#shinichiro don’t have anything better to do than make a new one

[seraphdreams]

Loose leaf paper...

I barked

nah cause if he can do origami at the table in a restaurant then he could go and make himself a new plane.

[chifuyusfingers]

Tokyo Revenger boy's Reaction to you hide that you’re in the Hospital from them, and they find out.

_Mikey | Baji | Chifuyu | Kokonoi | Mitsuya | Sanzu | Shinichiro | Izana | kazutora | Kukucho | Ran | Rindo | Inui_

M i k e y

Mikey would be on a warpath once he found out you were in the hospital.

But when you woke up, he had worn himself out from being angry.

You would wait for him to wake up, and when he did he would be startled to see you awake.

He would ask you so many questions: “You’re awake? Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere? Do you want me to get a doctor?” Mikey wouldn’t express anger directly at you until after you were discharged.

But he would stay with you as much as he could, and would hardly get any sleep because he was so worried about your well being (even though you weren’t going to stay for that long).

C h i f u y u

Chifuyu would be extremely worried about you. He noticed you were a little sick lately, so when he heard you were in the hospital,

it was a worst case come true. He would instantly go to the hospital and would pick a fight with anyone who tried to deny him entry to visit you. You would wake up and he would be sitting with his head in his hands.

When he noticed you it was instant fretting over you. When you assured him you were fine and that it was something minor, he would sigh and lean back in his chair.

“You think I care that this is something minor? I care that you are here in the hospital and I knew nothing about it! Tell me if you aren’t feeling well and we come here together! But please… Don’t hide this from me.” Chifuyu may get a bit emotional and would tear up.

You would have to soothe him and promise to tell him. He would stay with you in the hospital for the day you had left there, and wouldn’t sleep– both from worrying about you and to make sure you were sleeping alright.

B a j i

Baji would be sitting on the edge of the bed staring at you when you woke up.

His number one concern would be how you were feeling and if you were in any pain. You assured him that it was nothing serious, and he just didn’t seem satisfied with your answer.

“If it was nothing serious, then you could have told me about it. Even if it was something serious, I would like to know this sort of thing. Your health is important to me, so please don’t hide this from me. I think I almost passed out from the shock.”

You would apologize to Baji and said you didn’t want to bother him. “It would bother me so much more if I didn’t know until after the fact!”

You would apologize and acknowledge your mistake. Baji would visit whenever he could find time, and more often than not he would bring you a snack or two in when he came.

K a z u t o r a

Kazutora is the type who would be a bit restless when he arrived. When you woke up he would be asking the doctors what was wrong with you.

When he noticed you were awake, he would direct all of his questions to you. Any attempt to calm him down wouldn’t go well at all.

You would have to talk him down from his anger, and once he was no longer angry, all that was left was worry for you. “How could you not tell me you weren’t feeling well? Why didn’t I tell you to go to the hospital?”

You would have to assure Kazutora that things like this happened and it was your fault for not checking yourself in sooner. “That really doesn’t make me feel better… Nothing will make me feel better until you get to get out of here.”

You would have to mess with Kazutora in order for him to finally crack a smile, albeit a small one. Kazutora would keep you company for the day or two you had to stay in the hospital. He would argue with the doctors if they tried to kick him out, and if they succeeded he would simply sneak back in later.

Shinichiro

Shinichiro would be crying when you woke up. When he heard your voice, he would instantly race to your side as if it was the end of the world.

He would hug you and you would have to repeat over and over how it wasn’t as bad as it may look.

He wouldn’t say much but would try to listen to you. Shin wouldn’t have to say much to you for you to understand that he was deeply hurt, by your decision to not tell him.

He would wear that on his sleeve. Once he stopped crying, he was relieved that it was nothing major and felt silly for crying so much. You would feel bad and promise to tell him how you were feeling truthfully from now on.

He would pick you when you were discharged and wouldn’t leave your side the entire day. “I want to make sure your a hundred percent.”

M i t s u y a

Mitsuya would be silently reading when you woke up. He would glance at you and continue to read his book.

You could feel the anger steaming off of him and were too scared to say anything at first. He scared you out of your skin when he asked, “Well? Aren’t you going to say anything?” You would begin to apologize for not telling him about the hospital, and he would seem slightly confused.

“Oh… I guess I should be upset about that too…” You’d ask why he was upset if not for that reason, and he would say he was mad at himself. He should have forced you to come to the hospital the instance you were sick.

You’d insist it wasn’t his fault, but he would continue. “No, it was my mistake for not saying what I thought. So I think I’ll have to be much more forward with you from now on.” It sounded scary to you. Mitsuya essentially would come when he could, and would give you the silent treatment for the next several days to come.

S a n z u

Sanzu is much more stubborn. I feel like he would be tempted to visit you a lot, but he would be too angry to do it.

You weren’t willing to tell him that you were in the hospital to begin with, so why should he visit you? He would find himself standing outside the door, unable to enter.

In the end, he would call you from outside the door and scold you over the phone. “Next time, we can go to the hospital together… Just please don’t do this ever again.” Sanzu would believe that you didn’t trust him enough to tell him this, and you apologized if you came off that way.

You would say that you knew he would panic, and that would cause him to open the door and argue with you in person. You would laugh as he scolded you. He would stay with you and glare at you every once in a while. He would also help you when you were discharged.

K a k u c h o

Kakucho is very lost when he finds the news. He doesn’t know what to do when he sees you in the hospital bed and is just lost.

He seems out of it till he hears your voice. He comes back to life and yells your name. He asks you several questions and if you didn’t answer him right away, then he would hit the button that summons a doctor to answer them.

He would cause chaos in his own caring way, and you would have to scold him for causing disarray at a hospital.

Leading him to scold you for hiding this from both of you. Essentially, the remainder of your visit would become a bickering fest between you two with no clear resolution other than your discharge.

From then on, if you so much as sneezed in front of Kukucho he would grab his coat and drag you to the hospital to get it checked out.

I n u i

Inui was concerned about your health before the hospital, but once he heard you were in there? He was in full on mothering mode.

He would bring you food and nag at you to eat and take care of yourself the entire time. He wouldn’t touch much on the fact that you hid the truth from him, and would be so much more concerned about your well being. That said, once you were healthy, prepare for an earful from Inui.

“You can’t just wait until you’re about to pass out to go to the hospital!! That’s crazy talk!” Inui would now give you a look whenever you coughed in front of him, a look that read: “If we go through what we did last time, I swear I’ll go insane–”

I z a n a

Izana would fight a lot of people. Since he came in angry, the hospital was reluctant to let them in.

The doctors would tell him he had to do something, he wasn’t going to be happy go lucky doing it. He was fuming just sitting beside you in the hospital. You’d expect that he would direct that anger at you once you woke up, right? Wrong.

He would actually be caring at first and ask about how this happened and how you felt at the moment.

But once all of those “formalities” were out of the way, then he would direct that anger at you. “How could you hide it until you are in the hospital!? Do you know how worried sick I was to hear about this? Don’t ever do this sort of thing again!” Izana would always turn a little serious from then on when he saw you and asked how you were doing.

R a n

Ran is in full on nag mode when he finds out you are in the hospital. You don’t have to be awake for him to start nagging.

The instance he opens your hospital door and sees you asleep, he would start nagging. “I swear to GOD, you must be out of your mind if you thought you could hide this from me forever! AH! So help me when you wake up I swear I’m going to give you an earful, just you WAIT!” Essentially, Ran would hype himself up so much that when you finally did wake up, he wouldn’t have much to say. So? He would play it off as if he was angry and shove a tangerine at you.

“Here! Eat IT!” Ran would sincerely worry about you and help you at discharge, and would take you to hospital upon hearing a single cough.

R i n d o

Rindo is another one to be silently angry when you first wake up.

He would ask you how you were feeling, and you’d say you were fine. “Is this the truth, or am I going to turn around and find out you really aren’t?” You would feel guilty and apologize.

This is one of the few times that Rindo would seriously scold you. It truly hurt him when he had to find out from his brother that you had wound up in the hospital. After you were discharged, Rindo would be lost in his own thoughts. It would take a little while, but he’d be back to normal if you gave him some time.

K o k o n o i

Koko wouldn’t really know what to do. He would be angry at you and himself, worried about your well being, and concerned with how you would feel seeing him.

He had all these thoughts going through his head as he waited for you to wake up. When you did, he wanted to be tough and stand by himself.

You shouldn’t have hid it from him. But he was just so relieved that you were okay that his facade melted away almost instantly. He just so glad to see you okay and well and that it was nothing major. Koko would realize a lot from worrying about you– like how much he cares about you and your well being.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[aruuq]

Gifts Headcanons – Tokrev Characters; Advent Calendar Day 9

characters: angry, baji, benkei, chifuyu, draken, emma, hanma, inupi, izana, kakucho, kazutora, kokonoi, mikey, mitsuya, ran, rindou, sanzu, senju, shinichiro, smiley, takemichi, wakasa x gn!reader

genre & style: fluff

word count: 2.4k

notes: from now on i’ll probably leave the missing days in the calendar be, ‘cause some of them are not in my mind to be finished right now, and it blocks me from doing the other ones. so i’ll try to post the ones that are supposed to be posted on the particular days as it should be, and i’ll just simply post the missing ones when i finish writing them (still want to keep it before the end of December, so do not worry, i will, hopefully, get this)

warnings: mention of food, cigarettes, tiny spoilers from bonten future (inupi, draken and kakucho’s workplaces)

event’s masterlist │ other gifts headcanons: gnshn ┃ hq ┃ jjk

❄ Takemichi buys you something really cute and really suiting you. It may be a small and adorable piece of jewelry, a cute teddy bear reminding him of you, or literally anything. He puts lots of thoughts into choosing a perfect gift that will make you happy. For sure he asks Chifuyu for a bit of help, so the present ends up being packed in polka dot paper with some Christmas themed ribbon around.

❄ Mikey buys you tens of packs of your favorite sweets. When he gives them to you, neatly packed in a big box with red ribbon around it, he jokingly says that you can share what’s inside. By which he means, there’s almost no candies left for you and your poor stomach. And if you don’t like sweets at all, that’s even better! (for him) But, even though Mikey sometimes is a douche, he still hides a little trinket that reminds him of you somewhere in these sweets for you to find later.

❄ We’ve been able to see the way Draken chooses gifts for his beloved ones. He buys you something you’ve told him about in the past that you really want to have or something he’s seen you looking a second too long for just checking it out in a shop. It doesn’t matter if he’s known about it for a few days or a year. No matter if it's something considered practical or a stupid trinket. He'll get it for you. Anything to please his beloved significant other.

❄ I know that it might be an easy answer, but what can I tell you… Mitsuya makes himself a gift for you, and since he’s a literal god if it comes to sewing, my next words should be obvious. He makes you your favorite piece of clothing. And since he’s sure that you are sure of what he has prepared for you, he also buys you your favorite sweets/snacks and puts them at the top of the bag, so at first it looks like they are filling the whole container. At least he tries to make this gift a surprise for you.

❄ Chifuyu is a precious boy who wants to share his passion with you by giving you something close to his heart. He buys you a few of his favorite copies of mangas, and wraps them individually in a brown paper. On each package he writes “open when…” and gives you recommendations for all sorts of situations in your life when this particular title feels like a perfect choice to read. He also puts tons of sticky notes inside and writes on them his thoughts about particular parts of the story, or characters, or anything that may catch your attention, so it feels as if he’s reading it with you.

❄ I don’t know why but I really see Baji buying you a little trinket or piece of jewelry, definitely something pocket-size, but then, when he goes to your house for exchanging gifts, he finds a stray kitten, and the bought present is not the only thing you get. Of course, if you don’t want to or if you can’t, he doesn’t force you to keep it, but if you are willing to, he’s more than happy to teach you all that he knows about cats, and help you with raising your new child.

❄ I assign matching ugly Christmas sweaters for Kazutora. I don’t take criticism. Just. Look at this boy and tell me he wouldn’t pop out in front of you in a hideous sweater with a giant plush reindeer head sewn on the front, and it also has tons of little bells sticking everywhere, and,,, have i just seen Christmas lights shining on it with every color known to humankind??? And when you think it can’t be worse, he gives you a messily taped package that also rings with every movement, and has fur sticking out on the sides. And you know you will be fucxed this Christmas, ‘cause he won’t leave you alone if you decide not to wear it. I don’t need to elaborate more. I’m closing the case.

❄ He just buys something. Smiley, unlike some of his friends, doesn’t think a lot about what he should buy you. The first thought that comes to his mind is what you get. And, based on the crazy mind this boy surely has, it may be literally anything. The funniest part is that Nahoya buys you this thing the day before Christmas (or a few hours before your meeting, depending on his mood), so there’s no withdrawal. You get ˢᵒᵐᵉᵗʰⁱⁿᵍ or 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, or 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 or maybe s̸͚̳̆̽o̶͕͋̈́̈́ͅm̶̗̞͑͆́e̸̢̥̮̓͋t̵̯͘̕̚ȟ̴̯i̷̢̬͛ǹ̸̡̰̫͑̈́g̴͉̞̓̔̐. You’ll never know until you open the Pandora’s box. Literally.

❄ I think that he’s still a bit of a child at heart. Angry will buy you a big plushie! But I think that he’ll also bake you your favorite cookies (if you don’t like sweets then he can make you your fav dinner!), and go a step further, doing something for you that reminds him of his childhood. I have a headcanon that when the twins were younger they kept doing lots of jewelry out of the colorful beads. Souya makes you one in your favorite colors! Maybe it looks a bit messy without any kind of consistency in choosing types of beads, but it’s pretty! (bonus point: if your pronouns are different from the ones assigned at birth, he’ll make you the second bracelet with your proper ones on it! no misgendering with this boy on horizon)

❄ Not a single soul can be surprised when I tell you that Kokonoi buys you something expensive. He has the money and he wants to spoil his baby, there’s nothing wrong with this! But because you mean so much to him, it’s not everything he prepares for you. Sure, he may buy you a piece of jewelry with real diamonds in it, or clothes from a worldwide known designer, but he also makes something by himself. It can be decoupaging a wooden box for upper mentioned jewelry, baking you your favorite pastries or just making a simple card. Koko wants to show you how much you mean to him by giving you more than his money.

❄ It may not be the usual type of present, but it is for sure the one that’ll have a lasting impact on your life. Inupi gives you a motorcycle engine in a box neatly wrapped in a ribbon. Scraping his neck, he then tells you that for the past months he’s been collecting parts and they’re all hidden in his n Draken’s shop’s magazine so that you two can build a perfect bike for you there. He wants to share his passion with you, but also it’s his sneaky try to spend more time with you.

❄ I don’t want to say that Ran forgets about buying you a present but let’s be honest. He does so. But it’s not because he doesn’t care, he was probably just too busy with the gang stuff, and before he had a chance to think about what he wanted to buy you, you popped up in front of him with a gift, saying “Merry Christmas”. His first reaction is just looking bewildered at you, without saying a single word – but after a second he blinks one, two, three times, and hugs you tightly, thanking you for the present. He then proceeds to slyly take out his phone out of his pocket to text his younger brother and prettily ask him to threaten the owner of the most bourgeois restaurant in Tokyo so that you can come and eat there without a few months in advance reservation.

❄ Rindou, unlike his older brother, doesn’t forget about preparing a gift for you. Lots of people would expect him to buy you just an expensive thing, but in my opinion it doesn’t suit him. I rather see Rinrin as a person who buys (or even makes!) something really meaningful, a gift that for everything around may be considered as not exactly fitting the description of a great gift, but you will automatically get what he has thought when he chose it. Deep down inside I think he may have a soul of a romantic that no one knows about.

