get closer to the original text. If that makes any sense.

On behalf of the author, I would like to thank you for reading "Maniwagatari". Also, I would like to thank you for reading my translation, lacking as it may have been.

Polaris

[sohmariku]

JODEN MITSURABOSHI KATANAGATARI

Yesterday I finally got to watching my Blu-Ray of Joden Mitsuraboshi Katanagatari and I realized some things I’d like to share. (Watch out, spoilers ahead!)

Comparing the BD performance to the DMM performance, I realized Makki (Yamanbagiri) forgot a line on two instances during the first act of the final performance of the run... 

This first happens when Yamanbagiri and Yamabushi discuss Odawara castle. Due to the missing line, Odawara Castle itself turns into a military commander... DMM: 小田原城だ。この時代、関東で最大勢力を誇った武将だ。(That’s Odawara Castle. In this era, it’s the strongest general of the Kanto area.) BD: 小田原城だ。 北条家当主 、北条氏政、 氏直親子の居城、 この時代、関東で最大勢力を誇った武将だ。(That’s Odawara Castle. The home of Hojo Ujimasa and his son, Ujinao. In this era he is the strongest general of the Kanto area.)

In hindsight, I probably concluded this before, as he does properly say all the lines during the 2nd act, when this same scene appears again... 

The second time he forgets a line is during his argument with Dodanuki. Thankfully, this missing line doesn’t create any actual confusion here. 

Unfortunately Makki’s mishaps do mean I’ll have to release two versions of the subtitles. One for the DMM file and one for the DVD/BD file. At least, I’m assuming the archived file still is the unedited final performance... ^^

Then,

I’m once again amazed how all the plots of the plays are intertwined. I still love the part where Yasuke shows up and he and Yamanbagiri have an exchange that goes like:

Yamanbagiri: How do you know that? Who are you? Yasuke: I’m a survivor of the Honnouji Incident. Yamanbagiri: What?

At this moment we have Yasuke blaming Yamanbagiri and the others for something that hasn’t happened yet. In Yasuke’s mind being a survivor of the Honnouji Incident is a valid explanation for the situation, but... it isn’t, not at that point in time. xD

Yeah, if you’d want to watch the plays in chronological order, this is what you end up with (if I’m not mistaken): Mitsuraboshi Katanagatari (Act 1) - Moeyuru Honnouji -  Nomitori no Yari*- Kono Yora no Odawara - Akatsuki no Dokuganryu - Mitsuraboshi Katanagatari (Act 2)

Couldn’t make it any easier, could they? That’s not quite the order these plays were released in!

*This short story is included on the DVD/BD of Mitsuraboshi Katanagatari

Then, something completely different.

From previous plays we already knew the secretary position has been shared between three people at the citadel. The position was rotated like this: Yamanbagiri > Hasebe > Mikazuki > Yamanbagiri.

Now, at the end of the first act of Mitsuraboshi, Yamanbagiri and Sahayanotsurugi have a conversation about the events of the mission. It is interrupted by Hasebe and what follows are these two lines:

Hasebe: Afterwards, you were relieved of your post as secretary and I was appointed the new secretary. Sahaya: But I heard you had to give up the post of secretary to Mikazuki soon after.

What does that tell us? Hasebe was appointed secretary right after their failed mission (and he clearly believes Yamanbagiri was replaced, because the saniwa holds him responsible for the failure). However, Hasebe didn’t keep his position for long, because it was given to Mikazuki (pretty much) as soon as he manifested.

So, why was Hasebe appointed secretary? Was it really because the saniwa was angry with Yamanbagiri after that one failed mission? I personally don’t think so. My theory is that Hasebe was only appointed secretary, because Yamanbagiri needed a break from battle, but the team had to be dispatched. Following the game logic, that meant the captain of the first unit and thus the secretary had to be replaced. And Hasebe was simply the best alternative to fill the position at that time... and then Mikazuki arrived.

