#sorry 4 the bad quality in the last panel

[smallturtlebomb]

I can't believe im saying this...but ya make shrike kinda hot?!?!

i think it’s the outfit I gave him

i like giving my favorite characters funny little outfits

but yea he’s a handsome little guy (but incredibly stupid /aff)

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 088 Cloak and Dagger vs Silvermane (SSM 94-97)

MASTERPOST

The last time: we figured out that Spidey's new black suit was not benevolent, Jameson got married, and a bunch of other stuff.

Today:

Undesirable Guests 1, 2 and 3 deal with Woman-Written-By-A-Man and Oh-No-He-Doesn't-Know-About-The-Costume-Yet!

In Fisk's secret laboratory, him and The Answer successfully resurrect Silvermane (sure), but Fisk's sad that his beloved Vanessa, who's ill, couldn't receive the same treatment...

We also get the usual scene with Cloak & Dagger, but we don't care about them because PETER'S HERE! I missed Peter.

Normal??? Boy, you were miserable when you were with Gwen. She hated you, then you refused to tell her any of your secrets, then she hated Spider-Man, then she died.

But you're gorgeous.

But yes, remember, Sha-Shan was starting to become one of those terrible feminists, and Flash does not like this. I'm interested to see her version of the events.

She's worried about Flash. He comes homes all bruised up and avoids her. Harry and Liz are done with their friend's inconsequential problems (Harry has got A COMPANY takeover to deal with, and eating chili ribs is too peasantly for him), but Peter keeps Sha-Shan company.

What a funny reversal. The opposite happened a few hundreds of issues ago, when Peter thought that Gwen was cheating on him with Flash.

Later, Peter plays a fun trick on the nosy Ms. Muggins and calls Felicia.

No, Peter, haven't you read the concurrent ASM issues? You're in danger, honey!

On his way to her apartment, he's distracted by the Mandatory Spidey Fight, with Silvermane.

I prefer the sexy design he had for about 20 seconds in ASM 75. He was a nice villain for that arc, and ever since they just keep bringing him back in a stupendous effort of bad taste. There's nothing compelling about that dumbass. At least give him cake or a boyfriend, something, anything!

The_Answer streams the fight on Twitch and Fisk subs to him immediately.

4K HD streaming in 1985. How amazing! Sorry. How spectacular!

Anyway, Silvermane's about to kill Spidey and Fisk's obedience collar is apparently useless on Silvio. Meanwhile, Felicia gets worried and thinks Spidey has another girl when...

Quality writing, everyone.

Yeah. Can't blame them.

In #95, Felicia gets Spidey home.

So let me get this straight. Spidey gets beaten up but miraculously escapes, goes to Felicia, then they go back to Peter's place? Continuity goes *poof*.

Dagger realizes that she now has a mental link to Silvermane, which is really disgusting, poor girl, and we get more creepy suit drama.

Love what they do with it. It's very different from anything we've seen before in those magazines. The suit takes Peter outside, Felicia sees them but figures that if he can ignore her, so can she! Yes, because communication is for babies. We actually see Black Cat do a bit of investigating, which is nice, and the night soon comes to a close.

Love it. Of course, I do have to mention that we see more of Peter's skin ever since he got that suit... I'll think about that some other time, when it's not 4 am. Then we get an odd page.

Hmm. I mean, it is effective, but hm.

Soon, everyone's at the harbour.

Guys, I think it's Dagger! The Rose (yes, he's there under orders from Fisk) even orders his gay underlings to capture her.

Those two gays are in over their head, but I'm glad to see them <3

In the end, The Answer flies and takes her away, and chaos ensues. So that's fun.

#96!

(It's Thor shenanigans, if you're wondering.)

I love these two guys. They've got more characterization than Peter's colleagues he had for like 4 years.

Those panels are great.

The continuity seems very tight but sure.

Yes, he is. But I'll miss that suit... Woops, didn't think I'd say that.

Fisk hoped that Dagger would be able to help Vanessa, but she's exhausted when The Answer brings her there.

I dig those dumb panels.

Somewhere else:

I don't have much more context. Look at Marvel Editorial trying to keep that Secret Wars train going! By the way, now that I know what that's about, I'm very curious to see how it will be adapted in the MCU...

Anyway, everyone goes to Fisk's HQ, Fisk asks Black Cat to honour her debt and stop Spidey, but she disagrees. Spidey still doesn't get what it's all about.

Oh. I... I love this. Alright. The Answer, you're showing some depths...

Oh, this is good. I love the work on Silvermane's expressions, and I love that Fisk resorts to begging. Fisk! Development!

Dagger's priority is healing up Cloak. And when that's done, the latter tells her Fisk doesn't deserve it, and they leave. Oof. Fisk swears revenge on our heroes. Meanwhile, the Symbiote is not happy about being trapped. Hmm!

HM-HM. BETTY CHEATING ARC (REDUX) LET'S GOOOOOOOOOO!

Gorgeous cover, but not sure I'll like this issue.

Spidey spends 4 pages reminiscing about recent events. Meanwhile, Timothy Quail is extremely stressed out before introducing his new ad idea to investors or whatever. In his backstory, we're told that he was a loner (the male characters are always loners in this magazine, probably in part to appeal to a major share of the readership. But it's starting to feel stale), and that he became an hermit with a long beard and all and got sought out for his advice. The poor man could not be left alone! I can relate to that. And like every other Secondary Man Of The Issue we get, he's in cahoots with bad people...

Meanwhile, the Symbiote hates the sound of the door opening and Johnny Storm is a complete idiot, seriously.

At the Bugle, Peter has a short encounter with Flash and Betty. I'm here for the cheating arc, but also here for Peter to have nice things happen to him. His attempt at a discussion with Black Cat goes similarly bad.

I'm too lazy to summarize Timothy's storyline, so here you go:

Don't know how to feel about that. Good for him, I guess. I was expecting something more original given how it was advertised at the end of the last issue, but it was pretty typical. What a shame.

YES. I liked Black Cat far more when she wasn't a regular!

Oh yeah, we also get a few panels of a scientist eager to impres Fisk... Hm.

Anyway, next time, I switch to a physical book! Can't wait.

[mrswhozeewhatsis]

Hello! Sorry to bother you, but I saw your picture of Philemon and started poking around your photography blog... and loved how you were able to capture the moment in a lot of them. I'm going to be attending my first con ever in about a month, and am looking for tips/advice partly because while I have done some manual shooting for sports/street, it's been predominantly outdoors and during the day and also partly because I love your photos and would love to hear some of what works for your if you are willing to share (please don't feel obligated to share if you don't want to or don't have the energy!).

While I have a ton of questions, maybe the one I'm most curious about is if you've found the lighting at cons hard to work with. I don't have a particularly fast tele zoom lens (f4-5.6), and pretty much all I've seen online (besides up iso) is to buy a fast lens. I have a 56mm f1.4, but I'm pretty sure I'll be sitting too far away to get the detail and dof I want with that. Is it worth bringing a slow telephoto zoom lens for the con though or will the lighting just make taking my 56mm make more sense? I don't want to buy a new lens that I don't need otherwise for this, and I also am a bit unsure about what/how much to pack given that I've never been to a con and am not experienced enough shooting indoors to guess based on the con videos how bad the lighting is.

I know it's not only the gear that makes the photo, but if you have any advice for a novice, I'd be happy to hear it. Thank you for making it through my ramble ask. Sorry again for bothering you...

First of all, thank you so much for your comments in my photos! I consider myself one of the least experiences photographers you'll find at a con, so Knowing that someone likes my work really makes my day! 😍😍😍

Gonna put the rest of this under a cut cuz it got long. lol

To give you an idea of what I'm working with, I was in seat B40 this year. That's all the way on the side aisle. My camera is a Canon EOS Rebel T6i, and the lens I used was a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. Occasionally, I sat in empty seats that were closer and snapped a few shots, but not many. (I sat in the front row for the shots I posted of Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum. Tom was on stage, Michael was just... EVERYWHERE. 🤣)

The lighting at Creation cons is not great. Also, it can change from panel to panel. It would be lovely if they could mount their lights higher so the guests don't get blinded and ask for the lights to be brought down. But, since that will probably never happen, we work with what we've got.

Personally, I love a zoom lens because I'm always zooming in and out, trying to catch different things. I know other photographers favor not zooming because they get better quality photos in other ways, but I'm not clear on how that works.

Now, for my first suggestion: rent a lens. It's fairly inexpensive to rent a lens, and you get to try different lenses out without spending a fortune on lenses you later figure out aren't what you want. I believe a few of the other con photographers use a site called lensrentals.com. I rented a lens last year from Unique Photo in Philly, since they're not too far from me. You can also rent from UP online at uniquephoto.com. I went in person to talk to one of their experts to help me decide what kind of lens I wanted to try since I'm so new to this. They also have a store in Fairfield, NJ, so if you're close to either of those places, I would definitely suggest you head in there and check them out!

The reason why I'm suggesting that you rent a lens is because I think you'll want a lower f-stop than your zoom lens has, and if you're further away than the first 3-4 rows, you're going to want to zoom. (Gotta get up close and personal with the pretty!!! And good lord, but they're all so freaking pretty.) Renting a lens is a relatively cheap way to test things out. It's possible you may rent a lens and then later realize that your own lenses would have done the job. You'll only be out a hundred bucks or so by renting. (UP did require a deposit of half the retail value of the lens, but they were great about getting that back to me quickly.)

ISO - I'm always trying to use the lowest ISO I can get away with because noise is a pet peeve of mine. (I adore Lightroom's new Denoise AI!!!!) I know other photographers aren't as picky about noise and raise their ISO. I try to keep mine at or below 3200. One of my friends shoots at an ISO I didn't know existed, it's so high. (She yells at me. "You need to increase your shutter speed and your ISO, Michelle!") She's got a Nikon, though, and I sometimes wonder if camera make and model might also affect things like that.

As far as packing is concerned, I'm a bad person to ask. I bring freaking everything, even when I know darn well I'm not gonna use it. Seriously, the only thing I left at home this con was my lens balls. I'm terrible.

The biggest thing I learned early on is that you can always lighten dark photos in processing, but it's really hard to darken overly light photos.

Renting a lens and shooting darker are the two big suggestions I have. Every photographer I know at cons does things a little differently though. Most are willing to stop and chat about what settings they use, too. @mandileaphotography, @brooksba, and @ditchlilytiger are three awesome photographers and people that I know are here on Tumblr and I can tag them. lol! They each may have their own tips and tricks to suggest! Mandi has helped me and countless other newbie photographers over the couple of years I've known her.

Something that Chris Schmelke said to me about editing, but I use it when shooting, too: If you're not sure where to start, see what Auto does, and then make changes from there until you're happy. If I'm really not sure where to start with my camera settings, I take a burst or two of photos in auto mode and see what settings the camera thinks are right. Then, I adjust until I'm happy.

Non-photography tips for your first con: Take snacks because forgetting to eat is totally a thing. Hydrate hydrate HYDRATE. Have a binder or something to keep your photo ops in. Drink more water. Wear comfortable shoes. Take a water bottle with you. Take Chris Schmelke's photography class because he's a sweetie and loves to answer any questions you might have about photography of all kinds. And don't forget to drink plenty of water. Have I mentioned staying hydrated? You think I'm kidding, but I failed at both eating and drinking water last weekend and then wondered why the room started spinning. And that was my 9th Creation con. I know better and I still did it! More tips like this can be found at @spncontips!

If you're on Twitter, check out @spnconphotogs there. A bunch of us run that account and we have lists of con photographers you can follow and get to know. We also have a Discord server that we don't use much, but it's there if the ex-bird app ever truly dies. DM me or one of the others for an invite!

Sorry for the babbling, but this is everything I can think of off the top of my head to help you out! Even the "big name" fandom photographers are all nice and sweet as pie and willing to help you out if they're not running from one place to another. Just find someone with a really big lens and say hi!!

[09kags]

Happy Haikyuu Day! 

Sorry for the bad quality first off T^T I keep having to resize these so that they’re smaller for Tumblr and it ruins the quality. But more importantly, happy Haikyuu day! (at least it is Japan already!) This edit embodies some of my favorite moments within the series and below, I’ve written some of the thoughts that went into this piece/my feelings on these moments! Manga spoilers ahead (I'm pretty sure I’ve kept them to a minimum but just to be sure, please proceed with caution!), and I hope you enjoy this edit! (Overlays: accio-glow, aulia-chan on dA; PSDs: hurtears, hallyumi, yangyanggg on dA) 1. “Today might finally be the day we get the chance to let our talents bloom… it could be tomorrow. Or maybe next year. Or maybe it’ll finally come when we’re 30. I’m not sure if physique has anything to do with it but I do know for sure that if you don’t believe that day will come, it never will.” This quote is a testament to Oikawa’s growth and is a symbolic representation of Oikawa freeing himself from the shackles of “geniuses” and “prodigies.” So what if your opponent is a genius? So what if they possess more innate talent? As his mentor and inspiration Jose Blanco states, “Are you saying you know what the limits of your abilities are already? Even though you aren’t yet finished growing physically or mentally? Even though you haven’t mastered all the skills you can master? If you’re going to complain that someone with more talent than you will always be better than you… no matter how hard you work, how many tricks you learn and how many great teammates you have… do that only after you’ve given everything the very best effort you have.” There will always be someone better in the world. But to claim that you cannot hope to compare to the likes of them is to resign yourself to a predetermined defeat as well as dismiss both your own efforts and theirs.    There’s no guarantee when your efforts will pay off. As Oikawa declares, it may be today, tomorrow, or even when we’re 30.  But if you don’t believe in yourself first, if you don’t believe that you will bloom in your own time, “that day will never come.”  The flower in the background is the iris. It is known to represent trust, faith, and hope amongst many other ideals. I chose this particular flower because of the manga cap used in this panel. I cannot emphasize how much I love the bond between Oikawa and Iwaizumi, especially this particular moment when Oikawa points at Iwaizumi with such authority and determination as if saying, “This ball, this moment, is meant for you.” Not to mention the pairing with the iconic “Talent is something you make bloom, instinct is something you hone” quote. An absolutely masterful sequence of scenes that always gets my blood rushing. 

2. “Don’t look down! Volleyball is a sport where you’re always looking up!” This moment gives me chills every time. It’s something so fundamental and simple and yet, when Ukai yells this,  it instills that feeling of “You can do it.” It makes my heart flutter and I feel so excited because it’s such a beautiful way of saying “Don’t give up, it’s not over yet.” And even if the ball has dropped for the last time or you have lost this match, there’s always tomorrow. There’s always the next match where you’ll have to look up. This quote gives me the same feeling as when Takeda-sensei says, “For the rest of your lives, you can do anything you set your mind to!” You only truly lose when you stop trying or you give up.  3. “It hurts. I’m tired. This is painful. I don’t want this to ever end.” / “The ball hasn’t dropped yet!” Whenever Haikyuu characters say “Just one more!” or “The ball hasn’t dropped yet!”, the tension and desperation is almost palpable. It’s so incredibly moving to see them strive to save that ball just one more time, to focus purely on what is in front of them. Even if they don’t all pursue volleyball as a professional career, the passion they all have for the sport is real. That sort of passion is beautiful to watch and admire, and I wish I could have that kind of passion for something in my life.  4. “The underhand only uses two hands. The overhand uses 10 fingers. That’s all the more to support your spikers with, which is what it means to be a setter.” / “To cut through the wall that looms before your spikers, that is the purpose of a setter.”  This particular panel depicts the two ideologies of Atsumu and Kageyama respectively, two of my favorite setters and characters in general. Atsumu “may be pretty cocky at times, and overwhelm his teammates with his thirst for victory, but he treats his spikers with more sincerity and selflessness than anyone else.” He may be overbearing and an asshole at times, but his love for the sport and the art of being a setter is second to none. On the other hand, there’s Kageyama who’s so damn cool with his one-liners. Kageyama’s passion and drive to win may blind him to his surroundings and teammates but he truly believes that the setter is the one who clears the path for their spikers. When their spikers feel cornered and the walls are closing in, it is the setter who “cuts through the wall that looms” ahead. The old Kageyama who was a prisoner to speed is no longer, and his growth as a player brings me to tears every time.  5. “Someone once asked me, ‘Do you ever feel bitter over the fact that you’re not a regular on the team, and amongst your juniors there’s a genius to boot?’ I never understood the exact definition of what it was to be a genius to begin with, but upon hearing the question, I understood the general gist of what they were getting at.  Every so often there will be someone who thinks that ‘people like Atsumu’ were ‘good’ from the get-go. But the thing is, if I practiced something from 1-10 every day, then people like Atsumu would have done it from 1-20. Or, they would have done the same 10 but in a more efficient or concentrated manner. They might also ask ‘Instead of doing it 1-10, how about I tried it from A-Z, what would happen then? Now doesn’t that sound interesting?’  They’re the kind of people who think about stuff like that. Even if they fail, even if they are hated and get ostracised by others, no matter whether they’re right or they’re wrong, even if they subvert something the rest of us hold in high regard, they’re the kind of people who can’t sit still without giving it a go. Even if they start coughing up blood from their lungs, they’re the kind of people who want to keep on running, no matter what.  There’s going to be a lot of people in this world who make you go ‘Wow, I’ll never be able to defeat them,’ and it’s only natural that you think they’re amazing people. I think that to be able to keep charging ahead is a talent in and of itself. You can call people like them whatever you like, the term ‘genius’ isn’t exactly an insult. That said, to think they were ‘good from the get go’ is to condemn yourself to a predetermined defeat without even playing a match against them, and I also think it’s very rude.”  This quote, hands down, is one of my favorite quotes of all time. It is not genius or natural talent that makes individuals truly great, but it is grit. Without a doubt, people are not born equal. There will always be someone with more innate talent or latent capabilities. We all begin at different starting lines. But those who truly stand out are those who go the extra mile, like those dubbed to be the Monster Generation (Kageyama, Atsumu, Hinata, Bokuto, Ushijima, Oikawa, etc.). To others they may seem like natural prodigies but behind their flawless technique and precise ball control lies countless hours of training. They trained harder than anyone else, sacrificed in order to hone their abilities, and ran farther than the rest of the pack. They’re the type to fixate on what lies before them without much regard to anything else.They eat, sleep, breathe, and live volleyball with every waking second. They’re always trying new things (Atsumu pulling off the freak duo quick in the middle of the Inarizaki match) and continually looking for ways to improve (“But the thing is, if I practiced something from 1-10 every day, then people like Atsumu would have done it from 1-20. Or, they would have done the same 10 but in a more efficient or concentrated manner. They might also ask ‘Instead of doing it 1-10, how about I tried it from A-Z, what would happen then? Now doesn’t that sound interesting?’ They’re the kind of people who think about stuff like that”; Kageyama keeping a volleyball journal). It is not what they were born with that makes them great; it is their overwhelming desire to win.  6. “‘Yesterday’ has already disappeared behind us. Many, many yesterdays have become a part of our muscles. What shall we do, today?” This quote, chills. There’s no point ruminating about the past or what has already passed; you can’t change it. (In retrospect, I wish I included another quote from Inarizaki in this panel: “One time is enough. We rise to the challenges of today.”) You learn from the mistakes of yesterday and use them as stepping stones for tomorrow. I wish I could eloquently phrase how much I love this quote or my interpretation of it but alas, my writing is fancy Garbage.  7. “But if… just if… that moment comes for you, that will be the moment you really get hooked on volleyball.” If you didn’t get chills when Tsukishima blocks Ushijima, I have no words for you. Tsukishima-it’s-just-a-club Kei, Tsukishima-I’m-the-normal-guy Kei — Tsukishima Kei, who always underestimates his own capabilities and relies on what he can see in front of him, blocking the Ushijima Wakatoshi, one of the top three high school aces nationally. The character development from someone who did the bare minimum (as noted by other players/coaches at one of the training camps) to someone who finally had their moment to get hooked on volleyball is one of my favorite progressions of all time. Seeing him fall in love with volleyball gradually and then all at once is truly heartwarming and beautiful to witness.  8. “No matter what other people may say, we are the protagonists of the world.” This quote is incredibly empowering to me. Even if your days consist of mundane activities, you are the protagonist of your own story every day. You may not be the main character in a shounen manga or an adolescent seeking to usurp the government in a dystopian novel, but this is your story. No one can tell it like you do and no one can replicate your story. It is yours and yours only.  And that concludes my Haikyuu word vomit! I really do wish I could have properly conveyed my pure adoration and love for this series better. I truly do love Haikyuu so very, very much. It will always have a special place in my heart and I will never forget the memories and lessons it has taught me! Thank you, Furudate-sensei, for such a beautiful story. And thank you Haikyuu, for everything. For all the losses and victories we shared. For all the smiles and laughter, and for all the tears we shed. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. 