❄ This boy’s precious with his s/o, I’m sure of it. Sanzu wants his loved ones to feel special, to be with them and for them. I really see Haru as a person who wants to show how good of a boyfriend he is. So he takes you on an arcade date. As soon as you are willing to, he’s gonna win every prize you desire. A teddy bear? You’ve got this. Fifteen of them? Not a problem. You want to play on more interesting machines, these where the prizes are electronic devices or other not typical items? He’s more than happy to win them for you. After this you come back home with your car stuffed to the brim with tons of plushies and other rewards. Haru makes sure you post a picture of the gifts he’s given you on social media so everyone knows how lucky you are to have him, and he also orders your favorite takeout for a grand finale of your date.

❄ Hanma gives you a box of cigarettes for Christmas. But only as a joke to annoy you when he opens it before you have a chance to take it, and he lights one cigarette up, blowing smoke in your face. He then grins and mumbles a stupid “kidding”, dodging your kick right before your foot meets his body. He’s annoying and he loves pissing you off. But Shuji loves even more seeing your happy face, so he makes sure you'll know how much you mean to him on a night full of entertainment he’s prepared for you. What adventures await you? You’ll never know if you won’t come with him.

❄ Izana seems to be an awkward person when it comes to giving and receiving gifts. At first, when you come up with the idea of exchanging Christmas gifts, he’s unsure if he feels comfortable with doing so. Deep deep inside, Izana feels uneasy with the thought of disappointing you. That’s why he proposes a compromise which is exchanging lists of potential gifts that you can prepare for yourselves. You are happy, ‘cause you have the opportunity to exchange gifts with him, and he’s happy, ‘cause there’s no way of letting you down.

❄ I spot a soul of a romantic which he is not embarrassed to show in Kakucho. He takes you to the bourgie restaurant on Christmas day. But taking you to expensive places like this is a bare minimum he could do, ‘cause you often go out without an occasion. Kaku goes a step further, borrowing Bonten’s limo and using all the privileges he has as the number three of the most dangerous organization in Tokyo – he takes you to the places no one is able to go, and shows you the other side of the town at night. You’re super safe, because you’re with him. I just like to imagine that he’s a bit extra when it comes to his loved ones.

❄ Shinichiro looks like a person that likes to spoil their loved ones – he just loves to see those closest to him happy. But he does it to an extent where it’s not healthy. Hypothetically, you’ve agreed on small gifts only – he gets you a bracelet or necklace with a small charm… with a diamond. Or you’ve both decided that telling each other what you’ve wanted for Christmas is the best idea – so he gets you exactly what you want… and a bag of other gifts too! You need to teach him that he doesn’t need to overdo in order to make you stay, ‘cause you feel stupid with your gifts being ten times cheaper than his, and his wallet feels bad, because it’s always empty.

❄ Wakasa doesn’t really care about Christmas, but he cares about you and your feelings, so he reflects your approach to the whole gift-exchanging-thing. If you are really hyped and think about his presents months before, he starts to save money, to buy you something really meaningful. But if you don’t care much, he orders your favorite takeout food or takes you on a cinema date. Waka just gives the same amount of effort as you, and I personally think it’s pretty cute and adorable of him.

❄ Hot take! Benkei is like a huge teddy bear when in a relationship. Meaning, he constantly gives you tons of big bearhugs, where your face is squished into his chest, his arms wrapped around you, and sometimes he even lifts you up just to do a few spins! That is why, as an addon to a present he’s known you really wanted, he makes a stack of coupons for these amazing hugs (and each type of hug is on a different color of paper!). For sum ppl it may be out of character for him, but ya know what? I’m starting a big teddy bear Benkei brainrot, and no one can stop me.

❄ Emma invites you over for a spa day with her. She buys all kinds of cute masks with animal patterns, moisturizing creams, hair masks, literally everything you could have imagined. If you are willing to, she proposes to give you a manicure and pedicure, it may be just only a cuticle removal if you don’t want to put color and/or do the extensions. When the time comes for the both of you to relax and chill on her bed with face masks on, Emma even cuts cucumber for your eyes to make this experience as if you are in a movie.

❄ I love her so much. Senju is a literal sunshine, but the one that can kick your ass. And she wants her significant other to also be a badass that can kick asses of the people that annoy them. And that is why she’s bought you your favorite snacks and drinks for your gift and thrown them into a paper bag. When she gives you your present she also says that from now on, she’ll help you to learn some basics of self defense and promises that will also teach you every cool kick or punch you’ll want to know! Senju pledges to take you after every lesson for popsicles that she’s paying for!

[ranhaitanisgf]

Hello so glad to see you write for Shinichiro!! Could I have some headcanons of spending the day as Shinichiro’s s/o with Shinichiro, Mikey, and Emma? Maybe having a picnic or going to the mall together? Just some fluffy Sano family time!

spending a day with shinichiro sano (feat. emma & manjiro sano): headcanons

[𖤐] hii anon; thank you for requesting this!! it was so cute and fluffy to write i kinda melted a little bit when i was writing this aaaa, i hope you like it!! <333

❧ masterlist

--

✂︎ honestly, the day was supposed to be just a casual date with shinichiro; going to the mall and doing some window shopping and maybe buying a few things, then going to the food court to get some food before riding to the riverside to watch the sunset. nothing really out there, but just spending time with him was enough for you, so you didn’t really need any sort of fancy date.

✂︎ at least, that was the original plan. you weren’t sure how you had ended up taking emma and mikey along with the two of you, but frankly, you didn’t really mind. there’s probably a lot of other people who would have some...thoughts, if their boyfriend’s little siblings tagged along on their date, but emma and mikey were always such sweethearts, (to you at least) so you actually thought it was a nice change of pace.

✂︎ hm, well, now that you think about it, the both of them coming wasn’t really supposed to happen in the first place. it was pretty nice weather out, so you and shinichiro had decided to walk to the mall instead of taking his bike. the both of you had figured it would be a nice change of pace and that the fresh air would do both of you some good, but you two were so wrapped up in your conversation with each other that you didn’t even notice the steps following you two. it wasn’t until you were almost at the mall that you and shinichiro had realized emma and mikey had tagged along.

“what were you thinking of buying, (y/n)?”

“hm, i’m not really too sure yet, maybe some-”

“i can’t believe that didn’t see us the entire walk!! we’re just that stealthy, emma!”

“what the hell-”

✂︎ and just like that, your date was crashed by the two little kids who had followed you on your way to the mall. according to emma, the only reason she was here was because she was trying to stop mikey, but by the time she finally was able to pull him back, she didn’t know how to get back home, so she just decided to follow you. according to mikey, he had followed you two because...well, just because he wanted to.

✂︎ mikey’s response earned him a punch on the head from shinichiro, who started yelling about how he can’t just crash his date, ‘just because he wants to’.

✂︎ it was obvious from his body language that shinichiro was feeling pretty exasperated from all this, and you can’t really blame him. i mean, who would expect for their little brother to purposefully follow him while he goes on a date?

“sorry about this (y/n), i should’ve noticed they were following us sooner. if you don’t mind, i can run them back real quick while you go look at some shops, how’s that?”

“...hm, actually, if it doesn’t bother you, how about we just take them with us? i don’t really mind that they came along; i really like emma and mikey, and if we take them with us, then you don’t have to go all the way back. is that alright with you?”

“are you sure, (y/n)? mikey can be a little troublemaker sometimes-”

“hey, shut up!! am not!!”

“yes you are!!”

“i’m sure it’s fine, now both of you stop yelling at each other, people are staring!!”

✂︎ gonna be honest here, the two of you looked like a family when you walked into the mall. mikey was sitting on shinichiro’s shoulders while shinichiro kept a firm grip on his legs, and emma was holding your much bigger hand in her smaller one, looking around a bit curiously.

✂︎ as you all walk around, looking at the different shops, there’s going to be a lot of commentary about literally everything from mikey. he’s going to be commentating on everything he sees, whether it’s clothing or a food stand that he wants to go try, his commentary will just be endless.

“do girls really wear that sort of thing??”

“woah, that looks super cool!”

“can we get the dorayaki that’s over there, (y/n)-nii?!”

✂︎ you’ll probably start to notice emma’s longing glances at some of the things that she sees in the windows. she won’t really say anything about it, but you can tell that it’s something she wants, so you’ll go into a couple of the stores with her, asking what it is that she wants. she’ll definitely be surprised at first, but she’ll get really excited that you’re willing to get stuff for her and will show you the things that she thinks are pretty. she’ll probably start talking about how she wants to be able to wear all of the cute stuff she saw in some of the other windows someday, so you just ruffle her hair and tell her that when the time comes, you’ll definitely buy it for her.

✂︎ your actions don’t go unnoticed by shinichiro, so he’ll just be waiting for you outside the store with mikey, looking at you with a small smile on his face. he doesn’t know why, but whenever he sees you getting along with her and mikey, it just warms his heart and reminds him of how much he loves you and how much he wants to be with you for the rest of his life.

“stop staring at (y/n)-nii, it’s weird.”

“wha- i wasn’t-!”

“yes you were! i saw you!!”

“be quiet mikey, i’m trying to have my moment!”

✂︎ ah, well, he actually does know why his heart skips a beat whenever he sees you smiling and getting along with emma and mikey, but he’ll save that for later.

✂︎ when you and emma walk out of the store, the giddy smile on her face makes shinichiro smile down at her before turning his gaze to you, who was looking at her with a giant grin on your face as well.

“let’s go look at some more places?”

“definitely!!”

✂︎ emma is a lot more vocal from that point onward, pointing out all the different things in the shops that she thinks would look best on you. she actually has a pretty good fashion sense, so you ended up buying some of the stuff that she suggested.

✂︎ she’ll even have you try on all the clothing that she picked out for you so that you can show shinichiro, (she whispers to you it’s so that he’s struck with love when he sees you). her plan definitely worked though; when you came out of the dressing room in the clothes she had picked out for you, shinichiro was wordless for a few moments, so captivated by you that he doesn’t even know what it is he should say. he’ll probably stutter out some words after a few moments, the broken sentence resembling that of a compliment, but you’re not quite sure since it’s all pretty broken up.

“wow, uh, you look, uh...wow, you’re very...wow…”

“shinichiro-nii, can’t you think of anything else?! i thought you were supposed to be their boyfriend!! you’re making my plan fail!!”

✂︎ mikey will probably be more interested in going to the food court, and will be asking every five minutes when you guys can be finished with window shopping so that he can eat because he’s absolutely starving, (it’s a lie, he just wants dorayaki).

✂︎ you’ll probably tell shinichiro that he should probably get some new clothing as well, with emma chiming in that his taste in clothes is kinda boring and that he should spice up his wardrobe, (he feels very wounded by this and puts a hand to his heart as if he’s been fatally shot). with that, the four of you will start to look for new clothes for shinichiro. it’s quite the serious mission, so the three of you will be closely examining him whenever he steps outside of the dressing rooms. it’s also like you three are judges at a fashion show, and if you could, you would all be holding up numbers that were rating his outfits, (the employees are fairly amused by all of this).

✂︎ after you all finally find some new clothes for shinichiro, you’ll be making your final stop at the food court, the place mikey has been pestering you about going to for the entire time you were there. he immediately dragged you all over to the dorayaki place, eagerly asking if he could get one. really though, how could you say no to those eyes?

✂︎ after getting everyone something to eat, you’ll all be sitting down, emma and mikey chomping down and their food, and you and shinichiro resting your feet after all the walking you had just done.

“remind me to never bring you to the mall on a date again.”

“what, you didn’t have fun?”

“no! no, that’s not it, i just...my wallet feels lighter than before…”

“you’re so dramatic sometimes, i swear.”

“but you love me.”

“...yes.”

✂︎ by the time you all are done with your food and are exiting the mall, it’s dark out, and emma and mikey are barely able to keep their eyes open, meaning that for the walk home, you were carrying emma on your back and shinichiro was carrying mikey. the walk back was rather peaceful, but what you enjoyed the most was the whispered conversation you were keeping up with your boyfriend, who was complaining about how mikey was drooling on his neck and he could feel it dripping down to his shoulder.

✂︎ after putting both the kids in their respective bedrooms and tucking them in, the two of you just crash on shinichiro’s bed, tired from all the events that had happened that day. you really had to admit though, it was times like these that you would always remember the most. the way he looked like when he was beside you, his eyes already closed as he rested his head on your arm. god, he looked so pretty…

“hmm, what do you think you’re doing?”

“just fixing the hair of my beautiful boyfriend, that’s all.”

“i see...carry on then.”

✂︎ neither of you bothered to change out of your clothes into pajamas, just deciding to leave them on and stay in each other’s embrace. in your opinion, there was truly no better way to end a day than to have shinichiro on your arms, his head fixed into the crook of your shoulder as he peppers kisses all over your neck and jaw.

“love you so much (y/n)...”

“mhm, i love you too.”

--

[cottonkendi]

Your Babies | 2

MASTERLIST

Sano Shinichiro x f!Reader

Word Count: 2.5k

Genre: Fluff, Established Relationship, Crack

Warning: Usual Spoiler Alerts~

Synopsis: Business trip ft. Drama king

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

a/n: gonna be having 3 updates this week just because my queues are piling up and because I want to share the new chapters for the two series~ i also finished my exams early, that's why~~ hope you lovelies are doing okay~ <33

“Do you really have to go?” Manjiro tightly gripping onto your hand, big and dark eyes staring right at your soul, trying his best to convince you that you don’t have to accompany his brother, your boyfriend, in his work trip and that it will be better if you just stay with him instead of ‘Stupid Shinichiro’, his words not yours.

Offering a smile, you crouch down, hands gently caressing his soft cheeks as you squeeze it a little. “You know I have to, ‘Jiro, I’ve already told you last week.” It only makes him pout more. “Besides, it’s not just his work trip, I also have a seminar that I need to attend for college then after that, we’ll be back before you know it. I’ll even bring you treats, yeah?” You try to console him but it seems he’s not having any of it.

Aggressively shaking his head, he wraps his arms around your neck, legs around your waist, now clinging onto you like a koala, desperate for you to not go. “Then let me go with you! I won’t let you be alone with Shinichiro! He’s a pervert and creepy and not good!”

You’re about to laugh at Manjiro’s proclamations but then, your boyfriend arrives, an irritated look on his face when he sees his younger brother clinging onto you and bad mouthing him.

“Hey munchkin! Stop saying shit-”

“Shinichiro, no bad words.”

Groaning at your words, he rolls his eyes but complies. “Stop badmouthing me when I’m right here. Spoiled little brat, you keep on taking my girlfriend away from me-”

“Maybe it’s because she likes me better, bleh!” Manjiro sticks out his tongue, further aggravating Shinichiro.

“Why you!” Just as Shinichiro’s about to charge at his brother and start a fight, you decide to step in, swiftly moving in between the two brothers.

Giving the little one a kiss on the forehead, you finally set him down on the ground, ruffling his hair before facing your boyfriend who’s glaring at the smug looking Manjiro.

“C���mon, Shin. The train’s about to leave.” Tugging on his arm, you lead him out of their house, Manjiro following along so that he can watch the two of you go.

Making it to the gate, you can see grandpa already waiting there with all of your bags for your one week trip to Yokohama.

“Do you have all of your things ready? Didn’t leave anything?” Grandpa asks the both of you to which you shook your head.

