#soyo short

[sheets-of-your-own]

Merlin

10 Reasons Not to Fight a D̶r̶a̶g̶o̶n̶ Bird (a Guide by Arthur Pendragon)

CaffeinatedFlumadiddle

10,328 words

Short Recommendation

I can probably save a lot of time by just recommending anything in the "Me @ Merlin Writers: What if You Didn't Murder My Favorite Characters?" series, or just anything by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle lol

This fic is a very funny fic about Merlin, and then the entirety of Camelot gaslighting Arthur into thinking that Aithusa the dragon is actually a weird bird and not magical at all, definitely not.

Set up as 10 scenes within the plot, it's really well paced and written in terms of Arthur coming around to the idea of Aithusa existing- I'm also a sucker for Camelot-loving-Merlin, but this fic doesn't fall into the trap that many other similar fics do where Merlin is "just a soft baby", he has his sass and snark in this one, which is always great.

Another thing in this fic that is great and missed by a lot of Merlin fics, Arthur has personal agency- he's not "hate magic cuz dad" -> "love magic cuz Merlin", he actually has opinions of his own and can make decisions separately of his love for others.

It's really funny, there is a greater plot but even with the magic reveal it doesn't get too heavy and stays lighthearted throughout.

[priscirat]

also in honor of the two new soyotaki mygo shorts

[chainreh]

does anyone see my vision for toxic yuri anosoyo ?

[gintama-polls]

Gintama Episode Tourney

Episode 237, "Please Take Me Skiing" The Shinsengumi escort a very important person during his trip to a ski resort when things go awry. The first half of the Vacation Arc.

Episode 297, "Keep Your Farewells Short" Princess Soyo, with Sougo’s help, gives her dear friend Kagura a state funeral. The second half of the Feigned Illness Arc

[ladyloveandjustice]

It's interesting to see their fashion choices laid out so clearly here. Tomori's got the most comfortable and sporty look- she's got a hoodie on, she's wearing shorts, she's got sneakers, showing she goes for what's comfortable without much concern about being fashionable, it's the music that matters, while Soyo's flowery skirt and flowing top are the most elegant and feminine, embodying the proper lady image she tries to put out.

Anon's is more casual but still dressy, seems like it could be fashionable (?) but it's an oddly muted color that doesn't do her complexion and hair any favors, showing that she wants to look pretty and fancy, but she's also a little confused about her identity and maybe it's forced.

Taki's is the most casual after Tomori's, but the black constrasted with white and the earrings give her this kind of sleek classic look, she's not coming off like she's trying to be fancy and looks like she's unbothered, a little edgy, and just naturally this way, but if you look closer she probably spent a lot of time picking this simple look out.

idk why i suddenly am playing fashion analyzer, the clothes just immediately jumped out to me as saying something about their chracters this time and I thought it was neat.

[landofsamurai]

@jiraipink asked:

(For any muse you feel writing this for!)

Can women ever catch a break with these degenerate men?

Namida was on her way to Kagura's place to play that new video game Kamui bought for them, until she witnessed a pick-up artist harassing a girl persistently to try and get her to join him at a hotel for some sexual success. The girl was VERY CLEARLY uncomfortable and more than once told him she's not interested and is busy. This fucking loser is pissing Namida off. He probably thinks it's easy since the girl is alone. Not on her watch. She smiles cheerfully through her anger and waves a greeting hand in the air. "Beckyyyyy~! There you are! Who's that creep following you~?" She thought up a random name just to at least make it seem like they're friends and had purposely spoken aloud so bystanders can watch and judge the guy. The pick-up artist was taken aback by Namida and was getting antsy that he didn't realize the girl he was pursuing ran away while he was distracted.

That's good, but before Namida could walk off proudly with a mission accomplished, the annoying guy suddenly stops her from going anywhere with his sandal stomped against the wall beside her head like a kabedon except with his foot. He glares down at Namida with a shadowy expression befitting for a flashy delinquent. "Oi oi oiiiiiii~ What's your purpose here, huh? If you hadn't come, that girl wouldn't have run off." Namida pretends to act clueless and blinks a couple times with innocent purple eyes, even though the guy could tell he was being mocked by her teasing tone of voice. "Eeeehh~? It looked like you were harassing her though? She ran away from YOU, after all. Be sure not to go overboard when picking up girls. Didn't you know? Clingy men are unpopular~"

He clicks his tongue and removes his foot away from the wall. His eyes studying her form up and down as he shakes his Slurpee drink in circles. "Geeeeeez. Anyway, the heck are you even wearing? You think you look cute dressed like that? You know that guys don't like that though right?" Ah yes of course. She's been in this situation before. When a guy doesn't get the girl, he immediately goes for the shaming tactic. As if his words rang any truth in them to begin with. Namida is well aware how attractive she is to men. Especially when all dolled up in her favorite Dark Girly fashion. She simply giggles and plays along. "Eheheh~! I'm aware, buuuuuut." Her index fingers create an X shape sign and she smiles a bit TOO nicely. "I'm not some guy's dress up doll, iiiiiiidiot~"

His eyebrow twitches, but Namida presses on. It was her turn to comment on his appearance as she gives him the ol' 'slowly judging you up and down' look. He looked like he went inside a thrift shop and picked out random clothes from a single rack that consisted of cheetah prints, shorts and beach clothes. He could've pulled off the male gyaru look, if only everything wasn't so mismatched. This dumbass really thought he could pick up girls looking so sleazy? "Anyways, who are you to be saying this to me? Look at yourself. I mean, it's whatever. As long as you think it looks cool, I guess~" That REALLY got to him. "You little-!" He was increasingly getting more and more pissed at seeing that fake ass smile the more she spoke with. He pulls out a pocket knife and attempts to throw drink his drink at her to ruin her expensive blouse.

Nobume had been within the Kabuki district since Princess Soyo had wanted to visit Kagura. Of course, since she had become the princess’ body guard she would tag along anywhere to assure her safety. Nobume didn't really have much else she desired doing given how the Mimawarigumi didn't exist anymore. Since she had finished dropping the princess off, Nobume decided to grab some donuts before going back. 

 She'd nibble on her donuts while on her way back when she witnessed a woman being harassed. It certainly did bother her. Men in Edo Japan did not think highly of women, only seeing them as sex objects, or as people weak and inferior to them which led to such a sight. It really irked her. People have attempted similar things with her too, and it always ended badly. For them.