[johannesviii]

Join me in Feelings Hell™️ for a short story of emotional manipulation and betrayal, entirely based around a two-words-long throwaway line

So fly on Ride through Maybe one day I'll fly next to you Fly on Ride through Maybe one day I can fly with you

(”O”, Coldplay)

[Images: Doctor Who fancomic in three pages, made with watercolors.

Page 1:

1) Eleven in his (first, orange and blue-green) TARDIS, at the console, not doing anything.

2) He’s looking at the monitor. Text on the blue screen: “From: that M.I.6. guy: ‘Forgot to thank you for the help the other day!’ ‘Hello?’ ‘Are you there?’

3) Eleven, sitting on the stairs, texting on a phone. Eleven: “Sorry. I’m having a bad day.” O: “Oh. What happened?” Eleven: “I’d rather not talk about it.” O: “No problem.” “You know what? Let’s talk about something else. Tell me things about... space?” Eleven: “Why not.” “There’s a planet near Cygnus where it rains sand horizontally, can you imagine?? The locals can-”.

4) Twelve, sitting in the TARDIS, texting. O: “Been a while since your last text. Several years, in fact. Are you ok?” Twelve: “Fine.” “Lost a friend.” O: “I’m sorry.” “You don’t talk much about your friends.” Twelve: “Don’t you have a job to do?” O: “Not enough aliens. Boring.”

5) Just the texts. O: “Can I ask you something?” Twelve: “What.” O: “We’ve only met once so... I mean, I love our convos but, why are you still talking to me?” Twelve: “Uh.” “At this point you’re the only contact on this phone who’s still alive, O.” O: “I knew I had to have one redeeming quality, thank you for the ego boost Doctor”.

6) Twelve, smiling while reading.

Page 2:

1) Thirteen in her TARDIS (which is glowing orange), leaning against the console, texting. O: “Been a long time since we last talked, Doctor.” Thirteen: “I’m not very good at this whole texting thing, sorry.” O: “Don’t be.” Thirteen: “Also my face changed. Again.” “...O?” O: “Sorry. I forget you’re an alien, sometimes.” [image sent: small photo of Thirteen’s face.] O: “Oh”. Thirteen: “Is that a good ‘oh’. O: “A very good ‘oh’! You look great, Doctor.” Thirteen: “Thank you. XO” O: “XO”.

2) Just the texts. Thirteen: “3 humans is a lot of responsibilities” “I’m so scared to lose them”. O: “Should I feel jealous?” Thirteen: “I’m serious O, it’s so scary”. O: “Ok, serious answer now-”

3) Just the texts. Thirteen: “I’m so tired” “How do I delete texts?” O: “It’s all right.” “You know what? Next time we meet I‘ll make you a nice cup of tea. XO” Thirteen: “XO”.

4) The outback. The scene from Spyfall part 1 when Thirteen and Graham meet O, but seen from afar.

5) Graham, O and Thirteen looking at computer screens together.

6) Thirteen and O, sitting outside with cups of tea. Thirteen seems to be talking about space, rather excitedly. O is looking at her, a bit shy.

Page 3:

1) A very large panel, continuation of the previous one. Thirteen’s speech bubble now contains several stars and planets and a small TARDIS in front of a blue and purple space. She’s hand-flapping a little. O is holding his chin in his hand, looking at her and smiling.

2-3-4) A quick succession of increasingly smaller panels, with O revealing his true identity on the plane, what looks like the TCE, and what could be the hologram projected in the TARDIS at the end of Spyfall part 2.

5) Thirteen sitting on the stairs of the (glowing blue) TARDIS, her face blank. There’s a phone with a broken screen in the foreground.]

[nightwingmyboi]

Bruce firing Dick vs. Dick firing Tim

Soooo, I have seen a lot of people comparing the way that Bruce replaced Dick with Jason versus the way that Dick replaced Tim with Damian. (This happened some on my Batfam Replacement Montage post [x], which is what first brought it to my attention.) For some reason, a lot of people come out of this comparison thinking that Dick was not only just as bad and insensitive as Bruce (if they even think Bruce was in the wrong at all that is) but even that Dick is somehow worse. This legitimately confused the heck out of me. I don’t know if people are reading the same comics as me (though honestly with all the retcons and nonsense going on maybe we aren’t reading the same comics), so I’m just going to break each replacement down for you here and maybe you’ll see where I’m coming from when I think that is completely out of left field. 

Let’s start with Bruce. These panels have Dick (as Nightwing) recounting how things between him and Bruce went down (I’ve rewritten the text just below the image if it is blurry): 

Batman #416 

So while I was still laid up in bed, you dropped the bad news on me. No ifs, ands, or buts...I wasn’t to play Robin anymore. You couldn’t continue to assume the responsibility for a child fighting crime. For six years you trained me to be a crimefighter, then denied me that role. Of course, you assured me that it was for my own good. I lay there with a bandaged shoulder and my life in ruins. You smiled. Kicked a great big hole in my life, then walked out of the room. 

Following an encounter with the Joker, Dick is shot in the shoulder and nearly dies. Instead of comforting Dick, Bruce decides to follow up this traumatic event by firing Dick from Robin immediately. Bruce calls Dick a child, disregarding all the time Dick spent training to become Robin and Dick’s own agency, and basically attempts to kick him out of crimefighting all together. This may not be clear because of the image quality, but Dick literally starts crying in that last panel. But it doesn’t stop there: 

I don’t see what option I had, other than to split. Alfred tried to talk me out of it. It was Alfred who forced money on me so I’d have something to live on. You couldn’t even be bothered to say goodbye. 

Despite his concern for Dick being the motivating factor behind the firing, Bruce doesn’t even seem to be aware that Dick is leaving, and so Alfred is the one that tries to convince Dick to stay in Bruce’s stead. And where is Bruce during all this you may ask??

Sorry, he was busy working on a case at the time. And people wonder why Dick didn’t realize Bruce was doing this out of concern rather than distrust of his capabilities. Anyway, Dick leaves, eventually joins the Titans, and becomes Nightwing. Eighteen whole months pass--a freaking year and a half--and not once does Bruce try to get in touch with Dick to sort things out. Then, Dick finds out about his replacement in the newspaper: 

Bruce fired Dick because he didn’t want a child sidekick. Then he goes out and gets a freaking child sidekick, and, even better, makes him Robin. Robin isn’t just a costume to Dick. In many comics, Dick refers to the Robin role as meaning family, and that’s because Dick specifically crafted Robin as a way to remember his parents. 

Robin Annual #4 and The Titans #16

It doesn’t get much more personal than using your dead mother’s nickname for you and your family’s colors (which across comics are pretty consistently some combo of yellow/green/red) as your hero persona. And Bruce, despite knowing the origins of the costume, felt like he could do whatever he wanted with it. And he didn’t even have the decency to be upfront about it. You can see why this drives me crazy. He spends the rest of the issue beating around the bush and not telling Dick why he adopted Jason and made him Robin, and, in the end, he once again kicks Dick out of the house. Nice parenting Bruce. 

Now with Dick. I’ve seen some people accuse Dick of not talking to Tim and just pulling the Robin mantle right out from under him, but that isn’t really what the comics show us: 

Red Robin #1

Dick tries to talk to Tim about it, and, unlike Bruce, he explicitly states his reasons for giving Damian Robin. He validates Tim, and tells him that they are equals. Even when Tim lashes out, Dick makes it clear that he still wants Tim around, even if it is not as Robin. And, once again unlike Bruce, Dick doesn’t proceed to just abandon Tim when things don’t go his way. He sends Tim’s friends his way and when that doesn’t work, Dick goes to find Tim and try to talk things out in person: 

Red Robin #4

So why doesn’t Tim just tell Dick his theory? That’s because, as much as people apparently want to believe that Tim had the whole thing figured out and it was everyone else’s fault that no one was listening, Tim had no actual evidence whatsoever that Bruce was actually alive. He was kind of in denial about Bruce’s death and all he had was a weak hunch.

Tim rides off without giving any explanations, leaving Dick to deal with all the fallout of Bruce’s “death” by himself. Dick had to abandon everything that he built (Nightwing, his various superhero teams, etc.) in order to take up Bruce’s identity. He had to deal with being Batman, running Wayne Enterprises, and raising Damian (a murderous brat who spent literally all his time insulting and undermining him in those early days), all while managing his own grief. And he had no one but Alfred for support. So maybe he didn’t handle Tim as well as he could have (I don’t really know what he could have done differently but hey if you want to let me know feel free), but I honestly think that under the circumstances he tried his freaking best, which is more than Bruce did for him. And when Tim returns, he immediately expects Dick to put everything on hold to help him, once again without explanation, and what does Dick do?

Red Robin #11

He trusts Tim and puts everything on hold to help Tim out. Even though Tim pretty much left him high and dry when he needed help the most. So yeah, I don’t see where people are coming from when they act like Dick somehow singlehandedly destroyed his relationship with Tim. I don’t understand how Tim could possibly trust Jason (ie the person who very nearly murdered him) more than he trusts Dick (ie the person who mentored and acted as a confidant to him for literal years) in such a short span of time.

In my opinion, Bruce and Dick are not even remotely similar in their actions here. I don’t understand how people who can so readily excuse Bruce for his harsh treatment not be the least bit willing to give Dick some slack when his situation was sooo bad and he tried so hard. 

[sandflow]

Sugimoto and Ogata’s Rivalmance - anime vs manga comparisons

Hello there.

So I just saw the last episode from he 3rd season of the Golden Kamuy anime series and it left me a little perplexed. I’ll be talking about how the anime handled their scenes compared to the manga.

I’ll be blunt, season 1 was average while season 2 turned out kind of bad. Season 1 is alright as an introduction to the series, even though the CG bear really turned off many people from liking the show. 

Season 2 skipped a lot of arcs and while some of them turned out to be animated as an OVA, there are arcs that even at present haven’t been adapted and as of which happen pre-Abashiri. (Ogin arc, Fake ainu arc).

Season 3 was alright though. The animation quality is way better and the pacing felt really fluid and relaxing for the most part of the season.

I will only be comparing the scenes that have changed, and won’t adress the ones that haven’t been adapted in the anime.

Here we go.

Season 2 Episode 3 (chapter 81) - Sugimoto saves Ogata in Edogai’s house

The manga - After Sugimoto says the infamous tsundere line to Ogata, Ogata spits blood and then the scene shifts to something else.

The anime - After Sugimoto’s line, we can see Ogata looking disgustingly at Sugimoto while he’s leaving the room, and then he spits blood.

I guess that the anime tried to make it look like Sugimoto hurt Ogata’s ego with that line. And Ogata didn’t like it at all. 

(Chapter 83) 

The manga - Ogata tries to hunt the birds by shooting them only to be denied by Asirpa. Sugimoto is all smirky because Ogata is being lectured.

The anime - They don’t show Sugimoto’s evil smirk reaction to Asirpa lecturing Ogata.

The manga -  Sugimoto being jelly of Ogata who caught more birds than Asirpa. When Sugimoto says that Ogata tried to hunt the birds just to prove Asirpa wrong, we can see Ogata’s sad reaction to that line.

The anime -  It’s pretty much the same scene but we don’t get Ogata’s reaction.

Season 2 Episode 5 (Chapter 99)

The manga - Sugimoto calls out Shiraishi’s betrayal. Shiraishi panicks thinking that he might kill him right there, but it ends up with Sugimoto showing him that he gave fake skins to Hijikata.

The anime - it’s the same scene except for when Sugimoto calls Shiraishi out, we can see Ogata’s expression while the conflict unfolds.

And then Sugimoto says that the skin that Shiraishi gave to Hijikata was a fake.

And we see Ogata again where he closes his eyes.

The Ogata reactions never existed in the manga.

I’m thinking that they added this so as to hint at his future betrayal in Abashiri.

(Chapter 100)

The manga - they kill some deer so as to hide in them and get rid of the 7th from pursuing them, Shiraishi becomes delirious and runs away. No one goes after him.

The anime - Shiraishi runs away delirious and Asirpa goes after him and tells Sugimoto to skin deers with Ogata until she comes back. Sugimoto decides to go after her and Ogata calls him to come back.

This entire scene did not exist in the manga.

OVA 3 (Chapter 104)

The manga - Shiraishi gets bitten by a snake. Sugimoto, for some reason, gets bitten too. 

And when both of their heads get inflated, Shiraishi asks Sugimoto what happened to his face.

The anime - Ogata is the one who asks Sugimoto about his face.

All I can say is thanks Geno for this addition.

OVA 4 (Chapter 111)

The manga - Asirpa asks Ogata to help Tanigaki escape from these ainu dudes who think he violated and killed wild animals.

In the manga, after Asirpa asks Ogata for help, Ogata follows it with the reasoning that Tanigaki may have killed his comrades from the betrayer group, to which Sugimoto and also Asirpa defend Tanigaki by saying that he wasn’t the one to do it.

After that, Sugimoto sort of taunts Ogata by saying that uwu Asirpa won’t cook for you anymore~

The anime - After Asirpa asks Ogata for his help, the whole reason he wouldn’t save him is skipped, and it jumps to just Sugimoto taunting him.

All what Ogata needed was a small tease reply from Sugimoto and he was totally down on risking his life saving Tanigaki. Comrades getting killed by Tanigaki? Naaaah.

Season 3 Episode 7 - (Chapter 169)  

The manga - The group starts talking about the legend of a mountain cat (lynx) and Koito thinks that they were probably refering to Ogata. And so the bullying begins.

Sugi when first hearing of this, he smirks in a way that says “Lol wut where did that come from”.

The anime - when Sugimoto first asks “What’s Ogata gotta do with it?” we don’t see his smirking face like in the manga. 

And when he says the line of “What a pathetic joke”, his face looks a bit more..dramatic and sad in a way?

Or when he looks all determined after Koito says that they should kill a cat when spotted.

This scene felt like he really does feel sorry for Ogata being bullied compared to the manga.

Season 3 Episode 11 - (Chapter 187)

Ogata lies about Sugimoto’s death to Asirpa so as to get the code out of her.

He sees that Asirpa isn’t cooperating with his pleas of sharing the code with him. So he uses the Sugimoto card.

The manga - he starts blushing the moment he mentions Sugimoto

The anime - the blush wasn’t shown in this scene

He starts talking about the fake flashback of hearing Sugimoto’s last words.

The manga - we get this simple panel of just Ogata calling out Sugimoto’s name.

The anime - we are serviced with the same scene but from a different angle which I appreciate because it looks shippier.

Another notable thing is that while this scene is happening, you can hear Sugimoto heavily breathing. To me it felt like the breathing sounds lasted a bit longer than I imagined when reading the manga... 

Sugimoto’s voice sounds very soft and gentle while begging for Ogata to take care of his buddy’s family.

The manga - blushy lying Ogata

The anime - blushy lying Ogata but the blush seems to be drawn lighter? You gotta squint to see it.

The manga

The anime

I don’t have an argument for these panels I just like how cute he looks while blushing.

when you imagine your arch nemesis’s last soft, gentle dying words you just can’t help but feeling flustered

The manga - Ogata leans in close to Sugimoto’s face. Sugimoto is looking directly into his eyes while trying to mutter Tome’s name. And Ogata seems to look sad.

The anime - the scene is shown from a different angle, and Sugimoto is probably looking at the sky or something. We can’t see Ogata’s expression anymore.

The manga - Ogata is still running on the ice floe while pretending to care about Sugimoto’s last wishes.

look.at.his.frowny.cute.staplebrows.

The anime - Ogata and Asirpa are...standing still, looking at one another, and being all sad about their boo-boo Sugi-chan's death wishes.

The manga - The projecting is now going off the charts.

Sugimoto grabs Ogata’s hand, holds it tightly,with Ogata also tighting the grip, tells him that he wants to go back to his hometown while also tearing up, all of this happening while they look in eachother’s eyes.

This is peak soft fanfiction I SWEAR-

The anime - Geno wasted all of their money in this episode and they didn’t have any other left to animate this panel, so they just use the same frame as before.

That sky must be very fascinating to look at.

The manga - Ogata being all pouty and sad that he has to bear Sugimoto’s burdens-

The anime - He seems not as pouty but the cute eyelashes are more visible. CUTE.

The manga - a beautiful ending for a fanfic  Ogata projects even MORE because I guess that everyone on this planet loves the same fish stew as he does.

The anime - it’s basically the same but Sugimoto’s voice is so dramatique and sad that it just brings tears to my eyes how Ogata is so good at writing fanfics.

(Chapter 188)

The manga - Sugimoto heard Ogata’s fanfic and was enraged because of how ooc he turned out, so he went to him and to show what sort of fanfics he’s into, he comes from behind, grabs Ogata by the hair, pulls it, and cuts his poisoned eye out.

