#seiyuu crossover parody

[hanamuranobuyuki]

So as people may or may not know, I am a fan of Touken Ranbu. I play it on and off, depending on if I remember or if I'm actively trying to get a Touken Danshi. Well- rewind about 8ish hours ago, I discovered Sakakihara Yuki (cv for Jyushi) voiced the new Touken Danshi that was going to drop. And so I have essentially brainrotted for 8ish hours and did this thing.

The sketch is only like... a 3ish hour sketch? I had to do family things and grind for hypnosis mic, but I am at a place where I am happy with this so I'm going to share this on my social medias. I'm hoping that I wasn't the only one who thought of this... but I hope that people appreciate the raw potential Jyushi has TTuTT. Likes and comments are greatly appreciated, or however it works here ahah.

Just wanted to yeet this before I crashed after all that internal screaming that led to this XD

[pigeon-mermaid]

I’ve also made this, because how could I not?

[jyushimatsurepliez]

Question for Jyushimatsu! Since you and Erwin Smith share the same voices, how do you feel knowing that you're a leader of the survey corpse and that you were the one that trained Choromatsu?[Who is levi] Do you see yourself as a leader figure?

I guess I COULD be a leader… =D

[translationandbetrayals]

Milky Holmes' Rise to Fall, or How to Find Hope in Troubled Times

Milky Holmes reminds me of Žižek. And while it might seem quite nonsensical to tie this sentence together, it’s also something that gives us light about the times we’re facing.

Milky GODS

Always controversial, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek does have some interesting things to say. But even though he’s mostly known for his approach of leftist politics, the analysis of his that has stuck with me the most doesn’t relate to politics, or at least not directly. It’s his commentary about the animated film Kung Fu Panda, produced by Dreamworks. He has referred to the film a couple of times while highlighting something that has now become sort of a recurrent topic of his mythos. The idea of faith. This idea, also explained by him in the form of an anecdote about a scientist (Niels Bohr) who didn’t believe in charms, yet used to put one in his house just because he was told “it would work, even if he didn’t believe in it”, is essential to Kung Fu Panda and to Dreamworks as a whole (even if Žižek doesn’t directly acknowledge it). While the film works as a parody of Chinese martial arts films, and spends part of its runtime satirizing Chinese philosophy, in the end these principles are embraced, as Po’s wu wei defeats Tai Lung’s ambition (and we can say the same about the way Shrek and Megamind relate to fairy tales and superhero fantasy, just to cite other examples). 

But what does any of this have to do with Milky Holmes? What is this Milky Holmes, even? And as many of you might not be familiar with this long running multimedia franchise, it wouldn’t do harm to recapitulate its history. To understand Milky Holmes, we must first understand its seeds, which are in Broccoli and Bushiroad, two Japanese companies which were both founded by a single man, named Takaaki Kidani. Kidani started Broccoli in the late ‘90s, which first worked as a doujin management company for events, then expanding itself through Gamers, a goods store directed towards the otaku market. Gamers was immortalized and popularized through the Di Gi Charat franchise, produced by Broccoli and extremely massive through the late 90s and early 2000s. Spanning various anime adaptations, numerous manga, and lots of merchandise, the now classic characters were a boom within this same otaku market, and part of this success even crossed overseas, as you might see if you venture into old anime archives.

This really handsome dude is Takaaki Kidani

Now the success of Di Gi Charat probably wasn’t just because of the mascot made designs, though of course that had a part in its popularity. Aside from the already obvious fact, the Di Gi Charat franchise, at least in its first animated adaptation, had a pretty good sense of humor and irony. In a way, it was mocking the very own otaku it was targeted towards, and while it sure wasn’t the first to do so, this style of self-deprecating and sometimes grotesque or even infantile humor the series subjected its viewers to was something special. And while Di Gi Charat had quite the acid tone, it wasn’t without its share of tame and even heartwarming moments. It was moe, marketable of course, but there was something else as well. This series had a heart.

The heart of the show has a name and it’s Puchiko

It’s this spirit that Milky Holmes, more than 10 years after the creation of Di Gi Charat, held as its foundation as one of the star projects of the then recently started Bushiroad, founded after Kidani left Broccoli. Learning from his success in Broccoli’s projects such as the aforementioned Di Gi Charat, and also the media franchise Galaxy Angel, Milky Holmes was thought of as a multimedia project from the start. In the case of Milky Holmes, radio dramas, a manga, a PSP video game, an anime adaptation, and, perhaps most importantly, a seiyuu/idol unit were launched. I say most importantly because it was the disbandment of this unit that signaled the end of the franchise as a whole. In January’s 28th of 2019, Milky Holmes gave their final live performance at the Budokan, in fact ending the decade old franchise.

