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blade-liger-4ever · 8 months ago

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Why I feel Jack Darby isn't like Orion Pax/Optimus Prime

This is probably not gonna do me any favors in the wider Transformers community, but that's fine; I don't want to be in the good graces of half those people. Besides, I've grown to really dislike Jack over the years, and now that there's a new TF film that actually shows us Optimus and Megatron's past that has everyone cheering, I can actually cite that film in my argument should I encounter any whiners.

Fair warning, this will not be in Jack's favor.

So, as we see of him in Transformers: Prime, Jack had a really poor life. His dad is missing for reasons unknown, his mother is working herself to the bone to keep the roof over their heads, and Jack himself is working a horrid job to try and lift some of the burden from her shoulders. A standard modern day life for teenage boys, right? Oh, and don't forget him going all gaga over prissy cheerleader Sierra; that's of course the icing on the cake of this cut and dry trope, because the loser boy has to have a thing for the social climber girl who he can't recognize as trouble.

However, when he crashes into the Autobot-Decepticon War, Jack is adamant against getting involved. He whines about his new lot in life, complains that he just wants "a normal life", and overall is ungrateful to the Autobots that saved his skin a short time ago. Yes, he pulled through in the five part premiere and did so at other points in the first and even second seasons - but those were all life or death situations.

Every other time, Jack caved to peer pressure and stayed inside the lines. He never stood up to the school bully, let himself get embarrassed by said bully in front of Sierra, and then broke his deal with Arcee by going to an underground race. Heck, if you ask me, the only reason he helped save the bully in that episode was because Jack didn't want to have a dead guy on his conscience. Sure he said "it's the right thing", but where was that nobility when you were ogling your crush throughout the episode, hm?

And to say that he's like Orion Pax after all of the above is an insult to Orion and Optimus' integrity. Can you truly see Optimus whining over his lot in life, being spiteful and rude to guys who were mean to him specifically and not his friends, or just losing brain cells when a pretty girl is involved and getting himself into trouble in a misguided attempt to impress her?

No.

Orion/Optimus would never do that. He'll take the hits to himself and make the best of it with a smile on his face, he'll fight for his friends rather than himself alone, and even if he's head over heels for Ariel/Elita One, he won't compromise himself or his morals just to impress her. Orion/Optimus is better than that, and would never stoop to such actions.

But you know who would do all of that?

This guy.

As TF One shows, Megatron in his youth was much like - gasp - Jack Darby. They both kept their heads low to avoid further ridicule and pain, they never wandered outside the lines for fear of the unknown/repercussions, and despite advocating for a change or better life, they didn't really lift a finger to do that. They both needed an outside force to push them onto a new path. And they both ended up having a low chance of heroism when there was pressure on them: Jack's was anytime Sierra or Vince the Bully was involved, and Megatron's was when the 'Bot responsible for ruining his life and all of Cybertron's population was at his mercy.

Speaking of, what are the odds Jack would have a similar reaction to meeting his father? Yeah sure, he spared Megatron in S1, but Megatron also taunted him by asking what Optimus' response would be if he killed him. Put Jack in a position where he gets to beat up his dad, and are we sure that Optimus would still have that sway over him?

Just ask Sentinel, he can tell you how well that turned out when Orion Pax tried talking down D-16 - oh wait, you can't, because D-16 killed him.

Honestly, there are far more similarities between Jack and Megatron than Jack and Optimus. I'm tired of Jack getting all the love and being heralded as Orion-like or Optimus-like when he never was. He's far closer to Megatron, and if I'm the only one who can see that, fine. I don't care.

These are my observations, my beliefs, and I'm sticking with them.

Now on the same token (but coming later), Smokescreen actually has more in common with Orion Pax/Optimus Prime, something the new TF flick has shown, even if I disapprove of a chunk of the writing and characterization in it. But, given I'm probably setting some people's hair on fire, I'll leave you alone for now to digest this post.

Good day, and remember:

"Autobots, transform and roll out!"

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chaos0pikachu · 10 months ago

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4 Minutes and the Cinematography of Nipples

I said before that I thought 4 Minutes was pretty instantaneously the best looking BL on the market for 2024 after one episode. Which, not gonna lie, is a pretty big fucking claim. There’s been a lot of BL that’s come out that’s looked good, and I do think there’s been a steady improvement overall in the market in the last few years. Personally I think Japanese and Korean BL have a stronger production quality over a majority of Thai BL but like, if that’s a hot take I guess I prefer my food spicy.

The point being~ if I’m gonna make such a hyperbolic statement, well I better back it up right?

So I’m gonna break down a few scenes from the first episode, what I liked about them, why they worked for me, and why on a technical level I think 4 Minutes has just got it going on.

For better readability you can also check out this essay here.

Sidenote: my google docs kept trying to autocorrect “Bible” to “the Bible” and idk how to teach google I mean the hot Thai actor and not the book of Jesus.

To start, I’m going to break down this scene featuring Great and his nepo baby cat:

I thought starting with this scene would be good because it’s such a low-key scene and honestly making these simplistic scenes visually interesting is very difficult! But if you have the basics down, the foundations of cinematography and film making, these simpler scenes can be really memorable.

Like yeah we’re all gonna remember this scene because shirtless Bible and oh my god Akira!? - I have only recently learned who Akira is; why is this cat getting a bigger bag than me? - but beyond that, what makes it cool to watch? What makes it interesting? What information does it showcase to the audience?

One thing I added to the video was a grid for the rule of thirds.

Rule of thirds is a shot composition technique applied to both film and photography. It’s the grid you see if you film a homevideo and helps a Director and Cinematographer figure out where to place the subject or subjects of the shot. The idea is the gridlines show you where you “should” place the subject(s) of said shot.

Like everything, the rule of thirds is a guideline in filmmaking, not a hard and fast unbreakable rule. Filmmakers like Wes Anderson like to play more with central composition shots, rather than ROT.

Anyway on to the opening shot, right after our credits and we’re moving into the shot.

To start, the first thing I notice is the scene’s color grading. Color grading in film is the manipulation of raw film footage to create specific color tones throughout a project. Sometimes this grading is more pointed and obvious, think The Matrix, while in other films it’s not as obvious but still very prominent, think Killers of the Flower Moon.

It’s not that the before credits scene looks entirely, jarringly different from the opening scene, but the hospital scene is surrounded by whites and blue tones, it’s darker, and only a single source of light exists. It gives the entire scene a much more frantic, uneasy aesthetic but it’s not so far off from the darker muted tones of the next scene that it feels jarring or out of place.

The second big thing I noticed in the episode is the use of aspect ratio. I’m not 100% sure what aspect ratio the production used exactly, but the use of widescreen as opposed to full screen in my opinion, gives the episode a more cinematic feel to it in comparison to other Thai BLs.

Example, if you look at Century of Love (2024) it appears to be filmed in the standard full screen - which I believe is 16:9? - while 4 Minutes is widescreen (thus the black bars at the top and bottom). Widescreen can give a show a more “movie like” quality to it which is part of the vibes I get from 4 Minutes.

(source)

Onto Great’s actual introduction scene.

We’re not starting the shot with static movement, but with a camera panning right. I’ve talked about camera panning and such in BL before and it’s something I’ve found doesn’t happen as often as it should. Which is a shame! It’s such a simple technique but it adds so much.

Imagine if we entered the frame with a static center shot, and then a cut to Great sleeping and turning off his alarm clock, and then another cut to above the bed. Think about how much more boring that could be visually.

Instead, we enter the scene with movement, panning over and creating some interesting visual framing.

So here’s our opening shot, do you notice anything interesting? To start, what I like about this shot other than the panning movement in, is that we don’t see Great’s face yet. In fact we don’t see his face in full until about 30 seconds into the scene. This builds anticipation, yeah we all know what Bible looks like, but for the audience who doesn’t this helps build anticipation.

Who is this character? What does he look like? What’s his deal?

It also engages the audience more, if you notice part of the composition of the shot has Great in the mid-ground slightly blurred out, while the foreground emphasizes the things on his desk. He’s distant from us, the audience, sleeping off his hangover not yet ready to “join” the world yet.

Here’s another two more things I like about this shot:

Lines.

Using lines and shapes can make a scene more visually interesting and invoke different feelings to the viewer. In this shot, I get a sense of symmetry, the camera panning right, lightly drags across the screen alongside the lines below and above Great, almost creating a frame within a frame effect. As if Great is boxed into a clock in and of itself.

You can also see the use of balance in the scene as well, connecting back to that visual theme of symmetry as well as blocking our view of Great’s face. The lava lamb and champagne bottle are almost the same height, which helps create balance in the shot. The champagne bottle informs us Great has been drinking or does drink since it’s positioned so close to his bed, whilst also continuing to hide his face away from the viewer.

I also like that the lava lamp is a bright spot of color. The tone of the scene is mostly muted greens, and gray, but the bright orange lava lamp and even the pink champagne bottle draw our attention but don’t overwhelm us either. It provides the scene with some warmth but doesn’t offset the overall tone of the color grading.

And then, the last bit of this shot:

We have Great knocking over the champagne bottom, and turning off his alarm clock. Notice that the alarm clock and the champagne bottle hit those ROT dots almost exactly. There’s also the use of lines by the length of Great’s arm - I just forgot to add a line I’m a failure, a fake, fml - we see him knock over the bottle, and then we follow the line of his arm directly to the alarm clock which is also a shape, a circle.

I like that they used a clock with a specific notable shape, since by the end of this scene the clock is relevant to the story as a whole. Using a shape makes the clock more visually noticeable and memorable to the audience.