Then, why was the position eventually returned to Yamanbagiri? I assume that even if Yamanbagiri hadn’t needed a break after that failed mission, the position of secretary would still have been given to Mikazuki, because the saniwa assumed him more suitable to the task. So, why would the saniwa reinstate Yamanbagiri to the post?

In the play, Yamabushi tells Yamabagiri the saniwa doesn’t appear to be a person who chooses their secretary on whim, so I think we may assume something happened that forced Yamanbagiri’s return to the post.

It’s only a theory and I think I touched on this some time before, but I assume something happened in the time that Mikazuki was secretary.  And what happened during that time doesn’t only explain why Yamanbagiri was reinstated at the secretary, but may also explain why Mikazuki keeps talking about “being gone”. I actually suspect this may be the story narrated in the upcoming play.  After all, based on everything that has happened in the previous plays, we can safely say the Time Axis is screwed up. Things that shouldn’t be happening are happening. So, it wouldn’t be impossible that Mikazuki has had a glimpse of the future during his time as secretary. He may have seen some unavoidable fate? Something that will take him away from the citadel perhaps? 

Whatever it was that happened, I assume the position or secretary was returned to Yamanbagiri at Mikazuki’s request. And all of that is in preparation of the “something” he knows is going to take place. (Or maybe to avoid something from taking place?)

Um, yeah... that’s as far as my theorizing goes right now. ^^ I think it’s time I went back to my subtitles... xD

[ryo-maybe]

Hit me with that 20 and 35, but when it comes to 35, let's Spice It Up with making specific to motion: 35 but when it comes to the way the scene or the characters move. Action, or subtle, solemn moves, whichever you want to focus the answer on.

20. favorite costume/character design 

I really, really appreciated the inventiveness of some of Katanagatari’s designs. If I had to define them, I’d use the term “gimmick in visual form”. For all the gripes I hold in regards to Nisio Isin, I cannot deny his skillful usage of the Japanese language and the way he explores the many, many ways the written word can be exploited. I think of Katanagatari’s designs as the artistic (in the sense of visual art, the art of painting/drawing) expression of the same principle. Kiguchi Zanki in particular is a design that I’m simply enamored with:

Look at this. In a single glance, you already know all there is to know about this character, in a manner that doesn’t diminish it as a mere cardboard cutout. It makes use of all the quirkiness that the medium and the exaggerated elegance of the series’ tone offer, ultimately providing us with something that is both informative and charming to look at. This is the gijinka of a description, I can’t put it in other words. I really like the subtle amounts of thought that goes into designing a character in such a manner.

35. favorite animation style 

The sheer amount of artistry that went into animating Oregairu’s CEO dude’s hand motions

Above and beyond anything, I like clarity. I want to see and understand exactly what is going on in any given scene, whether it be a conversation or a fight scene. Regarding the latter, let’s bring up a very easy and convenient example: Fate’s various anime adaptions, and the studios that took care of them.

Let’s begin with the bad: Apocrypha’s fight scenes. Specifically, the one involving Karna and Siegfried, which might as well mark the bottom mark in a series of adaptions that includes an anime where Sakura is held hostage in a bondage outfit. And honestly? The DEEN adaption at least had the balls to animate the unseen fight between Archer and Berserker and make it work. The failings in the animation are made up for with the camera work, the solemnity given to every piece of the chant whenever it comes up, and a whole slew of other details that somehow manage to achieve success in an otherwise bland failure of an adaption. Apocrypha, when it pit two of its powerhouses against each other, showed us the equivalent of watching Winamp play a Skrillex song. Nothing but bass boosted dubstep explosions (AAAAAAA I HATE!), horrendous background noise for the sight of two colored lines swirling together in a vortex of utter nothing. Disappointing, bad, it’s bootleg DBZ, and not even half as entertaining.

Now take any fight scene in Zero or UBW. No matter what gripes you might have against ufotable’s adaptions, they know where to put their budget. The action is always clear even when the speed is highest. Each frame flows seamlessly into the next, and - most importantly - crucial moments slow down to a sudden, lingering crawl for a matter of seconds that let you savor the moment an impact will happen next. The camera follows along, turning around the battle scene from afar as it slowly zooms in, speeding up and slowing down accordingly with the flow and the intensity of the most crucial attacks. The passage from heavily dynamic camera work to a different, static angle is like the arrival of a cargo plane full of adrenaline right inside your bloodstream. Ufotable’s acion scenes are exactly how they should be: fun, engaging, and comprehensible.

