#there's really a lot to look at and think about Misaki despite how little she was around

[allegedlyrainy]

I don’t think I’ve seen anyone mention this yet but I feel like these scenes are an interesting parallel between Kazuki and Misaki with Miri?

Something about the way Kazuki doesn’t let her see that he’s sad because his focus is on making sure that she’s happy and the shot specifically focuses on her face and reaction

while Misaki is caught up in how she feels and she ends up being comforted by Miri. We can see Misaki visibly crying while Miri’s face is initially hidden from view.  

[logicalbookthief]

With the return of Misaki and the uncertainty over Miri’s custody, I think it’s time to talk about the cat.

Because the cat is a direct parallel, and the reason why I believe things will go differently this time around, since they’ve both grown a lot over the last year.

The argument over the cat perfectly illustrates the crux of Rei & Kazuki’s issues at the start of the series.

Kazuki tells Rei that buying food for the cat isn't enough, you have to be willing to put in the work — and, given that he was gone for one night and comes home to an apartment filled with smoke, along with a pile of take-out and garbage, he was 100% justified in refusing the stray. Genuinely I don’t get why Kazuki taking this stance got the hate it did, any responsible pet owner would look at the Rei of Ep 1 and agree he was not ready for a cat.

However, this is something that Rei grows to understand when he’s left to care for Miri on his own in Ep 7 and Kazuki isn’t around to shoulder that responsibility. Rei realizes that his actions, or inaction, can negatively affect the people in his care, and it gives him a reason to change. I think it also gives him a new appreciation for everything Kazuki does, hence his attempt at French toast.

But I feel we don't discuss Kazuki's reason for giving up the cat enough, because they’re two sides of the same coin.

What he’s saying is objectively true and you can tell he’s speaking from a place of experience with what happened to Yuzuko. However, he is only focused on how what they do can affect the other people in their lives. No mention of how it would feel to lose someone or any lingering on how lonely this life is.

It’s a contrast to Rei, who brings home the stray without a second thought, simply because he wants to, not considering the impact it would have on the cat. Kazuki takes this to the opposite extreme, only considering what’s best for the cat and completely ignoring his own wants and feelings.

So, as we know, the cat is left where Rei found it. Not an ideal situation, no — much like leaving Miri with her mother would be, considering she did abandon her before — but it is the safer option in both cases.

Watch these scenes and tell me he isn’t fond of the cat. And when he realizes it’s cold and comes back with food for the little guy? Yeah, don’t tell me he wasn’t already attached.

But he comes back to an empty box. Implying to Kazuki, and to us the audience, that the cat was taken in by someone who could give it the normal, loving life that it deserves, which is why Kazuki leaves with a smile.

It is interesting to note that despite his disagreement, Rei went along with Kazuki’s decision over the cat, just as he went along with Kazuki’s decisions regarding Miri, whether that meant taking her back to her mom or committing to being her parents.

I always read this scene as Rei seeing how happy Kazuki is having Miri around. And thus he questions if this is really what Kazuki wants to do, resulting in that startled expression on Kazuki’s face. Like he hadn’t even considered that possibility.

Rei is perceptive, recognizing that Kazuki will be sad to see her go, yet he doesn’t argue when Kazuki firmly negates this as an option while looking upset again.

Kazuki has made strides in moving on from his wife’s death, but the idea that it’s okay to move on doesn’t erase the insecurities and tendency toward self-loathing he’s displayed, which were probably there long before he met Yuzuko. Even when he reconciles with Karin, her words of encouragement are, “I bet you can make her [Miri] happy!”

So if he truly believes that Miri will be happier or safer with her mother, Kazuki will absolutely choose to let her go.

And it will be up to Rei to go against his decision for once, because he knows that remaining a family is what they both want.

Here, Kazuki looks sad and resigned. I was always sort of disappointed we didn’t get a scene of Rei & Kazuki during Ep 7 when he was at his lowest and most self-deprecating. Now, though, I wonder if they were saving such a confrontation for this moment right here. Where Rei will have to convince him that his own happiness is a priority, too, and that their family is worth fighting for.

Now, uh. I do think that Rei’s decision that they stay together as a family will result in tragedy — there is too much foreshadowing to pretend otherwise — and that maybe Miri will have to stay with her mother for a bit out of necessity. But the point of this episode I think will be to highlight how much these two have grown because they wanted to be better for Miri and that it isn’t selfish to want to pursue that happiness for their own sakes, too.

[oliverthesquid]

Detective Terukane AU idea??

Okay so I was having Terukane brainrot and i came up with this whole AU about them that I reallllyyyy wanna write a fanfic but i have no idea how to start or if people would even like it so I decided to post about it on here in hopes to get some responses/support as well as some help if possible! What I have written below is my ideas so far. They’re a bit messy , not really organized, and i say maybe a lot because I’m not sure if they’re even good ideas but please take a look if you’re interested!

on a unrelated but related note, if you’re interested in this AU and would like to see me write about it please tell me/talk to me so I can have some sort of motivation to make this happen! Also If you have ideas/suggestions/critiques please tell me as well because I’m kind of a beginner when it comes to writing and suggestions could mean a lot! I need all the help I can get!!

Now onto the actual AU

Basics:

Basically Akane is a thief or some sort of criminal and Teru is the top detective in the department and catches him. However, he needs his help to get to the bottom of a case that theyre working on and getting help from an inside source such as akane could help drastically. Somehow(idk how yet) teru manages to get akane to agree to help him

possible moments/ideas for this??:

akane gets shot while they’re chasing a criminal to get to the bottom of the case and Teru lets the criminal escape so he can help Akane (and obviously he gets all confused about it because he just let a criminal go to save another criminal somebody that he should hate)

Its nighttime and they go outside. Akane decides to show Teru his favorite spots hang out which are specifically the rooftops where they can look down at the city below. They admire the scenery together and maybe they have to walk across a tightrope to get to certain spots and teru is maybe a little scared (but he wont admit it). However, akane holds him steady and helps him across (sort of like in the book rooftoppers??)

Guys what if,,, they kiss on the rooftops in the moonlight that would be really cool i think

Both of them are pining but are in denial

A lot of them just bugging each-other and its really cute

Instead of the school mysteries theyre all sort of criminals and they each have like a specialty according to what their rumor was/is

Instead of “president minamoto/teru” its detective minamoto/teru

Maybe the have to go to a bar for some reason and somebody slips something into akane’s drink without him noticing. Teru obviously has to help him and get him out of there

Akane hangs on top of the rooftops a lot especially when hes sad or thinking

Teru getting scared of getting attached to people

something to do with Akane’s childhood and why he joined the clockeepers. Possible idea for why he joined them is that maybe he was an orphan as a kid and they somehow tricked him into joining them? (like in the manga) but despite that hes still with them after many years and they’re all pretty close friends

Relating to the orphan akane idea; maybe as a child akane got to know and be friends with aoi (female) and started developing a crush on her. However, after he joined the clock keepers he started to see and talk to her less and less. He still has feelings for her (not for long 👀) but has never told her how he feels. Since hes a criminal now he cant bear to face her like that so he just watches and admires her from afar.

One day teru and akane are out doing work on the case or whatever and akane spots aoi at a cafe. He sort of grabs teru and sits him down at a table nearby so he can observe aoi. (Basically she’s out with one of her male friends and later the guy confesses to aoi but she rejects him) Teru asks him whats going on and Akane tells him about her and his feelings for her. However he admits that she’ll probably never like him but he’s just watching her from afar (that one line akane says about aoi before he saves her and reveals himself as the clock keeper in the manga) Teru starts to feel jealous but he doesn’t know why. Why should he feel jealous? It’s not like he likes Akane... Oh shit.

maybe the criminal theyre trying to catch is Hanako?? (since in the manga is the leader of the seven mysteries so here he would also be like the leader) and also!! If the criminal they’re trying to catch is Hanako: Teru is trying to catch Hanako because his boss told him to. However, it turns out that his boss is Tsukasa (but he doesnt know this) and Tsukasa is trying to get reuinted with Hanako (same sort of relationship as in the manga) through the means of catching him with the police. Possibly Akane discovers this and tell Teru. Teru struggles about what he should do and Akane helps him through)

Instead of the school mysteries theyre all sort of criminals and they each have like a specialty according to what their rumor was/is

(idea) the 4 pm bookstack are instead a base where tsuchusgusmori has information on basically everyone and everything. For the right price, he’ll give anyone that information

(idea) the clock keepers are instead a little band of thiefs who live on top of a huge clock tower (or something and thats why theyre known as the clock keepers) obviously, akane is a part of that band

(Yako/ misaki stairs idea ) maybe way too dark for the story but yako runs a tiny little doll shop in the city but underground, its access into any area and any exclusive event possible (because her boundary is space). She can get you into practically everything including private rooms with security ect. however she won’t get you out, you have to figure out how to get back on your own. And the price to get into one of these places is a human body part. The harder it is to get into the higher the price is. (so like low class events would be like a finger, blood, ect. And super high class events would be like an arm, a head, eyes) shes gathering bodyparts to possible revive/recreate her dead lover (miskai)

[maybenotmei]

hiiiii!!! can u do hina & kokoro saying ily to the reader for the first time? ^_^

i love you!

ft. hina hikawa, kokoro tsurumaki

—> notes at the end!

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the first time she says i love you would definitely be a slip up and something you really wouldn't expect, especially when it was right during a fan-sign event.

now, hina says "i love you" a lot, especially to her fans. she never means any of them romantically, well up until she met you.

if you paid attention to every word she has said to you (which is almost impossible unless you have photographic memory— this girl rambles and talks a Lot more than you might think), she has never said "i love you" ever, it was always a simple "you're the best!" or "you're so boppin♪"

you never really questioned it. though it did start to hurt when you gained feelings, though.

as an avid pastel*palettes fan, you bought tickets and attended fan handshake events, signing events, and really any sort of tour or one to one idol interaction to support the five, especially hina

this time, this event was a handshake event. you nervously waited in line, waiting for your turn to talk to hina. (though, you talk to her all the time...? well... uh... feelings... yeah feelings) soon enough you made it, and hina greeted you happily.

she looked a lot happier. she was smiling wide, and it looks like she was about to jump out of her seat. you gave her a gift for support, and she felt something so strong that all she could do was say "thank you!! i love you so much!"

you're not too sure if she meant it romantically or platonically, but it did cause the other four to turn their heads a little before going back to usual schedule. you swore you felt people staring at you so hard that it felt like they were shooting lasers at you...

hina doesn't fully understand why she just said that either, okay? she was so focused on figuring out why that the next person in line had to stand and wait for a bit because hina was mumbling to herself a little

you did confront her about it the next day, and well, you figured out a lot of things. like "oh yeah i do love you a lot!" and the fact she did love you romantically. wait, what?

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the first time she said i love you was publicly, at a concert.

now, i think kokoro's a very vocal person when it come to declaring love or showing love. i also think she likes expressing her love physically and vocally, like by telling you how much she loves you and how certain concerts are dedicated to you.

this takes place right before you two got together.

harohapi planned another concert this time. it was spring, and kokoro thought it was the best time to perform during the peak blooming of the cherry blossoms. she was able to book an outdoor stage near a ton of these trees, and urged misaki to "help" her plan out stuff

she (and misaki and the rest of the band) had planned out two concerts— one during the day, and one during the night. during the night there would be brighter lights and fireworks, because "it would look cool"

enough worldbuilding kokoro gave you backstage passes for both shows and said you could attend both shows with it. you agreed, and your schedule was free enough that you could attend the night concert.

the concert was dazzling and put smiles on everyone's faces. the venue only added to the joy— despite it being dark, there were spotlights pointing to them so you could see the cherry trees at full blossom.

at the near end of the concert, before their final song ended, fireworks shot up at the sky. they were all different colors, and the main one was a huge pink heart-shaped firework. (if you're sensitive to loud stuff you're wearing earplugs, so it's not all that loud)

and kokoro shouted your name, as well as "everyone," and followed it up with an i love you. (to imagine it, it's like, "everyone, (your name), i love you!")

you walked backstage, where you were greeted with a joyful blonde who immediately ran towards you and grabbed your hands, intertwining them and putting them up to chest level.

"i love you!" and that's where everything began.

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notes: here you go!! hope you like it <3 for hina, i wasn't too sure how to fit that sudden "i love you" for a while lol

it's 12:45am forgive me... i am listening to meteor by divela & i got inspired by it for kokoro's part lolz its so good it makes me feel sparkly but like not physically but happy iykwim

[everythingsinred]

Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 25)

Hi there.

According to Wikipedia, the term "star-crossed lovers" refers to a couple "whose relationship is thwarted by outside forces". Furthermore, "such pairings are said to be doomed from the start". Often, the tragic end of these pairings can be seen from a mile away, even though the audience may hope and wish desperately for things to be different. In fact, the relationship between Romeo and Juliet is immediately revealed to end tragically, with both of them dead. It's just a matter of watching the heartbreak unfold.

The same is true here. Natsume and Mikan are "doomed" from the start. You hope and wish desperately that fate will be kind to them, that certain things will be different, that they can be happy, but it's not to be and you know it, deep down. All you can really do is watch the specific way it all goes up in flames. Now that we know they're both romantically involved, star-crossed to be separated, we're about to see a tragedy unfold. Let's suffer about it.