The end of Milky Holmes

On the anime side of things, the last installment was Psycho no Aisatsu, a crossover special episode featuring the main character of the Cardfight!! Vanguard franchise, a trading card game series for kids that was also created by Bushiroad. It was the symbolic pass on the torch to a younger, still profitable franchise in Bushi, that hopefully might keep the spirit of the Milkies alive. But we must not be sad for what has ended, as this franchise will always stay there to be revisited, even for people who never got to experience it when it was still active.

And it’s because of this that I have not forgotten about Milky Holmes, even though it has been years since it ended. I feel especially partial to the anime, particularly its first two seasons, and the 2016 movie: Milky Holmes' Counterattack (and what a movie is that one). One common thing about these three is that all of them feature Makoto Moriwaki as a director. And I feel she’s the one who better captures the spirit I mentioned above when talking about Di Gi Charat. It isn’t the only way to understand the series: there’s the video games, that might be seen as the source material; the Alternative OVAs, that are a closer adaptation of the games; and the two other anime seasons, which are completely different to anything else (and most people don’t seem to like); but Morikawi’s interpretation is the most interesting one, at least to me.

Now, you might be tired of so much anticipation and context, but it’s important to understand the background of this director to realize what she brought to the franchise (because yes, it’s a she) to, as I believe, perfect it. Makoto Moriwaki has mostly made a career out of directing children’s anime, more specifically anime for girls. Series such as the Sanrio based My Melody and PriPara have been directed by her, along with some Jewelpet seasons and even some Doraemon episodes. But a sort of black sheep among all that family friendly content is the raunchy adult comedy Ebichu, which, in spite of its cutesy visuals reminiscent of Hamtaro, is a series mostly targeted towards older women, full of jokes about adult life that, of course, involve a lot of sex.

it means a dirty word, if you didn’t realize

The Milky Holmes directed by Moriwaki is a middle ground between those two poles. On one hand, the cynicism, irony, and hidden sexual references in an outwardly kids friendly series, and on the other, the fantasy and the hopeful nature of magical girls and idol anime. And this dichotomy is also highlighted when we understand the target of this series. Despite its looks, Milky Holmes is not directed towards children. It’s not a kids show, but rather, a completely otaku business. It was broadcasted as shinya anime at 11 pm, it has its share of adult humor, and of course, the moe characters are exactly that, there’s no ambiguity there. It’s made to sell merchandise, discs and BDs to fat weirdos. But it’s quite interesting how the show treats its own audience, because if we’re to take Milky Holmes as an otaku product, it isn’t simply cynical.

Yes, that there is a ****plug

We have talked about Milky Holmes as a product and as a media franchise, but let’s review the series itself. To those who don’t know, Milky Holmes is set in a fantastical time and space called the Age of Great Detectives. In this world, Great Detectives and their eternal rivals, Gentlemen Thieves, are in constant struggle. They’re aided by their Toys, special powers whose name might be an irony on Bushiroad’s own status as a company.

A fascinating part of the Milky Holmes franchise for any crime or detective fiction freak is that most of the character names are taken from legendary detectives and criminals. There’s the 4 Milky Holmes members, which are respectively: Sherlock “Sheryl” Shellingford, the always energetic and optimistic leader (named after the most famous detective of all); Nero Yurizaki, a greedy, egotistical bokukko (named after the gluttonous Nero Wolfe); Hercule “Elly” Burton, a shy girl who has the most awareness inside the Milkies (named after Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot); and Cordelia Glauca, the shoujo-esque dramatic and delusional member of the crew (named after Cordelia Gray, the only character of the four that is originally female).

From left to right, unlike your Japanese mangos

They battle constantly against the Gentlemen Thief Empire, led by the intense and prideful Arsene (after Arsène Lupin, the French gentleman thief also recalled by the Monkey Punch character); and completed with Twenty, a narcissistic nudist that weaponizes his erect nipples (based on Menso Nijuu, a villain from the Ranpo Edogawa canon); Stone River, a prude warrior with a samurai pride (based on Goemon Ishikawa, the outlaw hero from Japanese folklore, also referenced by Lupin III); and Rat, who’s victim of everyone’s forgetfulness (based on Kozo Nezumi, a folk hero from the Edo period).