The anime - He comes in from the front???? catches Ogata’s head in a very gentle way, and cuts his eye out. No hairpull.

Geno. I’m looking at you.

The manga - Sugimoto making very angry eye contact, sucking Ogata off and still pulling his hair.

The anime - Geno doesn’t like gore so they just animated one single suck panel. Ogata is sort of moving his eye a little there. Hm.

We also get some new frames that weren’t in the manga.

One in which he scolds Ogata for wanting to make small children kill people.

The other still looking angrily at his bandages face.

Ok Geno you’ll get a pass on this one.

Season 3 Episode 12 (Chapter 197)

The manga - Sugimoto tries very hard to convice everyone to save Ogata.

The anime - it’s the same thing except the very heterosexual tension orange glowy eyes, and the more obvious and wider drawn devilish smirk.

This is thirst depicted in one frame.

The manga - The doctor says that Ogata will most likely die and Asirpa is sad.  Sugimoto is looking at her thinking oh nooo she’s a killer now.

The anime - Asirpa is sad but Sugimoto isn’t looking at her but towards the doctor....

The manga - Sugimoto has white danger eyes with a tint of sadness/dissappointment in his expression.

The anime - Sugimoto looks SO ANGRY HOW DARE YOU DIE LIKE THIS? PATHETIC OF YOU. *spits* 

He’s just as thirsty here too.

I didn’t understand why they coloured his eyes like that. What was is supposed to mean????? He wants blood but he also wants to continue to hunt for it I guess???

This is, I think, the first time in the anime where they colour the pupils that bright.

The manga - Sugimoto is so shocked that Ogata is alive and ran away.

The anime - they added two new frames, basically empathising how Sugimoto is slowly processing the whole event.

God the adapted manga panel looks so funny he just goes super duper wide eyes as if no one would have predicted this outcome.............

(chapter 200)

The manga - wishing for his arch nemesis to come back to him. A very normal wish.

The anime - it’s the same. But now with sparkly eyes like in the volume.

And that’s it.

I think that Geno somewhat tried to promote their relationship to a certain extent by adding new scenes while trying to stay somewhat faithful to the source.

Sadly, they cut a lot of arcs. If you’d watch this series without checking out the OVA’s, you’ll definitely miss out on scenes where their bickering bond is being shown in all of its glory. They didn’t even animate the Fake Ainu arc even as of today, which has the best sugio bickering in the series.

[prettywarriors]

Ok ill bite whats the worst mg series

alright, whats the worst magical girl series in your opinion?

Thanks you two for letting me do some yelling. The obvious guess would likely be one of the recent edgelord shows right? Magical Girl Site or something similar? But nay I say, for while MGS and Day Break Illusion and such and what not generally tell you what to expect right away. Don't like super violence and suffering? Watch something else is the clear message from the get go. One of the bait and switch series then like Madoka or maybe Yuki Yuna? For what faults they may or may not have, at least these series do something and are interesting, even if you're not huge on what goes down in the series. A parody then? They range from affectionate to banned in New Zealand but regardless of quality and their feelings for MGs, it's a parody. It's a joke and shouldn't be taken seriously (plus they're usually short so you can just forget about them forever).

So what makes a series terrible then, I am sure you are asking. IMO? Setting expectations for an interesting and enjoyable series, and then dashing them to hell.

Come with me below the cut, as I talk about Key Princess Story: Kagihime Eternal Alice Rondo!

Spoilers abound so if you care about those for a 15 year old series, click away.

Background: Kagihime was a 4 volume manga that ran from 2004-2006 that was picked up for a 13 episode anime adaptation near the end of its run. The manga is created by a pair (Kaishaku) who you may know for making Magical Nyan Nyan Taruto. Kannazuki no Miko, and Steel Angel Kurumi, and the anime had a script written by the same writer (Mamiko Ikeda) for Tenshi Ni Narumon who also did some script writing for Princess Tutu and Seven of Seven. The anime also had 6 character music videos which are fairly simple but a nice addition to the series for the main girls. Discotek has been publishing the anime in the states in recent years, and the manga was brought over by *squints at book spine* Dr Master Publications.

The Premise: Girls transform and enter weird outside of reality spaces to fight each other with giant keys to take each other’s stories to create a third Alice In Wonderland story.

Well, an off-brand Alice story written by Alternate L. Takion, rather than Lewis Carroll/Charles Dodgson, that while the series uses all the aesthetic hallmarks of the tradition Alice, the little we see of the in universe Alice story is clearly different. Which is fine, at the end of the day, it’s still about someone who loves the Alice stories and wishes there was more, and even makes his own fanfiction version. His? Oh yeah, while the girls do all the fighting, the main character is Aruto, a teen boy who loves Alice, and for reasons we don’t know till late game, can enter the liminal spaces that the ‘Alice Users’ fight in. He chases a girl who looks like the Alice he sees in his story, who is named Arisu, and gets roped into this fanfic battle royale. He is also the older brother of the very needy Kirihara, who also ends up being and Alice User. As does Kirihara’s bff Kisa. To round out the group of enemies-turned-friends-who-will-work-together-to-collect-the-Eternal-Alice-without-having-to-fight-eachother group is a young genius researcher Kirika who wants to know more about Aruto’s connection that allows him to enter the spaces where the girls fight.

Then there’s all the other girls, some of whom still have real importance to the story and some who have a few panels or 2 scenes total. But with a whole bunch of girls to design, the creators reached out to a whole lot of other people to have them create designs! Eventually the battle gets down to the last few girls, there’s a confrontation with the guy running the whole thing, and while the anime and manga vary quite a bit the whole time, in both version Aruto ends up with Kirihara. Oh and Arisu was created by Aruto’s super imagination powers.  

The Promise: Here on is subjective, particularly with what I personally saw as potential from this series. because I need you to understand how much I want to like this series. 

~Alice in Wonderland themed: I know some people aren’t alice fans and that’s fine you do you but as a big alice fan this is great. We have a few alice episodes and themed characters amongst series like CCS and MGRP, and even Alice themes in other series like Tweeny Witches and Alice 19th. But damn it I am down for Alice series.

~Giant Keyyyyyyyys: Yeah yeah Kingdom Hearts but these keys are much more staff like for a lot of the characters which ads and air of elegance rather than the KH ones that for me at least feel well designed for big ol props rather than actual weapons. We also get...

~Weapon variety: It counts as a key if it’s a thorn whip that can be shaped like a key right? How about a giant pocket knife? Crossbows can also be keys. Hush. And we have this variety because

~Guest Artists: For magical girl series where we have a variety of outfits designed by different people, we have Kagihime, Uta~Kata, and uhh I guess Magia Record? But that’s a mobile game with a hella number of characters and with how mobile game works I wouldn’t count it just because it’s less the intent of the series to have variety and more the nature of having lots of girls. (Precure doesn’t count because unless I missed a memo each season’s set is still by one designer). If a series isn’t about a team and therefore doesn’t need cohesion, bringing in other artists is a great way for variety and new looks. 

~The long term goal: Fighting with other people who love the same piece of media you do in hopes of creating new material that will be viewed as official? That’s just fandom nowadays. But it’s a legitimate interesting concept, and opens up so many doors for a message for the series, be it ‘what you create is no less valuable than the canon work’ or ‘it’s hard to let go when something you love doesn’t have more to it but you can still love it for what it is’ or ‘bond with the people who like the thing you like ya idiot instead of fighting about it’. The concept is interesting and there are so many narrative ways you can take this.

~Gays: Between the anime and manga, we have at least 5 wlw. Is it a magical girl series without some gays? (side note- the manga had a short thing where the MC wears a girl’s uniform and is pretty comfortable in it and while there is no way this was the intent, between that and the emphasis on the stories that live in girls and how the fight zones have no men, I’m just saying, Trans girl Aruto.)

~Greater Fairy Tale Premise: We meet a Little Match Girl based MG who is obsessed with Andersen rather than the Alice books, and touch on a Sleeping Beauty character in the manga. The manga at least implies that classic stories and fairy tale authors uh. Live on in a liminal space as immortals with world warping powers within that world and there could be opportunities for other girls in the real world to fight for Little Mermaid 2: Electric Boogaloo.

The Good: Everything has positive points, no matter how bad it is.

~Character Designs: Some of those looks slap. As do most of their weapons. 

~Backgrounds: I have a strong opinion on backgrounds in anime that can be easily boiled down to old watercolor backgrounds good, modern filtered photos as background bad, and as a 2006 series, this might not be Memole nice but they’re quite attractive. 

~Splash Pages: Easily my favorite thing after the designs, each chapter’s title page for the manga just has a character standing in a setting. Which is not everyone’s thing I’m sure but it’s a nice simplistic way to let the characters breathe imo. Even if at least some of the settings were deffo traced. But that’s how backgrounds work to some extent? If I ever get to the Met again, I am tracking down this exact photo, but here is a likely candidate for an example.

~Different Versions: I do not understand the need to make an adaptation that tries to be a 1:1. Kagihime had the same ideas and characters and did some of the same beats but very much had a different finale story and a lot of changes in the middle (like the Alice cops in the manga). Again, not something everyone probably wants I’m sure, but I very appreciate this, especially since the Anime kept good pace with the number of Manga chapters (reading the manga again while watching the anime at 3.8x speed just now was very interesting to see the different interpretations of events in a different medium.)

The ‘Fine’: Yeah.

~Anime Visuals: Look 2006 was still early enough into digipaint that I will give it a total pass on these. The colors are too bright but in a very bland way, the lineart is nothing interesting, and the faces are. Iffy. But it’s not total garbage to look at (probably helped by backgrounds and character designs...) it just came out in an era where not enough people knew how to stylize things to account for the weakness of the tools of the time. (It was 4 years earlier but I feel Kagihime is the polar opposite of Chobits with its painfully bland color palette while still being just. Flat. Sorry for the drive by Chii.) 

~Music?: There sure were songs. Obviously, they are nothing to me.

The Bad: CW for.... somehow all the big things to an extent. 

~Fanservice: Look, I am fine with fanservice, especially for a series that’s, ya know, not targeted at kids, big Mai Hime fan here even if I would recommend skipping the panty thief episode. And honestly the series generally isn’t fanservicey, at least by the modern standards of having the camera choosing under the skirt rather than an over the shoulder shot like I’ve seen plenty in other shows. Even the sexier outfits like the rose whip dominatrix aren’t bad BUT. When the girls fight. One takes her phallic key and drives it into another girls chest between the boobs while the loser cries in pain and then her book comes out and when the victor rips out pages, the loser’s clothes also rip. It is very SuperS Amazon Trio assault metaphor-y. There’s also a bit of fanservice with the sister becauseeeee....

~Incest: If you read the premise up there, first wow good job because I’m sure not re-reading that, you might have noticed I said MC ends up with his sister. As someone who is a big mythology fan and watches plenty of anime, I have a decent tolerance for your obligatory ‘oh we’re siblings but actually cousins so our feelings are okay’ or whatever the fuck Citrus has going on I don’t know that series and I don’t vibe BUT. I have limits and boy did this series go beyond that because multiple episodes are dedicated to the sister being in love with the brother? And the brother returns her feelings but knows that they are wrong so he put everything he likes in his sister into his version of Alice who, of course, physically manifests as Arisu who he creates accidentally with his uh. Magic imagination powers. But again in both versions MC still ends up with his sister. Hey, at least the manga eventually said the boy was adopted when the sister was like, 3, so if nothing else no blood relations? The anime did not ad this. -_-

~Under Utilized Characters: Arisu’s gradual revelation that she has no childhood memories because she isn’t a real person is so interesting and they don’t do nothing with it but also? That’s the kind of thing I personally would love to dig into and Kagihime, while touching on this world shattering revelation, easily loops back to So Anyway She Should Fight For The Man and to hell with developing a life or personality outside of what has been written for her. The rest of the main 5 were 2 note characters which. Could be worse? The most interesting character ends up being the child genius who accidentally murdered her childhood bestie (and/or lover? depending on version) and her coming to terms with that (the friend is alive but the version changes how and why she thinks she’s dead). Then the villain has the motivation of ‘i lost my creativity and now have become an immortal living outside of normal space and am getting girls to fight each other because that’s like a story so I’m still relevant right?’. But shoutout to the anime for then taking death of the author literally. The numerous other girls are canon fodder outside of like. The manga version of the dead gf and the little match girl.

~Battle Royale: This is not a thing I have an issue with generally. Again, but Mai Hime fan, I need to read MGRP 11, BUT by not developing the non-main girls there is no emotional connection which makes them just canon fodder and that’s boring as sin for a royale system. The initial main character fights revolve so much around the MC guy being there that they fall flat, and the 2 or 3 final battles in both versions still feel without any stakes. Also for a royale thing most of the characters don’t actually die, which cool! Neat! Except when they do? Some nobodies and a somebody are murdered (at least in the manga) and the tone never feels like it’s supposed to be upping the stakes, it’s just. Some people are dead now. And do you want to guess which of the main characters died?

~Gays: Oh boy the best friend of the brother-complex sister is in love with her and (in the manga) dies. She does apparently get better for the last chapter but the death itself is only felt by the rest of the cast for a page or two before we go back to feeling sad big brother wants to kiss his mentally generated sister clone rather than his actual sister u_u. Bury your gays is nothing new, but I wonder if it was also intended to be justified because Guess Who Is Creepy and a bit Perverted? Oh look the lesbian keeps the used swimsuit of her beloved and manipulates events to get an indirect kiss and when she sees the sister trying to strange Arisu for a moment she decides to do it for the sister? It’s not good. You want bad gay rep in a magical girl series, well here ya go. We also had a nobody in the first(second?) episode whose story pages reveal her having a kiss with a girl, and then we also have the prodigy again and- in the manga- her. Uh. childhood lover who she thought she killed but the girl has been wiping her mind over and over so prodigy remembers ‘killing’ the friend and not the she’s alive so she can keep? fucking with her? Toxic!

~Sexual Content: But wait you say, you already covered fanservice! Ah but that is sexual content for titilation. This is sexual content for dramatic backstory! The red riding hood character was sexually assaulted, another character was manipulated into sex first as a teen and then more often to ‘get into the publishing industry’, and the same writer forces some aggressive kisses on the MC. None of it is gratuitous which is nice, but also, was it necessary? Not making a new point for this but read riding hood’s dog was also murdered so unnecessary animal death gets tossed on in there. 

~Male Lead: You can have a male, non magical character as the main character surrounded by magical girls. This is not how to do it. If I can make a vicious and hopefully not understood reference, Aruto is basically Tate from the Mai Hime Manga. If you understood that, I am so sorry. If you didn’t, congrats! Don’t read the manga. Or do and send me asks about the iconic final page of the first volume (18+). Anyway, this dude is boring, everything revolves around him, BUT I’ll be generous and say at least this isn’t a harem series? It looks like it out of context but it’s just a triangle with a fun attached scientist and token lesbian.

~Premise: They didn’t make good use of it. The initial goals of ‘take other girls pages from their soul books because if we get enough we unlock a third alice book’ is good! And then we add the twist that that was never going to happen and either if we get all the pages we can grant a wish, or these fights are just happening for the amusement of and asshole. Either way, yeah okay I guess. But at no point do we ever achieve this forbidden wish granting book and the asshole just. Lives. Nothing happens to him. His peers don’t even dunk on him. The only real changes from the beginning and the end of the series are: the siblings are now chill with dating, and the scientist lady won’t turn into a child in magical spaces. Oh. Yeah.

~Why did we make this adult a child sometimes?: I think we know why. Stop trying to get those types of folks to watch your already meh series. I also could have sworn at points in the past looking up images for this series I’ve seen extra art for Yuuri the Thumbelina-y Alice User that seemed like it would fit alongside anything by POP. You know, the Moetan guy. If you don’t know, god I wish that were me. 

Wrap Up: I have definitely forgotten some points and am well within my rights to ad to this whenever I remember more points but uh. Yeah.  

Listen you want an alice themed battle royale with nice outfits? Rozen maiden is right there. Battle Royale magical girl series that’s good with fanservice? Mai Hime. Series with different outfits while being based on a classic story? Pretear.

Hope anyone who read all of this at least got what I was saying, even if they don’t agree with it. And thanks for reading because whoops. 

[builder051]

Happy. Starbucks. Sunday. OMG.

I’ve been vaguely around for the past couple weeks. Then we had to skip last week because DD and I were jamming to Bad Wolves and Papa Roach—totally worth it, by the way— It’s been so long since we’ve been able to make it to a live event that I actually can’t quite place our last concert in the timeline… I think it was Breaking Benjamin…before the pandemic. But, anyway, we deaf peeps love our hard rock and big noise. We’re seeing Greta Van Fleet again later this month (sssoooooo excited; this one is my fave), and have tix for Breaking Benjamin when they pass through in May.

This probably feels hella irrelevant, but I’m gushing, because, friends, I feel like I’m finally coming back home after a long forced sabbatical. I’ve been really ill since December last year, as in, operating on depleted body functions. I’ve had several Iron and IVIG infusions to get my basal metabolic panel to come back reading any slant toward normal. My main antipsychotic/mood control/migraine and (possible) seizure control med was taken away, for there’s literature that it, along with pretty much every other med on the planet, can have headaches as a side effect. I guess it’s a fair thing to try a taper-and-switch in a patient like me who has had zero relief from other established treatments, but, long story short, bigtime fail, many weeks taper off, realize mistake, a few more weeks to taper back on (so as not to induce a rash or psychotic episode), and finally, finally I get to about 3/4 of my dose, and I’m like, wow. If I just put the keyboard on the iPad for a few minutes, I wonder what will happen? And I’m actually willing to do it and find out, which is 10,000 steps up from a few days ago, when it was more like, can I get out of bed to go get a cup of tea, look at the blank schedule, and find something productive to do? Um, no. Cry on DD’s lap, then probably listen to NPR for an hour before either being colonized by a cat or getting the gumption to empty the dishwasher or smth, whilst feeling guilty I haven’t made creative content on any social media platform or done a project with the kids in living memory.

So, deep breath. Sorry for wasting your time and space. I trust you guys to look out for me, and I think you deserve to get a truthful explanation for why I’ve been kinda hands-off and flighty and turning out very few pieces that, well, aren’t that good. I’m back in my own, good, regular headspace now, and I’m so relieved. While this blog will always be an autocratic one-man show, provided to the public for free at my convenience, it will always also have a place for recs, reqs, and comment cards. I want to write what pleases me, and I want to write what pleases you. It makes me happy to see the likes and reblogs gain numbers. Yeah, I roll my eyes at a prompt here and there. Some of them are so positive, letting me know you want more/different iterations of things I’ve put up before. And sometimes you hit me with amazing ideas that make sparks fly.

