#the character design is inspired by Kings(manga)

[xochunja]

Jonathan×David

[nonbinarypirat]

Okay okay, SO let’s talk about the latest chapter of Iruma kun because the lore is JUICY. Spoilers for chapter 358. This also leaves me with even more questions while answering some I had before. So I actually had a post planned where I was going to ask why Delkira received a special and sublime classroom to begin with. I wondered if maybe he was a previous demon king’s son and maybe that was why he was already revered. But NOPE it seems not likely. It’s still possible, I just got the vibe was that he was miraculous in his achievements and power. So it kind of answers that question but we still have no info on his family, the king’s classroom, or how he was able to achieve so much. On the other hand we got some VERY VERY interesting lore on Mephisto-pheles. It also explains why he gave this task to Iruma since he obviously sees the potential for him to surpass Delkira in the future. He wants Iruma to know what it takes to be in power, somewhat as an advisor role like he has been for previous kings. By assisting a king you can understand how to rule. And by building up a country, you can know what it takes to lead a country. I already guessed that since he was already interested in Iruma. But this just adds an extra layer to why he is as fascinated by him as he is. GOD NISHI IS SO GOOD AT WRITING LORE. I ASPIRE to write something with as much depth and intricacies as this manga. She is my inspiration truly 🙏🏽

Like, look at Mephisto’s face here compared to after he met Iruma. Different face but same vibe.

Now, going back to Delkira one, we get to see more of his personality and he’s so much like Iruma!!!!! No wonder everyone and their fucking mom keeps being like, “damn why tf do I see Delkira in him.” Neither strive for power for power’s sake, instead they strive for power because they see it as a step forward in their goal and desires. They both want to find their own path rather than it just being given to them. It really shocked me at first that Delkira turned Mephisto down but it actually makes so much sense why everyone is enamored by him. That is the most undemon like thing he could have done, he had the perfect opportunity to gain all the power in the world in a quick and easy way. Any other demon would have killed for that chance. They are so fucking alike and it makes me want to rage. I love it so much, I love that we are getting to see more of him as time goes on. Him and Iruma even have the same smile! Like come on.

He even has similar jesters to Iruma!!!! This flashback is making me rethink my theories about him and his connection to Iruma. Ughhhh, I’m so fucking happy about this. Also, this nothing to do with anything but look at Delkira’s cunty lil outfit. This sheer shirt? Rolled up uniform jacket he has popped open. These tight pants with a weird belt design? I would be Delkira’s number one supporter is all I’m saying. He’s babygirl just like Iruma. Maybe that’s the requirement to be the next powerful demon king, you have to serve mother fucking CUNT if you want to rule. Anyway, I think there was more I wanted to say but I got distracted with my rant lol. I just love this lore so much, I love how Nishi handles lore drops (especially with characters) and seeing more of Delkira because I am so fascinated with him and must know more.

[matt0044]

I never liked the “cast bloat” argument or that Team RWBY don’t feel like protagonists.

Now in fairness to the first one, RWBY isn’t the only fantasy series with loads of characters that seem snuggly packed in. Many writing teams or authors want to show off facets of their world via characters born of various fantastical cultures. Y’know? Show and not tell what their world is.

But shows like RWBY can’t all be Shonen Manga designed to go on for as long as possible or at least as long as editorial wants. Especially in the age of eight episode seasons. That said, even if it’s a glimpse, I always appreciate when the world of Remnant does not stop nor end at four girls still figuring themselves out.

With Hunter X Hunter, Gon may be the face of the series with Killua as his number two but you also have Kurapika take center stage in their individual arcs like Yorknew or Leoreo sharing one with Killua in the Election arc. And even then, we will have other perspectives in any given arc.

The Chimera Ants may be the antagonists in a very fan favorite arc but they’re borderline protagonists of their own stories. Hell, Gon doesn’t even face off with the big bad but rather one he has a personal score to settle with. Instead a bunch of old mentor type characters take out the Chimera King.

RWBY clearly learned from Shonen Anime that the world doesn’t have to stop or end at the main character. After Dragon Ball, titles inspired by it afforded other characters to have their own time in the limelight rather than be purely foils for the main character.

Raven vs Cinder is relevant to them because they are important characters even if none of the titular characters are there to witness it. Furthermore, Cinder as a Maiden is connected to Ruby, Winter to Weiss, Yang to Raven, I bet the Summer Maiden will be close to Blake.

Basically, this choice keeps the world from shrinking and feel big, lived in.

And it’s hardly unique in this regard as Trixie The Golden Witch explains in her video: Is There Meaning In "Subverting" Shounen Tropes?

To argue against Team RWBY supposedly not feeling like protagonists, sometimes titular characters can feel too much like protagonists. I have been rereading Harry Potter to sort out my feelings regarding Rowling crowning herself TERF Queen. To keep it relevant, I have found the Harry only perspective both effective and limiting.

It’s effective at making the dramatic parts hit us hard as if we were in Harry’s shoes buuuuut it can feel limiting when there’s a whole school of magic with students of all sorts to get to know. It feels like there were potential side stories that could flesh out Hogwarts.

A similar criticism is often lobbed at Steven Universe. Effective but often limiting.

So… I prefer a cast bloat to there being no other characters for Team RWBY to bounce off of whether the budget calls for it or not. They call them character foils for a reason.

Circling back to RWBY, some characters are there for as long as they need to so they make the most of things to make an impression. If not, discourse would become how flat they are.

The Ace-Ops inform us of how huntsmen as basically super cops in Atlas, building up to Ironwood’s downfall. The Afterans inform us of the eccentricities of the Ever After.

Hell, who says we’ll never see them again be it in the main show or supplementary content? This provides such fertile grounds for fan content alone or future spin offs.

[kerubimcrepin]

Wakfu OVA - Book 1, The Throne of Ice [PART 1]

"Finally, we have arrived to one of my most favorite parts of Wakfu... The OVAs!" <- If I said this, I would be locked up in a psyhiatric ward forever, however, there is some truth to that.

I am a big fan of uhh the bits of the second OVA that have Joris, Kerubim, and Atcham in them. Sadly, Book 1 is not that OVA. It will have Sipho posing as Joris, and, well... that's the next best thing, ain't it? At least we'll get to analyse if he's doing a good job or not.

Ecaflip demigod memory retention deniers will be like "Ush being a core member of a powerful cult at 9-10yo for multiple reincarnations is normal".

Anyway, group chats are real in this setting. And Harebourg is their discord mod I think.

Tot I'm begging you to elaborate on this, what do you MEAN by this, what do you—

STOP USING GRIMALKINE SISTERS BEING A PART OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE FORGOTTEN AS A FLEX ON THE HATERS! I'M SCARED!

Them in the Great Wave manga when they show up and say they're at fault for Jahash and Julith's whole shtick or whatever.

Ughh.

Le meilleur journal qu'il est -

boufboul

[cant make out the rest]

little text in the corner: fji de ij

Ngl considering the fact that the King of Bonta dies within the next two years, he might have a legitimate reason not to come: being in the process of dying.

They LOVE Joris in this kingdom.

I bet real Joris would like to remain silent because, uh., lying is bad? If he tries to say the situation isn't as shitty as it seems, it might seem condescending.

So, Sipho fails at being in-character moment counter: 1. Joris would not say shitfuck here.

Oh my god... His fangs... His blush... His eyes...

One of the things I really like about the OVAs are the changes to Joris's design. While yes, like most people I miss the finer details of the previous seasons — but his new design is more sleek, and a bit more... catlike. It takes a lot of inspiration from his Aux Tresors design.

It is not the intention of the authors, but the fact that he is drawn with a mouth makes sense on a character level: he is more understandable and human than he was in the first two seasons. While he used to be a mystery back then, now he is a friend to the Brotherhood of Tofu, — and, to us, the viewers, he's just a guy.

Anyway, there is a big question here — while it seems obvious that other nations are involved — Sadida wouldn't invite other politicians to this meeting, if them seizing the Eliatrope Dofus was a secret, — just how involved were other nations? Was it mainly a Bonta-Sadida project which they let others know about? Were others interested up until the moment the Dofus were stolen, and is it the reason nobody showed up?

It seems kinda too obvious to state, however: Guys, this confirms that Joris and Harebourg are enemies.

Though, let's be real, all three of the Crepin-Jurgens are kind of opposed to the Brotherhood of The Forgotten. The trio is very... god-neutral? The outlook those three have is more of optimistic-nihilism — "the gods suck sometimes, life does too, but whatever. I need to restock the store and eat a soup, why should I ruminate on this." instead of "WE NEED TO KILL AND DETHRONE GODS IMMEDIATELY", which... creates a bit of friction.

Something to note is that Joris and the Kingdom of Bonta were involved with hiding the Dofus.