Twenty, Arsene, Stone River, and Rat

There’s also a third party in discord, that can either work as ally or enemy depending on circumstance (much like in your typical detective story) which is of course formed by the cops. The G4 is the “elite” patrol of law enforcement whose effectiveness also depends on plot convenience, and their leader (and child genius with infinite amounts of IQ) Kokoro-chan’s (named after Kogoro Akechi, the famous Ranpo Edogawa detective) mood. The other members are Tsugiko Zenigata (after Heiji Zenigata, a Japanese legend), a somewhat tomboyish girl voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro; Hirano Hasegawa (after Heizo Hasegawa, from the Onihei Hankacho novels), a traditional Japanese girl who is a master of combat; and Saku Toyama (after Kagemoto Toyama, a historic character made legend), the technological expert of the gang.

She just keeps it going up

Don’t call her Kokoro-chan, she’ll get angry

However, the main source of conflict (and comedy) in the series is that, despite being quite powerful and capable as detectives with the aid of their toys, the Milkies are pretty much nothing without them. Dame dame (useless), is something they’ll often have to hear, as they constantly struggle with the loss of their toys at the start of almost every new installment (save for Futari wa and TD, in which they weren’t the main characters because of this exact reason). Nonetheless, in spite of how hard they might fall, how much they can be humiliated and degraded (and they sure will), and basically turn into dumb slapstick cartoons, they will always stand up again, never losing hope even when taking a detour, or when they’re becoming farmers instead.

Milky farmers

In this acknowledgment of the cyclical and absurd nature of their misfortunes, made explicit in the movie by the (unintentional) use of words by Sheryl: “it’s rise to fall”, the philosophical implications of the series are unlocked, at least from the Moriwaki iteration of it. It’s an absurd reality, in which no matter how high one can be, one can always fall to the lowest of the low. Yet, when you have fallen, there’s nothing else you can do but go up, try and hope for the best, never giving in to life no matter how discouraging or absurd it might become.

It’s existential philosophy, right inside a moe anime, and one can’t be anything but thankful of someone who is giving such messages inside a work that could conform to just offering a product for profit. Instead, what Milky Holmes is doing is to tell its audience that no matter how hard their lives might get, no matter how repeatedly they might hear that they’re useless, that they’re dumb or hopeless, they must never give up. It’s quite beautiful, even more so when you’re aware of the darker sides of the otaku and the stigma and social alienation a lot of these people face in their country. And so, Milky Holmes might be a ray of light amidst a rabbit hole of isolation, which can be relatable to most of us as we face the current pandemic. A sign that even if we can’t see it, there’s hope at the end of the tunnel.

Yes, she’s saying that when they’re in prison

Closing on a hopeful note, I’ll let you in on a cool fact. Do you know who directed the Milky Holmes movie alongside Moriwaki? I will give you some lines to guess, if you think you’re smart detectives.

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Yes! It was Hiroaki Sakurai, who, coincidentally (or not), was the series director for most of the Di Gi Charat anime versions since its first installment in 1999. It’s really cool how everything circles back to a now almost prehistoric franchise, but it also circles back in a less symbolic way. 2021 seems to be a new year for Di Gi Charat, as the franchise is getting a revival as “Di Gi Charat Reiwa”, a new generation of the series which contemplates lots of merchandise and, most importantly, a new anime series, helmed by no other than the same Hiroaki Sakurai. Here’s hoping for a revitalization of this lively spirit, a hopeful affirmation of the disgusting manchildren we all have inside.

Promotional image for this era’s own Charat

Salvador González Turrientes

Links and additional sources of information:

Žižek on Kung Fu Panda 

The Milky Holmes article from the English Wikipedia 

Wikipedia list of the Milky Holmes characters (in English)

Takaaki Kidani's article (in English)

Takaaki Kidani’s article (in Japanese)

Di Gi Charat's Wikipedia (in English)  

Hiroaki Sakurai's (in English) 

Makoto Moriwaki's article (in English as well) 

The news of the Di Gi Charat Reiwa anime (from ANN) 

[ao3feed-shindeku]

// Hey y’all !! If you’ve been looking for stuff to watch, I have a few suggestions! Some have already been/are already pretty popular but I know not everyone has watched them, so yeah! This is a bit long so I’m putting it all under a Read More. ^^

Ore Monogatari (Comedy / Romance / Shoujo ; a really sweet and fun teen romance anime, one of my favorites!)

Tiger & Bunny (Action / Comedy / Mystery / Super Power ; another fave of mine, that I would LOVE seeing in a crossover with BNHA! Also available on Netflix. It’s about pro heroes, and it has two movies as well ! You can find them on the left of the page, in “Franchise”. There is also a live action show which you can watch here, sadly it doesn’t have subtitles but that didn’t make it any less fun imo, and Kotetsu and Barnaby’s actual seiyuus played them! How cool is that!! And last but not least, a side-story called “Too Many Cooks Spoil The Broth”.)

