#the only maybe exception to this is Doraemon

[yonemurishiroku]

"[insert character name] is more than a character" No, dear. They are only, solely, in every sense of the world, a character and if you think otherwise you need to touch grass.

[no-psi-nan]

"Kuniharu is a kind and funny dad, you're misconstruing canon if you call him abusive!!"

Literal intro chapter, the very first serialized chapter & first episode of the whole series:

- Kuniharu lies to his son in an attempt to guilt-trip him

- Kuniharu thinks about, then suggests to his son that he start stealing money

- Kusuo himself introduces his dad as a shameless and pitiable sleazeball.

- Kuniharu dehumanizes his son by calling him "Kusuemon", a reference to Doraemon, a robot cat that serves a human.

- It's revealed that Kuniharu "carelessly flew into a rage and smashed all the window panes in the house" because his "beloved" wife ate one (1) dessert out of the fridge, and he thinks that's a just and proportionate response and that "[they're] both to blame".

For reference, their house looks like this:

That's a lot of windows!

And even in the case of it being a gag manga, smashing all the windows in his own house over a minor offense by his wife is a completely insane level of retaliation. It doesn't matter that his son can instantly repair the house, the fact of the matter is that he had a long and extended violent outburst against his wife IN HIS INTRO EPISODE!!!!!!!

Kuniharu was NEVER meant to be seen as a good person because he's not. He's (at BEST) a constant source of annoyance for his son and a crappy husband who can't even do his job right, licking shoes to compensate for his ongoing problems at work:

It's fine to enjoy him as a character, he IS really funny in his insanity, but to say that people are making stuff up about him being abusive is a ridiculous statement.

The concept of "child abuse" includes psychological and emotional mistreatment or neglect by a parent, it's not just about physical assault. One definition of psychological child abuse is:

"A repeated pattern of caregiver behavior or extreme incident(s) that convey to children that they are worthless, flawed, unloved, unwanted, endangered, or only of value in meeting another's needs."

Kuniharu hardly interacts with his son except to seek favors or to try to assert dominance/superiority. He constantly refers to Kusuo as a monster/robot/nonhuman (dehumanization, another form of abuse).

During the favorability/love meter chapter, both Kuniharu and Kusuo were certain that the love score would be very low due how little Kuniharu cares for his son. The fact that the score doesn't go down doesn't actually mean much if his literal mind-reading son could not tell that he was loved.

In fact, just as Kusuo's kindness can be explained by Kurumi's influence, Kusuo's tendency to self-blame, his trouble forming bonds with others, and his extreme conflict-avoidance can be seen as classic results of childhood emotional/psychological abuse.

And sure, Kusuke (who's introduced wayyyyyyyy later) might be the source of some of this trauma, but literally who raised him lol?

Anyways. You're ignoring canon if you think Kuniharu is a good dad or person, which is fine! Just recognize that.

"It's a gag manga, it's not that serious" <- Even in a gag manga world, Kusuo himself says that his dad is kind of garbage and that his mother is the only reason he hasn't exploded the planet. And the whole premise of the series is that he's fucking miserable.

The fact that bad things are presented in a funny way doesn't make them less bad, especially not from an in-canon perspective. A war in a gag manga is not really that funny to the characters themselves.

And exploring different aspects of a work is literally one of the main activities to do in fandom. If you only want to see exactly what's in the show exactly as it's presented in the show, then go rewatch it! Maybe you'll catch a few more details this time too.

[albertonykus]

You Wouldn’t Really Know Shizuka from the Doraemon Movies

If you’ve experienced enough Doraemon media, you’ve probably noticed that the movies tend to emphasize the main characters’ positive qualities, which often paints a very different picture of them from the regular manga and episodes. The contrast is especially noticeable with Nobita, Gian, and Suneo, who in the mainline series are frequently cast as anti-role models to show children how not to behave.

Shizuka, on the other hand, is already kind and morally upstanding by default, so it’s only natural for the movies to continue portraying her that way. That makes Shizuka pretty much the same between the regular series and the movies, right? I would argue not exactly, and unfortunately her character in the movies suffers for it.

It’s not that the movies never characterize Shizuka well. She’s had very important roles in some of them: in my reviews, I counted at least eight films in which her actions are critical to resolving the plot. Certainly one can gather from the movies that she’s compassionate, quick-witted, brave, and adventurous, and all of these things are true about Shizuka in the mainline series.

However... if you only watched the movies, you might not realize that Shizuka also enjoys messing with other people for fun...

... or can be very blunt towards her friends...

... or participates in schemes to get even with people who have wronged her...

[A short time later...]

... or becomes disproportionately violent when she’s upset (“Janie” being one of her dolls)...

... or lies to get out of things she doesn’t want to do.

(If any of this seems like it conflicts with Shizuka’s usual characterization, I don’t think it does. When I was Shizuka’s age, I was also a “good kid” who stayed out of trouble and got along with most of my peers, and I still did every one of these things.)

From the movies alone, you might even miss that Shizuka is supposed to be bad at playing the violin, which is her one “flaw” that the franchise likes to highlight with any regularity. Her violin playing has shown up in two movies so far (Nobita and the Knights on Dinosaurs and Nobita and the Kingdom of Clouds), but only in very brief scenes where we don’t see anyone else reacting to it. (Edit: I’d forgotten that she also plays the violin in The New Record of Nobita’s Spaceblazer. There, it is a similar situation in which she is only seen practicing alone. She is finally shown playing in front of an audience during the end credits of Nobita’s Sky Utopia, which I hadn’t had a chance to see when I first wrote this post.)

Of course, there are other ways to add dimensionality to a character besides giving them flaws. However, Shizuka in the movies almost never exhibits quirks of any kind, except maybe for being just a bit too obsessed with bathing. (Now that they rarely neglect to include in the movies, for some reason...)

In the main series, Shizuka is often the voice of reason who is strung along by the foolishness and craziness of the others around her, but she still gets her kicks. When the kids test out Doraemon’s Mysterious Trash Chute, there’s the implication that she goes the extra mile to throw in a concrete beam. (As far as I know, none of the animated adaptations of this story have included this particular detail, which is disappointing.)

There’s also the time she hesitates to partake in karaoke, only to have trouble putting down the mic once her turn comes around.

Even the manga counterparts to the movies sometimes contain facets of Shizuka’s character that weren’t adapted into the films themselves. (Perhaps that’s not a surprise considering that the original author had a more direct hand in the manga.) Nobita’s Three Visionary Swordsmen is already one of the best movies when it comes to Shizuka’s portrayal, but if you’ve never read the manga version, you probably wouldn’t have known that she aspires to be a diplomat working for world peace.

Then there’s this moment in Nobita and the Tin Labyrinth, where she makes a bet with Suneo over whether Nobita is lying to them. This conversation does happen in the movie, but the film version doesn’t quite get across just how smug Shizuka looks when she takes that bet.

And check out how pleased she is to be eventually proven right! (This expression didn’t make it into the movie either.)

Nobita in the Robot Kingdom was not written by the original manga author, but I’ve discussed before how the manga version of that story gave Shizuka an important part that was unfortunately cut out of the film.

Is this really a problem? After all, it’s well established that the other main characters in the movies don’t act exactly like they normally do in the manga either. With the others, however, subverting their usual roles is precisely what gives them character depth. Relegating Shizuka solely to being “the nice one”, which she already comes across as most of the time, makes her feel much more static by comparison.

An understandable concern is that swinging the pendulum too far in another direction might erode Shizuka’s kind image, but this need not be the case. Like anyone else, nice people can say and do some very un-nice things, and the trick for a storyteller is to interrogate what might lead them to act in such a way. I think the Nobita in the Robot Kingdom manga does this very well, but an example found in the films themselves can be seen in Nobita and the Steel Troops.

In this movie, (SPOILERS) Shizuka rescues a severely damaged robot spy, Riruru, and works on nursing her back to health. After Riruru explains the history of the robot society that she belongs to, Shizuka observes its parallels to human history. However, Riruru, who is still operating under a belief in robot supremacy, takes offense to this comparison and tries to shoot Shizuka, which results in Shizuka expressing regret and bitterness over having saved her in the first place. Shizuka gets over this very quickly and it’s not explored much further, but this still a rare deconstruction of her role as “the nice one”. Sometimes, being kind is hard.

Overly-long story short, it would be nice if the Doraemon movies let Shizuka do more “bad” (or mischievous, or just plain weird) things, especially for the sake of good.

[filmfactors]

Green Giant Legend vs Moon Exploration

Something I thought about after watching Green Giant Legend a few months back really struck me, in that Moon Exploration feels very similar to it in a different flavor of sci-fi.

Of course, I think we all know by now Doraemon movies usually have a consistent thing they have going on in them. Like Suneo freaking out about life ending danger, common thread between most of the movies.

However, it feels like Moon Exploration follows the same beats as Green Giant Legend in terms of overall plot.

I wish I wrote this months earlier, because I feel my more detailed thoughts have vanished as I haven’t even watched Moon Exploration since last year. Maybe one day I can update this to be more precise.

KIBO AND LUCA

The two central new characters in their respective movies, difference being is that Kibo is an actually cute mascot type fitting for the feel of it and Luka is a boy pulled from an entirely different anime movie with rabbit ears slapped on top.

Luka has an angsty vibe about him, the mysterious new kid energy- he wishes he was Riruru essentially. Kibo is a cute little tree with energy that reminds you of a little sibling, and he remains as one of the few mascot type characters in a Doraemon movie I like. Right up there with Piisuke and Fuuko, in my book.

The only similarity they truly share is that they are both essentially fuel for weapons, granted Luca shares this trait amongst all the Espal. Point being, they both befriend Nobita and have to be saved in the end from being used to destroy the Earth.

Also, while there is no equivalent to Princess Rire in Moon Exploration, it’s at least notable to say her and Luka both serve to be a leader for their people.

A CRUSH FOR SUNEO

I think this is what made me come to think about the similarities in the first place. In that both films decided that he should have some form of romantic interest, and that said interest honestly could not be in the film and it’d be no different.

However Mai and Suneo I thought were quaint, in the sense the plot knew she isn’t part of the grand scope of it. This movie carries a lot of small character moments that don’t add much to the plot, but are great in showing characterization and just being sweet. Mai may not matter overall, but all these small moments add an extra touch to the film that makes it charming.

When it comes to Luna, she is set up to be important to the plot just as Luca is, being his sister. Instead she’s sidelined just as Shizuka is, but remains a film constant. The crush, just like her, feels like it’s kind of just there to be there? Unlike with Green Giant Legend, the small bits of character flavor that do exist don’t feel all that charming. They serve it’s purpose, but it feels very baseline.

That, and when it comes to Mai I feel like I won’t be uncomfortable if she even looks at Suneo wrong. Luna is a thousand and if we aren’t counting that, fifteen years old.

At least the consistent thing is that Suneo likes girls with colored hair? That’s my takeaway.

THE PLOT

It’s about adventures in space, as many Doraemon movies come to be at times. Nobita want to help the Espal, and Nobita wants to help Kibo. Kibo and the Espal are both something far greater than they even want to be. The main crew has to save the earth from a type of world ending destruction powered by the new friends they made, and they all get a sort of match amongst the new characters. Except Shizuka, at least in Moon Exploration she gets the rabbit people Nobita made. I guess?

While I feel like Green Giant Legend has something to say about nature, life and environmental safety... I guess the lesson for Moon Exploration would be don’t use super powered rabbit children as fuel for your weapon? On a less joking note, I’d suppose it’s about appreciating and respecting life as at the end the Espal give up their immortality. I don’t think it really connects to the rest of the movie, or says anything new.

All this being said, I still enjoyed watching Moon Exploration but it really did strike me how it was a much less charming version of Green Giant Legend. You can still watch both and still be entertained, it’s just about how the core of it feels the same but it’s surface doesn’t.

[angrycatlovesfandoms]

Lol, I am so sorry you keep having to add things to that anime poll. Out of curiosity, what kinds of shows aired in Spain when you were younger? Most of the anime on daytime TV in the US was teen shonen in the 90s and 00s, except for shows like Sailor Moon. There were exceptions but the big titles were things like Yu-Gi-Oh, Bleach, One Piece, DBZ, Yu Yu Hakusho, etc. I'm curious whether you had shows we didn't, or if titles we think of as too big to miss just didn't end up popular in Spain.

Don't worry about it!, I use any opportunity I get to ramble about Spain lol.

In regards to anime, I grew up around the 00s into the very early 2010's so that's the time frame I'm working from. We got kid shows like Doraemon (which was extremely extremely popular), Inazuma Eleven, Oliver and Benji (unsurprisingly there is a soccer theme) and Shin-chan. Dragon ball while not in my strong suit was also airing, but I got into Sailor Moon by my own initiative. We also had more residual ones that kept playing even if very old like Vicky the Viking and Heidi (and Marco).

Even then, for me, and for a lot of other girls around my age, they'd say the first anime they watched was Pichi Pichi Pitch: Mermaid Melody, which was a masive hit, but didn't get a lot of attention besides playing on TV, probably due to copyright. It was also airing a few years after jts release in Japan, which is a very common trend back in the day. For comparison, while more popular, Winx club and Code Lyoko (both foreign animated shows but we're now talking about EU) got a lot of toys and dolls.

The only new shonen I can remember was One Piece, but while anime communities in spain must have had all that stuff, for mainstream dubbing it was mostly kids stuff lmao.

Maybe this was more extensive than you wanted, but I had fun writing this!

[sdaomine]

the nxx team visit the philippines 🇵🇭

the nxx receives a new case, but the incident's elements are to be found only in manila. two weeks before the investigations begin, the nxx team make certain to relish their long-awaited vacation.

PART 1: THE AIRPORT (Stellis, Ninoy Aquino International Airport)

PART 2: PH Public Transport aka where Vyn Richter's Elegance is Put to Test

as the mother of the group, artem picks them up one by one—luke, rosa, marius, and vyn, and drives straight to the airport.

no, no, that did not happen. there were a lot of stop-overs aka mcdonald's for the kids at the back. french fries, sundae, nuggets, iced coffee, you name them. artem gets a hot brew, of course. and as for vyn, well, he's one picky bastard and only wants his tea.

luke and artem double-check everyone's necessities: passports, tickets, valid ids, you name them. most importantly, health declaration forms, negative swab tests, and face masks.

they check-in their baggages and roam around the luxurious stellis airport since they're, you know, five hours early. only artem wing is to blame. but the kids enjoyed window shopping!

wait, fuck, no. it was no window shopping because the von hagen brat buys everything he sees. only vyn was able to stop his impulsive purchases with a single glare. they haven't even left the airport yet they have more baggage to carry.

as usual, only rosa, luke, and marius are giddy with their first flight together as a team! artem's preoccupied with the newspaper while vyn is reading a psychology book. you know, his usual thing.

flight is business class, courtesy by yours truly, marius von hagen. everyone has their own glass of sparkling wine except for vyn who chooses merlot.

seating arrangement: artem is alone, vyn is alone, both minding their own businesses; or maybe vyn only makes sure he's not bothered by marius. luke, rosa, and marius are seated across one another, eating pax's baked goods and some iced tea.

lots and lots of snoring. rosa is the loudest.

luke takes pictures of everyone when they are nearing their destination!

the moment they enter the philippines' airport, a guard approaches them. “ma'am, sir, you are required to wear your face masks and face shields at all times.”

“... face what?” says rosa. “they still wear face shields here?”

“yeah. but rules are rules, watson.” luke eyes the area, hoping to find a store so they can purchase face shields, but to no avail. “ah, i'm really sorry. i didn't know face shields are still needed here.”