The fights in Studio Trigger’s animations also reach that level of visual pleasure by making up for the occasional lack of clarity with sheer cartoonish style. They’re a different breed altogether, but they work precisely because they have their own way of showcasing the action. It’s Looney Toons on chalky steroids! What’s not to love?

When it comes to calmer moments, I want the moments that matter to be given the attention and budget they necessitate. I want to see that incredibly intimate zoom on those eye as their gaze trails off under the weight of a bitter, stubborn inability to admit the truth that’s been slapped into them. I want to see those fingers curl like a diapason responding to the vibrations of words that maybe they weren’t ready to process. I want to see the kind girl spreading her arms as her hair billows freely into the wind and the camera pans away to showcase the entire world she’s professing her love to. I don’t need to see Muppets who jump up and down with each word with unnatural arm movements, I want to see those small cues given the attention they deserve to properly enforce the meaning of the words and music that they’re accompanying.

I want the Episode 1 Budget Details for the rest of the series, pretty much. I want to see that you cared enough to try and engage me.

[kanasmusings]

Hi! Can I ask something? I planned to watch touken ranbu stage but I don't know where to start 😅 can you suggest me which one i should watch first? Thank you!

Hey there!

First of all, welcome to TouSute hell ⊂( ´ ▽ ` )⊃

These are just my opinions though and I’m sure other people have a different idea but I’ll put this under a “read more” since it’ll get a little bit long ^^

If you’re already familiar with Touken Ranbu (and the history surrounding it) in general, I think that following the stage play won’t be that difficult. 

In any case, you can start with any one since they all have independent storylines but I’d recommend starting with the very first one, of course. 

Kyouden Mouyuru Honnouji’s storyline is easy to follow and it features swords that are already popular/well-known so that even first time watchers will already have an idea of what the characters will be like on stage. 

Here’s the synopsis for the first stage (from the Wiki):

One day, a new sword manifested at their citadel.Fudou Yukimitsu: A sword worn by a commander of the Sengoku era, Oda Nobunaga, who was granted to one of his attending servants, Mori Ranmaru. Fudou Yukimitsu makes it known that he is proud to be Oda Nobunaga's beloved sword, but clashes with the other swords who also call Nobunaga their former master: Souza Samonji, Heshikiri Hasebe, and Yagen Toushirou. The appointed team captain, Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, must rally a citadel that has fallen into disarray at Fudou Yukimitsu's arrival. In the midst of all this, the saniwa has received an order to depart for the year 1582 -- the Honnouji event, where Oda Nobunaga met his demise...

There’s a reprise of Honnouji, too, but it follows the same story line. The only differences being the re-cast for Tsurumaru and Kosetsu, and a few other minor scenes.

After that is, of course, Giden Akatsuki no Dokuganryu (which is my favorite, the biggest reason being Tsurumaru XD).

This one’s something that I found a little bit harder to follow, specially for those new to TouRabu, given the fact that it’s got a lot of Japanese history in it, but nevertheless, it’s a beautiful story.

Here’s the synopsis (also from the Wiki):