 Nobume was about to step in but… another oddly dressed woman did that instead. She would still observe, just to be safe. It was relieving to see the first woman managing to escape, but the one that remained would likely become a target too.

 It was nice to see a woman as brave as her, something that was rare given the way men made women feel a lot of the time. Because, just like Nobume thought….

 This woman ended up targeted too. She was quick to jump in, although ended up getting drenched with the guy's drink, but she wasn't bothered by it. Her sword was unsheathed before immediately piercing the guy's arm to get him to drop his weapon.

“Men shouldn't get so upset when being told the truth.” She would keep the guy pierced without batting an eye then looked to check on the person that had been harassed.

“Are you okay? I had been observing since he started bothering the other girl, and had to intervene the minute a weapon was pulled out.” She'd rip out her sword from the guy's arm and held it at her side,

“To be honest though, as unusual as your clothes are… I do think they're really cute.” It was only then she realized she had dropped her bag of donuts, seeing the bag collapsed on the ground a few feet away.

“My donuts…” Despite her monotone voice, it was obvious she was just a little peeved over that. It's fine though, she can buy more.

[eienias20]

BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!

SPOILERS

I know I made a post about my love of BanG Dream! already but i left out one part of my journey because I believe it deserves its own spot.

The last piece of anime content was BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! and I can not express how much those 13 episodes moved me. Such a short runtime in the grand scheme of things but they did absolutely stellar work, introduced many new characters to the universe and told a very emotional journey.

Anon, Tomori, Taki, Soyo, Raana, I've come to love them so dern much. Thinking back on it, the season had quite a few similarities with the 1st season of BanG Dream! which intro'd Poppin Party (Kasumi, Arisa, Rimi, Tae, Saaya) and even had its own dramatic moments that were well down with a satisfying finale.

This though, man this just hit in every way I'm sure it wanted to hit.

It's MyGO (Eps 1 - 7) Thoughts LINK

It's MyGO (Eps 8 -13) Thoughts LINK

All I was told before i watched it, well nothing but a few comments stated that they were excited for me to watch it, really wanted me to get around to it and I can see why.

If I had known too much beforehand ESPECIALLY regarding episodes 7 - 10 idk if they would've smashed my feelings the way that they did so I am glad everyone was so thoughtful in their comments.

I cried a lot watching this series and when I watched certain episodes again, it still got me hard. Few things more devastating than hearing Tomori say she "hates bands" after what just went down, ep 10 is the greatest comeback of all time. everything before building up to that moment and executed perfectly.

I want more of this group. I know the next BanG Dream! anime is focused on Ave Mujica and it airs next year, January i believe and I am very excited to watch it. I just can't wait to see these girls again. And hey, since their last episode was like 75% Ave Mujica maybe we can flip that and have an episode next year be 75% MyGO XD

For real tho i think how the group was left off in episode 13 was a perfect place to put them for whatever is to come. Gosh i love them all.

Tomori is just so precious and I badly wanted to see her succeed. Anon is such a change for a POV character as she wasn't even committed at all in the beginning (shown by how lax she was on learning the guitar), Taki and Tomori's bond was great to watch and I love how it played out that even though the former wanted to this for the latter, she wound up breaking things even more tho she didn't intend to.

And Soyo. Oh Soyo. idk how I can sum her up beyond she is endlessly fascinating and tragic and different from pretty much every other BanG Dream! character

And Raana was just there for the ride, the stray cat. She's endlessly amusing and I came to appreciate her presence pretty quick. She is also one of the many things tying back to the first season.

I could continue to go on but all this just makes me want to watch it again.

This officially my second favorite anime of all time only behind Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds and I now leave you all with one last moment between Anon and Tomori that gave me the warm fuzzies.

[historyhermann]

BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! Spoiler-Filled Review

BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! is an anime series adapting the band MyGO!!!!!. Its the latest adaptation of Bushiroad's BanG Dream! music media franchise, also known as Bandori. Koudai Kakimoto is series director. Sanzigen animated the series.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the fiftieth article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on September 29, 2023.

This series has a simple premise: a girl returning from the U.K., Anon Chihaya (voiced by Rin Tateishi), returns to her homeland of Japan, and learns that everyone at her new school, Honeoka Girls Academy, are in bands. So, she tries to create one of her own, meeting avid rock collector Tomori Takamatsu (voiced by Hina Yomiya), piano player Sakiko "Saki" Togawa (voiced by Kanon Takao), and a student from a prestigious academy, Soyo Nagasaki (voiced by Mika Kohinata). However, she faces an unforeseen obstacle: Tamori, Soyo, and Taki were former band members. Guitarist Mutsumi Wakaba (voiced by Watase Yuzuki) and drummer Taki Shiina (voiced by Coco Hayashi) were CRYCHIC's other members. At first, it seems that Taki caused the previous band to split apart.

In many ways, BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! differs from BanG Dream!, which aired three seasons from 2017 to 2020, short series such as Pastel Life, CiRCLE Thanks Party!, and Morfonication, and the five films related to the franchise. More broadly, Bandori was created by Takaaki Kidani, president of Bushiroad, in January 2015, with Kō Nakamura as writer of the manga. In fact, the franchise itself compromises various manga issues and volumes, and a light novel, until September 2017, overlapping with the beginning of the anime series. Later, a game was created, and the related manga, RAiSe! The story of my music, began in February 2019. 

As for this series, the CGI looks better than in previous iterations and the cast remains realistic, even with a feel which isn't like other shows centered around girl bands. It was even recommended by Anime Feminist, calling it a sweet, and enjoyable, introduction of a new group in the franchise (and girl band anime in general), and an "easy recommendation." There is much more going on than this in the series, however. While I'm not aware of every detail about the characters, the characters are relatable in many ways, to those who have been part of a band, and those who haven't.

I haven't seen a series which begins with a band breakup in the first episode, bringing with it angst and emotions. Most series centered around girl's bands follow a similar structure as the characters build-up the band through the first (and sometimes only) season. Unfortunately, BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! is a bit rocky at first. Viewers are thrown into a practice session. Saki quits the band. Taki demands to know whether this is true. Mitsumi admits that being in the band wasn't fun.

The writers, such as head writer Yuniko Ayana, do a good job of calming those rocky, chaotic beginnings. This begins by focusing on Anon. She is a young woman with long pink hair who returns from the U.K. She tries to remake herself. As a new student at Honeoka Girls Academy, she meets Tomori, who collects rocks for fun. In the process, it is easy to relate to both characters. Social interaction tires out Anon. Tomori is more introverted. Taki pushes Anon away, calling her "scum" and doesn't want to interact with anyone else. The drama, animation style, and music pull you in even more.

