#rakpolaris rambles

[rakpolaris]

hello! I’m not dead!

Consider this a lil update: I’m currently obssesed with jjba: vento aureo and have fallen in the hell of shipping bruabba <3

I’m mostly active on my artblog @rakpolaris-art but also on Twitter (@/rakpolaris) in case you want to hear me ranting about jjba every now and then. This blog has becomenow mostly a reblog blog for everything I may like so uhm... yeah, that’s all. Bye bye!

[rakpolaris]

Since I first created Penelope I wanted her to be powerless, in part to avoid making her mary-sueish (she’s already the kid of two canon characters, and one of them is a God) meaning she didn’t really learn to control her Cosmos as I didn’t want her to become a Gold Saint either (too predictable imo).

However, lately I’ve been thinking, while Penelope technically isn’t a warrior and wasn’t trained as such, that doesn’t mean she couldn’t choose a side when she grows up - and I have this idea about her choosing to be “loyal” to Hades (or more precisely, the Underworld Gods) after a few years of misleading words and some brainwashing from Oneiros so she would turn on the Saints.

And now, deep in my heart I have the urge to doodle Penelope wearing a generic Surplice of some sorts Dx

[rakpolaris]

I was thinking....

Isn’t it odd the relationship between Nasu Veronica and Thanatos? I mean, I always found it really interesting that Thanatos lend a part of his power to Veronica in order for him to guard/protect the deathly forest (or whatever it is called). For me it always seemed strange because Thanatos is a really haughty and arrogant character that has no problem showing his honest disgust for humans, even Specters, regarding them as nothing more that simple pawns - so it was really surprising (at least to me) to see that Thanatos would willingly lend part of his own power to a Specter, a human, instead of sending mooks created by him like the different bizarre creatures that inhabit the forest (the crows with the skull-looking head, the centipede thing Yuzuriha fights with...?? you get the idea).

This makes me wonder why did Thanatos choose Veronica or what made him trust Veronica enough to directly have him as his subordinate. I kinda guess that Veronica’s relation with corpses might make him have a special connection with the God of Death, just like Cancer Saints seem to have a special connection with the Underworld due to their Cloth and Constellation but idk.

[rakpolaris]

Yesterday I reread very quickly some chapters of The Lost Canvas manga, from Valentine’s death to Youma’s defeat and I gotta say....

Damn, Rhada’s death and Pandora’s farewell to him are really sad ToT

I know readers are supposed to identify more with the Saints and feel bad because of their dramatic ends, but I am glad that the Specters were also a lot more human in TLC, how they also died for people they admired, for dreams they believed in, for things they considered were worth dying for... in a kinda villainous way xD But still, it’s nice to see Teshirogi didn’t made them one dimensional villains that were evil just because someone needed to be the antagonist.

[rakpolaris]

Me too~! I've got a pretty bad attention span though, so all these 'short' horror anime series have been such a blessing for me haha. I'm super excited for the new season of Yami Shibai! I know some people think it's gone downhill after the first two seasons but I've enjoyed every single one of them so far! It actually amused me when they threw in more live action scenes in season 4 hahaha. And yeah, Kagewani based on a novel series! The first few episodes feel loosely connected but

(2) it becomes more of connected thing in the later episodes of season 1 and all of season 2. I just wish there was more! And I’ve heard of Sekai no Yami Zukan but haven’t gotten a chance to watch it yet! It’s on my list though. :D

@mashedtatter

I have been waiting to reply to this and now that I finished watching Kagewani I finally can answer back :)

Well, personally there was a big downhill in one of the seasons (not sure if it was the second or the third one) with the artstyle becoming ridiculous manga-like in some episodes in comparison to the first season that has an overall, kinda “realistic” style when it comes to proportions (at least for manga/anime standars, more or less). Idk, I just remember that there was this episode about some school boys sleeping at their school’s gym or something and the style was so different that it distracted me a lot from the plot xDD

Anyway, let’s talk about Kagewani~

WARNING:Long answer under the read more :’D

First of all, I loved the concept of the kagewani itself, it just seems so creative to me and it’s really an imposing monster :O (even tho it bugged me that the Kagewani could attack people in very dark places, despite not being a strong light source that could create shadows which is what the Kagewani aims to attack, the shadow - but well, the monster is so cool I can forget that tiny detail xD).