At the citadel, Sayo Samonji is in a despondent mood.Attendant Yamanbagiri Kunihiro tries to lend an ear to his worries, but Sayo avoids coming into contact with him.Elsewhere, on an investigation mission to investigate the Enkyou era, the relationship between Ookurikara and Kasen Kanesada begins to sour.The other Date swords Shokudaikiri Mitsutada, Tsurumaru Kuninaga, and the newly manifested Taikogane Sadamune attempt to find a resolution to their quarrel.While consulting with the master for advice, Tsurumaru receives an unexpected mission from them.Mikazuki Munechika is watching over such a citadel.Meanwhile, in the Sengoku era, Toyotomi Hideyoshi has achieved Japan's unification.In this transitional period, one man laments over the imminent end of the Sengoku Era.That man is Date Tojirou Masamune.His sworn friend bonded by loyalty, Hosokawa Yoichirou Tadaoki, chides Masamune and tells him to accept the coming era of peace instead of chasing after his dreams of becoming a "great unifier."[Is becoming a "great unifier" really "an impossible dream" for Masamune...?]That day, the Touken Danshi received this order to depart for the front lines.The battleground is the 5th year of the Keichou era (AD 1600): the Battle of Sekigahara, in which the eastern army of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the western army of Mori Terumoto and Ishida Mitsunari clash.

There, the Touken Danshi saw――?

It’s very beautiful and the story is paced well so that it’s not confusing. It’s got a lot of dramatic moments, too! 

Third, there’s Gaiden Kono Yora no Odawara. It’s not available on DVD yet but, I think you can still purchase the livestream from DMM? I’m not too sure.

Here’s the synopsis from the Wiki:

Yamanbagiri, Sayo and Hasebe are sent on a mission, but discover soon they arrived at a different destination than intended. That is Odawara, before the Seige in 1590. They end up saving a man who’s attacked by a pack of Japanese wolves (wild dogs). This man turns out to be Fujiwara Ariyoshi, a student of the sword smith who forged Yamanbagiri at the request of Nagao Akinaga, the head of the Nagao family.Why are Yamanbagiri and the other called to this era? And what will await them at the foot of Odawara castle?

I LOVED this one’s story but again, not beginner-friendly. The swords, too, are not who most people stan so people have to be a little bit more familiar with them, I guess. 

Lastly, there’s the new stage, Joden Mitsuraboshi Katanagatari. Since it’s fairly new, I haven’t actually watched it yet so I don’t have a strong opinion on it yet XD

I hope that helps guide you somewhat (´ ∀ ` *)

All of the stage plays released on DVD/Blu-ray (until Dokuganryu) have been subbed by @sohmariku. Check out their masterpost here. And their guide to buying livestreams from DMM here (in case you want to try buying them).

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: What Makes Nisio Isin's Work So Special?

  Hello everyone, and welcome back to Why It Works. You all ready for the spring anime season? I know I’m certainly ready to shake off the winter snow and settle in for some new productions — and among those productions, I’ve got a few in particular that seem right up my alley. Along with obvious sequels like My Hero Academia and MEGALOBOX, I’ve also got my eye on the cheekily titled Pretty Boy Detective Club. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t tell you the first thing about Detective Club itself — but I have learned an awful lot about its author, Nisio Isin.

    Nisio Isin’s writing was actually one of the first things that really captivated me about anime when I was getting back into the medium a decade ago. In a medium that’s generally defined by its visual storytelling, Isin’s works offered a lyricism of prose, complexity of characterization, and ambition of thematic intent that really stood out to me. As someone whose journey through art started in traditional prose fiction, Isin’s work embodied what I love about novels as a medium, even while transposed into animation. He’s one of my favorite writers in the medium, and today I’d like to look back across his adapted properties and pin down what makes him so special!

  Bakemonogatari was my first experience with Nisio Isin’s writing, and it frankly wasn’t the easiest watch. Bakemonogatari is challenging in a variety of ways — its protagonist seesaws between pathetic and perverted, its narratives frequently pause for an episode or two of circular banter, and its cinematography acts as a deliberate counterpoint to its dialogue, building meaning through the distance between its visual and textual content. But eventually, all of these investment speed bumps ended up revealing themselves as key facets of the show’s overall ambition.

    Bakemonogatari dives deep into the ugliness of abuse, self-hatred, and depression, offering complexity and specificity of characterization like little else in the medium. The show consistently demonstrates characters at their weakest and worst, if only to emphatically declare that even the most broken among us are capable of joy and redemption. The vivid scars of Bakemonogatari’s characters, and the way Nisio Isin was able to extrapolate such rich psychologies and relationships from those scars, simply astounded me. Seemingly idle conversations would be built on massive hidden icebergs of emotional subtext, offering a feast for any fan of psychological dramas. And the show actually improves significantly over time, building up to the wild emotional crescendos of the second season and onward.

