#shouko ikeda

[chickenstilldancing]

Thanks Shouko Ikeda for this divine Kagome you gifted us

[manekinekocake]

[jariten]

MAY-JUNE 2024 ROUNDUP!

No intro as I've got nothing to say aside from, well everything I want to say about these titles so lets get to it

Baby Blue Heaven by Nao Tsutsumitani is the story of Shouko who had to take the place of her late mother in the household, meaning she is day in and day out doing thankless jobs for thankless people. Like her shut-in father who takes her presence for granted, and her runaway sister who suddenly reappears highly pregnant. At the brink of her sanity Shouko must make a decision between the comfort of her family members who refuse to take care of themselves, and freedom and agency for herself. While a short read that imo could've worked and been even more engaging long form (and it's messaging could've been even harsher!) I found its conclusion to be very effective. Not to mention I also find it very satisfying to experience works like this that allow women to reject the familial structures that they involuntarily have to participate in.

Ball and Chain is Minami Qta's most recent work and currently serialized on the website Shuro. Ball and Chain follows two different people. One is a middle aged housewife contemplating divorce from her husband who acts like she doesn't even exist. But how can she pursue divorce when she is unable to work to support herself after a bout of severe illness? The second is Kei, a gender nonconforming woman engaged to a man who becomes even less and less supportive as their wedding approaches. Feeling more conflict with who she is, as opposed to how she's perceived Kei questions her sexuality as well as gender identity. While I'm still only on the first volume I am so looking forward to reading the rest of this story. Kei's storyline I am especially looking forward to as Minami Qta are tapping into their own gender journey as a nonbinary person which they've been very open about on social media. Not to mention it made me really want to go back and explore their whole manga catalogue, yet another project I can't wait to get to! (soon?🥲)

I also finally got to read the works of Fumiko Okada. One of the very young breakout stars of Osamu Tezuka's manga magazine COM, and is several of my favorite manga artists' favorite manga artist. ODESSEY 1966-2005 compiles most her works from the COM era as well as some of her doujinshi work from the late 1960's. The way she played with not just style but also form and technique is to this day still no other comic read from anywhere really. I don't know how else to describe it other than the stories are unquestionably dreamlike but with a tangible form to them. While her legacy from COM is talked about by some like that of legends today, the rest of her career is rather sad. She unfortunately retired from manga very early, had a brief comeback in the late 1970's on the encouragement of Moto Hagio and her editor, but soon after put away her pen again. She attempted one more comeback in the 1990's but was this time actively discouraged from returning to manga when she was told by Keiko Takemiya that she no longer understood the industry. She then passed away in 2005 only 55 years old. Some of her one-shots I know have been scanlated here and there but I hope a collection like this become licensed in english in the near future esp as this collection excluded her comeback works.

Last I just want to highlight Kefuzo Kataku wo: Kasuga no Tsubone by Riyoko Ikeda. A fictionalized account of the life of Lady Kasuga no Tsubone who was a key figure in the Tokugawa Shogunate when she became the wetnurse of Iemitsu. I really liked how it had the time to tell a story that highlighted the tensions of a country moving from a period of constant war and conflict to a peaceful one and how the internal politics had to be navigated to keep this new government from immediately collapsing on itself. And I loved seeing that Ikeda can totally pull off a Japanese historical setting as well. The art is lush and detailed, we aren't spared on the grisly details either and went down way easier than other works made explicitly on commission as "learn history/litterature from manga" that I've read. (though in most of those cases the fault lies in me not having the basic education on Japanese history that high schoolers in Japan have gone through.)

[schwirrymartz]

Yomi no Tsugai is almost three years old, so it's time to at least dream of an anime adaptation. So, I tried to think of who I hear when I read the manga, and came up with this list. I tried to provide video examples, but, sadly, not every seiyuu has a "{name} roles compilation" video. Also, some videos are hyperlinked because of tumblr's 10-videos-per-post limit.

Under the cut is the part of the main cast I could come up with voices for. Warning: the fact that I have only seen like three anime (is it comical exaggeration? who knows) is even more glaringly obvious here.

aaaand i'll have to repeat because this is the piss on the poor website: there's no news about the anime yet! no one is talking about it officially at the moment! it's my dream cast! who i personally imagine when i read! you absolutely can and should disagree with me and maybe share who you would like to hear as who!