“No, I packed all of our things last night, grandpa. I think the only one missing is Manjiro.” You tease, eyeing the little blond who’s fidgeting with the handles of your bags.

The little one lets out a huff upon hearing Shinichiro and grandpa’s snickering, arms crossing against his chest. “Well, you have school tomorrow so you can’t go with them. Besides, you have Baji, he’s gonna be here by the afternoon for training, right?” Grandpa tries to make him feel better but Manjiro is too stubborn.

“No, Y/N is better than Baji and Shinichiro combined. Both of them can go on a year-long trip for all I care as long as Y/N’s with me. Baji also likes Y/n so I don’t like him.” That makes you laugh, touched at the way Manjiro’s grown attached to you after dating his brother for 2 years.

Cooing, you press another kiss to his forehead, ignoring the way Shinichiro’s trying to pull you away from his brother. “We’ll be back soon, okay? I’m gonna bring you lots of treats and presents and we can spend the rest of the day together when I arrive.”

Giving Manjiro and grandpa one last hug, you wave at them goodbye as Shinichiro starts leading the two of you to the train station.

“You spoil him too much.” He remarks, shoulders slumped and lips in a pout, making sure that you know that he’s jealous.

A smile fights its way to your lips but you try to hide it, knowing that it’s just gonna spur Shinichiro more into his little jealousy act. So, with tender hands, you caress his cheek, pinching it a little before making him stop walking so that he can look at you. “You know that I love Manjiro like a brother.” Pressing a light kiss to his lips, you notice the way his lips are starting to quirk into a smile.

Continuing, you press another one to his nose, both of your hands now cupping his cheeks so that he’ll be forced to look you in the eyes and not hide his flustered face. “I love him so much ‘cause he’s gonna be my brother-in-law once we get married, right?”

By now, Shinichiro’s face has turned a dark shade of red, the blush traveling down his face and onto his neck, reaching past the chain necklace that he always wears around his neck. “I’m just getting myself used to the Sano family, y’know?”

“Aish, you always know what to say, my pretty girlfriend is already making plans about marrying me~” He fanboys on the side, body wriggling around like a worm before he faces you, arm around your shoulder as he starts leading the two of you back to the train station though not before pressing several kisses to your lips, cheeks and forehead.

Giggling at his ministrations, you pretend to roll your eyes when Shinichiro smirks at you, pulling you closer to his side as he does so.

“Now, let’s enjoy our little week long date without any kids~”

The hour-long train ride finishes quickly after you’ve spent the ride sleeping on Shinichiro’s shoulder, motion sickness getting the best of you. “Wanna get something to eat first or do you wanna go to the hotel first and drop our things off?” Your boyfriend asks, busy looking around the street to look for potential restaurants.

Humming, you take out your phone, seeing several texts from grandpa and Baji’s mum. Probably the two kids asking where you are. “Let’s check the hotel first. The bags are too heavy for us to bring around Yokohama.”

“Alrighty then, lead the way, pretty girl.”

It takes the two of you ten minutes to get to the hotel, with you expertly leading the two of you through the different streets of Yokohama thanks to you memorizing the address last night,

Stepping inside the modern looking hotel, you’re greeted by the Receptionist, the pretty lady offering the two of you a smile. “Good morning, do you have a reservation?”

“Yes, under the name Mr. and Mrs. Sano, if you please.” Shinichiro butts in, hand on your waist as he pulls you closer to him, pressing a light kiss on your cheek once the receptionist nods at his words and starts looking at the monitor for your records..

You roll your eyes at his shenanigans, used to how he’s always subtly hinting at the two of you being ‘married’.

“Your room is on the 3rd floor, room number 313. You can leave your bags here and I’ll have the bellboy take it up to your room. If you have any requests or issues, please do not hesitate to give us a call.” Bowing, she bids the two of you a happy stay before you're whisked away by Shinichiro to the elevator.

You can feel the way your boyfriend is shaking in excitement, lips turning into a gleeful grin as he holds your hand throughout the elevator ride.

“Are you this happy to be away from your brother?” You shake your head in mock disappointment, already knowing that he planned for this trip for almost 2 months considering both of your busy schedules.

Shinichiro nods his head, his hold on your hand getting tighter as he swiftly twirls you around, other hand moving to the small of your back in order to pull you closer in the already tight elevator. “Of course~ We haven’t had a date alone for almost a whole year with Manjiro and Baji always coming along with us. We’re also always busy with work and school so I think that my excitement is justified, yeah?”

“Yeah, I think so too. Though it feels weird being able to go out and have a date without the kids.” You chuckle at the thought, already imagining how the two kids at home will react if they found out that Shinichiro’s work trip and your seminar will only last for 2 days and that the rest of the week will just be the two of you having a date around Yokohama.

Shinichiro also mentioned something about letting you meet someone.

The elevator door opens, showcasing the carpeted floor of the hotel.

Stepping out, the two of you start looking for your room, the keys dangling in your hold while you listen to Shinichiro talk about the different date ideas that he has in mind for the two of you.

“You think we’ll enjoy a little botanical date? And maybe we can also go to the ports and see what they have there. I haven’t been here in so long~” He lets out a nostalgic smile, eyes looking all dreamy like while you finally found your room.

Unlocking the door, you nod along to Shinichiro’s words as you push the door open.

You’re met with wide windows showcasing the scenery from below, along with a nice TV and a snack bar that you think is fully paid for, if you remember it right from your call 2 weeks ago.

Amazement flutters in your chest as you make your way to the windows, not noticing the disappointment and sadness that’s coursing through your boyfriend’s body who you’ve unconsciously left by the doorway.

While you’re taking in the beautiful scenery from below, your boyfriend lets out a whine, crying out your name as he does so.

Alerted by his distress, you turn around and are met with Shinichiro giving you puppy-dog eyes, lips quivering in a pout.

Your eyes widen, not at all sure as to what’s happened to Shinichiro’s excited babbling for it to turn into this pouting and gloomy vibes that he has now. Walking towards him, you ask him what’s wrong. Though his answer makes you deadpan.

“There’s two beds... are you breaking up with me?”

Letting out a heavy sigh, your shoulders drop, concern quickly fading away once you’re sure that your boyfriend is just being his usual dramatic self. “They probably just mixed it up,  can always call down to the lobby and have them chan-”

“Are you tired of me and this is your way of hinting that you want to break up?” He cuts you off with the start of his dramatic act, your eye starting to twitch as you stand there and listen to what he has to say.

“Is it because... are you in love with Wakasa?! Oh no no, that’s too obvious. Is it Benkei? Takeomi?! That bastard, I told him to not smoke my cigarettes ‘cause that’s where I get my charm!”

Clicking your tongue, you watch as Shinichiro starts to pace around the room in mock distress. “Oh my god.”

Looking up at you with wide eyes, he prompts you to ask him what’s wrong, brows wiggling in order to urge you into playing along.

Giving up, you lean your shoulder against the wall. “What is it?” You ask, voice exasperated.

“You... you’re planning on marrying Baji’s mother aren’t you?! I saw the two of you having coffee the other day when I went and fetched you at your university. You’re secretly planning on running away together and leaving Baji with us, aren’t you?!” He continues his ridiculous skit, unaware of the upcoming bellboy with both of your bags.

Letting him continue, you tap your foot on the carpeted floor, nodding along to all of his accusations until the bellboy arrives, the worker awkwardly standing behind you as he looks at Shinichiro with wide eyes, unsure if this is the right room.

At the sight of the bellboy, Shinichiro’s face explodes into different shades of red, hands quickly covering his face as he turns around and walks to what you assume is the bathroom. “Well, that’s it for that skit, I guess.”

Turning around, you offer the bellboy a smile, bowing a little as you start talking. “Excuse me, will it be too much of a hassle if the bags get moved to another room? It seems that we’ve been assigned a different room from what we talked about when I had the reservation. I requested for a room with one king sized bed but we got 2 queen sized beds instead. Yes, thank you.”

The bellboy nods along, telling you that he’ll be the one telling the receptionist and that the two of you can just wait in the room while they handle the new room, no added payments.

Giving one last smile, you close the door behind you, a laugh starting to bubble up in your throat when you find your boyfriend sitting on the toilet bowl, head bowed down in shame as he sulks.

“Why’d you let me continue when you knew that someone was going to arrive?!” He whines, hands gripping his shirt as he dramatically leans against you. “You traitor! You betrayed me!” He lightly pounds his fist on your back, face pressed against your neck as you coo at him, teasing smile on your lips as you guide the two of you out of the bathroom.

“I’m sorry~ I was enjoying your little skit and didn’t notice~”

“Hmph! Didn’t notice, my ass! You spend too much time with Manjiro, you’re starting to become mean like him! You’re starting to be mean to your sweet and precious boyfriend who you love very much.”

A laugh escapes your lips which only makes him pout more.

Looking up at his pouting face, you press a quick kiss against his lips. “I’m sorry, love.”

He only hums at your apology, arms wounding around your body and pulling you closer to him in a hug.

It lasts for a few seconds until the telephone rings. Pulling away, you quickly answer the call, nodding along as you listen to the receptionist.

Putting it down, you face your boyfriend who’s staring at you with wide eyes, almost reminding you of his younger brother. “C’mon love, let’s finally go to that room with only one bed that you like so much then after, we can have lunch outside, yeah? You like that, my little drama king??”

Huffing at your light teasing, he takes your hand in his and pulls you out of the room, barely letting you close the door behind you as he leads you back to the elevator. “You better make it up to me later. My ego is too bruised for me to continue living.”

Rolling your eyes, you agree. “Sure thing, drama king.”

taglist:

@lagrimasdeglitter @sseorin

all rights reserved © armycandy10, 2021. do not copy or repost any of my works! likes/reblogs/feedbacks are very appreciated~

[sscarchiyo]

lies and broken promises

paring: kazutora x gn!reader

type: drabble

wc: 588

genre: angst

warnings: mentions of blood + character death (if i missed any pls let me know)

🖇a/n: @kirtokyo yes the long awaited kazu angst, jenjwndwj i dont like it but i worked on it for a while and didn't have the heart to scrap it. but the next one will be better i hope😭 hope you enjoy and feedback is always appreciated, have a good day <3

you didn’t see the way he heaved for air, the way mikey’s blood coated fists hammered into his face at an alarming speed or the tears that pricked the sides of his eyes when he started to think about; shinichiro, baji and you. you who he promised to marry one day, you who he swore to protect no matter what and you who he promised to come back to. he knew what he came to do and he had a plan: kill mikey no matter the cost. wasn’t it his fault he went to juvie? was it not his fault precious years with you were shortened? what's worse is nobody told you anything, they’d kept you in the dark for so long you thought he disappeared or worse was kidnapped. so yea it was mikey’s fault and kazutora knew better than to think it was going to be easy, but he had already set up his mind and backing down wasn’t an option.

“Shit, shit, shit, it hurts. god it really fucking hurts” he curses to nobody but himself and as kazutora starts to lose consciousness, he recalls the last conversation the two of you had.

“you shouldn’t go, it's dangerous. look I'm not sure about this one tora, something seems off about your new gang and the leader seems shady too”

“come on every fight is dangerous, but I always come back, don't I? don’t worry I'll be back this time too. so rest up a bit, who knows I might be able to snag some of that takeout you like so much” he yells over his shoulder, as he runs out of your front door, you miss the way he secures the knife in his pocket and that was the last time you saw your boyfriend.

you don’t remember how long you’ve been sitting there or how many times you’ve gone to visit. all that mattered is he was lonely and he needed you or maybe it’s because you didn’t get a proper goodbye, so this was your way of getting closure.

screaming seemed like a good idea, yelling into his face, “YOU LIAR”. yet no words left your mouth and even if you wanted to, the rain would drown you out. besides, you were also a liar so you couldn’t be a hypocrite. after all, you promised him; that whatever the future held, his friends would be there in the end and that no matter what the issue was, it could be resolved. if only you knew what the problem was, your words would’ve been different. if you knew it’d end like this? you wouldn’t have let him go through that door. even if you had to break his arm or a leg, it’d be nothing compared to saving his life. you were a liar because his friends weren’t there. not once did they visit his grave and you’d know, because it was your family who paid for the headstone and the funeral, it was also your family who’ve made it their daily routine after hours, upon hours to drag you home when the night was getting dark. despite sending invitations, not 1 toman member came and even being with them for a short time you’d hoped at least a valhalla member would show up. you wonder what he’s doing, is he happy up there? did he make it to heaven? you could only hope, wish and pray with all your soul, because-

In the end you were both nothing but lies and broken promises

tokyorev taglist: @softshiin @luvuharuu @royalelusts @verrion @hirugummies

general taglist: @megurulvr @k1samaniac

[meowdarame]

cw// tokyo revengers ch 241 spoilers below the cut; discussion about (child) mental illness. please DO NOT READ if you find any of these subjects triggering.

i’ve been thinking many thoughts and would just like to put them out somewhere. my opinion may spark some controversy (especially since it’s one that i feel like many WILL disagree with), but please refrain from sending hate. i’m open to having a fruitful and respectful discussion, but if you spam me hate or anything of the sort, i WILL delete it. thanks.

if you’re reading this you may have already seen the spoilers/leaks for tokrev 241, but if you haven’t, i advise that you do so because i will be referencing the chapter in this “analysis” (of sorts).

according to this chapter, mikey was the one who gave sanzu his scars— and all allegedly over a toy. (i use the word “allegedly” because we’re viewing the story from senju’s perspective, who wasn’t present in the room when mikey hurt sanzu. it’s totally possible that there were other reasons for mikey hurting sanzu, but with the limited information we have right now, i’m going to just take the story at face value and assume that it was over the toy.)

because of this new revelation, it’s safe to conclude that mikey has had his “dark impulses” even PRIOR to shinichiro’s death, rather than that these impulses were a RESULT of his death. this has caused a lot of people to therefore label mikey as the “true villain” of the story (and i understand where they’re coming from, i truly do), but i am hesitant to make any reservations or judgements about mikey for the following reason:

i really do believe that mikey’s “dark impulses” are an allegory for some mental illness (not exactly sure what it is, i’m not a licensed psychiatrist so i won’t be diagnosing a character we have very limited information on), and in this case, it’s a mental illness that he’s been dealing with since he was very young. i think that when we reframe the dark impulses in this fashion— rather than viewing it as some supernatural or innate evilness/darkness that lurks within mikey— it will help us reframe the way we view mikey’s character.

now when you look at it from this framework, it makes mikey a character that i personally empathize with and feel for more (keyword: personally). according to this perspective, mikey was a child struggling with some unknown mental illness/issues— one that he didn’t know how to properly navigate, mitigate, and unlearn. of course, one could argue that he had a sufficient support system and a loving family (i.e. baji, shinichiro, emma, etc.), but the sad reality is that sometimes, especially in severe cases, that’s simply not enough. a loving and caring support system is definitely beneficial in overcoming mental illness, but the fact is that sometimes your family and loved ones just don’t have all the facilities or resources necessary to help you fully. sometimes, people need more attention and care, which often comes in the form of professional or medical help— things that it seems like mikey didn’t receive in his youth. and honestly, even then sometimes medical/professional help still isn’t enough to “cure” you. (i’m using the word “cure” here for a lack of a better word, because mental illness is so often something that’s just mitigated and not completely “fixed,” and i am speaking from personal experience here lol.)

imagine being a young child with some unknown mental illness— one that distorts your perceptions of right and wrong— and not having the tools necessary to combat this inner turmoil. i can’t even fathom how hard that must be, and it must be exponentially harder to overcome when everyone who was once your support system dies and leaves you alone to figure shit out for yourself.

does this mean i condone what mikey did? absolutely not. i don’t condone mur/der nor physically scarring your childhood friend. does this mean that i think that sanzu deserves what happened to him? hell no! do i still think that sanzu deserves better? of course, the sweet boy deserves the world. does mikey’s supposed mental illness absolve him of accountability over his actions? absolutely not, he’s still responsible for his shitty actions and decisions. but does this make mikey someone who is undeserving of love, redemption, and empathy? no. i certainly think that it makes him (at best) a morally gray character, but definitely not one who’s unworthy of these things.

i think one recurring theme in tokyo revengers is that people are simply products of their environment, socialization, and traumas— that they’re distillations of their hurt, pain, anger, suffering, decisions, and actions. take for example izana, who at first seemed like a batshit crazy villain, who in the end, turned out to just be a traumatized adult still suffering from the repercussions of the hardships he lived through as a child. i view mikey in the same regard— that he’s a product of his external suffering (i.e. literally everyone he loves dying) as well as his internal turmoil (i.e. his mental illness)— and that’s why i still empathize and feel for him.

it’s totally possible that in the upcoming chapters wakui will throw us in for a loop and i’ll end up eating my own words. but in the meantime, my heart will continue to hurt for mikey because at the end of the day, he’s just a troubled kid who clearly has shit going on inside of him that we as readers don’t even know about.

call me a mikey apologist or whatever, but if being a mikey apologist means caring for a mentally ill child who’s been suffering with his issues since his early youth, then so be it.

p.s. i’m open to hearing your thoughts and analyses as well. feel free to dispute my thoughts and observations (in fact i encourage it! the best way to create a fruitful discussion is by having an open and honest conversation!), but please approach it in a respectful manner. if you don’t, i’ll just ignore it, which will be a shame since i’m sure you’ll raise valid points as well. thanks for reading!