Chapter One Hundred and Forty

The school was being invaded, and the only one of Shiki’s conditions that the ESP could not accept was Mikan being out of his reach. In order to save the school, Mikan allowed herself to be put into the ESP’s custody under the condition that she cannot be harmed or manipulated.

But Chapter 140 doesn’t start by checking in on Mikan or even showing the others’ reaction to her absence. Not yet.

Just in case you didn't know how this would end to begin with, Higuchi will let you know now. It will not end well!

The chapter starts with a monologue from Ruka about the lengths Natsume would go to for Mikan, but also pleading for him not to go anywhere. This is unsubtle foreshadowing. We see a glimpse of the future, of Natsume’s presumably dead body, and the misery his death brings. We can see more evidence of what we already knew: Natsume thinks so little of himself that he’s willing to sacrifice anything for others, never considering that his absence will cause utter despair in the people he leaves behind.

At this point, it becomes even more obvious that the story will end with tragedy, and Natsume's probable death will be part of it.

We finally get to the real start of the chapter. It’s winter again. Ruka is musing on life at the academy without Mikan. They all talk about her often, even after months of not seeing her. They don’t even know where at the academy she is, or what she’s been up to.

Just for a glimpse. ;-;

He recalls Yuka’s funeral. The children were instructed to leave the area, but it was the last time they’d see Mikan, so they all stay. Natsume doesn’t even have an umbrella despite the rain. Mikan was then escorted from Yuka’s grave by the ESP. Her classmates want to know where she’s going, concerned that she’s in trouble. When the ESP threatens Shiki for not disciplining them, Mikan smiles and promises to see them again.

Fate does not smile upon them.

Natsume watches, and although they’re all surprised and concerned, he seems more so than anyone else. The last time he saw her there was a lot left unsaid. She had confessed her requited feelings telepathically and he’d had to say goodbye over and over and over. But Mikan hasn’t used up all of the telepathy stone quite yet, so he’s able to promise her that he’ll do everything he can to find her. She smiles, tears in her eyes, and that’s the last image of her he has for a while. He will find her. That’s his new mission, his new reason for living.

Back in the present, Natsume finally appears to join the group. He’s been missing, looking for Mikan. He spends most of his time running around campus trying to find her. The telepathy alice stone is the only tie they have to each other now. It’s all he has to go off of.

He smiles upon joining the group. Mikan isn’t there, but he’s still smiling. It might not be entirely genuine. He’s smiled like this before, to make Ruka feel better before the Z Arc. He has to have hope, too, because he can’t die before he finds Mikan. Submitting to the misery will only mar his chances.

Ruka knows that Natsume’s long absences are due to his search, that he spends hours and hours looking for her, calling for her, waiting for a response.

Yes, Shiki, and as a minor, he CANNOT consent to being a member of a group that has "war potential" because that's against international law and you should be charged with human rights' violations. Also, since he's a child, even being a criminal wouldn't justify this kind of punishment either, on account of him not even being a teenager yet.

Natsume is still a Dangerous Ability type. Shiki urges him to transfer out, but Natsume can’t. He has to stay, because as a DA type he can search in more areas that are off limits to normal students. In general, the DA class is more comfortable now that they’re under the management of the Middle School, not the ESP. Still, it’s described as a group “with war potential” and he wants to feel like he’s doing something to protect the people important to him rather than simply standing by. Natsume’s mindset of always having to protect people, to the extent that when he cannot protect people he feels useless and worthless, is damaging. He thinks he has to do these things, and although the narrative paints the DA class choosing to remain as them choosing to protect people, it’s kind of ridiculous that a school would put such a task on students’ shoulders in the first place. They’re the ones who should be protected, not the other way around. No matter who is in charge of the DA class, sending kids on dangerous missions where they could get hurt is still child abuse and endangerment.

In any case, he’s told it’s useless to try and find her, that the barrier hiding Mikan is too powerful, but he won’t listen. He won’t let anything anybody says get in the way. Just like he said when he first rebelled, no matter how much somebody tries to convince him not to, he’ll do whatever it takes to protect her.

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Two

Tsubasa is also opting to remain in the DA class. It’s easier to be in on the action that way, for one. He also wants to help Natsume because he’s concerned about his alice shape. Natsume and Misaki both tease him for this, and Tsubasa chases after Misaki. Natsume watches them wistfully. Tsubasa doesn’t even seem to realize how lucky he is. He can hug Misaki, tease her, apologize, talk to her, see her. Natsume misses Mikan and he’s jealous that Tsubasa is able to have with Misaki what he’d love to have with his own girl. So, naturally, he sets his hair on fire.

God, Tsubasa, have some sensitivity!

Back at the dorms, Yuu laments that Mikan won’t be allowed to attend the Christmas Ball, and it’s unlikely she’ll be allowed to graduate with them either. Hotaru comes up with the idea of sending Mikan Christmas presents, and everyone is immediately on board. They all try to come up with present ideas, but Natsume’s a step ahead, already making another alice stone for her.

Hotaru notices and immediately tears him apart for it. He knows the stone won’t make it through the examination, and the fact that even making alice stones takes a toll on his body will only make Mikan worry. In addition to all that, Mikan already has his alice stone, so there shouldn’t be any worries on the “love tradition” front.

Hotaru is Mikan’s best friend, someone who knows her pretty well and whose opinion Mikan cares about. This criticism wouldn’t hit as hard if it was some random person, or even just another kid in Class B. Because it’s Hotaru, he has to take it seriously. Hotaru is calling him out and he’s embarrassed and defensive, but she’s a step ahead of him, having thought of a much better present.

Natsume's like, "I'll be her prince!"

She gives him a story book, about Rapunzel. The story is similar to Mikan’s--a girl is trapped in a tower with no way to escape. She found a prince and they were able to escape together and live happily. All Mikan needs is to find her prince and the story would fit perfectly.

Natsume likes this story a lot. He wants to be Mikan’s prince. He has to be her prince. He doesn’t have a choice but to save her, because that’s all he’s living for. And letting Mikan know that a prince is on the way seems an important enough mission that everyone wants to help get Rapunzel through the examination. They will all send story books to make Rapunzel seem less suspicious. Of course that doesn’t stop Hotaru from claiming that the prince in her story is actually more useful than the one in Rapunzel, implying that Natsume is a subpar prince as well.

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Three

It’s time for the Christmas Ball. Mikan isn’t there, so Natsume is morose. Just like last year, he finds refuge in the tree. Last Christmas was pretty nice, all things considered, because he got to kiss Mikan.

It's just not fair. All he wants is a smooch. And to save her and keep her safe but. The kiss too.

At the time, he’d thought it was a one-off, his only chance. He was just going to kiss her real quick because he was convinced Ruka already had, and then when it was done he would run away and never do it again. She wouldn’t want to kiss him over Ruka anyway, right? But apparently Mikan loves him too, something he had never even considered a possibility, so maybe she’d want to kiss him again?

Except that Mikan isn’t around and the only way he can see if she wants to kiss him again would be if he found her.

How come everyone is calling him out so boldly lately? You guys DO realize his days are numbered, right? Not even double digits? So cruel.

Sumire is talking about dancing with him this year, but he’s only thinking about Mikan. Koko calls him out for it, saying there’s someone in the tree thinking about kissing. It was such a strong thought that it took Koko by surprise, even.

There’s a present exchange and Yuu again expresses sadness that Mikan isn’t with them, wondering if she’s spending Christmas all on her own. This spurs Natsume to get the hell out of there. He can’t sit around for too long, after all. He wants to find her and he won’t find her at the ball for sure.

He’s out looking for her, just like he does every day and every night. Shiki might be a hopeless romantic, or feeling guilty for having Mikan watch the ball on TV, so he loosens the barrier on Mikan enough for Natsume to be able to find her.

Shiki is also a NatsuMikan shipper... You a legend for that one, fam.

He hasn’t seen her in months, not even after searching every corner of the school over and over again, but tonight he has finally found her.

Conclusion

Although in many ways, Natsume's story was set up to be tragic from the beginning, these chapters establish for good that something horrible is coming, and we know that to be Natsume's death, in about a week. I'll talk more about the star-crossed lovers aspect in the upcoming parts. It's an aspect of their relationship that I find very interesting.

Thank you for reading this far!

Y'all have caught up to where I'm at, more or less. I won't post tomorrow because there'd only be a chapter of content to post and that's no fun. I'll spend the weekend getting ahead a bit and then on Monday I'll continue. In no time at all, we'll be wrapped up! It's all so exciting!

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[muffinrecord]

One Hundred Evils and You: Stall Teams (for the F2P Player)

Introduction:

Here is a guide on how to defeat the Hundred Evils/Hundred Calamities with easy-to-acquire units and easy-to-aquire memoria! 

Please note that this is not the only approach to the Hundred Evils, and it might not even be the best approach for you personally. However, it is the most generic approach that is made with Free-to-Play Players in mind. Stall teams are easier and more accessible to make than most Charge or Magia teams. Blast teams can work in the Hundred Evils (I’ve done them before) but it’s tricky and they’re not always applicable, depending greatly on who you fight. In the end a Stall team might be your best option!

This is an extremely long guide. I wanted to be thorough, but I might have overdone it. Still, I hope this is helpful! Some of these hints might be a little obvious, but I wanted to make sure that even new players could get some practical advice.

What is the Hundred Evils? 

The Hundred Evils is located on the far right tab where you have three different battles to fight that only cost a reasonable 1AP each. Inside, you’ll battle against several different waves of Magical Girls (and only Magical Girls-- no Witches, Uwasa, Kimochi, or other kinds of minions will be found inside).

What is a Stall Team?

A Stall team is a team that 

Uses Magia to protect its team + deal out damage

Uses memoria to protect its team and debuff enemy

Uses specific characters for buffing, debuffing, healing, ect

This is not a team that will kill fast, but is one that can take some serious hits and stick around.

Preparing Your Team

Like many strategies, most of the difficulty is in the planning. But before we talk about the characters themselves, let’s take a quick moment to talk about the preparation needed to make them excel at their work. Unfortunately this will require investment in both their Spirit Enhancement and in their Magia (you’ll want several of them to have Doppels).

More importantly, you’ll also want these characters to have multiple slots-- the worse your memoria are, the more slots you’ll want. Essentially, you really need each character to have four of them.

For more established players, it’s very possible that you’ll have several of these girls kitted out already with their required slots, but for very new players, it might take a few events to finally get them fully slotted. Luckily you can do this easily with Magia Chips and Destiny Bottles, unlike with natural four-stars, but this still might take time to build up.

As for Spirit Enhancement, it depends-- some characters you’ll really want that Active (for example, Kako’s party-wide HP Regen heal) and some characters... eh. It’s not as important.

But it’s still a good idea to grab as much as you can. Some characters, like Kako again, have SE that gives them more MP at the start of the battle or HP Regen. This is inconsequential for high-end content, but vital for a FTP Magia Stall strategy team. You want everything that will make a character live longer, heal themselves on their own, get them to Magia faster, ect. You don’t need to get them to 60/60 SE, but it’d be good to aim for them to have all their Passives and Active.

Who to Use:

Let me introduce you to a F2P’s saviors:

Let’s go through them and analyze why these girls in particular are so good for Stall teams. 

Oriko Mikuni: Oriko is the team leader of this bunch. Why is that? She’s your go-to Magia damage dealer. She’s a Magia type, she deals a decent amount of damage for an uncapped girl, her Magia is an AOE, and her typing (Light) means that she should be able to deal decent damage against anything you throw at her. Her Spirit Enhancement is full of increased Magia Damage Up, and she also has the passive 15% chance to inflict Skill Seal on her enemies-- it’s not enough to be reliable, but I find that it’s still really useful when it pops off unexpectedly. The focus on Evade can be useful in some circumstances-- she’s fragile, and it’s an easy way to protect her. Lastly, her connect gives Accele MP Gain Up, which lets her help your team gain more MP.

Kako Natsume: The GOAT for F2P, Kako Natsume is pretty mighty. Her Accele Draw personal memoria is great for getting things set up, she offers good heals through her connect, her Magia/Doppel, and even through her Active SE, and her SE is also pretty decent with giving her lots of stuff that helps her survive. Her damage isn’t the best as a Healer, but her single-target Magia/Doppel can kill troublesome Aqua-types when needed. Her Magia/Doppel/Connect also gives “Remove Status Ailments” which can be extremely helpful. Lastly, her Doppel will provide “Remove Buffs” towards the target which can help with increasing damage potential.

Emiri Kisaki: Don’t let Emiri fool you into thinking she’s all giggles-- she's fearsome! She’s excellent as a Debuffer and will protect your team through inflicting Dazzle onto the enemies. Not only does Dazzle make them more liable to miss, but it also means the enemy takes increased damage from their weak element, so she can also help increase damage done. Additionally, her Magia/Doppel gives all enemies Damage Down for three turns, making her Magia even more protective. Lastly, she has Skill Quicken as part of her Spirit Enhancement, meaning it’s an excellent idea to equip memoria on her that you want to use more often than the cooldown let’s you.

Manaka Kurumi: Manaka is fucking incredible. Like Kako she’s a heal-type, but don’t be tricked into thinking that’s all she can do. She has one of the highest Attack Up connects in the game and her Magia/Doppel offers an excellent amount of Attack Up to all allies for three turns. This gives her the role of being the buffer-- if you’re facing a tough enemy, use Manaka’s Magia/Doppel first and then use the other Magia after. She has two Accele MP Gain Up passive nodes and an active that gives her more Accele MP Gain Up, so don’t be afraid to use her Magia/Doppel often.