Ao No Exorcist (Action / Demons / Fantasy / Shounen / Supernatural ; yet another face of mine, such a good and interesting plot. However I do recommend to read the manga as well since the first season doesn’t follow it after a while ; season 2 does though, and there is also a movie! Once again you will find all that in “Franchise”).

One Punch Man (Action / Comedy / Parody / Sci-Fi / Seinen / Super Power / Supernatural ; very good action anime, there is a manga, too, if you don’t wanna wait for new seasons, as well as two OVAs!)

Saint Oniisan (Comedy / Seinen / Slice Of Life ; PLEASE WATCH SAINT ONIISAN I SWEAR YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!!! It’s about Jesus and Buddha and their life in Japan. There is also a manga, which I definitely recommend you buy, and a movie too!)

Houseki no Kuni/Land of the Lustrous (Fantasy / Seinen / Action ; very good story with a lot of potential !! It’s about sentient gems who fight “Moon Dwellers” to protect an apparently humanless Earth. The truth about all that is only known by the gems’s master, but he hides it from them... There is also a manga which I highly recommend.)

Samurai Champloo (Action / Adventure / Comedy / Historical / Samurai / Shounen ; oldie but goodie!)

Gin no Saji (Comedy / School / Shounen / Slice of Life ; an anime/manga about teens who are students in an agriculture campus! The author is none other than Hiromu Arakawa, who also made Fullmetal Alchemist!)

Koe no Katachi (Drama / School ; this is a movie about a deaf girl and a boy who used to bully her when they were kids. They meet again years later and he tries to make it up to her. Very touching story. There is also a manga.)

Kimi no Na wa/Your Name (Drama / Romance / School / Supernatural ; another movie, this time more supernatural. Such a good story, I definitely recommend it! I think there is a manga as well.)

Soul Eater (Action / Adventure / Comedy / Fantasy / Shounen / Supernatural ; a classic! It also has a sequel, “Soul Eater NOT!”)

Little Witch Academia (Adventure / Comedy / Magic / Fantasy / School ; a cute little anime about a seemingly magicless girl who goes to a witch school. There is also some kind of pilot episode from 2013 and a movie, however they’re not really canon.)

Tokyo Godfathers (Comedy / Drama ; a movie about homeless people who find a baby. They take care of the little girl while searching for her parents. Very funny and touching.)

This is all I have for now! Don’t hesitate to DM me for more recommendations, and please tell me what you thought of something you’ve watched from this list! c:

[akasen-the-red]

So I usually like doing a thing on my Twitter where I look into a character or a seiyuu and see what works they’ve done and what interesting opposites exist, mainly for humor.

In this case though, I find myself intrigued my Megumin’s seiyuu Rie Takahashi, who seems to be a rising star in the industry.

Asides from the fact she plays Mash Kyrelight in the anime adaptation of Grand Order and Emilia from Re:Zero (which is going to make the eventual crossover parody I’ve heard for Re:Zero and KonoSuba interesting), I found it interesting that she voices four characters in Shirobako. Certainly they are supporting roles and she may have been filling in the gaps, but a degree of vocal skill must be had to juggle four voices.

I do hope to hear (and importantly recognize, I have a terrible time doing this) more of her in the future.

[its-naruto-universe]

i am new to this anime fandom.. I just wanted to know that how many anime's should i watch before watching gintama coz i head it contains plot of many anime's and turns in it into a sarcastic comedy... so which anime's should i watch first in order to understand the jokes cracked in gintama :)

You know… you can appreciate gintama even without understanding all the mentions it has about other anime . It starts slowly but once you arrive at the 50th  episode you  will  really love it . I was able to finish all the episodes in less than 5 days for how much I was enjoying it lol

some of the anime gintama has  joked about are  ( that I remeber) are : Naruto , Haikyuu , kuroko na basuke ( hilarious parody by the way), D.gray man ( You will quite listen about this in gintama lol) , Dragonball , one piece , anasatsu kyojitsu , shokugeki no souma , dragonball , bleach, Ao no exorcists ecc

Ah there is also a crossover episode with sketdance , since sket dance mangaka was sorachi’s assistent . And the anime shares  quite some seiyuu :D

Anyway don’t worry and just start it , it’s ok if you understant the anime mentions even by a second time . Just watch gintama for the good laugh ( and some manly tears)

Oh and welcome to the anime world . There is no returning back once you’re in lol

[jyushimatsurepliez]