[darkmindsotome]

Wrapped For Dinner

Fandom: Love 365 Irresistible Mistakes

Pairing: Shunichiro Tachibana x MC

Word count: 3,796

Warning: NSFW Smut

Written by: darkmindsotome

Tagging @voltage-vixen as requested. Prompt #13: Sex under the sun dress

Darkmindsotome Masterlist

---

Wrapped For Dinner

My latest big project at Addison & Rhodes had me working as lead creative. It was long hours and a lot of hard work but in the end, we were able to pull off a pretty fantastic ad campaign that was currently trending and going viral. 

To say I was relieved at the response was putting it modestly. Toma had already teased me about the stupid grin on my face creeping him out at work and Natsume had commented on it as well when he dropped off the updated sales figures. I managed to laugh them both off, nothing was going to put a dampener on my good mood. Well, almost nothing…

The phone rang at my desk the caller ID clearly displaying it was from the creative director’s office. I picked up the receiver as I pressed the button to answer. I had palpitations in my chest knowing my boyfriend was calling me during work hours. I wonder if I’ll ever get used to this?

“Creative department, MC speaking.”

“Always so professional.” I could hear Shinichiro’s deep voice as he chuckled. It managed to send tingles rippling through me. “Good work on that last project I just saw the updates. The projections look set to knock the client’s preferred targets out of the park.”

“Thank you, Sir. It means a lot hearing you say that.” My mood and happiness seemed to increase ten-fold being praised by him.

“… Listen about later, I’m going to have to take a rain check. One of the larger clients for the company had a scheduling issue and I was asked by the higher-ups to cover for someone who is still off-site.” Shunichiro’s words were like a bucket of ice water bringing me firmly back to Earth.

“Oh, that’s fine.” I didn’t know what else to say in response, it felt like the wind had been knocked out of me and I rolled my chair a little closer to my desk hoping the computer monitor would hide me from the rest of the department.

“I knew you’d say that. I’ll make arrangements for something soon and make it up to you.” He sounded genuinely sorry but what worried me more than the cancelled date was how tired he sounded.

“You don’t have to worry, work is work. I’ve bailed on you a few times recently too.” I tried to mask my disappointment with a little enthusiasm. I really didn’t want to add to his problems by making him worry about me.

“Well alright if that’s how you really feel. You seriously did a great job this time I’m going to have to work harder to stay ahead.” It was reassuring to hear him accept my response and hear the motivation return to him. I could feel the smile returning to my face just listening to him.

“I’m still nowhere near –”

“I’m going to have to go another call is coming in.” Shunichiro cut me off after an electronic beeping on the line.

“Alright.” I nodded. He was busy and while I had really wanted to see him it couldn’t be helped.

“Mc? I can’t wait to see you.”

The line went dead as I held the receiver to my ear for a few seconds letting his parting words linger.

“Oh, Shun… you really don’t play fair.”

*

With no new projects that required my immediate attention, I was actually able to leave the office on time for the first time in ages. It was the weekend and the original plan had been to go to Shunichiro’s last night and spend the weekend together.

I looked over at the weekend bag I dragged back from a locker at the train station last night. Takuro had given me a quizzical look when I came back with it, but he was now curled up on top of the bag fast asleep.

Reaching for my phone I shot a quick message to Shunichiro wishing him good luck at work then hopped into the shower. With my hair dry but a towel still wrapped around me, I rifled through my wardrobe looking for clothes. I picked up the summer dress Yuiko had helped me find on our last shopping trip together.

The delicate gradient of pastel shades made the dress look like a dawn sky and the petals spread out around the baseline hem looked like I had kicked up waves of Sakura flowers. It made me feel happy and a change in mood was certainly what I wanted right now.

I hadn’t been very sure about it, after all, it was a wrap-around dress that caused a deep plunge to my neckline. My reaction had made Yuiko laugh as she kept encouraging me to try it on insisting that if it was to go on a date that it was perfect. In the end, I bought it, I wanted to see his reaction but that was not happening today.

Tying the fabric around my waist I checked myself in the mirror and slipped on a pair of kitten heels. Today may not be the day I get to see him but it was still a day off. Plus, I had been working so hard at the office recently I had no groceries in the apartment to make breakfast. Grabbing my purse, I exited my place in search of sustenance.

*

My parents had always warned me about food shopping on an empty stomach. I really didn’t want to end up carrying a ton of things back with me just because I was thinking with my belly and not my brain. After cutting through the park I came out onto the main road and spotted a familiar sign for McDonald's and went in.

Quickly grabbing a McMuffin and a coffee to go I was just on my way out again when I walked smack into someone. A familiar scent of a particular brand of cigarette, cologne and citrus shampoo filled my senses.

“Whoops! Careful, are you alright?” My eyes followed the arms supporting me. Navy blue suit with grey pinstriped vest and a custom shirt. Finally reaching his face and those deep brown eyes. My mind went blank as I stood there, face to face with Shunichiro. “Wait… MC?”

Clearly, I was not the only one surprised to see my partner. Shunichiro’s eyes looked me over from head to toe as if to check it was really me. I was suddenly very aware of his arms around me and felt a little self-conscious with how he was looking at me. I haven’t done anything different with my usual makeup, maybe its the dress. Does he not like it?

“Morning, late night?” I took half a step back putting a little space between us and the awkward situation.

“Yeah, fast food always tastes better after a late night. If you’re free right now we could eat together.” He shrugged, composed as always. This kind of situation really doesn’t rattle him, I guess that’s something that comes from age and experience.

“Really?”

“Well, it’s up to you. What do you want?” He was clearly holding back laughter I probably sounded or looked childish right now. His playful tone was not lost on me if anything it triggered more of my childish side.

“You have to ask?” I gave him a small glare that made him smile wider.

“Ok, I’ll be right back.”

I found a booth and sat down feeling completely unsure as to what I was now supposed to do. I wasn’t supposed to see him today at all and the fact I now was had thrown me. The look on his face when he recognised me also bugged me a little. While I was lost in thought a second bag was placed next to mine and the cushioned seating at my side pressed lower as Shunichiro sat down.

“I was going to phone you later.” He began talking as he cracked open his bag and began pulling out two McMuffins and a pastry.

“You were?” I looked at his face in profile, he was always handsome but something about this slightly tired look had me thinking back to our time spent together in bed. I reached out for my own bag of food to distract myself from my own lude imagination.

“Mhm,” He filled his mouth with a bite of his breakfast and then sucked hard of the straw for his iced fruit juice. I could have laughed at myself for how I suddenly felt very jealous of a straw, watching his moist lips wrap around it. “After pulling an all-nighter, preparing copies and things for the meeting. The client phoned saying they would have to reschedule again.”

He sighed and leaned back against the booth seating. He was frustrated and tired, you didn’t have to be his girlfriend to see something so plain.

“After you put in all that work!? That’s just too much…” I raised my voice a little allowing the annoyance I felt to at least show even if he wouldn’t.

“It’s a big account and the board members all want to keep it, but when I left the office earlier they were all apologising to me for the extra work.” He gave a wry smile and sucked a bit more on his drink. This was one of the many things I actually loved about this man. His dedication to his craft made him glow in a way that always had me dazzled, it motivated me to keep pushing forward.

“Must be nice to be in demand like that.” I smiled feeling some of my anger subside. He was so talented and respected by everyone in the company. Remembering that a warmth spread through my chest as a wave of affection hit me for the man at my side.

“You are as well you know? I am always getting requests for you to handle accounts personally.” There is a look on his face that even in profile seems to reflect everything I was just feeling about him back at me.

“You’re joking!” I nearly choked on my coffee as my embarrassment caught in my throat. Great work there MC remember to breathe air, not coffee.

“I’m really not.” Shunichiro chuckled at my little outburst making me feel even more childish sitting next to such a well put together man. He had already devoured his pastry and moved on to the rest of his food without me even noticing. “It actually makes me feel very...” He turned his head to look at me the expression painted on his face was not one I saw when working. It was softer but there was an intensity swimming in his eyes that automatically had my core tightening under that gaze. He smiled and then gave my food a nudge closer to me. “Your food is getting cold.”

“Oh!” The spell holding me seemed to break at his prompting. I really wanted to know what he didn’t finish saying, but the timing was now all wrong.

I don’t know if he knew what I was thinking or how he was affecting me. Knowing him he probably had already laid the groundwork for the perfect game plan. He always found a way to get me dancing in the palm of his hand.

“So what do you want to do now?” His question had me confused. It also came right after I had stuffed a big mouthful of McMuffin into my mouth.

“I thought you’d just pulled an all-nighter. Shouldn’t you be heading home to rest?” My words were muffled as I tried to swallow my food and talk at the same time. I probably looked like a hamster, my lack of manners and decorum didn’t faze him at all he simply listened to my garbled gibberish with a soft smile on his face. Ok, that look should be illegal.

“I was but seeing you made me feel much more energised. I’m not so old that one late night is going to stop me from seeing the woman I love. It’s up to you though, I know what I’d prefer.” He was so calm and easy-going. It reminded me that this mature sexy guy was like the smooth jazz music at our favourite bar.

He always did this. No matter what he always said something that was intrinsically tempting in a way you couldn’t possibly refuse then asks what you want to do. It still catches me off guard at times but I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Then will you come shopping with me?” I hadn’t planned on seeing him today so the fact I was right now made me unbelievably happy. It didn’t, however, change the reason behind my leaving my apartment.

“Shopping?” My rather boring request had him look at me in slight wonder. I don’t know if he thought I had offered up something mundane because I was concerned for his exhaustion or what.

“Sorry is that weird?” I cast my eyes down looking at the last bite of my breakfast in my hands shyly.

“No, not at all. What are we shopping for?”

“I…” I fidgeted in my seat. At work, I was organised and usually even at home I was as well. However, being as busy as I had recently meant I had let so many things slide in my personal life that I was getting embarrassed thinking about it all. “I haven’t been home much so I didn’t have any groceries.”

“Well, we can’t have that. If we’re buying food can I make some requests?” Shunichiro didn’t laugh at me or look like he was harshly judging me. I finally look up at him, his face looking a little boyish. I loved that look of innocence on him too.

“Of course!”

*

After finishing our food, we headed over to one of the larger stores because it had a slightly bigger variety of items.

“So, what do you want to request?” I ask as I pick up a shopping basket from the stack.

“Well lately I’ve been really craving your cooking I would say anything you make is fine but…” Shunichiro trails off looking at the displays. It made me smile thinking this is the first time in a while either of us had been food shopping.

“You want me to make chicken nuggets don’t you?” I end up giggling which earns me a raised eyebrow from him.

“You know me so well.”

“Naturally I am your girlfriend after all.” The words came naturally but with an instant hit of embarrassment. To hide my fluster, I looked away from him as I marched towards the shelves. “I’ll just go find the seasonings you go get the chicken.”

“Anything else?” He was hot on my heels making me little thankful for being able to stay ahead of him.

“Whatever you see you might want to eat.” I stopped in front of the seasoning looking over the array of choices and as I raised my hand to pick one up, I found myself covered from behind. “Shun?”

“In that case do I really have to go over there? I can’t think of anything but how great you would taste right now.” Shunichiro’s low voice and hot breath brushed against my ear as he pressed himself against my back. His hand was on top of my outstretched one, nimble fingers tracing my own while he used his thumb to rub the sensitive skin on the inside of my wrist.

“Shun… we’re in the middle of a store.” I closed my eyes wanting so badly for time to stop or for our location to just magically change. He placed his other hand on my hip sliding towards the wrapped fabric of my waist. His fingers delved into the gap they found and traced over the naked flesh beneath.

“Mmm, pity.” He hummed before removing himself and gracefully swiped the basket from my hand as if nothing had happened at all. “I’ll go get the chicken then.”

“You’re a damn tease, Shunichiro.” I muttered as I finished finding the seasonings and made a move for some frozen items next. With any luck, the freezers might help me cool down.

*

It was almost a mad dash to get home. I wanted to say it was because of the risk of food spoiling but to be honest that was the last thing on either of our minds.

Our little flirtations had persisted around the entire store, and when I say our flirtations, I mean Shunichiro’s. By the time we were at the checkout, I was trembling so much from his persistent teases that I couldn’t locate my card in my purse easily.

Not wishing to waste valuable time, Shunichiro produced his card and paid for the whole lot. He even picked up all the bags and began walking before I could protest. As we left, I caught one person saying “…such a gentleman.” Oh if only you knew.

Once inside he walked right into my small kitchen and opened the door to the fridge, not caring one bit about unpacking. I watched in shock as the entire bags, including their contents, were unceremoniously wedged inside.

“You know that isn’t good for the food right?”

“And you know right now I couldn’t care less.” His voice was lower than I expected. It was ruff and gravelly instantly reigniting all the tingling hot spots he had kindled during our impromptu shopping date.

He closed the gap between us in the blink of an eye. The strength with which he took me in his arms knocked the air from my lungs and my ability to think right out of my body. He dipped low plying my lips open with his tongue and pushing it deep into my mouth as if he were trying to steal my ability to speak as well.

Experienced hands roamed over the top of my dress pulling on the fabric in all the right places to provide some friction of fabric on flesh, raising the temperature between us.

“Mhm!.... Ah… Shun.” I was panting as he pulled back finally allowing me a few seconds to gain some air.

“I’ve never been so bothered by work. It’s so frustrating our schedules just never match up at the minute.” Even as he spoke he was removing his own clothes. Tossing his jacket and vest behind himself in a flurry of action that had me rubbing my legs together seeing him so desperate.

“I know I felt the same.” I brought my hand up to the buttons on his shirt, slowly tracing them before popping them one by one between my fingers like I was snapping them. My eyes never left his as he unbuckled his leather belt and trousers. “Every time I felt a break in the workload You vanished under a pile of assignments.”