Other Good F2P-Friendly Units

Now, you’ll probably notice that I only included four up there, but that you can use five in total for your team. If you need to use a Magia Stall Team, then I recommend using all five spaces so that you have more room for potential Magia/Doppels. The fifth slot can be swapped for anyone in particular, but if you’re looking for a F2P-friendly character then I’d recommend one of these girls.

Umika Misaki: Personally this would be my most recommended option. Umika is another healer, which makes your team even more protective than before, and she can fill a very protective role. First, her connect won’t just heal someone but it’ll also give them Damage Cut and almost 100% Defense Up-- making her excellent at protecting someone. Her Magia/Doppel act similarly to Kako’s, restoring health to all allies and also removing Status Ailments. Her SE is similarly useful-- like Emiri, she has passive 15% Skill Quicken, so she’s a good choice to equip active memoria you want to use often on. Like Oriko, she has a chance to Skill Seal on attack-- not enough to be reliable, but enough that it should still be good. Her SE active is MP Damage for 30MP-- situational, but it can be extremely helpful if you’re not able to kill an enemy before they can Magia you. Her DEF and HP make her solid, not as much as a proper tank, but as someone who can stand in for one. 

Hotaru Yura: A bit of a bold choice, but Hotaru can be good. She’s another healer, but she has some excellent supportive capabilities. First, you don’t need to worry about her dying, unless she can’t Regen HP-- her SE Active gives her 100% HP Restore (with the cost of Attack down on self, but no one is using Hotaru for damage). She has passive HP Regen, Defense Up, and Status Ailment Resistance so she can take a bit of punishment. Her connect is a generic heal, and her Magia has a generic HP Regen, but what makes her really shine is the MP Regen from her Magia-- this means you can use her to keep your party having topped off MP gauges. 

Haruka Kanade: If you have Haruka, she can be a good choice as a tank. Despite being a Support, she has a ton of tanking capabilities, and she can protect your team through a variety of methods. She has passive Provoke chance, meaning she can draw aggro away, Skill Quicken (you want to probably use her active slots for taunt memoria and for defense up/damage cut memoria though), and HP Regen. Her active lets her taunt the enemies while also inflicting a 52% chance of Charm onto them-- it’s a long cooldown, but can serve as a panic button when things are going wrong. Her connect gives Charm as well, meaning you can protect the party from hits. Her Magia/Doppel is also a good defensive panic button of sorts-- the target will deal less damage, Haruka gains Provoke and Damage Cut (and hp regen), and she can protect your team for that turn.

Sana Futaba: Sana has decent DEF and HP stats, so she will do well as a tank. She has a passive Provoke and a passive Endure-- meaning that she can draw hits and also stay alive past one potentially fatal one. Her SE gives her Accele MP Gain Up and MP Gain Up nodes, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to get her to Magia/Doppel. Her Anti-Debuff SE active is situationally useful. Her connect gives 100% Damage Cut, making it a good way to protect the user, and her Magia gives Damage Cut/Defense Up to all allies, again making her a good way to defend her team. Her Doppel has a chance of being very defensive or of inflicting Status Ailments (Burn, Darkness, Bind). This does make her more tricky to use if she gets to 150 MP as opposed to 100-- you can’t guarantee if she’ll protect your team or inflict ailments on the enemy.

Good Four-Star Units to Use

There are too many good units to list here-- believe me, I tried to actually do that and after the first twenty characters I realized I’d have to tackle this in a different way. However, here are some extremely notable characters, who you should bring even if they only have one slot:

Madoka & Iroha

Madoka Kaname

Mikage Yakumo

Outside of that, if you have someone with a few slots and you’re wondering if they’re good to bring, ask yourself these questions:

Do they have good disks? Characters with two or more Accele disks are better than ones with only one. 

Do they help with MP generation in any sort of form? It’s not a must-have, but it’s a plus.

What do they provide to the party-- do they have a protective role, a defensive one, an offensive one? For example, you can swap out Emiri for a slotted Mifuyu since they share similar roles, or a Sayuki for a Manaka.

Last Notes on Choosing Characters

Here are a few last things to consider when choosing some characters.

First off, you don’t always fight every element. You might not know who you’re fighting, but you can know what element they’ll be-- you can then use your characters accordingly. For example, it might not be worth it to bring an Aqua-element if you could use another Forest type here. Just make sure that you don’t miss important team roles!

You can always try to use memoria to fill in missing character gaps. For example, some fights might have you face teams that build up MP to use on deadly Magia. You could try to get your one-slot Touka to work... or you could just use Magia Damage Down or MP Gain Down memoria instead.

Tanks can be really helpful here but also sometimes not. A tank really needs 3+ slots to work properly so that they can have enough defensive passives plus an active that grabs aggro. However, you don’t need to choose a proper tank-- any character with a passive Provoke or Guardian can work if they have the right memoria for it. Just make sure you keep them alive. 

Three healers on a team might seem excessive, but personally I find it to help cover bases. This way you don’t run into a situation where your healer needs help but no one can help them, and you also are able to use Magia more strategically-- Manaka can heal, sure, but you don’t need to waste her Magia on someone when you don’t need the Attack Buff right then as long as Kako has her Magia up still. This is also really helpful if you don’t have any tanks on your team.

When it comes to filling in the fifth member of the F2P team (Oriko, Manaka, Kako, Emiri), I prefer aqua types so that you can fill in all elemental slots. Again though, make sure you check what elements you’re fighting first!

The formation you use can be important too. This one for example gives increased Status Ailment Resistance and HP Regen. Additionally, make sure you place your characters with consideration. Characters closer to the front will be targeted more than characters towards the behind. If you have a tank with Provoke memoria, then make sure whoever is horizontal and vertical with them can also take some hits when the enemy uses a blast attack.

Equipping Your Team: What Memoria to Choose?

Okay, so you’ve chosen your characters. What about memoria? Do you need top of the line stuff here? 

Nah. You can do this with event rewards easily!

Going through a list of everything that could potentially be helpful would be extremely long, so the above provides some examples. Let’s go over some notes:

For passive memoria, I prefer to do one Accele MP Gain Up/MP Gain Up memoria paired with one Attack Up/Damage Up/Damage Increase memoria. That way your units can get to Magia easily and still deal decent damage when they get there. If your characters are fragile, then using memoria with Defense Up/Damage Cut are good ideas too. Memoria with passive HP Regen aren’t a bad idea-- you probably have a lot of good healers on your team, but a character who can passively heal themselves means you can use those Magia for more offensive purposes.

As for Actives, your choices are expanded. I mentioned above that memoria can fill in missing gaps that you couldn’t fit characters in for. Actives are part of that. Accele Draw memoria are always a must, and memoria that help increase your MP Gain is always a plus. The biggest key though will be Attack Down / Damage Down memoria. Memoria like Mito Rain are the best thing possible for a F2P-- it has a low cooldown, effects everyone, gives a ton of its percentage, ect. You’re actually better off keeping five separate copies of Mito Rain instead of max awakening it to one, because then you can give each character one copy-- this means you can use a Mito Rain on every turn. This will protect your units and keep them safe in addition to all the healing you can do, and it also will help you deal increased damage thanks to its Defense Down.

One memoria that can inflict MP Gain Down is generally a good idea. 

Characters with passive Skill Quicken should be given memoria that you want to use more often-- Mito Rain is a good idea on them of course, but so are other debuffers. 

Tailor your memoria to your needs. If you find that all your characters are constantly at 150 MP but you’re never in a good place to use it, try decreasing the amount of MP Regen memoria you’ve got going on and replace them with more damaging effects.

DON’T OVERLOOK THREE STAR MEMORIA. They can be extremely helpful and even better than some four-star ones! For example, Leila Rain is an overlooked hero and definitely worth considering! Three-star memoria are easier to max awaken too, so in some cases, a max awakened three-star memoria is going to be better than a single copy of a four-star one!

If you’re a newer player, then chances are you’ll struggle with having good memoria along with having good units. Memoria can be just as much an investment as characters can be-- so make sure you’re getting 3* Over Limiters from your events and spend them wisely. 

Don’t forget you can negate Evade through Status Ailments-- memoria can be extremely helpful with that.

Actually Fighting

So now you’re fighting. Cool! What now?

First you want to build up your MP for everyone. If you have an Accele combo without needing to use an Accele draw memoria, take it!

For your first wave, try to build up MP slowly across everyone. Use your Accele Draw(s) here and prioritize Accele combos-- even if it means using an Accele disc for someone who already has max MP. For example, if I got an acele disc option from Umika, Manka, and Oriko, I’d still use Umika’s to get all of that MP.

Remember that the order the Accele disc goes in determines how much MP they get! The first character gets the least amount of MP with the last one getting the most. Using the previous example, I’d use Umika’s disc, Oriko’s disc, and then Manaka’s disc. Don’t forget that the characters get a flat +20 MP boost too.

Choose your target enemy wisely. For example, you can generally count on Touka featuring some sort of anti-MP gain/MP Gain on self, and Nemu to inflict a status ailment onto your team. Here, the Rena hits harder than her Rena-chan self. You can’t always predict who is going to use what, but general familiarity with the characters helps.

Some enemies are better for generating MP against than others. You can’t always predict who you’ll get and what they’ll do, but if you come across easy enemies, take advantage of the situation to farm some MP. 

There are lots of tricks to getting more MP out of situations. For example, all characters will gain more MP after they hit 100MP than before they do-- so using an Accele disc before a Magia is an easy way of regaining your losses.

Using an Accele disc before any others will increase the MP gained by each subsequent disc, even for Blast. If your disc selection is bad, try to make the most of it with squeezing out what you can.

Additionally, if you’re confident a Magia will kill a target, use the Magia last. You can put two potential accele discs in front of it to get even more MP out of the thing. 

This line of thinking can go with charging up connects. You don’t actually need to use the disc (if the enemy dies) to get the + for it, so if you’re confident a Magia will kill a target, pick discs that will give you a connect on your next turn.

This is a little overkill, but personally I like to go into the last wave with as many Doppels and Memoria up as possible. Don’t stay on any character too long-- you can only use three doppel a turn after all, and using one of your five to finish someone off isn’t a bad idea-- but also don’t be afraid to sit for a bit either. Just make sure you’re under the 40 turn time limit. It’s possible that whatever you face in the final wave will need more than three doppels to die.

It’s time. It’s the final, toughest wave. You’re here! You’ve got all the Doppels ready and a bunch of memoria ready too. So what order do you do this in?

In general a safe bet is to go Manaka > Emiri > Oriko. This is so that Manaka will buff the entire team, making each Doppel hit harder, Emiri can inflict Bewitch (possibly making Oriko hit harder if she counters the element, though it doesn’t work in this scenario) and use your main damage dealer (Oriko) last.

If your characters have some lingering status ailments, or if the enemy has an annoying buff, Kako’s doppel might be a good idea to go first instead. It’s not a bad idea to save your defensive doppels/healing doppels for a potential second round though.

And that’s it! You did it! Congratulations!

Other Advice that I Don’t Have Screenshots For

You’ve got at least two healers who can heal through connects, magia/doppel, and one through her SE Active. Don’t blow a Doppel when a connect will do just as well.

If you don’t have enough debuff memoria to “blanket” the enemy every turn, then use Emiri’s connect to try and blanket them with Bewitch instead. 

Connects in general are a tricky thing to use. You want to save them for times when their effects are needed, but sometimes you also want to give someone an Accele disk to get their MP up. Don’t get too greedy, but conversely don’t hoard them.

If you mess up and want to redo a wave, forcefully exit the game. When you bring it back up, you’ll have an option to go right back to the beginning of that wave (the answer “yes” is the right button). 

Try not to overcap on effects. For example, don’t use two active Attack Up effects Oriko, have Manaka use her Doppel, then have Manaka connect to Oriko. Attack Up has a cap of 100%, and anything over that is completely wasted. Space stuff out over turns, or use a variety of different memoria to provide different buffs.

Conclusion

I hope this helps! I think I covered everything...? You might notice that some of these screenshots come from different events because I was lazy because this took a little while to write.

There are lots of strategies you can use for this challenge. But this one is for new players/F2P players who don’t have a lot of good units/memoria yet. Eventually you’ll outgrow this team and have better characters to use. There are all sorts of cool strategies one can employ with the right characters; lots of people will try to finish the Hundred Evil fights with as few turns as possible using Charge strategies for example. 

But, if you need a tried-and-true method of defeating the Hundred Evils with easy-to-aquire characters, then the above method is for you. Good luck out there, you can do it!

[d4rk-x-w0lf-17]

You've been posting about your OTPs and I was wondering, would you make a top 10 list of your all time favorite ships? Not ones from fandoms you're currently in, but ones that have stuck with you ever since you first shipped them?

Oh this is an....interesting question. I’ve love to do a top 10 list though. Hmmm....let’s see....of ships that have stuck with me....I’ll go with ones that I easily get emotional over just thinking about them. Ones that make me all warm and fuzzy, but also make me sad whenever something happens to them.

10) KilluGon - Hunter x Hunter

These two have such a cute relationship. They’re honestly so pure, I love their dynamic so much. Killua absolutely adores Gon and would do anything for him. Gon treasures Killua dearly as well. After all they’ve went through, I hope they’re happy and I anticipate the day that they’re able to reunite.