Again, to summarize:

-I’m feeling much better. Probably better than I have so far this year.

-Hopeful the quality/quantity of things will pick up, but life is still very big and obstacle-y. (Baby is in hospital, I have tons of appointments, and just DD and I are home with the kiddos rn.)

-Please, my followers, continue supporting and reading and requesting and doing what you do. I love you.

And with that, here is today’s Starbucks Sunday plan:

-Classic prompt play, but with parameters, please:

-For Captain America, stick to Powers/No Powers or Whoa Bessie ‘verses. (The others with popular reqs either need a break or are getting an overhaul soon.)

-St. Patrick’s day/green beer is fine because DD said so. 🤣 Please no underage or Irondad and Spiderson.

-Bits and pieces that could use some attention, if you need some inspiration: Jonestown ‘verse, Clint + Nat + Laura, Whoa Bessie ‘verse pre-Steve (James struggling alone in the apartment or in therapy w/ Nat or Sam), Venom/Veddie (super fun to do in, like, 200-word bursts with minimal context, if you have a specific symptom or misadventure in mind)…

-Ask game is going up, feel free to play or ask a Q of your own.

- I’m going to try to stay in the time parameters as best I can (logging off around 6:30 PM US Eastern, Daylight Savings), because it helps DD and the bbs stay regulated (and me, too, really).

NOW— a couple things coming up:

- April is designated We fit like an Enfit (Tube ‘verse) month. I will be writing ONLY for that ‘verse during April, except during SS, when everything goes. I loosely plan to :

-finish/round up Cuts and Scrapes (currently missing part III)

-Catch you up with and iron out the timeline, starting from Steve’s diagnosis and leading off to where he is at “present” as a functional tubie x2, minus a colon, plus a BF with a spiffy arm and Bluetooth ears. There are a few, like, major event stories, I guess I’d call them? Like, not super long (or maybe super long, you know me, and this hasn’t made it from scribble notes to computer yet), but stories that would read like an episode of a TV drama series? That’s the best way I could describe them. I need to do 3 or 4 and place them among the stories I’ve already written for the ‘verse. The boys have this established backstory, I just haven’t had a chance to get it all written out yet!!

-take all your questions about everything related to Tube ‘verse and the likes. I tend to roll with medical slang when I write; it just seems to flow better that way, but I know some of you get it and some of you probably don’t. And for what things look like, feel like, anatomy, recovery, illness, intimacy, whatever… Be as nosy as you want; nothing is a “stupid” question, and if anything is out of bounds, I’ll answer for Steve, a fictional character with no say-so, and everything will be fine.

-Collect your Tube ‘verse prompts and see where you’re interested in seeing the boys go from here. I have a lot if work to do to prop the ‘verse up to look the way I want it to, but, seriously, going forward, I have yet to make any plans. I’ll obviously act as the executive, ensuring all fics are medically realistic and done up properly, but feel free to drop your ideas. Inspire me. Let me know what you want to read.

-And a scheduling note— I think things look good to keep pressing on as usual, but there may be a cancel here or there in the spring/summer timetable due to little buddy’s ballet performance timings. He’s doing amazing things—has medical challenges and tubes like me, but he’s gained, like, three levels’ worth of strength/technique/coordination in the past academic year. When he first started in the entry class, he couldn’t distinguish pointe/flex, do a push up, pick knees up and skip… and now he does pilates teasers on the living room floor just for fun, can do rond de jambes at tempo back to front and front to back, AND he’s holding passe balance so well that he’s leaning the steps to prepare for a pirouette!! Sorry, I’m being such a weepy little old millennial here, bragging on my kid, but I’ve been out of commission for all of 2022 so far, and seeing little guy excel in my playing field… it’s just the coolest thing.

Ah, sorry to bombard you with all that. To quote the late, great Tony Stark:

Go break some eggs.

[the-acid-pear]

Scarface was too fucking boring, didn't make it past chapter 3, but that's good, because that means Baki-Dou time 😍

Time to read the fourth book in this series! Excited to see Musashi <3

Chapter 1

COLORS

Baki please stop flexing

A FELLA SAYING THE SAME I SAID WHEN YUJIRO PULLED HIS SOB STORY, FR GO TRY SOMETHING ELSE! What happened with that whole "i don't care about fighting" eh Baki?!

Chapter 2

HOHO ALI JR???

ah no :/

HOLY FUCK is this quality bad!

He wants to taste defeat i see

TOKUGAWA PLEASE STOP SMOKING

Oh they removed the... Egg in the back of the neck, nice

God this guy's tits so fat 🥵

FINALLYYY HOW LONG SINCE WE SAW A FIGHT IN THE ARENA? A PROPER FIGHT I MEAN

Chapter 3

He doesn't even know 🐍

DON'T BRING THAT FELLA HERE RETSU KICKED HIS ASS IN TIME. RECORD

Oh i saw fanart of this scene

Baki, it's your fault that you are bored, you fucking teen

This shit boring ME

Chapter 4

Oh, goroukou is a title

I like how the prime minister is becoming a recurrent character

I thought he said babe for a sec-

That little "oh~" is a bit sus, are the old men... No, it can't be 😳😳😳

I'm fucking choking fuck

GOD ALMOST READ THAT AS JOHN CENA 😭

"yes <3"

These ppl never learn

Chapter 5

What a way to go, a la gamzee /j

This dude so weird lmao

FAHDGAHDH king

Dude he has huge round eyes tf you talking bout?

IGDUFSUEASEUURSS he's such a freakkk 😭😭😭

This is the most wtf thing Baki has pulled, remember when this was about fighters fighting? I don't know enough about science for this shit either man

Okay so their hug wasn't Tokugawa being touchy like he is, this guy is even worse, se juntaron el hambre y las ganas de comer HSHAFSFG

Chapter 6

Baki's dead

Katsumi about to kill get killed by my grandpa i see

ALSO KATSUMI OG HAIR WOOO

Katsumi bro don't be so happy over nearly killing him-

I love seeing him get better tho

Uwaadgsgsjdga 😍😳🤤 twisting my hair irl,,, 🥴

Finally Motobe remembered he was a character here 😐

FSGSHDAHDA KOSHO PLS

I LOVE that they got dark lips again

IM SORRY GOUKI HOW DO YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT EVERYONE?! LTDKFsjyrd 😭

Jack's scar looks cool ngl

Retsu living the good life lmao

AND HOW DO YOU KNOW, GRANDPA?

Hana just doesn't care, smartest Baki character lmao

Idk what they talking bout but good for em <3

Cum basement

Chapter 7

SHOW US MUSASHI'S COCK

Obsessed he thought his heart was failing 😭

Dude you can just hear the heart beat of your friends/opponents just like that? 🤨

Notice Gaia in the top left 🥴

WHY CAN HE RECOGNIZE EACH OF THEIR HEARTBEATS AAHSGA

Thick 🥵

Unironically built different

Chronic back pain if you ask me, that's how I stand to relieve my agony

Did. Did you just call him a femb-

STOP SHOWING ME PANELS FROM VAGAMOND

I love John sm lmao

Mr Musashi has 2 (3?) dads

Chapter 8

HAIRY LEGS 🥴

Those things look like boobs

Bet you would know eh SHAFADB

They jerked off the mummy?

Reminds me of eye surgery

AFjshAFDGAJAHAF

Mf came out the tube ripped af 😭

Chapter 9

Everyone is so feminine lately good ol Kureha fell behind 😭

I like his bandana tho it's cute

OH HE TOO? AND HE'S NOT EVEN THAT STRONG

Fat tits 🥴

Eheojeudkshs 😖😳👉👈

JACK STOP YOU ARE BIG ENOUGH ALREADY

HOLY FUCK

You know like i understand Baki, he is at the highest he can be rn, NO ONE can defeat him, but the rest? Like c'mon y'all just beat each other up or something

Ah, the miracle of birth 😍

Chapter 10

I love how all these two do is hang out together in bars, boybosses

TF IS UP WITH THAT ICE? AHDHS

I love what they have

Hana thinking of getting his 4 limbs broken again i see

WOOO!! Nice cock Mr Musashi 😳

HANAYAMA PLEASE 😐

Chapter 11

I love those freaks

I just now I'm seeing the little scars on his cheeks from the fight with Spec ☺️

I love the fact that Musashi has hair in his legs BUT not his arms like ??? Okay king

Heated scientist moment

HOHO POGGERS 👀

Chapter 12

UTSURAARSDFAFA sibling goals

GIRLBOSS 😍

URAURUSYRSAESGA IN LOVE???

Holy shit she's amazing

Chapter 13

And his ass is very thick too 😳

Those fucking sunglasses, obsessed

Debatable, he got struck by lightning :/

HE WAXES HIS HAIR? OMFG OBSESSED

WHY IS HE WEARING THAT LMAO 😭

Nooo they censored the cock again 😔😔😔

DO IT QWEEN 💅

STOP SAYING SHE'S GONNA FUCK THE CLONE

"I'm exciteddddd" "ok."

Chapter 14

You just hate seeing a girlboss win

She truly is amaizing

Also i just realized spirits have been showing up since the first book so this isn't so crazy lol

MF HOW IS THAT GONNA HELP 😭😭😭

THE LITTLE BUBBLES AND SPARKLES... I BET HE DID 🥺

Chapter 15

WHY ARE HIS TITS SO ROUND AND FAT GODDAMN IT,,, 😳😖

Glad seeing some things never change

He looks so much like Jun

IGSITSURAURZES EPICCC

Someone question if Yujiro knew how too write obsessed,,,

Chapter 16

Goddamn it you got even older in the past 3 or so chapters bro

Mouth to mouth soul transference

OHHH

HIS EYEBROWS FELL HOW IGDUTSITDIYDIGD

Some mf got turned on by this HELP 😭

Chapter 17

I love how Yujiro and Hana are still getting ready to throw hands while this happens lol

Okay yeah that was super disrespectful honestly, guy is having a chat :/

HAHAGSJAHA obsessed

God i thought it was Hana the one grabbing some random lady for a second AFDJSJSSJS

He cute af ngl

POOR GUY MUST BE SO CONFUSED OMFG,,,

Fsr I'm surprised he can talk, like it should be obvious but in all the fanart i saw he never said a word, also, he's so damn respectful 😍

Chapter 18

Idk he was never that clever /hj

Hehehe blood

I love how John can only sit that way

The size of his balls lmao

Coward won't even fight with his dick out smh :/

God he mad cute-

Chapter 19

I MISS THE DEATH ROW FELLAS FUCKKK

Hm i think this random tiny bald man is not Tokugawa but someone that looks awfully similar to him

YEAH NO SHIT I FEEL SO BAD FOR HIM, HE MUST BE SO DAMN OVERWHELMED

Apparently there was a cameo, i don't know enough about anime to know or care

Chapter 20

He's tripping balls

Tokugawa should have gone a bit slower with this poor guy, this is like a lot to process at once <:/

Nvm he's doing better than me

Oydirsusefs look at himmm

WAIT A FUCKING SECOND OMFG DIDN'T DOPPO FIGHT THIS GUY?!

SOMEONE ELSE RECOGNIZED HIM HE ISSS

Chapter 21

OHDIRAYEASURRSUURS HE DOESN'T KNOWWW FFS

Musashi be like °_°

LOOK AT THAT SMILE LMAO

He's just chilling, mentally killing this dude

Murder baby

Chapter 21

The way his eyes are drawn is so cool

YRAURSUFSIDTGA

And he jokes too! Wow I'm in love 😍

(nsfw) CAN YOU HANDLE DICK LIKE THAT TOO? 😍

WOW

I TAKE BACK THAT QUESTION

I remember a show where you would bring your own knives and swords and go thru a bunch of test, Musashi should have been one of them

Mf truly is like :]

I love how he didn't buy it

I can't wait for him to fight Yujiro 😍

Chapter 23

He truly is 😌

ATFJAIDQYSF OBSESSED

He was happy this time at least, 5 times he lost already btw

Tokugawa truly in unhateable lmao

Chapter 24

IM SORRY, HIS LEG???

Oh I forgot Musashi does that

JAGSKSGSKSGS HIS FUCKING FACE I CAN'T 😭

I miss when translators would add notes i don't want to google shit myself :/

"I'm hard as rock" /j

Chapter 25

Look how happy he issss

MUSASHI POG MUSASHI POG-

I love how Tokugawa can't believe he got it first try and it's trying to lie now sjdakdyv

This mf is actually making me insane what the actual fuck i don't know what he has but he's gonna make me act up 😳

Mf be shadow boxing too dammit /j

Baki please

Chapter 26

OLD MAN JUST WANTS A PUBLIC TO SEE THIS LMAO

Look at the size of Baki's eyes holy fuck lmao

He's gonna yeet him!

OH NOOOO

FIRST HIS DAD NOW MUSASHI, THIS GUY CANT CATCH A BREAK LMAO

Chapter 27

How little time passed? They have barely moved

Yeah you did it last book too Baki

King shit

Chapter 28

AKSGSKGSJSGS KING

I love how he only now realized

Okay no he has a point

I love how he just calls him boy

Look at that smug face

I trust Musashi but at the same time he, really should be walking around this new world alone. Now, if i were to accompany him... 🥴/j

Baki please

Chapter 29

I love how soft the artstyle suddenly got, like if done big a big brush

Yujiro you just insulted every single anime character in history

Baby Baki's just like "Ok."

I like how Yujiro looks here

AUGHHJF HE'S SO BABY 🥺

HOHO badass

Chapter 30

He died 😔

Idiot hasn't even beat he 0.5 reaction seconds lmao 🤣

HOHOOOOO?!? 👁️👁️

"my curiosity exceed my fear!!" I RESPECT THIS MAN SO MUCH??

Chapter 31

AMAIZING HONESTLY

Fighter to fighter communication

SHIT LOOK AT THE STATE OF THAT HAND

He's just gone now LMAO

I honestly don't mind Baki being weak against this, he never fought against a two handed swordman, this is new territory

Chapter 32

Oh his really tripping balls now this is why he shouldn't be alone

NVM HE'S STILL DOING BETTER THAN ME ON A DAILY BASIS, I HAVE A LOT TO LEARN FROM THIS MAN

I just now realized he's barefoot

Nice ass king

The policemen are quite nice

He's very cooperative but i can't blame the cops either

Chapter 33

Yeah no shit that must be so insane

IF YOU HADN'T DROPPED OFF SCHOOL THEN...

That's kinda funny but idk man he's right i think

He's just like :3

I love how he isn't picking up a fight out of malice but rather just instinct like, he can't understand shit that is going on

YOU ARE SO RIGHT BAKI IT ISN'T BORING FOR ME EITHER

Chapter 34

Don't you fucking dare shave him Itagaki

It's funny how it took 2 books and a half for Baki to start being a protagonist

Holy fuck did Baki add height or is Miyamoto that big?

Wow how perfect i ran out of space just now!! Having fun with this book ngl :]

[aforrestofstuff]

TOP 5 FAVE W O M A N MOMENTS

I gotcha, anon. Sorry this is so late! I took forever trying to gather these panels and despite my efforts, they are mostly potato quality. Thanks for your ask, though! ❤️

In no particular order:

1. Fubuki putting the fear of God into Do-S

It’s not often we get to see Fubuki tear shit up, and I think this is the one of only few times we’ve seen her use her signature move in the manga (not counting that one omake where she fucks up all those little spiders). It was up until this point that I thought of her to be super... weak? Like, I thought this whole time she was just using her status as Tatsumaki’s little sister to wrangle up a bunch of hooligans as her underlings but I’ve found that to be a fat fucking lie. She’s super badass in her own right. She even resisted Do-S’ love magic whip thingy because her will is just that strong.

Fubuki doesn’t need to be Tatsumaki’s little sister to be feared, she just needs to be pissed off.

Personally, we don’t give Fubuki enough credit in terms of strength and raw “fuck ‘em up” power. I know she didn’t win this fight (technically), but Do-S is a demon threat monster and even some of the S-Class have a hard time with demon threats (cough cough, Zombieman and Pureblood). And, not to mention, Fubuki was also fending off her entire crew—who were taken under the influence of Do-S’ super BDSM love spell magic—this entire fight!

Darkness Blade was also involved somewhere but this ain’t about him. Moving on:

2: Do-S would’ve straight up merked Amai Mask’s crackheaded ass had he not been an actual freak of nature

(Sorry for the microwave quality pictures but we’ve all read the manga right? Just use your imagination.)

So, prior to Murata reworking the entire “Amai Mask commits homicide via his own damn hands” segment with Do-S, we had Do-S basically surrendering herself to Amai at the sight of him dicing up her love slaves at the speed of light (the merc squad). I did not like this AT ALL. I thought Do-S was a kickass character and for her to have this stupid death scene was really disappointing.

Thankfully, Murata thought the same thing. She still fucking died, of course, but she gets a little more... er, dignity? Idk, she’s just badass.

Amai Mask pretty much slams her skull into the wall, gives her like 13 concussions, and when he thinks he’s in the clear—BAM! Elastigirl powers, bitch! Do-S wraps herself around Amai and utilizes her freaky ass Alien-esque snake tongue to drill into his eyeball as her last stand before death. And this is why I think it’s valid that Fubuki had such a hard time dealing with her, because if it were any other S/A-Class hero (besides Zombieman, Superalloy, Genos... and maybe even Metal Bat) that got their brains drilled into via snake tongue, they would’ve died. If it were Child Emperor, Puri Puri, or even Atomic Samurai at the other end of her attack, they would’ve been FADED, man! It’s only because Amai has those bullshit monster invulnerability powers that he survived.

In conclusion: Do-S got done dirty the first time around, but Murata has since redeemed himself by giving her some wicked elastic powers and nearly dealing the final blow to Amai before dying. She’s also rlly sexy uwu

3. It is written somewhere in the Geneva Conventions that using Captain Mizuki’s thighs as a means of destruction is considered a war crime

First of all: holy fuck I’m horny.

Second of all: UUUH??????? This is 100% just Murata’s death by snu-snu fetish in action but I’m not complaining. Mizuki is super badass. I’m not a fan of this trope that women in male-dominated media have to give up their femininity in order to be taken seriously, so I was expecting at least one female character in OPM to be a mirror reflection of this shitty trend (judging by ONE’s track record of being allergic to women). However, OPM is all about taking tropes and putting them in a meat grinder. Mizuki is super feminine, bubbly, and positive! And that doesn’t make her any less of a fearsome opponent to these monsters, which is something I can really appreciate.

Overall, OPM has very few female characters (which is bad), but the treatment of the few we have is very good when compared to other media of the same medium. I’ve said before how I enjoy the fact that both sexes are treated as equal opportunity fanservicing, and I think it’s fitting to reverberate that here.