“Seeing you every day at work. So close…” He shuddered at my touch the fire in his eyes lit scorching hot paths through my body.

He gave an almost silent groan as he lunged at me. My back hit the kitchen table as he pinned me down on either side with his strong arms. Hovering over me I could feel the pulsating heat from his body and the weight of his raw animal magnetism that always had me coming back for more.

My legs were forced wide as he brought his leg and hip between them. Alternating rhythms resounded in my body as my heart hammered hard enough to burst and his fingers danced up my inner thigh under my dress before slipping past the fabric barrier covering me.

“Mmm, A-ah—” The pressure filling me was exquisite. I watched his arm and shoulder pump in action with his fingers buried deep inside me as he worked away at my sanity.

“I was so glad to see you today I thought the torture was over but then you had to go and do this to me.”

“Do what? I didn’t do anything?” I was seriously confused. I was focusing on him but I felt like there was something I was missing. He didn’t answer me with words instead he brought his face to my chest burying it between my breasts and pulled on the fabric of my dress with his teeth.

“Are you being coy on purpose? Where did you learn to charm a man like that?” He pulled his fingers free with a smirk watching as I writhed missing his touch while he licked them clean. The next feeling my increasingly befuddled mind registered was the complete fulfilment as we became one.

“Oh, God!” My back arched against the unforgiving table and he placed one hand on my chest pushing me back down while he moved his hips against me.

“Ngh… dammit, you are just so perfect.”

“Shu…ni…chiro…” The pop and grind that was a familiar dance to us had me seeing stars.

“I know baby, I know.” He picked up the pace our bodies becoming slick with sweat as we relentlessly hammered home our mutual desires for each other.

*

“You awake?”

I slowly opened my eyes finding that I was not exactly where I thought I was. Shunichiro had been sitting on my sofa having a drink. Noticing how I was now conscious he returned to my side in my small little bed.

“Mmm, yeah. Did you carry me to bed?” Clutching the covers over my chest I wriggled closer to him. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders placing my head on his chest in the process.

“Well I did consider leaving you on the kitchen table but I thought you might get cold.” He laughed as he teased me. I was too happily exhausted to care and gave him a pathetically weak slap on his arm. My eyes started to adjust more to being fully awake, finding my alarm clock next to the bed.

“Jeez is that the time I should start making the food.” I freed myself from his hold and had placed one foot outside of the covers only to be pulled back in. “Ah!”

“You could or we could enjoy ourselves a little more. There’s no rush, after all, we have the rest of the weekend together.” He was whispering in my ear and trailing fingers over my now naked form. The tip of his tongue drew a line down my neck to my nape where he suckled on it. “What do you think?”

“I think you’re a sneaky scoundrel.” I smiled knowing this was him. He was sneaky, tricky, devilish, conniving and god help me if I didn’t find every aspect of the man appealing.

“Correction.” He chuckled and I found myself flipped under him. “I’m your sneaky scoundrel, and you’re mine.”

---

[natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk]

Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple [My Thoughts]

I can’t guarantee that there are no spoilers, so I will just put the “keep reading” line. With that being said, this is in no way a deep analysis of any kind. Do not take this seriously. I’m just an idiot running my mouth. This is just a stupid thing that I’m writing because I just finished the movie.

If you’re Canadian, just know that they did not prepare a special message for us. The voice actors who appeared in the message before the start of the movie (Uemura Yuuto, Ono Kensho, and Taniyama Kishou) and the Crunchyroll staff prepared the message for Americans. I’m Canadian, but I guess that’s close enough (still a little disappointing though).

Whether you ship Atsushi x Kyouka as a sibling relationship, a friendship, or anything else, it was quite nice. Personally, I do support this ship despite the age gap of four years, but I wouldn’t be angry about any ships that aren’t... illegal let's say. Their relationship was done in a way that it wasn’t forced to make you think that they were in any specific kind of relationship which I liked because I had a feeling that audiences would’ve criticized it if they hinted any tiny bit of a romantic relationship. I think that kind of thing should be saved for the future if they decide to act on it. Let’s just say... I’ll preorder that ship.

Chuuya x Dazai (or Soukoku) is a ship that I don’t mind. It’s okay, but I personally liked Oda x Dazai. Too bad... well that ain’t gonna happen. Unless you believe in the afterlife... I guess. Was it forced? A little. Was I bothered? Not that much. I don’t care what you ship. If this is your ship, embrace it. I’ll sit here with my popcorn routing for you.

Was the story predictable? Yes. I didn’t feel that bothered by it though. I understand that they didn’t want to surpass or reveal anything that the manga has or anything that hasn’t been explored yet. This was made in a way that you wouldn’t feel really lost if you didn’t watch this and just continued with the manga. It was more of a side story. Plus, as a person who is constantly anxious, predictability is great. Don’t judge me.

The pacing was a little bit fast, but as an anime movie, it would be a bit crazy to have any expectations. Just be glad it wasn’t a complete recap. I think this movie would’ve benefited from being an OVA instead of just a movie, but that would’ve changed so many things in production. I will take what I can get.

I won’t get into the details of everything that was predictable. That would take too long, but the little things like the pill that Dazai took, why Ranpo put the snacks into a safe, the abilities attacking, how that would all work, everyone surviving (because as I said, this movie would not interfere with the major overarching story), etc. Also, I think we all know that Dazai and Ranpo know everything that’s going to happen. There’s no way that they can lose, and not for a single second did they convince me that the agency or anyone was in a pinch. The entire time felt as if it was under their control. In that sense, it almost belittled the villains slightly. Fyodor probably knew that and backed off to make another more prominent appearance later. Shibusawa was disappointing. For a villain that is so hyped and with an ability so outstanding, he was one of the biggest letdowns about the movie. The dragon was also disappointing just because I feel like it was meant to represent the “Tiger vs Dragon” cliche, but I was not too hyped about that. Just everything about Shibusawa and his actions I felt were not as well thought out as I wanted them to be. I knew that the “good side” was going to win, but his final form looked kind of like a joke (comparing to their usual high-quality character designs), and he didn’t put up as much of a fight as I thought they would have. The other ADA members barely make any appearances until the end, and I feel like they missed an opportunity with that. I understand that they were pressed for time though so I will let that slide... (begrudgingly)

I was pleased with the music and animation. Studio Bones did a pretty good job. The music did a wonderful job complimenting the visuals, and my attention was captured by the changes of tone and texture (if I can use that word) of the music. I was really surprised by the sophistication. I mean, it wasn’t the best anime music OST by any means, but it was good enough to suffice. Nothing extremely extraordinary. But GRANRODEO made a great inserted song that was placed in some reused visuals (too bad they didn’t animate all the visuals new) and some new visuals (mostly just the characters with a caption to describe their abilities) was good for hyping the audience. It was well-written and perfectly set the mood up for epicness. The ending by Luck Life was to be expected, and I loved it. I all the BSD endings, so the fact that they got back into it with a nice song addition to this movie was amazing. They reused the second OP during the final fight. I’ll be honest, they didn’t do as great of a job with this, but that was for one reason: the sound mixing made everything else drown out the song. I understand that everyone has probably heard the song beforehand, but I wish there was more balance.

Now onto voice acting... Bungou Stray Dogs has a great cast. None of the cast is really “newcomers” except for Atsushi’s seiyuu Uemura Yuuto whose role was one of his first major ones. I believe he was a student beforehand though. I think he’s getting a lot more roles now. 

I think I’ve finally gotten used to Kensho Ono playing Akutagawa. At first, I didn’t think he would fit the role too well. I thought they just did it to put in a big name, but I don’t mind it now. He does bring a certain tone to the character that is unique to him. 

Fyodor was a mixed choice for me in terms of how I liked it. I know that Akira Ishida is definitely not new. He has so many roles under his name that range in character type and personality, but I almost felt as if they could’ve done better. I would’ve appreciated it if they opened the cast to more new voice actors. Maybe this role would be too big for someone who is new, but as much as Ishida’s portrayal wasn’t bad by any means, I would’ve been open to other interpretations of the complex and witty character.  The reason why I think Akira Ishida fit (despite him being Katsura in Gintama) is because he still brought the tone of the character to life. He still had the charisma of the character. He was good; he just wasn’t great.

Now for the choice of Shibusawa... I wasn’t really pleased. Kazuya Nakai is definitely talented as a voice actor, but his voice just didn’t resonate with me well. Shibusawa was disappointing for me as a character. I expected him to be more sophisticated, but that voice just didn’t do it. It’s one thing for the writing, but I know Nakai for voicing quirkier thugs and goofy samurai (just look at him in Gintama. You’ll get what I mean). Alternatives for this role? I wouldn’t know who would fit. Here are some alternatives off the top of my head: Satoshi Hino, Morikawa Toshiyuki, Hikaru Midorikawa, Tomokazu Seki, Nakata Jouji, Shinichiro Miki, etc. These are all veterans who I know have the range for this. 

Character development in this movie wasn’t bad, but be sure that you have the popular opinion because if you don’t like Atsushi, Kyouka, Akutagawa, or Chuuya, sorry, but you can just sit your butthurt baggage over on the side. I know. It sucks, but they only had so much time. I already said that they would’ve done better with an OVA for the proper development and pacing, but just be glad that we got this for now. BSD doesn’t do the best job with their side characters, but that’s a rant for another time. 

Atsushi was a little bit annoying in this film. He was constantly having to get himself together, and I felt like Kyouka was carrying him along half the time. I didn’t entirely mind this though because Kyouka is my favourite, and her strength and resilience was nice for me to watch. But Atsushi really came through (a little rushed) at the end. His backstory was a little shallow. I expected more out of it. I understand that they had limited time, but I felt as if they have a gold mine of development there. They had so much potential and the timing was perfect. They just decided not to really touch it.

Dazai got enough screen time. Was he the main character? Not really. But let’s be real, Dazai gets more than enough the rest of the time. You knew that he was pulling strings the entire time anyway. The Oda recap was really sweet though. That moment where they shared a flashback conversation was beautifully done and stood out to me. They didn’t beat it to death either. Nicely done.

Chuuya. Not going to lie, he’s a little overrated by the fandom, but he adds a good amount of vulgarity to add to the comedic factor. I’m not sure how I feel about him having such a big impact everywhere. I wanted to see some of the others. But I don’t hate him. He relies on Dazai a bit much for my liking, and he did play a major role in the final fight which I still have a mixed opinion about. His voice acting at that point in the final fight was not living up to expectations, but Kishou Taniyama provided that amazing opening, so he gets a pass automatically.

Akutagawa got quite a bit of screen time, but I felt like they didn’t develop him with any of it. We didn’t get to see any more depth than we already had. We didn’t learn anything about him. We were just shown same old Akutagawa. I didn’t mind it. He was epic. He did provide enjoyment.

Kyouka. This made me so happy. I saw a newer side of her that I already knew existed. She was such a badass that I couldn’t complain. I would’ve loved to see more about her and her backstory. We saw a brief visual of her mother. That was about it. The manga explores her past a little more, but I thought the movie would’ve touched on that a bit more from what I saw in the trailer. I am still extremely happy with her appearance in the movie. It was one of the most enjoyable things for me because she is my favourite character.

Fyodor got screen time. Not much. His presence was slightly brought to the side. You could tell that he was held off for later though. I think he’s going to be more involved in the manga, so let’s give this one a pass too.

I’m not going to talk about anyone else because there isn’t much to talk about when it comes to anyone else. They all stayed pretty much the same. I don’t think we expected anything though. This is kind of just a side story after all.

Did I enjoy this movie? Absolutely. Of course. I enjoyed it. There’s no doubt about that. I would push aside problems with the movie in a heartbeat. Those cute Atsushi x Kyouka moments are enough to keep me going for weeks. Kyouka getting screen time made me so happy.

NOW TIME FOR THE LINKS!

Music:

Want to listen to the BSD Dead Apple OST? https://bsd-bibliophile.tumblr.com/search/music You’ll most likely be able to find it here! The OST is nice to listen to. I highly recommend listening to it and following this account (you probably do already though)

For additional music recommendations, I highly suggest you check out the artists connected to this movie including: - GRANRODEO - Luck Life - Taku Iwasaki (the score writer) Iwasaki is known for a lot of other anime as well. He’s really talented!

Studio Bones (animation):

Want to know what other anime Studio Bones has done? Check out this video: https://youtu.be/Y1-i1sbDNLQ Noragami, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, My Hero Academia? These people are top-tier animators.

Seiyuu Recommendations for Shibusawa:

Curious about why I thought of these names? Here are some compilations of their other roles: - Satoshi Hino: https://youtu.be/B5gVmf0zwus - Morikawa Toshiyuki: https://youtu.be/INiLyrlRCmY - Hikaru Midorikawa: https://youtu.be/EAU4Fu49Yz0 - Tomokazu Seki: https://youtu.be/8iN0f7bHy0Y - Nakata Jouji: https://youtu.be/YAMJqU_3480 - Shinichiro Miki: https://youtu.be/yteyBKbVRIc These might not fit since this about personal preference, but it is food for thought!

Shibusawa’s seiyuu (Nakai Kazuya) other roles: https://youtu.be/7GV5vYhLMAw And if you’re curious, this is what I heard when I saw Shibusawa: https://youtu.be/7GV5vYhLMAw https://youtu.be/6x7_1GJ3F8w (He’s the guy with the black hair) ^ His role in Gintama is iconic, and I find a lot of these scenes funny.

Miscellaneous Videos:

This is a hodgepodge playlist of BSD-related content. You have the crack videos and hand-animated content and parodies, the seiyuu songs, their other roles, and some anime snippets. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGH6abWmUXgPnoHTOHyeeXyG6s_WINyzB

Shameless Self-Promo!

Tumblr: https://nsisbest385.tumblr.com (main) https://natsspammityspamspamham.tumblr.com (...spam if you didn’t sense that)

YouTube: BSD-Inspired music: https://youtu.be/sfnN6eqUfEs Reason Living (Cover): https://youtu.be/-rlSxB6CZrE Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRETNNIpCqiarbeuJoGrjBA

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who: The Hiatusbreaker Update

In other fandoms, people have always talked about how their favourite show has been ruined by something. I never thought I’d see myself at the eye of the storm until The Timeless Children. I’ve let a lot of other things go up to that point, but this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

The main reason why I wanted to make this update was to address my thoughts on the Series 12 finale, share some post-review reflections on previous episodes and talk about how I intend to deal with this series going forward. This post also coincides with a special watchalong of The Timeless Children (not part of Doctor Who: Lockdown) as part of the Doctor Who Day celebrations for 2020.

At the moment, I don’t have any Doctor Who-related things planned between Revolution of the Daleks and Series 13. I wrote a post back in May talking about some of the Doctor Who-related things released during lockdown, but I don’t have anything else at the moment. I have considered reviewing some old episodes in a special series, but I don’t know if there would be any point in it. I have been covering my personal project in the Kisekae Insights series, which is heavily influenced from Doctor Who (and tokusatsu), so feel free to check it out.

Going back to The Timeless Children

I usually write my reviews without having read other reviews in order to minimise bias. As such, there have been cases where I’ve had to address things I’ve missed in the review of the next episode, mostly because I’ve read other reviews addressing them. After mulling over my thoughts for the past 6-7 months, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to write a follow-up about the Series 12 finale, and here it is.