9) SorMik - Tales of Zestiria

It’s been a while since I went through this series, but I really loved their relationship. I love how they’re technically canon since Sorey knowing Mikleo’s true name has romantic connotation. Plus who doesn’t a good Friends to Lovers? These two care deeply for each other and it’s honestly adorable seeing them interact.

8) AshEiji - Banana Fish

I went into Banana Fish completely blind and didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t expect to find a beautiful love story between these two. They genuinely care for each other. Ash is able to be open without fear of being take advantage of or expecting to give or take anything. Eiji is just so patient and gentle with Ash, it’s beautiful yet heartbreaking.

Also, can we pretend that Ash went with Eiji to Japan? Yeah? Yeah.

7) NorEmma - The Promised Neverland

I’ll never get over these two. Norman’s love for Emma is both sweet and heartbreaking. We don’t know if Emma actually returns his feelings, but if she does...Let’s hope Norman will be able to survive Emma smushing his face with kisses.

6) GerIta - Hetalia

I wanted to put HRE/Chibitalia, but this is basically the same thing, right? I firmly believe the HRE = Germany theory, which is really depressing if you think about it. This would make Germany Italy’s first love, but he never remembered him. But it doesn’t matter, because he falls back in love with Italy anyway. Italy definitely never forgot Holy Rome, he definitely still thinks about him from time to time. I can only imagine how Italy would feel if he fell for Germany. He would probably feels like he’s betraying Holy Rome. But can you imagine Italy if he found out if Germany really was Holy Rome? Lots of hugs, crying and kissing, that’s for sure.

5) Usagi/Misaki - Junjou Romantica

I rewatched this series a year ago and I fell back in love with these two very quickly. Usagi treasures and adores Misaki so much and despite Misaki’s insistence, he loves him too. As someone who has a very hard time admitting my feelings, I feel Misaki’s pain in not being able to yell out his love for Usagi. He wants to, but he can’t.

4) NaLu - Fairy Tail

I really loved these two when I first watched Fairy Tail. I loved their dynamic and how fiercely protective Natsu got over Lucy. I truly fell for this ship when Lucy first got kidnapped and the Guild went to save her, but it was Natsu who was the most aggressive when it came to looking for her. I would watch episode 22 over and over again, just watching Lucy putting her absolute trust in Natsu in him catching her. These two share a bond that I love.

3) TodoDeku/BakuDeku - My Hero Academia

Y’all expected me to choose just ONE from MHA? Literally impossible. I remember not knowing who to ship when I first ventured into this series, but when I saw people talking about TodoDeku (I first joined the fandom when the manga was around the....Stain Arc I believe) and I got curious. I looked it up and it was too cute to pass up. I remember feeling apprehensive when wanting to ship BakuDeku, but I fell in love with it. Bakugou is slowly redeeming himself in my eyes and he’s starting to open up to Izuku, which I greatly appreciate.

2) Soul x Maka - Soul Eater

These two....I love them dearly. I treasure their bond. They bicker and fight, but they still care so much for each other. I remember going absolutely nuts when Soul threw himself in front of Maka to protect her from Crona when they first met. He dedicated his life to her, swearing to always protect her and I just....found that so endearing.

1) HanaNene - Toilet Bound Hanako-kun

I don’t care that I recently got into this fandom. These two cause me so many emotions after I read the manga. You can’t tell me that they’re not deeply in love with each other. The Little Mermaid Arc and the Picture Perfect Arc are perfect examples of why these two are meant for each other. Hanako quickly fell for her when he met her at that festival all those years ago and never forgot her, even until his death. Yashiro slowly fell for him over time, seeing Hanako for who he really is and how deeply he cares for her.

[k-project-singularity]

Facts & Trivia || Misaki Yata

The following is part of a series of posts made by me. The information listed is official canon provided by GoRa. Sources will go from the anime, to mangas and novels as well as official short stories. These are NOT fanmade headcanons. The purpose of these posts is to provide useful information for fans as well as roleplayers looking for confirmed lore for their muses. Please do not reply to argue with me about what you read here. I did not come up with this stuff myself. GoRa did. I’ll come back to edit these as I find more info.

Born on July 20, 1993 (The same year as Daichi Yamata, Tōru Hieda, Andy Dōmyōji and Saruhiko Fushimi).

Member of Homra since January/February 2009, when he was 15 years old alongside Saruhiko Fushimi.

His Homra insignia is on the left collarbone like Saruhiko Fushimi’s. Yata and Fushimi are remarkably known as the first and only case in which two clansmen received the mark on the same spot. Yata took great pride in this and will show it off often. He hates that Fushimi marred his own.

His weapons of choice are his fists and legs that Yata uses with expert street fighting moves and acrobatics. He also brandishes blunt weapons such as a baseball bat and a pole, and can control his aura to make his skateboard go faster as well as use it as a weapon itself.

He wears a smartwatch that he uses instead of a PDA. It has all the functions of a mobile phone, including camera and holographic screen as well as a flashlight. It was gifted to him by Fushimi, who personally customized it for him when they were roommates.

Yata called himself Yatagarasu to sound cooler as a Homra member. Yatagarasu is a crow spirit with three legs in Japanese folklore.

Yata is the vanguard of Homra. This means he adopts an all-out direct offense tactic, charging at the enemy on the front without any regard for his own safety. This used to make his duo with Saruhiko almost invincible as his friend would watch his back and finish off the enemy. But after they split up, this strategy doesn’t work as well and Yata often puts his own life at risk with it.

He was born with a different (and unknown) last name. His last name became “Yata” only once his mother remarried (In Japan children of remarried women get their new stepfather’s last name). Misaki was 6 years old at the time.

He hates to be called by his first name because it’s girly. The only people allowed to use it without getting yelled at are his family, Anna, and Saruhiko back when they were friends. Saruhiko still calls him Misaki out of habit, sometimes just to annoy him.

During his earliest childhood he was best friend with Rikio Kamamoto, dragging him around in all kinds of dangerous explorations. Departing from him at 6 years old, he reunites with Rikio once he joins Homra nine years later.

He always displayed a kind of tough, abusive friendship with Kamamoto, calling him names because of his weight and yelling at him when Rikio showed weakness by crying. Even now he doesn’t hesitate to fight him or physically hit him when in an argument.

Though he was born in Shizume City, he moved to live elsewhere at 6 with his mother when she remarried. When he was 12 his family moved in Chiyoda City (Saruhiko and Scepter 4’s district) and was able to go visit Shizume City again because it was nearby. At 15 years of age he returned to live in Shizume City when he moved in with Fushimi.

He attended Himuka Middle School in Chiyoda City, where he met and befriended Fushimi. Both of them dropped out at the end of their third year.

Though he was often bullied, Yata was kind of a bully himself at school, often forcing people into being his friends and scaring them with his fierce and strong personality. This caused the other kids to not really like him much and blacklist him behind his back.

Swears and yells a lot. He’s very manic and violent when he gets worked up and won’t hesitate to give a beating to fellow clansmen too if they anger him (or even if they don’t, in the case of Kamamoto).

He’s very good at baseball and is particularly proud of his straight as a pitcher.

He can use both the skateboard and surf board very skillfully. Even to the point where girls will find him cool, unbeknownst to him. He owns both boards stylized with Homra’s symbol.

His favorite subjects in school were PE and music.

However, seen how bad Yata was at playing Totsuka’s guitar, it’s safe to assume his only musical talent was singing.

He tried to learn to play the guitar from Totsuka.

He likes videogames, which he played a lot with Saruhiko in the past. He often goes to the arcade and has even taught Anna to play FPS games. This shows he might be a bit oblivious to what is appropriate for a kid when it comes to gore and violence.

For his age, he has pretty good housekeeping and cooking skills. However, Kamamoto has described Yata’s cooking as “too manly” for a girl’s birthday.

All animals seem to dislike him for some reason. This includes the horse strain Basashi and a retriever that Fujishima once picked up.

Neko, who also believes to be a cat, shows instinctive hostility towards Yata just like a real cat would.

Yata is actually upset when animals hate him and to bring it up is a sensitive subject.

This seems to be a “mirroring” trait to Fushimi, who instead dislikes animals and yet seems to attract them to himself like a magnet.

Eric Sōlt seems to dislike him (a reference to his dog-like personality), and often mocks him in English. Though Yata’s English is bad, he seems to be able to pick up the insults and gets very annoyed.

He’s very annoyed by how popular Kamamoto gets in the summer when he loses weight. Though, rather than because of jealousy, it might be because when Rikio is surrounded by girls it is impossible for Yata to approach him or hang out with him at ease.

He’s an active member of the Committee of Fattening Up Kamamoto Rikio, going great lengths with his cooking skills to make him gain weight (even to the point where his own living budget will be as low as to force Yata to eat poorly).

Yata appears to get overwhelmingly flustered in the presence of young women, to the point he looks outright terrified and avoids interacting with them. He seems to be okay with little girls or women far older than himself.

Because of his past drama with Saruhiko, Yata holds a personal and violent grudge towards Scepter 4 and anything related to them, reacting with suspicion and hostility towards any of its members.

By far the member who cares about Homra’s honor the most. Yata doesn’t tolerate that anything offensive is said about his King or clan. He also gets furious when his fellow clansmen act in dishonorable ways that could stain the Red Clan’s reputation, and will violently discipline them without any restraint if so.

In general, Yata proves to have great pride and sense of honor overall, refusing to strike at injured people, no matter how bad he hates them.

Despite his problems with Fushimi and how directly he insults him as they fight, Yata also won’t tolerate that anyone else speaks poorly of him. In general, Homra members know to avoid the topic entirely around Yata.

He’s known to not listen all too well to no one, save perhaps Mikoto-san (who however hardly ever tells him anything).

This may be another a mirror personality trait to reflect Fushimi, who instead doesn’t speak out his thoughts (“He never listens vs. He never tells”).

He won’t tolerate being bossed around by any guy save the Homra founders. Yata dislikes when people settle things on their own. Ironically, he is guilty of this fault himself as he often takes decisions and acts without waiting.

Despite his fiery temper, Yata is very nurturing and won’t hesitate to show concern and care for those he’s very close to. Though he may be aggressive about it, especially with Saruhiko.

Yata is tormented by not knowing the exact reasons behind Saruhiko’s betrayal. He’ll ask him several times, only to get mocked as a result.

When he and Saruhiko start arguing, Yata can get tunnel vision and forget about everything else around him, including bullets and grenades.

Though he always swears he’ll beat Saruhiko to death, deep inside Yata has never given up on getting his friend back, and always looks with hope for signs from Saruhiko that they can be comrades again. Because of this he gets even more hurt every time Saruhiko reiterates his betrayal and spite towards Homra.

Yata can be a bit of a crybaby and tear up more easily than most guys.

He’s terrified of ghosts. When he hears about ghost stories or thinks one may be close, Yata gets extremely jittery and manic. However, he strongly denies his fears and will react with nervous violence if accused of this.

[jen290302]

Drive My Car(2021) dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi

I really enjoyed this film despite its length, seeing credits roll 40 minutes into the film wasn’t something I was expecting. However, I really enjoyed the prolouge at the start, I think it gave their relationship a lot more depth and helped the audience understand it better instead of just using flashbacks which can sometimes feel like you don’t get the whole picture as they are snapshots or moments. I think it made Yusuke’s character a lot more likeable as he turns almost a little cold hearted after his wife passes away so seeing him in a loving caring relationship puts it into perspective for the viewer and shows you how detrimental the pain of loosing her was. When I read the start of the text, I did not like him at all as I thought he seemed a bit pompous and misogynistic, I did not feel this with the film at all his character was a lot warmer. Misaki, the driver, was also given more of a backstory which I thought was really interesting and gave her character a lot more depth and allowed the two main characters to have deep meaningful conversations about grief and loss and loving, I think the scene where they visit her old town is beautifully shot and is probably one of my favourite scenes in the film. Misaki is portrayed as more ugly in the short story as well, I feel as if in the film it is a pretty actress just in boyish clothes whereas in the story she is ugly. I dont know if this changed her character a lot. I think the film could have been cut a bit shorter, the scenes are slow paced and hang on the actors a lot and a lot of the driving scenes dragged on a bit. Despite this I did still enjoy them, I repeat that the director Ryusuke Hamaguchi chose to shoot the driving scenes while actually driving instead of green screen as I think it looks much more organic on screen and would almost be inauthentic to the film in a way as the whole film is based on her driving.

[ridiasfangirlings]

Yata getting his wisdom teeth out

Be strong, Yata-chan! Imagine Yata's been having some tooth pain lately and he figures that it's just like a cavity or something, no problem, so he goes to the dentist. Afterward he returns to Bar Homra and Kusanagi asks him how his teeth are doing, Yata has this haunted look on his face as he's like 'Kusanagi-san...thanks for all you've done for me!'. Kusanagi's like wait what happened but Yata's already like talking to the picture of Mikoto and Totsuka on the wall asking them for strength and promising that he'll face this head on as Homra's vanguard. Kusanagi's trying to get him to just say what's going on until Anna comes walking in and tilts her head as she says 'Misaki needs surgery?'. Yata says that he has to get his wisdom teeth out and Kusanagi's like what that's all don't scare me like that. Yata gives a nervous laugh as he's like yeah I guess I was overreacting huh, which is when like Eric starts talking about how he knew a guy who went to get his wisdom teeth out and instead they took out his entire jaw. Yata's voice is a little too high pitched as he's like why would they take the whole jaw and Kusanagi gives this long suffering sigh as he says it's perfectly normal to need to have your wisdom teeth removed and there's nothing to be worried about. Turns out that despite getting fairly roughed up constantly Yata's never had any kind of surgery at all and he's a little nervous thinking about the procedure, like technically if they knock you out anything could happen.