“that's all right. i'll go look around, you stay here.” artem pushes his luggages to luke with a nod. “i'll be back immediately.”

as promised, artem returns with five pieces of brand-new face shields. everything's about to click into place now that everyone's wearing it already, but kids are kids...

“hey, that's unfair!” luke points to a little boy wearing a doraemon-designed face shield. “why is his face shield doraemon? i want that too,” he pouts, “this one's too plain.”

marius scowls, resting his hands on his hips. “well if you checked the rules and regulations thoroughly, i could've asked pax to customize our own face shields, luke,” he says, “and i would've designed my own!”

“hey, i'm not—” luke is interrupted by rosa, who's excitedly eyeing a particular store right ahead. “luke, marius! they sell decorated face shields there!”

so yeah. luke has a doraemon face shield, marius's has puppy decorations, while rosa bought (it was marius, actually) the floral one. the kids are so happy.

“... vyn?” artem asks, surprised to find vyn walking towards them. artem didn't even notice him leave. “where have you been? and you're... wearing a new face shield too...”

“yes, i am.” he adjusts his glasses, irritated. “all though i admit, this... face shield thing is quite uncomfortable to use. i cannot wear it properly with glasses.”

“you could—”

“wait, vyn, that's unfair! where did you get yours?” luke asks him. “yours look so... sophisticated. plain but sophisticated.”

rosa gasps in amusement. “woah! it does look expensive! and elegant! you look so luxurious, dr. richter.”

“why, thank you, rosa. i appreciate that,” vyn chuckles. “but i—”

marius snorts at the back. “pfft, his face shield looks like a fish bowl to me.”

“and you look ridiculous wearing yours.”

vyn's stare was icy, enough to zip marius's mouth, letting out a huff of disagreement instead. on the other hand, artem sighs, rubbing his temples. “i shouldn't have bought face shields if you're all going to buy new ones...”

“don't worry, artem! i will take care of this face shield you bought for me!” rosa, as usual, comes to the rescue. she wiggles the face shield in front of artem's face, making him smile. “that's a promise, okay?”

“eh? missy, no one really asked artem to buy those.”

“marius! von! hagen!”

“i was just kidding!” marius raises both arms in surrender. “thanks, man. appreciated.”

artem clears his throat. “you're welcome,” he says, before holding onto his luggage. “come on, everyone. our service will be here in a minute.”

the team walks side by side, but before they could even reach the exit, vyn calls for their attention. “you all go on. i wish to see something.”

artem glances at his wristwatch. “where are you going?”

“there.” vyn gestures to a nearby souvenir shop with a gloomy orange ambience filled with various kinds of merchandise ranging from clothes, jewelry, and even wooden sculptures. “do you perhaps, wish to join me?”

ha. of course they all do. vyn manages to talk to a saleslady, and upon the mention of pasalubong, vyn asks: “pasalubong? what does that mean?”

“it's a culture here in the philippines wherein travellers bring gifts from their destination to people back home,” she says, “it can be any kind of gift or souvenir, even food—all brought for your loved ones after being away for a long period of time.”

amused, vyn plasters a smile. “and i suppose this tradition brings families and friends more closer,” he tells her, “one way to strengthen their bonds. correct?”

the saleslady flashes a cheery grin, thumbs up as she excitedly nod her head. “yes! you got it right, sir!” a blush creeps across her cheeks. “oh, and, uh... you look so foreign. are you, perhaps, european?”

“ahem.” marius clears his throat behind vyn, pretending to look at the keychain products. “someone assist me?”

“the saleswoman is currently occupied, marius.”

“you're not even buying anything, vyn.”

“missy, don't mind him, will you?” marius smirks, dipping his hands in his pockets. “i'll buy all your keychains right here.”

“really, now?”

“mhm. you got it.” the young von hagen shoots vyn a slight glare. “what? did i interrupt your flirting?”

“are you daft?” vyn rolls his eyes, scoffing. “i was not flirting. i was merely asking. did that look like flirting to you, you brat?”

vyn grabs a handful of locally-made pastries, paying for them before marius could even swipe his card. honestly, vyn only bought it to piss marius off, but he never expected the pastries to taste so heavenly.

the pastries, namely: pastillas and polvoron. the nxx team has to get their sweet tooth ready when they return to stellis, because vyn aka the pastry chef will definitely try making these goods, even though they don't require ovens. just condensed milk and sugar.

“just condensed milk and sugar?” vyn's eyes are wide, full of surprise. “are you certain there is nothing more to it than those?”

pretty easy. too easy to make. therefore he'll do it and perhaps, add his own twists to said delicacies. he's a perfectionist, is he not?

oh, and by the way—artem is a few ticks close to scolding marius for purchasing almost the entire souvenir shop. marius says he bought the souvenirs as “pasalubong” to pax employees, and that's sweet, but goddammit, marius—the team hasn't even spent 24 hours in the state and yet they already got their hands (and bank statements) full.

their hotel reservation is at six in the evening, the suite only a few kilometers away from the airport. in stellis it would've been a twenty-minute ride, and clearly no one expected it, but...

“is artem... gonna hyperventilate anytime soon, luke?” asks rosa with a worried look on her face. “he looks...”

“don't look ahead, artem,” advised luke. “or else your mood will worsen.”

“marius,” calls vyn. “i think this is the perfect time to send your private helicopter.”

if you're all wondering about artem's mood...

ph traffic is a goddamn hellhole.

[thepriceofbeingaroseisloneliness]

TOSHIYA AT JOE YOKOMIZO CHANNEL 4TH FEB TRANSLATION/NOTES 3/4

Joe Yokomizo Channel

Guest: Toshiya (Dir en grey)

Notes before reading: This is the translation/notes of the livestream on Joe’s Niconico channel with Toshiya as a guest last 4th February.  This is part 3.  The livestream was one hour and fifty min approx. This part covers from 1h 13min to  1h 32m aprox. You can watch this at Joe Yokomizo’s channel on Niconico.

Feel free to correct me if you spot any mistake or any confusing parts.

Links or credits to this post when the content is reposted or captured in other SNS are appreciated ------ (First part here) (Second part here) *They are discussing the pic in which Die and Shinya are at the airport playing with a baggage scale* Joe: When you go overseas, you don’t care about what other people think or things you would care about in Japan….it’s not a concern… Toshiya: That’s true. Joe: It’s like…you act without restraints…. Toshiya: Well, as expected, sometimes it happens…. Joe: That’s it….in Japan you feel everyone’s eyes on you…. Toshiya: But, even now,  things like this are like an everyday scene…. Joe: That is rather, Dir en grey’s… Toshiya: That’s it, that’s it… Joe: I see. Conversely…somehow, an overseas episode….ah! are you ok with the beer? Do you have enough?... Toshiya: I’m fine… Joe: I hope they can bring another one for you…..I’d like you to have another one….so please *asking the staff*….so, about overseas…in addition to the story you just told about the photo….I’d like to ask you about any interesting episode of Dir en grey at overseas… Toshiya: An interesting episode? Joe: It’s already….wasn’t about this time last year that you were overseas? Toshiya: That’s it….January and February…. That’s right… Joe: Exactly Toshiya: At the time we were in Europe… Joe: I wonder if you could imagine that something like this could happen (Corona) Toshiya: But well, I’m glad that we could go to Europe even at that time. Joe: Indeed. Some episode from that European tour….it was about that time right? (Corona) Toshiya: It was a bit before? Joe: Ah, it was before… Toshiya: Mostly, everytime when we go, there are interesting stuff happening… Joe: How was it when you went abroad for the first time? Toshiya:  The first time? With Dir en grey? Joe: That’s it….because before there weren’t many overseas activities…. Toshiya: That's right, first we went on an Asian tour….we went to Korea, Shanghai, Hong Kong, etc…that’s it…..it was really interesting/fun….it was about the time of Kisou… Joe: Is that so? That was your first time overseas…. Toshiya: It was really fun… Joe: Ah…..several things….ah! the sunglasses….like they said before “take off the sunglasses”…..you guys are really acting like spoiled kids!!! Toshiya: Like spoiled kids….really spoiled… Joe: You all are spoiled kids! ….to take his sunglasses off….how is it called? Gifts? Use the gifts…send gifts! *Joe is talking with a heavy Yakuza accent* *Gifts are a niconico feature similar to Youtube’s stickers* Toshiya laughs Toshiya: So scary… Joe: Ah ah, they are coming....they are there....*niconico gifts appear on screen* Toshiya: Scary… Joe: A bit…..I sound like a Yakuza…please write more comments for Toshiya….your thoughts about Toshiya…I’m sorry everyone… with this little amount of comments….”Take them off!”…. Toshiya: So scary… Joe: I’m sorry…I’m trying to negotiate with him….thank you for your comments….those sunglasses….*reading the comments* Do you want me to take them off? That’s not ok because of the social distance right?...he has to take them off by himself…..why don’t you take them off, Toshiya? Tell us! Toshiya: *laughs* somehow….isn’t this coercion?......*laughs*….scary… Joe: It’s the alcohol…..the combination of me with alcohol is not good… Toshiya: Joe Yokomizo’s channel is scary… Joe: I’m sorry! Is it ok for you if we pass this topic?.... Toshiya’s sunglasses…..see….everyone, please write comments showing your love for Toshiya…..maybe if he feels loved/satisfied…it doesn’t feel like it yet… Toshiya: Satisfied, right? That’s interesting… Joe: If he feels satisfied/content…..he will take the sunglasses off… if he feels satisfied it would be great…. “I like Toshiya so much”….write comments!....*Toshiya laughs* “Don’t you eat icecream?”…. Do you like ice-cream? Toshiya: I do Joe: I feel like you don’t eat sweet things at all…. Toshiya: I like sweet stuff… Joe: Is that so? What do you like? I like custard ice cream to death… Toshiya: Ohhh! I like custard as well….I like anko ice cream…. * Anko  is a Japanese sweet red bean paste made from azuki beans.* Joe: You like anko? Toshiya: Yes Joe: *makes a weird face* Ehhhh…. That’s a bit…. Toshiya: My grandmother made it…. Joe: I see! Toshiya: That’s it Joe: Ehhh…. Toshiya: I like things that are usually liked by elders…. Joe: With that look you have/looking like that……and you like anko….*surprised* Toshiya: When I was a little kid I was still innocent…*Joe laughs* A cute child… Joe: A cute child… Toshiya: I got fully dirty now, though…. Joe: But that’s fine….because you are a rock and roller….”Do you like dried persimmon?” Toshiya: I do Joe: Do you like things like Taiyaki and so? Toshiya: I like Taiyaki… Joe: There are places in Tokyo in which Taiyaki is delicious… Toshiya: It is delicious Joe: Do you have any place you like? I really like a place in Yotsuya…have you tried it there? Toshiya: I don’t know that place…. Joe: It’s delicious there…if you go to Youtsuya, it’s really delicious….then, in Azabu… Toshiya: Ah! At Juban, it’s delicious too… Joe: Isn’t it?  Still, it’s one….two hundred yen per piece…. Toshiya: That’s expensive…. Joe: It’s expensive…it’s seems that the taiyaki there is 200 yen…recently taiyaki is expensive… Toshiya: That’s right… Joe: Since when did taiyaki become this popular/famous? At our times there was only Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun. *Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun  is a song by Japanese singer Masato Shimon released in 1975* Toshiya: *Laughs*  Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun feels so nostalgic…. Joe: It feels nostalgic…. Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun….did you sing it? Toshiya: Everyday…*he refers to the the first word of the lyrics* Joe: *sings*Every day, every day, we are getting fried ♫….. Toshiya: That is…..somehow….like imitating Shinya’s way of talking….it always feel like everyone is imitating him… Joe: Is that so? Everyone can do it!....*sings again* Every day, every day♫ With the exception of the chorus, do you sing? Toshiya: Well…I’m not really good at it… Joe: No,no,no…. Toshiya: It’s embarrassing… Joe: This is going to be my unreasonable request….I want you to sing… Toshiya: No,no,no…what do you mean with that? Joe: I don’t know Toshiya: *Laughs* What do you mean? Joe: I want you to sing….look! look! *points at the comments* Toshiya: It’s like…. Giant’s tone deafness… *Giant or Takeshi Goda  is a character from Doraemon. His signing is known for being horrible and loud* Joe: Giant is hopeless….I already have alcohol hitting me…..you too……isn’t it ok?....see! *points at the comments* Everyone wants that… Toshiya: No,no….it’s still soon… Joe: It’s still soon….it is soon…”Take the sunglasses off and then sing”…..*pointing and yelling* Wonderful!!!.... all the stuff you are writing now is amazing…. Toshiya finished his beers and squeezes the can. Toshiya: Another one… Joe: Another one, please…..let’s do a survey…. Off camera, you can hear Toshiya thanking someone for the beer. Joe: Let’s do it….what do people want? That you take your sunglasses off or sing….or that you sing a song….let’s check with them….let’s do that…..”Joe, you are doing an amazing job” thank you so much… Toshiya laughs. Joe: When I drink I am able to do my job….*Joe Laughs*….Toshiya didn’t know about what this section of the program....´ Toshiya: It’s scary….this program is really scary… Joe: Now as due to Corona, we don’t have many chances to laugh… Toshiya: That’s true…that’s why… Joe: Isn’t that something that we can do now? Toshiya: That’s true…I think that’s the best….if you can laugh…. Joe: For real…I really want to see everyone smiling… Toshiya: That’s true….well….I really appreciate it…. Joe: Of course, you can go to the film screening for that….but today is today!....so if you take your sunglasses off….everyone will be smiling….*Toshiya is drinking so he doesn’t reply* Eh….if you sing Oyage! Taiyaki kun…..well we haven’t decided which song they want you to sing but…if you sing….even if it is just a bit of a chorus…that’s fine too….”Both”….they want one option (of the survey) with both things….that’s a bit… Toshiya: That’s really…you all are really greedy…. Joe:  You are saying that…..*points at the comments* they are asking for it again… Toshiya: The money you dropped (paid) is not enough….*laughs* Joe: You would dare to say….not enough money… Toshiya: A beautiful Giant will come out…. *Beautiful Giant is the handsome version of Giant* Joe: It will come out….which option will be the most voted? The sunglasses or the singing….maybe both….but that you all subscribed to the channel was good….well, I don’t know… Toshiya: You don’t know….*laughs* Joe: I don’t know though….let’s do the survey….what do you want to see?...for me….that’s it…..it’s ok…I can’t say much more… *The survey appears on screen* Joe reads the four options. Joe: First one, “take off the sunglasses, second “sing”, third “take the sunglasses and then sing”, fourth, “Joe Yokomizo takes his glasses off”… that’s a good one….the fourth option…if the fourth one is the most voted, I will take my glasses off and sing…. Toshiya: Is that so? Joe: I’ll sing… Toshiya: But (the option) just says that you take your glasses off… Joe: Ah, “take the glasses off”….you are right…. Toshiya: But it’s ok if you want to do it…. Joe:Well, then I’m getting rid of my glasses…..well, the comments….the flow of the comments….write in the comments what you want….first, Toshiya takes his sunglasses off, second he sings, third he takes them off and sing, fourth I take my glasses off…..some people are writing “4” are you guys for real?....did you really pay 500 yen to see me taking my glasses off?....what are you guys doing?....spend your money properly, morons….*Joe and Toshiya laughs*….so, the results of the survery are coming…..here they are…. Don! *The results appear on screen* Joe: They are here! *Toshiya laughs hard* “Take the sunglasses off” 18.3%, “Sing” 11.1% *Joe starts yelling* “Take the sunglasses off and sing” 66.1%, “Joe takes his glasses off” 4.4%...there are a 4% of morons….after this, I’m so sorry Toshiya but “take your sunglasses off and sing” it’s the clear winner! Toshiya: Isn’t it? Joe: That’s what I thought…this….it’s unavoidable….everyone around this time…. their hearts are already rotten… Toshiya: No, no….don’t rot don’t rot… Joe: That can’t be helped….so, for everyone…. take your sunglasses off and let’s sing… Toshiya laughs. Joe: By the way….what was the first cd you bought?....ah, at that time there were already cds? There were right?.... Toshiya: The first one I bought….the first one I bought myself was a cassette…. Joe: A cassette? Toshiya: The first one that my parents bought for me was…a LP record though… Joe: I see… Toshiya: The first one I bought with my pocket money was a cassette…. Joe: By the way, do you remember which one was? If you can remember….. Toshiya: The cassette? Joe: The cassette….or it is embarrassing to say so…. Toshiya: No, I’m very embarrased but…..*laughs*Well…..it was Wink’s Ai ga tomaranai (Love doesn’t stop)….. *Wink was a pretty popular J-pop female duo in the late 1980s and early-to-mid-1990s* Joe: No way…. Joe burst into laughter and even stands up laughing Joe: I’m sorry I laughed a bit….would it be possible that you take your sunglasses off and sing Ai ga tomaranai? Toshiya: No….stop it… Joe: I won’t….is this first time you tell this? Toshiya: I wonder…. I don’t know…. Joe: Oh!  *Joe starts humming the song* Toshiya: Yes, yes, yes…..that’s it… Joe: Like that…..it was a cover, right? Toshiya: It’s a cover… Joe: Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Toshiya: It’s Ai ga tomaranai…. Joe: The first cassette that Toshiya from Dir en grey bought was….Wink!.....Ai ga tomaranai….*Toshiya laughs* This is going to be breaking news tomorrow and spreading everywhere- Toshiya: *Laughs*….Ah, I’m sweating a lot… Joe: You are….I can totally see it from here…..well, ai ga…..well, let’s do a survey about what song they want you to sing…..*Toshiya is laughing and fanning himself hard* Toshiya: No,no… Joe: First option is going to be “Ai ga tomaranai” (Love doesn’t stop)…. Toshiya: More like, Joe Yomomizo doesn’t stop…. Joe burst into laughter, Toshiya picks the notebook in which he wrote the kanji before to fan himself. Toshiya:  It’s hot….. Joe: Then, for example….like, was there a theme from a television program that you liked? Toshiya: The LP that my parents bought for me…. Joe: Ah, that one? Toshiya: It was  Kaibutsu-kun’s…. *Kaibutsu-kun (Monster kid) is a japanese manga and a anime series* Joe: Kaibutsu-kun? Toshiya: It was Kaibutsu-kun…. Joe: Eh…..it was a song that you liked…. Toshiya: I like it….yes… Joe: Until now, we got “Ai ga tomaranai”, Kaibutsu-kun….the first time you covered  a song with a band…. Toshiya: The first time I covered with a band?....the first time.….with the bass? Joe: With the bass…..anything is ok actually… Toshiya: Eh….with the bass….the first one was Ziggy…. Joe: Ziggy!!?? Toshiya: Yes…. Ziggy’s Gloria…. Joe: Ehh….that’s such a good song… Toshiya: That’s it…. Joe: *starts humming Gloria* Toshiya: It was Gloria….but that I knew it by heart….since the beginning until the end….the first one I covered was….Luna Sea… Joe: Ohh! Which song? Toshiya: I think it was “Jesus”… Joe: was it “Jesus?”….ahhhhhh…..now we have 4 options…. Toshiya: *burst into laughter* No,no….stop it… Joe: “Ai ga tomaranai”….*Toshiya says “stop it” off screen*….”Kaibutsu-kun”…..”Gloria” and….”Jesus”….they are so many….what we can do?... we are going to take a survey…. Toshiya: No,no… Joe: Which one do they want… Toshiya: These people….”sing Jesus”….don’t say that… Joe: Toshiya is getting a little bit pissed off….but everyone is going to lose (if he gets mad)…. Toshiya: No,no…. Joe: So, let’s write comments so he does it….let’s make him song the song…..because I’m your comrade…. Toshiya: You are really getting carried away….it’s so hot here….*starts fanning himself* Joe: No,no…*laughs*…well….we are going to take a survey…. Toshiya: Is it ok if I just take off the sunglasses? Joe: We are going to check it… Toshiya: *Pointing at the comments* They are ok with that….so kind… Joe: Indeed….but we are going to ask them as before….everyone is going to say which song they want you to sing….so the next time….today you are going to take your sunglasses off…and the next time you come to the program, you can be ready for it… Toshiya laughs Joe: Next time…you sing….today you are going to take the sunglasses off….and the next time…I don’t know when yet….after the new single is released…more or less… Toshiya: I see Joe: I’ll listen to it and…. Toshiya: *laughs* You are going to sing too? Joe: I will….I’m bad at singing too…. Toshiya: I see…..it’s really hard…. Joe: It is!  the sounds are really hard… Toshiya: It really is…..really hard… Joe; I think everyone has to do something interesting….if you are here we have to create content right?....but after all, don’t people like these kinds of unreasonable requests?....let’s take a look and do the survey… which song do you want to hear? That's why I think doing a  survey is better. ”It would be nice to play the covered song as well”….more and more requests are coming…so selfish…. Toshiya: *laughs* Really? Joe: You guys are really greedy!....don’t get so carried away…. Toshiya: But really….I was really bad at covering songs… Joe: Ah Toshiya: But….Ziggy’s Toshiro,  Luna Sea’s J, X Japan’s Taiji…. many people from that time onwards….there were so many (amazing bassists) Joe: That’s true… Toshiya: I was really happy… Joe: That’s true… but you are trying to escape from this starting a good conversation…. Toshiya burst into laughter Joe: For the time being, this is a preparatory step for the next time you come to the program….if Toshiya takes off his sunglasses, there won’t be a musical performance….just singing….all these songs are meaningful  for Toshiya…there is a meaning in singing them….the first one he bought the cassette himself, the second is first LP bought by his parents, the first time he covered a song was Gloria, and the first time he was able to get to cover a song properly it was “Jesus”….if he takes off his sunglasses and sing in a performance, which song do you want to listen to? You will be asked that in the survey…..the state of emergency (in Japan) is still going on,  everyone is accumulating dissatisfaction in their hearts….I hope you all are going to put your heart into this survey…. An urgent survey….the results of it are….here….here they are….don!....”Ai ga tomaranai” got a 29.5%,  Kaibutsu-kun got a 15.9%, “Gloria” got a 13.1% and “Jesus” got a 41.5%.... Toshiya: You sound like “Top ten songs”….. *”Top ten songs was a japanese radio program that ranked the most popular songs at the 80s. Tokumitsu was one of the host of the program* Joe: Suddenly I sound like Tokumitsu….. Toshiya: How nostalgic…. Joe: At the showa era… Toshiya: The way they said the score…. Joe: Like with emotion….*makes drums sound*….It was like that at showa…so now…the results of the survey is “Jesus” at 1st position… Toshiya: That’s right… Joe: As today I already made  many unreasonable requests….this can’t be done today…so for today, you are taking off your sunglasses….the next time….please come again…for promotion….during the promotion period when the single is released…. Toshiya: Of course….of course is it a promotion offer right? Joe: Of course!  You can use that chance for promotion, it’s fine. We will do it properly…and after this, you take off your sunglasses…. Toshiya: You keep working hard until the end…. Joe: No,no….I’ll get angry if I don’t do this properly….because this is my channel so it’s like….what am I going to do… Toshiya: But after all….it’s fun… Joe: That’s right…. I don’t know you well but we had a drink once after a live and it was really fun….it was so fun…. Toshiya: Yes… Joe: I’ve been wanting to invite you after that, so we exchanged our contact info but… Toshiya: We did… it was due to the timing, right? You are really busy… Joe: No,no,no….it’s mostly that I’m poor so I have no free time….But we are now doing this program because we both had time,  but with Corona going on... Toshiya: I wanted to go out for a meal but it’s hard to invite you now… Joe: That’s why, when the state of emergency is over again and the situation improves, I’d like to go out for a meal with you….I understand….you keep writing about the sunglasses *pointing at the comments* “Just a glimpse is ok”… at the end of the program…. Toshiya: I see Joe: There is another last section for the end. We asked you to make questions for Toshiya and I’m going to ask him  those. Yes, he is going to take the sunglasses off. I’m 52 years old and a half and even if I’m growing senile and don’t remember yesterday either but I will remember that he has to take his sunglasses properly… Toshiya: That’s it. I will take them off properly. (Fourth Part)