At first, it seems that a new band comprising Anon, Taki, and Tomori is possible, thanks to Soyo, with various meetings are RING, where Taki works. However, Anon is controlling and Soyo seems to have a hidden agenda. This doesn't get any better, even as Anon and Tomori get closer, with the revelation that her diary entries are actually songs (or at least they can be songs). One of those is Spring Sunlight, which she composed when she was part of CRYCHIC, as shown in a flashback in the third episode. The fourth episode hints at Soyo's real agenda. She claims that no one is at fault for CRYCHIC breaking apart. Later, she challenges Taki, declaring that everything will turn out the same way with this band, claiming that they never connected.

The story leads viewers to see Anon as controlling and problematic, Tomori as submissive, and Taki as more forthright. While Anon is arrogant and selfish, there is more to it. For one, emotions are high between all of them. The yuri subtext within this series, and the franchise, is clear. The feelings between Taki and Tomori are clear, with Taki having a soft spot for her, while Anon teases Taki. In addition, after Kaname Rāna (voiced by Hina Aoki) calls Tomori an "interesting woman," Taki protects her. Occasionally, during BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!, Taki blushes when talking to Tomori, when they are talking one-on-one.

Rana is one of the more interesting characters, as she only participates in the band when she feels like it. She doesn't want to get caught up in the drama between the other girls. She is extremely skilled at playing the electric guitar. Often she wows people with her skills. Anon worries about Rana outshining her. Clearly, Rana's skills go beyond Anon's meager guitar skills. As a result, Anon attempts to become competent at guitar playing, but takes shortcuts, which backfire.

It takes Taki to tell Anon the truth about her for her to open up. She confides in Tomori that Taki was right. She reveals in a date-not-date at the Sky Forest National Aquarium, with Tomori, that when she was studying abroad in England, she couldn't keep up. In a very relatable scene, Anon is excited to be in another country, but can't understand what people are saying. Since she doesn't know much English people ignore her. She is even nervous to introduce herself to the class.

After she says that her whole life she has been running away from her problems, Tomori ends up reassuring her that even if she runs into a dead end, you look for a path and try and move forward. She even admits that Anon pulls her forward. She says she wants to move forward, even if she feels lost. Ultimately, Anon and Tomari agree to perform a live concert, despite the band's lack of preparation.

The character writing (and storytelling) of BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! on another tier, with real emotions and comedy mixed together, with love triangles, with good use of the light, and dark, to symbolize the moods and thoughts of the characters. The sixth episode brings all of this to the fore. It makes clear that Anon is still a beginning guitarist. While she plays guitar, her fingers get hurt. Taki tries to compose music. But she causes fissures in part by being too hard on everyone.

Rana's character shines in later episodes, not only as the "stray cat" as some characters call her. She is the only character who distances herself from the emotional conflict between all of them. However, as shown in the sixth episode, her lack of presence causes stress on Taki (called "Ricky" by Anon), who attempts to be the leader of the band, rejecting help from anyone. Rana later helps Tomori express herself by playing the right music behind her, giving what she is saying meaning. She also calls them all "boring women" due to their arguments with each other, and takes a step back from the band.

Even so, the band puts on a stellar performance in the seventh episode, despite the fact none of them feel ready, and they have little live performance experience. Other bands, shown in the BanG Dream franchise, like Afterglow and Poppin' Party, make an appearance. Tomori's voice shines above all of them, as she believes that her songs are "screams" from her heart. Everyone is in the groove, except Soyo. She's caught up in the past. Angrily, she grumbles when the band begins playing Spring Sunlight. She snaps, almost claiming the song for herself, even though it was Tomori that composed it, not her.

The seventh episode of BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! makes Soyo's motives abundantly clear: she wants the band to crash and fail, and revival of CRYCHIC. Her beliefs echo Jay Gatz/Gatsby, in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby who famously told Nick: "Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!" Just as it was a failure for Gatsby, it is also a failure for Soyo. She attempts to rope Saki back into the band. Her goal is to bring together the former band members, including Tomori and Taki. She sees Anon as someone who can further her goals. She can't accept the reality: that CRYCHIC is dead and gone.

Although Anon was controlling, Soyo is much more manipulative. She claims that she is sick and cannot go into band practice, causing the band to split apart. Later, she texts Saki repeatedly, but gets no response, since Saki blocked her. But Soyo won't stop. She even strong-arms Mutsumi into meeting Saki. This doesn't go as she expects. In a heated discussion, Saki calls out Soyo for being selfish and tells her to forget the past. She tops this off, with a bold declaration: "CRYCHIC has been destroyed. It will never be revived." Unsurprisingly, Soyo begs and pleads Saki to reconsider, even after Saki tells her to leave her alone. This leads to the clincher: "you only really think of yourself, don't you?" This completely destroys Soyo.

Saki feels that she told Soyo the cold, hard truth, while Mutsumi stands there, unsure what to do. The story's construction makes you somewhat sympathize with Soyo. This is despite the fact she is a jerk, just like Saki. However, there is more going on. The ninth episode of BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!! makes this clear. In a flashback, the origin of Soyo's depression is shown. She moved around a lot as a kid and her mother doesn't come around much. These memories are bathed in a warm light. They include remembrances CRYCHIC's formation and its breakup, and playing a bass. Soyo comes to realize that Saki's words about her were right.

Soyo's actions don't only affect her: they impact her fellow band members. As noted earlier, her actions cause the band to splinter, with Tomori blaming herself for everything that's happening. Soyo actively ignores Tomori and Anon, who only want to talk to her. Taki even confronts her. Soyo defends herself by claiming she told lies to keep the band together. Despite the fact that Soyo, who seems to imply, almost in a homophobic way, that Taki is nothing without Tomari, she restrains herself from punching her. After the new bassist (and classmate of Taki), Umiri Yahato, leaves, Taki makes matters worse: she explains what Soyo told her. As a result, Anon declares that they don't "need her. Tari is unsure what to do as Tomori bawls her eyes out, with Tomori questioning whether she wants to be in a band.

All of this comes down to teenage angst, either between Tari and Soyo, or more generally. Some fans were right to say, after this episode, that Soyo is the jerk. Taki, Soyo, and Anon, at minimum, are horrible. Tomori isn't, nor is Rana. The characters in this series go beyond the bad/good binary and are more complex than they seem on the surface. Surely, this could have been shown in more episodes, but the thirteen episodes of BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! didn't seem rushed. They perfectly show the angst the characters went through, making them relatable. All of them have clear (and understandable) goals and motivations.