So in the next cut we’re above Great - just like Great’s gonna be above Tyme, fuckin hell I’m corny - in a medium-full shot and there’s a couple things I really like here.

I really like the use of lines here with the bed going in one direction but Great’s body going another. It’s disconcerting, and off kilter a bit.

The use of patterns plus the opposing symmetry, whereas in the previous shot the lava lamp and champagne bottle were providing balance, here one side of the bed is patterned, while the other isn’t. This creates a sense of imbalance and makes the shot more visually interesting.

This medium-full shot at a high angle makes Great smaller, and continues to showcase his dishevelment, keeping him distant from the world itself. Also notice the lack of color here as well.

What could this say about Great as a character? Or his story?

So this next cut is the one that actually inspired me to write this essay to begin with and know what I’ma eat some crow here. I originally said it was a great ROT shot but I was wrooooooong. It’s definitely a center composition shot.

Notice as well, the bed itself is its own shape - rectangle - center in the frame, and yet the shot almost looks unbalanced again because of that singular patterned rug. It’s the only pattern in the entire shot, not even Great’s pillows have noticeable patterns on them.

The above view camera angle in a full shot creates almost an omnipresent feel, as if the audience - or something else? - were looking down upon Great. Whose face we still haven’t seen! It makes him smaller, less powerful, and almost vulnerable. Shots like this are often used in horror films like James Wan’s Malignant (2021) where the horror spector will be looking down above the would-be victim.

Another thing I like about this scene though is we have Great moving. It would be simpler and easier to have his phone just by his alarm clock, or under his pillow, but think about how much more visually interesting it is that he has to move down the bed and reach for his phone. It creates action in an actionless low stakes scene.

And now, 30 whole seconds in and we’ve finally seen Great’s face!

Fun fact, with the ROT grid the gridlines fall right across Bible’s nipples. That’s not a film analysis, just something I noticed entirely intentionally. Thanks Madam Director Ning Bhanbhassa Dhubthien.

The actual shot is in center composition again, as Great rolls over and reveals his face the camera begins to zoom in.

This creates movement in the scene instead of leaving the camera to statically observe it’s now, finally, inviting the audience to meet Great. Pulling us in towards him whereas before we were kept at a distance. Great’s awake and, well as ready to meet the world as somebody with a raging hangover can be.

I also like how Bible is moving constantly in this scene; he rubs his eyes and nose, he twitches his fingers, titles his head back and forth, etc it’s nothing revolutionary but it’s appreciated.

When the scene cuts, we get this shot:

I didn’t put the red dot on his nipple, it just landed there. This is all Madam Director Ning chepie.

But you can see how Great’s body is landing on all those gridlines pretty solidly. Also in the background we see his alarm clock again, a bright blurred circle in the distance. I also like the angle of this shot, as it creates depth in the frame, with Great’s head being in the foreground his lower body in the mid-ground and the background blurred out.

What follows is Akira appearing in frame. Which was really difficult to capture so I don’t have a screenshot. But what I really like is Akira entering the frame out of focus. They could have just cut to Akira, but instead they opted for Akira to enter the frame which is more interesting.

When we do cut, Akira is firmly on one of those dots so we don’t miss them in the frame. I think it’s also interesting that we’ve pulled out again, into a mid-full shot, hanging above Great, and we see that clear symmetry line again between the patterned rug and the regular carpet.

I also really love that when we got to Great sweet-talking Akira and feeding them we’re not just doing a cut, we’re panning downwards which continues to add movement to the scene. And we get that moneyed sponsor shot!

Durex can’t pay for everything okay?

So in the final bit of this scene we get focus on Great, who’s in focus, before he gets up and leaves the frame where the camera then focuses on the clock behind him.

See how in the first frame the background is all blurred out, but once Great walks out of the frame - again, great that he walks out, movement!! Y’all don’t understand how boring 1000 Stars was for me to watch because of the lack of this stuff okay? - and then the focus shifts to the clock. Which is round.

God I know that sounds so dumb, but imagine the clock without that ring light bit on it, it’s just a tiny little rectangle. Not as fun or interesting to look at right? Or as noticeable especially from a distance?

This shift in focus also tells us “this is important” whatever “this” is. The subject of the shot goes from Great to the alarm clock but they are positioned as equally important. We’re meant to pay attention to this seemingly innocuous item, which we learn later in the episode is time. We’re meant to remember and note that time will be important to the story - I know with a title like 4 Minutes you’d fucking hope time would be important but have y’all ever read Youtube comments? It’s rough out there for visual comprehension okay?

So all in all this scene is only 1 minute and 40 seconds give or take. It’s very short, but I don’t think it was boring at all. I think it’s a really solid introduction to a main character. Think, Korn didn’t get this much time to showcase his introduction, his scene is shorter - though also well done - which showcases which character is more of a story priority.

This scene eases the audience into the story, inviting us to wake up into the world like Great is. It uses techniques like lines, shapes, symmetry, color and focus to make what could be a very boring scene into an interesting one.

There’s so so much I probably and certainly missed, I’m far from an expert, but I hope I was able to articulate what I liked about this scene, and why I think it looks good.

Stay tuned for more if I can manage to focus long enough to breakdown more scenes lol

Also red dots on Bible’s nipples are just funny to me it be what it be.

Further Reading:

Composition in Cinematography / THE LAST OF US

Center-Framing vs Chaos-Cinema: Mad Max vs Transformers

Camera Framing: Shot Composition & Cinematography Techniques Explained [The Shot List, Ep 2]

The Ultimate Guide to Camera Shots (50+ Types of Shots and Angles in Film)

Color Grading 101 - Everything You Need to Know

Mixing Film And Digital Footage: Killers Of The Flower Moon

In Praise of Subtle Cinematography

#4 minutes #4 minutes the series #bible sumettikul #4minutes #jesbib #chaos pikachu speaks #pikachu's bl film series

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katzske · 11 months ago

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Thoughts on Earthspark Season 2 (first half)

Spoiler Free:

I must admit I’m dissatisfied.

The animation and rendering definitely looks cheaper. Sometimes it feels like frames are missing, animations not polished, scenes not fully rendered. 2d and 3d poorly blends. It’s quite noticeable unfortunately. Characters also do the TFP Megatron stare now.

That being said, time was taken to revisit old models of characters and give them a new appearance. (4 i’ve noticed) It makes sense given a lot has changed during one year time skip.

The writing often feels either like exposition dumping or naruto filler episodes. I was never at the edge of my seat even during the climax. I ended up skipping through episodes due to the lack of relevant plot information.

Something ES managed to maintain were carefully composed shots that make great still images. While that’s nice for screenshots and redraws, I also feel like it’s the only unique aspect of ES’ animation style that remained. The rest, as previously mentioned, has lost quality.

Character Details I’ve noticed and want to talk about (spoilers ahead)

half of season 2 part 1 is filler. optimus trailer episode, great america with cosmos, a pachycephalosaurus-truck fighting mushrooms, hashtag taking ten years to dispose of hard drives…. each episode did have a few minutes of either cute or important moments. but the majority is a waste of time.

I was hoping that we would learn more about the decepticons. now that they’re free, what are they up to? how are their dynamics? how did season 1 finale change their perception on things? would they try to convince the terrans THEY are the good guys? nothing like that though.

There is no satisfying character development for starscream. ES Starscream was perfect to explore a more neutral version of him, who does not do bad things out of pleasure, but due to necessity; following his desire to be free. In the show he mentions he wanted to get rid of his oppressors (in his eyes autobots and humans), but a real “bruh” moment was when he told Hashtag the only reason he opened up to her last time was to tell her “take care of yourself first”. It completely disregards the fact he came to help in the season 1 finale after reflecting on Hashtags words. It also aggravates me that the writing could have been a very easy fix. “hey i’m not being selfish by destroying this town. im doing this for the decepticons, we have lived under the control of the autobots and then of humans. this needs to stop, we deserve freedom and i will do anything it takes.”

the show managed to establish some friction between starscream and shockwave but for deception standards it was very tame. overall i think it was written okay; he purposely let the Terrans escape with the fragments, and he bailed on Starscream once he went bonkers. I hope that he gets to be a Decepticon leader in the second half; i don’t think we have seen that in any TF TV show before. i also like that his antennae and eye color give away his emotions now.

i feel like the autobots are treated even worse than the decepticons this season ngl. they merely exist; and when they do have the spotlight it’s often for comedy.

why the fuck did shockwave not wait for hashtag to just dump the hard drives and leave. if someone walked up to me yelling “give me your trashbag” as i’m trying to dispose of it i’d be weirded out too lol.

i hope the chaos terrans don’t return. aftermath imo was, plot wise, redundant. spitfire at least was interesting and had an impact.

i wish there were more interesting fights like in season 1 instead of, oh no they’re hitting the trailer with sticks, oh no we are an abomination of dinosaur and vehicle for what feels like 15mins straight. i miss seeing soundwave slay.

#transformers #transformers earthspark #earthspark season 2 #shockwave #starscream

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haysaca · 4 months ago

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Girl I know you're having a breakdown but I can't help but think of this meme in this scene.

Anyways I finally finally finished the new story. I can see why a lot of people didn't like it but eh it felt pretty standard for me. I think it just has some pacing and focus problems.

Can't say much for how Brazil was represented but it definitely wasn't given a lot of focus (granted, compared to Rayashki this IS a main story so it had to be sidelined somewhat). The main focus seems to be the discovery of post-storm expys and Igor's betrayal, but even then I think the focus was split too much (like the betrayal could've been more effective with one or two more episodes focused on Lopera and her thoughts about them, and Anjo's release didn't really feel as impactful as I expected it to be).