  After being so impressed by the psychological and thematic richness of Bakemonogatari, I dove right back into Isin’s other then-recent adaptation: the 12 double-length episodes of Katanagatari. Katanagatari’s 12 episodes match up to the 12 months of the year and center on a warrior and strategist who are attempting to collect, you guessed it, 12 special swords. But Katanagatari’s structural congruity extends much further than that — in fact, I’d consider it one of the most “perfect” anime I’ve ever seen, in terms of its structural and thematic elegance.

    Through its 12 episodes, Katanagatari charts a fantastical course through the end of the age of samurai, as the old weapons and older grudges of a past era make way for the relative peace of the new. Shichika, a man raised as a sword, must ally with Togame, a vengeance-driven strategist, in order to collect the heroic blades of the past age. Across their journey, Shichika offers a vivid portrait of an old soldier attempting to grow beyond his nature, while Togame simultaneously demonstrates the tragedy of clinging to the past. Meanwhile, the world around them turns in perfect unison with their growth, exploring the power of legacy and cruelty of time’s arrow across every conflict and character. Katanagatari possesses a holism of thematic intent like little art I’ve seen, and emphatically demonstrates Isin’s unique talent for making every aspect of a narrative reflect on every other aspect. It’s like a flawless little diamond, with each facet echoing the beauty of the others.

  My praise so far might imply that Nisio Isin’s properties are more intellectual labor than entertainment, and to be honest, you wouldn’t be entirely off the mark. Fortunately, we’ve also received adaptations of some of his lighter works — like Juni Taisen, which is mostly just a bloody, boisterous good time. Even in the context of a zodiac-themed battle royale, Isin’s mastery of structure and character helps enliven the production and bring some finesse to the popcorn drama executions. You can bring intelligence, style, and ambition to even the most maligned genres, as Bakemonogatari’s “harem as treatise on youth alienation” concept attests. In JUNI TAISEN: ZODIAC WAR, he builds sympathetic characters in just a brief aside or two, only to have them killed off by a machete-wielding maniac in a bunny suit thong.

    I’ve talked plenty about how Isin’s writing elevates the adaptations of his work — how his dialogue and characterization are best in class, meaning at least the scripts of all his shows are bound to be excellent. That said, his stories aren’t simply repositories of witty dialogue. Isin’s works are wordy and self-reflective, but all of that prose is ultimately working to capture a precise, resonant human sentiment. As such, his works can also simply serve as a fertile canvas of adaptation, even if you’re disposing of his line-by-line internal monologue. Great adapters are willing to make dramatic changes to works in order to adapt their fundamental spirit into the tools of a very different medium. And so it goes for Kizumonogatari, perhaps the greatest adaptation of any of Isin’s writing.

  In Kizumonogatari, director Tatsuya Oishi worked with an absurdly talented team for years, in order to create a mixed CG/traditionally animated aesthetic that perfectly evokes the original text’s alienating emotional landscape. Oishi and his team took a story largely reliant on internal monologue and stripped out the internal voice entirely, recreating its effect through purely visual and aural means. That’s not to say the original text was wrong to include these monologues — rather, that the original’s prose successfully captured a specific mind space, and that Oishi’s brilliant collaborators were able to fully translate that mind space into an intense visual experience. Even if you strip the dialogue entirely, Isin’s writing offers a unique canvas for other talented creators to flourish.

    For all of these reasons and more, Nisio Isin is my favorite writer working in the anime sphere. I’ve found at least something to enjoy in basically all of his works, and given how fundamental his poetic, character-rich scripting is to his works, I can’t imagine that’ll change anytime soon.

  I hope you’ve enjoyed this exploration of Isin’s work, and let me know your own favorite Isin shows in the comments!