Otherwise, Tomori's astronomy club could be called an "autism club." This, however, only scratches the surface. Tomori doesn't want to repeat the mistakes of the past, as she did with her previous band. Taki is one of her only friends. In the third episode, Tomori composes a song about her social isolation. While she tried to fit in, she felt alone even when she was with other people. Tomori is not unique in feeling this way. Consider the protagonist Bocchi in Bocchi the Rock! who occasionally has anxiety attacks, or other protagonists such as Shoko Komi (in Komi Can't Communicate), Rina Tennoji (in Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club), Bocchi Hitori (in Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu), and Sasaki (in Azumanga Daioh).

By the tenth episode of BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!, it seemed that the band won't get back together: the members had split and are doing their own things. Tomori is determined to reunite the band. Soyo pushes back and asks about Soyo. One person helps her, playing background music to match her feelings: Rana. She calls Tomori an "interesting girl," helping give Tomori's spoken word poems/songs meaning. Tomori is successful in getting Tari to play drums, and Soyo and Anon to play guitar. The latter is possible after Soyo and Anon talk. Anon hears what Soyo has to say. Both realize they are lost. The episode ends with Tomori, Rana, Tari, and Soyo playing a rock song together. It is about how the band was blasted apart into nothing. All of them (apart from Rana) begin crying, with their memories flooding back.

While, Tomori is the only "normal" person, Rana goes above the fray of the emotional conflicts. She becomes a bigger part of the band by the eleventh episode. Soyo is partially redeemed, after she admits she used all of them, but stays with them regardless. Tomori leads the band forward, pushing them to do public performances. Taki remains stubborn, not wanting to perform. Despite continued conflicts, the friendship between them grows. Even Soyo and Tari become friends-of-sorts. Most significantly, Anon comes up with their new band name: Maigo, meaning "lost girls." This later becomes "It's My Go!," hence the title of this anime.

There is one interesting connection to the previous BanG Dream series in BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!: Rana's grandmother, Shifune Tsuzuki, ran the club SPACE!. It connects the two series together, making clear they are in the same world. It also makes the crossovers-of-sorts of characters within the BanG Dream franchise smooth and without much explanation. There isn't a need for a direct confirmation of this. Take for example the Season Two opening of Milo Murphy's Law, "The Phineas and Ferb Effect." That episode indicated that characters from Phineas and Ferb would crossover into that series. In this series, such confirmation would be unnecessary.

The tension between the characters fades away as they bear their emotions on stage in a performance which compromises most of the twelfth episode. Tomori sings her heart out about finding herself and loss. She ends up embarrassing Taki when introducing everyone. Then, she explains what each of them means to her. To her, being lost is fine. Powerfully, Tomori sings about feeling scared, hurt, self-righteousness, moving forward, and not hiding anything.

This heavily music-centered episode is the last one which centers on this band. At the episode's end, Soyo pushes away Mutsumi. She doesn't want to see her again. At the same time, Saki recruits Mutsumi and Yutenji Nyamu (voiced by Akane Yonezawa) into the new band she is forming. This is reinforced by the final episode. Soyo, Tomori, Tari, Rana, and Anon meet in RING for their band. Anon and Tomori meet Uika Sumika (voiced by Rico Sasaki) outside a planetarium. Soyo realizes she's self-centered. None of these interactions are the central focus. Instead the story focuses on Saki's new band: Ave Mujica.

This band is led by Saki, who demands that they hide their real / true identities by wearing masks. Their debut concert begins like a play. Each wears mask which hide most or only part of their face. They begin with introductions and give themselves code names of sorts. The song they play has horror vibes and has images which connect to the Moon. To make matters worse, Saki doesn't even have an after-party with them. She returns home to her alcoholic father, who she calls "rotten."

If it wasn't apparent enough from the final episode, the story of Soyo, Tomori, Tari, Rana, and Anon will be in the background in another series. Instead, the story will center on Ave Mujica now, even though Saki is terrible. The sequel is entitled BanG Dream! Ave Mujica. Whether the song played in the final episode of BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! is weak, not fully there with a metal / hard rock vibe, gothic metal, or pretentious, it is clearly meant to close one chapter and open another.

Personally, after watching all thirteen episodes, I'm not very sympathetic to Saki. More likely than not, BanG Dream! Ave Mujica will center on trying to make Saki sympathetic, just as the writers did, particularly, with Soyo and Anon in this series. Some may dislike this series because of the angst, or argue it was not as strong as D4DJ. However, the difference is that D4DJ, from what I remember, didn't have angst at any level comparable to this series.

BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! is more than the adaptation of a five-member band. It is similar to previous parts of the BanG Dream! franchise, either the three-season BanG Dream!, which aired from 2017 to 2020, the chibi BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! Pico series, Morfonication, the five films, and other parts of this expansive franchise. It has a tone which is very soft, comforting, and with drama, but is not over the top. It is hard to say that it integrates "canonical queerness and themes of gender identity" like D4DJ, as some described it. Nor does it focus on the reality of being a young caregiver like BanG Dream!.

While I can't be sure whether this series has similar vibes to Uma Musume Pretty Derby, as some have asserted, it shares no similarities with other music-themed series. The "delightful" Carole & Tuesday strangely has all of its songs sung in English and has themes centered around race, gender, and environment, which garnered its some criticism. Then there's the mix of healing and music depicted in Healer Girl, the slice-of-life feel of K-On, and the series within the Love Live! idol music franchise. Adding to this is the combination of fantasy and idol music in Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror, which is, itself, a spinoff from the aforementioned franchise, which recently ended. This doesn't even account for the many other music series.

Personally, I wish that BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! could have focused on Anon, Tomori, Rana, Tari, and Soyo for another season instead of pivoting to an entirely different band. In that way, the series isn't as strong as it could be. However, it still goes to extremes, with peaks and depressing valleys. It is more ambitious than any other BanG Dream! series and features Tomori, a neurodivergent-coded character. All of this interlinks with melodrama. The visuals also keep pace with the narrative tone, which has clear awkwardness. At the same time, the series' abrupt conclusion could be purposeful.