Overall it kinda felt more like the first bites before getting into the juicy parts of a burger, you're getting something but not the best part, similar to how I felt about the Apeiron chapter in all honesty.

Anyways that's all for my ramble, I'm gonna do Anjo's story next which I heard was actually good! Then maybe I'll finally get to Semmelweis' and do the SoD expansion.

#reverse 1999 #r1999 #Lopera #reverse 1999 meme #rambles/analysis idk anymore #anjo nala was also singing during this scene so it fuels my delusions

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scribbledghost · 3 months ago

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hiii I really like your inhuman vessels, it’s kinda different from what we usually see and I like it so much!!

I was wondering how the inhuman vessels would react if reader was depressed or was going through a tough time?

hope you have a good day <33

I'm glad you asked, because I really needed to write about this today.

Got kinda long, so I'll put it under a cut.

I like to think they all can tell what's wrong without you having to really explain. Telepathic connections have their perks, after all. So when your melancholy and ache and pain creeps into their own subconscious, they're all on high alert almost immediately.

Who comes to you first really depends on what they can sense you need right now. Vessel appears if you need a soft, gentle presence. II appears if you need someone to offer solutions and practical advice. III appears if you need someone lighthearted who can make you laugh. And IV appears if you need a distraction, someone to tell you stories or pull you up to dance with him.

Granted, that's just who finds you first. All four of them will eventually make their way to you.

Their primary objective is making sure you know how loved you are. How much you mean to them, how much better their existences are now that you're in them. I can see a lot of cuddling happening here, either in a big pile or just one of them holding you while the others stay close. If you cry during this, that's okay. They'll be more than happy to keep you close until you're ready.

If it's a low mood, they'll stay like this and bring you whatever you need until you feel better. If it's something more chronic like a depressive episode, they'll switch tactics just a little bit.

If it's long-lasting, they'll help you do anything you need help doing. Need a bath? They'll gladly carry you to the tub and help. Need food and water? They'll bring it. Need some sunshine? They'll gently help you outside for a quick walk around the garden.

I headcanon that Sleep found Vessel when he was at his lowest, so he's very well-versed on how you're feeling and how difficult it is to overcome. The others understand as well, for Sleep tends to gravitate towards those who are desperate, but Vessel knows depression a bit more intimately I think.

It's not an uncommon occurrence for one (or multiple) of them to sort of... siphon off your pain and take it upon themselves. Vessel is particularly prone to doing this. All of them know it's important to let you feel what you feel, but none of them can stand seeing you so upset. The least they can do is take some of your mental pain for themselves, if just to take some of the edge off for you.

Overall, their paramount concern is taking care of you during your tough spot. They won't leave you alone - at least, not if they can help it, and not for very long if they can't - and at least one vessel is always with you if you'll allow it. Granted, they still have standard worshipper duties to attend to in the name of Sleep, but they'll do everything they can to ensure it can be done with only 3 of them so one can stay with you. More than once, Vessel has filled in for III or IV during musical rituals, and all of them have taken over the others' tasks so they don't have to go anywhere.

Whatever you need, all you need to do is ask (either out loud or by projecting your want to one of them telepathically). They will all move heaven and earth to get you whatever you desire, if only to see you smile.

#im really glad you like the inhuman vessels though!#they're really fun to write for and worldbuild for #I hope you have a good day too anon 💖#sleep token x reader #vessel x reader #ii x reader #iii x reader #iv x reader #polyvessels #ghost scribbles

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miraculouslbcnreactions · 2 months ago

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Since canon has unfortunately created a situation that hinders Marinette’s overall growth and produces new unrelated flaws, what do you consider her “core character” flaws to be?

To answer this we need to first discuss the concept of flaws and how they're not always a thing that the person has to overcome. We'll then discuss some options for Marinette keeping in mind that adaptation is an art, not a science. There is no one true Marinette.

On Why Flaws Can Be Good

When you hear the term "character flaw," there's a good chance that you assume that we're discussing a trait that the character needs to fix or a trait that will be the character's downfall (their "fatal flaw" in technical terms). This is perfectly reasonable. That's the main way that these terms get used, but there is a third option. Characters can have flaws that they never overcome without said flaws holding them back from victory. The lack of growth won't even make the victory feel hollow to the audience because the audience won't feel like the character needs to grow for the victory to be earned.

To explain what I mean, we're going to quickly discuss one of my favorite shows. Don't worry, we won't get into spoilers. I'm just going to give you the basic premise and discuss why that allows the writer to tell a great serialized story where most of the main characters are stagnant. Any character arcs you get are minor ones involving side characters. We'll then relate that back to Miraculous.

The show in question is an anime call Dr. Stone and the premise is as follows: on June 3rd 2019 a green light enveloped the planet Earth. That light turned every human on the planet into a stone statue. Several thousand years go by without anyone breaking free. This allows all of human civilization to rot and decay away leaving nothing but the stone statues that were once human beings. Then, in the year 5738, a guy named Senku breaks free of his stone prison and vows to save all of humanity through the awesome power of science.

This could lead to a story about an arrogant man who thinks that he doesn't need anyone else so long as he has science only for him to learn that he's wrong and he does need others, but that's not what Dr Stone is about. Right from the start, Senku is fully aware that he can't do it all alone. He is always willing to admit to his own flaws and seek help when he needs it. The character that you meet in episode one is basically unchanged as of season four. The same goes for most of the other characters you meet along the way.

Why does that work? Because major character arcs aren't required for good story telling. They're important to many stories, but not all stories. It all depends on what the story is trying to do.

In the case of Dr. Stone, giving Senku an arc about learning to appreciate others would arguably hold the story back because there's already an insane amount of work that he needs to do. He is literally starting with nothing but natural resources and working his way up to modern technology. That's enough of a challenge without slapping on personal growth as a bonus challenge. The story simply doesn't have time for Senku to have a journey of self discovery nor does it need one to be good. That just isn't the kind of story it's telling.

This doesn't mean that Senku is perfect. He has no tact, questionable morals, and is your standard physically weak nerd who has no stamina. These flaws weren't introduced to hold him back, though. They're introduced to make him human and to allow the story to introduce a wider cast of characters who have the strengths he lacks. The first one you meet is Taiju, Senku's best friend. Taiju has none of Senku's genius, but he's physically strong and has incredibly stamina, allowing him to balance out one of Senku's biggest flaws. This is where we circle back to Miraculous.

How Flawed Should Marinette Be?

What flaws you give Marinette and how big a deal they are all depend on what kind of story you're trying to tell. Do you want to tell an episodic show where no one changes outside of the occasional special? Do you want to tell a serialized story where characters are allowed to have arcs? Do you want Marinette to be like Senku - flawed but not in a fatal way that requires fixing - or do you want to give her flaws that truly require character growth? It's entirely up to you. In fact, a story that goes the episodic route and/or the Senku route can give her the exact same flaws as a story that goes the serialized "fix her" route.

To explain what I mean, let's list the three traits that I consider Marinette's core "flaws" based on her writing in the first two seasons:

Marinette has a tendency to overthink things if you give her too much time to think

Marinette is more of a reactive thinker than a proactive thinker

Marinette is a fixer, not a listener. She wants to solve your problems not be your shoulder to cry on

If you're telling a story where Marinette is a solo hero, those first two are massive flaws that she needs to overcome. If you're telling a story about a team of heroes, then these are just the reasons that Marinette needs a team. The team path is my preference, so I wouldn't change a thing about her as that would remove her need for a team. At most, she'll get an arc about owning her flaws and learning when she needs to let others take charge.

This can be something as simple as her letting Chat Noir be the one to handle comforting akuma victims because she kind of sucks at it or something as complex as letting Alya lead the investigation to find the butterfly because Marinette's overthinking tendencies make it impossible for her to come up with a good way to do that. You're still having Marinette's flaws drive the story, just not via a character arc. Instead, it's all about relationship building and showing why Marinette can't do it all.

This is in direct contrast to Adrien who should get some character growth because his focus is more on himself while Marinette gets to focus on the team. His flaws and needs are the main driving force on the civilian side of things while Marinette's flaws and needs are the main driving force on the hero side of things, it's just that Adrien's issues lead to personal growth while Marinette's lead to team growth. And note that I'm taking high level stuff here. Marinette can have civilian conflicts and Adrien can have hero ones, they just won't be common.

There are other elements of Marinette's character that can be flaws if you want them to be or you can just reframe them into interesting story complications. My personal favorite to reframe is her inability to confess, turning it from a flaw to a logical choice that she doesn't really need to overcome, making it fine if she never confesses because the lack of confession wasn't a weakness.

I discuss this in more detail here, but if Marinette's crush was on Chat Noir instead of Adrien and she was keeping it a secret for the sake of not messing up their partnership, then it's no longer a flaw. There is solid logic behind her choice. It's selfless for her to put Paris above her crush.

Marinette has other flaws we could talk about, but they didn't come into play until the later seasons and I think they were generally terrible choices, so I wouldn't add them. You don't need to make her controlling or overly obsessed with keeping Chat Noir in the dark. Those were just a delaying tactics added so the story never ends and I like to let stories end by limiting the unnecessary complications. I would give Marinette a mini arc about being reluctant to take on the Ladybug mantel, but that's just a minor starting arc to have some early story tension. I wouldn't make it a big deal.