So, the Dofus disappearing, the proposition, and the condition that Amalia should be accompanied only by the Brotherhood of Tofu, are already both a political incident in on themselves, and a bunch of red flags stacked together.

Just listen: the property of a nation (the Eliatropes), which was in custody of a different nation, and can be used to save a kingdom, was stolen by a different kingdom to unlawfully demand marriage and unification of two kingdoms.

If real Joris was here, I'm sure he would be quietly having a panic attack about the fact that there may be spies in Bonta, and that Harebourg was able to do this without, let's say, knocking him out after he got all the Dofus and stealing them.

So, Sipho fails at being in-character moment counter: 2. Joris would be having a quiet panic attack, and pointing out just how fucked this is. just how fucked this is.

Sipho fails at being in-character moment counter: 3. At this moment, real Joris would come in, and say "YUGO THIS IS FUCKED!! Anyway we are going to beat Harebourg to death when we get there. I didn't want to say anything objectionable because Amalia would be sad."

He already did that in the manga. When Amalia and Eva asked him about his real opinion on Jiva getting the six Dofus.

While I think that Joris is someone who very much believes that the leaders of this world make hard decisions — and for this reason he MUST keep doing war crimes in Waven times to keep Bonta afloat, he MUST keep eating pig people and using slave labour and making explosive devices out of crackler babies, because really, 90% of war criminals quit just before true peace and prosperity—-

But, Joris is canonically enough of a feminist to be 100% pro-"pregnant women on a ship during a dangerous adventure across the world", so I think that outweighs his sense of "greater good".

In my opinion, he is more likely to think "very evil of you Harebourg, to force a woman into a relationship using the lives of her subjects. You're SICK, you're SICK, you have NO sense of romance or how a person should be treated!" and say "ughh we need to beat him up for this, Yugo. This isn't a very good deal for the Sadida. He's holding them hostage, Yugo. My main concerns are definitely not the way Amalia is being treated as an object but the political implications of that, Yugo."

Sipho literally committing character assassination out here. I will count this as the 4th time he does that.

Adamai is still very pissed off about Joris not asking before taking the Dofus. I think Joris deserves this quip very much. I wish Joris could hear Adamai be a hater towards him.

Sipho fails at being in-character moment counter: 5.

At this moment, instead of ignoring Adamai and continuing to talk, real Joris would make a funny face that implied he is in mortal pain due to someone he likes making a snide remark about him.

He is shown to be very much ashamed and worried about the fallout this will bring to his relationship with Yugo and Adamai in OVA 2.

Huppermages already did this, and it kind of failed when Ogrest's Chaos hit.

[epraim1992]

Shanks' Twin

When Colon was first revealed the first thing I notice was his helmet.

It looks identical to one worn by a boy giant from Big Mom's childhood. We never see his face.

The anime depicts him as this kid but the helmet design is different which I thought meant it was a different character in the manga.

The bar maid gives Colon food to bring to Ripley and his father. So I thought maybe his father is the kid from Big Mom's flashback

But Colon's scene with Shanks was reminiscent of Luffy asking to join Shanks' crew and I think it's a clue.

I have a theory that the boy giant is the man that looks identical Shanks.

The one who appeared to the Gorosei during Levely.

It seems like his lack of a scar was a tell tale sign he was not Shanks.

I don't think they will be twins but Doppelgangers similar to Caribou and Gaburu.

I think there was hint through Road. He dons a skull mask that looks similar to one worn by a Holy Knight during the God Valley Incident. There was speculation that there was a connection, I think Oda was planting seeds.

We know Mother Carmel was the reason John Giant joined the marines maybe she also inspired Shanks' doppelganger to join the World Government.

It was revealed that the late King Harold was a visionary king who wanted to revolutionize Elbaph one way was by fostering trade not war. I think he supported Mother Carmel's effort to get giants to enlist to build a better relationship with the World Government.

We know King Harold had Saul create the Walrus Folk School to reeducate the children of Elbaph.

I think similar with Shanks with the straw hat he passed it down to Colon's father who then gave it to him.

I think it will turn out to have belonged to Joy Boy. It was reiterated that Luffy's looks like Nika. I think Joy Boy lived in Elbaph for awhile.

It hasn't been confirmed that the giant straw hat in Mary Geoise is Joy Boys'.

But the flashback of Joy Boy highly suggests he is wearing a Straw Hat. And a popular theory is that he is a buccaneer but if not he does seem like a large human.

As to why he is human sized. I think it is because of a Devil Fruit, there is a non-canon called the Mini Mini no Mi that lets a user shrink their size.

[katerinaaqu]

Hello and welcome to this corner of contradictions! I am a proud Greek archeologist and singer who loves mythology and worldbuilding! This page will be dealing with various themes but mostly the collaboration with the amazing @artsofmetamoor and our collaboration for fanart related to the TV series, comic and manga called W.I.T.C.H as well as about millions of AUs related to that! (for instance check this AMAZING sketch with a Greek Mythology High Fantasy AU!)

Some of my work includes creating music such as:

Ballard's Sad Flute

or singing:

Dilla's Songchord (Avatar AU)

Some of the fanfictions that I do write on this fandom do include the below works, mostly one-shots and analysis on the worldbuilding

Hidden Truth Prequel: The Peak of Madness -complete-

(Diego -OC- slowly loses his mind and agony while waiting for his brother Caleb to show signs of life. Believing he truly is abandoned by everything and everyone, Diego uses his magic to do the unforgivable; take Caleb's form and hold his brother prisoner!)

~~~

Aditionally this page is also on occasion dealing with Greek mythos and poetry, particularly the homeric epics (Iliad and Odyssey) and the characters involved at them (with some special emphasis on Odysseus and the people who got related with him)

Some of the stories:

Guilt:

(Odysseus is being guilt-stroke and horrified by the success of his plan to take Troy and by the Greek rage upon it and sinks to a series of thoughts and flashbacks) -complete-

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Survivor's Guilt and Survivor's Duty:

(Odysseus loses his last ship and last comrades at the sea, roams about for 9 days helpless and beaches at Ogygia where even more trauma awaits him) -complete-

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Gone with the Wind:

(Odysseus remains awake for 9 days guarding the sack given to them by Aeolus in order to reach his home faster. However soon he finds out that sleepless nights take a toll on him and the consequences are severe...) -complete-

Part 1

Part 2

The Death of Odysseus:

(The final moments of the king of Ithaca, based on the prophecy of Tiresias in the Odyssey. Odysseus has lived a long life and meets his end while finally meeting with an old friend...and his journey to the Underworld begins...) -complete-

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

(Extra): The Funeral

Ismarus! Ismarus!:

(Odysseus and his men leave from Troy but are devided from the rest of the fleets by a storm. They find themselves in Thrace to the city of Ismarus where Odysseus decides they should raid the land of Cicones) -complete-

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

~~~

Short Stories

If I never knew you

Odysseus Leaving Ithaca (random Pocahontas inspo)

Odysseus and Helen

Argos (analysis and tiny scene A Tribute to Argos)

Screams and Shadows in the Night (Odysseus and Nausicaa one-shot)

Philoctetes Inspiration (Odysseus and Diomedes one-shot)

Philoctetes Inspiration 2 (Odysseus, Diomedes Philoctetes and Neoptolemus one-shot)

Ruthless Justice (Odysseus and Telemachus one-shot)

The Will to Die The Need to Survive (Odysseus and Calypso one-shot)

Escape from Cyclops Island: Hubris

I Take that Back (Odysseus Menelaus and Diomedes one-shot)

The Why never asked and the Because that never mattered (Helen and Menelaus one-shot)

The Lament for a Life (Achilles and Antilochus short songfic)

It's you; always has been you! (Neoptolemous songfic)

What makes the Heart Beat (Achilles and Antilochus one-shot)

Pomegranate Spell (Patrochilles and Achillochus story)

Guard Dog (a Patroclus and his dogs one-shot)

[dianight]

Perhaps some day we could have a serious conversation about why despite her amazing character designs and great variety in body types compared to other mangaka, Kui Ryoko still chose to have all but one (two arguably) of the characters with an active leader role in the story of Dungeon Meshi to be men.

Spoilers below.

It is a fantastic manga, to quote a post I've read a while ago (paraphrasing), Dunmeshi is 95 chapters long and no panel is irrelevant. But! Out of all the groups in the story only one is led by a woman (elf queen) and she does not actually participate in it.

Laios' party has Marcille, but she is at best "second in command" if you will, as much as Chilchuck is.

Kabru's party, the orcs, the governor(s), the gnomes' party, the canaries, Shuro's party, the dwarfs and even the golden kingdom (Delgal and Thistle). Fionil and Doni are minor characters and they're a party of two, we could assume both share the "leader" position.