Mizuki is hot as hell, but she’s also strong, fun, and a ray of fucking sunshine. Her and Mumen would be great friends, now that I think of it!

4. Shadow Ring said SIKE

UNDERAPPRECIATED QUEEN RIGHT HERE ^^^^^^^

She’s so badass in the entirety of the surface strike sequence we get before the heroes enter the Monster Association base (take a shot every time I say badass. Try it, you’ll die).

I was super impressed by how strong she is?? And the whole time I’m reading this fight sequence I’m just like.... why aren’t we seeing more of her. She should have just as much screen time as Stinger! She was even noticed by Ninja Extraordinaire, Flash Flash; and she played a pretty big part in getting the S-Class to open their eyes to the combat prowess of the lower classes. If it weren’t for her, I fully believe the strike team would’ve had a much harder time penetrating the monsters’ defenses.

Also she’s cute as hell. All of the other female characters in OPM are over the top supermodel sexy (again, not complaining), so it’s refreshing to get someone that goes against the status quo (which as I’ve said before, OPM is kinda all about). Whenever we see her unmasked in those little volume extras Murata makes, I just want to squeeze her cheeks like an annoying aunt.

I forgot to mention this in the Mizuki section, but I think it also applies here: her teammates never point out the fact that she’s a woman. There’s no commentary on it, no snide “oh hurr hurr you’re a girl under the mask?” comments, just women kicking ass and male counterparts kicking ass alongside them, which is another thing I appreciate. It’s not often we get women in manga just.... existing. It seems there’s always gotta be a good reason for writers to insert female characters into their stories (WHY), but not here. Shadow Ring’s sole purpose in the story is to kill monsters and look cool while doing it. She gets the same treatment as all the other himbos around her.

I am completely aware that my say on the subject of gender equality in media could be completely invalid because I’m a cis dude but those are just my THOTS

5. Lily being 14 and always ready to murder

Lily stole my wallet and kicked my ass :(

[salamangreatsunlightwolf]

Masked Singer Season 5 Review

I haven’t gotten to talk about The Masked Singer here in awhile, but season 5 left me with a lot to talk about after seeing how it nosedived this show into being DEAD television by the end of it.

I’m going to put it all past a read more for you here, because I have over 18000 characters in me to talk about how bad of a season this was apparently. There are also some thoughts about Season 3, and Season 4 (which I skipped reviewing because of how uninteresting it was, but boy did it’s bad qualities have a huge impact on Season 5).

So before I get to dissecting season 5 of the Masked Singer, I have to go back to moments of season 3, and a whole lot of season 4. Season 3 is where we start to see the first inkling of bad tropes occur that persist through season 5 to make it worse. It introduces really obviously weak performances that get the performer to skate by when they shouldn't, leading to the biggest upset I have with the season. Kandi Burruss really shouldn't have won season 3 in my honest opinion. within her first 5 performances, she had two clear duds; her cover of Shout!, and her cover of Man, I Feel Like A Woman. Both were covers that had questionable energy (Shout! less so, but Woman was absolutely unenergetic compared to Twain's original vocal performance), and the latter had a key change to the accompaniment that didn't lend any favors to the energy or vibrancy of the cover. I also need to put into context that what I think is Night Angel's worst performance (Woman) somehow won her a face-off round in season 3 (a forgotten show element from the last two seasons? wowie). Obviously I can say that Jesse McCartney should have won season 3 (I just think he had more consistent performances and output throughout the season), but that's a bit off course. What I really want to get to with Burruss cover of Woman is that it's for all intents and purposes just a middling cover. We'll see these happen more in seasons 4 and 5, but they pan out to usually axing off the contestant. Barring the element of Burruss actually getting eliminated, this is pretty much the first notable Punt Song in terms of performance quality. I want to establish the concept of the Punt Song because it plays a larger role in season 4, and season 5. I also need to establish another trope that season 4 introduced which also cursed season 5, which is excusing bad performances. It panned out so much worse in 4 than in 5, but for 4's sake, Chloe Kim should have been out from her first week. Her performance of Big Girls Don't Cry was weak and mildly sobby, but to the panel it's "emotional", and "it's okay, I'm sure you'll do better next week :)". This performance beat out Wendy Williams cover of Native New Yorker. Was that a great cover by Wendy? No, not really. However, whereas Chloe was a weak, sobbing mess on her first swing at bat, Wendy was bringing the comedy and entertainment factor and should have been safe on that alone. This show failure here is especially notable because having comedic factor in an otherwise bad performance actually pans out successfully in season 5, which makes me question the judges consistency in evaluation from season to season (to be fair though, the judges are Robin Thicke, Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy Whalberg, and Nicole Scherzinger. They're already a collective 3/4 of a middling joke). The last part of Season 4 I want to bring up is the usage of the term "taking us to church" in regards to it not only being a cursed term by the end of season 5, but also being a poor reflection on the judges evaluation skills. Look, I get it, this is a Fox competition at the end of the day, so it's obviously hokey pseudo sentimental faux entertainment tailored for white audiences, but don't say someone "took you to church" and then immediately axe them off after that. Yeah, I'm gonna say it; LeAnn Rimes shouldn't have won season 4. Was she bad? No! I just think Taylor Dane was better than her during the week where they axed off Taylor, especially after the panel said that she "took them to church". What did Dane lose to you ask? a somehow more intimate cover of a Billie Eilish song. Is that a bad thing? No, in fact it was pretty good, but I don't think it was good enough to beat what was probably the best performance of season 4. ------------------------------------- Anyways, all of those ramblings from seasons 3 and 4 aside, I'm finally getting to season 5. Yes, I know it took me almost 4000 characters to get here, but I really wanted to go off for a minute and preface the bubbling layers of garbage from the previous seasons that contribute to season 5's flatlining quality out of the gate. If you think a bevy of Punt Songs and poor evaluation amped up another level are all that season 5 has wrong with it, then prepare yourself, because it only gets so much more gimmicky. --- So I'm going to go about this week by week because this show basically was committing sins weekly by this point. So week 1, I'm sorry, but yes, I know seeing Kermit the Frog come out of a snail costume was very : 0 worthy, but Kermit shouldn't have lost that week! His performance wasn't even bad! So what did Kermit lose to anyway? Danny Trejo doing a bad, borderline comedic cover of Wild Thing. You couldn't ask for a more "go home uncle Frank! You're drunk!" performance, but we got it. The judges saw more of a comedy factor in the performance than they needed to see, and let that slip by while they just left Kermit to take the fall. Already not off to a great start (especially since Trejo's character is part funny and part cringey for basically pining after Jenny all season). --- Week 2 is where we get to the first big problem I have with this season, which is letting problematic celebrities be contestants. I'm just going to skirt by Caitlyn Jenner's performance and say that it was maybe a punt song, but to be fair, I don't have high hopes for Jenner having any real vocal prowess. I mean, her cover of Tik Tok sounded like your unamused uncle singing it during karaoke at a family party you barely remember when you were 12. That aside, I just want to point out that Caitlyn Jenner was on this show, immediately lost her first round, then went off to do Caitlyn Jenner things this year like try to become governor of California, and whatever else I forgot she got into the headlines for this week. I don't know the worst representation of a trans woman as a public figure (speaking from a trans woman's perspective) getting this big of a "haha, hehe, hi chum : )" spotlight on national television after everything she's done. Barf me out. --- Week 3 didn't matter too much. Trejo finally got booted after a second performance with bad vocals. However, I want to bring up week 3 for the structural change that it brought to the season that ultimately robbed it of some value. Prior to this season, we had 3 groups in seasons 3 and 4, groups A B and C. Starting in 5, we only have a group A and a group B, but now we have "wild cards". These are performers that get to slot into a groups set of performances for the week and stack against them to make even a "just-safe" performer look cannable. I know what you're probably thinking. "In a show where we're trying to see the gradual performance growth of a performer in order to gauge their consistency and quality, doesn't allowing a performer to come in weeks into the show give them the opportunity to progress further along in the competition with little to the no evaluation?" Yes. It does give them the opportunity, but we'll get to that problem when we get to Omarion's character of The Yeti. For right now though, I'm just going to say this. The wild card group really didn't have any reason to exist if they show could get literally 1 more performer this season (which they technically did). A and B were 5 members each. There are 4 wild cards. All you needed was literally one more regular performer, and the wild cards could have just been group C. This feels like the kind of resource scalping covered up as a fun gimmick that only a large corporation could do for why we have wild cards instead of a group C, but that's where we stand. --- Week 4 is notable for the same reason as week 2. Ugh, do I really have to say it? Yes, Logan Paul was also on this season of the Masked Singer. Yes, one of the problematic Paul brothers. Yes, especially my least favorite one because he's a big reason as to why my hobby of trading cards has had a huge boom for the worse. Yes, I'm going to blame the rise in scalper culture on Logan Paul. Yes, I'm going to blame eBay getting more anal about how every TCG single should be PSA/CCG/etc. graded on a listing on Logan Paul. I just don't like the guy. Why is he here? --- Week 5 is where this show starts to cement itself as dead television. So for those unaware, Nick Cannon, who usually hosts the Masked Singer, was absent for the first third of this season. Filling in for him was Niecy Nash. So where was Nick you ask? Why as a wildcard of course! Nick's wildcard performance was pretty meh all things considered (the only other thing that was meh that week was Nick Lachey's cover of 7 Years, but that's less on him and more on how 7 years is just a bad song for the pop music lexicon). However, Nick's unmasking is where the show really starts to be dead television this season. Before I even get to that, I just want to point out that the costume for Nick Cannon's character just looks absolutely atrocious by season 5 standards. The costume for the Bulldog barely looks like it holds to the standards of season 1 of this show! Anyways, back on track. Nick Cannon decides to pull a "trick" from season 4. Back in season 4, Mickey Rourke forcibly unmasked himself instead of getting voted off. Here, Nick Cannon pops in as a wildcard contestant after being MIA for 4 weeks, just to give a meh performance and then forcibly unmask himself for "shock value", and then be like "hey guys! :D" and resume hosting the show the following week. Eat me. --- Week 6 isn't too notable besides the fact that somehow one of the previous wildcards (Mark McGrath as Orca) somehow go integrated into group A as a member during the same week of them introducing another wildcard, Omarion's "The Yeti". I only bring this up because if they're going to integrate two wildcards into a week and already remove the specialty factor from one of them, then what was even the point of the gimmick? The show would have been better off mix and matching members from groups A and B each week for the performance lineup instead of muddying the group lineups with wildcard characters like this. --- Week 7 is upsetting to me. Two hour special. 8 Performances. Two people out. And who you may ask? Why, wildcard from previous weeks Bobby Brown who was given a super obvious punt song (that he did pretty well on salvaging on the back half of the performance), and Tamera Mowry, who gave a solid pop performance that week. I only bring up Mowry's performance because during that same week, Nick Lachey gave us all a very underwhelming, overly clean performance of Foo Fighters "The Pretender". This is really upsetting because the judge evaluation is extremely suspect here, as they were giving Mowry plenty of legitimate praise, while all they gave Lachey was "wow that was solid. haha ur such a rocker :^)". It's just really upsetting to see how the judges evaluation pans out, because for the record, Lachey won this season, and I honestly think he should have been punted this week. This is also coming from a week where Omarion gave us a cover of Justin Bieber's "Lonely", which is another song I hope desperately leaves the pop music lexicon, because like 7 years, it's a sentimental white boy ballad that just doesn't authentically resonate. --- Week 8 isn't super notable besides the show giving Tyrese Gibson a super obvious punt song, and wow, who would have guessed it, Tyrese Gibson was eliminated that week after being given a super obvious punt song. Zzz. --- Week 9 isn't super notable besides another upset to me. So this week, Hanson (who got eliminated) gave a pretty solid performance of "I'm Still Standing". So what did they lose to you ask? How about Jojo giving us a cover of Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" with extremely questionable instrumental accompaniment. I can't remember exactly how I articulated it when I first watched it, but to put it in perspective, when LeAnn Rimes aimed for art, she succeeded. When Jojo aimed for art, it just left me confused. I honestly though Jojo should have gotten the boot here, but c'est la vie. --- Week 10 is where Omarion gets eliminated after being given a punt song (surprise). A middle energy performance of "Celebration" by Kool & The Gang isn't much to write home about, but I sometimes get suspicious of the behind the curtain politics of the show. The same week they give Omarion a super obvious punt song is also the second week in a row where Jojo gives us an artsy take on a song that nobody really knows. I'm not saying that Omarion's repertoire coordinator forced him into taking a punt song that week in order to let Jojo get to the finale, but. Wait, no, nevermind, that is what I'm saying. I feel bad for Omarion here. I do think it's pretty bollocks that Omarion basically got to come into the top 8 playoffs off of only one performance (which is a severe abuse of the wild card mechanic from the show producers), but they actually were trying to go for this neat character arc with the character of the "The Yeti" in the song choice. Like, the writers actually put some care into it, and then they give him a punt song on both a writing and performance level, and it just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I also just remembered that week 10 is where Donnie Whalberg's character of Cluedle-Doo both performs and unmasks. Cluedle-Doo was another dead television gimmick for the season. See, all the characters get clue packages, but Cluedle-Doo will come in and block certain clues from being revealed to the judges, instead replacing them with clues provided by Doo himself. If that sounds annoying, that's because it is. More so when done by a character pompous attitude that does nothing but interfere. I do want to point out however that when I say that Donne performed, Donnie PERFORMED. There are no two ways about it, Donnie's cover of Return of the Mack was the best performance of this week. The only thing that even came close was the Chameleon. I don't need middling Kool & The Gang covers, I don't need art performances of songs I've never heard, and I don't need a Lewis Capaldi cover done by Nick Lachey (so much emotional white boy music this season. Gag me). I really think that Donnie should have been a regular contest, and I think that Nick Cannon should have been Cluedle-Doo as a gimmick character. It's more obvious, and it makes more sense. Obviously this leaves characters to create and fill slots for, but damnit, don't tease me with one of the best performances of the season just to let it whittle out like that. --- Alright, Week 11...the finale. There really isn't much to say, so I'm just going to cut right to it. I don't know what that cover of "Faithfully" Nick Lachey gave us was. There's an obvious problem with the Masked Singer where the short performance time makes slow burn ballads like faithfully translate poorly. As a result, the emotional arc of the performance feels stunted, and it's capped off with a declaration fest ending in one sustained note for "wow, I don't know anything about a good performance, but I'm easily impressed : 0" bait. This is clearly the weakest performance from the three tonight. Jojo's cover of "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?" by Michael Bolton is...better than what Nick Lachey gave us, but it has its own problems. The Bolton original earworms on you because of the anguish in Bolton's vocal tone. Jojo is too clean to give us even a smidge of anguish until after she's unmasked. That more forgivable though. I'm not going to forgive Jojo for littering an emotional ballad for multiple unnecessary pop diva vocal runs. They're not appropriate here for emotional flavor. They don't add anything musically. They just feel like a forced device from the executives perspective. They stand out in poor musical taste, and they really take away from what Jojo was trying to do in the chorus. Speaking of, the short form nature of the performances makes doing a double chorus with a key change from one chorus to the next feel like another arc stunt. Just bad direction right there. And finally, Wiz Khalifa as the Chameleon doing Gangsta's Paradise. I'm just gonna say it. Wiz Khalifa got robbed. Hip Hop performers tend to be pretty middling on the Masked Singer, with Bow Wow just beefing it at the end of season 3, and Busta Rhymes being unceremoniously eliminated week 1 of season 4. Wiz was different though. Wiz knew what he wanted to do with not only the character, but also with his performances. Chameleon was by far the most consistent and quality character of the season, with only one marginally middling performance during his run. Wiz's cover of Gangsta's Paradise isn't a masterclass in voice personality, but contextually for the show, it pushed more for what the character was trying to do right at the end where it counts, and the judges failed to evaluate that correctly. Wiz was actually doing sung parts that week. Wiz was engaging with the crowd and judges far more than Jojo and Nick were. Wiz even gave stage presence and his musical presence a real arc in this performance. On top of his already present cool swagger that he had on stage, this was easily the best performance of not only the finale, but also for the Chameleon. It's even up there for the best performances of the season. Giving Wiz third place for two C tier pop ballad performances shows a super evident lack of evaluation skills in the judges, and really reinforces the super obvious ballad bias the show has. --- So anyways, this has been a long one, but I think I got it all out there. Masked Singer season 5 really took the uninteresting quality level of Season 4 and just elevated it to being obvious and gimmicky on top of that. I've seen shows become dead television in my time, but this is a staggering nose dive into the realm of dead television. I "hope" Season 6 is "better" than this (if we even get one. This season might have been so gimmicky because the ratings could have sucked hard), but I'm certain it will be if this is the direction they opted for within just one season. Sorry to talk your ear off, but as someone who likes to think they know what good musical performance is in a context like this after being in many concerts in popular music contexts, this show has really not sustained itself as being "it", chief.

[snkpolls]

SnK Episode 67 Poll Results (for Manga Readers)

The poll closed with 254 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Manga Readers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll, click here.

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RATE THE EPISODE 246 Responses

The response to this week’s episode remains overwhelmingly positive, with 97.6% of responses giving it a score of 3 or higher. 

This is the first episode where I have absolutely no criticisms, so im quite happy with how it turned out.

Voice acting was top tier

perfect

Emotional 

Great Job! I'm glad my favorite character's death was so emotionally misered.

Forget Attack on Titans, this episode was Attack on my Feelings ! 😭

I want to rate it a 1 because of Sasha but a 5 because of how well it was done... so 1.5

Absolutely loved it

Perfect

ASIDE FROM SASHA’S DEATH, WHICH MOMENT WAS THE MOST EMOTIONAL FOR YOU? 247 Responses

Connie’s heartfelt admission to Jean seems to have stolen the hearts of the plurality of responders (36%). That is followed by a tie of 18.2% responses noting Eren’s breakdown or EMA’S tense reunion as the most emotional moment for them. In third place is Gabi’s tragic declaration about her struggles with 11.3%. Other responses were, in order, Jean lamenting all of the deaths occurring, Gabi and Falco realizing that Zeke betrayed them, Hange scolding Eren for forcing the SC to intervene in Marley and Levi and Eren’s confrontation.

Connie telling Sasha and Jean that they're special to him made my heart hurt knowing what was going to happen mere minutes after. I honestly saw me and my two best friends through them, and it was gut wrenching seeing Connie and Jean's reactions. Even Mikasa's reaction broke me, to be honest. They all lost a huge light in their lives.

WHICH MOMENT SURPRISED YOU THE MOST? 222 Responses

So this question was meant to only go on the anime watchers poll and ended up here somehow. Thanks to the 222 who were good sports and responded anyway! :P The most shocking moments that took place in this chapter/episode was the revelation that Eren went rogue from the Survey Corps, that Zeke was collaborating with the Survey Corps, how the Survey Corps treated Eren, and that some Paradisians seemed to be turning to nationalism, in that order. 