Some Quick Final Notes re Dr. Stone: let this be proof to you that a show need not be perfect for me to love it. Dr. Stone has a few plot beats that need reworking, but I don't care because I love the characters and the main plot so much that I'll happily tolerate the flaws. Dr. Stone is a TV-14 show about pure science and yet it does the power of love and friendship a thousand times better than Miraculous could ever dream.

Dr. Stone never does the cheesy yet fun power of love where it acts like a magic force, but there are tons of moments that rely on the characters having total faith in each other for the plans to work. Bonds of familial, romantic, and platonic love are the core to everything that happens and I love it! No one type of love is shown to be better than the others. They all have their place. It's part of why I picked it as my example!

The other reason was that it's serialized and, since I usually focus on the episodic side of this writing issue, I wanted to acknowledge that serialized shows can have stagnant characters and be good. It just depends on what the conflicts are and how the characters are written. If you don't want to feature character growth, then don't write characters who clearly need growth!

#marinette deserves better #anon ask #I try to only use kids shows as example to be fair to canon but I couldn't resist getting to gush here #Since I just needed an easy to explain example and not something I was saying Miraculous should be #I don't actually watch that much family media no matter what this blog implies

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ocelotlesbian · 3 months ago

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I WATCHED THE NEW EPISODE, TIME FOR MY REVIEW!!!

now, the standards for this episode are very high, but i also don't wanna be toooo critical since i'm honestly just happy it's been made at all!! so i'm gonna start off by saying the hananene scenes were absolutely amazing, that's probably where a lot of the budget went.

HOWEVER, that also means that the animation quality in the mitsukou section was... a little spotty.... it was still good overall, don't get me wrong, but still!! there were a few stills where i just thought "hmm that doesn't look good..." which is disappointing, to say the least. but what i really think makes up for it is kobayashi's vocal performance as mitsuba!! as always, he was absolutely amazing in his role, and the crying voice for mitsuba towards the end made me start to cry as well with how good it was ( ；∀；) and hey, they didn't cut anything out!! that was a big worry for a lot of people, so i'm glad basically everything was fit in, even if the pacing ended up sliiightly wonky as a result. so overall, i'm happy!!! *THE* MITSUKOU SCENE GOT ANIMATED, EVERYONE!!! REJOICE!!!

my final rating for this episode is an 8/10!! now i must go and perform my civic duty of screenshotting every mitsuba frame. GOOTBYE

#ocelotrambles #tbhk #jshk #mitsuba #mitsukou

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vaguelyaperson · 5 months ago

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the more i think about it, the more i like that izuku becomes a teacher as a quirkless adult, and that he supposedly never takes on full-time hero work

... it just wouldn't feel like such an odd ending if it wasn't such a sharp turn from the themes of the story.

it would beat a dead horse to get into such themes: the insistence that izuku could be a [pro] hero too, save to win win to save (implication of bkdk as hero duo), go beyond to achieve your dreams, ect. others have commented on this eloquently enough. i want to contemplate how 430/431 are a valid ending... if the story matched the conclusion.

bnha has themes that could've been developed to make 430/431 make more sense. there's the excellent theme that average citizens can be heroes through 'mundane' actions, and a suggestion that an ideal future would be one where heroes have too much free time (ie, pro heroes overall would be a defunded profession). i personally adore these themes, and was disappointed that the ending didn't explore more of what a better quirk culture should look like beyond 'uraraka reforms quirk education classes.' those themes (plus the commentary on villains) suggested an eventual overhaul of the current quirk culture - which we didn't get. which sucks. because these themes, properly developed, would make PERFECT sense of a protagonist who decides to be an 'average citizen.'

yet these ideas weren't quite attributed to izuku's character. he's the protagonist. he was set up for the big flashy future, right? which is why it feels like such a sudden slap to so many fans that he was supposedly content working as a teacher for eight years, that he wouldn't jump at the opportunity to become a full time hero.

now, a good bit of this can be attributed to story medium. bnha was skewed in the beginning to function as a standard shounen (boy has powers, boy works hard, boy achieves big dreams), and that it wasn't until about the last hundred chapters or so that horikoshi dug his heels in about writing the story he wants to write. so clearly if the story's endgoal changed in his mind (which stories often do, and manga is extremely restrictive in that an author can't rewrite the full story to make the plot consistent), then he only had so much leeway to lead to the eventual ending of a quirkless citizen izuku without taking the hardest turn from the standard shounen tone at the beginning.

but even then. even then, that's about a hundred chapters that bnha could've introduced the idea that IZUKU could be a hero in ways unrelated to professional heroism. that it's so unhealthy for this kid to sacrifice so much of himself that it would actually be better for him to pursue a different career.* or that it was even a valid career path for someone who initially dreamed of being a pro hero.

like, take lemillion; izuku's literal mirror. the story could've kept togata functionally quirkless, could've explored the full grief of such a big dream lost, could've explored the sheer injustice that this KID was put on the front-line and thus his quirk and dream were snatched from him... and then introduced a way that togata could use his skills to help people in a different career.

or take all might; izuku's mentor and cautionary tale. maybe have all might talk to izuku about grappling with being quirkless again. maybe have him find who he is beyond being of service to others (which is clearly these two born-quirkless fuckers dealing with massive self-worth issues, trying to justify their existence with heroics), and find relief in that. maybe have him wonder aloud if it might have been better for him to choose such a profession outright from the beginning, rather than repeatedly almost DIE as a pro-hero. maybe have the two revisit that conversation from the first episode, that being a [quirkless] hero IS dangerous, but that there is genuine fulfillment in other work - as all might has found in teaching.

then when it happens to izuku, it wouldn't be such a shock to the audience. and even if we don't see him change over those eight years of the epilogue, it wouldn't be such a shock that he turns down full-time hero work. we'd get it.

*because continuing off this point: the story very much established that izuku CAN'T be trusted 'unsupervised' as a pro hero. that ofa is almost a curse. how many fuckin fanworks reference an adult izuku who never stops putting himself into harms way, who keeps nearly fuckin dying (or does die) cause he never thinks of himself? the story could've EASILY built on this to the point that it would feel like a blessing that izuku loses ofa and can't become a pro-hero.

(instead of it being played in this.... extremely weird.... grieved not grieved, katsuki's sobbing but izuku 'started out quirkless' so it's fine??? like??? the tone??? is in shambles???)

instead, the story said "you don't have to fight alone, izuku, cause your friends are here." most especially that katsuki inserted himself as izuku's primary protector and competitor. that katsuki developed a whole ass power-up that could MATCH ALL FOR ONE'S power, that he CAUGHT UP to izuku as a hero. at large, class a showed the fuck up, more than once, to throw down on izuku's behalf. the story said, yes izuku is recklessly selfless, and ofa only exasperates this, but his friends are so determined to work hard to make sure there's always someone at his back. this will be the new generation of heroes.

... which... should've led to a completely different story conclusion. one that would've been just as valid as 'izuku finds more stability and meaning in being a teacher.' it would just need to be an ending that would have fit the established themes. i would've loved that ending too.

in conclusion! there's more to being a hero than flashy heroic acts. izuku is a selfless maniac who's probably safer in the classroom tbh. manga is a restrictive medium that can't be rewritten into a more consistent plot. nevertheless, given the amount of chapters horikoshi had to play with the story he wanted to tell, there was time to develop pre-existing themes that would better anticipate the conclusion we got. 430 and gods 431 especially - despite being arguably a valid ending for the characters - didn't have to feel like such sharp left turns.

... and despite learning to appreciate izuku turning down katsuki's agency offer, i still don't like 431. lmao

#bnha #mha #bnha 430 #bnha 431 #izuku midoriya #deku #all might #mirio togata #lemillion #katsuki bakugou #bkdk #bnha analysis #unrelated but gods even when rambling on tumblr #i find myself using topic sentences and other thesis shit #are my professors proud of me?#that i'm using these skills to ramble about the blorbos?

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gwenllian-in-the-abbey · 9 months ago

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Not fluent in English.

Please tell me I’m not the the only who noticed that team green characters in the show aren’t allowed to hate team black characters.

Like Aemond can’t even hate Lucerys for cutting his eye and disabled him for life.

And Alicent can’t hate Viserys for marrying and gr*ping her and forcing pregnancies on her, even though he have no intention to name any of their sons his heir, and treating her mostly like a caretaker and concubine rather than his lawful wife and the mother of his legitimate children.

Aegon and Helaena aren’t even allowed to hate Daemon the man who ordered the death of their Son.

Like why??? Why aren’t they allowed to hate them???

Hi aleksandra! You make a good point! I think there are a few things going on here.

For one, I think the writing is incredibly inconsistent across the board this season, and there are a lot of dropped plot threads. Some of it is intentional (like, I do think B&C was deliberately downplayed and undermined so that Alicent could have that Dragonstone scene, more on that in a bit), some of it I think is just bad writing and a kind of ... well, look, I can't speculate as to what goes down in the writer's room and have no idea what their workflow looks like or what processes they follow, but a problem going back to S1 is that characters and dialogue vary a lot from episode to episode. I don't think it's all that normal for a fandom to be concerned ahead of time about which writers will be writing which scenes and which episodes, but with HotD there seem to be huge differences in how each writer interprets the characters. Having worked on OFCIR collaboratively with @aifsaath, we work really hard to make sure the chapters are relatively consistent. I gave our first few chapters to my critique partner for original fiction, a guy who knows my writing inside and out, someone I've worked with for about 6 years now, @theravenpiper, and he could not actually tell which scenes were written by me, and which were written by Aife, which I took as a big complement to our collaborative process, and to our ability to edit to a uniform standard. Now I'm not saying we do it better than the HotD writers, but I do think that there is something missing from their collaborative process that makes the entire thing seem disjointed.