One can find excuses to each of those choices, but at the end of the day the choice was made to make them men.

Kabru could have been a woman, it would not change anything at all.

Zon and Leed could have swapped places, with the older sister leading and taking a less violent approach to the hotheaded younger brother.

Either/both of the governors could have been women, no difference.

The leading, more vocal and abrasive of the gnomes could have been the old lady and the quiet one the old man. I struggle to see if anything would change at all.

The canaries are mostly women, and they were led by Milsiril back in the day and the queen leads them, technically. Still, the choice was made to have Mithrun in the role of Mithrun with everything it represents. Could it have been the younger sister that has her love stolen by the older one, would the dynamics be the same? Tempted to have the life she could not get by the demon, getting eaten (but not fully!) and seeking revenge? Would Milsiril spare her this time? We can't tell, Mithrun is a man. It was a choice made by Kui-sensei.

Could Shuro have been a woman? Seeing as he's the fantasy equivalent of a japanese young lord(!) probably not(?) in terms of how it would be presented. A young lady with her entourage chasing after her unrequited love and getting beaten to it by another lesbian? Sorry but this looks like the kind of ntr I enjoy now. But I don't think it would be the same conflict with Shuro/Marcille and Shuro/Laios. It could(!) work, but not in the kind of story where (almost) all the leaders are men.

Could the dwarves have been women? I don't see why not. Senshi could have been inspired by a mother figure (or older sister) as much as he was by his mentor (whether you see it as a father/older brother/something else figure). All the women in the party starving while the young kid survives? I won't even call it sexist (<- not joking).

Could Delgal have been a queen instead? What about Yaad being a princess? Or Thistle, still a jester but a woman now? Which manga readers thought he was, for a while. It would require an author that doesn't put the importance on the king while the queen is irrelevant.

Am I overthinking things? There are a lot of important characters who are women in the story of Dunmeshi. People have jokingly described the plot as a lesbian trying to resurrect her girlfriend, and it would be accurate although not fully correct.

But the issue remains that all leaders except for the elf queen are men. I don't believe it was by chance. It might have been a deliberate choice for reasons that I can see, or it might have been completely unconscious when designing the characters and writing the story.

What a shame.

[stepmarchen]

okay i know that you said you're not the greatest history buff, but i realy wanted to know your take on the Safavid kingdom as a representation of a middle eastern community..? if you've read enough manhwas you probably have seen some stupid stereotypes and it realy sucks. god i feel like i'm bothering you asking this i mean we don't know much about safavid .. you don't have to answer this :D

of course! i'll try my best to speak about it! the floor is also open to anyone who has their own additions!

So. We all know that ASM borrows inspiration from existing territories and conflict from the 1700s all the way up to the late 1800s, right? Well get ready for this.

If we use this same research model, we'll come to find that the Safavid Dynasty also existed in Iran back in the 16th century. Which means we have a direct reference point we can compare the (manhwa) Safavid Kingdom to! (just remember to take it with a few grains of salt. We're dealing with 400+ years of history here!)

In my humble opinion (as someone who isn't part of the middle-eastern community btw), I feel like ASM does a pretty fair job at representing the middle east via Safavid/Pasha Family. The biggest hurdle just comes from the fact we haven't seen much of them yet.

The first thing I noticed was the architecture. During Halima's trip back home to Safavid we get to see ORKA's depiction of the Kingdom. As you can see below, the inspiration behind the Bahjat's Palace is pretty directly linked to the Meidan Emam in Isfahan, a royal mosque from the Safavid Era!

Unfortunately, the establishing shot of the city isn't as easy to compare, with the introduction of modern architecture. But if we look at Yazd, an untouched city in Iran, we can see the traces of inspiration with just a few minor discrepancies: minaret, domed mosques, earthen town houses.

We also get these small fleeting moments that really make the characters feel like they're from another country. For example, Nasir, Ali's escort can be seen wielding a curved sword as opposed to a European broadsword. Later, Nora mentions that it is a shamshir, a type of Persian scimitar.

even these small details really make for great world building. Honestly, I'd love to see these props make a comeback in future scenes. Like can you imagine seeing one of the rugs Ali brought in the Neuschwanstein Castle?

Now to finally get to the part you've probably been waiting for. The clothes.

Unfortunately, I'm not as well versed in royal fashion in the Middle East so I had a hard time identified the style of dress.

When we compare the real Shahs of the Safavid Dynasty, we'll see that their fashion of choice changed greatly over the course of the ruling. I couldn't pinpoint exactly who, when or which specific culture ORKA is referencing here. But we do see some elements from Tahmasp I (feathered turban, ornate belt, embroidered textiles). Please correct me if I've made any errors here. I'm totally not confident in my Middle Eastern fashion history.

But above all else, I really just enjoy how the Pasha family is written and designed. I think we've seen stereotypes in all forms of media where middle easterners are portrayed... not so well.

In ASM, they're just the Pashas. As a foreign kingdom, they pose a threat against the Empire, but they're not evil. The King seems to be as tired with Halima's bullshit as the Empress is with Theo. Even Nasir has his own occasional dialogue, exasperated by Ali's behavior. And if you've read the same comics I have, we're all too familiar with the "dangerous and stoic middle-easterner" stereotype.

IMO, we've seen "foreign" characters in manga/manhwa that are usually boiled down to one of three types: the socially insensitive clowns/perverts, the murderer, or the alien that somehow has white skin and hair. but I personally find it a breath of fresh air how ASM leans full into the concept of darker skinned characters with dark hair and actual rounded personalities.

This shouldn't be such a high bar to reach, but ORKA has one again reached it.

[graytrailcam]

Indie Xenofiction; Data Lion

"Data Lion is a short visual novel about a lion who gets a camera collar put on him by a group of scientists wanting to document his journey. It has choices, 2 love interests, and many alternate endings including bad ends (game overs)!

The idea was inspired by masterpieces like The Lion King and the manga/anime Kimba The White Lion."

Found this game while searching around on Itchio, the game is completely free to download and can be completed within just a few hours. It is described by the author as being unfinished in its current state, but I think it can be played through completely with a feeling of some satisfaction. Here is the link for those interested

More in depth review under the cut featuring spoilers. If you're looking to play I do recommend going in blind, it's fairly simple and the fun is really found in unlocking the CGs, which isn't too hard to do.

This is a short game that reminds me a lot of media I grew up with on dA back in the day, so it was very entertaining. I can definitely tell this takes a lot more inspiration from Kimba than it does TLK with a lot of its story concepts and overall character design. The game itself runs on a seven day cycle so it's fairly short.

I enjoyed the main character's design, he's an intersex, mostly maneless lion that you can name, though the default name that pops up is 'Lion McLionface' (your character was supposedly named via an Internet poll made by the scientists attaching your radio collar)

You're also able to choose your stats, as this game does have (extremely basic and limited) combat. For my playthrough I named the lion 'Lasaga' to be a bit silly and I dumped all my stats into strength.

I'm not really sure what the stats of Skill and Speed do for you. I completed the game by getting all the CGs and didn't encounter anything that was explicitly skill or speed required, perhaps it has a factor in combat that I'm unaware of.

You make a series of choices, some meaningful some not as most of them lead to the same exact events playing out. You can acquire the only pickable item, a thorn you can use in combat, in the game earlier on based on where you choose to make your home if you pick the Acacia Tree.

At some point a Safari Car will come by and observe you, if you make the right dialogue choices you can get some exposition on the setting you're in.

The animals in this particular section of Africa are apparently Bio-Engineered to have heightened, near human intelligence. The author of the game, Caveboy Tup has elaborated in a comment on the game's itchio page which I'll leave below;

This is definitely something that shows a lot of Kimba inspiration though it goes in a different direction that has some interesting implications. I would have been interested to see this explored in a more elaborate narrative.

The two love interests in this game are Jetsway and Rrred;

Their routes are very straight forward, I'd say you would have to really go out of your way to not pursue either of them, which makes it easy to pick and choose which one you 'romance', as it's also pretty bare bones in that regard too.

The one most advertised is definitely Rrred the lion who is featured more prominently on the game's page. He's not got a whole lot of depth, you have the choice to fight him or join up with him in a coalition immediately upon meeting him.

I do like the game's expression work, I find the animals emote in ways that are fun to look at and easy to read.

If you defeat him he will simply retreat and will show up again later to give some brief exposition on Jetsway's character.

Joining up with him starts his short route, which mostly consists of him scaring off crocodiles at the watering hole for you, which you are able to avoid without him regardless (The only time my character got a bad end was when I chose the wrong evasion option at this point in the story) The other portion is an encounter with a clan of hyenas that was pretty comedic, this got a good laugh out of me. It was the only time the game was particularly vulgar.