[luvbotclub]

[1:44am] you realized it when you were staring into his eyes.

you and your lifelong best friend, jisung, were just lying down on the floor of the dreamies’ living room, talking endlessly about anything that came to your minds, like you always did.

he had invited you over to play some video games with him, and despite his manager scolding him for staying up so late with you even though you both had a curfew, jisung ssid that it was the most fun he had this week, since the last time you hung out was cut off and he missed you terribly after when jaemin had abruptly carried you away from him because it was getting late and you two were just inseparable.

it had always been like that. everyone in nct (hell, maybe even the entire company) knew that you and jisung were best friends who met in the neighborhood playground when you were only eight.

you were minding your own business daydreaming, sitting on the very end of the slide like you usually did, because no one in their right mind would go to the playground at six in the morning, when you suddenly felt a strong pair of feet kick you, face first, into the sand. apparently, jisung hopped on the slide without checking if there was anyone sitting at the bottom (“because who sits like a loser at the end of a slide?”). as an apology, he gave you a doraemon band-aid and treated you to ice cream (after, of course, rushing away to his house to ask his mother first).

after that incident, it’s like you two were destined to meet one another, as funny and cliche as it sounds. you promised that you would tell each other your secrets and your crushes, because you two have reached the point of closeness where there was almost no boundary between you and him anymore. jisung had always been a quiet, reserved boy, who appeared to be only comfortable with his group members, but he opened up to you. it was like you were his missing puzzle piece, and him yours.

it had always been like that.

whenever your name was mentioned, people would think, oh, park jisung’s best friend. best friend. it had stuck to you. you didn’t mind, not at all— being park jisung’s best friend is the best thing that has ever happened to you. you didn’t mind being only known for being his best friend, a piece of his childhood that had stuck to him even now, but sometimes, the title hurt you whenever he called you his best friend— for what reason, you didn’t know.

you were lying down next to him, matching sailor moon pyjamas wrinkled because of the tickle fight you had earlier. you both were in silence for a moment, which was perfectly normal. sometimes, you two liked to be quiet, bask in each other’s companies and thoughts.

you were about to doze off when he suddenly spoke up.

“what if we fell in love with each other?”

your eyes darted over to his face, just to see his eyes staring back at you. your heart started beating faster, all of a sudden. you tried your best to look calm, swallowing away the feeling of your heart about to burst out of your mouth.

“i mean, it would be kind of cute, wouldn’t it?” you said, voice wavering a little.

you felt your cheeks fluster under his intense gaze and you immediately looked away, eyes darting to find something to look at just to hide away the embarrassing scarlet colour that’s beginning to show on your cheeks.

“i guess it would.” jisung laughed a little and reached over to grasp your hand with his. you closed your eyes briefly as you could physically feel the urge of your heart skyrocketing from your chest.

it was weird.

why is your heart battering against your ribcage right now, in a pace so fast you’re terrified you’d faint? he had always held your hand, despite the constant teasing of his members, and he always hugged you tighter than he did with others, he always showed you affection, but why does it feel different this time?

“you know, taeil hyung asked me if we were dating,” he huffed out, eyes wandering to look at you.

“oh?” you decided to stare back at him again, ignoring your heart beating so fast you’re scared jisung would notice. “what did you say?”

“i said i wish we were,” jisung’s eyes crinkled as he said that, and you realized he was blushing, despite his giggling and the teasing tone in his voice.

“shut up, sung,” you rolled your eyes and sat up, letting go of his hand. he did the same and ruffled his hair, his laugh a lovely melody echoing around the room.

jisung stopped laughing and looked up at you again, meeting your gaze and smiling up at you. his hand found yours again and he clasped it tightly. “i wouldn’t mind falling in love with you, though. i’m serious.”

oooooh my god.

you were in love with him.

you were in love with park jisung, your fucking best friend of ten years.

the way he looked at you, with the same adoration his eyes held the day he met you when you smiled at his doraemon band-aid, made your legs feel like jelly. his smile, always ever so-charming, always made you feel warm and at home and this time wasn’t am exception.

you realized it when you were staring into his eyes.

there was no denying it.

the way your heart practically leapt when he said those words. you knew there was something about jisung that made him so different from all your other friends. he had something in him that made you feel at ease, whenever you were stressed, whether it be about something big or small, he’s able to calm you down and make you smile through your tears and frustration. now that you thought about it, this isn’t the first time you reacted weirdly and acted just so unlike your usual self when he was around.

you have always liked him. you have always liked his company, you probably enjoyed it over everyone else’s. you always wanted to be by his side and you missed him terribly when he had to go away, but you were so indescribably happy when he was with you.

maybe you just thought it was normal to feel like with your friends. but you realize now, that you never get butterflies in your stomach when you’re with your other friends.

he wasn’t the type to say things like this, nor was the type to joke around. and if he was joking, maybe you’d just call it a night and go home and be sad in your bed—

“i like you, jisung.”

he laughed.

he laughed.

the anticipation you had for a genuinely positive reaction from him dissipated quickly and you frowned. you were being serious. it was okay if he had rejected you and pulled away from your hand in disgust. you would’ve accepted that reaction more, you could cope with that. but laughing? you were sure you wouldn’t be friends with anymore after this.

“why are you laughing?” you huffed out, loosening your hold on his hand a little. “i know i’m not very attractive or anything but i’m being serious—”

you felt his lips press against your own and he pulled away with another chuckle before smiling at you again. you fell silent immediately and you looked at him, eyes almost bugging out of the sockets and you had to fight the smile forcing its way on your lips. did he just?

“i like you too, you dork.”

[centrally-unplanned]

Medium & Marketing for 90′s Anime Dubs

Today is Hayao Miyazaki’s 80th birthday, which made sure my dash was filled with Ghibli tidbits. A discussion of my personal favourite, Kiki’s Delivery Service, brought up its ill-fated original dub by Disney in 1998. Ghibli still didn’t have the courage yet to put their foot down on changes for international releases, and so there are a lot of alterations - the theme songs are changed to be anglicized, almost any “dead space” or quiet moments in the film have someone (normally animal sidekick Jiji the cat) improv lines over the scenes to liven them up, and in particular the ending is changed to be less bittersweet as Jiji, who in the original Kiki permanently loses the ability to talk to as a sign of growing up, regains his voice.

These changes slot neatly into the zeitgeist of all 90′s anime changes - a disregard for the property’s core appeal as they were bowdlerized for a western audience. Sailor Moon is an infamous victim of a similar process - at least Kiki took place in fantasy Europe, the Sailor Moon dub’s attempts to pretend that the show doesn’t take place in Japan were simply insane as they cut out or blurred every appearance of Japanese writing in the show, leaving reams of animation frames on the floor in the process.

(Tangent time: the greatest scene ever is one where, upon reading a note by Usagi, to prove it was her Minako/Sailor Venus comments “it must be from her, its written entirely in hiragana”, the simpler form of written Japanese compared to kanji, which Usagi as a running gag cannot write. So in the dub they just...blur out the text of the note, and have Minako comment “I had to read it with my imagination. It's all written in funny symbols!". I distinctly remember watching the episode live when I was 12 years old and going “wait what the fuck does that even mean?” and suddenly realizing that the show was changing its own script, it was a trip of a moment)

Like most people I do malign these changes, but I am actually here to partially defend them via contextualization. The idea that American audiences would have cared that the show was Japanese is pretty dumb, but what you often hear are statements like “kids in Japan appreciated Sailor Moon/Kiki’s Delivery Service just fine, they didn’t need to change it”. That is possible, but it mistakes why changes are being made to begin with - its not the “culture of children in the US vs Japan”, its intended market via the medium of distribution.