One thing I would like to reiterate from my review of that episode is how Chibnall managed to diversify and whitewash the Doctor at the same time. If we’re supposed to believe, from the Master’s words, that the Doctor is the Timeless Child, then it means two things; the Doctor has been diversified thanks to Ruth and the Timeless Child’s incarnations, while the Timeless Child was whitewashed thanks to the previous known incarnations of the Doctor, who were all played by white actors. The only thing left is for the series to confirm the connection between the Doctor, Ruth and the Timeless Child, which is basically the only reason why I’m still watching this series at this point. Even if Chibnall decides to reverse the heavy retcons caused by the episode (which I think is highly unlikely), I’m still not going to forgive him for this.

That being said, I feel that the Timeless Child arc can go either one of two ways, given the information we already have. A good outcome would be to say that Ruth is the Timeless Child and the Doctor is merely a clone of her, which is why they have the same body, but not the same memories of each other, except maybe a link (which was how the Doctor managed to use the Timeless Child’s memories to get out of the Matrix). The bad outcome, which is what I think we’re heading for, is that the Doctor is the Timeless Child and that her previously known incarnations came after Ruth. This is just a quick and simple breakdown I thought up; the arc could go in a different way that we weren’t expecting, which could potentially be better or worse than what we’ve seen already.

Why did I pinpoint Ruth as the “final” incarnation of the Timeless Child, so to speak? I think that the older Brendan getting his memories removed in the visions of Ireland in the Matrix is actually Ruth after she was turned in to the Division. Ruth wanted to leave the Division and they were willing to grant her wish, but they had to capture her first so they could remove her memories, which is how Fugitive of the Judoon happened. As such, the “Morbius Doctors” could be placed between the Timeless Child’s incarnations and Ruth, if we’re playing by their logic.

There was something else that I missed from that episode. Some reviewers stated that when Tecteun was experimenting on the Timeless Child in order to uncover the secret of regeneration, she was essentially killing them multiple times, which is more horrifying given the fact that they are a child and the incarnations shown are played by children. I can understand why these reviewers would think that, given that the regeneration of a Time Lord means the death of an incarnation and the birth of a new one, but honestly, the thought never crossed my mind when I first watched the episode. It didn’t have any bearing on my opinions when I wrote the review and even if it did, they wouldn’t change much.

I honestly can’t believe how the episode tried to pull an Ultraman Orb and have the Doctor essentially telling herself that she isn’t limited by who she was after giving us a 45-minute canon-breaking exposition dump. It’s almost like Chibnall thought we would forget about this arc because it either didn’t matter or because there were more pressing things happening at the time, but luckily for him, a lot of people managed to see through that. In pretty much every Ultraman series since Orb in 2016, there’s always an arc that shows the main character having an identity crisis, then gaining a new power after overcoming it.

Putting that into perspective, Doctor Who has previously explored the Doctor’s dark side and other aspects that he either forgot or never thought he had in the first place. At the same time, it has also explored how the Doctor serves as a hero, a healer, or just a doctor. The “forgotten past” thing was already explored previously with the War Doctor; the Timeless Child arc only served to give the Doctor excessive mystery and elevate the Doctor to an even godlier status beyond the Time Lords, who were already godly enough as they were.

And let’s not forget how this arc irreparably broke canon in a way nobody else would have dared to do. I don’t understand how some people felt this was groundbreaking when it only served to complicate the story even more. Anyone who unironically thinks this probably doesn’t care as much about canon integrity than I do. Kamen Rider Zi-O has been criticised by fans for breaking canon integrity, but I don’t have much of a problem with it since everything was returned to normal in the end (or at least it had to). Producer Shinichiro Shirakura is another source of ire for fans in regards to canon integrity (among other things), but I digress. I’ve compared Chibnall to Shirakura before, but if I had a choice, I’d probably pick the latter over the former.

It goes without saying that the Timeless Child arc would have been less problematic if it were done earlier, say in place of the Steven Moffat era. The Moffat era cemented the twelve regeneration limit and established that the Eleventh Doctor was the final incarnation in the Doctor’s first regeneration cycle; before Series 7, the Timeless Child arc as it is would have fit perfectly well with or without the regeneration cycle question.

Moffat era hindsight aside, it also goes without saying that that arc would have been less problematic if the Timeless Child wasn’t the Doctor. As I said in that episode, they could have been some unknown kid that Tecteun and the Time Lords were exploiting for their powers of regeneration. From there, we could still explore the Timeless Child’s origin and confirm their link to the Doctor by saying that the Doctor (as we know him) was actually a clone of the Timeless Child (like I theorised for the arc’s good outcome).

Some people believe that the arc would have been better if the Master was actually the Timeless Child, but personally, I don’t think it would work that way. The Master’s past is just as complicated as the Doctor’s and let’s not forget that there is still the question of Ruth’s existence to be answered. Like I said, I would rather have the Timeless Child be an entirely original character altogether instead of shoehorning it into an established character’s history, particularly in a show with 57 years of history behind it. I wouldn’t even wish this arc on my worst enemy, to be honest.

With or without this arc, I think that destroying Gallifrey for a second time, after it was anticlimactically restored in Hell Bent, is just unnecessary. That episode aside, how has nobody managed to think up of a story arc for the Valeyard in the years since the revival of the series? We’ve gone past the window for the Valeyard’s creation and all we got out of it was some allusions in the Moffat era.

Remember that we only have the Master’s words and redacted Matrix information as evidence for the Doctor being the Timeless Child; we still don’t have any solid proof on how that came to be. We don’t even fully know how Ruth fits in to all this. I look forward to seeing a resolution to this in Series 13.

Loose thoughts on previous episodes

Continuing with the pattern from the above segment, I’m going to give some post-review follow-ups for some important things in the rest of Series 12 and some episodes in Series 11.

Racism - Looking back at Rosa, I compared the instances of racism shown in that episode to some examples of left-wing racism I’ve heard from right-wing YouTubers and I’ve noticed that the left aren’t as blatant about it or they dress it up so that it doesn’t look like they’re being racist. In contrast, according to the left, right-wing racism seems more obvious even when disguised (particularly in the past when discrimination was accepted as a way of life), though I guess it only seems that way because news spreads fast in mainstream media and social media, sometimes putting comments out of context.

Jack Robertson - Remember that Donald Trump expy from Arachnids in the UK? I’m honestly wondering if Doctor Who unintentionally predicted Joe Biden while trying to satirise Trump because it was mentioned in that episode that Robertson was only running for president in 2020 because he hated Trump for decades. That being said, I still think it’s unlikely that Robertson would have run as a Republican presidential candidate. Also, I can’t believe I missed the opportunity to use “Yaz’s Mum” as a running gag in the review for that episode given how it was used in the episode itself.

LGBT representation - In the review for Resolution, I mentioned that Richard (the security guard at MDZ) being gay doesn’t feel shoehorned compared to Frankie in Arachnids in the UK. I’ll own up to missing the mark on that one because I’m straight and I didn’t realise that Richard being killed 25 seconds after his debut made him just as shoehorned as Frankie (who was also killed in the episode). In contrast, LGBT characters who weren’t as shoehorned in Series 11 were Angstrom in The Ghost Monument (whose wife was killed by the Stenza, onore Tim Shaw) and James I in The Witchhunters (based in historical belief). I still think that they did it better in Praxeus with Jake and Adam. Also, let’s not forget that LGBT representation has been a thing in Doctor Who since the 90′s, with the debut of Jack Harkness in 2005 and the retconnings of past companions’ sexual orientations (like saying “oh, they were gay all along” which I’m a bit iffy on).

The Master - Since O’s debut in the series premiere, I’ve been struggling to fit that incarnation into the rest of the Master’s timeline. This was because in the Series 10 finale, Harold Saxon’s incarnation killed Missy with the full blast from his laser screwdriver, preventing her from regenerating.

Later on, two works were released that essentially confirm O as Missy’s future incarnation. In the Big Finish audio story The Lumiat, Missy used an Elysian field to break herself down and rebuild herself, giving her a new regeneration cycle in the process. The resulting incarnation called herself the Lumiat and had an adventure with a past Missy, only to be shot by her and left on another planet to regenerate.

In the 2021 edition of the Doctor Who Annual, there is a short story detailing a conversation between the Thirteenth Doctor and O. O briefly reminisces about being Missy and how she spent too long in the Doctor’s company. Therefore, we can confirm that O’s incarnation comes after Missy instead of between Saxon and Missy as some people thought.

With this, my theory that Saxon didn’t give Missy the full blast has been debunked, but my theory that the Master wouldn’t want to rob his future selves of chances to spite the Doctor still stands, even if it was unintentionally caused by the Master turning good for a while. I guess the Master’s ability to escape from predicaments is remarkable, yet unquestionable.

Police brutality - At the end of my review on Orphan 55, I expressed my disgust on climate protesters complaining about police brutality because the pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong have suffered more police brutality since 2014. After hearing about the police brutality in the various protests that have risen up this year, particularly in regards to the coronavirus and Black Lives Matter, my stance regarding the police has changed and I’m an ACAB person now. I’ll talk more about it in my end-of-year review post.

Chameleon Arch - In Fugitive of the Judoon, Lee Clayton served as Ruth’s “husband”, or protector, while she was hiding from the Time Lords on Earth. If Lee isn’t human, then what is he and how did he manage to disguise as a human? I had thought that Lee was not a Gallifreyan, but his interaction with Gat seemed to imply that he was. But if he was able to disguise himself as a human like Ruth while still being aware of her true nature, then it is possible that Lee also used a Chameleon Arch, just not on the full setting that would transform a Time Lord into a human and give them new memories. In the comic The Forgotten, the Eighth Doctor recalled to Chantir how he convinced the Master that he was half-human through the use of a broken Chameleon Arch, so it is possible that a fully working Chameleon Arch would also be able to do something like that. This is assuming that “bio-shield” is another name for said tool.

“I’m still quite socially awkward” - Yes, this is about that bit at the end of Can You Hear Me? when the Doctor was apparently being dismissive of Graham’s concern about his cancer coming back. I still stand by what I said about the Doctor being socially awkward, but I’ve softened my stance recently and I now believe that the Doctor’s reaction could have been a little different. It could have gone something like this: “I should say a reassuring thing now, shouldn’t I? I’m still quite socially awkward, but I just want you to know that you’ve got me, Ryan and Yaz in the TARDIS, and we’ll be there for you if anything happens, just as you have been there for us.”

I must give credit to this episode for helping me to open up about some of the (girl) friends I’ve lost during my years in high school and to reach out to an old fan of mine who was there when I started my English dub rants. In regards to the former, I’ve recently decided to fully open up about the one crush I had during high school and the storylines I made in my personal project with characters based around me and her. You can find it in Parts 15 and 16 of Kisekae Insights, but be warned - to put it simply, it’s pretty cringe and all over the place. If you decide to read it, then prepare to have your expectations subverted.

Regarding DWexit

Doctor Who Series 13 is currently in production and is projected to premiere in late-2021, with eight episodes instead of ten or eleven (if we’re counting festive specials). In the Series 12 epilogue, I mentioned that there may come a time where I feel that it is time for me to move on from the series, since it hasn’t been as good as it was before, the gaps between series just seem to be getting longer and longer with fewer episodes being made each series and the premiere schedule for each series hasn’t been regular for some time now.

While the main reason for these delays and episode cuts this time around is due to new regulations and protocols implemented as a result of the coronavirus, I think there could be another factor behind it, which is that the executive producers, Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevens, might not want to stress out the production team or themselves because they are inexperienced or because they know how stressful producing 13 episodes and a Christmas special can be (not counting spinoffs). I’ve been as grateful as I can be for being able to have new episodes to watch, but given everything that’s happened, I’m starting to recognise that even my gratefulness has its limits.

To be honest, I’ve never really had that much of a problem with the SJW stuff, which is why I may seem a bit lenient on that front, but I am wary of the criticisms that certain people have made in that regard. The bigger problem for me, in fact, is the possibility of the BBC pandering to China. In 2017, BBC Worldwide signed a deal with Shanghai Media Group for all the existing revival series episodes and spinoffs along with the first right of refusal for all future series up to Series 15 (this means that SMG will always be the first to be offered the rights for the series before the BBC can pass it on if they refuse). I had believed that the series was banned there because science fiction and time travel were its main themes, but I guess that may have just been a rumour.

SJWs somehow being low-key pro-China or whatever aside, there doesn’t seem to be any indication that Doctor Who is beginning to fall in that direction, at least not at this point in time. They’ve mostly stuck to the West in terms of political references, which I’m fine with, but the moment they talk shit about the Hong Kong protesters, that’s going to be a strike in my book.

Speaking of strikes for the series, I only have one for the Timeless Child; the one I gave for casting Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor is one I’m probably going to forgive. I could care less about the Thirteenth Doctor being a woman or an expy of the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors given how the Timeless Child arc turned out so far or is going to turn out in Series 13. The prospect of a second female Doctor (straight after the Thirteenth) doesn’t even seem that much of a problem to me despite me initially framing it that way.

As I said, the only reason why I haven’t given up on this series yet is mostly because I want to know how the Timeless Child arc plays out. Aside from that, I’ve been struggling to decide whether I want to give this series up and if so, when, because Doctor Who and tokusatsu are the only things I have left after giving up (following new) anime and video games years ago (along with Koei Tecmo and their fanbase). As for this review series, I’m planning to end it at the end of the Thirteenth Doctor’s run, because my intention was to review Jodie Whittaker’s episodes of Doctor Who. Barring the possibility of a third strike, I’ll probably remain a casual fan of the series after Whittaker leaves. I’m honestly hoping that Chibnall doesn’t give me a reason to give this series up, but regardless of this, I’ll always remember the Ninth to Twelfth Doctors as my golden era for Doctor Who.

Addressing rumours

I’m not one to talk about rumours like this, but when you’ve got a long time to wait before new episodes, there’s only so much you can do with what you have. Also, after watching The Timeless Children, I heard from Nerdrotic (my other alternative to Bowlestrek besides The Oldest Nerd) that the reveal was actually rumoured in November 2019 and that he predicted that the Doctor would be revealed as originally being female.

Given my thoughts on Series 12, I became sceptical at other rumours I’ve heard about Series 13 and considered whether they would end up being the case. I’m going to address a few rumours that I’ve heard and discuss the probability of them coming true. Coincidentally, they come from Noel of The TARDIS Zone YouTube channel, but I’ll link to this article that has used one of his videos.

TARDIS exterior changing - Apparently, due to the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, the exterior of the TARDIS might be changed due to how the police are seen by the public. I would probably like it if the chameleon circuit was fixed; like Evolto, the TARDIS could still keep its current exterior as a preferred form, choose a new exterior as a preferred form or adapt to its surroundings. I wouldn’t really like it if the chameleon circuit was fixed only to have it break again in a different form and use Black Lives Matter as a means of justifying it. Aside from this, if people had a problem with the police box design of the TARDIS, why hasn’t there been any major outcry about it before?

Thirteenth Doctor being bisexual - Honestly, given the Yaz favouritism I’ve seen in the series, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up shipping her with the Doctor. Even then, has the Doctor’s sexuality ever come into question or been a question that needs to be answered? We’ve seen Captain Jack kiss the Ninth Doctor in The Parting of the Ways and in the past, the Doctor has never necessarily cared about his sexuality most of the time (particularly in the Classic Series).

Planet of same-sex couples - Didn’t they already do this in The Tsuranga Conundrum? Oh wait, I might have gotten the wrong idea...