You escape the hyenas, as you are outnumbered no matter how high your strength stat is. The rest of the route is pretty uneventful, you travel together and it's implied there's some romantic interest between the two of you.

I will admit I found Rrred to be the less interesting of the two routes but I can see what appeal they were going for here.

The other route is Jetsway's which I found to have slightly more meat on its bones.

You meet Jetsway first in fact while looking for food but he only says that the radio collar you have on means you aren't one of his 'targets' before sprinting away.

Encountering him later finds him injured in the middle of the night after a fight.

There's more lore exposition with Jetsway regarding the largely left out bio-engineering aspect. He's some creature part of Glo's work that was created by them, it's specified he has some sort of Tech in his eye that isn't explained very much.

Poking around the dialogue options with him will give you the option of fighting him once he reveals he got these injuries fighting and killing lions, which explains why he specified you weren't a target earlier.

Upon defeating him, you can kill him here which I found interesting. But you can also choose to stay the night and nurse his wounds until he recovers.

You are given the option to walk him back home, and doing so will trigger an interaction between you two and Rrred, who calls Jetsway a murderer. Pushing Jetsway for more answers will only get you this in response.

There is no further elaboration on this plot point after this. I assume given the larger narrative that was mentioned by the creator that he's killing lions that are either human aggressive or resistant/unsuccessful in the Bio Engineering stuff. But that's only an educated guess.

Walking him home will after lead you to Utke town, where he says the humans will give him more medical treatment but that your character cannot stay.

You're able to stay the night, where you'll find Jetsway gone in the morning, but you are spotted by a Glo operative prior to this who takes this photo of you and Jetsway to 'share on the internet'.

After these two CG's, the final day is always the same. Your radio collar falls off on the seventh day and the scientists come to retrieve it. You have two options after this, to hide in wait to observe the humans at first, which will lead to you being tranquilized again while they retrieve your collar.

You can also attack the scientists, which will result in you ripping off the arm of one of them, the one named Saito.

They escape you after this, and leads to the final CG where Saito has been given a replacement prosthetic arm.

This concludes the game as currently published. I found it very charming to play and a nice way to spend part of an afternoon. It was definitely worth sharing since I haven't seen anyone discuss playing it or knowing it exists.

[mrcompass]

Where does Damian come from?

"Damien was not included on the HD Academy's recruitment list. In fact, he is the only one with absolutely no personal history, participation in tournaments, or any other data to be found. Everything about him is cloaked in mystery." Hikaru in Episode 94 - Spirits last battle.

As Hikaru perfectly points out, Damian's origins are a mystery. However, this lack of a clear backstory only draws more attention to his character. While Damian's origins may not directly impact the kind of blader he truly is, they can certainly add depth to his character. Based solely on the anime, there is no definitive answer regarding his background, so this analysis will explore popular and lesser-known theories. Keep in mind, this is not a judgment but my personal analysis of possible backstories and what they could mean for the character.

A descendant of Hades?

One possibility is that Damian is related to Pluto or is a descendant of King Hades. This theory is based on the close ties between Damian and Ziggurat (a top member of the Hades Cult) and the physical and behavioral similarities between Pluto and Damian. Both characters have similar fringes, and Damian initially had dark blue hair. Blue and purple are close on the color spectrum, and Damian’s hairstyle is somewhat reminiscent of King Hades and Rago, particularly with the spikes at the back of his head. Some may also argue that the dark purple aura Damian gained in episode 100 is evidence of him possessing dark powers similar to Pluto.

However, this theory can be easily debunked. The physical similarities between Pluto and Damian are, in my opinion, subjective. We also saw a dark aura leaving Toby after he broke free of the arrangement. Moreover, many characters in the series share similar hairstyles but are not related, such as Yu, Zeo, and Chris. However, these characters share a narrative similarity: all three were hurt or betrayed by someone they considered friends—Yu by Ryuga, Zeo by Masamune, and Chris by his friends. Damian and Pluto share narrative similarities too. Both are sadistic and arrogant, with a warped view of the world, influenced by distinct individuals: Hades and Ziggurat. Hades' prophecy, which Pluto holds as "absolute," and Ziggurat's "chosen one" narrative, respectively contribute to Pluto's belief in the world’s inevitable destruction, and Damian's inability to comprehend the true essence of Beyblade. Damian, already alienated by Ziggurat's influence, wouldn’t need to be subjected to Hades’s; this is more in line with Pluto and Rago’s traits. Pushing this theory might be an attempt to make Damian "special," but he is already "special" due to his compatibility with the arrangement system. Damian doesn’t need nepotism; being a relative of Pluto would only serve to validate his delusions. Furthermore, since he only appeared in Metal Masters his connection to Hades would be irrelevant. Finally, Damian is a manga character, unlike Pluto, who is exclusive to the anime. It wouldn’t be surprising if the animators took inspiration from Damian’s design when creating Pluto. After all, they have similar Beys (as I pointed out in my analysis of Hell Kerbecs), and Cerberus is Hades's dog.

An artificial being?

The second theory I want to discuss is one I saw online and was reminded of by @lady-lazagna. This is the possibility that Damian was artificially created by Hades Inc. Although this might seem unreasonable, science fiction is not uncommon in MFB or the Beyblade franchise as a whole. For example, Doji had his consciousness transferred into a robot. In Beyblade: V-Force, Zeo Zagart is actually a cyborg. Zeo shares some similarities with Damian; they could almost be considered counterparts. Both are the final opponents of the main protagonist during the World Championship, both possess a gold Cerberus-based Bey, both obey a doctor, and both have to collect something from the opposing teams (in Zeo’s case, the Bladebreakers’ Bit-Beast, and Damian’s battle allows Ziggurat to collect data). In the manga, the American team consists only of Zeo Abyss and Damian Hart. Since MFB Zeo got the name from the original series Zeo, one might assume that his partner got a similar story to the latter. Moreover Damian was trained by Hades Inc., a company specializing in selling weapons led by Faust. What is certain is that Damian, as a blader, was "created" (a term used by Faust) by Hades Inc. In the anime, the absence of any information about Damian, his inability to understand fun, and his surprise when he got dirty suggest that he had an unusual upbringing or that he isn’t human. What could invalidate this theory is that Dr. Ziggurat is a neurologist and a specialist in energy, which doesn’t necessarily indicate he could create an artificial human. Also, if he could, he would probably sell the process. Damian was called out for being a fake blader, a blader made in a laboratory because that is what he is. His power comes from a machine and his bey was created throught data. Even his personna as the "chosen one" is somethin crafted by Ziggurat. In a way Damian "the blader" is artifical.

Ziggurat's relative?

The third theory, and one of the most popular, is that Damian could be Ziggurat's son or relative. This could explain why Damian was not on the recruitment list and why Ziggurat selected that child in particular (because Damian was in his reach). They share a similar hairstyle and personality traits: both are extremely arrogant (Damian has a god complex, and Ziggurat thinks he is superior to Einstein), they have little to no empathy, they are manipulative, and they like to experiment with their inventions or abilities on others. If Damian had to pick up those traits, it would be after living some time with Ziggurat, and he happens to have a privileged relationship with the Doctor. Furthermore, Ziggurat being Damian's parent or caretaker would add more to their respective parallel with Ryo and Gingka Hagane. As a matter of fact, Ryo is everything Ziggurat isn't: kind, sometimes lacking the seriousness expected from his position, yet having respect and understanding of beyblade. The way he raised Gingka certainly echoes Ziggurat's treatment of Damian. It is more present in the manga, but Ryo was essentially Gingka's mentor by teaching him everything he knew about beyblade and his view on the sport. The Doctor actually did the same with Damian, as he is the one who gave him what seems to be his first bey. The last two actually share the same opinion on the arrangement; for example, in episode 100, Ziggurat genuinely believed that Damian became invincible thanks to his special arrangement. In a way, Ziggurat transmitted his view of an artificial beyblade, in which the blader makes no effort to train or connect with their bey since everything is conceived for them by HD Academy. This is the opposite of what Gingka had to endure: since Ryo faked his death, his son had to retrieve L-Drago alone, living on the streets for months, while also becoming stronger and familiarizing himself with his bey. Ryo later set more obstacles by destroying Gingka's bey-pointer as Phoenix. In the finale of Fusion, he let him find the key to defeat Ryuga on his own. As you can see, Ryo wanted and made sure Gingka became more independent. This is a stark contrast to Damian, who was given everything on a silver platter just because he could handle the arrangement. In a way, we can see this as two father figures providing diametrically opposed education to their protégés. And let's not talk about the moral implications. If Ziggurat was Damian's caretaker, him manipulating and experimenting on the child he was supposed to protect would certainly illustrate how far he is willing to go to accomplish his plan. In my opinion, it wouldn't be out of character since he took advantage of Toby, who was hospitalized with a life-threatening disease. However, it might seem strange for Ziggurat to have a child, given his disdain for children. I think that if he ever wanted a child, it would be in the same way people buy a pair of shoes. Everything for him is a product that can be bought or acquired in one way or another. There is also the question of the last name, since Damian's is Hart. Still, Ziggurat could have adopted him or changed his last name to cover his tracks in case someone investigated him. The way he treats people and uses his bey are appropriate indicators of his mindset. If this is true, it would make Damian a more tragic character because he was inadvertently close to a man using children as test subjects, effectively treating them no better than tools. And when you look at Ziggurat, it’s not hard to imagine that he wouldn't provide a healthy and happy childhood to a child. This would explain why Damian doesn't know what fun means, for example.