Yata decides he'll just have to bear it, maybe Kusanagi has to come with him since someone's gotta take Yata home afterward. Anna comes along too for moral support, she holds Yata's hand in the waiting room until Yata's name is called. Yata's really nervous but trying to be cool, like he has to look good for Anna right (and then he walks into the operating room and sees all the dentist tools laid out on the table and has another small freakout). Luckily the procedure goes smoothly though of course when he wakes up Yata's a little loopy from the anesthesia. Imagine him just being like a little too chill and rambling a lot, talking about how his mouth doesn't even hurt it super doesn't hurt this is fine guys don't you think it's fine hey can we stop for ice cream I think ice cream would be cool heh cool get it. Kusanagi gives him a patronizing smile like right very good Yata-chan let's get you home.

Maybe Yata needs to have someone keep an eye on him right after too and say this is post-ROK the Homra guys all happen to be busy so Fushimi gets called in to play nursemaid. He's pretty irritated about it and complaining about stupid doped up Misaki smiling at him like an idiot but Yata's just being all happy and adoring like he's a middle schooler again and Fushimi kinda can't help but enjoy it a little. They end up eating grape popsicles together and Fushimi bravely resists the urge to tell Yata he's dying when Yata notices that his mouth is bleeding.

[ichika27]

The World Ends with You

(Yeah, it’s the same screenshot I used for my post about ep. 1. I couldn’t get a new one so...)

Ah, first week without the TWEWY anime to look forward to. I’m actually kinda sad cause I’d miss waiting for the episode every Saturday night (Ani-One posts theirs on that day here). I have some stuff I wanna say about the anime so I thought I’d make one of these plus this is a good way to end the twewy anime blog post series I make every week. I’ll try not to spoil until the very bottom of this post which will have a spoiler warning.

Also, this will be very long and rambly as most of my fandom posts are haha.

Story:

A boy named Neku wakes up in the middle of Shibuya with no memory and finds himself as a player in the Reaper’s Game. For a week he must partner up with a girl named Shiki and both of them must complete missions, battle creatures called noise, and survive as failure meant erasure.

Characters:

Neku Sakuraba - our main protagonist who somehow lost his memories and is now playing the Reaper’s Game. He’s a loner who isn’t too keen on getting close to anyone let alone working alongside anybody - unfortunately for him, it’s a requirement if he wants to survive. As a player he has an assortment of abilities to fight off noise and other enemies (in the game this meant he can use a lot of different pins).

Shiki Misaki - the nice and friendly Shiki becomes Neku’s partner in the Reaper’s Game. Unlike Neku she has knowledge of the game and fills Neku in on things he doesn’t understand. Her ability is to control her stuffed toy called Nyantan/Mr. Mew which she uses in combat.

Beat - the tough skateboarding player, he’s somewhat more like the typical hot-blooded shounen protagonist when compared to Neku. He’s protective of those he care about especially his game partner, Rhyme. He uses his skateboard in battle.

Rhyme - Beat’s game partner who is a lot kinder and calmer than him. Rhyme tends to be the one to reason with Beat when needed and the two are always seen together.

Yoshiya Kiryu - a mysterious boy who seem to know more than he lets on and acts at times acts suspicious. He prefers to be called by the nickname Joshua.

Sanae Hanekoma - a cafe owner who helps out Neku and the others and would give them advice. His advice prove to be very helpful and Neku takes them to heart. Seem to have a lot of knowledge about the Reaper’s Game but doesn’t seem to be a reaper himself.

--

Thoughts:

(I tried my best to not be spoilery in the character descriptions so some names weren’t written in full)

The World Ends with You (or in the original Japanese “Subarashiki Kono Sekai”/It’s a Wonderful World) is an anime based on the video game of the same name. It had to compress an entire game’s worth of story within it’s 12 episode run which meant they cut out a lot of things and combined some scenes to quickly run through them. It’s theme song is the anime version of the game’s original OP “Twister” although this wasn’t what was originally planned but an incident involving the band who sang the original theme forced them to make changes. The original voice actors from the game also reprised their roles for the anime. The series is created to be watched before the release of the long-awaited sequel game.

The art style is made to be similar to it’s game version (with a bit of change to adapt it as an anime like when it comes to body proportions). They also retained the effect of the characters from the UG (players/reapers) being brightly colored while those from the RG having darker/muted colors. While the noise are obviously cg, I personally liked this since they’re said to be from a different plane anyways so it’s a nice contrast to those from the UG and RG. They had to update the setting though as years had passed since the original game’s creation and they had to model anime version of Shibuya to what it’s real life counterpart now looks. The characters are also given smartphones instead of the flip phones they had in the game (anime-only watchers who are gonna play the game would have to get used to them still using flip phones though lol).

Okay so story-wise... it’s rushed. Of course it is. They shortened it so that what’s left would mostly be important plot points from the main story but they cut out many scenes that consist of character interactions and several little things that could’ve fleshed out the characters more. The gameplay is also made simpler with some mechanics taken away and the mini games weren’t adapted (RIP to Reaper Creeper and Tin Pin Slammer, especially the latter as you’re severely missed). The game boast an assortment of characters and some NPCs have their own stories but due to the anime’s limited run time, they had to either be cut out (and are just given cameos) or given smaller roles (and their stories weren’t adapted). They did, however, give a few bits and pieces of information that weren’t in the game such as some details about certain characters and one supporting character was given a bit more screentime that they did in the game version.

Despite the rushed nature of the series (which may or may not affect how one views the story itself), the anime made sure to adapt several important scenes and the dramatic stuff is made worse... like, they really had to make some deaths harder to take. The battle scenes were nice as well although my biggest complaint about them is that the boss fights were over too quickly. There were scenes that were changed for the anime version and there are those that I liked and those I didn’t but there are many which I think was as good as the game’s version.

Do I recommend the anime? The game is better, the characters and story are more fleshed out and the way the character/relationship development happens is better paced so of course, me, biased already would tell you to play the game instead if you haven’t yet. Do I recommend those who played the game to watch the anime? Yes! Yes I do. I think the anime is better watched when you’ve played the game and know the stuff that they cut out cause it’ll make better sense that way. Plus I found it enjoyable seeing the scenes from the game animated and the characters are speaking whole dialogues and moving. It’s great!

Even if the anime wasn’t perfect, like I mentioned before, they did their best to condense the entire main story in a 12 episode series and it tried to be as faithful as it could to the original story so despite the deviations when it comes to how things got to the way they did, if you summarize important plot points, they would be the same (with some details changed). Overall, it was very enjoyable and it wasn’t as bad as I feared when I heard how many episodes the anime was going to have.

--

Some spoiler thoughts:

It would’ve been better if the anime had more episode count than just 12. Cramming a 3 week story of game into just 12 made the thing very rushed with Week 1 only getting three episodes, Week 2 getting four, and final Week getting five. They had to get to the good stuff so they cut off a lot of scenes where the characters are interacting with each other which means they suddenly get character developments and relationship developments too quickly. It might not be that obvious to anime-only watchers but to me, it felt kinda sudden and it feels like it doesn’t work out well story-wise since Neku had to learn how to trust other people and make friends and with how he started vs. how he came out of it contrasting each other.

By the way, they made the characters look good in the anime. Especially Joshua. Have you seen Joshua? He’s so pretty in the anime. I want a picture of him I could stare at anytime I want to (I do not own a phone, sadly).

I like how they gave Eri more scenes though and that they changed her outfit for the anime so she won’t look exactly like UG!Shiki. All of her scenes though made me feel like I wish the anime gave closure to Shiki’s own story by showing us her and Eri making up. Another scene I liked in the anime is Neku’s fanboying of CAT when he finds out the truth. It was adorable.

Some info was taken away from the anime. Beat and Rhyme leaving home had scene dialogue and unlike Beat just narrating it in-game but they didn’t mention specifically why he was angry and his trouble at home. Joshua wasn’t present when Sota and Nao gave Neku a pep-talk either which is a shame cause I think that helped Josh as well. 

I mentioned before how the anime made things go too fast. They cut off chunks of not-main-plot story that let the characters interact with each other more which means each game day is shortened as well. I think it made sense that Neku wakes up at the scramble in the end and not stressed out because he didn’t go through as much as his game counterpart did. That said, game Neku learned a lot from more than just the main cast in the game compared to the anime so I like his character development in the game better.

They took away Tin Pin Slammer. I am sad and disappointed. I was hoping so bad for Another Day to be adapted even if it’s an OVA. That and the ramen incident are part of Josh’s week which meant some side of him wasn’t shown (I mean, anime fans don’t know he wasn’t there on week 3 since he’s busy playing a kid’s game elsewhere and how he could talk about food like he is from a cooking anime). Speaking of Josh, they made him very suspicious from the get-go in the anime. I understand as there’s a limited run-time and they can’t really afford to be subtle about it but it meant some of the fun interactions with Neku is gone and so are some scenes where they actually got along. At least they had ice cream together, I guess?

(I have more to say when it comes to Joshua cause he’s my fave character but this is long and my thoughts on it would make this way longer. I might make another post.)

In the end, it wasn’t perfect but the anime was fun and enjoyable enough that I found myself looking forward to it every week. Seeing scenes I recognize from the game in animated form (with voice acting!) felt exciting and awesome. I’ll miss this show and I still wish it was longer.

If you’ve read this far well, thank you. And also I’m confused why but still hopefully that was a good time-killer. I have so many other things I wanted to comment on but that’s for another time. Maybe.

[aseriesofunfortunatejan]

Another novel commentary

Not an actual commentary - just a couple reactions I wanted to share, mostly because not many people care. Still, I think there are probably a lot of people who watched Another because it was such a classic and didn’t even know there was a novel. Hell, I’d been fed the lie that it was an anime original and that the manga was an adaptation of the anime for years... for some reason.

I haven’t read the third novel, Another S/O (Où est le mort ? / Where is the dead? in french) yet so this is only about the main story: Volume 1 “Celle qui n’existait pas / She who didn’t exist” and Volume 2 “La fille à l’œil de poupée / The girl with the doll eye” in french. I like to cite the french titles because I think they are pretty cool, and I believe they did not exist in the original and english versions.

I will not be including spoilers of specific deaths and events but I will speaking as if the person reading this already knew Another.

Let me start by saying that reading Sei Hatsuno’s commentary at the end was quite the wholesome experience. They seemed to truly admire the author of the novel I’d just read. I liked that.

So... if it wasn’t already clear, I seriously enjoyed it. As someone who’s been kept from reading by mental illness despite it having been my passion for years, being able to read and enjoy Another put me in a good mood. (Basically, I live in fear of what’s coming now that I’m done. Damn...)

I was able to appreciate how good of an adaptation the anime actually was. I mean, more often than not, the anime isn’t so great and “you should really read the manga/novel/whichever came first”, right? Honestly, I don’t feel like all these years of loving Another from the anime were a lie. Though it was short, it was simply enough a good adaptation. A few elements were changed here and there, yes - but I believe it stayed true to the essence of the story, and those differences are what make me want to say you should read the novel AND watch the anime. Yes! Both are actually very good. It makes perfect sense when that one character dies earlier in the novel, but the scene of their death in the anime was actually a pretty good one that efficiently showed how students from Class 3-3 felt at the time.

And yes, the rumours are true... Akazawa - best girl Akazawa... barely exists in the novel. And it’s true, it’s sad. She was seriously interesting in the anime, and despite not having watched it in years, I have a strong memory of her. Still, it’s clearly not a flaw from the novel - it’s a quality from the adaptation(s). What little we see of her in the novel serves to show, discreetely but efficiently, Sakakibara’s negative feelings towards kids his age. He regularly mentions “not liking girls like her”, but the truth is, he doesn’t like the popular guys either. There needed to be characters like Akazawa and her friends because Teshigawara was an exception, meaning that he didn’t represent properly his distate for “cooler” kids. At the end of the day - and I say that with nothing but love in my heart - Sakakibara is just a nerd who coincidentially got bullied in his previous school. He tries to be cool about it, but deep down, he knows.

It’s true that I loved him, though. I didn’t have strong memories of him from the anime (which, again, I rewatched multiple times, but not in a good few years) but I remember liking him already. He was a pretty compelling character, and I liked reading through his well-hidden insecurities while still having him try his best rather than falling into whatever stereotype he could. I’m not that person who likes to ship the obvious straight ship, especially not when the characters are teenagers, but his crush (that he won’t fully admit to having, but once again, deep down, he knows) on Misaki was cute and worked.

Misaki is not like other girls. She has an eyepatch, she’s grieving AND she’s an introvert. I like to joke about it but that, too, works. That weird kid in class who’s silent and has multiple traumas exists in real life, and it didn’t feel exaggerated when it came to Misaki, to me at least. In my opinion a small flaw of the anime is that it made her look too stand-offish and ghostly, whereas the novel (the french edition of which doesn’t have illustrations) would have you think she looks pretty normal, and the eyepatch is what’s weird. She’s pale but “I have pretty skin and I’m japanese” pale, not “my skin colour is #FFFFFF” anime pale. Either way, since he’s a NEEEERD, of course Sakakibara would get kind of a 👉👈 crush on the introverted girl who doesn’t get along with the mean girls he worries about.