Kiki’s Delivery Service was released in Japanese theatres in 1989, and it was the highest grossing film of the year in Japan (about ~US$18 million, man do things change). Kiki’s Delivery Service the Disney dub, was....released on VHS in 1998. VHS releases and movie theatre releases aren’t really intended accomplish the same thing. Remember all those direct-to-video Disney sequels? Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride? Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time? Remember how they were all just garbage? Anyone looking back at them today cringes, with a few exceptions. But none of us cringed when we were 8! My partner is a huge Disney fangirl, and when she was young she didn’t even distinguish between the theatre release and the VHS sequels - it was all Disney, you just lined them up and played them in a row as the complete canon. Yes, these movies sucked partially because they were low budget, but they weren’t actually *that* low budget - and not the throwaways your memory probably tells you they were. Lion King 2? Made ~$300 million in net sales, almost as much as the original Lion King’s theatrical run.

What those Disney VHS sequels and Kiki share is the fact that their intended market was *only* children. That is the point of VHS - you put it on for your kids and then go make dinner. Its the virtual babysitter, the kids can loop it while reenacting every scene with their stuffed animals. Movies released in theatres don’t serve that role at all - the parents are paying $15 a head and they are trapped in their seats for the whole runtime. It has to entertain everyone, or you aren’t going to go, or at least not as often. VHS releases sucked because kids don’t care, they actually do enjoy the constant quippy lines and dumb jokes. That is equally true for Japanese kids - its just that Kiki’s intended audience wasn’t Japanese kids, it was “all ages” - a very different category.

The same is true for Sailor Moon, by the way. The idea that kids in Japan could “handle more mature themes like death” unlike American audiences doesn’t hold up quite as much when you look at Disney theatrical releases like the Lion King - Mufasa’s death pulls no punches, but kids didn’t mind. And Japan does have shows like Doraemon that are just as childish as the 90′s western cartoons you remember. Its that Sailor Moon’s audience wasn’t just kids. 

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon aired in March of 1992 on TV Asahi. Asahi was not a kids network, and Sailor Moon did not air in a kid’s block - instead in its “Anime Block”. It aired on Saturdays, at 7:00 PM. For most of its runtime, the 7:30 slot after was held by Slam Dunk, a hyper-serious basketball anime adapted from a manga in Weekly Shonen Jump. You think director Kunihiko Ikuhara was throwing in queer relationships and even trans characters, and every other villian was a half-naked seductress, because it was gonna really resonate with 8 year olds? Sailor Moon was for 8 year olds, yes...and for otaku. So, 15 year olds, lets not exaggerate here. But still, its hype, its success, came just as much from its teen and adult fans as much as its young devotees. Which was intentional - it was *marketed* that way. That's why it aired at 7:00 PM on a Saturday. 

Sailor Moon’s original dub, on the other hand, aired on UPN at, yeesh, 6:30 AM?? Then on USA’s Cartoon Express at the much more reasonable 8:30 AM, and later on Toonami at 4:00 PM. All of these are kids slots, to watch over cereal or snacks before/after school while the parents are busy. You do not expect the adult in the room to be watching alongside the kid, or for teens to really be paying attention.

And to cut off the logical objection, a show like Sailor Moon was just not going to get a 7:00 PM Saturday slot in the US in the 90′s. Nor was Kiki going to get a movie theatre release in 1998 of any scale. Movie releases are expensive, Saturday slots are precious, the funding just wasn’t there for something so untested as Japanese anime. There was no demand in the west for it - that demand would only be created later, by a generation who grew up on, well, shitty Sailor Moon dubs and Kiki VHS releases. And what success in the media slots these shows and movies did have are shaped by those market niches.

I don’t want to be over-deterministic on this - at some point Cartoon Network rolled the dice on Cowboy Bebop and Full Metal Alchemist and it worked - maybe they could have done that in 1995 with like Neon Genesis Evangelion, who knows! And of course US children’s cartoons are, beyond market forces, burdened with regulatory moralizing that Japanese media does not have. But I do think these 90′s dub efforts should get the proper context for the constraints they were operating under, and why they existed at all, as they are criticized.

[welcometomy20s]

February 7, 2021

This is Part two of the introduction of Nijisanji. I have written for an audience who has just gotten to know vtubers through hololive and wants to explore more. This part cover all of Nijisanji members who has debuted in the year 2019.

2019 Part 1 (Jan-Apr)

Warabeda Meiji - Another eleven year old, but likes FF14 and K-On! So frequently described as an 11 year old third season. But she is genuinely cute! And a really good singer, so much so that her K-On cover gets banned for being too close!

Gundou Mirei - Actually a teacher, but definitely a ditzy and lazy one, that is incredibly sexual to an uncomfortable degree, you know, a fan favorite, including of mine. Watch her 3D streams and you will be amazed. Has a ship with Shoichi as mentioned before, even though she’s a self-professed bisexual. It’s odd but, you know, it works!

Yuzuki Roa - Kind of innocent devil like Towa, but more like a kid than an older sister. Really like Belmond. Was friends with Chitose, a retired member, and got a costume based on her a bit, and maybe is retiring herself, considering she hasn't uploaded for quite a few months now. Well, whatever. She’s cute and innocent.  

Onomachi Haruka - Another of the rare, truly seiso people in the team, but can go wild if the vibe goes that way. Lost and found a llama in minecraft once.

Seto Miyako - Kind of a quiet girl who might be psychopathic... you know the type. Her true tendencies pop up during gaming. Also tweets a lot... make sense.

Kataribe Tsumugu - Basically retired, but her concept was so shocking that it took Naruse Naru’s return of old design to push her into the bottom of the list.

Otogibara Era - She’s a Cinderella if she has gone completely out the window. People routinely separate the original Cinderella side as Era, and her true side as Gibara.

God, how do I describe her. Gibara is just great. Her adult comments are something to behold, let’s say she gels with Tamaki very well. She returns to monke often, and does other types of screams too... seriously look at her gacha stream and witness Gibara in her full glory. Also incredibly lazy and definitely cannot live by herself.

But as you have guessed it, she is an incredible singer. (It might be the case that incredible singing is associated with madness) Had knockout hit with her 3D stream, trending number one on twitter and 30,000 US dollars in superchats!

Lize Helesta - Queen of Shizuoka, I mean Heleste kingdom. Usually behaves like an empress, but as with most royalty has a real competitive spirit, so she knows how to badmouth when she needs to. So, she’s a really stingy person as well... not really fitting for a royalty, but you do know some people that act like that.

She’s a strange person. Look at asphalt or a handstand in order to sleep. Friends with Ange, who was a childhood friend, even with an age difference. Also does radio stuff with Lulu as well. Reveres Mito, wonder why. Again, incredible 3D debut.

Ange Katrina - Nice low-middle voice with a smooth upper body, and surprisingly small but that got fixed as 3D started. Think she’s cute, but blushes when people agree. Just a cool gal who I enjoy very much... her streams, I mean.

Inui Toko - She’s a cerberus, and now works at a cafe. A little bit out there, but definitely a tsukkomi. Usually does little gaming outside Minecraft, so mostly talks and sings. A unique laugh and loves Ensemble Stars. Hangs out with red and blue people, like Lize, Ange, Roa, Ayame, Suisei and so on. Actually is boing boing, Ange felt betrayed.

And as mentioned above, a great singer, and can play many instruments as well!

Saegusa Akina - High tension singer, who is quite sickly and is terrible with girls. But he got better as time went on and the ship with his gen mate Manami started to sail. Actually he hangs around with many girls... maybe it’s just Manami?

Arizona Manami - Ito Life’s daughter... so you know what she looks like. Calls herself the queen of sensitivity, and yes she does very suggestive streams... but she’s pretty innocent and childish... so she’s kind of like Melody in a way. Has a very fond-looking relationship with Akina as mentioned above.

Suzuhara Lulu - Just your typical art student. She’s a rich girl, so she knows very little about the outside world. Definitely has stamina of a thousand horses, famously played 11 hours of Dark Souls, then straight onto 10 hours of Ring Fit, and never got phased. Seriously, she never gets phased. She rode the freaking snake without a problem! Apparently really beautiful in real life, really has large expressions.

There’s a rumor going around that she’s actually some kind of an eldritch god... and I don’t know where that comes from at all. Look at her, she’s such a sweet gal, look at her dancing and singing... she’s a true idol, that’s what she is... (don’t hurt me.)

Yukishiro Mahiro - First-year high-schooler. Good variety of content. Her personality is of a rude kouhai. One viewer described her as a bad-tempered chihuahua. Really likes Kanae, which is okay, I guess. There’s not much more than that.

2019 Part 2 (May-Aug)

Ex Albio - A hero from a different world. Originally portrayed as a rude snarky figure, much like Kazuma without charm or luck but with perseverance. Got his fame through his noob Minecraft experience, as with Minecraft servers, they are ripe with collab opportunities, so he started to collab especially with Ars Almal, which he thinks as a mentor... and so they both talk in high register. Eventually became a couple.

Has a thing where he questions something and immediately denies it, which is quite funny. Eventually got a dark alter version due to the imagination tournament I talked about earlier, which brings the fact that he can’t fight until tragedy occurs.

Levi Elipha - Actually only six years old, and apparently dense, like physically dense. Great singer and good physique, does some English songs as well.

Nui Sociere - A 25-year old witch, but more like a NEET with an addiction to horse racing. Very much like Megumi in terms of magic abilities, but capable of melee.

Kind of sounds like Doraemon when she screams... usually plays JRPG... and well, just look at her. Damn... well, least you have something to look forward to.

Hayama Marin - Hayame is Hayame. She’s just a little kid with a pure mind. Yeah.

Hayato Kagami - CEO of a toy company, so called that. Polite and diligent, but like a CEO of a toy company, completely becomes a boy when getting a bit excited.

Actually is a great singer, maybe a trained singer as well. As a good example of rich getting richer, fans have a tendency to throw red superchat, a typical stream might hit 10K USD, even though there’s nothing particular going on.

Yorumi Rena - Idol magician, but no actual proof of her magic abilities. Plays APEX a lot. Very much an outgoing person with lots of collab from everyone. Hakase calls her mama. Sleep promptly at midnight, except when ARK was involved.

Also makes 8-bit art proficiently, does all her loading screen. A bit of a lewd mind.

Hakase Fuyuki - HIgh school girl who likes to experiment, but it’s obvious none of it ever works. Tries to ship Yorumi and Kagami, and calls him papa. Just absolutely in her own world and everyone is just privy to it... also incredibly bad at gaming.

Mayuzumi Kai - A white hacker. Very cool, but has a thing for comedy, almost to the level of Joe Riikichi, but laughs very little himself. Make sense, since he lost his parents at an early age and lived in the system, therefore is a night streamer. Very good with kids as a result, and very kind and polite as well.

Ars Almal - A mage who specializes in lightning. Started out by apologizing, gets bullied for her round face, usually by Shiina. Cute voice with toxic words with a knack for pranks and taunts. Actually is quite boing boing. Good at Minecraft construction, but get rough and dirty under the wheel, as in Mario Kart. Became a kitsune, and then immediately got compared to Fubuki... much like Fubuki in a sense.

Aiba Uiha - Another idol who is a bit out there, has a tendency to be clingy. Also has a large physique... kind of a denatured Lulu is what I’m getting at. Sisters with Ara Chae, incredibly bad eyesight, apparently. I can see that, actually.

Eli Conifer - A flower fairy and maid with a unique phrasing. Likes to immerse herself in games, very knowledgeable, especially with teas, and also handy at housework, and superb at drawing and singing. Ryushen and Rion think she’s a badass, and they might not be entirely wrong on that aspect, actually.

Kokoro Amaiya - Dragonborn, I think. But there’s no dragon anymore. Has that mumble-speak that people really don’t like. She’s very much kid-like in a sense, uh, so get put into the loli category much like her fellow peer. Incredibly weak.

Ratna Petit - Adventurer with an independent streak. Does games and ASMR, tries to be grown up during collabs, but retreats into a kid in solo streams. Got the infamous random deletion of the account that Kiara famously got.

Nijisanji ID Gen 1

Taka Radjiman - Another CEO, this time a food CEO. Usually streams games, but much like other CEOs here, a pretty good singer as well. Obviously a good cook as well.

ZEA Cornelia - She’s an automata. ZEA is short for Z-type Executive Automation. Likes to sing, and sung many songs including La Vien en Rose by IZONE! I really like her, her streams are bit odd and ZEA can carry a stream like no another.

Hana Macchia - A design student, much like Lulu. Likes drawing as you expect, also like gaming as well. Does some barista stuff as well, a kind of the ambassador of Nijisanji ID, since her father is American and her mother is Japanese, and she lives in Indonesia.

Papa Macchia appears on stream from time to time, and apparently was the progenitor of Hana’s gaming prestige as he played Doom and Half-Life. She’s on the cute side of things, but blushes when she gets called that. Also cries in horror, but screams in excitement... just overall a well-rounded in strangeness. I really like her.

2019 Part 3 (Sep-Dec)

Sukoya Kana - Incredibly smart, but also has an otaku and perverted side. Likes acting, as you might have guessed and bad at housework. Has a quiet voice, but gets savage when a game is involved. Pretty good at english as well. Does a radio show as well.

Oh, yeah, likes to throw up. It’s a thing. Also plays drums. She’s pretty cool.

Shellin Burgundy - Before Kanata did her PPT intro, Shellin was the first one. Professes himself to be a detective, but little lightheaded for that. Good narration voice, though, which means he’s a good singer as well. I kind of like him. He’s good.

Hayase Sou - An outdoorsy girl who likes cosplay and road biking. Kind of talks like she’s middle age, but she acts pretty young. And of course she likes shotas.

Fumi - It took over a year for her to debut. She’s a hikikomori gundam otaku and a goddess. A bit airheaded and pretty bad at gaming, and since she is 67, gets called grandma infrequently. She’s fun to watch. Has a ship with Nagao.

Hoshikawa Sara - Half Japanese and half English. Definitely a cool and tough, ready to take whatever sex jokes and insults you throw at her. Hangs out with Mahiro a lot, or with male members like Yumeoi, Ebio, Shellion or Kanda. Has a wide voice range, with a wide personality as well. There’s a sense of healing to her, honestly.

Obviously gets fangirled by many, including Matsuri, whose frequently red superchats her much to her confusion and relative embarrassment.

Yamagami Karuta - She’s a tengou in training, since she is filled with desires, mostly to connect with people. This is real, apparently. Has a ship with a staff member...

Matsukai Mao - Smartest devil... no, she’s an airhead like the rest of them. Apparently she can spit out crude oil... which is pretty useless. Definitely an unlucky, miserable person who needs to be protected at all times, and she relishes that like the devil she is.

Hangs around with Luis a lot in real life, apparently. Also plays APEX and stuff.

Emma August - Demon Lord that was thrown in an uprising, living with Morinaka Kazaki, and got a new house in February of last year. An alcoholic and a masochist, who gets berated by Kazaki of all people. Definitely not a loli, that’s for sure.

Luis Cammy - An expert thief, which excites Shellin very much. Seen as the leader of the gen, but found out to be much of a kid as the gen mates, especially around Shellin. They are a couple now, apparently. Oh yeah, she did an Outlast stream with a cat outfit and invited Shellin because she was scared? Now there's a loli version of her... yikes.

Fuwa Minato - A host, but a teetotaler, because of health problems... yet drinks Monster energy like it’s no business. A bit out there, as Nijisanji people are. A bit of a trickster, a bad boy if you will... right there with being good at games as well. He’s pretty cool.