Yet this theory isn't without its flaws. The first is that, once again, just because two characters look alike doesn't mean they are related. It's not uncommon in anime and manga for a character to be revealed to have a prestigious lineage (it is actually the case for the legendary blader of the solar system). Taking into account that adults are barely present, it's not surprising that fans would want to give characters a parent when the opportunity presents itself. In addition, Ziggurat is an anime-only character, so it's not impossible that the animators intentionally made him look a little similar to Damian. After all, Damian holds the bey of hell, and Ziggurat is the leader of Hades Inc., in addition to having similarities with the Christian devil. Regarding the personality part, it could mainly be due to the arrangement, since even Zeo became nasty because of it, and let’s not forget that Toby gained a brand-new personality, even forgetting his name. It is also worth mentioning that the members of the Hades cult, particularly Doji and Ziggurat, are corrupt people who corrupt others. In Metal Fusion, this was illustrated with Yu, who had a close relationship with Doji, almost like his right-hand man—they even shared an evil laugh together. If you couple that with the arrangement, which is known to alter personalities, then Damian's behavior can be explained.

Just a random kid?

A final theory I wish to discuss is that Damian was a normal kid who was recruited by Ziggurat through his contact with structures such as schools, hospitals, or even orphanages. Hikaru mentions that Ziggurat had worked with those kinds of structures before creating Hades Inc. and then left them behind. A good businessman knows how to preserve his network, so it is very possible that he kept contact with those institutions. This seems logical, but why would Ziggurat have recruited Damian from there and not use someone from HD Academy?

One possible answer is that he ran out of test subjects, forcing him to search elsewhere. Ryo and Hikaru explained that the arrangement caused bladers to get hurt because they couldn't handle the sudden power. As a result, only those who could handle it were selected for Team Starbreaker. However, only two members—Jack and Zeo—were on the recruitment list. Jack, for example, was ranked 2038. This means there were at least 2036 bladers who served as test subjects, some of them strong, but the majority weak and unknown. The point is that Ziggurat had enough profiles to understand who could be compatible with the arrangement system, which could explain why he chose Damian in particular. This might also explain why he shifted his interest from Zeo to Toby while seemingly not knowing if Toby could withstand the power of the arrangement. One proof of that is when he told Zeo that his sudden surge of power during his fight with Masamune helped improve the system. He also asked for Ryuga's help to enhance it. This means that Ziggurat clearly knew how his creation worked, and after so many failures, he could very well identify a successful test subject.

A second reason could be that Ziggurat secretly tested the arrangement on children to verify that it was operational, and Damian turned out to be a match. This random match with the arrangement is the core of Damian's philosophy and why he calls himself "the chosen one." As a result, this theory aligns more with the canon of the show.

A third reason for why Damian was specifically chosen could be that Ziggurat wanted to see what would happen if the arrangement was used on someone who had never played beyblade before. This seems to be Damian's case, considering his reaction when the Doctor gave him his first bey. Moreover, in the flashback when Damian met Dr. Ziggurat, he wore a sweater and shirt, which are not uncommon as a uniform. This suggests he could have just come from a school.

One thing that intrigued me in this flashback is the way Ziggurat looked at Damian—almost fondly (left). This is quite unusual for the cold-hearted doctor and could hint at some connection. Yet, just before the final match, when he visited Toby, he looked at him the same way (right), and in the following episode, he was already planning to experiment on him. This would mean he sees Damian as an exceptional test subject, nothing more, nothing less.

The lack of any personal history for Damian supports this theory. If Damian were simply an ordinary child chosen for his compatibility with the arrangement, it makes sense that the series doesn’t provide an elaborate backstory. This theory also highlights Ziggurat’s manipulative nature. He could have easily taken a child from a school or similar environment, molding him into a blader devoid of personal history to suit his purposes. This reflects Ziggurat's tendency to treat people as mere tools to achieve his goals.

In summary, Damian's mysterious origins offer fertile ground for fan theories, each providing unique perspectives on his character. Whether Damian is a relative of Pluto or King Hades, a creation of Hades Inc., Ziggurat’s son, or simply an ordinary child, is not necessarily the most important aspect. What remains clear is that Damian's character, regardless of his origins, is deeply shaped by Ziggurat and Hades Inc. Damian is a compelling antagonist, not because of any inherited legacy, but partly due to Ziggurat’s influence, which twisted his potential and what little identity he might have had to serve a larger agenda.

[sweetescapeartist]

MY THOUGHTS ON DRAGON BALL DAIMA

(Wasn't going to post this old draft, but decided to post it anyway since @/puyohero was curious about my thoughts)

Awesome! Love that Toriyama is heavily involved! Love the art & animation and the idea is interesting too.

SIMILARITY TO DRAGON BALL GT

Yes, GT did something similar. However GT sidelined most of the cast. Even Pan & Trunks kinda got sidelined when they were part of the main cast of GT. In this, it seems the other characters will play some sort of role too. Or I assume so. And they will be traveling to another realm/world. So maybe the others will go with Goku.

DB DAIMA seems to be referencing a lot of DB properties & not only GT. As pointed out here...

CAST AS CHILDREN COULD MEAN...

I had hoped it would turn the entire cast into children and glad it happened. Now I hope we get more info about it. Because what I want is for the other cast members to get involved. Gohan & Piccolo are on a similar level to Goku & Vegeta, so then being excluded to only focus on Goku & Vegeta would be stupid. And since it is stated that this series won't be transformation heavy... what if Goku cannot transform into forms he didn't have as a child?? Or it's very taxing on the body if they can. Now everyone can get involved in the battles! Krillin has already returned to martial arts, but we can get my boy Yamcha fighting again! We might even get to see kid Ox King fight alongside kid Roshi. That would be neat!

Now what would be funny is to see a kid version of Buu. Would it be a short chubby Buu or Kid Buu/Pure Buu? Or maybe the magic won't affect him much since he can change his appearance at will. 🤔

Also, I bet there is a joke about Krillin not getting much smaller when turned into a kid again like how there was a joke in OG Dragon Ball that Krillin didn't get much taller & Krillin is upset about the statement.

Also, the chibi reminds me of the Dragon Ball SD manga.

TITLE POSSIBLY ELUDING TO...

Another interesting thing was the placeholder name "Magic" and the current name "DAIMA." Seems like Toriyama is possibly hinting at the Makaioshin. Evil beings with magical power, the Demon Realm being a place where magic rules over science, and the fact that THIS guy looks like a Kaioshin.

So the little guy could be a God of the Demon Realm. Or maybe a God of Destruction of the Demon Realm. Who knows? We'll have to wait and see.

JOURNEY TO THE WEST REFERENCES

I see some Journey To The West/Saiyuki influence in here too which is good cause this is Dragon Ball after all. Goku with a Sun Wukong role, East Kaioshin (Shin) with the monk role. And maybe other characters who are inspired by Saiyuki will play roles similar to their inspirations.

Vegeta having a Sun Wukong role while Bulma has the Tripitaka role

Piccolo having a Tripitaka/Wukong role while Gohan also has the Tripitaka/Wukong role

Krillin with a Tripitaka role (maybe some Wukong role too since he also takes some Wukong inspiration) & maybe 18 takes on the role of Tripitaka in certain aspects?

Yamcha with a role referencing Sha Wujing role

Tenshinhan with a role referencing Erlang Shen

And if the Demon Realm is involved then there is more Saiyuki references. Journey to a dangerous land and fighting demons. This could be pretty cool to see.

GOKU'S DESIGN

And another thing... Goku's gi in Daima. It's becoming closer and closer to his End of Z gi.

The untucked style of Goku's gi in Daima is similar to EoZ, but the colors are still like his iconic orange and blue gi.