The voice actors are all very talented. For instance, Coco Hayashi is known for voicing Mirai Momoyama in the idolish Kiratto Pri☆Chan, Setsuna Yūki in an OAV entitled Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Next Sky, and Ikuko Kamiyashiki in Stella of the Theater: World Dai Star. She voiced characters in Bocchi the Rock!, High-Rise Invasion, Luminous Witches, and Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai as well. Hina Aoki voiced characters in series such as The Great Cleric and Cardfight!! Vanguard will+Dress. Hina Yomiya prominently voiced Anna Yamada in The Dangers in My Heart and Lainie Cyan in The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady. She will voice protagonist Honami Konohoshi in Stardust Telepath, which premieres in early October.

Other voice actors, Mika Kohinata, Rin Tateishi, Akane Yonezawa, Hazuki Tanda, Kanon Takao, Mei Okada, Rico Sasaki, and Yuzuki Watase specifically, are just as talented. Although Kohinata, Tateishi, and Yonezawa, are new to voice work, their talent shines through in this series as Soyo, Anon, and Yutenji. In contrast, Tanda prominently voiced Miyū Sakurada across the D4DJ franchise. In addition, Okada voiced Marika Mizushima and Watse voiced Miiko Takeshita in the same series. Those voice roles could explain why they voiced characters in this series.

Takao also had many voice roles. This included characters in Asteroid in Love, Bibliophile Princess, Edens Zero (Hermit Mio), and Management of a Novice Alchemist (Sarasa Feed). Additionally, Sasaki voiced Poporon in Dropkick on My Devil!, Ayoko Yamada in Kageki Shoujo!!, and Chisa Sasuga in Stella of the Theater.

The BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! director, Koudai Kakimoto, is known, in part, for his work as an episode director and storyboard director on many other iterations of the BanG Dream franchise. He was an episode director on Library War and Le Chevalier d'Eeon, and storyboarder on A Lull in the Sea, to name a few. The series writer, Yuniko Ayana, in contrast, has written on many series, including series composition throughout the BanG Dream! franchise. She wrote episodes of D4DJ First Mix, Flip Flappers, Given, Kinmoza Kiniro + Mosaic, and Sweet Blue Flowers. Considering that some of these series have yuri subcontext, or even yaoi themes (in the case of Given), that undoubtedly influenced how this series played out. After all, Ayana is a go-to person "for yuri content."

The animation studio for this series, Sanzigen, previously produced seasons 2 and 3 of BanG Dream! (and other parts of the franchise) and D4DJ, provided key animation for I want to eat your pancreas, photography for Little Witch Academia, 3D graphics for Wandering Son, and 3D layout for Yuri Is My Job!. The company has worked on many other series beyond this small grouping.

Despite the fact that there is a lot of angst, emotions flaring, and drama, and the series abruptly ends, BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! stands strongly on its own, unlike other anime centered on girls' bands. That, combined with the focus on the music process, makes the series shine above others which have aired this year, even if series airing later this year are just as strong.

BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! can be streamed on Crunchyroll.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[nian-7]

Hi! Not much of a tumblr user myself, but every now and then, I check in and find something to peak my interest, and HCs are one of the few things that bring me to pages like this. Recently got into Bandori! Also became aware of MyGO! From hindsight, my favorites from that band are Taki, Soyo, and Anon. I know it's been several months since the anime had finished, but I'm hard-pressed for some Taki fan-content. GN! alphabet for her, please?

hello! i love taki too, she's super pretty! i hope you enjoy!

Shiina Taki x gn!reader

✧fluff alphabet (a, b, h, i, j)

Affection

-For Taki, she's not a big pda person nor does she like a lot of physical affection from her partner. She wants it on her own time which is rare that she'll ask or even initiate it at all. If she had to pick a form of affection that was her favorite, she'd pick holding your hand.

Beauty

-Your face. Not in a shallow way where she only cares about looks but in the way that she can't help but stare at your face forever. She thinks you look so attractive and can't help it. It does embarrass her when you ask why she's been staring at you for so long though.

Hugs

-A simple hug from the front is what Taki enjoys best. She doesn't enjoy the surprise hugs very much but won't scold you for it if you do it. A calm, warm hug from you is all she wants.

Impression

-She's a very cold and aloof person at first and likely didn't really pay attention to you at first. Making friends let alone finding a romantic partner isn't something she was all that interested in at first so her first impression wasn't anything more than seeing you as any other person.

Jealousy

-In short, Taki can get jealous easily. Not over someone like Tomori but she gets jealous over very touchy or teasing people who tend to touch you or tease you a little too much for her liking. She'll step in when it gets to be too much but dislikes it when you point out that she got jealous...

please do not repost any of my work without my permission, thank you for reading.

[ciaossu-imagines]

Hello there! For the mini event may you please do gintama with the au avatar the last airbender, thank you!

Hello there, my lovely anon! I definitely can do that - I really couldn't come up with solid ideas, so I admit to taking the lazy way out, so have a pretty comprehensive list on what type of Benders everyone would be in this AU! And guys, there are so many characters in Gintama so I swear it wasn't as easy and lazy as it looks! Thanks for sending in a request and I hope you'll enjoy!

Okay, so we're going into this AU with there being the four major bending types - Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Each bending type is as it is portrayed in Avatar: The Last Airbender, with people possessing different degrees of bending and different skills being present within each bending type.

So, when considering which type of Bender each character would be, I kind of broke it down into personality types and traits and qualities to look for, based on what I figure the 'stereotypical' Bender is for each of the four.

Earth Benders are a little rough around the edges, slow to anger, slow to decide on things, but stubborn once their mind is made up. They can be sensitive and they are often very patient.

Air Benders are gentle souls, respectful and adaptable, changeable. They're fast, both in their movements and in their thoughts.

Water Benders are typically calm and easy-going, flexible enough to adapt to their companions or situations. They're often quite easy to talk to and rather content with their lives.

Fire Benders are often prideful and confident individuals who are loyal, determined and ambitious. They can be very playful and fun but they often also have very short fuses on their tempers, which can be very volatile and explosive.

Keeping that in mind, this is what I figure the characters would be for Benders.