It is definitely a very good series, I love how well narrated the plot is in episodes of barely 8 minutes, and I love how all the monsters resemble famous creatures of other works and/or folklore, but with this horror twist to make them more frightening (I personally loved the snowy monster and the giant turtle from the sewers). Oh! I gotta say that I adore how they use the music and the pauses to create tension and inspire this feeling of helplessness in the characters that are faced with the monsters, the turtle’s episode really freaked me out because of this, and the episode about the submarine, when it’s revealed how f*cking big the monster actually is… gosh, I got shivers xD

About the plot of the series, well, I kinda have mixed feelings about it: sometimes I like it when nothing is explained about the monster, it’s origin etc so it all remains a mistery (kinda like Yamishibai does) but other times I like it when it’s revealed how the monster was born, how it works, how to kill it…

In Kagewani I like that the kagewani itself was created by humans and how the ashes from the original kagewani contaminated RL animals, turning them into monsters - however I would have left it at that, I personally think that the female survivor of the clan from the second season was a bit forced, like, the story worked perfectly well with Banba and Kimura, and there was ALREADY a survivor from Kagewani (the old lady who saved Banba’s life), the aura of mysticism of an extincted clan who created Kagewani using a forbidden ritual is a bit lost if you have a survivor of said clan in the current story (and considering how young she is, this means that her clan also disappeared quite recently too… instead of, lets say, some centuries ago which would explain why there’s so few information about the kagewani).

So yeah, she seemed a bit unnecessary for me, I would have preferred for example to see more of the rivalry between Honma and Kimura, considering the irony that they aren’t really that different (Honma is just more despicable than Kimura xD) and that Honma had become an hybrid at the very end of the finale, and it seems he was still alive after the credits O.o

This is getting extra long sorry xD Let me add that on overall, I really loved Kagewani and I am so glad you told me about it! :D

[rakpolaris]

So, all of you know I am a big fan of the Dream Gods, don’t cha?

The thing is, I donwloaded some TLC episodes with the french dub so I could hear all their voices in French (btw, those vids were restricted in my country so I couldn’t watch them on Youtube... Good thing there are websites to donwload vids from YT so fuck you YT and fuck you, french channel for restricting your videos! xD)

If you wanna read some ranting about their French voices, I’ll put all my thoughts under a read more:

For any French Saint Seiya fans that might read this - keep in mind that while I learnt some French at School, I can’t barely speak or write in French, tho I can understand a few spoken things. This means that many of my thoughts come from the fact that I am not used to hear anything in French (let alone an anime) and this is in no way a critique of the French dub <3

-I gotta say, I really like Icelus’ voice??? At least I prefer it over the Spanish one (it sounds weird), tho both are still pretty different from the Japanese one but well, it’s really hard to find a voice similar to that of Ryusei Nakao.

-His voice is also super hoarse... PLZ QUIT SMOKING ICELUS.

-EVERYONE TALKS SO FAST. STOOOOOOOOP xD (ok now, actually they kinda talk at a very good pace... I just had to rewatch the episodes a few times to notice it xD)

-I am very biased about this but - generally, when I see a big, tall, chunky character, I expect him (or sometimes her) to have a deep voicer, or a deeper voice than the rest of the cast. Morpheus averted this xD It’s voice it’s not bad tho.

-Phantasos’ (female) voice is, once again (like in the Spanish dub), a bit more mature-sounding than the original Japanese one I think?? I mean, she doesn’t sound as childish, which is sometimes a good thing. I like it.

-I ABSOLUTELY FELL IN LOVE WITH PHANTASOS’ (MALE) VOICE! THE WAY HE GROWLS “MISÉRABLEEEE!!” AT EL CID IS SO FUCKING AWESOME. THAT GUY DESERVED MORE FRICKING LINES.