Davros is a puppet for a female Kaled warlord (1:21 in video) - “haha Hitler was whipped lol” - I’m sorry, I just had to make that joke given that the Daleks have been compared to the Nazis. I don’t think that would happen because there’s no evidence that some woman was manipulating Hitler behind the scenes. Plus, there’s the problem of Terry Nation’s estate to get past, because people apparently need permission to use other people’s things. I don’t think they would approve.

Thirteen to apologise for past mistakes (1:36 in video) - I don’t see why this needs to be a thing if it ends up happening. There’s a reason why people say things like “don’t dwell on the past, but learn from your mistakes”. It doesn’t mean going back and correcting them because sometimes, there are things that just can’t be helped.

In April 2020, during the first run of Doctor Who: Lockdown, Paul Cornell released a story named The Shadow in the Mirror which showed the Thirteenth Doctor freeing Daughter of Mine from the mirror (every mirror) that the Tenth Doctor trapped her in at the end of Human Nature/The Family of Blood. As I said in the post about Doctor Who: Lockdown, I wouldn’t have seen the need to free Daughter of Mine, let alone the Family of Blood. Remember why the Doctor gave them their punishments in the first place? What’s stopping Daughter of Mine from freeing the rest of her family so they can go back to seeking immortality again?

I think it was pretty short-sighted of Paul Cornell to write that story, plus it was an excuse for him to use the free pass given by The Timeless Children to make the Thirteenth Doctor a Mary Sue. Also, who’s to say that he probably wrote it on a whim once he heard that they were going to do tweetalongs of those episodes?

Chibnall recasting Second, Third and Fourth Doctors as women (from different video) - The rumour says that Ruth would be the replacement for the Second Doctor. I know Chibnall was being stupid with the Timeless Child arc, but surely he isn’t that stupid, because all this will do is complicate canon even more. Therefore, I don’t think it will end up happening, but I wouldn’t really put it past Chibnall to do it; for the record, if I learned about the Timeless Child rumour last year, I would have had the same reaction as well.

Series 13 to be Chibnall and Whittaker’s final season (different source) - Remember “chaos in Cardiff” back in August last year? The state of Doctor Who nowadays must be pretty bad if these rumours are making people hope that they’ll leave sooner rather than later. Usually, revived series showrunners usually work for two Doctors and Doctors usually do three series (as a tradition started by Patrick Troughton in order to prevent being typecast). Jodie Whittaker leaving after Series 13 would be likely since it will be her third series, but Chris Chibnall leaving with her would be strange to see. Honestly, I’m not bothered about when they’ll leave; I’m just here to enjoy the ride.

Christmas Special things

Signs are pointing to Revolution of the Daleks being a Christmas special, so I’m going to presume that that will be the case. Let’s take a look at a couple of things that I’ve heard in preparation for it.

First of all, I’m glad I waited until this point to post this, because at the time of writing this, I just saw confirmation that John Barrowman will be returning as Captain Jack Harkness. As if we didn’t work it out already when he returned in Fugitive of the Judoon. Frankly, I would have been surprised if he didn’t return, given how he didn’t return for The Timeless Children.

Secondly, it’s been reported that this special will mark the departure of Graham and Ryan, but the prospect of them returning in Series 13 hasn’t been ruled out. Tosin Cole has been cast in the AMC drama 61st Street, but given the impact of the coronavirus in the US, production of the series has been scheduled to begin in 2021 (in this article from August), so it wouldn’t be surprising if Ryan had some cameos in Series 13 alongside Graham as well. Such a shame that not a lot of focus was put on Ryan’s dyspraxia.

Look forward to the review when it comes out after Christmas Day or New Year’s Day (if my predictions are wrong).

UPDATE - 30 November 2020: So the trailer for the special has been released and it’s going to be released on New Year’s Day. I probably should have expected this; either the BBC doesn’t think Christmas is politically correct or they would rather put better shows on Christmas Day. Either way, it’ll be a hiatusbreaker episode, just like this post.

I’ve also learnt that Chris Noth is reprising his role as Jack Robertson, which is something I didn’t expect to see. It’ll be interesting to see whether he ends up being president in this episode, though from the looks of the trailer, I wouldn’t think so. His promotion of the Daleks in the trailer (“These machines are going to change the world!”) harkens back to Winston Churchill in Victory of the Daleks, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that episode ends up getting ripped off.

One thing I forgot to mention - what happened to the remaining humans who came back to the 21st century, namely Ravio, Yedlarmi and Ethan? I hope they make an appearance in the special, because it would be a waste of they weren’t.

Before I finish up, there is one more thing I want to mention: why the hell can’t I get into the Doctor /who/ General forums now? Those guys used to be on 4chan, then they moved to 8chan, then they moved to a separate forum when that got shut down and they didn’t bother to go back when it was revived as 8kun. Since the end of Series 12, you need a password to go in now and I’ve been unable to find out why that is the case.

Anyway, that’s it for the hiatusbreaker update. Stay safe and I’ll see you all again at Christmas time.

[animeslovenija]

Hiroshi Shimizu interview

Interview: Studio Ghibli Key Animator Hiroshi Shimizu by Zac Bertschy

Sep 8th 2017

It isn't often you're given the chance to sit down and talk to someone like Hiroshi Shimizu. As a key animator, his work spans virtually the entire history of anime most fans these days are familiar with, from Studio Ghibli's groundbreaking, beloved work of the 90s to just about every flavor of Lupin III. A frequent collaborator of superstar director Sayo Yamamoto, Shimizu handled character design on Michiko & Hatchin – an experience that led him to work on just about all of Yamamoto's projects since then, including some key animation for Yuri!!! on Ice. With an unbelievable career like that, there's so much to discuss – which is why we were honored to get a chance to speak with the man himself at Crunchyroll Expo this year.

Of the films you worked on at Studio Ghibli, which one was the most memorable?

The most memorable one for me would probably be the first one – Only Yesterday. The big difference between that project and others that I've worked on is that I worked on it from one cut to one cut, fully animating. It involved a lot more work.

There's a scene in Only Yesterday where they play baseball. I did a bunch of research for this – I went to watch elementary school kids play baseball, and put a lot of effort in to trying to draw it naturally.

Which one was the most stressful?

Well, I originally became involved with Studio Ghibli because I wanted to work with Hayao Miyazaki. One of the first projects I worked on with him was Princess Mononoke, and it was difficult to meet the demands of production – the bar was really high, so I had some trouble with it.

You worked with both Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata on films they directed. How would you compare the two experiences?

Miyazaki is an animator, he can draw. He'll draw what he wants you to do – he'll illustrate the movement, hand it to you and show you what he wants. Takahata doesn't have that background – he has to explain to you using words what he wants to see. So it's a very different experience.

Did you see the documentary “In the Kingdom of Dreams and Madness”? What did you make of it?

Yeah, I saw that when it came out. They actually had a camera crew inside Studio Ghibli for 24 hours a day over several days – I think it was pretty accurate. Every time Miyazaki got angry about something the crew would rush over. Really any time he said anything they'd hurry over and make a scene out of it.

Are there any cuts of yours in the Ghibli films you've worked on that you're particularly proud of? Any we should watch out for, scenes we might recognize?

There's a scene in Porco Rosso where children are taken away by pirates and they're playing around, but the kids are causing problems playing around on their ship. That's when Porco Rosso arrives and starts firing. I had a great time working on that scene – and Miyazaki even complemented me on it.

What prompted you to leave Ghibli?

Mononoke Hime was very tricky to work on. Miyazaki-sensei was very strict – at the time, that was supposed to be his last movie. He had very strong feelings about it and was very demanding – everyone felt a lot of pressure. After that, I didn't really want to work at Studio Ghibli anymore.

You've worked with a huge variety of anime directors, from the late Satoshi Kon to Mamoru Oshii, and you've directed plenty of animation yourself. What makes a good animation director, in your opinion?

It takes someone who has clarity of vision and can clearly express what that vision is. It doesn't matter if it's Kon-san or Oshii-san – it needs to be someone who can explain things to their staff and clearly convey what they want and what they're going to need. Having that power of self-expression and being able to explain what you want is crucial to being a director of animation. If you can't – and you look at the work of someone who can't do that – their work is all over the place, and it doesn't really hold up.

Is there someone, or even a studio, you enjoy collaborating with the most? If so, why?

It was during my time on Mitchiko & Hatchin – working with Sayo Yamamoto, it was her first time directing actually and I got a lot of clear communication from her on that work. She was someone I really enjoyed working with.

You did key animation on Yuri!!! on Ice too – did that come about due to your collaborative relationship with Sayo Yamamoto?

Ever since Michiko & Hatchin I've been getting offers from Yamamoto-san to work on her projects – she called me to work on The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, and she called me to ask me to work on Yuri!!! on Ice. I was busy with a Doraemon movie at the time, so I could only participate in the last few episodes of Yuri!!! on Ice.

You handled character design on Michiko & Hatchin – was that a new experience for you? What lessons had you learned in key animation that prepared you for character design?

It's very different work – there isn't much overlap between key animation and character design. One thing I did think of is that it's important to make sure the keys are easy to move, to design things so they're easy to animate.

You were designing those characters from scratch, right?

For Michiko & Hatchin, yeah, it was from zero – I'd show the designs to Yamamoto-san, she'd give me feedback and I'd change it a little bit at a time, that's how it came together.

You served as animation director on Gundam: Reconguista in G – did you work directly with Tomino at all, and if so, what was that experience like?

I wanted to work on Gundam because I'm a fan of Mr. Tomino. A friend of mine from Studio Ghibli – Yoshida Kenichi brought me in. I'd heard these rumors that Tomino-san was super scary so I kept my distance. I basically didn't see him the entire time I did my work, so I didn't actually run into him until the closing party. I did get to meet him once there – because it was the wrap party, he was actually really happy, so I didn't have to worry about seeing that scary face.

You directed a couple episodes of Space Dandy, which you also storyboarded and did some guest character design for. How much creative control did you have over the story on your episodes? Was the production process on that show different than what you were used to?

I was contacted by Shinichiro Watanabe as the project was coming together, asking if I'd like to have input in the overall story, but I was busy with other work. He did bring me in to work on the storyboards for a few episodes, and I was able to put some influence in there, some of my own ideas for a change, but I didn't actually have any impact on the overall story.

There was a screenplay already there, but my creative contribution came in through the storyboards.

You've been animating Lupin III since the 1980s, through a whole array of character design changes and different eras in the show.  In what way do you think Lupin has changed the most over the years?

I watched Lupin III when I was a kid – I loved it. Then I saw The Castle of Cagliostro and also really loved that. When I think of Lupin, that's what I think of.

But I also really loved The Woman Named Fujiko Mine and also Koike's work on the franchise – those were more serious and realistic, that Lupin is cool too. In the old Lupin, you still had a serious side to it, but they had great gags – I miss the old gags, but I love the serious Lupin stuff.

Which version of Lupin was the most challenging for you to work on, and which version is your personal favorite?

Koike's stuff was the hardest – he has a very difficult style, very sharp. That was the hardest for me to replicate. There's a surprising number of people who have been working on Lupin for a very long time, across all these different styles.

Can you tell us a little about what it was like to work with Satoshi Kon? What was he like as a person?

I didn't do that much work for him, but he was actually pretty angry and scary. It might've come from the fact that he was so incredibly talented – there was probably no one better at drawing in the world of animation, period. It's difficult to be that guy. He was very strict.

What's your take on the current work conditions for animators in Japan? What do you think the major problems are, and what do you think it would take for change to occur?

The problem right now is, there are too many projects and not enough animators.  A lot of stuff winds up going overseas, to China and Korea, because there aren't enough animators to do the inbetweening work in Japan. So new animators can't learn via that experience and become better – there aren't a lot of new animators and the old ones are retiring. Good animators in general are starting to disappear. This whole process requires money and not a lot of people are paying animators very well right now – so that's another reason for the disappearance of good animators.

Do you think the responsibility is on the studio to pay the animators more?

They should probably provide more of the project budget to the animators – right now it goes other places instead.

Do you think the anime industry is in a production bubble right now?

Thanks to the internet, anime is popular everywhere and that means more and more people are watching it, and thus more and more shows get created. That doesn't mean more pay for animators and it doesn't change that much for me as an individual – but because of that passing popularity it could be a bubble.

What do you think it would take for things to change, for more of that production money to flow down to you, the animator?

I've heard that in America, it's more popular for creators to get some manner of royalties or IP rights that allow them to continue collecting residuals, especially if the show becomes popular. In Japan, you get a one-time payment, you don't collect royalties if the show is a huge hit. So I think we need a system more like that – where creators (and animators) can get some more of those residual payments, especially if the show is a hit.

Of the countless things you've worked on, what are you most proud of? Is there one cut, one piece of animation you'd like people to know you by?

I'm proud of the work I did at Studio Ghibli – it affected a lot of my other work. Also my work for Sayo Yamamoto on Michiko & Hatchin – that was very satisfying. Now that Yuri!!! on Ice is such a huge success, I'd like the fans of that show to go watch Michiko & Hatchin!

Thanks to Hiroshi Shimizu and Crunchyroll Expo for the opportunity.

[alexllove-blog]

It’s not an obvious place to come across a piece of art. At an abandoned school, I climb a staircase past ivy-covered storage rooms to a raised outdoor space – and the swimming pool comes into scene-stealing view. The pool, faded starting blocks still in place, has not been used by schoolchildren for over a decade, yet it’s currently brimming with life. Hundreds of wooden boxes line its edges, each neatly packed with fresh flowers and plants, a sense of nurturing reflected in rainbow shades of pink, yellow and purple with hints of rosemary. But most eye-catching of all is the surface of the pool: smooth and glassy in hues of green, with seamless reflections of the forests, rice fields and skies that surround it, creating the sensation of stepping into a vast theatrical tableau of Japanese rural life.

One of Yayoi Kusama’s pumpkins on Naoshima

Forget the minimalist white walls of a modern art gallery in some cosmopolitan hub. This artwork – by Italian Giacomo Zaganelli – is situated somewhere entirely different: Shodoshima, a remote island surrounded by the calm waters of the Seto Inland Sea in Japan. It is just one of 213 artworks scattered across the rice fields, ports, old houses, beaches and vacant schools of 12 islands and two ports for this year’s Setouchi Triennale – the fourth edition since its 2010 launch. The concept, according to its founders, is simple: the event taps into the power of contemporary art to revitalise rural communities hit hard, like so many across Japan, by depopulation, tumbling birth rates and economic decline.

And it’s not just socially impactful – it’s also beautiful. The Seto Inland Sea, cocooned by three of Japan’s four main islands, is the perfect backdrop for art, a symphony of blues and whites – the beauty of the light is impossible to ignore – with the silhouettes of 3,000 small peaked islands hovering on the horizon.

A street on Shodoshima

Art was added to this alluring locale in more recent years: Naoshima – also known as the “art island” – led the way in the 1980s, when Soichiro Fukutake, a Japanese billionaire and philanthropist art collector, began transforming the island into a haven of contemporary art, fuelled by the belief that art is better appreciated in natural settings than in cities. Today, it’s home to a string of Tadao Ando-designed museums and outdoor installations by world-class artists, with Yayoi Kusama’s oversized pumpkins greeting visitors arriving at the port. The launch of the Setouchi Triennale in 2010 further spurred the spread of art across the entire region with increasingly tangible results: from an increase in visitors to a surge in its population.