Not sure why we're being asked as manga readers which moment shocked us the most since we already knew everything that was going to happen this week

HOW MUCH DID SASHA’S DEATH HURT YOU? 249 Responses

When it came to Sasha’s death, it would appear that it broke the hearts of the overwhelming majority of responders, with 81.1% giving it a rating of either 4 or 5 on the tragic scale. 

Broke my heart and I'm still crying over it three days later. Honestly though, it was greatly done. 

3 years later it hit me, Sasha is dead ;_;

Cried my whole soul and body. Rip sweet Sasha

I thought Sasha's death would've been more emotional.

WHOSE REACTION TO SASHA’S DEATH AFFECTED YOU THE MOST? 250 Responses

Sasha’s death elicited various reactions from the main cast. Two different responses tied at 36.4% noting Connie and Mikasa’s reactions to Sasha's death as the one affecting them the most. This was followed by Eren’s at 13.2%. The rest were, in order, Armin, Jean, Levi and Hange. 

I don’t cry at fiction much, but Sasha’s death got me more than I thought it would. I feel like seeing Armin and Mikasa’s reactions in particular is what got me.

The way they animated Armin and Mikasa bawling over Sasha's body and the inclusion of Call Your Name made it all the more emotional. I think by "Assassin's Bullet" they also meant a bullet through my heart because man did that hurt to watch. 😭🤧

WOULD YOU PISS YOUR PANTS IF LEVI WAS GLARING AT YOU WITH MURDEROUS INTENT? 248 Responses

A bit of a joke question, but we wanted to know if Levi appeared as threatening as he seemed. 80.2% seems to think so, admitting their incentive to piss their pants. In contrast, 19.8% don’t think the Captain’s such a scary guy!

THE FULL VERSION OF “ASHES ON THE FIRE” BY KOHTA YAMAMOTO (THE PREVIEW SONG) IS NOW OUT. IF YOU’VE LISTENED TO IT, WHAT DO YOU THINK? 236 Responses

“Ashes on the Fire” has been released to rave reviews, with 88.1% of responses giving it a 4 or a 5. Nobody gave it a 1, either. Yamamoto-san, thank you!

OVERALL, HOW WELL DO YOU THINK MAPPA ADAPTED THE MARLEY ARC? 251 Responses

In spite of the relatively vocal complaints about the adaptation of certain elements of the Marley Arc, it would appear that the overwhelming majority of responders seemed pleased with it, with 51.4% giving it 5 and 37.1% giving it a 4. 1s not present. 

I've been a bit bothered how Mappa follows the Manga like a slave, using the panels as scenes and not adding anything in between. Sure it works for Manga, but it feels weird to me to watch in Anime how Eren grabs Armins hand and they don't give a transition where Armin pulls him in, but just show him inside the airship next. Just little things, but bothers me a bit. Overall I'm really enjoying their choices.

The show looks BETTER

I was fine with the episode. The quality of animation dropped but I understand that every scene cannot be animated on highest level. MAPPA has done a great job with the Marley arc. They shown the character development and bonds between the warriors perfectly. We had some cuts here and there but overally was okay: 8/10 for me. 

I’m so pleased that MAPPA has taken the anime. I’m still more of a fan of this particular series’ manga than anime though.

DID SASHA’S DEATH AFFECT YOU MORE WHEN YOU READ THE MANGA, OR SEEING IT ANIMATED WITH VOICES AND MUSIC? 249 Responses

As noted above, Sasha’s death seemed to be a hard hitter for most. Comparison of the adaptation vs the original allows to discern which hit the readers/watchers the hardest. Just one percent shy of a majority (49%) thought that the anime made it much more tragic. 30.9% noted that the impact was roughly similar across both mediums. On the flip side, 10.4% thought that the initial depiction of it in the manga was the hardest hitter. There were also a couple of write-ins. 

I dont remember I sped run reading the manga, kinda regretting it

I knew it for the first time in the manga, so it had a more powerful impact (I cried for a whole week. Not kidding) and the anime managed to make me cry as hard as in the manga. Though, I already was aware and grieved so it wasn't as bad

Got Spoiled :( so kinda meh, saw it coming

When the music kicked in after Connie announced she was gone, my heart broke into a million pieces. 

Let's be honest, Sasha's role was over after she killed the titan in the village and saved Kaya. After that she was just there. She got zero development, zero important moments, zero depth. Her death effected many characters and helped them to develop. Sasha's death was sad but at least brought some important changes in others. 

Not a Sasha fan so I was not really that affected but having a death in the series always feels sour

I think for me, they're both even.....mostly. There's just something about having been waiting for the chapter leaks on reddit with a bunch of other people and most of us collectively grieving at the same time. Once bigger pages of the chapter started coming out, it made me cry. I didn't even cry during serumbowl when I first read it and that had plenty for me to be even more upset about.

Honestly while reading manga I hated that Sasha’s last word was „meat”, it seemed so ridiculous. I’m happy MAPPA made it look more serious with music. Actually everyone’s reaction for Sasha’s death had more impact on me than the death itself

HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU SAW GABI KILL SASHA IN THE MANGA? AND HOW DO YOU FEEL SEEING IT AGAIN NOW, KNOWING HOW GABI’S ARC DEVELOPS? 247 Responses

Gabi is perhaps the most controversial character introduced post-time skip. Whether you’re a proud member of the Gabi Gang, proud hater of the 12 year old or just a neural party, everyone can admit that. With Sasha’s death at her hands, many seemed to offer up their opinion on the kid, back then and now. A slight plurality, 31.2%, stated that they did not hate her back when 105 first released and they don’t hate her now. 23.1% note that although they were rather upset with her back down, they are not (upset/angry) any longer. On the flipside, 25.5% state that they still hate the kid, as they did back then. Finally, some were simply neutral. Classic. 

Quite a few write-ins, as well.

I hated her in the manga but after watching the anime, I’m not happy about it but I understand why she did what she did and don’t hate her as much anymore.

I was extremely upset about it before and am still extremely upset about it now, but for different reasons. I hate her less but am not any less annoyed by her brainwashed hatred of the Paradisians, although I understand her much better and realize and empathize that she's just a kid who's been used by her country in the worst way.

Gabi Braun Must Die

Broke my heart and was upset, but understood where she was coming from (thought about her perspective only)

Sasha shoulda killed this cunt while she had the chance

It’s war, she did as she needed to.  Her arc is fantastic 

love hate relationship 

I didn't like her but not because of Sasha death (that's war consequence) and it's the same now

I really hated her with my whole heart and soul, but now that it has been all explained, that she had character development, I even like her now

I used to be angry about it but I understand why now, Gabi is just a victim of Marley’s control just like anyone else is, it’s a shame this is the results of it. She’s still at fault but I can’t hate her so much for it

I feel tired of Gabi hate. I disliked her in the manga back then but now I feel neutral towards her, because she has changed. Yet, I wish she took less screentime. 

SORRY for ranting! I don't understand the hate on Gabe. Yes, I know she killed a Paradise character which was present in series since its beginning and I understand Sasha's fans are upset Sasha is not here anymore because of her. but those people do not analyse Gabe as they should be. Every character belongs to a different side and each side is blinded by what heir belives in. It is okay to not like Gabe but I don't tolerate hate on her. I THINK THIS QUESTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN INCLUDED AT ALL.

Initial hate, understanding after some thought

Understanding her situation I know I shouldn’t hate her, but I’m choosing to be petty and hate her anyway 

I liked her much more than I like her now. She was a much better character back then, her killing Sasha (a one-note comedic relief) was cool and brought some spice to the story. Now she just exists to spout themes and convenient exposition and to be an aimbot

i dislike her, even if i understand her

I dont like Gabi. Never did. It isnt because she killed Sasha tho. I just dont care for Gabi tbh BUT i can totally understand her actions and do not blame her for it after seeing the destruction and killings

I was and still am upset about Sasha's death, but from the start I blamed it more on the circumstances than Gabi.

I loved her then, I love her now and it probably wouldn’t change even if she killed my favourite characters. She’s my cinnamon roll

Gabi did nothing wrong, killing a soldier in the battlefield is not a crime.

See, I WANT to like Gabi since she's obviously changed, but knowing she killed Sasha nonetheless will ALWAYS prevent me from having any love or respect for her. She will always be my most hated character

MAPPA ADDED AN EXTENDED SCENE OF FLOCH AND OTHER SURVEY CORPS RECRUITS BEATING GABI AND FALCO. HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT IT? 240 Responses

MAPPA added an extra scene of Floch and Friends raining down copious amounts of gratuitous violence upon two 12 year olds (MAPPA is pro-child violence???????? Find out when 111 is adapted). 48.8% seemed to think that it was a decent addition, even if just for the SC’s characterization (or perhaps you enjoyed seeing that?). 22.5% thought it was a bit over the top to feature. Finally, 16.7% did not care. 

I didn't like it. But, it was def a believable reaction from them.

I just wish it was enough to kill her

I liked the additional characterization of Floch & co.

Great addition, it was implied in the manga so the scene fitted well. Still, it was horrifying to see how vile the scouts were to two kids

How about an option where we're glad Gabi got beaten to a pulp but not when Falco was?

ORA ORA thing, but we viewers get hurt too. 

Didn't feel bad about Gabi getting beat up, but I did feel bad seeing Falco get beat up. Poor boy didn't deserve that

A nice addition 

I thought it was a great choice to highlight the continuing violence and feelings of vengeance from both sides even more. and I thought it contrasted really well with Jean's decision not to throw the kids out of the airship.

The people glorifying this scene annoy the shit out of me

It's a good way to hint the "Yaegerist" perspective to anime onlies

MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA

The Gold Experience memes are funny

It was an IC scene for people like Floch + I feel bad for the kids

The way they shot that scene made the recruits seem like mindless, gross-faced animals storming towards the kids to beat them up. I liked how they were dehumanised like that, considering that most faces amongst them belonged to the ones who support the rumbling. 

It hurt to see that but good scene though

Feel empathy for Gaby. Violence don't solve problems

Now THAT'S what I call fan service! Who needs big-boobed, big-ass females or shirtless guys with and when you can just have the most hated character get the tar beaten out of them xD

I can see why they did it. MAPPA's not dumb and I'm sure they anticipated a massive onslaught on hate towards Gabi specifically, so it was their way of trying to satisfy the haters. Falco didn't deserve it tho.

It was a good addition

GREAT JOB MAPPA

I hate Gabi too but that was too much beating up a child, yet it also showed how shit Floch and the others are.

Apparently some people never noticed that Gabi and Falco got beat up, probably because it happened in the background. So it was good for MAPPA to call attention to it.

I love Gabi but she had that coming. No need to hurt Falco though. :(

OVERALL, HOW WELL DO YOU FEEL MAPPA EXECUTED THE REVEAL THAT ZEKE IS A TRAITOR TO MARLEY? 240 Responses

The reveal that ZOOK has been working against Marley for years on end is one of the most important ones in the series, really. So it was important to have it be executed in a rather decent manner. The vast majority of the fandom thought that MAPPA did a fine job. 52.1% gave it a rating of 4, 27.5% gave it a 5 and 17.1% gave it a 3. The couple of the other respnders gave it a 2, with no 1s.

IN THE END, DO YOU THINK EREN’S ACTIONS IN MARLEY WERE ULTIMATELY JUSTIFIED? 242 Responses

A question to remember… Were Eren’s actions in Marley ultimately “justified”? A plurality, 44.6% seems to think so. In contrast, 24% disagree. And 31.4% still aren’t sure to this day.

SIMILARLY, DO YOU THINK THE SURVEY CORPS WAS ULTIMATELY JUSTIFIED IN TREATING EREN AS THEY DID? 244 Responses

When it comes to the SC treating Eren as they did, the division is much less pronounced however. The majority, 60.7%, think that the SC had quite the justification for treating Eren as they did. On the flip side, 19.7% think that there was such justification for behaving in such a manner towards Eren. Finally, the same amount of responses stated that still can’t be sure to this day.

NOW THAT WE’VE GOTTEN A CLEAR SHOT OF YELENA, DID MAPPA DO HER JUSTICE? 243 Responses

YELENA is here. Queen 👑. Or well, maybe not. Who am I to say? In any case, her appearance was received well. 52.7% thought MAPPA did very well and 33.7% went on to declare their love for her. Just shy of 10% noted that MAPPA could have done a little better though. 

Kinda wish her hair was like neon or something idk

Need more eps of her to decide, she didn't get much screentime and lines here. 

I don't like Yelena, but yeah I guess they did good.

In the manga she was a creepy-looking person. MAPPA made her unique, interesting and mysterious. I love her voice and her stoic, relaxed self. MAPPA did a good job.  

QUEEN!!!!!

Great adaptation but I still don't like her as a character

Don’t care about her 

don't really care

I hate her and I don't care about her.

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 247 Responses

Such a colorful chart for this one. It would appear that slightly over a quarter look most forward to seeing Crykasa at Sasha’s grace. Slightly less (21.9%) want to see Sasha enjoying Niccolo’s cuisine. In third place is the scene with Connie, Jean, Mikasa and Niccolo at Sasha’s grace. The rest are, in order from most to least, Onyankopon and Yelena teaching the Survey Corps about the Port, EMA talking at the shooting range and Hange and Armin learning about Marley’s technology.

HOW HYPED ARE YOU FOR THE UPCOMING TIMESKIP FLASHBACKS? 239 Responses

The time skip flashbacks seem to be a hit. A little over 51% are super stoked about seeing them animated. Slightly under 24% state that they’ll enjoy them, but are looking forward to other things more. In contrast, 22.6% are ready to go crazy (from a positive standpoint)! Wooo! 

Enjoying AND dreading it at the same time

I just want the centipede

Boring. The only thing what interests me is Historia teasing Mikasa about her crush on Eren. The rest is too jolly. 

I'm looking forward to see Yelena's insane self be animated. That, and more Zeke.

THE MOST RECENT LIST OF FUTURE EPISODE TITLES SHOWS THAT EPISODE 12 WILL LIKELY END AROUND CHAPTERS 109-111, LEAVING CHAPTER 112 (EMA’S ARGUMENT) FOR EPISODE 13. EPISODE 67 WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY ADAPTED FROM CHAPTER 105, PROVING THAT ADAPTING DIALOGUE-HEAVY CHAPTERS FAITHFULLY CAN EASILY REQUIRE THE FULL 20 MINUTES. WITH ONLY 16 EPISODES - AND SO MANY WHICH ARE DIALOGUE-HEAVY - DO YOU THINK THINGS WILL END OFF WITH THE INITIATION OF THE RUMBLING (CH. 122), AS HAS BEEN SPECULATED BY MUCH OF THE FANDOM? 238 Responses

The manner in which the Season will end is a mystery to even the manga readers. Where will it end? Will it have many cuts? These are the questions. 36.6% seem to think that MAPPA will somehow manage to both end it at Chapter 122 and cut as little as possible. 26.5% don't believe ending on 122 is possible. 12.2% do believe MAPPA will end the Season on 122, but only with many notable cuts. Finally, just a little under 20% are simply not sure. There were a few write-ins as well. 

I hope not, too many cuts would be required 

The is no way they're making it up to 122, at first I thought they were going to finish it off with Eren's head getting blown off in 119, but now that seems like a reach too. Now I think MAPPA is probably going to end this first half of the season with Eren and Pieck's "where is the enemy?" and the warriors arriving to Shiganshina 

I’m not sure right now so I’ll have to see for later episodes for the cut-off point, if it isn’t the Rumbling then it’ll be when Gabi shoots Eren

MOVIE

I'm conflicted. I'm sure they'll end at rumbling because it's the only reasonable point to cut it, but I feel like they're running out of episodes. Then again I'm feeling the same about the state of Manga, there's just too little chapters left to end things up well.

I don't really want to think too much about it, I just want to enjoy the anime lol

I fully expect 119 to be the end

What was the point of rushing Reiner's chapters if you are going to slow down later. Goddamn it MAPPA. 

It'll really depend on the pacing for the next couple episodes, but I'm with a bulk of the fandom that see Chapter 119 Two Brothers being the end point for The Final Season. IF they were to skip the opening and maybe the ending, I can see them transitioning from Eren's head getting blown off immediately into his transformation and the beginning of the Rumbling. But even that is quite farfetched. 

I have no idea, I'm a little worried now. Wouldn't be the first time a lot of content gets cut but if they insist on reaching ch. 122, I just don't see how you do that without butchering a lot. If that happens, it would probably lessen my enjoyment of the season.

Yeah, I think it will have a lot of cuts, but I believe that it will get there because Ymir falling in the tree was in the trailer

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

It's amazing seeing how each week, something with SnK trends! ^^

It still baffles me just how much people insist on hating Gabi, especially when her arc has shown tremendous growth in the manga. Reiner was no better than her when he was a child and continued to insist that Paradisians are devils and chose to further destroy their lives even after sleeping under the same roof as the 104th for 3 whole years and forming personal bonds with them. Yet, his actions are forgivable but Gabi's are not? Both characters have shown remorse for their former beliefs and misdeeds against Paradisians. Both realized that they were in the wrong. The characters have forgiven Gabi. Why can't y'all do the same? People who want Gabi to suffer are no better than they accuse her of being. 

Well done episode which managed to capture the emotions of sasha's death perfectly

monke

I really appreciate Gabi as a character. She has spunk and a strong character arc in which she changes and grows more than anyone in the last 30 chapters of the manga, save maybe Mikasa (ignoring how Eren, Reiner, Armin and maybe a few others changed during the timeskip). It makes me sad seeing people wishing for her to die and praising Floch and the others for kicking her.

Gabi absolutely deserves the hate she gets

I absolutely love to see the anime-onlies mass hate of GabBitch, does my heart good xD

Boring ,too much Gabi she is annoying

Time to strap in: wild ride ahead!

Gabi Braun is the WORST character, her arc was poorly written and the moment she kills Sasha solidifies her rightful place as most hated character

No development has made me stop hating Gabi. The wound of Sasha's death will ALWAYS overshadow any crocodile tears Gabi may cry.

Kudos to Jean's and Connie's voice actors. Emotions were so raw and natural.

so good! they're really nailing down the emotional beats so far!