Shirayuki Tomoe - When I first saw her, she felt like one of those people in mahjong tournaments. Well, she’s a queen of the night, so night-time streamer, although she has daytime streams as well. Strong drinker. Talks about SM, but also effortlessly friendly and a lovely person. I think she’s attractive, but I can see why people call her cute. She hates bugs, loves cute things, odd thoughts... feels like an aunt to me.

Very bad at reading kanji, not that she’s good at anything else. Likes to practice, hence preserved her way in the Mario Kart tournament. Does talk and ASMR streams with a third of her viewers being women. Likes Mirei, makes sense. Oh, she’s a nudist.

And don’t forget the relationship between Kana and her. Purported to be the most real of the ships of any vtubers. I believe it’s called Crossick. I don’t know too much.

Gwelu Os Gar - Presenter for the elf kingdom, hired as a presenter, since Nijisanji got so big and there’s only so many Kakeru around. Unfortunately seen as boring, and transitioned into kind of a Maimoto character.

Already married, I don’t know why that’s significant but there you go. Oh, and an actual dad! That is pretty significant. Although Setsuna also has a child, and had to retire to take care of the little baby. Teaches math to others, so that’s cool.

Mashiro - Recent high school graduate. He’s a boy. Yes, he has heels and boobs, but he’s a boy. And yes, he is a bit out there, stealing candies from the office.

Naraka - Another oni, and a loli-baba. Obviously a fan of the fellow oni, Mikoto... which has a queen kid relationship. And yes, her chest is smaller than Mashiro... sad.

Kurusu Natsume - 19-year old college student who likes music and sheep. Very smart and very normal. Has an ASMR test stream, which was pretty fun.

Nijisanji ID 2nd Gen

Rai Galliel - An interdimensional policeman. Likes cheese, but hate porridge due to only eating one for four months. Likes baking, pretty cool personality, if a bit straight edge.

Amicia Michella - A freelance illustrator, so the drawing is superb. Like sleep but also sports. Also penguins. Likes to play horror games pretty calmly. Raises two dogs, well one of them passed away late last year. Sang a 10cm cover?

Miyu Ottavia - A business student, and likes otters and is optimistic. Mostly plays RPG and online multiplayers. Tries to be cool, but look at her! She’s very cute.

Riksa Dhirendra - A 24-year-old freelancer and works as an editor and translator. Looks mean, but is actually a very decent gut. He is pretty competitive. Plays RPG.

[renlimotroll]

Darling, my dreams came true

⚠️ Warning: BL/ Personification/ Imagination/ Out of Character/ Cursing ⚠️

Please do not read if you are uncomfortable with boyxboy.

A/N: I wrote this during ungodly hours, so there might be grammar errors. I’m so stressed with work and this happened. This story was born as I was talking to my friends about my MinSiru imagines and listening to Aimer. Also, this is just my imagination, so please don’t take it seriously.

Enjoy! 🤖🐶

Love, Ren 🌻

Summary: When he’s sleep-deprived, Siruko gets weirdly affectionate, especially towards a certain green head. Everyone knows what’s going on, but of course, Siruko is the last to know about his actions and feelings.

Pairing: 🤖🐶

AU where Bintroll are still youtubers but they live in the same house.

(Story continues below)

It was a great day. The sun was shining warmly outside, and Siruko feels well-rested and refreshed. He stretches then gets up, deciding to check his notifications later and get brunch first. He can smell coffee and something delicious coming from the kitchen. With his luck, Mintosu could be cooking curry and wouldn’t that be the best brunch ever.

He doesn’t know why he felt disappointed that it was Ichihachi cooking, but Ichihachi-kun’s pancakes smells and looks really good so he grabs a plate and forks a piece. Siruko wasn’t aware of the knowing eyes that were watching him carefully as he prepares his coffee. Since Siruko seems to be not fully awake yet without coffee, he didn’t notice how Ichihachi, Quartet, Jiraichan and Hakotaro were side-eyeing each other in a silent communication.

After he had at least drank half of his cup and felt more alert, the purplehead finally noticed the weird atmosphere at the dining table. “What?” He asked. Jiraichan was smirking, Quartet was making weird faces, Ichihachi was looking at everywhere but him, and Hakotaro look so done already even though Siruko doesn’t know for the life of him what he has done to earn that exasperated look on his younger brother. It’s way too early for this. “What?? Shouldn’t I be receiving morning greetings instead of… whatever this is??”

“Well, you certainly have a good morning, don’t you?” Jiraichan raised his eyebrows teasingly.

“Chotto, Jiraisan,” Ichihachi warned.

Siruko was bewildered. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing, Siruko-san! Good morning!” Quartet quipped a little too brightly.

Siruko glared at them suspiciously. “Good.. morning.”

“Oh for goodness’ sake!” Hakotaro shook his head and rolled his eyes heavenward. “Niisan, your shirt!”

“Aww there goes our fun.” 🐻

“Way to go Hakotaro.” 🐰

“I wanted to wait and see if Siruko-chan notices it himself.” 🐱

Siruko blinked and followed his younger brother’s words to see.. he was wearing something green. Very green. Something that suspiciously does not belong to him and very particularly belongs to someone else. His face turns bright red like a tomato.

“I-it’s not… I-I’m not… W-we’re not…!” If he could spontaneously combust like a DbD generator with a missed skill check right now, he would. Siruko instantly knew what his friends were thinking and they were wrong!!!… or were they? He’d know if something happened, right? As far as he knows he didn’t really go drinking. He was editing videos and… he does remember Minben-san not letting him drink any more Red Bull, but that was it. He did feel dizzy and queasy yesterday with his migraine, but he didn’t throw up on anyone, right? What the hell happened last night??

Hakotaro rolled his eyes so hard for the second time already even though it’s still early. His older brother was so hopelessly trying to solve what happened that he can practically see equations and formulas appearing from thin air. “Save it Niisan. We all know that–”

“Aaaaah--!” 🐻

“Hakotaro–” 🐰

“Stop–!” 🐱

“When you’re extremely tired, you go to Mintosu-senpai and do… I don’t know what to call that… skinship??” For once, the usually sure-of-himself Hakotaro was at loss for words. “You’re just so affectionate it’s so out-of-character, and you literally have to have some body part of yours touching him! You slump on his back, on his shoulder, on his lap, which, by the way, stopped being funny after the fifth time and just started to become so gross now.”

“F-fifth time??” Siruko definitely did not squeak with a high tone.

Ichihachi cleared his throat. “We stopped counting after the tenth time. And Minben-san always carries you to bed when that happens. He makes a show of complaining about it, but he drops everything he’s doing just to come to your aid.“

“T-t-that..’s n-n-not.. I- uh.. I..”

Jiraichan made sympathetic noises. “If it helps, we’re actually wondering why you can control yourself better when you’re drunk. It only happens when you’re really, really exhausted, like when you’ve stayed up for more than 30 hours.”

“I– what?? S-skinship??”

“You almost punched Quartet-san once because he was trying to make you go to bed and he tried to, and I quote your words, ‘separate Minben-san and I apart!’ ” Ichihachi supplied unhelpfully.

“I– what??” Siruko.exe stopped working and can only ask one-word questions now. It took him a few seconds to process this, and another few to actually believe it. Why are they telling him these... lies?! This can’t be true, right? And why is he only finding out about this now?! Siruko is really starting to re-think considering them his friends, because they’re enjoying this way too much, and they are set on ruining his otherwise perfect morning.

“There goes the bet.” Quartet said nonchalantly, as if talking about the weather.

“BET?? WHAT BET??” Nope, Siruko did not screech. That was a manly scream.

“We guessed you didn’t know you were doing it and we’re right.” Jiraichan explained with a smug smile. “We kinda have a betting pool as to when you’ll realize. Until your dear brother..”

“I’m just sick and tired of this, okay? It’s been a year!” Hakotaro threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “Niisan, if you like Minben-san so much then just go confess to him!”

‘W-WHAT??! I-I DON’T–“

“Everybody knows, Siruko-san.” Jiraichan informed him mercilessly, like the psycopath he is. “Us, Hanae-san and the others, even the old lady in the market selling fruits. Everyone.” He put his finger to his lips and looked thoughtful. “Except Minben-san.”

“I–what?” Siruko stammered for the third time.

Hakotaro took pity on his brother, who was doing a perfectly good impression of a Magikarp. “We’re just saying, Niisan, this madness has to stop. You turn into a cuddle monster around Minben-san when you’re exhausted, and the poor man gets a heart attack every time you do. It’s driving all of us crazy, so if you really love your otouto, you’ll get over yourself and confess. Or so help me, I’ll find a locker where I can push the both of you in so you can talk about your feelings!”

“I don’t really do that, do I?” Siruko bit his lip worriedly. He went to the house of the one person in this world who wouldn’t betray him, hoping to get some clarity and possibly some remedy for this whole mess.

“Well…” Gzira look pained to admit it. “Remember when I had to stay overnight last week to help you with Hanachan’s video?”

“Yeah?” Siruko bit his nails nervously.

“You were so tired you were mumbling the theme song of Doraemon.”

“So?? That’s not weird, you know?”

There was an awkward pause, before Gzira resumed. “Backwards… you sang it backwards. It was kinda impressive.” Siruko whined like a child upon hearing that. He’s so close to having a mental breakdown. Why didn’t anyone tell him this? Friends, his ass.

“I was honestly worried and I kept telling you to take a rest, and when I woke up the next day I found out you were still awake. I had no idea what to do, you were so stubborn! So I called Hakotaro over. He said, ‘There’s only one solution to this’ then walked out. When he came back, he brought Minben-san with him.”

“Oh no,” Siruko groaned in despair, feeling his whole face and neck burn with humiliation.

“Yeah. Want me to go on?”

“Ugh.”

“You smiled at him so tenderly and hugged him.”

“No. Stop.” Siruko buried his face in his hands.

“And you called him ‘cuddliest robot ever’. And you practically climbed all over him like a koala. It was so weird I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. Like I wasn’t in the right dimension.”

“Mou, Gzira-kun!” Siruko screamed into his hands. So much for the peace of mind he was hoping for.

“Then he carried you to your bedroom. I don’t know what was weirder, you reverse piggybacking him like a beetle on a tree, or Minben-san actually letting you do that.”

Siruko sulked. No way this happened. Although, there was something he was curious about. “What.. what did he…“ he asked, knowing that Gzira would get his message.

“Okay, don’t freak out, but he did look fond. Like, he liked carrying you to bed. I don’t even think he noticed Hakotaro and I standing awkwardly at the side because he was just looking after you. He even patted your hair. He practically melted when you started nosing his neck.. eww by the way.” Gzira made a face, remembering the scene which seemed so domestic.

“Umm…” Siruko could not believe what he was hearing. He… he did that? And Minben-san… did that?

Gzira continued. “Weirdest experience ever. Hakotaro said it was a regular thing. I got surprised when he said that the only person who could convince you to go to bed when you’re past the 30-hour mark was Minben-san. He even included me on the betting pool.”

“I hate you.” Siruko crossed his arm grumpily.

“No, you don’t.”

“No, I don’t.” He sighed in defeat.

“Look, why don’t you just tell him how you feel? It’s been a year, don’t you think you’ve been harboring these feelings for a long time?”

Siruko can’t even begin to imagine the horror. “No way! Minben-san… he’d never like me that way!”

“Why not?” Gzira challenged.

“You know! I’m just a regular guy! I’m not even good at anything! There’s no reason for him to like me!”

“Siruko-san…” Gzira scolded his friend tenderly. “Stop belittling yourself! You’re the smartest, kindest person I know–okay, well maybe Sensei is that too–but you’re a pretty neat person! Anyone would be lucky to have you!”

“You’re just saying that coz you’re my friend.” The purplehead pursed his lower lip out.

“No, I’m saying it because it’s true. And as your friend, I want you to stop overthinking things and just, just try to tell him what you feel, okay?”

“What… what if he rejects me?” Siruko whispered sadly.

Gzira sighed internally. He loves his friends, but sometimes they’re just… too dense. He just wished this pining would stop so they can all be happy. “You guys are so perfect for each other, you’re both oblivious idiots. Just trust me on this. Minben-san’s got it just as bad for you as you for him.”

Siruko wished he could believe him, but he just can’t. Dreams are just that… dreams. Like fairy tales are fairy tales. There’s no way that Mintosu would fall for him, and even though that thought hurts, it’s the reality. Mintosu liking him was just… a fantasy after all.

Yes, everybody was wrong. Siruko grumpily mashed his keyboard, trying to clear the level on the game he was playing and failing miserably. His character kept on dying, and it’s frustrating. Once his character got stuck somewhere between two walls, he decided to give up and shut down his computer. He stared at the black screen reflecting himself.

There’s no way Minben-san would like him. Look at him. There are big dark circles under his eyes, his hair was always messy, and he’s thin as a tooth pick. He doesn’t go out of his room that much, he’s not even that good in games, and the only thing he’s good at is maybe memory games. That’s so lame, right? Unlike Mintosu’s friend, what was his name again? Akoroshi. Now that is a talented guy. Knows English, good at singing, really good at games. It’s just impossible. That’s why he never confessed. He couldn’t even begin to compare with that guy. And what if Mintosu rejects him? Then the friendship he tried so hard to treasure will be gone, it will be awkward as hell since they are all practically homesharing, and maybe he’ll lose the only connection he has with Mintosu. So no way. He’d never confess.

It was a bit hard to avoid Mintosu because you know, housesharing, but Siruko feels like he’d done a pretty good job. He thinks he’s done really well in monitoring if he’s reaching 30 hours of no sleep or managing his exhaustion levels so that no embarrassing thing could ever happen again. He had to vigilantly avoid doing things that was second nature before, like falling asleep on Minben-san’s shoulder during movie night or hitting each other’s knees while playing Mario Kart, because they were just friends! Only friends! It was probably awkward for Minben-san to help not carry him to bed, and maybe the guy was doing it out of some friendly obligation or guilt, and Siruko never wants to put anyone in a situation like that where one forces his friends to do something for him. He keeps his distance now, toning down his actions to just behind the friendship lines, and plasters a smile on his face while pretending he doesn’t see the confused, slightly hurt looks Mintosu was showing as he avoids him.

It was almost successful and he could probably live like this for the rest of his life (hiding his pain) until his so-called beloved friends, his family even, corners him in the kitchen, the place where it all started. Siruko should seriously consider finding his own place to live.

“You’re being very ridiculous right now Siruko-san, and I don’t have much patience for ridiculousness.” Jiraichan says in a tone that means he’s about to pull out knives from his jacket. Very pointy knives that he likes using. “It’s bad enough the bet was cancelled. That was the only thing keeping me from locking you two in a vault and welding the bolt shut so you two can finally make out.” Siruko flushed red when the images came to mind, but shook his head. It was just a stupid fantasy, it didn’t make his heart clench painfully at all. Nope.

Quartetchi followed up immediately. “Sorry Siruko-san. It was fun when there was a bet in place, but now it’s just annoying. You two are the biggest pair of dense idiots in the world.”

“Look Niisan, before, you and Minben-san just irritated me when you both flirted with–”

“We do not–!!” The older brother interrupted indignantly.

“Yes you do!” Hakotaro almost raised his tone in frustration. “You bicker like an old married couple, and as much as it irritated me to see my Niisan and my senpai flirting but not even knowing they do, now it feels like whatever sanity I still had has just gone and you both are being so… so… gaaah!”

“What Hakotaro means to say is,” Ichihachi tried in a gentle tone, “you guys are playing the biggest game of chicken in the world. It was fun when we could tease you both about it and make money out of your hopeless romantic-ness, but now that we can’t, we need you to get your heads out of your asses and do something about it or we will.” He threatened calmly.