Earth Benders

Shimura Shinpachi

Shimura Tae

Shimura Ken

Chin Pirako/Doromizu Pirako

Kanemaru

Otose

Hanako

Saigou Tokumori

Saigou Teruhiko

Doromizu Jirochou

Hiraga Gengai

Hiraga Saburou

Haji

Terada Tatsugorou

Otaki

Jigsaw

Ofusa

Kirara

Urara

Rokkaku Kirie

Hongou Hisashi

Terakado Tsuu

Terakado Ichi

Hachibei Takaya/Takachin

Takatin

Rotten Maizou

Hijikata Toushirou

Sasaki Tetsunosuke

Kumanaku Seizou

Saitou Shimaru

Sasaki Isaburo

Oboro

Katsura Kotarou

Dragon Leader

Fat Dragon

Nakamura Kyoujirou

Shachi

Kameyama Duuke

Onijishi

Hijikata Tamegorou

Tsukuyo

Mutsu

Daraku

Abuto

Shijaku

Blu-Rayko

Prince Dai

Princess Bubbles

Otakai Sayaka

Water Benders

Sataka Gintoki

Kanemaru

Hasegawa Taizou

Hachirou

Tatsumi

Obi Hajime

Ketsuno Crystel

Ketsuno Seimei

Kuzunoha

Uchino

Hashida Kantarou

Hashida Kanschichirou

Hashida Kahei

Daigo

Kitaooji Daigorou

Izumi

Kawakami Bansai

Yamazaki Sagaru

Kamiyama

Harada Unosuke

16th Ikeda Yaemon

Hattori Zenzou

Wakikaoru

Momochi Rappa

Kurokono Tasuke

Takechi Henpeita

Kidomaru

Ebina

Seita

Suzuran

Hinowa

Kamenashi

Neptune Shokaku

Umibouzu

Shiramizu Pinko

Anigasaki Momo

Air Benders

Ikesawa

Tama

Oryou

Azumi Agonoske

Musashi

Kozenigata Heiji

Honjou Kyoushirou

Juurouta

Murata Tetsuko

Murata Tetsuya

Murata Jintetsu

Hedoro

Nishiki Ikumatsu

Hasegawa Hatsu

Hayashi Ryuuzan

Hayashi Fuyou

Sakurajima Chiharu

Okuni

Isao Kondou

Tokugawa Shige Shige

Tokugawa Soyo

Tokugawa Mori Mori

Tokugawa Sada Sada

Sarutobi Ayame

Elizabeth

Sakamoto Tatsuma

Yoshida Shouyou

Chougorou

Urashima

Oiwa

Rei

Enshou

Daishikyou

Mahha Noriko

Fumiko

Megami

Sorachi Hideaki

Fire Benders

Kagura

Kamui

Sakata Kintoki

Catherine

Ane

Kurogama Katsuo

Kujaku Hime Kada

Madame Yagami

Kanbei

Yagyuu Kyuubei

Yagyuu Binbokusai

Yagyuu Koshinori

Toujou Ayumu

Kitaooji Itsuki

Nishino Tsukamu

Minamito Sui

Shirino Douman

Gedoumaru

Antenmaru

Mone

Professor Meguro

No.305

No.502

Death Cancer

Ochi-san

Ben

Haga Kenji

Yocchan

Kimiko

Matsudaira Katakuriko

Matsudaira Kuriko

Hanano Saki

Goemon

Bichie

Sougo Okita

Hitotsubashi Nobu Nobu

Itou Kamotarou

Shinohara Shinnoshin

Imai Nobume

Ikeda Asaemon

18th Ikeda Yaemon

Utsuro

Jiraia

Banzou

Takasugi Shinsuke

Kajima Matako

Okada Nizou

Tendou Soutatsu

Mashiroi Kaguzou

Mashiroi Utsuzou

Inoue

Tasuke

Kuraba Touma

Eromes

Kurikan

Okita Mitsuba

Housen

Otohime

Admiral Abou

Ougai

Soutatsu

Kouka

Suitsu

Prince Hata

Jii

[qdbs-writes]

May I request an imagine where Fujin has S/O who is a cat person and one day gifts him a cat? The cat would like Fujin a lot where the cat would hang out with Fujin more than the reader?

sorry this took so long, between job applications and the heatwave where i live, getting requests done has been hard x

Giving Fujin A Kitten Headcanons

- so one of your lady cats gets out before she can be spayed and gets herself pregnant, and now you’ve got anywhere between 1 to 12 kittens who need good homes

- you decide to kindly bestow one of these lovely kittens onto your friendly neighbourhood shinto deity, fujin! he’s been very welcoming with the cats you already have and he was delighted when you said you’d like to give him one of the tiny kitties

- he will begin prepping the sky temple with all the things a kitten might need: food, treats, beds, toys and a very impressive cat tree

- when the kitten is finally old enough to leave momma, you ask if he’s picked out any names yet, and he says he would like to name it ‘Soyokaze’ (meaning “soft breeze”) or just “Soyo” for short

- but like all kittens, Soyo is a little shit

- thankfully the sky temple is pretty beaten up so you don’t notice all the scratches on the carved wooden pillars, but some places do reek of rampant cat piss

- you teach fujin the essential art of ‘burrito jail’ for when Soyokaze nibbles his feet during mediation

- its amazing that a creature only weighing in at 4kg can take up so much of a wind god’s time

- don’t get me wrong, fujin loves Soyokaze, it just so happens that Soyokaze has the destructive power of an angry Tarkatan when left unsupervised

- Soyokaze also loves fujin but chooses to depict that love in a way only cats can (with regular violence)

- occasionally they spend some calm, loving time together, and the chaos makes those moments all the more precious

[katsura-ishidaakira]

[EP 297] Keep Your Farewells Short

Feigned Illness Arc II

PLOT: Recapping from the previous episode, Kagura remains in the hospital feigning an illness when trouble starts brewing when Sougo Kondo and Hijikata arrive to the scene escorting Soyo.

(How badly does Katsura want to send Leader to the afterlife?? Hahaha)

[insolitus-academy]

♚ // Face Claim

Full name Face Claim: Kang Jihyun (Soyou)

Group/Band/Occupation: Soloist; Former member of SISTAR

Nationality: South Korean

Faceclaim age: 28 years old

♚ // Character; Basic information

Quote: “To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.” -Friedrich Nietzsche

Full name character: Kang Jihyun

Nickname: Soyou

Realm of birth (if earth, nationality): Earth, South Korea

Age: 46 years old (Bitten at 23 years old)

Date of Birth: February 12, 1974

Gender: Cis Female

Preferred Pronouns: She/Her

Race: Vampire

Sexual Orientation: Pansexual

What languages does your character speak?: Korean, English, Russian, and German

What is the level of Korean and how did they learn to speak it (For non-Korean characters from other realms & other earth-countries): Soyou was born and raised in Jeju, South Korea, which is why she can speak Korean fluently.