So yes, it’s all solid in my opinion. So are the story and its twists. Knowing them ahead of time was an experience to say the least... I wonder how I would have felt about the few clues that were scattered ahead of time if I didn’t already know what they meant. I think those were pretty clever, though.

By the almost-end-of-it, I became worried that the ending would be unsatisfactory, that there would be too many unfair deaths, but it didn’t feel like that in the end. Sure, one death I’m pretty frustrated about... But I think I always was, even when it was different in the anime. (Why am I going through the effort of making this spoilers free?) It was violent for sure, because it’s Another, duh, but it felt right enough, and I’m not worried about leaving Sakakibara and my other faves in this state of things.

Speaking of faves - from memory, in the anime, I loved Teshigawara and Akazawa. Of course Akazawa is out the window (laughs) (actually doesn’t laugh), and I still liked Teshigawara. Well, uh... There’s that one thing he did I still need to wrap my head around, but I think we can heal from that, apparently we can. Still, I was glad that he was still actually a cool character. Another character I don’t remember having strong feelings towards in the anime, but I actually liked a lot in the novel, was Mochizuki. Baby boy. Baby. Silly baby boy. Baby.

Uhm... Well, the only thing I actually missed was that one beach episode from the anime. It doesn’t exist in the novel, but I guess it goes hand in hand with Akazawa not being an important character. So though I loved the novel, the anime has that going for it for sure.

Yeah, both are great. The anime is an amazing memory from my childhood (yes, my childhood). It was my first anime ever and though it’s been a while now, I rewatched it many times. I’m sure it’s not the best anime ever or whatever... But I now know that it’s a great adaptation, and I cherish it either way. As for the novel, I seriously had a good time reading it. The protagonist is good. The other important characters are good as well. Reiko felt a little more special in the anime in my opinion... But Sakakibara’s point of view of her was valuable in the novel. The story is told well. I definitely recommend reading it.

Like I mentioned in some of my first posts, there are points in the first volume where I could tell the writing was adapted to teenagers. But first of all, if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re a teenager anyway, isn’t there? Huh-uh. Well, I’m not anymore somehow, and I got used to it, especially as there was less and less small talk and the story was in motion. Those weird impressions I had that the french translators had struggled a little bit with translating some japanese speech-mannerisms had long left me by the second volume. And I think it’s interesting how Sei Hatsuno’s commentary mentions (yes, I’m coming back to that!) it being both a thriller and a teen story. You can’t really help it when the main characters are middle-schoolers, can you? But there’s a reason Another is such a classic even in spite of that.

I’m glad this story exists and is part of my life. It’ll always stay a classic to me, both anime and novel.

[adollarformythoughts-joemama]

Welcome to the N.H.K.

                    exclusively anime review and strictly just my opinion

*clears throat*

��      I’m someone who’s never taken much of a liking towards ‘slice-of-life’ animes. I’ve intentionally overlooked them along with their, in my opinion, equally drab counterparts such as ‘coming-of-age’, romance and marvel films. Regardless, the genres do surprise me as well as most with the occasional spurts of good films/ animes/ series. Welcome to the N.H.K, I can gladly admit, is one of them.

*DISCLAIMER: CONTAINS SPOILERS. THOU HAST BEEN WARNED*

 To recapitulate: Tatsuhiro Satou is a 22-year-old ‘hikikomori’ who has reclused himself from the outside world for nearly 4 years and who’s primary means of living is entirely satisfied by his parents. He meets Misaki Nakahara, who takes him up on a weird project to heal him of his condition. During the course of the story, he weaves himself into developing games with his neighbor and high-school junior, Kaoru Yamazaki, an actual suicide pact/ expedition with high-school senior, Hitomi Kashiwa, and a freaking pyramid-scheme aided by his high-school class leader, Megumi Kobayashi, along with other oddities. All the while, he blames his downfalls on a conspiracy, the idea of which was seeded into his head by Hitomi, the N.H.K.

And if I were to recap just the ‘essence’ of the long winding plot points of the anime, I would say “it is the most slice-of-life anime that has ever slice-of-life -ed.”

Welcome to the N.H.K is a depressing story of someone who has removed himself from the outside world and who struggles on a day-to-day basis to do anything at all other than being holed up and waste away. And this is exactly what the writing of his character portrays. With his nervous breakdowns in public, his blabbering when he does come in contact with someone else, his incessant lying to escape tedious situations, him alluding his shortcomings to the works of the N.H.K, everything depicts spot-on how a person like him would be in real-life. In fact, every character in this anime have been written with a level of accuracy and relevance to real-life individuals and not as exaggerated and unrealistic depictions. One of the scenes that I found impressive, in this regard, was when Satou pushes himself to find a job and repeats his introduction to himself countless times as he walks up to the job-offer. As someone who’s been an introvert most of my life, I can confirm that this ,in fact, couldn’t be more accurate to character. All this takes on an eerie note when you get to know that the author himself is a hikikomori.

Satou frequently recalls his high-school literature club where the only other member was Hitomi. From his flashbacks we understand that Satou was never as worse as he is now but has to some extent always been detached from the rest of his colleagues. Therefore, it isn’t too far-fetched as to how he ended up in this precarious situation, nor is it difficult to know why he alludes his misfortunes to the conspiracy of the N.H.K. He even occasionally regrets not taking things further with his senpai, Hitomi, thinking he wouldn’t have been stuck in this position if he did. Then comes along, Misaki Nakahara.

Misaki Nakahara, as we learn later on, is even more so dark than Satou is. At first, she comes off like a means of hope and redemption. This image of hers is strengthened as Satou, much like everyone else who watches this anime, relates her to an angel. An angel sent from God to rescue him from his affliction. A guardian angel, if you will. Her inconspicuous and shrouded ways of finding out and knowing everything about Satou justifies our stance. Even her character art comes off as this innocent, delicate, loving and kindred soul. However, this is not who Misaki is under her façade. She spies on Satou through the direct view from her own room and gathers his information from the landlord of his building who happens to be her uncle. All this she does just to convince herself that she’s not as helpless as she seems and that there is someone who is more worthless than she is. Her character is twisted in all sorts of ways. She blames herself for all the misfortunes she has imagined to have inflicted on those around her. She has no drive and no purpose. She’s just as Satou is- wasting away but in a rather move concealed and outwardly pleasant way. Her rather pointless counselling sessions for Satou sometimes reveals her own gnarled ideologies: being confident by believing that the other person is worse or in a lower position compared to you. Her relationship with the cat is yet another example of her ideologies: “As long as I give him what he wants, I’m sure he’ll remember me.”

The suicide pact scene. I bring this up to discuss the characteristics of the above mentioned two. While it was a truly interesting sequence with some dark humor behind it, it also made it clear how far gone both Satou and Misaki were. Satou throughout the anime, fights a dynamic where he’s comfortable and almost okay at some points, with his horrible condition, but also desperate at others to get out of it (which I can again attest to and say it’s quite accurate to when someone is in similar conditions IRL). His desperateness pushes him to be selfish at times, one of it being his ‘trip’ with Hitomi. In his head, Hitomi seeks solace in him and is on the verge of falling off the map (no pun intended) for a few days as is the norm. He takes the opportunity to accompany her on a trip which would eventually relieve him of his hikikomori condition. Whether or not his feelings for her are significant or true enough doesn’t seem to be his concern while choosing her as his ticket out. Cut to the scene where they stand on the cliff’s edge, ready to dive into their awaiting coffins. Satou finally understanding the awkward situation he’s in, doesn’t know how to back down. As the others, one by one, back out, realizing they would be leaving something behind, Satou realizes he has absolutely nothing to leave behind. His only ember of hope stands beside him, clutching his hand and brimming with certainty of dying. So, he would die too. But alas, my boy can’t catch a break! Hitomi’s boyfriend rides in and proposes, providing her with something (-one) she could call her own. Something that she could look forward too. Something that could brighten up her life. She decides not to jump and along with that the ember of hope to Satou is snuffed out. Now he really WANTS to jump. Here is where I turn to Misaki. Any ‘friend’ or ally in their right minds would call out the reasons as to why he shouldn’t end his life but continue to live. Now this isn’t what she does, is it readers? Ah, you’re right. The answer is no (I do apologize for having my little Dora the Explorer moment). She calls him out for what she sees him as- a worthless, up-to-no-good individual. His heart breaks even more, if it were even possible to in the first place. Here ends all the fluffy moments the two share. And that, rightfully so. Misaki doesn’t want Satou to die because she needs him in her own little selfish way, to live.

Hitomi Kashiwa, the depressed high school senior of Satou who turns to substance abuse to keep herself going. She is probably one of the best characters along with Satou and Misaki. Her conditions are not that bad compared to the latter. She seems to be doing well enough and even has a loving boyfriend. Sure, he’s often preoccupied with business matters and her own work atmosphere doesn’t seem like the best, but she is in a lot of ways more stable than the others. Nevertheless, she is probably on the best media portrayals of a depressed individual. Not just sad. Not just grieving. But in perpetual gloom. That, readers, is what depression is. Despite having a loving boyfriend, who she herself undeniably loves, she turns to Satou for a sense of comfort. An eerie, disturbing, transient and eventually unsettling comfort which would seem foreign and even stupid to someone unaccustomed to her condition. While she was never my favorite character and she isn’t really an interesting one either, she plays into the theme of the anime and is quite instrumental to it. Just like Satou’s neighbor, Kaoru Yamazaki. He provides Satou with some purpose, for a while, as well as companionship. He has his own set of battles to war in, into which I won’t go too much. Near the end of the anime, Yamazaki is forced to return home and manage the family ranch, giving up on his passion and dream of game designing as well as cutting off all connections with his love interest, who takes up a lot of his raw emotions during the course of the anime.

The final sequence is just…amazing. Everything Misaki could live for, she loses. Satou, having been cut off of all expenses, is practically forced by his primal instincts of survival, to look for a job and feed himself, much like Megumi’s brother (the gut-wrenching cry of pure pain he lets out as the gang leaves his place is similar to the cry of defeat Satou lets out on the cliff. The similarity is both sad and impressive). At this point, Misaki decides to end her life. Satou rushes to save her, owing to the love he has for her, despite the bitterness between the two. As Satou embraces the trembling Misaki, he tells her that the misfortunes she seems to be plagued with, are not her fault. She should live. She shouldn’t give up. If she must blame it on something, let her blame it on a conspiracy, the N.H.K for example. You can call it whatever you want. You can even call it God, he says. But she doesn’t need to blame herself and she doesn’t need to feel worthless. She isn’t. And here, he takes off running to the edge of the cliff, this time determined to jump. He shouts for her to live a long life, at least because of what  he’s about to do. He breaks character. He stops being selfish. He’s ready to die a dramatic death if it means she would accept it and live. Of course, in the end both leave alive but also having died and reborn. The anime ends on a rather neutral and open-ending note. Satou is still an anxious outcast but he’s in a better place. He signs a (third) contract agreeing to the terms that both him and Misaki would help each other and keep each other going. This isn’t a happy ending. This is an ‘okay’ ending and that’s what makes it amazing.

 Life is often filled with one bad experience after another. There are times we are able to pick ourselves up and keep going but there are times we fall down and seem to forget how to get back up. Most times we cruise through life having done nothing significant. Most times we feel worthless. Sometimes, we stay down and only seem to stay there. The weight of the world and the weight of the emptiness we feel, crushes us and squishes us into the recesses of the Earth. Sometimes we get tired and decide to give up. But that’s how life is. No matter how bad of a place you’re in, life has a weird way of actually getting better, a way of giving you some space to breath. No matter how bad life gets, you can always come back. You can always get a chance to smile. Satou and Misaki aren’t suddenly living in a fairy-tale, where it’s all glee and rainbows. They continue to live in their trying situations, but they aren’t as worse off. They get to live not just for the sake of living. Hitomi on the cliff earns something similar: a future that brings her happiness. Yamazaki finds the same in the ranch. He isn’t doing what he initially craved to do but he’s content and has someone equally content to share it with. His ending tells us that life has a strange sense of humor. We may never know where happiness may pop out off. Life does get better and is worth all the gold in this world and even more, to experience it.

“Welcome to the N.H.K is the most slice-of-life anime that has ever slice-of-life-ed.” You get it now? The OP is filled with abstract imagery, quite fitting to the anime itself. Satou, first painted as a normal guy, reveals a dejected, terrified person when the camera pans into his mind. Misaki, looking like an angel, reveals a sad, twisted person as the camera pans into hers. The opening song, if you notice, changes ever so slightly yet at the same time very significantly, throughout the anime. The trumpets in the first version fade away and a more opera-like music takes its place signaling to the change in tone of the story itself. Throughout the anime as well, the music is very appropriate, and the scenes are always tinged with a bit of dark humor. I wouldn’t be surprised to catch myself laughing at an otherwise pathetic scene. But that’s the anime for you. Sick but beautifully written.

Would I recommend this anime to others? I surely will. It’s beautiful, realistic and doesn’t glorify being an addict or an otaku as some other media do. Meme culture has normalized depressing tones and other media has romanticized the idea and planted misconceptions that these people would somehow, someway end up heroic. This anime testifies life for what it is.

It’s a light watch in terms of storyline but definitely an unsettling one in the one of the best and hopeful way possible.

My rating: 8/10.