I do not think it is entirely that the whole of team green is not allowed to be angry at team black, although that is part of it, some of it is part of an overall bigger problem where major events are not allowed to resonate across the story, and I chalk some of it up to simple bad writing. Rhaenyra is apparently over Luke's death enough by E3 that she can seek out Alicent for some kind of vague "let's stop this madness" ploy, but still conveniently needs "a son for a son" in E8. Although Rhaenyra is negotiating from a position of power in E8, there was no reason for her to feel so desperate as of E3, when Rook's Rest hasn't even happened yet, that she would set aside her grief and anger and go seek peace. Peace was offered in E10 of season 1 and Rhaenyra turned it down after Luke died, so what has changed besides Rhaenyra's own husband beheading a toddler? Other events happen too and have little or no consequence. Rhaenyra and Mysaria kiss in E6 and it's entirely forgotten by E8, with zero follow up. Criston Cole is brought to his knees by the sight of Aegon lying injured by his dragon, but never even visits his bedside. Gwayne never interacts with anyone aside from Alicent and Criston. Rhaenyra sends her younger children to the Vale and never mentions them again (she is shown looking wistfully at a box of toys), nor does Jace. Laena in a vision berates Daemon for not looking after their girls, but does he ask after them when Broome shows up directly from Dragonstone? I could go on. Events just happening and then never really mattering again is a consistent problem throughout the season, which makes it hard to tell when it is happening deliberately and when it is happening because the writers can't get on the same page.

There are two things I do think are deliberate, however, one of them being the scrubbing of Viserys' image. While audiences loved Paddy's performance, a lot of viewers did pick up on how Viserys played favorites and neglected his sons, and I think when the show decided to switch up Alicent's motivation from "she wants to protect her children and knows they will face the sword if Rhaenyra comes to power" to "she misheard Viserys' last words," they knew that the natural question is, "why should she care about Viserys' last words?" A lot of the immediate feedback about that episode involved how Alicent was stupid for not knowing Otto planned to have Aegon take the throne, and a lot of people didn't think that Alicent (or Aegon for that matter) really believed that Viserys changed his mind, but apparently that was the writers' intention, that Alicent truly believed it and managed to convince Aegon (there's a lot I could say about how they could have included this deathbed misunderstanding into the plot without having it replace all of Alicent's other motivations, but they did not do that). So in order to drive home the point that the whole entire war is being fought due to this misunderstanding, they have to make sure the audience is clear that all of these characters considered Viserys a good king. Even if he was Alicent's rapist. Even if he was a deadbeat dad. Even if he was a terrible husband. We are meant to believe he chose Rhaenyra not because he was playing mindgames or out of guilt over Aemma's death, no we must believe he chose Rhaenyra because he was good and wise and to convince us he was good and wise we have to have the green characters reminding us constantly that things were so much better when Viserys was around, that Aegon is inferior to Viserys, that Viserys' wishes are all that matter. Nevermind that it goes directly against the book, never mind that it's not even a particularly powerful or interesting change, it's what enables Rhaenyra and Alicent's relationship to continue. Because here's the thing-- if Alicent put Aegon on the throne because she felt it was the only way to keep her family safe, and because she feels that law and tradition ARE on her side, and because absolutism isn't good (!!!) then there's no chance for her and Rhaenyra to ever reconcile. These are irreconcilable differences, not misunderstandings. And so the show has to glaze Viserys otherwise the basic reasoning falls apart.

And the second is the events like Luke's death, Blood and Cheese and Rook's Rest come in, events in which the greens or the blacks harm and traumatize each other directly. It is not that the greens are not allowed to hate the blacks, it is that Alicent is not allowed to hate Rhaenyra, and by extension, the people who Alicent cares about are not allowed to hate her (I would argue that Aemond is allowed to hate Luke on screen, he literally murders him, and I don't think the scene with the brothel madame is an expression of true remorse, it's more "I'm kinda sorta sorry there were consequences for my actions."). Alicent cares about Helaena the innocent, and therefore Helaena cannot be allowed to hate Rhaenyra (note Phia Saban's many interviews about how apolotical and neutral Helaena is). Aegon, on the other hand, can be affected by B&C because he is allowed to hate Rhaenyra. In fact, his hate for Rhaenyra puts him at odds with his mother, which is what the show wants. Aegon is gravely injured at Rook's Rest, but good thing Rhaenyra's forces did not cause the injuries, Alicent herself drove him to battle with cruel words, and Aemond burned him, which puts him at odds with Alicent too (and Helaena is allowed to express ire at Aemond by extension). If you look at S2 as an exercise in driving a wedge between Alicent and her family and downplaying what happens to them in order to justify their decision to have Alicent seek out Rhaenyra and surrender Aegon's life, it makes a lot more sense.

The thing is, it still doesn't work. Their efforts are much too transparent and require characters to act in ways that are simply not within the realms of how normal human beings would react to these situations, much less the characters established in S1. There is a twitter user, and I'm so sorry that I can't remember their name at the moment, but I've seen them express the sentiment several times that Alicent's character this season made them aware, in a way that a viewer should never be aware, that these are scripted lines coming out of her mouth. That is, a lot of the characters in S2 do not feel like actual people. Aegon is such a fan favorite this season because he feels real. Alicent garnered legions of fans last season because her struggle felt real, even if we didn't agree with it. She felt like a character who inhabited a quasi-medieval world, bound by restraints we are not bound by, but nevertheless a human with human reactions who had to make difficult choices and persevere through them. And any human would be angry beyond comprehension at Blood and Cheese, would lose all faith in Rhaenyra, would know that there can be no peace if she is ruling with a man that ruthless at her side. If she thinks her sons are devils (and mind, so far as king Aegon's most egregious action is executing a handful of ratcatchers after one of their number murdered his son, whereas Rhaenyra burned about 65 peasants alive in a quasi religious ecstasy-- will Alicent ever find out about that, I wonder?), they are at least the devils she knows. Better they all die than end up in Daemon's hands, surely? And so OP, you're right, they are not allowed to hate each other when naturally you, and many others, feel like they should. That is because they are writer creations who would never do such things as what happen in the books in the first place, acting out plot points of entirely different characters (their book counterparts).

#asks #aleksandravill #hotd critical #anti rhaenicent #blood and cheese #aegon ii targaryen #aemond targaryen #team green #anti alicent hightower #(show alicent only I don't know you girl)#anti rhaenyra targaryen

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sneakyboymerlin · 20 days ago

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People often quote Merlin’s “Without you, Arthur, Camelot is nothing,” line in 5x13 to claim that Merlin no longer values the greater good, only Arthur. In context, however, this is an obvious callback to the first episode of the same season, written by the same author.

What Merlin is saying is that if Arthur dies, everything will collapse. There will be no Golden Age. It is well-established at this point that the prophecy of the Golden Age has shaped Merlin into who he is, has shaped every decision he makes, his very beliefs. His belief in Arthur’s goodness is his belief in this prophecy. They are not mutually exclusive, nor are they contradictory. If Arthur is indeed the man that he has shown Merlin he wants to be, then he will fulfill the prophecy by bringing peace to Albion and return magic to the land.

If Arthur dies before this can be accomplished, then that dream of a Golden Age is gone. Camelot will diminish until it dies out for good, the kingdoms will never be at peace, the wars (particularly the one against magic) will wage on. Merlin says no more and no less here.

This is why he makes the decision that he makes with the Disir. The goal to save magic peoples and end the wars is not sustainable without Arthur’s influence, not if the prophecies are to be believed — and many came true before Merlin’s eyes. Arthur can say yes to the Disir now, saving Mordred and forcing his own reluctant, disbelieving hand to “welcome” the Old Religion in Camelot (given Arthur’s ignorance towards/bias against magic, this return would likely be conditional and overrun with double standards and could be taken away at the drop of a hat; an unstable, short-term solution is no future at all). But if Mordred is allowed to kill Arthur, then it will not have the desired effect. The Golden Age would not come to pass. “Arthur, without you […] everything will be gone.”

Again, this is Merlin’s understanding of the situation. It is ultimately Guinevere who frees magic when Arthur is killed by Mordred, and Camelot does seem to enter a (temporary) Golden Age in the aftermath of the war (though all Ages are temporary — Gwen probably got them a good few hundred years of peace). But Merlin has only seen so much of the future. He cannot risk thousands of lives, he cannot risk the only chance of a future for his magical kin that he knows of, on the belief that Mordred will not kill Arthur or that the prophecies will be fulfilled some other way. Thousands of lives, on Merlin’s shoulders.

To minimize Merlin’s approach as thinking only of Arthur, when he has the weight of thousands of lives on his shoulders, an unimaginable burden for a man with almost no support system who was thrown into the mess in his late teens… Fandom often forces a notion of mutual exclusion onto Merlin, wherein the conversation on Merlin’s approach is narrowed into a false dichotomy of “freeing magic or saving Arthur,” when Merlin fully believes that the former depends on the latter.

It’s easy to misconstrue this, as from our perspective it seems counterintuitive to save magic through the man who presently bans it. And it is. But Merlin has heard and read prophecies, has seen visions of the future, has overall been led to believe that this is the only path to freedom and peace for his people — for everyone across Albion. This needs to be taken into account for any accurate analysis of Merlin’s actions and beliefs to take place.

#merlin emrys #merlin meta #my meta #bbc merlin

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alexandraisyes · 10 months ago

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What would happen if you were a writer for TSAMS?