♚ // Character; Appearance

Skin Color: Extremely pale

Eye color: Blood Red

Scars: Bite mark on her neck

Piercings:

Three lobe piercings

An industrial piercing on her right ear

A helix and tragus piercing on her left ear

Tattoos: None

Hair color: Dark brown; Almost black

Abnormalities: None

Horns/ wings/ etc.: Retractable fangs and nails

Transformed form: Soyou’s fangs and nails are retractable, which means that she can show them at will. However, when she feeds, both her fangs and nails automatically elongate.

♚ // Character; Personality

Six personality traits:

Independent

Observant

Hardworking

Charming

Extremely Loyal

Impatient

Likes: Reading, Walking Around at Night, Philosophy, Music, and Swimming

Dislikes: Dull Conversations, Inorganization, A Sluggish Pace, Heat, and Heights

Manias: Soyou has the tendency to want to keep everything neat and organized. The only problem is that her definition of “neat and organized” is: even numbers, symmetrical shapes, clutter-free spaces, and items following the alphabetical order. She’s never been diagnosed with OCD, so she prefers not to use the term. In the nearby future however, she plans to see a specialist so whether she has this mental disorder.

Phobias: She is afraid of falling. After biting her, Soyou’s sire threw her body off a cliff. And although she could barely feel anything aside from the pain emanating from her neck, the sensation of free falling as well as rocks hitting her body as she eventually rolled down the rocky mountain stuck with her. Although she can disguise her fear as nonchalance, Soyou has a hard time whenever she’s up at high places. She’s also even more affected when she has to go up mountains.

Animal: A Fox

Religion: No

Favorite song:

It’s Only My World – Jeon Inkwon and Lee Hi

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkms7YfOauk

Vice: Greed

Virtue: Diligence

Personality description:

Being the eldest daughter of farmers, Soyou was very familiar with the concept of hard work. She was raised with the belief that if she wanted something, she shouldn’t just ask for it. Instead, she should work hard to get it.

Ever since she was younger, Soyou had always been quiet. People often misjudged her for being cold and distant because her default expression was somewhat of a glare. In reality, Soyou was just painfully awkward and shy.

However, when you get to know her, you can expect that she will care for you (to the point of being a mother hen) and laugh at the smallest or silliest things.

♚ // Character; Powers

Magical Powers: N/A

Non-magical Powers:

Increased strength

Increased speed

Minor manipulative powers

Minor elemental power: Water

Swimming

Singing

Weaknesses:

Soyou’s want for success often gives her tunnel vision. As an effect, she can be quite shortsighted at times, since she often misses the bigger picture. Her impatience also leads her to various difficult situations a lot of the time. Paired with a sharp tongue, Soyou’s short temper causes various heated arguments with different people. Lastly, as a vampire that was only turned 20 years ago, Soyou is weak against fire and can barely control her blood lust. She’s actively working on the latter to ensure that the people around her are safe from her.

♚ // Character; The Student

Study Style: Soyou is an overachiever through and through. She takes her academics very seriously and strives to top all her classes. She usually studies alone, since she finds it hard to concentrate when there’s chatter around her. Despite this, Soyou isn’t opposed to group study sessions so long as the people she studies with are quiet and only talk when needed.

For required group projects, she usually sits back and follows when someone takes the lead. In cases where her groupmates don’t, however, Soyou usually takes the reigns and acts as leader.

Favorite class: Swimming & Diving

Least favorite class: Ancient Runes

Classes (5-8):

Finance

Economics

Marketing

Manipulation

Archery

Ancient Runes

Alchemy

Swimming & Diving

♚ // Character; The Past

Date of Birth: February 12, 1974

Date of Death: December 26, 1997

Crime Record: N/A

Has your character attended Insolitus Academy in the past? No

Background:

Soyou was the eldest daughter of her family. Her mother and father both worked at their field, and they had a simple yet fulfilling life. She had three other siblings (one sister and two brothers) who she loved and spoiled whenever she could. Despite various of her peers wanting to move to Seoul, Soyou never felt the need or want to move to the capital of South Korea. She simply adored the peacefulness and simplicity that her hometown offered.

This all changed in 1997, on the evening after Christmas.

Just as it was every year, it was a cold winter and Soyou was bundled up as she trekked up one of the mountains near their home. There was a small, roofed pergola that she always visited during the colder parts of the year. It looked over the rest of Jeju Island, and the sight of the wide, night sky that was draped over fields and small houses never failed to comfort her.

She had her knees to her chest and was cradling her thermos of hot tea when she heard someone walking behind her. Turning her head, she was greeted with a smile by her sire. (But of course, she didn’t know that then.) Assuming they were a tourist, Soyou smiled back at them. Living in Jeju meant that she often saw or met people who visited the island for a few days, after all.

She barely had time to process what happened. Suddenly, all Soyou knew was that her thick jacket and top were suddenly ripped from her body. Pain emanated from her neck, and a passing thought was that her sire’s arms that gently cradled her head so that they could have an easier time biting into her skin was a stark contrast to the agony she was in. Minutes suddenly felt like hours as Soyou felt her life literally being drained out of her.

Her sire threw her body over the cliff after they drank her blood, and until now, Soyou never found out why they didn’t just kill her instead of turning her into a vampire. Eventually, Soyou came to with a burning in her throat. With a speed she didn’t know she was capable of; she ran to the nearest house and followed her instincts. After having her fill, Soyou was finally able to see out of the haze she was in and was horrified to realize that she had just killed her own family.

Soyou knew that she would be blamed by the authorities if she was ever found, so she decided to set their home on fire so that people could think that all of them died. It was only dawning on her what she had become when she decided that she had to leave Jeju Island to avoid being found. Not trusting herself, Soyou decided to swim to the mainland instead of riding a ferry to avoid further harming anyone.

Soyou eventually reached land and slowly established her new life there. In the first few years, she learned to only target people who were “bad.” This included rapists, thieves, murderers, and other deviants. When she was finally able to get a better handle on her blood lust, Soyou started working odd jobs to support herself financially. Eventually, she was able to get in touch with someone who could produce her identification cards so that she could work for larger-paying jobs. When Soyou heard of Insolitus Academy, an institution that offer its students education and shelter, she didn’t hesitate to apply and become a student. After all, she never finished studying college in Jeju Island all those years ago.

♚ // Roleplayer

Time zone: (GMT+8)

OOC! Triggers: N/A

Themes/genres you like writing the most?: Angst and Fluff! I’m honestly open to anything so long as it’ll help my character grow more.