Feel free to share your opinions and views down below.

[theshatteredrose]

Relic Keepers: Awakening of the Red Lily (Chapter 20) - Original Fiction

AN: Whew, this chapter took longer than I had anticipated. Darn migraines. But, here we are, finally. Hope you enjoy~

Ao3 | Wattpad | Inkitt | FictionPress

~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 20:

It took Eishirou a few minutes to reassure both Jacob and Neriah that he was going to be a good patient and not try to escape. Neriah was sceptical but he was pulled away for another appointment. And Jacob finally decided that he would head out and do some work of his own.

Though, Eishirou hoped he was really heading out to get some food and rest of his own. It was fairly obvious from the fatigue that he had stayed close to his infirmary bedside since he returned.

With the two professors excusing themselves, they left Eishirou alone with Zayne.

“Hey,” Zayne said, prompting Eishirou to turn toward him once more. “What did you mean by giving me your healing skills?”

Eishirou rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Just that. I used the Red Lily to channel my healing mana to you.”

He didn’t know how else to explain it. He wasn’t fully sure how he did it. He just…did? He would like to know how, honestly. Maybe he could do it again, if the situation called for it?

An unexpected frown appeared on Zayne’s face. “You shouldn’t have done that,” he went on to scold. “What if it killed you?”

Eishirou blinked, inwardly surprised. He, however, felt his brow furrow in slight irritation. “You were taking attacks meant for me. What if that killed you?”

“I’m an Elite,” Zayne returned. “It’s my duty to protect you.”

“By allowing your blood to spill across the ground?” Eishirou asked sarcastically as he pivoted slightly from where he sat on the bed in order to face Zayne more directly.

Zayne snorted dismissively. “If that’s what it takes. What was I supposed to do? Let you get hit instead?”

The vision of those spikes piercing Zayne’s arm, with blood beading and dropping to the ground like rain appeared in Eishirou’s mind. And it made him feel instantly nauseous. “Better me than you!”

Zayne’s head reeled back ever so slightly, an incredulous expression on his face. “How so? You’re the medic!”

“What good is a medic if he can’t do anything other than heal?” Eishirou swiftly retorted. “It’s not like I can pick you guys up and carry you out!”

“Well, what good is an elite other than fighting?” Zayne snapped.

That caught Eishirou by surprise. His own irrational frustration and anger dissipated quickly. It dawned on him that his anger and frustration was born from fear and concern.

And Zayne was just the same.

There was pure bitterness and self-hatred in his voice. It hurt Eishirou to see Zayne receive such terrible, potentially life-threatening injuries because of him. Why wouldn’t it be any different for Zayne to see him succumb to mana depletion so suddenly?

It scared him.

Eishirou turned and sat back against the pillows behind him. Zayne himself leaned back into his chair and turned his head away to stare at the floor. There was an expression of self-loathing mixed with guilt on his face.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Despite the short, abrupt fight they just had, Eishirou couldn’t help a smile from slipping across his lips. What a pair of idiots. Getting irritated because they were worried. How utterly stupid.

Yet, somehow Eishirou found it endearing.

“I’m glad you’re ok,” Eishirou uttered, breaking the silence.

“Yeah,” Zayne murmured quietly. “You, too.”

“You scared me, you know?”

“…You, too.”

Yeah, that was actually pretty obvious now.

Eishirou returned his gaze to Zayne. “Sorry.”

Zayne turned to look toward him, too. His expression was solemn, apologetic. “Me, too.”

“I’m really all right,” Eishirou insisted as he pivoted his upper body to face Zayne direction.

Zayne leaned forward to gently press his forehead against Eishirou’s. “Don’t do that again.”

A blush made its way to Eishirou’s features, but a gentle smile remained on his lips. And he made no attempt to pull away. “It’s not something I’m striving for. But, you, too.”

As he sat there, his forehead resting against Zayne’s, he felt lightheaded yet comfortable. While he did feel a sense of guilt for worrying him, he did find his concern for him sweet and endearing. His concern for him was so blatant and unapologetic. He hadn’t met anyone quite like him before.

He had only known him for a few days. But it felt as if he had known him for years.

“Ahem.” A forced, awkward cough caused Eishirou to return to reality and he jumped back in surprise. He immediately turned to look over at the door where two very familiar figures stood.

Misaki stood there with an eyebrow arched toward his hairline while Lyvia leaned out behind him with her hand over her mouth. With an obvious expression of amusement on her face.

“Are we interrupting?” Misaki asked coolly.

“O-oh, hey,” Eishirou stuttered, his face no doubt a deep red. “What are you guys doing here?”

Misaki walked into the room and to the other side of Eishirou’s bed, Lyvia right with him. “Well, some idiot had to deplete his mana and end up unconscious for a couple of days.”

Eishirou winced and rubbed the back of his neck. He spared a glance with Zayne, who of which leaned back in his chair, looking as though he wasn’t moving anytime soon.

“Ah, I bet you know all about that, then…”

“Well, I was working at the time,” Misaki explained as he sat down on an empty chair.

Oh, right. He must have been the one to receive the call for assistance and evacuation. It must have come as a surprise to him, too.

“Here, I smuggled this in for you,” Misaki said as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a familiar object.

Eishirou immediately brightened. “Ah, my tablet!” he quickly took the tablet into his hands. “Thanks!”

Lyvia sat on the edge of the bed. “Don’t let Professor Neriah find you with it,” she warned just as Eishirou was about to turn it on.

“And don’t think you can start researching off of it,” Misaki sternly added.

“Fine, fine,” Eishirou said in surrender as he slid the tablet under his pillow. “Don’t start sounding like Neriah or we’ll all be scared.”

Lyvia sniggered into her hand as Misaki narrowed his eyes in disgruntlement. But he didn’t make any attempt to dispute it. Instead, he shook his head and gave Eishirou a subtly worried look.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Ah, I’m fine,” Eishirou said in the most reassuring voice he could muster. “Just a little bit tired. Getting restless, though.”

Misaki nodded his head in understanding. “I can imagine.”

Lyvia lightly patted the sheets draped across Eishirou’s feet. “How long are you trapped here?”

“Only for the day, surprisingly.”

“Lucky,” Lyvia said after a whistle. “Neriah must be in a good mood today.”

Eishirou had to laugh at that. The way he was bickering with Jacob indicated as much. But then again, the two were friends, and their bickering may have been their attempt to ease the worry and tension they both felt.

The smile on Eishirou’s face slipped. As he thought back, where he sat in a hospital bed, it made him realise how dangerous the situation was. And how badly it could have turned out. Those ShadowDwellers were something else. They moved so quickly and knew who to attack, and when. They were intelligent. And that made them dangerous.

Eishirou’s hands tighten on the sheets folded on his lap. They could have…All of them could have been seriously hurt. Or killed.

If the Red Lily didn’t appear when it did, they may not have made it out alive. Not all of them.

“Eishirou?”

Eishirou snapped his head up and turned toward the direction of the voice. He found Misaki and Lyvia looking at him in concern. He blinked before a sheepish smile appeared on his lips.

“S-sorry, was just lost in thought.”

It wasn’t uncommon for survivors of traumatic events to experience intense feelings of fear and shock hours or days after. Eishirou was likely to experience several more episodes in the coming days. He would have to remind himself that he was fine. Everyone was fine.

They were the lucky ones.

“Hey. Any news about those missing Elite Teams?” Eishirou asked.

Misaki appeared reluctant to answer the question. He had no doubt picked up on the shock that Eishirou had experienced. But he eventually sighed and shook his head. “There’s isn’t much, I’m afraid. They’re keeping it on the quiet, but they haven’t found any evidence of their presence. The island is quite primitive.”

“Passives, especially researchers, are currently forbidden from venturing to the island, though,” Lyvia added. “Veteran Elites are currently patrolling the island.”

Eishirou simply nodded his head. That didn’t surprise him one little bit. He was curious to go back to that white tower simply because of his need to know more about that stained-glass mosaic. But that was the only reason. He didn’t wish to encounter those Humanoid ShadowDwellers again.

He had photos. And he had the Red Lily itself. He had projects to work on here, in the relatively safety of Silverleaf Academy and the museum. There was no other reason for him to return. And he found a sense of comfort in that. Especially with the fact that no one else needed to go back either.

He would like to return to Flutterlight Forest one day, sure. He would not deny an opportunity to do so. He was curious. There were a lot of secrets and mysteries to be found and discovered.

But only after they had discovered what happened to those missing Elites. And after they figured out how to deal with those ShadowDwellers to ensure they wouldn’t be ambushed again.

He hoped that they would find those who were missing soon.

A sharp knock prompted everyone to turn their attention to the door. Who stood there was someone completely unexpected; Ernesta and Rinka. Ernesta stepped into the room with confidence, unconcerned that she was the centre of attention. Rinka trailed behind her, though far more self-conscious.

“I thought I would find you here,” Ernesta said, her comment directed toward Zayne.

Zayne continued to lounge back in his chair and arched a questioning an eyebrow at her. “Yeah?”

“Hi, Rinka!” Lyvia greeted cheerfully.

Rinka flushed a light pink, but gave a small wave of her hand in response. “H-hi.”

Ernesta’s expression was placid, as always, as she turned to look over in Eishirou’s direction. “Good to see you’re doing well, Eishirou,” she said politely.

“Ah, you, too,” Eishirou said sheepishly in response as his hands toyed with his bedsheets once more. “Sorry for the hassle.”

Ernesta simply smiled. “Not at all.” However, her expression soon shifted into seriousness as she glanced around at the other occupants within the room.

“Eishirou,” she started as she rested her gaze upon him once more. “I would like to speak to you in private, if I may?”

“Oh?” That was certainly a surprise. “Ah, sure, of course.”

As if he would decline. Or could. Ernesta was quite intimidating. It was extremely difficult to say no to her.

Misaki didn’t seem all that intimidated, however, as he frowned deeply at the request. He appeared as if he wanted to argue in some way, but thought better of it. Instead, he sighed and pushed himself to his feet. “We need to get back to work, anyway,” he said, light resentment in his voice.

Lyvia nodded her head in agreement as she slipped off the bed and to her feet. “We’ll visit again later, ok?” he promised.

“Sure,” Eishirou replied with a comforting smile. “Don’t work too hard.”

The two Chroniclers bid their farewells and left the room. Ernesta watched them until they were out of sight before she turned her attention to Zayne. The blue-haired man defiantly returned her gaze with a dismissive one of his own, and the two of them simply stared at each other for a few drawn out seconds.

“You, too,” Ernesta finally stated.

Zayne uttered a childish, drawn out “fine” as he let his head flop back over the back of the chair. That drew a surprising giggle from Rinka and a roll of the eyes from Ernesta. He finally, and sulkily got up off the chair. He then shoved his hands into his pockets as he headed for the door.

“I’ll catch you later,” he called out as Rinka followed him out of the door.

“Sure,” was all Eishirou managed before he disappeared from view.

He had to admit that he felt nervous when the door to his room closed and Ernesta sat herself down on the chair that Zayne had just vacated. She leaned back, crossed her legs and folded her arms under her bust. Looking all too serious for his likening.

“Is something wrong?”

“Professor Chryses explained to me that you had used this Red Lily relic,” Ernesta answered, thankfully getting straight to the point. “He said that you channelled your healing mana to Zayne. Is that all?”

Eishirou couldn’t help but feel as if there was a silent accusation hidden in that short question. Her sharp gaze certainly felt that way. “W-well, I think so. I don’t really remember.”

“I see.” Ernesta’s expression was unreadable. “Do you suppose it is possible that this relic also channelled its mana to Zayne?”

“Well, that could be a possibility.”

Hmm. That might actually explain the pain Eishirou felt during the channelling. The Red Lily may have used him as a vessel to reach out to Zayne. Using him as a link between the two. Given him both his and the relic’s mana.

Yet, that didn’t quite make sense. If the relic wished to grant Zayne its strength, why not go directly to him? Was he not open for such a link? Did it first have to be channelled through him?

Interesting.

Ernesta continued. “Zayne exhibit some…interesting skills after you had collapsed. I’m just…curious, I suppose you could say.”

Eishirou tilted his head to the side in curiosity. “Skills?”

“Zayne defeated those ShadowDwellers all on his own. And no matter the attacks he sustained; he received no injury.” She turned her sharp eyes to look directly, and pointedly, at Eishirou. “You could say he was practically invincible.”

Invincible?

That…he remembered something about that. He wanted that, didn’t he? He had thought that very word in his mind. He transferred that intention to the Red Lily. And to Zayne himself.

Make Zayne invincible so that he could ensure that everyone got out alive.

Did…did that actually work?

How?

“Well, never mind all that now,” Ernesta suddenly stated as she uncrossed her legs and took to her feet. She presented him a placid smile. “I’m simply curious. Perhaps, from further investigation, we will learn more?”

Eishirou blinked. “Ah, yeah.”

“I best leave you be now,” Ernesta continued as she turned to head toward the door. “I’ll need to take Zayne now. So, try to get some rest.”

“Yeah, ok,” was all Eishirou could utter before he fell back into the pillows behind him and stared up at the ceiling.

He soon became lost in his thoughts. He had a lot to muse about and consider. A lot of questions ran through his head. A lot of questions but only speculation for answers.

…As soon as he got out of this bed, he hoped he would be able to get some of those questions answered.