“I don’t know what you guys are talking about!” Siruko raised his arms wildly in desperation, his voice breaking. Why can’t his friends just leave him and his misery alone? “Minben-san and I are just friends! What do you want me to do?!?!”

“Oh my god Siruko-san!” Quartetchi complained. “If I didn’t love you as a friend I’d bash your head in that marble sink! How can you be this dense? Aniki’s been walking around with this sour, grumpy face like someone set his PC on fire, and you’re acting like a hurt puppy! A hurt, cruelly-kicked puppy! This has to stop!”

“Mintosu-san LIKES you, Niisan!” Hakotaro emphasized on the like. “How could you miss that? How do you not see--”

“He doesn’t!” Siruko crossed his arms stubbornly. “He’d never! Why would he–”

“If you finish that self-depreciating sentence, I will take out my mines and let you explode right there!” Jiraichan narrowed his eyes. Siruko gulped.

“Okay, that’s it! I’m done. Guys help me.” Quartet suddenly hauled Siruko’s arms up, and Ichihachi grabbed both his feet and lifted it up. The Bintroll leader yelped in surprise and tried to struggle, but Jiraichan and Hakotaro glared at him with that ‘If looks can kill’ face, and he can’t really do anything, not unless he wants to drop like a sack of potatoes to the floor painfully. Jeez, the grips of these two are so tight!

They dragged him upstairs to Mintosu’s room, where he was streaming APEX. Jiraichan opened the door with a bang so loud Mintosu jumped from his seat and hit his knee on the table. Hakotaro grimaced internally, that looked painful. Mintosu let out a string of profanities that shocked his viewers.

“What the fuck’s goin on??!”

The viewers were all alarmed and the comments flew so fast in the chat stream, all wondering what happened to their favorite green robot gamer. Bloodhound died, and Mintosu had to return to the main screen. Suddenly, a purple blob was dumped into his lap and a scream of pain was heard. Mintosu winced and turned off the mic.

“What the fuck guys?! I told you not to come in when I’m–” oh. Siruko-san. Siruko-san was on his lap, grimacing in pain at being dumped unceremoniously. Mintosu’s brain short-circuited and he could only blink.

“Minben-san, my Niisan likes you. A lot. And we know you like him too. I know you think you’re being subtle when you think Niisan’s not watching, but we’re not idiots like him. We know. Everyone does.”

“I- what…” Mintosu unknowingly echoed Siruko’s words from before.

“Just kiss already you idiots!!” Jiraichan yelled with his high-pitched voice. For all his size, he’s really scary when he’s angry. “C'mon guys, let’s go!” The pink fairy stomped angrily and headed out, while the others followed suit. At least Quartet and Ichihachi had the decency to apologize. Siruko thinks he needs to find new friends, they’re so rude!

Before Hakotaro closed the door, he glared daggers at Mintosu, “Look, I can’t say I like the idea of you making out with Niisan, but you make him happy, so please keep doing so. If you ever hurt my Niisan, I know Limone-sensei and everybody else will help me bury your body where no one can find it.” Mintosu nodded, believing the younger one will totally do that. Siruko flushed red upon hearing his brother’s shovel talk.

"I’m really happy if you guys finally get together, but please remember to get your hands off of each other and keep the PDA to a minimum, at least when I’m around.” And with that, the blonde closed the door. The silence that followed was really uncomfortable, and Siruko prays, Ground, swallow me up!!, wondering if it was possible to die out of humiliation.

“So… umm…” Min-san sees the flow of comments asking where he is out of his peripheral view, but he couldn’t care less, not when the person he’s been crushing on for a long time is blushing so hard on his lap right now, and he looks really adorable. Mintosu had wanted this. For so long. If this is a prank, he’s going to kill those guys. But he wants to believe that maybe, just maybe, he has a chance.

Siruko stubbornly refuses to look at him out of embarrassment, and Mintosu just rolls his eyes, even though he’s flustered too. Whatever, he thinks, because he’s never going to let Siruko go after hearing that. He rearranges him in a more comfortable position and mutters, “Okay, before I start the stream again, I’m gonna get this out. I like you, so fucking much, so after this we’ll talk and maybe get some food. Now, stay still and stay quiet.” Mintosu shakes his head to rid of his jitters, places his fingers on the keyboard and mouse, and turns his mic on. “Sorry bout that minnasan, there was a little bit of a commotion, just the bintroll guys messing around, but everything’s fine now. Really fine!! In fact, I’m feeling so good today, I might even get diamond today! Watch out! Hahahaha!” And the fight is on.

Once or twice, Siruko tries to wriggle his way out, but frankly Mintosu feels very warm around him, and being encased around his arms just makes him feel all sorts of giddy and calm at the same time. Mintosu just growls softly when Siruko tries to move so he gives up and watches his.. wait–are they boyfriends now?– maneuver Bloodhound perfectly and get a few kills. This is so embarrassing but at the same time, it’s all he ever wanted. He’s so happy he could just burst. Part of him wonders if he’s dreaming, but that dump was really painful so this must be real. Mintosu rests his chin on his shoulder, and any disbelief of reality he has disappears quickly, because that weight on his shoulder can’t be fake. Soon Siruko feels very sleepy and warm, and even though his heart still feels like it will burst out of his chest, maybe, just maybe, he can start to believe that Mintosu actually likes him back. Mintosu is actually warm and surprisingly comfortable even though he’s talking gibberish and laughing loudly in his ear, and Siruko starts to nod off against the gamer’s chest a few times. He doesn’t understand why he feels sleepy, but he can just always blame Minben-san later.

He blinks blearily when Minben-san carefully slots him into his bed, and the green guy turns off the lights and covers them with his blankets. It smells like detergent and Mintosu and home, and this isn’t the situation he had always imagined being on Minben-san’s bed, but it’s not that bad especially when Minben-san pulls him in and drapes his arms over him for a cuddle. Minben-san without his glasses always makes the butterflies in his stomach flutter, especially now that they’re so close he can practically feel Minben-san’s warm breath and heart beating loudly in his chest. The thought that Mintosu also feels whatever he is feeling is strange but comforting.

“Minben-san,” he whispers, so as to not disturb the electric peace in the atmosphere of the room, “they said we’re idiots.”

Mintosu chuckles and Siruko really likes it when he does that. “Maybe we are. Is that why Sensei keeps telling us that?”

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s because we’re idiots in another sense.”

“Tashikani.”

“So… you’re not into… Akoroshi-san?”

“What? No way! Yuck! I’ve never been interested in him that way! He’s just my best friend, that’s all.” Mintosu pauses. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?”

“Mmmmmm, maybe...?” Siruko sheepishly mumbles.

“Idiot.” He flicks Siruko’s forehead, resulting into the purplehead pouting cutely. Mintosu thinks he wants to kiss him, but he’s also content with this right now. “It’s you I like. A lot.”

“Why?” Siruko sounded so unsure and lost. Mintosu hates that. He knows that the purplehead tends to be insecure sometimes, which is absolutely absurd. If he could only see that everyone loves him, he would never second-guess himself.

“I just do. Honestly, why wouldn’t anyone? You’re amazing and everything. If anything, I thought you wouldn’t like me.”

Siruko starts to chuckle and Mintosu joins him. “Okay, maybe we really are idiots.”

“Right.”

“And for your information, I like you too. A lot. Actually, maybe I love you.”

Mintosu snorts. “Okay, then ‘maybe’ I love you too.“ Siruko smiles sleepily at that, and Mintosu’s heart skips a beat or two. “You know, you actually told me these a few times before, but I thought you were just being delirious or maybe hallucinating. You’re an idiot who really needs to sleep more.”

“As if you do! You’re just as bad as me, maybe even more!” Siruko wrinkles his nose angrily, and Mintosu thinks cute. “But.. really? I said that? That’s… embarrassing! Why didn’t you say something?”

“Well, I wasn’t gonna take anything your sleep-deprived brain says seriously. Once, you talked about giant ducks and how they’d take over the world one day. You mumble so many weird things, you idiot.”

That… was definitely weird. He can’t really blame his friends for staying away from crazy, sleepy him.

“Plus, well, maybe I like sleepy, idiotic Siruko-san.”

Pink dusted his cheeks. He can’t believe that Minben-san really put up with all of that craziness, but it did lead to this now, and Siruko decides to just stop doubting everything and take whatever happiness he can get. “Whatever. Sleepy Siruko likes you too, so shut up.”

Mintosu huffs, but his fingers run through his purple hair, and that feels really good. Siruko really wants to savour this moment, but his eyes are getting droopy and he doesn’t think he can keep them open.

“Sleep.” Mintosu orders softly.

“Hmmm…” Siruko answers sleepily. “Good night Minben-san.”

Well, what do you know, dreams do come true after all.

It was a great day. The sun was shining warmly outside, and Siruko feels well-rested and refreshed. Mintosu was cooking curry while he was preparing the coffee pot. Nothing really changed after last night, they still bicker a lot and tease each other to death, but this time, there are more leaning-to-each-other and maybe more skinship between them. It was a good morning. The four other Bintroll members were watching the strange love-hate interaction with fond but exasperated eyes.

“Anyone wanna have a bet? I’m betting six months before their first kiss.” 🐻

“C'mon, give them a little credit.” 🐰

“They wouldn’t have made it if Hakotaro didn’t interfere.” 🐱

“Yeah, and I would have won the bet.” 🐻

“No, you wouldn’t!!” 🐰

“Hmm… my bet is a week.” 🐱

“Uh, no way Ichihachi! It took them a year to tell each other that they like each other–actually no, without our help, it would have taken more than a decade! You really think they would kiss in a week?” 🐰

“Yeah! Just place your own bet!” 🐱

“But–” 🐰

Hakotaro drowned them out. Sometimes it’s really tough being the only sane member of this household, but this is family, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s happy as long as everyone is happy, even though everyone is an idiot.

“Finally.” He sighs to himself, seeing his brother and his senpai smiling, and moves to break up the ongoing fight between a kiss that’s really not their business.

It was just a normal brunch in the Bintroll household, but everyone is laughing, and this is happiness. Siruko really appreciates this second family he has, and if he moves to hold Minben-san’s hand under the table, well, sue his boldness.

“Ne~ aishiteru~” he says in his heart.

[A/N: I hope you guys like it! It’s been a year since I last wrote a story and my skills are a bit rusty haha. Also, it’s my first time posting a story on tumblr! It was fun coding but also so frustrating! My good friend cm made the pic! Thanks cm! Visit me on Twitter! Anyway, have a nice day! Panyanyanda!]

🌻

Owari~

[otakween]

07 Ghost - Supreme Sugar 1-5

So I bought a bunch of these like a dumbass, even though they’re all online here. I also made the stupid mistake of buying “volume 5″ which is actually just a reprint of volumes 1-3 so basically I bought volumes 1-3 individually and reprints lol. Whoops! Ah well, they’re still nice collector’s items. 

Vol. 1

-I knew these were done by the original mangaka team (that’s why I’m discussing them) but apparently there are guest artists here too. That’s really fun, I love seeing characters in other people’s art styles.

-Teito looks cute with the giant bishop hat on  

-Bahaha Burupya fuckin drowned. (Frau saved him tho). 

-Apparently animals hate Ayanami (except for leopards lol). Just the fact that he was on feeding duty to begin with is pretty hilarious (also, why does the military have flamingos and iguanas?)

-Ayanami said gay rights!! He supports Kuroyuri and Haruse’s love lol

-Okay, the nekomimi chapter felt like it was written by a 12 year old weeb circa 2004 (complete with crack plot line!) 

-Turned into a low-key yaoi at the end there which I didn’t really expect. I don’t really likes ships with Teito. He’s just too young and naive, it feels wrong :/

Vol. 2

-Bwahaha I dunno why but I think it’s really funny that the subtitle for this volume is “07-Ghost Fun Book.” It’s not a doujinshi, it’s a fun book :D

-Okay, a Doraemon parody was the last thing I expected. It’s a good thing I know the general premise of Doraemon or I’d be sooo confused lol

-”Drau” pulling the scythe out of his crotch pocket tho...

-Teito looks pretty good with glasses! It makes him feel like a completely different character tho

-I guess Doraemon has a sister (played by Lab in this) I was not aware of this (wait, why does a robot have a sister??) 

-Suddenly we get a brief Konatsu x Hyuuga scene at the end there. I think that’s a ship I can get behind 

-For some reason there’s a volume 1.5 and it comes after 2? IDK...

-Honestly I feel like I’m getting more enjoyment out of the gorgeous art pages than the comic pages. Kinda wish this was just an art book. 

Vol. 3

-For some reason volume 3 is the only one not printed on glossy paper. That kind of makes it charming in its own way tho

-Lol Frau’s a wine mom. Sounds about right

-I guess if I had to pick a Mom character that was closest to Frau in looks it would be Bakugo’s mom, nice and fiery (no pun intended)

-Pffft Hyuuga writing “Zehel” before he dies is a good gag. 

-Aw, that dream sequence at the end was really nice :’) You do get kind of sick of them hammering in the Mikage grief, but it is a huge turning point in Teito’s life so I’ll let it slide.

Vol. 4

-Okay, this one was too hard for me to read, flat out. There are no scanlations either. Something about poem writing and sticking something on Ayanami’s back? Why was Frau randomly a pizza guy at one point? -shrug- 

-At least I can appreciate the concept art. I liked the doodle of Konatsu eating calorie mate lol (very on brand) 

Vol. 5

-Okay, this one is also a Doraemon parody. I had trouble following it at first because I don’t know much about the Doraemon universe lol 

-Comic #1 is a bunch of random crack/gag comedy. This style of comedy is so uniquely Japanese I don’t even know how to categorize it (I guess there’s a lot of the boke/tsukkomi dynamic in there). I don’t know why Mikage was in a skirt?? 

-There’s a lot of concept art in this one that appears to be for the anime rather than the manga. Always nice to see some bonus, behind-the-scenes content

-Ayanami is apparently 6 ft. tall. I wonder if they get this specific about height/weight when designing characters for American cartoons...

-One of Hyuuga’s character notes is “likes katsudon.” Me tho. 

-Apparently Labrador is older than Castor and Frau!? Whaaa? That’s kinda unexpected. He definitely looks the most youthful.

-There’s a little short story in this one and my reading comprehension isn’t quite good enough to read something like that yet. I could tell it was Frau x Teito fluff tho. Teito asked Frau to snuggle with him at one point

---

Well, these were nice. Not a ton of substance to them but some nice bonus fun for super fans. I’m a little surprised the obsessive fans didn’t scanlate more of these back in the day, but at least that means I get to practice my Japanese! I wonder how many anime have official doujinshi?? It doesn’t seem super common but maybe I’m wrong.

[albertonykus]

Doraemon Long Stories Vol. 1: Nobita's Dinosaur

Continuing my mission to (re)read all the Fujio-authored Doraemon works, it's time for the Doraemon Long Stories. This series was the basis for the Doraemon movies released in 1980–1997 (with the exception of The Record of Nobita's Parallel Visit to the West).

Given that I've already reviewed all the movies and they generally differ from their manga counterparts in only minor details, I was originally going to cover multiple Doraemon Long Stories volumes in each post, but I ended up having more to say about the manga than I anticipated, so I guess you're getting at least 17 more separate Doraemon posts. All of my followers are thrilled, I'm sure.

May contain spoilers below the break. My review of this story's movie adaptations can be found here.

Without a doubt, this is among the best-known Doraemon stories, and probably a sizable number of people who grew up with the franchise would name it as one of their favorites. As mentioned in my review of the movie adaptations, I generally think it's... decent. One of the reasons I'm not quite as enamored with this story as many others seem to be is the fact that it being the first attempt at a long-form Doraemon narrative really shows, not only from the perspective of the author but also for the characters.