Dialogue-heavy but still amazing! Also the music was great

I didn't felt anything when Sasha died. Even the first time, in the manga. She hasn't enough personnality for me to care. Erwin and Bertolt's death were more saddening for me. Stop hating Gabi. She was in grief and she did what Marley brainwashed her to. And Sasha killed people right in front of her, so…

1 chapter was too little to be adapted for an episode, you could tell some scenes were stretched to fit the runtime

The music they chose for the scene of Sasha passing was also the same music they used when the Survey Corps first donned their capes and Eren found out Marco was dead... man, that song is gonna hit harder than ever now

It didn’t help with the overwhelming amount of hate Gabi is getting. I hope Mappa does her justice because she’s a great character but the Anime only seem to hate her because its a “funny” “popular” thing but it really isn’t... shows who really is paying attention to the story and the people who are watching it because it’s popular and trendy 

People who are hating on Gabi do not understand the themes portrayed in AoT

Pretty solid overall. Wonderful bits of animation such as the ODM bits and the solid character acting from Sasha going down, Mikasa and Armin is distress, personal highlight being Gabi's reload animation. Good ost choices, nice addition of Samuel and Daz to foreshadow their conflict later on in the story, and great work from Connie, Gabi and Eren's VAs.

Friendly reminder that just because we hate Gabi does NOT mean we don't "understand" the story or themes. We just don't care because Gabi is a bad character.

U mad at Gabi for what she did ? Did she kill Potato girl for no reason? Imgine a kid, at least 3 years younger than the 104th, made fighting on WARS and praised for it, brainwashed by Marley that Paradisians are devils, and these devils came in her home, killing her friends and this WOMAN killed in front of her eyes two people who tried to protect her. Don't be mad at Gabi. Grieve for Sasha, okay, but stop hating Gabi. You're the worst when you do it

Hey Gabiatans: as long as you're not threatening the VA or other RL p olle, it's PERFECTLY fine to hate Gabi. Period. We don't have to like her, and it's not like we don't "understand" her just because we hate her. I "understand" a lot of Germans were forcibly coerced into joining the Nazi regime, but I don't have to pity then for any consequences that came for them.

Leviiiiiii

I was surprised that Mikasa and Armin crying over Sasha had no voice over. I thought it was still effective but I'm not sure if I prefer it. Other than that, the character animation was amazing this episode. Gabi's hands as she reloaded the rifle and Armin crying were my favorites. Overall, everything was pretty perfect and I love it when a chapter gets adapted in full with basically no cuts. One of the best episodes in the series and a proper send off for Sasha.

Wonderfully done episode! They truly did Gabi and Falco's perspectives justice. Also, seeing Eren's expressions and reactions in animated format was clarifying and super well done, too!

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 227 Responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated! 

[mcrmadness]

Madness draws: Behind the Scenes of the “Alleine in der Nacht” die ärzte fan comic.

A few weeks ago I posted this comic:

This post is yet again just another drawing behind-the-scenes post but You can go and reblog the original post here.

And as always, all my ramblings are under the cut!

This one was relatively easy to do because I just woke up one morning and internally died from laughter because this idea just happened like a random pop up window in my brain. I wrote it down to my phone notes and later on also into my sketchbook:

I was laughing out loud when I was drawing those images, Bela’s face still is cracking me up :D And because I’m yet again trilingual with my comics, there’s only one word in my mother tongue and it’s: Bela laulaa = Bela sings.

And other fans might recognize the lyrics of the song, I needed to write them down in order to decide which ones would fit the comic the best.

This one is then again me trying to see how it will fit on a A4 paper. Originally I saw it in my head more like a short, regular comic strip with 3 panels but somehow I couldn’t get it to fit into 3 panels. And 4 panels was too many in a row so I decided to go for a full page then. That caused bits of trouble to me because I normally don’t draw the comic book faces THAT big and it’s surprisingly hard to draw them in bigger scale. (With pencil drawings it’s the opposite, the bigger the better. It’s much easier to draw an eye the size of a finger instead of a size of a tip of a needle.)

Here’s the first sketch! Just the shapes to see how and what I need to draw. Sorry for the awful photo quality again, my phone’s camera has really gotten really bad after these 3 years of use...

Anyhow, the third panel caused me some troubles because I knew how I wanted Bela’s arms and hands to be but I didn’t see them that good in my head so what I did next was to try different postures into my sketchbook:

I also tried this foreshortening technique I saw in a video of after a Tumblr post, even tho I don’t find that too hard to do myself anymore but it was still interesting and can really help making the eye and brain to see the image in 3D. So here I finally figured that I wanted Bela to have is arms like he was singing something very theatrically. I think it turned out pretty good.

Next I struggled with the bedsheets and I figured that I am a bit too good at blocking out information when I draw because I tried to draw unmade beds from reference photos and I’m able to follow a line but also able to completely not see any other lines around the line I’m following. Like I’d often follow a line to somewhere and suddenly notice that wtf there’s SO MUCH MORE lines all over the place in the photo but I just did not see them.

^Here’s two pages in my other sketchbook that I got for the comic stuff especially because the paper is actually white. The bigger sketchbook has light yellow tint to the paper so it can mess up with the colors when I need to try out and look for perfect colors from the colored pencils. (This sketchbook is also smaller aka A5 because Derwent sketchbooks are expensive but this was the only A5 one with a bit grainy paper in white. The A4 one is cheaper and from Mont Marte.)

After a while I was done with the besheet and the rest of the second sketch. I don’t have a photo of the comic with just the lineart, only a photo where the first panel is already colored and now I actually need to talk about the coloring.

That caused me lots of trouble because I really love playing with lights and shadows in everything (drawing, photographing... everything) and I do know how to do the night effect in black and white, but I have only once before done that with colors and it’s never that easy. Plus that one was my first comic when I started drawing again in 2018 and it was not that good to begin with.

I run some tests with the pencils, as well as some shading tests:

Käsi = hand, iho = skin. I use Derwent Flesh Pink (I have a 72 set of Derwent Watercolour pencils) for the skin color and was then trying out other colors to see which one would look the best for shading. It was actually really difficult to do and my sister suggested that I’d use only cold colors but like... how do you use cold colors on a skin without making the character look dead? :D

I imagined that there’s a moon shining in from a window that would be behind the “camera”. I almost ruined the first panel because I wasn’t exactly sure what was I even doing and what did I want from the colors:

Here’s the lineart and almost finished first panel in colors. I really liked the lineart and this would have looked so nice in black and white too, maybe even better. But I just saw that blue background so strongly in my mind that I just had to go for it.

The first panel was really difficult to do like I said and I almost ruined it at some point. But it also taught me something because with the rest of the panels I knew to start with the skincolors and end with the black (I started the first panel with black, I think... kids, never do that, always start with the light colors! :D) and I think the last panel is the best what comes to the colors in the final comic. I also added light blue here and there to make it look more like the colors of a moon at night:

I’m actually very happy with all of the other colors in this panel! It also reminds me of a book I had and used to read as a child. It was about this girl that went to an appendix surgery and all the images were drawn with either colored pencils, pastels or crayons and it looked grainy the exact same way as this one too. It also had lots of red and orange and brown colors in it. (I wonder if I still have the book here...)

Then there’s also the title and “Das Ende”. Originally I was going to do the late 80s logo they have e.g. on the 80s live vhs/dvd but then I just saw another post in my dä blog’s queue and I just needed to do this logo instead!

I had just a couple of weeks prior ordered a pack of white Sakura Gelly Roll pens and needed to test what would make the best compination and with which black!

I also had bought a white paint pen but it’s useless. As you see, it just looks grey after it dries and it just... doesn’t look nice. Plus it takes so much time to dry AND it’s extremely messy and I have paint more in my hands and a puddle on the paper but barely none where it should be. So my choice for the logo was to use either Pigma Microns or Promarkers (I think I chose the latter) and the thickest Gelly Roll aka 10. This was the result:

And I’m actually super happy about how it came out! Couldn’t do that good looking spots on the letters because can’t make splashes with a gel pen so I did a few bigger ones here and there and then just poked everywhere with the pen to make it look more random. You can actually see how it’s slightly whiter than the paper if you look closely, but it’s not too strongly whiter so it looks pretty nice like this.

So, this was less work than the “Widumihei” one but it was also an interesting piece to draw. And I think I have now this comic drawing more freshly in mind so that drawing the next ones (there’s three waiting for sketching already) will be much easier as well :)

[duongnguyenposts-blog]

Interview on Animedia part 1

Thank to Mirai send the translation of this interview for me.

=======================

TERAMOTO YUKIYO INTERVIEW

• < Tell us about the experience you most enjoyed in the production of the Kaitou Joker anime series. >

• Teramoto: The production was a fun experience and with a pleasant atmosphere, but the realization of episode 20 of the series, "Traveling Jokers" is impressive special. Because in the original manga, Takahashi Hideyasu-sensei made it to tribute the anime series "Giant Robo". But Akihiko Yamashita, who is in charge of episode 20 (storyboard), was once the character designer and animation director of "Giant Robo". It's like a parody of his own work and it was very funny.

• < Hãy kể cho chúng tôi về trải nghiệm mà bạn thích nhất khi sản xuất bộ anime Kaitou Joker. >

• Teramoto: Việc sản xuất là một trải nghiệm thú vị và với một bầu không khí vui vẻ, nhưng việc thực hiện tập 20 của loạt phim, "Traveling Jokers" là đặc biệt nhất. Bởi vì trong manga gốc, Takahashi Hideyasu-sensei đã dùng nó để vinh danh bộ anime "Giant Robo". Thế nhưng Akihiko Yamashita, người phụ trách tập 20 lại từng là nhà thiết kế nhân vật và đạo diễn hình ảnh của "Giant Robo". Nó giống như parody lại công việc của chính ông và điều đó rất buồn cười.

Corocoro Online Interview Part 1/2 Translation. ( correct me if you see there is any wrong translated )

-----------------------------------

---First of all, please introduce yourself.

Director Teramoto Yukiyo (Teramoto): My name is Teramoto, who was the director of the anime "Kaitou Joker". Nice to meet you today, Is it already two years since the broadcast ended?

Shimogasa Miho (Shimogasa): I am Character Design & Chief Animation Director, Shimogasa. Because I have been working on many jobs related to Joker, so I do not feel like time has passed.

Aihara Miki (Aihara): Fan of Kaitou Joker, Aihara. It embarrassed to say that the first time I saw Joker's anime was in its last broadcast year. I started watching him from the chapter with a boy in a wheelchair (Hayami Kyotaro) called "Countdown of Television" (Episode 33) in Kids Station, and I was shocked saying: "Who is that great anime guy?" A From that moment on, I became addicted and saw the entire season on Amazon. All the guys that appear are great!

Teramoto: Thank you very much. I'm so happy.

-----Shimogasa-san. How was it when you first heard about this series?

Shimogasa: I did not know "Kaitou Joker" at that time, so I immediately read the original manga. Because the original manga was so funny, I guess i can make it with confidence. Since the original design is very unique and very good, I made use the original design of Takahashi Hideyasu-sensei and added a taste for Anime to construction. When you remove the back cover of the Comic cover, it is full of material, and it is fun to find out important information written on the panel of Manga.

Teramoto: Again, since Anime is not a stop picture but it has to be moved, at the beginning there was a voice: "There are too many dialogue" from the scene where the picture is drawn, it seemed to be very difficult. However, as we continue, the scene side is also attracted to the work and the number of fans increases, and conversely comes from over there as "Please let me draw!" Everyone drew with love.

Aihara: I feel that. While watching anime

Teramoto: Even now, I'm really excited to think about that. By the way, there were also Animators who liked to participate in Takahashi-sensei's autograph session.

―― What kind of relationship did Takahashi sensei involved in?

Teramoto: Takahashi sensei was a generous one, he let me do it freely. Of course, the original is very interesting, but if you consult something like "Is it okay for me to do something here?", he say "It's OK". I really appreciate it as a creator, and if he want us do what he think "I want to do this", the tension on that time will rise. That is why there is a part that everybody making so much.

―― Surely, there seems to be a part that OK was done by love was also communicated to Takahashi sensei.

Teramoto: That's right. Because I already put plenty of respect and love in my works!

―― As a viewer of anime, how did you feel when seeing this?

Aihara: Because the quality characters is the root, anime has a very good tempo, I thought that the scenes shifts from one to the next is amazing.

Teramoto: Thank you!

Aihara: It is good enough with a lot of fun in 30 minutes .

Teramoto: Actually it not fit to say this. I'm very sorry because sometimes i cut ED

Aihara：It was . When making anime without ED, it will be tough as it will be about 90 seconds to make more animation. But it does not sacrifice the story and still having prioritized the quality of the work……it amazing. And the last story of Season 4 is memorable. Actually the characters and directing were cool and the contents were filled with fully crammed. Teramoto-san was in charge of parts other than the director, didn't you?

Teramoto: That's true. While doing the storyboard and directing, I remember I made a lot of effort to say "Oh, I will not make it in time, but I do not want to drop the quality"

Aihara: It was a very good time！

――There are so many female fans, what are your thoughts about that?

Teramoto: After reading the original manga, I thought about the fans and asked them around. Then, you know that there are female fans, I see. So while conscious of the part of female fans like: "I love Joker like this", I also made it so that everyone will be pleased by not to kill the quality of shounen manga (manga for boys). In addition, Shimogasa-san's illustration are so cute, i think that female fans received it

―― Tell me your favorite character, Shimogasa-san?

Shimogasa: I love all characters !! I love everyone !!!! I can't choose...

Aihara: Everyone is cool and nice, isn't it?

Shimogasa: What is pleasing to draw is bad expression of each character. Ah There was also a "Professor Clover's blonde wave" idea i wanted to draw.

Aihara: By the way, did President D (the leader of the mysterious organization "Devil Fang") of the anime original character were all launched from the design? Originally I was surprised that a fat boy / Dump appeared as a messy beauty

Teramoto: Although I ordered to make it beautiful, when I actually got the first rough (President D) from Shimogasa-san , I was surprised like: "Wow !?, I do not think that he will be beautiful like this

Shimogasa: Four patterns were drawn while just leaving aftertastes of Dump on the eyes and clothes. It is the shape that I chose one of them. In fact, I wanted to include the characteristic that the teeth of Dump were missing, but indeed it went too far. But I thought I wanted to add freckles that were attached at the time Dump appear, I can't see it in an important scene of President D.

Teramoto: You can see it when he cry.

Shimogasa: Yeah, when he crying

Aihara: Great rare information, i see.

Shimogasa: Ah, I think that the best scene of Dump is a scene that he says "You are the only one i talking to..." If I thought that director would realize that director would dare to say: "I want to let that crying face do with President D, by all means" and did it as it was.

Teramoto: Of course

Aihara: The scene he cry was really cute!！

――Who is Aihara sensei 's favorite character?

Aihara: It is Joker-san. I also like Phoenix (* Kaitou use flames, aiming at God Beast Hosshi and Joker), but after all Joker is coolest. He jumped down from the top at the OP and he is really cool looking at the bags and mantle. About the OP, I tend to skip it just when I see it at once, but I couldn't do this

Shimogasa: I also wanted to be like that.

Aihara: Each time, the notice letter changes, Isn't it? (※ At the opening, the contents of the announcement appearing on the way changed every time).

Teramoto: That was fun with who are working, didn't it?

Aihara: It was truly a wonderful production when the speech are included at that time. It is also cool to go to the climax part of song once more.

Teramoto: There used to be "Blue Comet SPT Layzner" anime, Digest-style dialogue of each story appear in the middle of opening. It is interesting and I like that directing. There is a part that got a hint from "Layzner"

Aihara: Oh! Layzner, I see.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Trước hết, xin giới thiệu về bản thân.

Đạo diễn Teramoto Yukiyo (Teramoto): Tên tôi là Teramoto, người từng là đạo diễn của anime "Kaitou Joker", chương trình phát sóng đã kết thúc từ 2 năm trước. Rất vui được gặp bạn hôm nay.

Shimogasa Miho (Shimogasa): Tôi là Thiết kế nhân vật & Chỉ đạo trưởng hoạt họa, Shimogasa. Bởi vì tôi đã làm việc trên nhiều công việc liên quan đến Joker, vì vậy tôi không cảm thấy như thời gian đã trôi qua.

Aihara Miki (Aihara): Tôi. Aihara, là một fan hâm mộ của Kaitou Joker. Thật xấu hổ khi nói rằng lần đầu tiên tôi xem anime Kaitou Joker là vào năm phát sóng cuối cùng của nó. Tôi bắt đầu xem nó từ tập có một cậu bé ngồi xe lăn (Hayami Kyotaro) tên là "Countdown Television" (Tập 33) trên kênh Kids Station, và tôi đã bị sốc và thốt lên: "Anh chàng anime tuyệt vời đó là ai?". Từ lúc đó, tôi trở nên nghiện và xem toàn bộ các tập trên Amazon. Tất cả những chàng trai đã xuất hiện đều rất tuyệt!

Teramoto: Cảm ơn bạn. Tôi rất vui khi nghe điều đó.

---- Shimogasa-san. Cảm nhận đầu tiên của cô khi nghe về series này

Shimogasa: Lúc đó tôi chưa biết gì về Kaitou Joker, vậy nên tôi lập tức tìm đọc manga gốc. Bởi vì manga gốc rất thú vị nên tôi rất tự tin để làm nó. Từ khi nhân vật trong manga gốc của Takahashi Hideyasu-sensei có design rất tốt và độc đáo, tôi đã dùng design gốc rồi thêm hương vị Anime để chỉnh sửa. Khi bạn gỡ bìa sau của quyển truyện, nó có đầy đủ nguyên liệu ở đó. Thật vui khi tìm thấy những thông tin quan trọng được viết trên các trang truyện.

Teramoto: Một lần nữa, Anime vốn không phải là một hình ảnh đứng yên mà là những hình ảnh động, lúc đầu có tiếng phàn nàn về một phân đoạn khá nhiều thoại được vẽ ra, nó trông có vẻ rất khó thực hiện. Tuy nhiên khi tiếp tục, bên phía thực hiện các phân đoạn đó cũng bị thu hút bởi tác phẩm và lượng người hâm mộ cũng đã tăng lên. Không chỉ không còn những lời phàn nàn mà ngược lại phía chúng tôi vang lên những tiếng nói như: "Xin để tôi thực hiện nó". Mọi người đã làm bằng tình yêu của mình như thế đấy.

Aihara: tôi cũng cảm nhận được điều đó khi xem Anime này.

Teramoto: Ngay cả lúc này, tôi thực sự rất phấn khích khi nghĩ về điều đó. Nhân tiện, cũng có những Animator thích tham gia vào buổi ký tặng của tác giả Takahashi.

----- Mối quan hệ với tác giả Takahashi như thế nào

Teramoto: Takahashi sensei là một người rộng lượng, ông ấy để tôi làm mọi thứ một cách tự do. Tất nhiên, Manga gốc rất thú vị, nhưng nếu bạn tham khảo ý kiến gì đó như "Tôi có thể sữa đổi một chút ở đây không?", Ông sẽ nói "Ok Không sao cả". Tôi thực sự đánh giá cao điều đó như một người sáng tạo, và nếu ông ấy muốn chúng tôi làm những gì ông ấy nghĩ "Tôi muốn làm cái này", sự căng thẳng tại thời điểm đó sẽ tăng lên. Đó là lý do tại sao có một số đoạn mà mọi người đã làm nhiều lần.