-Surprise surprise male!Phantasos and Icelus have the same voice actor, Vincent Ribeiro. NICE.

-I also liked Oneiros’ voice, very smooth. I am so sued to the Spanish dub that it was a bit weird that One’s voice was slightly deeper than El Cid’s xD or maybe I just don’t fucking know how to differentiate voice tones in other languages.

-It’s kind of weird that Oneiros and Hakurei have the same voice actor xD but hey, Luc Boulad does a good job at making their voices sound different? One sounds young and Hakurei older and more mature so, hey, nice job Boulad!

-There aren’t enough growls in Icelus’ dialogues :’c

-Yuzu’s voice is also quite good, just sayin’

-El Cid’s line after he defeats Icelus was changed from the Japanese “Now there’s only two left” to “At least I am alive”. I am not sure what does Icelus say before but I like to think that line is El Cid’ gentle way of saying “Fuck you, you thought you could kill? Think again bitch”.

-Everyone says “Ce n’est pas possible” like, at least two or three times, and I love it because everytime it’s said, I am there like “Oh, but it is xD” and then they die xD

-I WANT MORE MALE!PHANTASOS’ DIALOGUE. I NEED TO HEAR HIS “TU VAS PAYER” AND “MISÉRABLEEEE!” AGAIN AND AGAIN.

-”...Pour l’éternité...” it sounds threatening in every language.

-It is me or El Cid sounds particularly menacing when confronting Phantasos in the Dream World??? his calm fury is awesome, he sounds like a Judge like “now that I am here, you shall die”. 10/10 I would be afraid af.

[rakpolaris]

I stg my hype and increasing obsession with Platinum End is not even normal, but god, I am enjoying this manga so much it really hurts having to wait 2 months for each volume... :'D

[rakpolaris]

Omg I just got the first volume of Saintia Sho in Spanish!!! 😍

[rakpolaris]

My internet’s connection being really shitty and slow finally gave me enough motivation to start writing a slice-of-life fic about Penelope. Who could imagine that the lack of internet could be so inspirational... xD

[rakpolaris]

As muchas I love Phantasos as a female, I will forever feel sorry for Satoshi Hino, Phantasos’ male form’s seiyuu, and how he only got a few lines considering his voice was really awesome...

[rakpolaris]

@aironrain replied to your photo post

Tienes mercancia con tu arte Pooh? :O

Supongo que podría decirse que sí, jeje. Ya que los estudios me restringen mucho mi tiempo como para hacer comisiones, pensé que quizá podía sacarme algún dinerillo extra subiendo mis diseños a Teepublic.

[rakpolaris]

@aironrain ha respondido a tu publicación:@aironrain replied to your photo post   Tienes...

   Ohhh, me gustaría saber algun link donde vendes tus productos :) sería feliz de saberlo y comprar algo, si es tienda virtual, espero que se puedan hacer envíos a mi país :D, u.u lo sé es demasiado pedir, pero igual me gustan tus dibujos no lo olvides ;)   

De momento solo tengo Teepublic. También me abrí una cuenta en Redbubble pero en esa todavía no he subido nada.

[rakpolaris]

I am like, so weak for AUs in which Hypnos is a good dad and the dream gods arent the fucked-up jerks they are in the anime... I just want them to be a happy family...

[rakpolaris]

friendly reminder I have 2 sideblogs

My artblog (I upload original content + fanart): @rakpolaris-art

My Saint Seiya blog focused on the Dream Gods + Twin Gods and... you know the drill: @dreaming-in-elysion

[rakpolaris]

If there’s a character that “blocks” you ship… Don’t bash/hate them!! ADD THEM AND MAKE A WEIRD OTP3!!! MULTIPLY THE FUN!! THINK OF THE POSSIBILITIES!! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I love PhantasosxEl Cid but I wouldn’t mind a PhantasosxEl CidxSisyphus, I just think they could work somehow because the Saints are already super close friends and Sisy is handsome and kind and Phantasos doesn’t even care about being monogamous and they would probably manage to convince El Cid xD