[suchine-toki]

About the gintaladies in Silver Soul arc

Within the framework of International Women's Day, I would like to talk about something that had been on my mind for a long time.

I appreciate that Sorachi has dared to get out of certain canons that exist in the industry when it comes to creating his female characters. While it’s true that he used some stereotypes, after all the important thing is the development of them.

In this post, I wanted to refer to what happened with the women of the series in the final arc. I felt they didn’t get deeply involved with the plot. Princess Soyo, for example, represented an important political power, however, her role was reduced to being protected by Nobume. In turn, the role of Nobume (apart from the one mentioned previously) was to give information to the Yorozuya at the beginning.

But at least that was something. Otose offered herself hostage, Tae was saved, Kyuubei saved Tae, Tsukuyo saved Gintoki, and Sacchan... what did she do again?

See, I'm not trying to say their actions were useless or had no weight, but they didn’t feel especially relevant to the plot, rather to fulfill the “quota” of giving them a moment and that’s it. Other women like Mutsu and Matako, important figures within their respective groups, were shown fighting... and... fighting ya know. In general, what was done with them was to reestablish the same motivations that were already known, without taking any particular turn (although I must admit the latter wasn’t exclusive to the female characters).

Different is the case of Tama, whose sacrifice was moving and impacted on the series of events. Kagura, being the female protagonist, had more time to show, for example, her long-awaited family reunion in better terms.

That’s my impression with the first part. It’s not the best, it’s not the worst either. However, in the second part of the arc, things become more... problematic so to speak. Those who don’t get the short end of the sitck are Soyo, who reaches greater political relevance (great!) and Nobume, who continues to protect her in her position as bodyguard. But, in the absence of Gintoki, the role of the other women was to think about him. There were romantic undertones even with KAGURA, who not only remained a minor, but had established a daughter/younger sister relationship with him. And yes, I’m aware it wasn’t the first time that happened, but seeing Gintoki with her bra on his face, like a cliche romantic comedy, was unnecessarily gross. It seemed that, in the end, Sorachi was more interested in using the female characters to try to please all fans of all pairings instead of... making them important in the story. It's not about thinking “uH, roMance, bAd,” but if a certain dynamic develops in a certain way, it’s not right to throw the female character to the next ship in a condescending act. At one point, women occupied important positions of power, but it took a back seat in favor of the latter.

One of Kagura's goals in undertaking her journey was to restore Sadaharu to his original state. This is also overshadowed by the fact that Gintoki was traveling around. Even worse, she doesn't achieve her goal through her own effort: Sadaharu returns to his original state on his own.

The intervention of Tae, Kyuubei, Tsukuyo and Sacchan in the second part lies in torturing Gintoki in a strange room, giving him a hand, and destroying a power source while saying how strong women are. Yey.

And well, this is what I think in broad strokes about what happened with the women of the series in the final arc. This came out a little longer than expected, but it was a topic I wanted to talk about for some time. I insist that I don’t consider their actions to be completely irrelevant or that they contributed nothing, that would be a mistake. But their contribution to story fell short on what would be expected of them.

[gintama-polls]

Gintama Episode Tourney

Episode 268, "An Inspector's Love Begins with an Inspection" While on stakeout, Yamazaki falls in love with Tama, the robot maid.

Episode 297, "Keep Your Farewells Short" Princess Soyo, with Sougo’s help, gives her dear friend Kagura a state funeral. The second half of the Feigned Illness Arc

[zwischenstadt]

Selflishness in private life was often seen as witchcraft, though only the individual witch or selfish person had to answer for it.  But public greed or selfishness might be divinely punished by public disaster.  Thus Kongolese sought to cope with such disasters by public measures to reaffirm social harmony.  This is illustrated by the institution of mbumb kindonga, recorded by Luca da Caltanisetta, a Capuchin priest in Bwenze, eastern Kongo, in November 1697.  The need for a mbumba kindonga occurred when a village “had much sickness or many died.”  A spirit medium (nganga ngombo) was consulted, who pronounced when possessed that the sickness or “universal mortality” came about because “someone had done wrong to someone else, or by the argument that such-and-such had with so-and-so”- in short, by social tension, arguments, and rampant selfishness.  As a remedy each household “both of the living and the dead, [took] some item of ash or wood or other substance and were put together and buried together.”  Over all was raised a symbolic marker of cloth and seeds of the mba, a palm fruit.

Thus a collective sacrifice was needed to solve the problems of distress, death, and misfortune brought on by excess of selfishness.  In eighteenth-century Christian Kongo, the term mbumba is only attested in the mbumba kindonga, but an eighteenth-century dictionary of coastal Kikongo (Kisolongo) spoken outside the Christian kingdom defines mbumba as “rainbow”.  In non-Christian areas north of the Zaire, a cult of mbumba seems to have been a fertility cult, often represented by a rainbow or a snake, which involved this peaceful and harmonious dimension of life, although it might also punish the wicked with a special disease.  In the Christian kingdom this cult of the snake, attested as early as 1491, was a regular part of the religious life of the people in the eighteenth century as well, especially on the coast.

This may also have been associated by Christians with Jesus and with feminine nurturing.  An interesting spoon in the collection of Ernst Anspach, undated but perhaps carved in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century in Christian Kongo’s coastal province of Soyo, displays Christ crucified on the handle while a snake moves from his body down the handle to the ladle.  Other brass and bronze crucifixes from about the same period made in many parts of Kongo show Christ, like the blackmith’s furnace, as a woman, sometimes even nursing a child.  Thus, both the snake and the feminine characteristics of the blacksmith were associated by Christian Kongolese with Christ and with decentralized and democratized power.

These principles, with their emphasis on the ruler’s responsibility to be unselfish and to support the public interest, were difficult to maintain in a centralized, absolutist polity.  Rulers of such polities might be seen as witches because of the behavior of the founders of the states, who had killed freely and without reaproach.  But they could still be seen as morally correct if they used the power that derived from their absolutist origins in the public interest.  Kongolese were not anarchists who disapproved of authority, and thus the king’s power to kill or use violence was seen abstractly as the state’s power, which should be used in the public interest, specifically to counteract evil behavior and witchcraft.  The idea of witchcraft could therefore be applied in the political realm only when kings or other political authorities used exploitation or corruption to pursue private wealth or power, and not simply because power was centralized.

- John K. Thornton. “’I Am the Subject of the King of Congo”: African Political Ideology and the Haitian Revolution. Journal of World History. Vol 4(2) Fall 1993.