----- Chắc chắn, có một đoạn OK đó đã được thực hiện bằng tình yêu đã truyền đạt đến Takahashi sensei.

Teramoto: Đúng thế. Bởi vì tôi đã dành rất nhiều sự tôn trọng và tình yêu trong các tác phẩm của mình!

---- Như một người xem anime, bạn cảm thấy thế nào khi xem nó?

Aihara: Anime có nhịp điệu rất tốt bởi vì nó có cốt lõi là những nhân vật chất lượng, tôi cảm thấy những cảnh chuyển từ người này sang người khác là rất tuyệt vời.

Teramoto: Rất cám ơn bạn.

Aihara: Nó hội tụ đủ những cái hay và thú vị trong 30 phút

Teramoto: Thật sự thì không phù hợp khi nói chuyện này ở đây. Rất xin lỗi vì một vài lần phải cắt bỏ ED.

Aihara: Đúng là thế. Khi làm anime mà không có ED, sẽ rất khó khăn vì phải tốn khoảng 90 giây để làm thêm nhiều đoạn hoạt hình. Nhưng nó không lãng phí nội dung và vẫn đảm bảo cho chất lượng tác phẩm... Điều đó thật tuyệt vời. Và câu chuyện cuối cùng của Phần 4 thật đáng nhớ. Trên thực tế các nhân vật và đạo diễn rất tuyệt dù đã nhồi nhét khá nhiều câu chuyện. Teramoto-san cũng phụ trách các bộ phận khác ngoài đạo diễn phải không?

Teramoto: Đúng vậy. Trong khi thực hiện bảng phân cảnh và đạo diễn, tôi nhớ rằng tôi đã nỗ lực rất nhiều và nói "Ôi, mình sẽ không kịp mất, nhưng mình không muốn làm giảm chất lượng".

Aihara: Đó là khoảng thời gian rất vui nhỉ.

---- Kaitou Joker có rất nhiều fan nữ, bạn nghĩ gì về điều đó?

Teramoto: Sau khi đọc truyện tranh gốc, tôi nghĩ về người hâm mộ và hỏi họ xung quanh. Sau đó, tôi biết rằng có những fan nữ ở đây. Vì vậy, trong khi ý thức về một phần của các fan nữ như: "Tôi thích Joker như thế này", tôi cũng đã làm cho mọi người sẽ hài lòng khi không giết chết bản chất của shounen manga (manga dành nam giới). Ngoài ra, hình minh họa của Shimogasa-san rất dễ thương, tôi nghĩ rằng các fan nữ đã nhận được nó.

---- Nói cho tôi biết nhân vật yêu thích của bạn đi Shimogasa-san?

Shimogasa: Tôi yêu tất cả các nhân vật !! Tôi yêu mọi người !!!! Tôi không thể chọn ...

Aihara: Mọi người đều tuyệt, phải không?

Shimogasa: Điều làm tôi vui khi vẽ là biểu hiện xấu của mỗi nhân vật. À Ngoài ra còn có một ý tưởng mà tôi muốn vẽ nữa, đó là Giáo sư Clover với mái tóc vàng gợn sóng.

Aihara: Nhân tiện, phải chăng Chủ tịch D (thủ lĩnh của tổ chức bí ẩn "Devil Fang") nhân vật gốc của anime đã được đưa ra từ bản thiết kế? Ban đầu tôi rất ngạc nhiên khi một cậu bé mập / Dump xuất hiện như một người đẹp trai nhưng bừa bộn.

Teramoto: Mặc dù tôi đã bảo là làm cho đẹp, nhưng khi tôi thực sự có được bản phác họa đầu tiên (Chủ tịch D) từ Shimogasa-san, tôi đã rất sốc : "Ôi!?, Mình không nghĩ cậu ấy sẽ đẹp như vậy"

Shimogasa: Đó là hình dạng mà tôi đã chọn một trong số 4 mẫu đã được vẽ khi chỉ để lại đặc điểm của Dump trên mắt và quần áo. Trên thực tế, tôi muốn bao gồm đặc điểm là răng của Dump bị mất, nhưng thực sự nó đã đi quá xa. Nhưng tôi nghĩ tôi muốn thêm tàn nhang vào thời điểm Dump xuất hiện, tôi đã không thấy nó trong một cảnh quan trọng của Chủ tịch D.

Teramoto: Bạn có thể nhìn thấy nó khi cậu ấy khóc.

Shimogasa: Vâng, khi cậu ấy khóc

Aihara: Một thông tin tuyệt vời.

Shimogasa: À, tôi nghĩ rằng cảnh hay nhất của Dump là cảnh cậu khóc và nói "Cậu là người duy nhất mà tôi nói chuyện cùng..." tôi nghĩ nếu đạo diễn nhận ra và đạo diễn sẽ nói: "Tôi muốn để khuôn mặt khóc đó làm với Tổng thống D bằng mọi giá ".

Teramoto: Tất nhiên rồi

Aihara: Cảnh cậu ấy khóc thật dễ thương !！

----- Nhân vật yêu thích của Aihara là ai?

Aihara: Đó là Joker-san. Tôi cũng thích Phoenix (* Kaitou dùng lửa, nhắm vào thần thú Hosshi và Joker), nhưng sau tất cả, Joker vẫn là cool nhất. Cậu ấy nhảy xuống từ đỉnh tháp trong OP và cậu ấy thực sự rất cool với cái áo choàng. Về OP, tôi có xu hướng bỏ qua OP ngay sau khi đã xem một lần, nhưng tôi không thể làm thế với OP này.

Shimogasa: Tôi cũng thế.

Aihara: Thư thông báo thay đổi theo từng tập phải không? (※ Thư thông báo xuất hiện lúc mở đầu OP và thường thay đổi theo mỗi tập).

Teramoto: Đó là niềm vui với những người thực hiện phải không?

Aihara: Đoạn đọc thư thông báo được đưa ra tại thời điểm đó rồi đến phần cao trào của bài hát một lần nữa đều thật tuyệt.

Teramoto: Nó đã từng có trong anime "Blue Comet SPT Layzner", đoạn hội thoại theo Digest-style của mỗi tập xuất hiện ở giữa OP. Nó là thú vị và tôi thích cách chỉ đạo thực hiện nó. Có một phần có gợi ý từ "Layzner"

Aihara: Ồ! Layzner, ra là vậy!

Interview Online part 2

Will continue translate vol 15 chapter 1 part 2

-----------------------------

――So, what is Teramoto 's favorite character?

Teramoto: I like Silver Heart because I like a father. Every time, it seemed hard to think of the explanation corner, but everyone in the scenario writer enjoyed it and joined the plan, the scenario meeting was very exciting

Aihara: If I thought Silver Heart's explanation would come, I was surprised to feel like "Eh? This time Spade came!"

Teramoto: It was fun to get a different person occasionally

Aihara: Really very fine

Teramoto: Also, as a character may not be popular, but I like Mr. Kaneari

Aihara: That sounds good! It is surprising that beautiful secretary Kaneko was turned into as a super strong Commando Satsuko.

Teromoto: Actually, when I started making anime, Commando Satsuko was not in the original manga. In such circumstances, I gave Mr. Kaneari a original anime character called Kaneko. Then, that intense character (Commando Satsuko) comes out suddenly in the Manga, and will marry Kaneari. I am already surprised. What should I do about Kaneko's position? So, Commando Satsuko appeared from Kaneko with a hardship measure.

Aihara: No, but it's wonderful

Teramoto: Rather, Takahashi sensei who forgave that is wonderful.

――After all, did Takahashi sensei put out OK soon?

Teramoto: He told me "it was interesting, is not it?"

Aihara: That's great

Teromoto: His heart is too wide, right?

Shimogasa: On the other hand, Takahashi-sensei sometimes reimports elements of Anime back in Manga.

Teromoto: Oh yeah. Sky Joker's design

Shimogasa: I was surprised at the manga that time.

Aihara: Was the original Sky Joker originally a different design?

Teromoto: That's right. However, Takahashi-sensei liked the design of the Anime very much. During the serialization, the former airship was destroyed grandly and the same design as anime started from the next month. ( *Original Sky Joker was destroyed in Dracula arc vol. 19 )

Aihara: Sensei has good looking

Teramoto: I was surprised when see myself in the original manga. "I am with anime!"

Teramoto: Joker really is cute when he said can not live if there are no Hachi around. With other stories, in Traveling Joker he was really cool.

Aihara: I understand. A story about Joker and Shadow time-travel back to Edo period. It was similar to the movie version

Teramoto: I kept a close eye when making it

Shimogasa: I also like "Traveling · Jokers". Boiled Carey is delicious...

Teramoto: Also, "Idol · Stage" was also interesting. Stupid stories are still fun.

Shimogasa: After all the last episode.

Teramoto: It was pleasant that everyone was happy at the end.

Aihara: It really wonderful

―― So, what scenes are you into?

Aihara: There are lots ... ... The scene that Phoenix is becoming a black pita pita suit after he is caught is cool

Shimogasa: That scene, do you feel excited?

Aihara: Well, I do not know if I can tell you, but ... it's so erotic

Shimogasa: When I saw the scenario or the story, there was a scene where Phoenix (masks and some costumes) is off and I was really happy when I decided to draw the settings there.

Teramoto: Yeah, that scene is really good

Shimogasa: I really like to apply it based on the basic settings. I have clothed a new costume, but I like removing things and peeling already already. I also like such things like putting a jacket on my shoulder, on the way I am wearing it, only a shirt, and removing a tie. I always have a chance to draw it.

Teramoto: The character of Joker has a low degree of exposure, so it is sexy even if you take off a little.

Aihara: That's right! I will be excited

Shimogasa: Incidentally, I wanted to draw the appearance of Spade who took off his coat ... ... There was not much chance.

――The voice acting team was also luxurious

Teramoto: I thought that the voice of a boy was in charge of a female voice actor, but when I was auditioning for Joker role, I heard the voice of Ayumu Murase and felt "This is this person!" . The staffs around me also decided "Murase-san is not good" and decided. By the way, Hiroki Shimono who is the role of Spade is decided by not being covered with voice of Murase and not being covered with voice tone, so that it is better to know that it is Spade just by listening to the voice.

Aihara: Wow, that was right.

Teramoto: If it's another role ..... There is a very good image about Hachi and I decided to say "I would like to ask Yumiko Kobayashi-san".

Aihara: You were nominated.

Teramoto: I appreciate it.

Aihara: It is perfect

Teramoto: Miyuki Sawashiro who is a role of Queen started at the beginning but the schedule did not suit at first, but since it was empty by accident It seems that she did.

Shimogasa: It is really gorgeous.

Teromoto: Misaki Kuno, the role of Roko has come to receive an audition with other characters, but when I heard her voice "This is Roko-chan, isn't it?" So I hurriedly asked her to play Roko in the original line. Then the people around the staff became "Oh, it's Roko," and the role was decided as it was.

Aihara: Great. That's how it is decided.

――Do you have any stories you would like to work on if you can afford to animate it?

Teromoto: Of course there are still a lot of interesting stories I would like to animate it If I have the opportunity. Because I told that Blue-ray version appears in the first place but it did not come out at all, I thought that I had no chance at all and I was giving up already. Then I am really pleased that it will finally be released

Aihara: Moreover, the benefits will increase by the number of reservations!

Teramoto: The cover illustration of the box is also cool. Please let me put such a lot of characters.

―― Finally, in releasing the Blue-ray · DVD that was decided to be released this time, I would like a word from everyone to the fans.

Teramoto: It's a bit of a thing to say by myself, but I think that it's an Anime that makes me happy when I watch it. It was a happy feeling when we were making it, and it was a work that all the creators truly loved. I think that enjoyment will be conveyed to everyone who will surely see. It is a work that makes me absolutely fun and happy, so I'm happy if you can watch and enjoy it again and again.

Shimogasa: I think that it is a work that you can really enjoy as animation. Nowadays there are quarrel that many works do not allow ruin characters, but Kaitou Joker has freely drawn wide and wide. Works that can be done like that are very pleasant, from the animation. I want you to enjoy the movement and directing of characters unique to anime.

Aihara: Oh, Er, I'm a bird? Well, a bit comfortable comment ... .... Anyway the animation did not ruin, it is really cool. As Shimogasa-san say it animation very good, so i want to tell at people who are looking by a glance like "This just like Anime for kids". No, It is different. Kaitou Joker is so amazing. A good adult is really hooked and goes hooked. So your kids, of course, People of parent generation also want it. I will also watch it from now on.

――Thank you very much！

[readinglokicomicsfromthestart]

Thoughts on the Loki in Thor (2020) #1

I’ve been thinking about the Loki sequence in Thor (2020) #1, and want to go through some of panels. One page, which circulated widely on tumblr a while ago as a preview, was somewhat confounding in its apparent portrayal of Thor and Loki’s relationship - at least, it looked as though things were worse between them than they ought to have been (compared with how they last were in Loki (2019), a few months ago). Upon reflection, though, I think in context it is not so bad, given some of what else is going on in the issue, and the role Loki is actually playing in the story at the moment. (Disclaimer: I only bought Thor #1, and have not read #2, though it is presumably out now, so perhaps this is all already jossed, I do not know. But ignoring that...)(Disclaimer 2: I actively try to be optimistic about the future prospects of of the comics, it is just more pleasant to hope for the best than to worry about the worst and I find if I am going to be disappointed I may as well wait until I have all the actual reason to be - which is just to say, there are no doubt equally valid readings that are far more damning in their conclusions. So anyway, YMMV.)

(I’m sorry this is such a long post, I realize people tend to prefer shorter ones (at least, those tend to get reblogged more), but part of why I’m doing this extended treatment is because I think the amount of time the comic spends making these points, and then reiterating them, is significant to the key argument here, which concerns Thor’s mindset at present.)

The TL;DR: Thor is having a bit of an existential/identity crisis and it has put him in a shitty mood, Loki happens to hit a nerve and Thor reacts with hostility, but not in a way that is really permanent or, I think, an indication that the book intends to permanently fix Loki as an antagonist/ take a shitty view of their relationship. 

So, to start out with, the issue takes place a considerable while after the War of the Realms has been over, and yet, Thor is proving to be a reluctant ruler, and would much rather be a Thor than an Allfather. This is not helped by fellow Avengers’ teasing: 

It’s taken a while longer, but it looks like Thor has finally come to the same realization Loki had early in his book, that far from the fulfillment of lifelong dreams, the prospect of actually ruling as king has lost its appeal. Sif, who has become the Gatekeeper of Asgard (now that Heimdall is dead and off...somewhere that is not Valhalla, thanks to Valkyrie), takes him to task: 

And more (as well as, incidentally, a rather gorgeous Bifrost panel): 

Thor, not being thrilled (incidentally, the rebuilt Asgard and throne is quite interesting and...foresty?- actually built into Yggdrasil): 

It is at this point that Loki enters:

These panels do reveal more hostility than, say, when Loki and Thor were interacting back in Loki #3, where we have this exchange, for example: 

But, in the latter, Thor is where he wants to be (with the Avengers), while in the former, he is definitely grumpy and facing a future he is having doubts about. I think, for Loki’s side of things, Loki can be seen as attempting sympathy - he does ask how Thor is feeling - but at the same time, doing so is poking at a subject Thor is feeling vulnerable about, and it is perhaps not entirely surprising that Thor responds hostilely. 

Back to Thor #1, these two pages were the ones that were particularly troubling in their portrayal of Thor and his treatment of Loki (particularly the second, which, iirc, circulated as a preview to the issue/book):

The threat Thor makes on the first of these pages certainly feels a bit odd in its distancing effect. But then again, it is in response to Loki essentially prodding Thor’s fear of being unworthy, which this (ie 616 comics) Thor has had personal experience with in the past, and is no doubt just as big a part of Thor’s problem, here, namely - that he’s having a bit of an existential / identity crisis. 

The second page, I still have questions about - what exactly is Thor doing that surprises Loki and is an indication of his powers as Allfather - he has always been able to throw and recall Mjolnir (well as long as he has had the hammer), so why this surprise? (If anyone has any ideas, I would love to hear.) 

The key point here, though, is that he actually does recall it. In other words, there are sharp words exchanged, but no actual violence. And keeping in mind that exchanges of some degree of violence between the two, no matter their version, are not that big a deal, I do not even think it would necessarily have been a sign of implacable enmity if it had been worse/actual violence. (This is probably a ymmv point, I realize.)

...So yes, it is less pleasant than the times we find them really working together, or Thor being proud of Loki’s progress, but I do not think it necessarily means that the writers intend to use Loki exclusively as an antagonist in this series, if this is any indication. 

Rather, what he’s being used for here is a mirror to force Thor to reflect on his situation, and a means of exposing Thor’s internal state to the reader. It is worth noting here, also, that the larger plot of the comic not indicated in these panels, seems to be something involving Thor becoming a Herald of Galactus to fight some new cosmic menace with all the others who have been heralds - that is to say, in this particular plot, Loki is not a central player in the plot at all. While disappointing if one is reading particularly for Loki content, I think it makes the depiction of the relationship less troubling - Loki is present in this issue particularly to set the stage explaining Thor’s mindset and forcing him to reflect on the situation. This, in fact, is very much in character with qualities we can find in myth Loki and trickster figures in general - he forces reflection upon the status quo and challenges complacency.

That this issue is largely about Thor’s state of mind is emphasized in a page a bit later where Thor reflects on these several incidents that have occurred:

Finally, and perhaps most importantly to the positive reading that I’m attempting here, we end with a window onto Thor’s subsequent reflection:

The narrative is from Thor at some unknown point in the future, but more importantly, it is definitely much more reasonable where Loki is concerned, and it reinforces the fact that this has very much been a sibling exchange - moderate but nonetheless insightful ribbing that happens to hit a nerve on Loki’s part, and then defensiveness and a refusal to admit to vulnerability on Thor’s. (Note, above on the earlier page, that Thor also does call him “little brother” even alongside the hostility.) Now I would certainly prefer something more like the lovely heart to heart and collaboration we see, for example, back in the Hel war against Sindr and Muspelheim in Thor (2018) #1-4, but wishes, horses, etc. - Anyway, overall I do not think this is necessarily an indication that this book is going to do Loki dirty--notice, for one thing, that the questionable characterization is all on Thor’s part - the authors of the book have not particularly written Loki in a way that counts as character assassination. 

Okay, that is what I wanted to say. Now....do I post it or delete 90% of it and try to paraphrase it all in 1-2 pages, hmm...