I mean we'll never know unless we try, however-

God the temptation to make jokes about shipping ajfsdkg;ljfasd;l

In all seriousness I'm good at finding and fixing plot holes and writing consistent storylines. I've been writing solo for years, and recently I've been co-writing fics for this fandom. And stars I'll say it now, obviously I wouldn't drag fan ships into the canon lore, that would be stupid considering most of them just wouldn't work with canon.

If I had the chance to write for TSAMS I would definitely try to influence the way certain things (specifically things like mental disorders) are portrayed, because I understand being part of the audience and the frustration of only seeing part of the story and missing an entire important perspective. I personally find so much enjoyment in that because I get to tear everything apart, dissect it, and put it back together so the fandom can understand what the story is portraying, but the fact that someone is required to tear it apart to get what should have been an obvious message most of the time is an issue, in my opinion.

A consistent problem I've noticed with TSAMS is that it's overly omnipotent on some things while being too closed about others. This is a narrative problem that stems from not having enough time to figure out the best approach for new situations they want to incorporate. This is because the writers/VAs are so bogged down by personal projects, stream schedules, their servers, life, etc that they just don't have time to figure these things out. Especially when the company is pushing for more content/lore episodes and they're just a team of four. Four very very busy individuals that have to write AND voice act the entire cast of characters. I feel like having someone who is just a writer would help with a lot of the inconsistency and unresolved plot holes.

There's a lot of strong potential for things that would stem back as far as two years that would be so interesting to see incorporated, but they just don't have the time to work through those and it's easier to keep jumping on new boats and abandoning the ones they have to sink because of unresolved tears in the plot letting more inconsistencies trickle in like so much water. So I would absolutely work to correct those and clean up the holes and resolve unanswered questions.

I'd also push for more consistent characterization, or rather better worded, deeper characterization. Not that they don't have good characterization now, overall I think they do a decent job, but there are just some things that I wish they'd touch on more. Likes, dislikes, disorders, complications, relationships, etc. What really makes up these characters; I'd probably end up with a complicated character web for the main cast at the very least to help with consistent storytelling. I do this with my own AUs to keep characters consistent, including quirks (For example Solar Flare always refers to people by their full name in my writing). It would also be interesting to dig deeper into what makes the characters them. Their personalities, beliefs, interests, morality/standards (for those without morals), and what they did and didn't find traumatic (as well as what level of trauma).

God even just the thought of how I could potentially fix the dumpster fire (/affectionate /positive) of TSAMS and co is a little exciting because there's just so much potential lying around untampered with that I would happily dig my grubby little claws into.

#alex answers #answered ask #thanks for the ask!#tsams #the sun and moon show #sun and moon show #tsbs #petition to get alex on the tsams team real?#<-- this is a joke I don't think they'd accept a random ass person ajfdsklg;jafds #I mean okay I'm not that random #Friends with the mods #I've done art for Reed #And kat follows my thread in the server #but ough #okay now I'm just yapping #long post

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mono-blogs-art · 24 days ago

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Pluto - Family, Love, and Forgiveness

A tale of two estranged sisters turns into a who-did-what mystery full of twists and turns. Wrapped up in it is an impossible sapphic love story where no one gets away without being hurt. "Pluto" is beautiful, heart-breaking, and introspective - a character-driven drama that sets a new standard for Thai GL going forward.

Here's my full review, with a short spoiler-free version first and a much longer spoilery part under the cut. I'm sorry - there's just so much to talk about here, and it's impossible to do that without giving away the major twists!

Summary: Overall: 9/10 - I'm gonna need to tweak my scale going forward because of this show, I can't keep giving out such high scores... but this really is the best Thai GL I've watched so far. By a significant margin. Genre: Family Drama, Romance Watch if you are looking for... : complex familial relationships, a bonkers story that somehow works and takes its time to explore characters and their complicated feelings Watch out for... : homophobia from family, assault, a main character is blind and a minor character is in a wheelchair and the series doesn't consistently handle those topics well Length: 12 episodes averaging about 55 minutes each Where to watch: GMMTV YouTube channel, whole show is free to watch with subtitles in multiple languages. It's also on streaming service viu if that's available in your country.

"Pluto", full title Pluto: นิทาน ดวงดาว ความรัก (Tales, Stars, Love) is a 2024 Thai drama series based on the novel by the same name by author Chao Planoy, who (in)famously also wrote the novels for GAP, Blank, Affair, and many others in the modern Thai GL genre. It stars Namtan Tipnaree in a double role as twins Ai and Oom, and Film Rachanun as love interest May. The show is GMMTV's second big entry into the GL world after "23.5" earlier this year.

Identical twins Ai and Oom could not be more different: While Ai is a good-for-nothing with no real job, Oom is successful and about to get married to her rich boyfriend. However, on the wedding night, Oom reveals to Ai that she's actually secretly still dating someone else, and asks her twin to impersonate her to break up with her sidepiece. Shocked, Ai refuses, and the two sisters part in strife. When Oom gets into a severe car crash that puts her in a coma, Ai's entire life comes crashing down. In an attempt to fulfill her duties as older sister, she honors Oom's request - only to find out that May, Oom's other lover, is a woman. And a wealthy lawyer at that. And also blind. What happened between her sister and May? Ai can't bring herself to go through with the break-up and keeps impersonating her sister, falling deeper into the lies. And the circumstances of Oom's accident seem more and more suspicious. What exactly happened to Oom on her wedding night? And who the hell is May?

... that was my best attempt at summarizing the first half of episode 1. Yeah. It's a lot.

Pluto is somewhat infamous for being one of the more "problematic" Planoy novels. To say that the adaption process was hard is probably an understatement. Despite all that, what the scriptwriters and director put together in these 12 episodes is - although still clumsy in parts and stumbling over the finish line - an overall loving piece of sapphic media that draws you in and holds you close until the end.

In the past year I've seen quite a bit of Thai GL dramas and oftentimes what was missing for me in the writing was proper care for the characters. Room for the mains to breathe, to show rather than tell us their lives, and let them sit down and process whatever drama they've experienced.

Pluto does this really, really well.

This goes mainly for the twins and May, although most side characters also get space to bloom. It's not perfect and in some parts left me wanting more but the show only has 12 episodes and already needs to fit a lot of twists in those somehow. I'll talk more in depth about specific characters and why I loved them in the spoiler zone.

Snap25, the writers and the director really outdid themselves, judging within the genre conventions. There are still the usual hiccups in the audio department and troubles with color grading (which has been improved for streaming), but Pluto feels, looks, and sounds great.

The show does a lot of beautiful Show Don't Tell and lets the actors' performances and the shot compositions speak for themselves. There's still room to improve but there was a clear intention and art direction behind it.

Namtan Tipnaree as both Oom and Ai is the immediate star and her performance was seriously impressive; from Ai's laid-back coolness and emotional depth to Oom's bitterness and insecurity. Likewise, Film Rachanun is so charming as May - whether it's the troubled, stern May of the past or the warm but mysterious May of the present - you can't help but fall in love with her the same way Ai does. And as we watch the two come together, they have a familiarity and softness building between them that just melts your heart.

The show is well structured and keeps you on your toes as it unveils the mystery at hand piece by piece. Questions that you may have in episode 1 may only get an answer in episode 10 - but they do get answered, and we see things from every perspective until the full picture forms.

There is a lesbian love triangle happening in the background that provides a bit of emotional relief from Ai and May's heavy drama, but it ultimately, unfortunately, feels kind of pointless and unfit to support the main narrative. The finale also feels rushed, contrasting the otherwise satisfying pace the show keeps to let its characters breathe, but in my opinion, the show still ties up satisfyingly.

Conclusion:

Pluto is about forgiveness - both seeking it for yourself, and giving it to people who've hurt you. Every character hurts or lies to someone, often to devastating results, but it's almost always to protect someone in some way. It's a tragedy that makes you feel for every character in this web of deceit.

It's about family, or the lack thereof, and how the scars from that shape you as an adult. All main characters yearn desperately for love, a love that's unconditional, and we watch them struggle and fall in the pursuit of it.

I loved Pluto, and although there's a full essay waiting for you under this cut, there are still many more things I could talk about, both positively and critically. But there's no denying that it moved me in a way I'd been craving from this genre for a long time. And I hope to feel that again. Until then, I must subject all of you to it - so go watch it! Now! And say Hi to my best friend Ai-oon for me!!

Thanks for reading - now it's time for spoilers!!

Character Focus - now with full spoilers!

As previously mentioned, one of my favorite things about the show is how lovingly it treats its characters, so let me just tell you about some of my highlights.

Grandma Duean fulfills the adversarial parent role in the show and characters of that type almost never get to be a full character in this genre. So imagine my surprise when she’s actually allowed to have complex feelings about her two grandchildren, her legacy, her family pride and traditions. It’s like I’m asking for the bare minimum and being surprised to actually get a full meal consisting of an interesting old woman in a show revolving mostly around a bunch of dysfunctional 20-somethings.

Speaking of which, I couldn’t leave this review without raving about my best friend in the whole world, Ai-oon. Easily snatching the top spot of favorite protagonists of the GL genre for now, Ai is relatable, endearing, and just having the worst fucking time of her life. The whole show doesn’t work unless you can sell that Ai would care to do anything for her sister - and later on for May. So we get Ai, who feels guilty about what her grandmother sacrificed for her and the situation she and her sister are stuck in. Ai, who’s so desperate for love and affection because she grew up believing herself to be the family disappointment from the get-go. And then; May, who is so willing to give that affection and does it immediately upon meeting Ai - not just because touching is one of her primary ways to get around in the world, but also because she genuinely cares for her. Ai is completely overwhelmed with the amount of care that suddenly falls into her lap and succumbs to it. She has no other choice but to impersonate Oom and to defend May, not just because she feels bad for May, but also because she can’t resist her selfish wish of being loved so unconditionally.