      Nick Creamer has been writing about cartoons for too many years now and is always ready to cry about Madoka. You can find more of his work at his blog Wrong Every Time, or follow him on Twitter.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Nick Creamer

[c-sculcuvant]

Katanagatari

I decided to binge through Katanagatari while I had some time off of work. This is a show I’ve watched before, and loved it every time I’ve sat through it. I have altogether too much good to say about this show; the animation is gorgeous, the art style mesmerizing, the story well written and weighty, and in just 12 one hour long episodes the creators manage to convey some of the smoothest and most organic character development I have ever had the pleasure of following. But what I really want to talk about, is how the last episode makes me feel. Or, rather, how it doesn’t. The final chapter of this magnificent series starts with an avalanche of feelings; throwing a fistful of jagged, broken glass right into your heart, followed by dialogue and twists that kicks you in the gut, and an epic climax to decisively bring an end to Shickika and Togame’s adventure. Every time I watch this episode, I sit for a few minutes after the credit-crawl, unsure of what to do with myself. The conclusion of the show, and how it concluded, eating a yawning hole seemingly through my very soul. It manages to take themes and foreshadowing from throughout the series, twist it onto it’s head and deliver something unexpected that still feels in line with the series as a whole. I’m rambling, but this is one of the only times I feel totally satisfied with the conclusion of a story I’m so invested in. It doesn’t make me happy, angry, sad or anything in between. The end of Katanagatari effectively robs me of feeling, and that’s not something I ever expected.  

[hermanwatts]

Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 29 August, 2020

Time-lost super-soldiers, living detective saints, swordless swordsmen, and His Majesty’s Naval Service takes to the stars in this week’s new releases.

Coven (Saint Tommy, NYPD #7) – Declan Finn

Detective Thomas Nolan has finally returned home. In typical police fashion, he is welcomed home with a murder case and gunfire.

After one arrest goes spectacularly wrong, Tommy is assigned another case and another dead body.

But everything goes wrong from the start of the case. The deceased is a member of a nearby military base, and no one wants to answer his questions. A local bodega gives him mind-splitting headaches. Worst of all, someone is after his children.

To make matters worse — Tommy no longer has his charisms.

Dreamhealer – Jeff Duntemann

By day, Larry Kettelkamp keeps ancient PDP-8 computers alive in a collapsing industrial bakery. By night he wages war on nightmares, and has been waging that war for thirty years. As a young man, Larry discovered that he could enter other peoples’ nightmares, end them, and then vaccinate the dreamers against that nightmare with an ancient symbol that alters the relationship between the two hemispheres of the brain.

For nightmares are not random concoctions of our dreaming imaginations. Strange creatures called archons living in the subtle realms of the collective unconscious craft horrifying dreams to drop into sleeping minds, and then feast on the terror those dreams evoke. This scheme goes back 15,000 years, to the dawn of human history. It was created by a sort of super-archon who claims to be the Demiurge of ancient Persian myth.

Once Larry learns how to destroy archons instead of merely banishing them from dreams, this architect of all nightmares hunts Larry down and demands that Larry stop destroying the monster’s archon servants. Thus begins an escalating conflict that draws in a bored title-search agent, a witch and a lightworker, two teenage prodigies, a modern-day cult practicing ancient Persian death magick, dream mechas a quarter-mile high, and a very very large number of dogs.

Katanagatari #4: Sword Tale – Nisio Isin

From the pen of the author of the legendary MONOGATARI novels comes another unique offering, available in English for the first time! The basis of an animated series, KATANAGATARI brings to life a swordless “swordsman” and a self-described “schemer” who embark on a quest to obtain twelve peculiar masterpiece blades. Unveiling the truth about the legendary katanas and their creator as part of a gorgeous tapestry of fates that vie to upend history itself, this hardcover edition, featuring a gatefold color insert, beautiful interior art, and copious bilingual footnotes, is the last of a quartet collecting a best-selling series from the former homeland of samurais and ninjas. Brimming with action, romance, and unexpected wisdom, often as tongue-in-cheek as The Princess Bride, and shot through with ninjas, samurais, and secret moves, Sword Tale is Musashi for a new generation and a gift for any fan of adventure.