Unlike many of the later entries in this series, the main characters don't set out with the intention of going on an adventure, and instead get stranded in the Cretaceous by accident. The story has to go the extra mile to come up with explanations for why some of Doraemon's most commonly used gadgets wouldn't solve the problem in this situation. The villains are defeated primarily through a combination of luck and plot-induced stupidity. None of these things would automatically ruin a story (tropes are tools, after all), but I've always thought the many of the later Doraemon Long Stories would integrate the adventure components in more natural and satisfying ways.

As far as differences between the manga and anime go, I was surprised by the number of "intimate" moments there were between Nobita and Shizuka in the manga. I tend to be under the impression that the anime likes to milk this element more than the manga, but neither of the movie adaptations had these scenes! Maybe the author wanted to achieve a more "theatrical" feel for this story.

I enjoyed seeing Doraemon spend a page in the manga discussing mammal evolution in the Mesozoic. This exposition was cut out of both movie adaptations. I understand why, as it has essentially no bearing on the plot, but it's always fun to see the franchise indulge in highlighting its scientific inspirations.

Having reread the manga, I've gained some fresh appreciation for the 2006 movie remake, as I now realize that it incorporates some components from the manga that the original movie didn't—perhaps most notably, a nice scene where Gian takes Nobita's side in a debate due to Nobita saving his life earlier. I may have been too harsh when I said that I couldn't "think of much reason" to recommend the 2006 remake over the original; the two movies may not have many major story differences, but I'd probably consider the remake a more solid movie overall for the changes it did include. That being said, I'd probably still rank the original movie above the remake as a Doraemon work just for its unique status as the first film in the franchise.

[fizzingwizard]

I wanted to do the Kizuna countdown these guys made but I uh forgot. And I’m gonna forget again before friday because I tend to pass out after work and dinner. Sooo... I’m just gonna do it all right here right now, since it’s the last weekend before Kizuna!

First thoughts when Kizuna was announced:

“Holy shit they’re making another one!? How long will they try to squeeze every drop of nostalgia out of us? Because as for me I’m pretty sure that well is bottomless soooo can they just go on making new Adventure movies forever and ever?”

Expectations for Kizuna:

Based on what I’ve heard it kind of seems like the Digimon sequel we would have expected... but got Tri instead. I really enjoyed Tri, though it was far from perfect, so I’m not sure how to feel about Kizuna! But I’m really excited to see the kids as adults trying to balance adulting, their dreams, and the things they care about in their daily lives.

A headcanon/theory you’d like Kizuna to make canon:

Can’t think of anything, sorry.

Expectations for the new characters:

New girl has a butterfly in her hair. She’s probably a harmless guide/informant type. New guy looks strict and apparently is rather blunt. But my guess is he’s not the big bad either... maybe distrusting of the digital world though. There’s probably more to both of these guys but Idc as usual, I only care about my children.

First Digimon memory:

Was a 10 year old Pokemon fan. All 10 year old Pokemon fans thought Digimon was a rip-off (how were we to know it was actually the older of the two, and already part of an established monster tradition in Japan!). We were also obsessed with Pogs and had fights over Pogs on the playground, which I think says a lot about our mental state.

My bro rented some Digimon VHS from Blockbuster (fuck yeah 1999!) and it was the whole Devimon saga. I scoffed and then sat down and watched with him. Then I was freaking HOOKED. I turned on the TV to see the new eps, but actually the show was starting back at reruns before moving on to the Myotismon saga at the time, so I got to watch the whole thing from start to finish in chronological order. I cried buckets when the final episode aired and mourned for weeks.

Favorite Adventure series:

does this mean Adventure or 02? or including Tri? Anyway the answer will always be Adventure. That’s nostalgia central for me. A lot of it was pretty straightforward storytelling, other seasons did more creative stuff, but I think that’s to be expected - this series built the foundation for all that. And it’s great in its own way. What I particularly liked was always the whole “kids trying to figure shit out on their own” bit. For a kids’ show, they actually did it pretty well. Usually kids in that situation act just like really competent adults and don’t really struggle. Digimon certainly had that too, but it let the kids be crybabies, be selfish, be ignorant... it was really about their personal growth and that’s why they got to be kids as well.

Favorite Adventure Chosen Child (older 6):

Taichi!! Do I even need to explain myself? I will anyway. I didn’t care about him much when I was ten. For a long time I didn’t have a favorite character. It was Yamato for about thirty seconds, and then it was Takeru for about two years. After 02, I rewatched both seasons, and suddenly realized Taichi was Everything to me. I never really went for leader characters, never liked brash, brainless, bring-the-brawn types, or stern, distant ones, cold except when showing their passion for their mission.

But Taichi isn’t like either of those. He has bits of both - he can be brainless, and he’s pretty brash, but he’s calculating too. I liked that mix, but mainly I liked that he just seemed like a regular kid who the others were naturally drawn to as a leader because he was Mr. Get-shit-done. The older I get, the more I appreciate that proactive factor in people. Sometimes you just need someone to say the thing that’s on everyone’s minds. It can be scary. So I feel gratitude when someone takes the lead when I can’t. I think that’s how the other kids felt towards Taichi - for all his flaws, he kept them going, he didn’t let them waffle and miss their chances. I like him for a ton of other reasons too but I’ll end there for today!

Favorite 02 Chosen Child (younger 6):

Takeru. He was my original fav and I really really wanted to see him be awesome in 02. Unfortunately, he and Hikari didn’t really get much development. (They still made out better than all Frontier kids not named Kouji, though.) But I loved his anger issues and his facing his trauma. They should have done so much more. I really wanted him to bond with Ken over the fact that they’d both lost partners... I loved seeing older Takeru in Tri, the trauma issue came up again when he was the first one to realize his partner was infected. I’ve never been so moved by a crying plush doll lmao. Also his fashion sense, woot.

The runner-up is worth a mention since she wasn’t part of the original Adventure group and therefore could be considered my true 02 fav - Miyako. I loved the nerdy glasses girl because I was a nerdy glasses girl. I wasn’t as outspoken as Miyako, but I could go on and on about things I liked. I loved how pure and flawed she was and I loved her inner sense of right and wrong and her frankness. It’s refreshing when so many characters hide their true feelings. And I loved her and Hikari. Hikari and Miyako are the true girl friendship in those series. Sora and Mimi are nice but didn’t get the same level of development. Of course, I headcanon they were all awesome girlfriends.

Favorite Digimon partner:

This is an IMPOSSIBLE question, I love ALL OF THEM. I can’t pick one.

Gabumon: the way he and Yamato don’t need words, he just understands him, and when he doesn’t, always assume the best and gives him space. Their connection through music. And the way Gabumon will tease him especially over Taichi XD Gabumon keeps Yamato in line.

Gomamon: the way he is just what Jou needs, someone to keep him positive. I’m anxiety-prone myself and one reason I love my job working with young children is they make me see the bright things that I used to be able to see all the time when I was a child. I never really wanted to grow up. I think Gomamon is that for Jou, the child in him he doesn’t want to let go of, and doesn’t actually have to, because we take that part of us into our future.

Tentomon: because was he not MVP of the YEAR in Kokuhaku!?!?!?!?! That was amaaaaazing. Also he is easily the funniest Digimon and I love how he brings out the affectionate side of Koushirou. Again he’s exactly what Koushirou needs.

Patamon: Because he’s cuuuuute!!! and gives Takeru something to nurture and protect while also protecting him. Takeru, the youngest, who needed to be protected but also needed to grow, got a Digimon with those exact same qualities. PERFECT MATCH.

Hawkmon: I always loved him paired with Miyako. He was my favorite 02 partner. He was grumpy and irritable yet caring with Miyako, basically the compass she needed when she felt panicky. And he was COOL. Like he had the best evolutions lol. And as the only male/female partner set (I know Digimon don’t have true genders but this isn’t a made up thing either), there was a slightly different dynamic, like Miyako needed someone a bit more her opposite than other Chosen, to help push her in new directions.

Agumon: He gets honorable mention in particular because of Tri! But also because of 02. In Adventure, Taichi didn’t have a strong grasp of what it meant to raise his partner. He and Agumon saw each other as equals - which they are - but you do see a shift in that balance as Taichi gets older. Agumon is very powerful, but very child-like and thoughtless. In 02 and Tri, we see Taichi taking care of him much more like a big brother with a young brother. In Adventure, they just played together and wound each other up. What this means is Taichi’s grown up to be quite the caretaker, out of necessity - his partner is a bit high maintenance compared to the others! And caretaker isn’t usually the quality that jumps to mind when you think of “anime protagonist” or even leader. So I LOVE it. Also, Agumon struggles to express big concepts. But he can express really important things in simple ways, and Taichi needs that simplicity when his head gets all muddled with complexity. We definitely saw that in Tri. Agumon is kinda the Doraemon of Digimon, lol.

And I love literally all of the others and could go on about them for ages. But I’ll stop here. Will continue the countdown (er, I guess I can’t call it that when I’m doing it like this) later.

[mischiefmakingmuses]

That Never-Ending Witching Hour! (Halloween Event)

{Closed event with @salmonidparty and @robocatandboy}

“OK, just be still for a moment longer, rina...and...done!”

Netalina had just finished styling the Duke Yuuki Yomi’s hair, all in preparation for Halloween. Although, to be frank, she wasn’t quite sure why he wanted this, seeing as they didn’t celebrate Halloween in Vitiu.

“How do I look?” Yuuki asked, swishing his cape dramatically. “Enigmatic and cool?”

“To be honest...you look very cute for a vampire, rina,” Netalina responded, stifling a giggle.

“What?! How am I supposed to catch the detective’s attention if I look cute?!” the Duke snapped. Netalina did her best to keep her composure.

“You say that as if they can’t appreciate cute things, rina. Either way...why did you want to dress up for Halloween, rina? I don’t think the detective is really aware of the celebration, number one...number two, she’s probably really busy tonight, rina. After all, it’s just a regular night here in Vitiu, isn’t it, rina?”

“Don’t ya get it, Netalina? If I look cool and mysterious...she can’t help but fall for me!” He placed his hands on cheeks, blushing, a familiar expression creeping across his face. “Hehehe! I have it in my mind to just drop in unexpected...as the night goes on, I’ll charm her with my mysteriousness and we’ll dance in the moonlight...fufufu!”

“Isn’t she still very much oblivious to how you feel, Duke Yomi?” Netalina asked, no punches pulled.

“S-shut up! Tonight’s the night! The night she’ll fall for me...I’ll make sure of it!” Yuuki huffed, still blushing.

“Besides...won’t it just start snowing once you show up in Guild Town, rina? There’ll be no moon to dance under!”

“Shouldn’t ya be headin’ back home right about now, Netalina?” the Duke hissed incredulously. She wasn’t about to ruin his night.

“Honestly...yes! My friends and I are gonna meet with Nobita, rina!” She smiled at Yuuki. “Gambit and I are a matching pair!”

“Okaaaaay, okaaaay, no need to gloat,” the ice spirit grumbled enviously. As if the Yokai’s earlier wrongdoings were forgotten, Yuuki smiled back at her. “Be safe on your way back!”

“I will! Thanks, rina!” Before Netalina left entirely, she turned back to the Duke. “And good luck, OK?”

“Thank ya.”

~*~★~♥~★~*~

Returning home through the Anywhere Door, Netalina’s first instinct was to go check on her friends. Entering the room, she saw Urien patting Smile down with some kind of white powder. The Ittangomen had chosen a simple, yet...complicated costume this year: he wanted to go as Ittan-Momen from GeGeGe no Kitaro. Though on paper it sounded extremely simple, it was actually quite difficult when your nearly four meter long ittan-momen is yellow in color and wants to be entirely white.

“Are you done yet,” Smile breathed impatiently. It seemed like they’d been at it for a while.

“Nope, sorry. Almost, though. Maybe we should’ve asked Doraemon for help,” Urien responded.

“Probably, this is gonna be fucking hell to get out later,” Smile mumbled.

“Guys, I’m back!” Netalina chirped. This caught the attention of not only Urien and Smile, but also Jizo and Gambit, who were sitting around the room as well.

“Welcome back, my loved one~♪” Gambit sang. He just stared at Netalina for a moment before placing a hand on the mask covering half his face. “Sorry, you can’t tell, but I’m actually winking.”

“You’re such a nerd, rina!” Netalina ran over, jumped into the air, and Gambit caught her. “But you’re my nerd, rina~”

“Speaking of...” Jizo quietly chimed in from his spot. The others looked over at him. “How did it go with the Duke?”

“I dunno, really. He wanted to look cool, but he doesn’t seem to understand that he has an inherent cuteness to him, rina.”

“And then he probably left to go hit on the detective, right?” Smile drawled. “How long do you think it’ll take him to realize that the detective doesn’t feel the same way?”

“I’ll give him a week,” Gambit commented.

“I’ll give him eleven minutes,” Urien laughed. “Now turn around, I’m almost done here, just a little more.”

“I’m so fucking tired of this powder,” Smile sighed, turning back to Urien.

“Dude, how do you think I feel?” Urien patted a bit more powder onto Smile’s nose, then grinned. “Alright, you’re done! Hopefully I won’t need to ride you Kitaro-style tonight, or else we’ll both be covered in this shit.”

“Probably not, right? I mean, tonight we’re just gonna be doing Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai with Nobita and his friends, right?”

“Yup! Maybe we’ll actually finish this year,” Urien hummed. “What even happened last time, do you remember?”

“Not a damn thing,” Smile laughed. He gazed at Urien, then at the others, looking cheerful. “Man, y’know...I actually kind of wish we could interact with Nobita’s friends all the time, not just on Halloween. Suneo and Gian...they could use an attitude adjustment, but...I wouldn’t mind getting to know them better. There’s just no time to do so...”

~*~★~♥~★~*~

As this all went down in the Yokai’s residence, Yuuki was slowly making his way from Mt. Spiral to Guild Town. As he floated through the drifting snow, all by his lonesome, he gazed up at the sky. Naturally, the snow clouds covered any trace of the moon, the only evidence it existed the brightness of the clouds. Yuuki looked down and sighed.

“Netalina really knows how to bring my spirits down, don’t she? It’s not easy confessin’ your love to someone...I really wish the detective liked me, though. Mm...I just wanna hold her in my arms...”

Yuuki put his hands on the sides of his face and sighed dreamily, another blush appearing across his features.

“...I wish I were strong enough to let her know how I feel.”

~*~★~♥~★~*~

“...hhhhuuuuh. Two wishes at once?”

Two long, droopy ears twitched, picking up the sounds of dreams in two different directions. Two hands were held out, grasping two visions of two different worlds. Two legs uncrossed, and two different types of wings fluttered silently in the void.

“...ufufu. I don’t see why not. After all, I’m feeling pretty...generous, tonight. Tonight’s supposed to be lots of fun anyway, isn’t it? Fufufu!”

The Metanomaly took the two illusions in each hand and brought them together, closer, and closer, until they fused into one. The crack underneath his eye lit up momentarily.

“Two wishes. One Abnoreality. Smile, you’ll get to talk to Nobita’s friends for as long as you please. And Duke Yomi, you’ll definitely be able to admit your feelings to the detective!”

Ayume crushed the illusion between his hands, tossing its dust into the air and creating a thick, ethereal fog.

“Have fun...fufufu!”

~*~★~♥~★~*~

The skin sweats, the breath shortens The wind stops, the door opens Hair stands on end, feet freeze The uninvited shall not enter here...

...except for one.

~*~★~♥~★~*~

When Urien awoke, he felt odd. He felt his face. He felt his neck. His sunglasses and scarf were missing...as was his costume in its entirety. Everything was completely white...he had to shield his eyes a bit from how bright it was.