And that brings us finally to May. The show needs to sell us that May has a really, really good reason to believe Ai’s lies, otherwise the entire plot falls apart - while at the same time letting us feel that there’s something more behind that. She’s just sort of cute and quirky at first, but episode by episode we peel back the layers to reveal May’s true intention. May falling for Ai’s deceit is the central element that holds Pluto together, and as we learn about the whole backstory things click into place. At her core, May is vulnerable and her walls are so thick that she’s become calculating, bordering on manipulative, and desperate. She needs someone to prove themselves before letting them in, and letting in and being truly loved is all she wants. And oh girl, she puts Ai to the test. On the other hand, May is strong and genuinely kind, a philanthropist who wants to use some of the privilege she was born with to help others. As we learn that it was actually May who’s been deceiving Ai all this time, her lies and searching for that girl that was nice to her just because all these years ago, fully expose a complex woman stuck in constant conflict. She’s a multi-layered character that crawled her way into my heart despite all of the shit she does, and the story manages to center her tender heart enough for it all to hold together. And for that, I applaud it.

Although Oom is absent for most of the series at first, she gets to shine in the later half. She’s Ai’s foil, sharing her insecurities but translating them the opposite way. While Ai is a self-destructive altruist, Oom is prideful, petty and manipulative. She’s the major “villain” of this story, the central antagonist standing in between May and Ai, although that flattens her character in a way she doesn’t deserve. When she wakes up to threaten our two mains’ relationship, I actually really liked Oom. The show does a great job of showing us her conflict of heart between May and Paul, and always feeling lesser than her sister, but desiring nothing more than to be loved by Ai. Oom gets to grieve and despair and although it’s ugly, it feels real and touching. Her PTSD gets handled semi-well in the show and sort of hand-waved away in the finale, but ultimately Oom gets to be a full character driving her own life forward, rather than just a spiteful obstacle, and I loved that.

Family Before All:

The strongest part of Pluto is the relationship between the twins, and between the twins and Grandma Duean. That to me is the heart of the show. It’s the connecting piece that makes all make sense - why Ai and Oom do what they do. They grew up without their parents with only their poor grandma to take care of them, and still she provided them with all they needed and then some. But there’s also misery festering because Ai is street-smart while Oom is booksmart - and both of them think the other one is grandma’s favorite. They do things for each other in silence because they can’t properly communicate, but still care for each other. They both keep secrets from their grandma so as to not upset her. But in between it all are moments of warmth, cuddling, eating food and joking together. And at the end of the day, all three of them are given the time to look back at what they did and process their feelings. There are many quiet moments where Ai is allowed to just sit and cry, for herself, for her sister, for what cards she’s been dealt. And I really loved that.

On the contrary, May’s family is cold and manipulative. And also filthy rich. She’s an only child with an abusive father and a mother who can’t say no to him, and her upbringing was loveless. It contrasts nicely with Ai and Oom’s warm family and explains a lot of why May becomes desperate for a love that’s truly unconditional as an adult. Unlike Ai, she cares little about her family and tries to be as independent as possible. She’s s been manipulated, blackmailed, and alienated for being a lesbian. But even then her feelings are complicated, and when she suspects something may have happened to her parents she immediately seeks them out. In the end, she can’t bring herself to not care at all. When her father eventually seeks her forgiveness and offers reconciliation, she’s confused - but accepts him. May’s kindness and ability to forgive others is tied to her arc of learning to forgive herself.

Forgiveness and Atonement:

Seeking forgiveness and atonement for your sins are the driving forces behind the characters actions. Ai seeks forgiveness for being a useless granddaughter and older sister, and later also for unintentionally causing May’s assault. May seeks forgiveness for letting herself be blackmailed into defending Batman to win his case, which led to Ben’s family losing their money and his mother to commit suicide, ruining two innocent lives. Oom believes she was the cause of their parents deaths, a debt so huge she can’t even talk to her sister about it and that makes her desperate for validation and stability. And Grandma, who believes she failed to raise the twins and is the cause of all their pain, eventually realizes she unintentionally fueled the rivalry between them that destroyed their relationship. Even minor characters like May’s father or Kosol’s stories end in seeking forgiveness.

Letting your pain go and forgive someone is incredibly hard. At the climax, Ai can’t let her heart win over her responsibility to her family, and she sides with Oom over May. She has to. And May, even if it destroys her, understands. It takes a whole year of therapy for Oom to let go and accept her new life, to rebuild her relationship with her family and most importantly herself after the accident. Only then is she finally able to let May go - and let Ai be with her. At Ai and May’s wedding, Oom is there because she’s family, despite everything. Pluto shows the characters’ quests for atonement as well as their struggles to forgive others beautifully and with a lot of heart, and it feels like the characters deserve the spots they end up on.

Missed Opportunities, But a Step in the Right Direction:

Pluto also falters, especially towards the end. While I think that episode 10 & 11 are the highlights of the series, episode 12 (the finale) is the weakest by a landslide. May seems to, at least partially, see her assault and her resulting blindness from it as karmic punishment for her mistakes. May’s father does a complete 180 with no build-up after the time jump in the finale and is suddenly trying to rebuild the relationship with his daughter - and Ai-oon, who he even explicitly accepts to take care of May in his stead. Although Oom’s journey is wonderful, the time jump is so sudden and the finale so badly paced overall that it lands shakily. And I don’t even know what to say about the Pim-Jan-Pang love triangle. I’ll admit that I wasn’t really invested at first, but it built up nicely and climaxed in a super interesting confrontation with a three-way kiss - and then in the finale we just don’t address that complexity again. Jan and Pang are just together because they realized that those feelings were the most stable. I’m not saying that this is unrealistic or even bad in-universe, I’m just saying that as a viewer with the way it was presented to me it was frankly boring.

Now, all of this was to reiterate my previous point, which is that Pluto as a source material is just a mess. Disabilities are used as plot devices, character relationships are built on flimsy deceits that only make sense if everyone involved swallows a bunch of stupid pills, and queerness in itself is not really addressed unless it’s characters being homophobic. It’s a fantasy world that’s really fucking hard to pin back down to reality.

But on God, they tried and did it, and I’ll forgive them for a lot of the fumbles along the way because as a whole, this show is good.

No wonder it took the writers so long to finish the script after the project’s announcement in 2023. There was near silence about the project until a month before it was set to premiere, and comparing the final trailer to the pilot already showed that it had done leaps in development. Not only did the project suddenly have an art direction, we also got the character focus and emotional depth it desperately needed. And on top of that, over the 1+ year development the leads had built up an incredible chemistry that just makes you fall in love with Ai-oon and May’s relationship. And it paid off, because while Pluto was barely starting out, Namtan and Film were already announced to be continuing their on-screen partnership for the big ensemble GL “Girl Rules”. I hope that they continue to put focus and care into this genre, because with 23.5 and Pluto they’ve really put out two of the best lesbian series of 2024. In my opinion!

I’m very, very excited to see how this show will shape the future of Thai GL, or at least set the standard for future GMMTV shows.

Thank you for reading - I’m truly passionate about this show and I hope to see more of Namtan & Film’s new project(s?) very soon. Cheers!

^ me smooching your little nose for having read all that <3

#mono reviews #pluto the series #namtanfilm #gmmtv #thai gl

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sideblogdotjpeg · 3 months ago

Note

Extremely small spoilers for the c3 ending warning

But I think a really fun bit of Sol's character that I kinda didn't notice until the final episode is that ever since Irondeep (or maybe even before?), Sol has just been learning how to sew and crochet. And I have extreme respect for Murph letting Sol use that knowledge in the final episode to redistribute the magic of his displacement cloak amongst the party. I just really love those kinds of small character details in fantasy - the hobby they pick up randomly that slowly becomes more and more of a skill as the story progresses.

YES ! sols background knitting/crochet hobby (theyre used kind of interchangeably) is one of my favourite little quirks of his to think about... and if you keep track of its offhanded mentions, it actually weaves (hehe) a really sweet mini-story about sols character !