MY THEORY FOR THE STORY

In the Demon Realm, the Makaioshin & some Demon God examine Goku & his friends. They speak about Babidi and how he recruited the King of the Demon Realm, Dabura, and still failed. As well as Bibidi summoning & Babidi reawakening the evil beings Majin Buu, then Buu becoming an ally of Goku. Where a sorcerer failed, a Demon God plans to succeed. The Demon God & Makaioshin notice that Goku & company are always victorious due to their strength, transformations, and friendship that encourages each other. So somehow, they are all turned into children to make them doubt their chances of victory. And their power is nerfed too. The Saiyans might have to struggle just to turn SSJ again. I believe it will be through a spell just to be different from GT and not use a wish granting Dragon. The part that shows that a wish was made to Shenron wish was likely after they were turned into kids and they needed help in some way, or they tried to reverse the spell and it was beyond the power of Shenron.

So they venture into this new realm to fix things. Perhaps splitting into groups. Goku & Kaioshin, Vegeta & Bulma, Gohan & Piccolo, Krillin & 18, ect. Some teaming up with other groups too. Get to see stuff like Goku & Tien team up. They learn about the depths of magic & Bulma is surprised because her technology she relies so much upon doesn't matter much in the Demon Realm where magic is their technology.

At some point, they find a way to return to their actual ages and adult bodies. In the end, they confront the Demon God & Makaioshin. Of course Goku would face the main bad guy (along with Vegeta & maybe with Gohan & Piccolo). Godly power vs godly magic. Or something like that.

Now let's wait & see how wrong I am 😂

[pabsterthelobster]

The Cymond Cluster

This is a list of the many universal streams within the Cymond universal cluster (its name a reference to the Diaclone franchise that preceded Transformers, whose name comes from a merger of the words "diamond" and "cyclone"), one of the many clusters of different universes that make up the Transformers multiverse as documented by the TransTechs. The Cymond cluster mainly consists of worlds from other franchises that either precede the franchise itself, or some miscellaneous TakaraTomy franchises that are somewhat related to the franchise.

Cymond MMYY.DD - Example

Canon streams

Cymond 772.00 Beta - the Henshin Cyborg, Diakron, and Kronoform toylines

Cymond 381.00 Beta - the New Microman toyline (includes Micro Change subline)

Cymond 1184.00 Gamma - the Zoids: Starriors comic miniseries

Cymond 290.03 Alpha - the Brave Exkaiser anime

Cymond 999.04 Alpha - the Zoids: Chaotic Century anime (includes New Century sequel anime)

Possible streams

Cymond 1082.03 Alpha - the Super Dimension Fortress Macross anime (origin of Jetfire)

Cymond 1083.07 Alpha - the Special Armored Battalion Dorvack anime (origins of Autobot Deluxe Vehicles)

Cymond 384.00 Gamma - the Armored Insect Corps Beetras manga (origins of Decepticon Deluxe Insecticons)

Cymond 484.15 Alpha - the Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross anime (associated with Macross and Orguss as part of Super Dimension anime trilogy)

Cymond 885.22 Gamma - the Commandrons comic miniseries (Commandron faction appears in Beast Wars: Uprising; likely due to merger of original parent Tomy with Transformers parent Takara)

Cymond 493.03 Delta - the Gridman the Hyper Fighter live-action series (collaboration between Takara and Tsuburaya; God Zenon resembles Optimus Prime; includes Gridman Universe anime franchise which references Shattered Glass)

Cymond 401.06 Alpha - the Dennō Bōkenki Webdiver anime

Cymond 402.05 Alpha - the Daigunder anime

Associated via GoBots toyline (Hasbro owns GoBots after buying out Tonka)

Cymond 1083.02 Alpha - the Genesis Climber MOSPEADA anime (connected via model kits sold by Monogram)

Associated via Convertors toyline (created by Select using models by Takatoku, MARK, Gakken, and EXCITE; Maladroid faction and characters Zark and Zardak used in Transformers media, implying ownership)

Cymond 1081.06 Alpha - the J9 Series anime trilogy (consists of Galaxy Cyclone Braiger, Galactic Gale Baxingar, and Galactic Whirlwind Sasuraiger)

Cymond 783.03 Alpha - the Super Dimension Century Orguss anime

Cymond 284.03 Alpha - the Super High Speed Galvion anime

Brave series streams (robot designs reused from Transformers)

Cymond 291.02 Alpha - The Brave of the Sun Fighbird

Cymond 292.07 Alpha - The Brave of Legend Da-Garn

Cymond 193.30 Alpha - The Brave Express Might Gaine

Cymond 294.05 Alpha - The Brave Police J-Decker

Cymond 295.04 Alpha - The Brave of Gold Goldran

Cymond 296.03 Alpha - Brave Command Dagwon

Cymond 297.01 Alpha - The King of Braves GaoGaiGar (includes Betterman)

Cymond 1298.17 Kappa - The Saint of Braves Baan Gaan (coordinates drawn from Brave Saga release date)

Cymond 101.26 Kappa - the Brave Saga Astaria video game

Cymond 205.17 Kappa - Quantum Leap Layzelber (coordinates drawn from New Century Brave Wars release date)

Cymond 491.03 Alpha - the Eldran series (Tomy series that has crossed over with Brave)

Zoids series streams

Cymond 1185.09 Gamma - the Marvel UK Zoids comics

Cymond 1291.30 Alpha - the Soukou Kyoshin Z-Knight OVA

Cymond 1003.04 Alpha - the Zoids: Fuzors anime

Cymond 405.10 Alpha - the Zoids: Genesis anime

Cymond 717.07 Alpha - the Zoids: Wild anime

I'd like to thank portarmy on Twitter for inspiring this post with their own Cymond headcanons. I know I'm hardly scratching the surface on this little thought experiment of mind, but I thought it was fun to do.

[scifigeneration]

Pluto: Netflix’s anime masterpiece explores how robots ‘feel’ when humans exploit them

by Thi Gammon, Research Associate in Culture, Media and Creative Industries Education at King's College London

There have been many TV shows and films inspired by the dual fear and excitement surrounding advances in artificial intelligence (AI). But not many exhibit such masterful craft and profound humanity as the new Netflix anime miniseries, Pluto.

Pluto is adapted from a manga series of the same title (2003-2009), created by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki. The manga version – considered a comic masterpiece for its beautiful art and sophisticated storyline – incorporated fundamental elements from Osamu Tezuka’s celebrated manga series Astro Boy (1952-1968), including the beloved android adolescent who was the titular character.

Pluto is set in a futuristic world in which humans and robots coexist, albeit within a hierarchy in favour of humans. Robots excel in various jobs ranging from nannies and butlers to architects and detectives, but they are treated as second-class citizens.

Although robots gradually gain their own rights codified into law, they are still exploited by humans, who downplay their worth and emotional intelligence. As much as humans depend on AI, they also feel threatened by it.

An AI murder mystery

Pluto, which has both Japanese and English audio versions, follows German robot detective Gesicht (Shinshū Fuji/Jason Vande Brake) as he traces the mysterious killings of robots and humans. The world’s seven most advanced robots (including Gesicht himself) and robot-friendly humans (including his creator) are the targets of this assassination scheme.

What’s most perplexing is that the murders appear untraceable. This suggests that the killer might be a very advanced robot, challenging the belief that robots can’t ever kill humans due to their programmed constraints.

This enigmatic case echoes the cautionary message found in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – beware of human beings’ ambitious dreams and creations. While the story begins as a murder mystery, it evolves into a thoughtful drama about the conflicted relationships between humans and androids.

While Pluto draws on many familiar sci-fi concepts, it distinguishes itself through its meticulous character development and the depth of its micro-stories. Every character is complex, and the audience is able to get to know them and become invested in their fates. The anime’s unhurried pace also allows viewers ample time to contemplate its philosophical questions about consciousness evolution and the powerful impacts of emotions.

Despite all its brilliance, however, the series is not without flaws. It has a dated representation of gender roles, with no female characters – whether human or robot – playing an important part. None of them break free from the stereotypical role of nurturing, stay-behind support for their exceptionally capable and powerful male partners.

Animation of the year

Pluto maintains a melancholic tone throughout – but despite this overarching dark ambience, it is at times romantic and moving. It exalts love, friendship and compassion without falling into sentimentality, evoking an emotional resonance reminiscent of Blade Runner (1982).

The series emphasises that life, or the process of living, imparts character and humanity, transcending biological organs and blood. Androids may initially be devoid of complex emotions, but they develop sentience through everyday experiences and interactions with fellow robots and humans.

Robots can even learn to appreciate music, as manifested by the charismatic North No.2 (Koichi Yamadera/Patrick Seitz), who was designed for intense combat but grows weary of warfare. The narrative underscores the simultaneous beauty and danger of emotions – particularly the destructive force of wrath.

With great technological advancements and comfort, this futuristic world is still torn by war. It poses the question: “Will war ever end?” – reminding us of the conflicts and tragedies happening in the real world. The anime suggests that an end to war is unlikely as long as hatred persists.