He got up. As he moved, the ground rippled, like water. Urien looked around. Vast white in each direction...except...he saw someone. A black figure against the never-ending white.

“Koukishin to kyoufu ga! ♪ Kawaru gawaru oshiyose! ♪ Naze ni gokan dake ga togisumasareruno? ♪” The figure was singing, slightly gyrating to their own rhythm. Urien made his approach. “Shiranakatta sekai no! ♪ Maku ga jojo ni agaruyo! ♪ Dare mo kiita koto nai, kyousou ga yami ni hibiku~♪”

“Excuse me, but...who are you?” Urien asked.

“Sokonoke, noke, mononoke ga tooru~! ♪” The figure turned around, but before Urien could see their face, they had transformed into him...albeit in his intended Halloween costume. When the figure spoke, it spoke in his voice. “Konoha shigure to tomo ni yatsura arawaru. ♪ I’m Urien Sirius Okuro!”

“...no, you’re not. That’d be me.”

“Uso! ♪” the doppelganger chirped, mirroring Urien’s signature dance. The doppelganger transformed yet again, into a slightly shorter figure, black with multicolored spatters all over. “You’re right! ♪ You’re right! ♪ I’m not Urien, you are! ♪”

“Er...OK. Then, who are you?”

“Oh, I don’t really know. But I know where we are! We’re inside your mind!” Urien tilted his head slightly and making a thinking pose, before the figure began to laugh in a deeper voice and gave him a menacing look. “You’ve been possessed! ♪”

“Ehhhh?!” Urien reeled back in horror. “By what, exactly?!”

“By me!” The figure stuck their tongue out and winked, their voice returning to normal. “You want me to stop? I think I learned plenty already.”

Before Urien could answer, he awoke yet again. This time, he was outside under the moonlight, in a field near a fence. Before him was the figure he’d seen in his mind.

“What the fuck,” Urien breathed, unamused. “Where are we?”

“Oh, now I don’t know. I’m not even sure why I’m here! But I am, I am, I am here! And so are you! And so are all your friends!” The figure twirled and began to sing again. “Sokonoke, noke, mononoke ga odoru~♪ Dare mo kare mo osuki ni odori kurueyo~♪”

“What?! Where are my friends?! What did you do to them?!” Urien cried out, making a gesture as if he were going to grab the figure.

“Hyuu doro doro~♪ Hyuu doro doro! ♪” The figure shook their hands playfully as they danced and pursed their lips. “I didn’t do nothin’! This place is real weird. It’s kinda like a dream. A real big one. Everyone is dreaming.”

“...everyone is dreaming...?” Urien looked up at the moon.

What the hell was going on?

[lunawings]

King of Prism SSS Episode 9 commentary (Alexander)

FINALLY!!!!! Finally I can talk about a few big things from this series I have been dying to talk about....

...............What did I sign myself up for. 

A quick rundown of what it says here: More and more people are becoming interested in the street-style and choosing to be street-style stars since the Prism King Cup. In the graph, the gold portion is academy-style and the silver is street-style, before -> after the Prism King Cup. Below it points out that Kazuki and Hiro’s “sparking” scores from the Prism King Cup (the Prism Watch data) were equal and suggests Schwartz Rose needs to step up their game in the street category. 

Every time I laugh at this. 

Every time I feel kinda bad afterwards. 

But

So Ace was entered as an official participant. It says “reserve”, but still. I guess that may have helped to make Joji’s score possible and not break the system. 

(In between writing my episode 5 commentary post and now, I got to read the interview with the director in spoon2Di where he confirmed that Joji’s high score was only because Ace joined in what was supposed to be a solo show.)

Flashy, huh. We’re going with flashy this time for “charachara”.... Okay. (Better than gaudy I guess.)

I love this so much. Kakeru coming outside just to watch Taiga exercise and get all sweaty and all that. I wonder how long he stood there. Or rather I wonder how long he watched with binoculars after heading back inside. 

I’m such a dumbass. After episode 3 aired someone pointed out that this is Taiga’s mom vs. Alec’s mom, and my excuse for not noticing then was that it’s in the background and such. (Can’t pause the movie in the theater and didn’t think to check it afterwards.) But here the camera actually pans over them slowly, so yeah I have no excuse. 

But regardless. Amazing!! 

Another thing I didn’t catch in the theater. But I have never had a reason to know the Japanese word for asthma before. I’m glad that gave him an actual reason for being sickly instead of just.... sickly child syndrome. 

As long as you’re happy, Victoria. 

But really though, their relationship is pretty damn interesting. 

I wonder if she knows he borrowed her clothes. 

No I don’t know why these grown-ass men have nothing better to do than pick on an actual seven year old child...............

So uh. This line confused me for the longest time. The way he says it, I really thought he was giving “Daikokuno” as another last name and I thought it was some kind of DJ KOO reference I didn’t get or something. 

But thanks to Crunchyroll I finally realized.... ITS A PLACE. He’s just saying where he’s from, and that’s how Alexander is able to find him. GOOD LORD IM SUCH A DUMBASS.......... Another point for Crunchyroll. 

HE BIKED ALL THE WAY FROM YOKOSUKA TO YOKOHAMA

Okay so now that I have the luxury to pause this, as soon as I did I opened up Google Maps in another window, zoomed in and....

WELL THEN 

At least I finally know where it is

BUT DAAAAAMN

Fuck asthma am I right

It wouldn’t give me the cycling time, but yeah, you can imagine. 

They only have this one image of Rei doing a jump and gosh darn they are gonna use it to the fullest. 

So during this scene and the next people cheer for Rei in the theater, but nobody really knows what color he is. There was a whole lot of variation at the beginning before people (in Nagoya at least) finally settled on red. (For the flames maybe? I don’t know if it’s official.....)

Alexander actually had a flashback to this moment on Prism Rush during the Road to SSS 9 event. I reblogged it recently on my @prism-rush blog trying to disguise it as part of my Alexander birthday spam. (It wasn’t.)

YEAHHHHHHHHHHH BOY

So if you have no idea where the heck this egg came from and what it is..... Rainbow Live.

But anyway. 

I can finally FINALLY talk about this!!! Even though I knew it would probably be all over Twitter, I really wanted to protect this spoiler on Tumblr if I could. It was such a big deal to me when I saw it in the theater and I really wanted you guys to have the opportunity to be as blown away as I was. I could not possibly think of anything to say about it that wouldn’t be a hint, so all I could say all this time was just that Alexander’s episode has “a surprise” in it.... SURPRISE!!!

But yeah, when I saw this for the first time I thought it just came out of NOWHERE. Total shock! I thought this was not predictable at all!

But then it hit me. All of a sudden I remembered something. Something important.

Again, in Road to SSS event 9....

So, for folks who follow my @prism-rush blog, remember that one Alexander PR where he was looking into a box? And nobody knew what was in the box? But  there was something weird following him? I even mentioned it and my confusion over it in my summary of that event. WELL GUESS WHAT.

We finally know what was in the box don’t we.  

I asked a friend to see the card story to fill in the blanks and see if there were any obvious hints to what was going on at the time, and it’s just mentioned as a strange animal he picked up. Alexander struggles with what to do and not really wanting to take care of it, but then he asks himself what Rei would do..... (Whether he could see Momo at that time, I do not know ahah....)

So in the beginning after seeing Part 1 in theaters I said on Tumblr that the Road to SSS events from Prism Rush didn’t have much to do with the SSS anime, and most of them didn’t and still don’t. All of course except for Road to SSS 9, just that one, which ended up being way more important than I would have ever imagined. And this isn’t even the only reason either, there is also--

SO UH anyway Road to SSS 9 took place in June, so this flashback is taking place in June DURING Road to SSS 9. A very roundabout way to dating the episode, but really cool. I like how Road to SSS was significant after all. 

And another surprise for me. In the theatrical version he’s not glowing here. They wanted to emphasize that he’s powering up I suppose eheh. I was really freaking out about this in the stream chat. SO COOL.

To the right of his little dragon house you’ll see some “dorayaki” because.....

Although they never actually mention it in the anime, his name is Dorachi. (Confirmed on Twitter.) 

(Note: Dorayaki is also the favorite food of classic Japanese character Doraemon.) 

Even though Dorachi doesn’t talk in this episode, in the theatrical special video for Alexander he talks A LOT. An UNFAIR amount. So much I do not remember most of what he said since I only saw it once and it went by so fast. 

But his real name is very long (like the manager names from PriPara) and he talks about spreading the prism sparkle. I’m sorry, that’s honestly all I remember right now.

Will he show up again in the main anime before the end?

(Okay yes.)

And at least they gave you guys was a bit of original(??) art of him in the new ending. 

WHATEVER THEY MAKE OF THIS CHARACTER I WILL BUY IT 

Okay moving on....... 

Urrgh..... okay so.............. When I first was watching this with you guys in the stream I was like UGH because I don’t think “flashy” fits here at all. I really wished they had stuck with “playboy” since it would work better with this scene. 

But then when I watched it again, I realized they already used “flashy” once in this episode to describe Kazuki’s sweater, and it did kinda work there. 

If we go back to my episode 3 commentary, my main complaint with Crunchyroll’s  translation of “charachara” was actually less about the words they used, and more about how it just wasn’t consistent. 

This episode..... is consistent.

..................

................................

Another point for Crunchyroll. 

I officially cannot complain about the subs in this episode. 

Another little thing in SSS I have spent way too much time thinking over is how Joji got here. 

In every episode up until now, it’s always been Louis seen walking beside Jin like his pet. But in this episode. JUST THIS EPISODE.... it’s Joji instead. 

I think the reason is because Louis is performing next, so he has to rest (since he’s not exactly in the condition he once was.....) So Joji scooped up the opportunity. 

Whatever the reason, I find it really interesting. 

HERE IT IS

My all time favorite Alexander face

In a weird way I actually think he’s cuter here than in the Prism King Cup

This song.... was not quite what I was expecting for Alec, but I love it. No part of me anticipated he’d just launch into a ballad but WOW. I just love how they picked something that really shows off his beautiful voice like this. Alexander is in my top three singing voices in King of Prism (1: Hiro, 2: Taiga, 3: Alexander) so I loved hearing him belting this out. 

Now time for my like.... 4th(?) embarrassing confession in this post.... I had no idea this song was a cover until like AN HOUR before this episode aired. You guys were playing TRF songs in the stream, the original came on, and while y’all were like “what should we watch next” I was sitting there like “!!!!!!!!FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF”

Well, it’s a new song to me. And I think it’s perfect for him. 

Poor Joji and his inconveniently timed fruit. 

He finally gets to spend time with Jin, and he just can’t get a break. 

I love the generation gap here. Kazuki’s existence has been so big to Taiga he can only think of Kazuki. But Kazuki and Hijiri are able notice the subtle differences that make this an OG Rei move. 

I could certainly spend a whole lot of text speculating why Alexander did not change into his battle suit, but I won’t waste your time and just admit I have no idea. I’m glad he doesn’t, since it keeps the spotlight on Alexander since HE CAN’T PERFORM ONE GODDAMN SHOW WITHOUT TAIGA BARGING IN ON HIM BUT MMMRGGHGHG

TAIGA YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER

Yeah I was SO MAD about this when I first saw it at the midnight showing.

A lot of people change to green when Taiga comes out, but I do not. This is the only battle where I cheer for Alexander the whole time.  

Not only was I mad at Taiga for being so dumb, but just mad at the whole concept of Taiga barging into Alexander’s one show to do basically the same jumps we saw in Pride the Hero again..... 

But.....

Nowadays I forgive my idiot son. And I hope you do too. 

This wasn’t the moment I forgave him. No, that’s coming later. I was mad at him for an entire month. But yeah. 

He’s just so confident and everyone believes in him................................

So Alexander breaks the street-style curse and gets a damn good score. Higher than Taiga’s original score. 

But just like Joji’s score was due to Ace, I can’t help but think Alexander’s score was a good deal due to Taiga.........

I had a feeling this would happen. 

I knew long before Part 3. 

Even back when I had only just seen Part 1.... I just knew the tables would turn in this episode. 

Maybe it would be difficult to guess by watching week-to-week, but for me having Alexander’s episode as the last episode of the theatrical Part 3 just seemed like it would be WAAAAAY too much of a coincidence otherwise. So I had a strong feeling Schwarz would come out ahead at the end of this one. (I didn’t guess the reason would be because Taiga would get a penalty, but yeah.) And especially because the performances are kind of out of order to make this work? Up until now I thought all of the Schwarz Rose boys performed first, but Yu was up before Alec? And Louis is up next. Maybe it wasn’t a guaranteed thing that the Schwarz Boys always go first, but I noticed it.  

So up until now score has not mattered much as Edel Rose has just sailed on though. But now it does. It matters a lot. 

So this is the second surprise of this episode, and why I was saying it’s the beginning of the chain of events that lead to the end.

But about score mattering now, one of the reasons I have been questioning Taiga’s score the whole time is because I knew this was going to happen. So I just.... I just hope Taiga’s score wasn’t lower to begin with on purpose for mathematical reasons so they could get their desired progression of the overall score or something. IDK.

I don’t blame Rei for not figuring it out right away. Even though I KNOW this is Alexander, I still have trouble connecting his younger and older selves. I mean, getting muscular doesn’t make your eye shape completely change does it....?

Poor Kazuki. He doesn’t care.

So if I interpreted this episode correctly.... 

This was Alexander’s official transition from an antagonist to a protagonist. (Or just to a normal rival at least.)

During the first two movies and for a good long time of Prism Rush, he always played the part of the villain. But once Road to SSS started that began to change. We saw him reminiscing about Rei, making awkward conversation with Louis, struggling over forming a duo with Joji, etc. So I had a strong feeling they were taking his character in this direction, but this right here was the official turning point I believe. 

No more destroying stadiums. From now on he’ll be spreading the prism sparkle with Dorachi. 

And still trying to beat Kazuki but you know. 

So I don’t have a source handy (if someone challenges me to find one I’ll dig it up) but I remember I read one time that Alexander was actually originally a character that was only created for the first movie. But then they realized they had to keep him on when he was just so popular. 

So if you have ever supported Alexander, this episode was for you. Fans make King of Prism possible. 

So.... one more thing I guess. Something I learned from the Minato episode was that even if I ignore controversy and specifically state I don’t want to talk about it, it still finds its way into my inbox anyhow. So I might as well get this over with I guess. 

After Young of Prism Alexander was revealed to have light skin, someone told me a theory that mixed race children are sometimes born with lighter skin which darkens as they grow older. So up until her design was revealed, I had always imagined Alexander’s mother as a black woman. 

So yeah. I don’t know the reason for his darker skin color now. 

But I’d like to point out that in this episode being pale was associated with being weak and unhealthy, while darker skin was associated with being healthy and strong and just leave it at that. 

And thus ends Part 3. 

Next week begins.................. what I have been dreading for a long time............

So...................

So up until now I have been pretty tight-lipped about spoilers. But once episode 10 airs, the floodgates will pretty much be open. Episode 10 and episode 11 are so connected it’s really hard to talk about one without the other. I mean, once you know about episode 10, I seriously might as well. So after episode 10 airs, at the bottom of my commentary post and after a warning I plan to share some episode 11 spoilers. 

Because I have been through this......

And I know how it’s gonna make you guys feel......

And since I was lucky enough to get some answers right away, I’m going to give you guys those same answers for those who want them so you don’t have to just sit on episode 10 for a week. I am not that kind of a monster. I won’t put you guys through that. 

So after episode 10 ends, take a deep breath, cry it out if you need to, and get some tea. 

I know how you’re gonna be feeling. I know. Don’t send me a panicked anon ask right away. Give me a little time. Hold on.