(teeny tiny mini essay under the cut, because i. have. thoughts)

so! a minor um actually is that sols knitwork is actually brought up pretty much at the VERY start of his character intro;

"...I'm wearing a homemade sweater that is in the same pattern as the standard issue synth knight sweater, but that one didn't fit me, so ive crafted my own as a replica - the sleeves are a little long, i'm still working on it, i like to knit in my spare time to quell my thoughts a bit..." (ep 1)

so we establish 1) he likes to knit, 2) knitting is an almost meditative practice, a very physical-based method of dealing with his thoughts, 3) he wants to fit in with his cohort of synth knights, even though their 'standard' has excluded and rejected him 4) he takes on this rejection without any bitterness, and instead with an optimism that his own personal inadequacies can be overcome by trying his darn best, 5) he's a cute frog in an oversized sweater

it's a pretty small & overall NOT important line that doesn't mean anything, but you COULD interpret it as the introductory, basic threads of meditative practice, community, belonging and identity that return as pretty major elements in sol as a character!

other, pretty major encounters with the knitting/sewing motif:

ep 7: Callie "we're sort of entwined now, right? i mean, our fates are somewhat braided at this point" + sol "if you're saying that we're friends then yes!" (this isn't a sol knitting moment, but good GOD 'our fates are braided' + them later discovering they're peregrine + sol sewing peregrine patches - we LOVE unintentional foreshadowing)

ep 27: Before the king durretar fight, sol gives everyone a peice of black yarn to wrap around their arms, a symbol of the living will they made to each other. Later in the ep, he holds up the band just before he goes down

ep 39: Right before he leaves to return to irondeep, sol gives swag "a little bracelet of yarn, just so we can feel connected" (literally FUCKING RUINOUS when you think about this being THE LAST TIME THEY SEE EACH OTHER FACE TO FACE and all the other moments sol gives his loved ones threads/bracelets. god. actually ruinous)

ep 53 (short rest!): This requires maybe a bit of context... but essentially, its caldwell describing sol's conflict of wanting to save the people he loves VS the growing reality of his inability to do so as, "no matter how big and thick and fluffy a sweater he knits, it always unravels itself"

ep 57: sol plants a piece of thread on the two ice swags (red and purple) as a way to tell them apart

ep 61: sol takes the black band from the king durretar fight and weaves it into a design that he made of the peregrine symbol/callie's sigil so that they can all wear it as a team (and one for a squire too, of course!)

ep 72: sol shreds his displacer scarf & patches up everyone's track jackets with it, to share the protection magic (this does end up saving calder's life i think.... THAT'S THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP BABY.)

finally, also in ep 72: galactic swag returns the night sky to the faewild, and sol comments "now that's knitting..."

I think. All in all. It's like. sol is this guy who, perhaps more than anything else, longs for family, home & community. He found this in launchpad and mothership, and their promise that if he could just work hard enough to prove that he meets their standards, then he CAN fit in and be worthy, and belong, and be part of something big. And over the course of campaign 3, he finds this with duck team.

All these desires for connection are expressed through the small things he knits for the people he loves. It keeps coming up over and over again, sol trying to stitch pieces of himself into his friends. Have this yarn, and this thread, and this bracelet, so you can remember you have someone to fight for and someone fighting for you (i have THOUGHT about this being kind of like a Lady's favor to a knight.... i've THOUGHT about this...) In ep 39, he gives swag a mushroom with the stated purpose that it might let sol know if swag dies. In ep 41, he tells hardwon that "there haven't been many people that I've met that have stuck around and meant something to me". I think you could interpret.... sol's habit of giving little knit gifts to his friends as maybe kind of a manifestation of that worry. that people are going to leave him, and he's going to end up alone again. so the thread of the living will comes back over and over again... no matter where you are, dead or alive, we'll be connected somehow.

You can also interpret all of this in the context of his childhood! in the waterpark ! A place where he was cold, and in danger all the time, and alone, and nobody made any 'big and thick and fluffy' sweaters for him. That the way he responds to this is... by making sure the people that he loves never ever have to feel like that. Here's something to keep you warm, and to remind you that i Know you, I Think of you, and i Love you. Sol just wants to protect all his friends by knitting them up in a big comfy sweater (and by the finale, in a way, he does!)

anyway ! those are my um. my. very minor thoughts about sol & knitting. i think about it a normal amount i promise. it is really REALLY a very fun bit about his character and it is. wonderful to see it evolve over the campaign.

Also since I accidentally went whole hog and wrote a full essay. Um. more sol knitting mentions that I personally find very delightful, although less relevant to this specific analysis:

Ezry arc: "i haven't had a chance to knit in a while, that really mellows me out" < sol's explanation for nearly punching a salamander to death because he kind of reminded him of a completely different salamander guy who had the audacity to go to the movies with albin, once. Really cute because awww he knits to mellow out. and also. god sol is fucking Insane. frog who is for sure possessive a normal and healthy amount

Living Woods arc: the living woods arc has sooo many cute lil sol knitgifts. sol gives calder a reversible beanie that has the initials CK (for calder kilde) and KC (for kalder cilde)... he says he was making it for calders birthday! (i didn't check this particular moment for accuracy, but i DO rmb calder saying smthn to the effect of "this is the nicest thing anyone's ever got for me") ..... this also has the famous callie crochet bra + i THINK sol's knit boots for calder

Irondeep arc: sol makes the infamous knit hammer cover with pompoms for kenna. (he later also makes i think.. a cloth for kenna to clean her hammer? he's trying guys....)

Tsunare arc: callie asks sol to make a gunk bindle

Ice knife arc: EVERYBODY IS REALLY MEAN TO SOLS KNITTING. SOMEBODY DEFEND HIM HE DOESNT DESERVE THIS....

Faewild arc: after calder gives himself a crop top , "i will Happily be your tailor"

Conclusion? this frog loves his friends!!!!!

#naddpod #ba2mia #ba2umia #solum bufo #ramble tag #posts by me dot com #... whoops i accidentally wrote a whole essay. aum. sorry about that #i just uh. i feel. i have. a lot of thoughts about this one...#also um. if anyone wants the um. time stamps. i didnt include because i think... 4? people will read this #but . if anyones interested in that

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atamascolily · 6 days ago

Text

when less is more

One thing that surprised me when I was watching the Magia Record anime was how much sensory overload I experienced, especially in the Inu Curry animation sequences. There was just so much to look at in any given shot, it was impossible to take it all in at standard viewing speed, especially since I was also reading subtitles at the same time (which means my eyes are naturally drawn to the bottom of the screen a good chunk of the time, so it's easy to miss certain details).

It's not purely my imagination--the MR anime has a lot more going on in these shots than Rebellion, which already has a lot compared to the original Madoka Magica anime. Compare:

this one was the worst and I don't know why. Was it the fog? the pastel background? The Japanese characters shifting in and out in the background? Different animation style?

This is one of those things that is difficult to fully convey in screenshots, but I have a much harder time following the action in the MR labyrinths because there's so much going on and the animation style has changed to the point where it becomes more difficult to distinguish the "normal" magical girls from the background. And I say this as someone who loves witch labyrinths and surreal animation! It's not that there's no excess/overload in the original--the Gertrud labyrinth has a lot going on, for instance--but for the most part, not in a way where I had trouble distinguishing Mami or following the action.

My experience in watching the Magia Record anime is basically me begging the production team to slow down, you're moving too fast, this is really cool and I want to appreciate it and meanwhile we're already moving on to the next thing.

This is true for other areas of the MR anime as well, like pacing and character arcs--it's not that they're absent, it's just that things rush by so fast that I don't have time to process them and they only make sense when I am re-watching in slow motion or in stills. (This also happened in Rebellion, but not nearly as much or to the same extent--I catch more details I missed in Rebellion this way, but NOT the overall plot or what any given character is doing at any given moment.)

And it's especially true for some of the Magia Record action sequences.

youtube

This sequence got praised a lot for its sakuga when it originally aired, (along with jokes about how Sayaka stole the budget for the rest of the anime's run) and while it's certainly slick, I find it incredibly hard to follow. I can, but I have to really work at it, and on first viewing, it all just smeared together into an unintelligible blur. It's all great stuff--I just wish it was a little slower so I could see it!

Iroha and Rena's team-up a few episodes later is even worse in this regard:

youtube

While I think that high-speed action or sensory overload can be useful in the sense of conveying the superhuman nature of magical girls and the surreal eldritch horror of witches, it can't be so much that audiences can't follow it. No matter what nifty visual tricks you have up your sleeve, they're far less effective if the audience doesn't even register them in the first place. As an amateur video editor, I've learned the hard way that if you give people too much to process at once, they simply can't manage it.

And I didn't have this problem with the Homura vs. Mami battle from Rebellion, which is, in my incredibly biased opinion, Peak Cinema:

youtube

While many of SHAFT's earlier works have a more simplistic style (partially an aesthetic choice, partially a budget one) their later works or works with more budget have a tendency towards visual excess in ways that I don't always love. There are a lot of "updated" shots in the Madoka Magica movies where I actually prefer the earlier version, simply because it's visually too much.

Comparison of the school rooftop scene across the TV, Blu-Ray, and movie versions from the Puella Magi Wiki. Note that the foreground animation doesn't change--this is purely a background shift.

(this is also one reason why Walpurgis no Kaiten is taking so long--they can't wait for the DVD to update their backgrounds; they've got to get it more or less right on the first try in order to release in theaters.)

I can't tell if I prefer the DVD version of the original series because that's the one I saw first, and thus is what I'm used to, but one reason I don't watch the recap movies unless I'm searching for specific clips is because it's just too much sometimes in ways I don't find attractive.

One thing I appreciate about Rebellion is that there's only one definitive version--the Blu-Ray--so it's a lot more consistent in this regard. (This is not to say that there aren't differences between the Blu-Ray and theatrical versions; just that the latter isn't floating around for comparison in the same way as all the different versions of the original anime.) It's visually consistent with the recap movies, so there's a lot of excess, but somehow it still works for me--partially because I'm used to it after watching the film so much, and partially because I think it fits with the whole "fake Mitakihara City" thing, even if that's not the interpretation the creators were intending.

Some of this is probably personal aesthetic preferences, but I think there's a sweet spot between "total simplicity" and "total excess" and I tend to prefer the "less is more" approach, unless there's a good storytelling reason for it. Or maybe rococco for its own sake just isn't my thing, I don't know.

Anyway, while it's normal for animation styles to change over time and technology inevitably marches on, I can't help hoping that Walpurgis no Kaiten will be more like the previous Madoka Magica movies in this regard and less like the MR anime. Based on the production credits and what we've seen in the trailers so far, I'm hopeful, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.

please SHAFT, just let me able to watch this movie and follow what is happening in real time, I'm begging you

#puella magi madoka magica #magia record #pmmm analysis

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