The Lion and the Unicorn (Ark Royal #15) – Christopher Nuttall

The war isn’t going well.

In five years of heavy fighting, humanity and its alien allies have steadily been pushed back towards Earth, towards the very heart of humanity itself. The virus is steadily wearing the defences down, mounting campaign after campaign to infect and enslave every other alien race. The only hope rests with newer and better weapons, with technology that may turn the tide, but can the weapons and starships be deployed in time?

HMS Lion and HMS Unicorn are two new ships, designed to take the war to the enemy and tip the balance of power in humanity’s favour. But with untested technology, clashes between their commanding officers and trouble below decks, they may find themselves facing more than they can handle …

… And the odds of coming home are very low.

Mist Dragon (The Dragon Misfits #5) – D. K. Holmberg

The dragon misfits are the key to saving the dragons of Lorach but they must act before a stranger destroys them.

Jason has secured a tentative peace for Dragon Haven. With his control over illusion, and the Lorach threat thwarted for now, his time is spent preparing for the next attack, knowing the Dragon Souls will not be easily stopped.

An old ally to Dragon Haven returns, but Jason questions his motives—along with his techniques. Now Jason must choose whether to stop the Dragon Souls or save them.

Stopping Lorach for good might mean destroying the captured dragons. It’s a choice Jason fears to make, but doing otherwise means betraying those who have come to rely upon him.

The Soldier: The X-Ship – Vaughn Heppner

After endless years of fighting in a galaxy-wide war, the most decorated super-soldier of the Old Federation was granted leave, sliding into a stasis tube aboard a sleeper ship. The ship never reached its port, while the soldier woke up a thousand years later on an operating table.

The Old Federation was gone, most planets hurled back into the Stone Age. A devastated Earth used spies instead of spaceships to compete against the tougher richer worlds.

The Director of Earth had doctors suppress the super-soldier’s memories, giving him an undercover identity and mission: grab advanced technology from a prohibited planet before anyone else could and bring it back to Earth.

The soldier turned spy felt desperately lost, alone and out of place. There were no familiar faces. But an intense sense of duty drove him headlong into danger. And yet…and yet…there was something more, something missing that he increasingly wanted to know.

So began The Soldier’s odyssey in a future time that would change the destiny of the universe.

The Stars Asunder (The Aryshan War #2) – Jon del Arroz

A deep conspiracy upends a civilization…

…which could cost the lives of billions.

The war rages on between Earth and Arysha, even after the death of a prominent Aryshan leader.

Sean Barrows is sent into Aryshan space a second time to gain details on their fleet movements and objectives, but he has a greater goal in mind: find the love of his life. But a major threat looms for everyone: a new fleet of Aryshan ships which can go unseen and launch deadly stealth attacks. Can two civilizations survive?

Zero.Hero – J. D. Astra

The greatest Heroes have already fallen…

Now it’s up to Claire and her ragtag crew of Zeroes to save the city.

Low-ranked contractors Claire, Elise, Norah, and Piper dream of making it to the top twenty with the Stewards of Light, but their weird RPG powers have them trapped near the bottom instead. Balancing college, part-time jobs, and family matters leaves the girls without much time to fight crime and grind out the experience they need to climb the ranks.

When a new threat emerges, the gamer girls are left standing in a city turned upside down with no hero to save them. The underclassmen are outclassed, but they’re also the only ones who can stop the spread of chaos. Claire and her friends will have to unravel the mess with clever teamwork and determination, and find the top-rank heroes in themselves to save the city before it falls into darkness.

Wretched Son – Jon Mollison

The hum of rubber tires on hot and dangerous roads.

The white dotted line between life and death.

A young boy’s fight to chart a route to manhood.

Take a ride through a different sort of apocalypse. A world on the verge of forging a better tomorrow, or repeating all the same old mistakes.

And the fate of the world to come rests on the shoulders of a young boy as uncertain of his future as the world in which he fights to survive.

Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 29 August, 2020 published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[grumpyplum-cosplay]

Such a cute gingerbread house!!! The guy is kinda cute too ;) ;) It's good to see IRL post from cosplayers, it's almost like seeing a different side of them. Excited for the 2018 line up!

LISTEN HE IS SO ADORABLE!!! He's like a doll, I love getting to put him in makeup and costumes and he's always down to be dressed up in anything. If you want to see more of him, he's more active on Facebook under Trifecta Cosplay or Instagram under trifectacosplay. His fb is pretty strictly cosplay, and therefore not as active, but his ig is spammed with selfies of whatever pretty often. We will also be doing /something/ together at Kami next month! Currently maybe Katanagatari, Snow White with Red Hair, Gatchaman Crowds, or Problem Children are Coming from Another World. Ooooooor a million other things because we can't decide on anything! I'll probably post some in-progress stuff when we decide, but for now I'm just working on a mimikyu hoodie for me and a Christmas version of Joseph Joestar for him. I'm also glad you liked my non-cosplay post! I originally thought I should leave this blog to ONLY cosplay photos or posts about cosplay, but I realized that I actually like it when cosplayers post cute things from their actual lives too, and I'm always dying to see what they look like outside of cosplay, so maybe I'll do a moderate amount of other things. My care for organization is also dwindling, so I may just post a bit of whatever here and there!

[horrible-monstrosity]

Continuing Katanagatari, it's like each and every episode has something sublimely, transcendentally wrong with it. Just to pull a few bits from my notes-

ep 2- The girl sets upon the guy for being "weird" because of the outfits he picked out but then immediately calls him boring because he doesn't have... any weird traits. UHH OK

ep 3- Immediately the gril goes full fucking retard and the guy is just infinitely capable of putting up with it

4- Putting aside a... whoooole lotta things about the main plot of this episode...

The "you should have seen it" joke at the end... hey guess what, they fucking ruin it by fucking talking about bullshit for a full five fucking minutes and running it into the fucking ground. Nothing interesting even fucking happened that we're told about, just a lotta random generic "oh then his sword got really long!!" boilerplate single-trait shite. At least come up with some interesting fucking ideas Nisio you fucking hack Worst part is, they actually had a nice play making the guy they killed offscreen say one vague thing that stuck with them afterwards. It subverts the "take our word for it" gag by having something actually important come out of the comedically irrelevant events being skipped over- but, since it's just one vague line you don't lose anything by hearing it only in recap, and in fact that strengthens it since it really shows it stuck with them without having to repeat it... but nope lol This entire sequence also highlights something that seems to be wrong with the entire show throughout- the tone of speaking never changes. Everything is delivered in the same breathless "look at how many extra words I can use to say all of this thing" manner. The pair barely shift tone when they go from recapping the exciting battle to wondering over this one unsettling thing he said that'd been bothering the two of them enough to stick with them through all the flashy hyper-interesting excitement. Whatever the fuck it was he said, I've already forgotten. Shows how well executed this was, huh?...

5- Guy has captured all the katanamons so far without taking even a scratch... except you know those shuriken-kunais in the first episode they went out of their way to point out even though it was fucking stupid. Remember when I complained about that?

6- The gril cries about being to blame for guy's broken arm even though she had nothing to do with it because look how sad and sympathetic she is... ignoring that she worked him until he collapsed with frostbite earlier and slapped him around while he was down. And then later she tries to punch his broken arm, because she's an unlikable crazy bitch, I guess.

7- holy shit what the fuck happened to the art quality where the fuck did the shading go This style almost looks good when they're actually moving, but for the most part they just fucking stand around talking and telling us things rather than actually showing, as fucking usual. Plus the fact the art wasn't like this from the start just makes it look like real shit. Then it suddenly turn into a renPy project with everyone just being character art assets with a few expressions standing around facing the viewer and then it's they wacky quacky rpg version of a scene we saw before with funny vidya music what the fuc hppene i feel like i'm tripping balls are we supposed to take this shit seriously or not

Nisio Isin or whatever the fuck his name is needs to be thrust into the fires of fucking Mordor