“Rural art festivals involve artists confronting real problems in society”

I’m visiting the region ahead of the festival’s official opening, and I first stop on Shodoshima, an island that – reflecting the region’s reputation as the Mediterranean of Japan – is famous for its olives. After a short drive inland, I find the swimming pool artwork Fluire. Florentine artist Zaganelli pauses from putting the finishing touches to the flower-filled boxes, once used to store local noodles: “In winter, the landscape was yellow, but now it’s so green. Everything is continually changing, but this swimming pool is always here,” he says. “We don’t speak the same language, but locals immediately understood what we were doing. Everyone helped and tomorrow we will cook Italian food – risotto, tiramisu – for everyone to say thank you.”

Fluire on Shodoshima

Venturing deeper into Shodoshima, I stop in a peaceful green valley filled with tiered rice fields, fruit trees and birdsong – as well as a towering fairytale-style structure handmade from 4,000 pieces of bamboo. It’s by Taiwanese artist Wang Wen-Chih and is his fourth iteration, a new design rebuilt every three years ever since the festival began. Stepping over a tiny knee-high gate with a slightly pointless padlock, I wander along a narrow bamboo pathway that leads into a vast central space, sunlight filtering peacefully through the towering ceiling, before I hear a booming “No shoes!” Quickly slipping off my trainers, I see that the voice belongs to Heiji Iguchi, a tough-looking 69-year-old local, a retired engineer and the artwork’s unofficial gate master.

Softening as he talks about his friendship with the artist, he says, “None of us knew anything about art at first. We were so surprised. Everybody said, ‘What is art?’” Laughing at the memory while proudly looking around, he adds, “I still don’t know what art is. But now at least I understand how the artist makes this structure.”

Bamboo artwork by Wang Wen-Chih

A quick lunch follows at nearby café Komame Shokudo, which offers jaw-dropping views across the valley and smiling female staff in tenugui headscarves (one made from a Yayoi Kusama pumpkin fabric, hinting at the region’s artistic pedigree). After enjoying a meal of rice balls and cold sesame somen noodles, it’s time to head to Teshima, just a short hop away by boat.

Despite its diminutive dimensions – Teshima is about 10 times smaller than Shodoshima – the island has become a textbook example of how art, architecture and nature can combine to sublime effect. Upon my arrival, it’s clear that art has become a comfortable part of daily life, as the elderly lady running the local bike rental store demonstrates by chatting easily about “the Boltanski down the road” (in reference to Christian Boltanski’s Les Archives du Coeur installation in a wooden house on a nearby beach) and urges me not to miss visiting Teshima Art Museum. The latter may not be new, but is a timeless attraction. And so, after cycling up and down hills, I stop by to gaze at the clouds while lying down in the soft-edged white space that takes inspiration from a drop of water.

UMITOTA by Akira Minagawa and Shinichiro Ogata on Teshima

Not far from the museum, a new addition for the current festival run is UMITOTA – a small house renovated by two leading Japanese designers Akira Minagawa and Shinichiro Ogata. The home – open for day visits and overnight stays – is likely to become a haven for Japanese design lovers. It has a façade of thousands of sparkling abalone shells; a tunnel-like wooden corridor at the entrance, which perfectly frames sea views when I glance back over my shoulder; a minimalist living area with warm chartreuse yellow textiles and an abstract wooden light sculpture by Morison Kobayashi; and a bath of Teshima stone.

That evening, I stay at Usagi House – an Airbnb homestay run by Japanese artists Shin and Emi Hirai, who moved to the island with their 11-month-old baby in search of a simpler, more creative life after six years living in Berlin. After picking me up in his small white truck, Shin – friendly and enthusiastic and dressed in a striped jumpsuit and cap – first takes me to a barn-style space they have transformed into a theatre to showcase their unique video and music performance unit called Usaginingen.

Artist Sarah Westphal

Unfortunately, I’ve just missed a show (there are several every week), but Shin takes me around the space, filled with cloud-like sculptural clusters of clear straws fashioned into Finnish-style himmeli (ornament) by local children. At the front, Emi, a former graphic designer, sits on a visual machine called TA-CO – consisting of a self-adapted bicycle that projects her abstract visuals onto the screen as she pedals. Later, at their home, we tuck into a dinner of cumin-sprinkled homegrown vegetables, soups and rice. “There are about 800 people [on Teshima] and most are over 60,” Shin explains. “But people are very friendly – we feel free here.”

Shin’s words reflect a general creative shift in the region, as the success of the festival appears to be working its magic and enticing a growing number of similarly open-minded Japanese to the region. The event – which has three seasonal programmes spanning over 100 days – is steadily growing. The number of artworks has nearly trebled from 76 in the first year. Visitor figures are also booming: a million people visited the last event in 2016 – and this year, over 300,000 visited during the festival’s first 10 days alone.

Sea Gulls Parking Lot by Takahito Kimura on Megijima

The next morning I take to the sea again, catching two boats to get to Ogijima. It’s a tiny island where clusters of old Japanese houses cling to narrow, steep hillside paths. After savouring the play of light and shadows at artist Jaume Plensa’s structure at the port, I wander up a steep path to a small wooden building, the former post office. Stepping inside, I’m enveloped in a warm, orange glow, as close-up video footage of a swirling octopus covers the far wall of a retro-style room and is reflected into an interior pool of water just in front of me. Its creator, Belgium-based artist Sarah Westphal – dressed in black, clutching tape and paper – steps quietly into the dark space beside me. “It’s a kind of longing for the sea,” she says. “Life is so loud and fast. I hope people can have a quiet, meditative experience when they come here.”

Continuing further along, I spy a stylish café with double-height ceilings, pendant lights and homemade breads and coffees. Inside, I meet 34-year-old Kaisho Damonte in his cap and apron. Together with his wife, Yuko, he opened Damonte & Co last year. The couple earlier gave up their busy jobs in Tokyo and spent a year travelling the world on the lookout for the perfect place to live, before stumbling across Ogijima. “We visited during the art festival in 2016 and instantly fell in love,” smiles Kaisho. “We moved here a few months later.”

Kaisho and Yuko Damonte from Damonte & Co café

Preparing a croque monsieur with wild boar he hunted himself (there are apparently around 300 wild boars on Ogijima, easily outnumbering the 170 residents), he adds, “What we love most is the atmosphere and the nature. People are so open and friendly, which is unusual for rural Japan. The school has even reopened, and there are 10 to 15 young families living here now.”

From Ogijima, a 20-minute boat hop takes me to Megijima and the geography shifts to windswept beaches, stone walls and pine trees. The hours pass quickly as I wander past spinning seagulls by artist Takahito Kimura and explore a former guesthouse turned arts hub called Little Shops on the Island. There are puddle-shaped ping-pong tables, Leandro Erlich’s spinning washing machines and tatami rooms with portraits of residents holding wedding photos.

A statue on Megijima

Sipping tea nearby at the new Megino café and guesthouse, I meet another example of the region’s revival: its owner, 31-year-old Satomi Mekada, who worked in Kyoto guesthouses before discovering Megijima. “When I first came here, it felt like home,” Mekada says. She aims to plant 100 lacquer trees – used in Japanese lacquerware, known as urushi – to revive local craftsmanship. “And people are so grateful – they all say, ‘Thank you for moving here.’”

At the end of a long day – and on my sixth ferry in total – I catch up with Fram Kitagawa, the festival’s visionary founding general director. As our boat pulls out of Tamano City’s Uno Port, the ever-dapper, refreshingly direct and often chain-smoking Kitagawa, wearing a light-grey suit, sinks into a seat and expounds on the Setouchi Triennale’s ongoing theme of restoring the sea. “We want to restore the islands, give them more vitality, make them less isolated,” he says from beneath a jaunty wide-brimmed hat. “There are positive changes already: Shodoshima’s population is increasing and newcomers are moving to Ogijima.”

The event has not been without its challenges: the deeply complex logistical implications of creating artworks in remote, rural settings; the practicalities of creating a festival spanning a large number of islands and ports; and conveying the concept behind the festival to local elderly communities unused to contemporary art. According to Kitagawa, however, it’s worth it.

“Art in the past was all about being understood, it was philosophical or conceptual and was put in a white cube,” he adds. “But rural art festivals involve artists going into the real world and confronting real problems in society. Art appreciation takes time. It doesn’t matter if elderly communities understand or not – they are simply happy to see more visitors. These encounters make them happier and healthier. This is the power of art.”

Kitagawa pauses to point towards the coast, where a neon sign reading “In Progress” lights up a dusky pink sky, part of a new artwork by Mischa Kuball. It’s a perfect summary of a festival whose deep-rooted impact on the region, reflected in the rising populations, the reopened school and the engaged elderly communities, is perhaps the ultimate legacy of contemporary art. And it’s only just getting started.

SEE ALSO: 5 art-driven islands near Hiroshima worth exploring 

This article was originally published in the June 2019 issue of SilverKris magazine

The post The Setouchi Triennale and the power of art and nature in Japan appeared first on SilverKris.

[recentanimenews]

OPINION: I Don't Know Who'll Win the Anime Awards, But Here's Who Should

  Hi, everyone. My name is Kyle. I just started at Crunchyroll as an Editor last October. While I am new to the company, I am definitely not new to one thing in particular: having opinions about anime. With the Anime Awards upon us, I know just how many of those are flung across the dinner table, on Twitter, and wherever good anime is streamed. 

  In previous years, I watched the Anime Awards as a regular citizen. I voted alongside the general public, even for the previous "Best Manga" category! But this is my first time working on the show and seeing how the sausage is made FROM THE INSIDE. There's an incredible amount of work and energy that goes into making the event happen from people who don't get enough credit, and it's really incredible to be amongst a talented team. 

  But despite that.

  Not only do I disagree with some of the choices, but some of the best stuff wasn't even nominated!  

So today, I'm presenting you with some of my choices for Anime Awards winners [that are objectively correct choices that I think absolutely should win, despite what anyone else tells you. Anyone else who says otherwise are liars and don't know what they are talking about, but I do!] for a select few categories. If you really want to know who I'm cheering for this year, here's my card. 

  1. Best Fight Scene: Gio-Gio VS Cioccolatta (JoJo's Bizzare Adventure: Golden Wind)

  How did this not get nominated? Seriously? It's the Seven-Page Muda! I couldn't believe it when I heard this didn't make the cut. It's one of the best scenes in all of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure! Unbelievable. Gio-Gio punches a guy for like 45 seconds! Ugh. Well, this scene also included Giorno's theme, which is a Best Score winner within itself, too. If I had to choose an actual nominee, Tanjiro and Nezuko vs. Rui should win, I guess. You all really loved that episode 19.  

2. Best Girl and Protagonist: Emma in The Promised Neverland

The Promised Neverland had one of the strongest starts to a show I've seen in a while, but it wouldn't be anything without the main trio of Emma, Norman, and Ray. I bundled together my vote for Best Girl and Best Protagonist to Emma because I don't think I've seen a character so positive in such a perilous situation. And I don't even mean in an over-the-top, exaggerated anime way. Emma is incredibly smart and knows exactly what she wants: for everyone to have a fair shot at living. Even working with the cold, calculating, logic-centric Ray, she has a "but we still have to try" attitude that resonates in the face of absolute despair. That sort of worldview really spoke to me this last year, and for that Emma deserves to take both categories.  

3. Best Boy: Bucciarati in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind

The original Gang-Star! The one who can taste lies and be a living corpse out of the sheer power of friendship (and spite). Bruno Bucciarati has it all. It takes a lot of leadership to try to overthrow an entire criminal organization, and if you can do some cool rocket-punches and have a killer style while doing it, what else can qualify you more for Best Boy? JoJo is all about their killer (pun intended) one-liners, and Bucciarati has one of the series' best. Yuichi Nakamura also earned my vote for "Best Voice Actor Performance (Japanese)" for pulling off such an iconic role. Here's to you, my favorite bowl-cut boy.

  4. Best Opening Sequence: Carole and Tuesday's "Kiss Me"

I have directed and storyboarded this Opening for Carole & Tuesday. The show is now on Netflix for everyone. director of the show is Shinichiro Watanabe. https://t.co/JeSAvIacwS

— BAHIJD バヒ・JD (@bahijd) August 31, 2019

  Not only is Kiss Me a great opener, this vote really goes to Bahi JD, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite animators. Seriously, have you seen his work?

  5. Best Director: Kunihiko Ikuhara for Sarazanmai

Kunihiko Ikuhara at his own exhibit

Did you know a lot of people have a lot of opinions about Kunihiko Ikuhara's work? I sure didn't know what I was getting myself into when I finally started watching his stuff last year. I only just watched Revolutionary Girl Utena last year when I found out the fine people at Nozomi Entertainment fully uploaded the series. I was really immersed in Utena's world and all the metaphors that I did or did not fully comprehend. Sarazanmai was the first Ikuhara project I was able to watch as it aired, riding the wave with everyone else and trying to figure out what the series was saying. Sarazanmai became appointment television for me in a world that increasingly doesn't even bother with the concept. I can totally understand if Sarazanmai is not your favorite Ikuhara show. He seems to have been reined in a little (either by his own volition or by someone else) as his stories have been comparatively condensed—Utena was 39 episodes compared to Penguindrum's 24, Yurikuma Arashi's 12, and Sarazanmai's 11. Even though I'm new to his work, I think one thing is perfectly clear: You never know what you're going to get. Equally important, he's willing to use stories as a way to talk about topics a lot of other artists wouldn't dare nor bother with. There's something to be said about making a series about little kappa boys so fun, insightful, and empathetic.    

  6. Anime of the Year: Vinland Saga

  When I took a final look at my choices, I noticed that I actually didn't choose Vinland Saga for a lot of the individual awards. "Best Drama" and Askeladd for "Best Antagonist"? Absolutely, no contest. But there were so many other good anime last year I believe deserve their respective rewards in the other categories.  So why did I vote for Vinland Saga for Anime of the Year in the end? Vinland Saga was one of those series I always heard about; That it was one of those truly incredible series. But either it wasn't available legally (until 2013 from Kodansha USA) or it was just too daunting to start. When the anime finally started in July last year, there was no better time to see what all the hype was about. There's something to be said about a show that perfectly transports you to a time and place and Vinland Saga did exactly that. WIT Studio's incredible art direction made me feel like I was in the old English countryside, back when castles were no more than fortified wooden buildings, and what it was like to look across the incredible vastness over a cliff or across the ocean. And in this time of overwhelming nature and space is an incredible story about a young boy who succumbs to the corrupting force of hatred while living in a culture that celebrates the road to death. The tragedy of seeing Thorfinn, a young boy raised to be so eager about battle, drowned in his own revenge after seeing the death of his father—who deliberately left a life of killing so his son wouldn't have to—is a gripping and, honestly, sad experience. More than anything, watching Vinland Saga made me actually feel like I was watching an Epic (in the traditional definition): Once I started, I was going to be invested in the foundational change of this world and the characters, which simultaneously felt so concentrated among the cast in the moment, but held far-ranging consequences over the horizon. I've pitched Vinland Saga to those unfamiliar as "Berserk without the fantasy," and I mean that with the utmost praise. 

  Also, both openings from Survive Said The Prophet and Man With A Mission absolutely slap. 

We're coming to a point within the anime industry where there's not much left untouched: Many of the critical hits are being developed and a lot of the old "forgotten" series are finally getting adaptations. We saw this with Devilman crybaby in 2018 and Fruits Basket last year, for example. Vinland Saga captures that same feeling of a great finally having the spotlight. After I looked at the other nominees for Anime of the Year, I couldn't have voted for anyone else.

  Anyway, here's me tomorrow when all of these choices are correct:

    Who did you vote for in this year's Anime Awards? Let us know in the comments below!

    ---

  Kyle Cardine is an Editor for Crunchyroll. You can find his Twitter here!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com