For me, with its beautiful art and riveting narrative, Pluto stands out as one of the best Netflix productions of all time. It’s certainly the best animated work of the year.

[retrosofa]

To commemorate Cutie Honey's 50th anniversary, I wanted to post trivia for all 25 episodes. We'll start this week with the first episode: "The Black Claw Grips The Heart."

Screenwriter: Masaki Tsuji

Art Director: Mataharu Urata

Animation Director: Shingo Araki

Director: Tomoharu Katsumata

In the early drafts Honey Kisaragi was originally Honey Tachibana. Honey’s finalized surname name, “Kisaragi” (如月) is a traditional name for February in the Japanese calendar. It refers to the seasonal “changing of clothes.” The name "Honey" comes from the American TV series Honey West.

Honey was voiced by Eiko Masuyama, who would reprise this role a few times over the years, notably in the Re: Cutie Honey audio drama and the Playstation game, Little Witching Mischiefs. She also had a guest spot in Cutey Honey Flash as Dr. Kisaragi’s old friend, Dr. Mitsuko Kanzaki.

St. Chapel Academy is located in Okutama, a mountainous area that’s about an hour and a half away from central Tokyo. St. Chapel itself was most likely inspired or at least named after the real life royal chapel, Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, France. The hymn the students sing during Mass in these early episodes is “Come, Thou Almighty King.”

The freckle-faced girl who stands next to Honey during Mass is her best friend and roommate, Natsuko Aki. Although she’s almost never referred to by her full name but rather “Nat-chan.” Her first name is in reference to natsu or “summer” while aki means “autumn.” In the original manga she is depicted as having pigtails rather than a bob cut and doesn’t have freckles. Natsuko’s anime design was based on an unnamed girl who appeared briefly in the Devilman manga.

Natsuko was voiced by Rihoko Yoshida, who’s best known for voicing the titular character in Majokko Megu-chan, Maria Grace Fried in UFO Robo Grendizer, and Michiru Saotome in Getter Robo. Yoshida would also voice Panther Zora in the 1995 PC-FX video game, Cutey Honey FX. Noriko Watanabe (Sister Jill, Mami) also voiced Natsuko occasionally for whenever Rihoko Yoshida was unavailable.

Honey’s goofy teacher Ms. Alphonne Louis Steinbeck III is based on a male character from Go Nagai’s Kikkai-kun manga. That same Alphonne also served as the basis for Akira Fudo’s teacher in the Devilman TV series. 

Ms. Alphonne was voiced by the late Noriko Tsukase, who had previously voiced Mr. Alphonne’s wife and son in Devilman. Although Ms. Alphonne appears in every other animated Honey series, this is the only version where she is voiced by a woman.

During the early production stages Seiji Hayami was known as Shun Kazami and was described as "falling in love with Honey, despite knowing she’s an android." He would also have a goofy little sister named Zuuko, who would question whether she was really related to her handsome older brother. When the series details were finalized, Seiji became more of a comic relief character and his romantic chemistry with Honey was downplayed. 

Seiji was voiced by Katsuji Mori, who would go on to voice Dr. Kisaragi in Cutie Honey Universe.

Katsuji Mori revealed he had ad-libbed Seiji's lines during Honey's first transformation. Originally, Seiji had no dialogue in that scene.

Honey's motorcyclist form is called "Hurricane Honey" which is possibly an homage to Shotaro Ishinomori's Cyborg 009. The lead character, Joe Shimamura, is sometimes a professional car racer who goes by the nickname "Hurricane Joe."

Seiji refers to Hurricane Honey as kaminari musume (カミナリ娘) which translates to something like “thunder girl.” He’s actually referring to the kaminari zoku (カミナリ族) or “thunder tribes”, Japanese motorcycle gangs who were known for their loud and rowdy modified motorcycles.

Sister Jill is the manager of Panther Claw's Japanese branch and Panther Zora's younger sister. The "Sister" part of her name is likely a reference to a religious sister, circling back to Honey attending a Catholic school. In the original series pitch, she was known as Sister Zora.

Jill is voiced by the late Noriko Watanabe, who also voiced Junpei's girlfriend, Mami.

Black Claw’s name comes from the original series proposal, which described Panther Claw’s soldiers as being color coded. Potential opponents for Honey would’ve included Black Claw, Scarlet Claw, Cobalt Claw and Gold Claw. Each would have possessed a specific skill or element, for example, “Scarlet Claw” would’ve possessed fire powers. For whatever reason the whole color coded aspect was dropped but “Black Claw” was still used as the name for Honey’s first real adversary.

According to Cutey Honey Roman Album published by Tokuma Shoten in 1981, Honey's childhood memories are artificial. They were produced by Dr. Kisaragi because he wanted Honey to have childhood memories like any other human girl.

Dr. Takeshi Kisaragi was originally known as Dr. Seiji Tachibana in the original series proposal. In the original manga Dr. Kisaragi looks noticeably younger, has black hair, no glasses and a goatee instead of a mustache.

Originally, Honey was only going to transform once or twice during the first episode. Tomoharu Katsumata (director for episode one) requested that Honey use all of her main seven forms.

Some of the choreography from Honey and Black Claw’s fight is based on sequences from the Abashiri Family manga, specifically when the lead character Kikunosuke battles against teachers from Paradise Academy.

Junpei is based on Kichiza Abashiri from Go Nagai's The Abashiri Family manga. Kichiza is the youngest son of the Abashiri family and is a master of explosives. Junpei was voiced by Kazuko Sawada.

It’s probably worth noting Honey and Junpei are the only two characters to appear in every episode of Cutie Honey.

We'll take a look at episode two next week!

[chiconisroc]

What fictional, literary, comic, manga or mythological characters did you and Jiyuukaze draw inspiration from for the design of Adam reborn as the devil himself? What kind of ideas germinated in your heads during the moment of Adam's metamorphosis in hell?

I just thought it be ironic if Adam, the golden child of heaven, turned out to be like the devil depicted in the traditional sense of that red horned creature o.o

And of course it would be a big hit to adams mentality to see himself to become the "monster" humans on earth would imagine the king of heaven to be

[bimboficationblues]

One Piece in Review, Part 1: Break of Romance Dawn! (Ch. 1-41)

Welcome to my One Piece reread review! In each part I’m gonna take a close look at each arc of the manga, what works, what doesn’t, how it relates to the work as a “whole" (such as it is).

First up: Romance Dawn [chapters 1-7], followed by two story arcs which I think follow enough of a similar pattern that they can all be understood as a unit: Orange Town [chapters 8-21] and Syrup Village [chapters 22-41]. Where the grand adventure begins! These make up the first half of the "East Blue" saga, a series of arcs that all take place in the "East Blue" sea.

The first three arcs of One Piece follow a very simple formula: our protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, is in need of members for his pirate crew and a ship. This is part of his ambition to become "King of the Pirates," which requires finding the treasure of previous Pirate King Gold Roger. He shows up in a small village or town, often by contrivance, and confronts a local villain who is menacing the locals in one form or another: an authoritarian Marine captain, a ransacking materialistic clown pirate, and a scheming ex-pirate trying to pull off one last job, respectively. Luffy gets involved not out of a desire to be heroic, but usually out of self-interest (such as acquiring a ship or a map of his destination) or to help an interpersonal connection he's made in the area. Along the way he meets an oddball with some special talent or skill who he invites to join his crew, and they eventually agree to join in pursuit of their own personal dream. In this series of arcs, he recruits powerful and stoic swordsman Roronoa Zoro, kleptomaniac and pirate-hating navigator Nami, and inventive but cowardly sharpshooter Usopp.

@canmom recently read through this segment of the story and posted what I think is an insightful perspective about the series’ beginnings, from the viewpoint of someone approaching the series for (approximately) the first time in its twenty-six year history. Her perspective is, I think it's fair to say, a little mixed, both because of the art style's notoriously divisive quality as well as the tone and content of this first part of the story.

These first three arcs kind of wear author Eiichiro Oda’s influences on their sleeve both narratively and visually, especially that of Akira Toriyama's Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball. I also think that some of the concepts are probably inspired (directly or not) by series like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Outlaw Star, such as the "Devil Fruit" (which resemble JJBA's Stands as a way to give characters unique and wacky powers, though simpler than Stands in general). The linework for characters is generally rounder and softer in shape, a little "cartoony," and it's not always consistent. There's a lot of visual gags, puns, and big reaction faces, though mercifully few lame sex jokes relative to the early portions of Dragon Ball. The strongest visual moments are in the action sequences and spreads (see below).