Yuru IMHO, he should be voiced by male seiyuu. For example, Takeo Ootsuka (the closest to what I imagine is Oshi no Ko's Aqua).

Asa (real) Her seiyuu should be able to switch between two modes: the "cold and ruthless" mode and the "sweet teenage girl" mode, and her voice should be relatively deep. I can hear someone like Mizuki Nana (FMAB's Lan Fan, Uramichi Oniisan's Utano Tadano). I mean, Lan Fan has both of these sides.

Asa (fake) She is a sweet girl like 100% of the time, and Saori Hayami's voice (Spy x Family's Yor, Majo to Yajuu's Phanora) would fit her perfectly.

Danji (and Ken) I hear each of these guys' lines in either Megumi Ogata's voice (Shinji from NGE, Hanako from Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun), or Maaya Sakamoto's (Ciel from Black Butler, Haruhi from OHSHC). I'd say, Danji's voice in my head is closer to Shinji's.

Gab Her voice should be high-pitched. Rie Kugumiya (do I even need to) maybe? Definitely not her Al voice, but closer to her Kagura Gintama five years later voice. steal one of the brothers' look, steal the other's voice :D

Left She probably should have the deepest voice compared to the rest of the female cast. I'd probably choose someone like Romi Paku (but not her Ed Elric voice; her Kill la Kill's Ragyou Kiryuuin or Black Butler's Madam Red voice. Or something in between; god, this woman's vocal range...).

I also thought about Shouko Tsuda (Izumi from FMA and FMAB; Martha from Spy x Family), but couldn't find a video.

Right Someone like Rikiya Koyama (Lum's father from Urusei Yatsura 2022, Neptune Shoukaku from Gintama (beware of spoilers in this example). He should sound like one of these two characters, not like, for example, Fukuzawa BSD <- unbelievable that these three have the same seiyuu).

Dera Sugita Tomokazu. Is it because he voiced Gintoki, another morally dubious badass fighter guy who sees a kid, asks "who's gonna adopt them" and doesn't wait for an answer, and then goes to spend all of his money on gambling? Maybe. Oh, he's also voiced Kyon from Haruhi Suzumiya and Joseph Joestar. (god, his voice is too recognizable)

Hana Satsuki Yukino (FMAB!Rosé, Tae from Gintama, Kagome from InuYasha). Yes, it's because of Tae. Both Tae and Hana are 1) pretty (and) dangerous, and 2) the best girls of their respective manga. Also, her voice just fits. Another option would be Marina Inoue (TTGL's Yoko Littner, Gintama's Ikeda Asaemon, SZS's Kitsu Chiri <- another best girl, what an unbelievable coincidence)

Jin His voice should be deep, that's what I'm certain of. He also should sound like he's permanently very, very, very tired of everything. I think of someone like Hosoya Yoshimasa (Kunikida BSD, Reiner AOT). The videoo with examples does not provide any example of tiredness, but does provide an example of a deep voice.

[kon-kon-kon-kon]

ikeda shouko

[ironized]

[miwii]

So, I’m getting to a point where I can recognize who directed episodes of InuYasha based on the animation, and Shoko Ikeda’s have become my favorite. I’m watching one of her episodes and thinking, “Her style reminds me of KyoAni.” So I look her up and sure enough she was an animator for KyoAni, but she died in the arson attack on the studio last year and now I’m endlessly sad.

[officialinuyasha]

Month of Sango

Sangober 10th

Official Art by Shouko Ikeda

- Inu-Yasha -

[maggins]

Inuyasha’s twitchy ears ( ´ ヮ ` ʃƪ)~♥ part 1 | part 2

[kouristar]

been rewatching the entirety of inuyasha during the summer! and because i’m really big on these types of details, a quick look into the main animators of the first series for the first 98 episodes, which were handrawn. 

the rest of the animators hired to work on the anime had five or less episodes to their name, and there were many one-episode directors, so that’s going to get its own post later. for now, just a look into these four names can give a pretty good grasp on what the show usually looked like.

[mostlyfate]

Eh? Komi-san... are you? Cutting your eraser in half for me!!? Desperate! You're desperate, Komi-san. YES. I support you! keep it up! Komi-saaaan! KOMI-SAN WA, KOMYUSHOU DESU (2021)

[manekinekocake]

[classic-shoujo]

Shouko no Etude (1974) by Riyoko Ikeda

[kon-kon-kon-kon]

ikeda shouko

[suzumiya-chan]