Similar to Dragon Ball, One Piece draws a lot on folk tales, fables, mythology, and fantasy literature, sometimes subtly and sometimes not so much (as is the case with the introduction of Usopp, a character who is initially both a variant on Pinocchio and the Boy Who Cried Wolf). And yet, Dragon Ball doesn’t really confront the grimmer sides of its story and world until fairly late into the “non-Z” portion. Within the first chapter of One Piece: a child cuts his face open with a large knife to prove his courage, a bandit gets shot in the head by a pirate, and another man has his arm torn off by a sea monster. (All of these are obfuscated in some way in the Toei anime.) None of this gets an especially graphic treatment visually, but combined with the apparent silliness of the power system and visual design, plus some of the more interesting setting details, it definitely establishes that this is a world full of both awe-inspiring wonder AND genuine danger.

And, unlike something like Dragon Ball or JoJo's where a lot of the writing is (self-admittedly) done by the seat of the author's pants, there's definitely a real effort to maintain something like a consistent world-logic - which isn't to say Oda doesn't sometimes abruptly change course. But concepts like the "Grand Line" or the Devil Fruit surface repeatedly, baiting readers to follow and learn more if they keep coming back. Below, Chapter 8 (an early mention of the Grand Line) and Chapter 22 (where it's actually explained in detail):

The settings and backgrounds of these early arcs tend to be sparse, minimal, and rustic: small houses, quiet taverns, little rickety boats, and tamed greenery. This, too, is a tradeoff. On the one hand, it effectively communicates how small this part of the world is, and on re-read this makes these early islands really stand out compared to the kinds of weird or grandiose places that the Straw Hat Pirates will visit later in the manga. It paints a picture of small communities and everyday people trying to eke out a stable existence on the periphery of the world, threatened by a mix of local crime and corrupt authority, which in turn point towards the existence of much larger forces.

On the other hand, those first forty chapters can feel a little drab because of this somewhat underwhelming aesthetic. Once the series starts to really hit its stride in the following saga, I think this is much less of a problem. And, just to defend the thing I just critiqued, @opbackgrounds has a cool write-up noting the differences between the architecture in the different villages, so although the settings aren't the most thrilling, their designs do still communicate distinct class and cultural differences, like Orange Town's obviously greater wealth communicated below, which corresponds to its success as a port town:

This same limitation of scope extends into the main conflicts. They skew small, with relatively minor pirate crews menacing the small towns that I described above. Unlike the antagonists of the "Paradise" [Ch. 101-597] and "New World" [Ch. 598-ongoing] portions of the story, who are admirals, warlords, emperors, and even a self-proclaimed god-king, the antagonists in these first three arcs are trying to acquire petty personal fiefdoms or fulfill private schemes, or in the case of that clown everyone was upset about a while back, reach *well* outside his grasp. It can feel a little "villain of the week," and in at least two out of four cases, with one edge case, that's an accurate label.

The two villains of Romance Dawn, for instance, are completely outclassed by our protagonists. "Iron Mace" Alvida and "Axe-Hand" Morgan never pose a serious threat to our heroes, they're largely vessels for Luffy and Zoro to display what they can do. They have two other useful qualities, though. First, they immediately set the tone for who the antagonists are generally going to be, a mix of Marines or government authorities, and other pirates with alternative worldviews to Luffy and the crew's. Second, they introduce some of the series' basic themes.

Both Morgan and Alvida rule by fear, with the former in particular demanding complete obedience, and using his rank in the Marines as proof of his own superiority and a means to personally enrich himself. By putting Luffy in conflict with these two, it suggests that the status of "Pirate King" maybe doesn't inherently carry the kind of connotation of superiority and command, or control over wealth, that you might assume. In the first chapter, we've seen Luffy glow with delight at the claim that "pirates have freedom." While the themes are a little embryonic at this point, it's clear from the start what direction the series is going.

In this way, most of the villains are direct foils for Luffy and the crew member being recruited in each arc. For example, Captain Kuro "of a Thousand Plans," the villain of the "Syrup Village" arc, is both a foil for Luffy and Usopp, willing to abandon his crew in pursuit of a quiet, shamed life as an ex-pirate rather than live loudly and proudly, and who relies on deception to advance his goals. Buggy the Clown, the villain of "Orange Town," has a boundless ambition for treasure that parallels both Luffy and Nami's aspirations, but while Luffy sees treasure in the variety of places and things that people value because of their history and connections to important people (like his own straw hat), and Nami's money-lust stems from a complicated history of hurt (which is only foreshadowed in this section), Buggy is simplistic and sadistic, incapable of seeing beyond himself.

A random aside: Buggy is an all-time gag antagonist, and unlike the other three, he will repeatedly resurface throughout the narrative. This is part of the core appeal of One Piece, imo. What seem like villains of the week or background characters often end up coming back, often in new roles. In Buggy's case, while he returns first as a minor villain and later an ally, above all he is essentially the series' longest-running gag: a man who is basically incompetent but keeps failing upwards largely through the misunderstandings of others.

This use of narrative foils to push specific ideas within each arc, which then form a web of interrelated themes throughout the whole saga or series, is a common feature of One Piece antagonists, but they get meatier and gain greater emotional complexity or thematic weight as the story goes on.

You might have noticed I've been quiet about the core cast so far, but now that I've touched on antagonists, it seems appropriate to say some words about them. But also, that's partly intentional because in the early days the information about our protagonists is relayed in a piecemeal way. We get basic backgrounds for Usopp, Luffy, and Zoro, but a better sense of who they are unfolds over time rather than in single chapters or arcs: how they behave with each other, the choices they make, what their personalities are like. This lack of instant information is deliberate on Oda's part. Luffy (after learning that Nami lost someone to pirates) expresses that he understands, but also indicates that he doesn't necessarily need to hear about it. These people aren't connected because they share intimate details of their histories with each other but because they have shared values and aspirations, and they inspire one another to pursue their goals.

The way Luffy is written, for example, leaves open a lot of questions around his familial and early life until they suddenly come roaring back into the story way later. But we do learn a decent amount about him in this arc: he's a bit of a dope and not a great sailor, but he's a strong fighter, he has some sense of honor and bravery but isn't above being underhanded, and despite his lack of intellect he has a fair amount of tactical and emotional intelligence.

While he hasn't quite figured out to be the best possible leader yet, Luffy has a sort of natural charisma by virtue of his sheer unblinking willpower. His dreams and aspirations inspire others around him to pursue their own, seemingly unachievable goals. So far, so shonen. But where he stands out from other shonen heroes is that his goals are so defiant of how the world "should" work - a young kid who can't swim, with the silly power of "stretching," from a backwater village in the "weakest" sea in the One Piece world - that it naturally brings him into conflict with that world's social and political order. It'll be interesting to observe how Luffy develops as a character and a leader as the series continues.

Each of the main cast is, fittingly for pirates, atypically heroic or arguably non-heroic. In spite of their position as protagonists, each one has an idiosyncratic personality, a self-interested goal, and a hoard of vices, and what's more is that these vices often aren't always positioned as things they need to overcome. Zoro is incredibly prideful to the point of putting himself in unnecessary danger, indulgent in alcohol, and easily gets lost. Nami is obsessed with making money and has an especially short fuse. Usopp is easily frightened and falls back on deception as a way to puff himself up.

And yet these are the things that endear the characters to each other, and us to them: Usopp uses lies not just to inflate his own ego but to make others feel better or to distract an enemy at critical moments; Zoro's prideful determination to basically defy all medical wisdom has saved the crew's life multiple times, as early as Orange Town; Nami's knack for stealing makes her a valuable asset under pressure, and her short fuse is because she often has to play the clever and rational member of the group.

I'm gonna decline to comment further on the remaining three characters, because I think while each of them gets time to shine in this section of the story, it'll be better to look at how they take shape in the context of the next string of arcs. Which means, once again, I find myself pointing to the long game as justification for what makes this section of the story work.

I think taken together, these qualities of the early series make it easy to see why One Piece is massively successful AND has something of a mixed reputation among non-readers, or people who pick up the first volume or two and then drop it.

My feelings on this earliest segment of One Piece are a bit mixed, myself. What makes it work for me is viewing it as part of an unfolding process, with the knowledge of what's to come and how the seemingly small and less exciting characters or concepts eventually swell in scope and emotional weight. But some of the emotional moments in this early section land with a bit of a thud for me (I've never been a huge fan of Zoro's backstory for instance), and the conflicts and characterization are hit or miss. But, considering the manga I've read that have stronger starting points but ultimately drown as they continue, there's a compelling case to be made that One Piece is a great example of manga-as-process rather than just a series of parts. It benefits from a long-term, serialized format in a way that not all works actually do.

Overall I'd say Romance Dawn is a little wobbly, while Orange Town and Syrup Village polish up the basic formula before it starts to get more complex in the next few arcs.

Next up, Baratie, Arlong Park, and Loguetown (ch. 42-100)!