[szivtalan]

Fushimi, Misaki Yata, Bojack, Diane and Princess Carolyn for the character thing please?

i’m doing a whole read more bc this is long as shit

Fushimi Saruhiko

do I like them: yes, he is my bastard son and I would die for him.

5 good qualities: smart, resilient, really fucking tough, caring towards his friends, knows when to move on.

3 bad qualities: he can be kind of obsessive, the self-loathing levels are off the fucking charts, and also he’s sort of a psycho?

favourite episode/etc: his  introductory episode is chefs kiss, but I think my favorite Fushimi  moments are in the kotatsu chapter of the manga. Also, the interaction  between him and Totsuka in which Totsuka asks him to give a reason for  his betrayal later.

otp: you can take SaruMi out of my cold dead hands

brotp: Fushimi and the Scepter4 guys are so goddamn dorky together

ot3: I have a thing for Munakata/Fushimi/Mikoto eeeuugh don’t judge ok. Alternatively, Munakata/Fushimi/Awashima is also Really Nice

notp: apparently some people ship him with his dad, I’d say that.

best quote:  probably the “I can’t stand people with a big heart.” monologue. It’s  actually really relatable, resenting people for being too good and  making someone else feel inferior bc of it.

head canon:  This is already canon, but I think not many people are aware that  Fushimi self-harms. In my opinion, he also does it underneath the  bullshit little cloth around his forearms, but you have to consider that  the HOMRA tattoo might represent the team itself, but it is on his  skin. He burned that shit and refuses to let it heal completely by  picking at it every five minutes - which also happens whenever he’s  feeling stressed or melancholic about the past. That is self harm.

Yata Misaki

do I like them: oh of Course, he’s baby

5 good qualities: his love, his loyalty, his absolute shyness with girls (gay cough so very gay), his subtle naivety and his honesty

3 bad qualities: his temper, his obliviousness, and his inability to resolve tension

favourite episode/etc: I loved their flashbacks with Fushimi?

otp: SaruMi, ofc

brotp: Totsuka/Yata

ot3:  man he is Baby, he can barely get it on w one person without getting  flustered but I wanna say he could be involved in that  Kusanagi/Mikoto/Totsuka threeway

notp: I would bet my ass he is in some way shipped w Niki too.

best quote: I can’t think of any notable one

head canon:  I think he did try to reach out to Fushimi quite a few times ever since  they separated, since he doesn’t have much pride to swallow. It was  probably Fushimi who kept avoiding him.

BoJack Horseman

do I like them: y......yes. Very much so

5 good qualities: n/a I MEAN he is witty, smart, and he cares a lot about people in his own way. Also, he’s sensitive but he would never admit to it

3 bad qualities: I guess using people to his own selfish needs and being unable to admit to it or make amends?

favourite episode/etc: 5x6 Free Churro. That whole episode was painfully real; also 4x6 Stupid Piece of Sh*t

otp: I was really rooting for him and Diane in the beginning

brotp: Todd or Peanutbutter. They just... look out for him and its..... so good

ot3: Pb/Diane/BoJack would’ve been nice

notp: Do people ship him with Penny or Sarah Lynn? I feel like they do. gross

best quote: “You know, sometimes I feel like I was born with a leak...”

head canon: I do think he is remorseful and feels struck by guilt every waking hour like he said he is,,, that still doesn’t excuse his shitty behavior

Diane Nguyen

do I like them: I do love her very much

5 good qualities:  she cares about so many things and she isn’t afraid to vocalize her  opinion, even when the whole world turns on her bc of them. I respect  that kind of bravery in someone, that kind of sense of individual  responsibility to make the world a better place. She’s everything I used  to want to be.

3 bad qualities: she gets way in over  her head about things and she is kind of attached to her own  melancholy, but I think that’s really just depression speaking most of  the time.

favourite episode/etc: the one in which she decides to take medication and get better.

otp: Diane/BoJack  could’ve worked if the show had a more idealistic and less realistic  take on flawed people. But she is way better off with Guy

brotp:  I appreciate how they were there for each other with PC, and how she  had a civil relationship with Peanutbutter after their divorce and  initial stupidity following that.

ot3: Pb/Diane/BJ

notp:  gosh, idk. I’m not familiar with fandom takes but I’m sure I could find  something to frown upon once I get to digging. I guess I would say her  and Pb weren’t really good for each other?

best quote: “Sometimes, life’s a bitch and then you keep on living.”

head canon: she’s such a well rounded character I have no other thoughts to add

Princess Carolyn

do I like them: I will defend PC with my LIFE

5 good qualities: extremely hardworking and determined, caring to a fault, indescribably loving and nurturing, tough as fuck

3 bad qualities: caring to a fault, naive despite her strong will, gets comfortable with the roles he assigns to the people in her life to the point of not really being able to let them grow/change from it (e.g her relationship with Vanessa and Bojack)

favourite episode/etc: the one where she goes to meet the adoptive mother of her child

otp: I’m really good with Judah/PC

brotp: PC and Todd could take over the world and I’d be cool w it

ot3: I really see her as a one-person-cat

notp: it was painful to see in the end how attached she actually was to BoJack,,,, also I used to like her with Ralph but the whole cat-racism thing was a huge nope

best quote: “I compulsively take care of other people when I don’t know how to take care of myself.” dare I say, HUGE mood

head canon: I have nothing to add except that she’s fucking great

[everythingsinred]

Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 22)

Today we'll talk about the Time-Travel Arc. Obviously, the focus in that arc is Yuka's past, so there's going to be a lot of content that I'll skip unless it's relevant to NatsuMikan. What ship/character content there is I will dissect heavily. This is just a warning that I'll be skipping even five or so chapters at time, and it might seem jarring. Sorry about that.

In this part, we'll see how Natsume and Mikan are in many ways fated, but also how selfless Natsume can be, even in the face of losing the person he loves the most forever. He's going to keep his promise to protect her no matter what happens, even if it means never seeing her again.

Chapter One Hundred and Seven

For most of this arc, Natsume and the others are merely observers of Yuka’s past. They keep the talking and interaction to a minimum. There will be some instances where Natsume does enough for me to be able to analyze him, but they’re limited to start with.

For example, when Tsubasa, Tono, and Nobara are finally able to join them, there’s a dramatic reunion.

Nobody has seen Tsubasa in some time, and his whereabouts were a mystery. Obviously he shares a meaningful embrace with Mikan, but he also makes eye contact with Natsume, who looks shocked and relieved to see him again, even if he wasn’t the one to find him. Tsubasa knows Natsume had searched tirelessly for him, so he apologizes for making Natsume and the others worry. For a moment, it almost seems as though maybe they will share the next reunion hug. But to show that everything truly is back to normal, Natsume’s demeanor shifts and he gets annoyed with Tsubasa for hugging Mikan for so long.

Thinking really hard about Natsume's love languages: nicknames, being willing to die for you one second and then pretending like you're a nuisance the next, never giving compliments so they hit like a brick when he does, just hanging around you, and physical touch.

Natsume doesn’t know how to show feelings properly. With Ruka, he can be more openly affectionate and loving, and now with Mikan he has recently (today) had the opportunity to be more honest about his feelings, but Tsubasa is different. For a very long time, he has pretended like Tsubasa was nothing more than a nuisance. Suddenly being honest with everyone would be tiresome. Besides, Tsubasa already knows that Natsume cares, since he struggled so much to find him.

If you want to hug somebody, Natsume says (or doesn’t say… this conversation seems to all be telepathic), go hug Misaki. Not my girl. It hardly matters that Misaki isn’t around and that idea is impossible to make a reality. So Tsubasa naturally shoots back that he will simply pretend Mikan is Misaki.

Natsume is a good person, as we have seen over the course of the manga. When he loves someone, he loves hard and with his whole chest. He doesn’t half-ass his feelings. Despite his occasional bouts into saying something kind and heartfelt, he is and always has been naturally a bit more reserved. His personality is one to withhold a little, and to interact with people through teases. Even at his most free, before he came to the academy, he would tease and insult before saying something sweet. His love will always be something that needs to be interpreted, because he hates being open about why he’s doing the selfless things he is. If he is too open, then people will know and then they might feel guilty or like they owe him something. He doesn’t want that. Another thing is that he just likes having fun with his friends and loved ones this way, with occasional taunts and teases. That’s just the kind of person he is.

Chapter One Hundred and Nine

We get introduced to Igarashi Kaoru, an upperclassman of Yuka’s and a mysterious figure. Yuka first met her in a compromising position, when she’s about to sleep with a boy who we will later find out is Natsume’s father. She looks very much like a more grown up, female version of Natsume, and they seem to have a lot in common when it comes to their basic personality.

Just like Natsume, Kaoru can be serious-minded and doesn’t take any shit. She’s also like him in that she shows affection through teasing.

Mikan, in this chapter, finally asks who this Igarashi person is, since she looks so familiar. Natsume sarcastically says, “Heaven knows.” I’m sure he wasn’t actually expecting to see his mother in these flashbacks. She died when she was very young and as a result she didn’t have the opportunity to talk much about Yuka. It must be a surprise to see that she played such an active role in Mikan’s mother’s life.

Heaven knows. Get it. 'Cause she's dead. Hahahaha.

To everyone else, it’s obvious that the Igarashi person is related to Natsume. Ruka might even directly recognize her from the painting he saw at the Hyuuga house that one time, but either way they look and act so similarly that it’s apparent to everyone but Mikan.

In any case, Natsume is seeing more of his mother than he ever has before. He knows very little about her, since she died when he was so small. He couldn’t have many conversations with her and he spent more time mourning and missing her than actually being with her. Not only is Mikan getting the chance to know the mother that was a mystery to her for her whole life, but Natsume is too. This is also his chance to discover his mother and get to know her, and it’s just his luck that Yuka and Kaoru actually had a strong bond.

After Kaoru intimidates Yuka at the Hana Hime den, Mikan and the gang react to the shocking scene. Kaoru is a force to reckon with, and Noda comments on how this force and tough love helped Yuka find strength in herself and confidence in her own alice.

Ruka insists on knowing more about Kaoru, and since everyone but Mikan seems to get that Kaoru is Natsume’s mother, we can see that Ruka is asking for Natsume. Natsume won’t ask. This is about Yuka, after all, and about Mikan. Natsume will see what he will of his mother insofar as she’s in Yuka’s life. Beyond that, he won’t ask for anything. Ruka knows this, so he asks instead. He wants to know about Natsume too, and what better way than to learn about the woman who seems to have so much in common with him? Natsume is touched that Ruka would go out of his way to ask a question Natsume will not ask.

Noda answers that Kaoru and Yuka will become best friends after this, and Mikan is shocked. How could someone so scary be Yuka’s best friend? But Noda explains: Kaoru has a compassionate and caring heart behind her cold front, just like Natsume, and Yuka could rely on her, even in her darkest moments. Yuka wouldn’t have gained confidence in her alice the way she did without Kaoru by her side.

That is a really fucking long red string!

And then Noda says it so even Mikan can tell now, that Natsume’s mother has always been beloved and a truly amazing person.

Chapter One Hundred and Ten

Noda further explains about Kaoru. She used her alice to spy on the academy for the HSP, and then after she graduated she continued to use her alice to expose corruption. She was deeply committed to doing the right thing and holding the academy responsible, and this commitment was inspiring to Yuka as well, who went down the path she did for the same reasons.

Somehow, their children met at the academy by pure chance, and are standing side by side now.

Here they are, standing together and in love with each other. Fate is a silly thing.

They are fated somehow. The same red string that tied Kaoru to Yuka now ties Natsume to Mikan. In fact, it’s his love for her that motivated him to go against the academy, more than his own misfortune or the wellbeing of other students or even because it was the right thing to do. The strong bond between their mothers now lingers between them, but differently, and maybe even stronger.

Natsume and Mikan are holding hands, looking at each other. Were they always meant to meet? To be together? Nothing is said out loud, but it’s apparent that they’re both thinking about their moms’ past and what exactly it means for their future.

Perhaps there's a difference between fated to fall in love and fated to be together.

Chapter One Hundred and Sixteen

Lots of chapters are getting skipped because there simply isn’t enough content, if any, of Natsume, not to mention NatsuMikan specifically.

Izumi is about to die, and everyone knows it as they watch. Mikan has just returned from falling through the time window. She wanted to warn her father, but Tsubasa was able to bring her back without much changing. Natsume immediately goes to Mikan’s side when she is safely returned and doesn’t leave. He holds her hand because what she’s about to witness will be deeply traumatizing and he knows that she will suffer all the more because she wasn’t able to stop it.

Everything happens as it is meant to, perhaps. Izumi is dying from Rei’s alice, since his own nullification can’t fight against Rei when he uses so much power at once.

I don't have anything clever to say here. He just loves her so much.

Mikan is distraught, and although Natsume first just tries to keep her from approaching the window again, once he sees her crying, despairing face, he shifts. All he’s ever wanted to do was keep her happy, keep her from sinking into even a fraction of the darkness he’s had to live in. It hasn’t always been easy, because Mikan was also destined to suffer, just like him.

Everyone else is pleading with Noda to get them out of the hole, to stop the flashbacks, but Noda can’t. The window is too turbulent and any moves on his part might be dangerous.

Protecting her no matter what doesn't only mean protecting her from physical harm, it means protecting her from seeing horrible things that she shouldn't have to see, like the death of her father.

So Natsume holds Mikan close. It is the only thing he can do, to tell her not to look and to hug her. She doesn’t need to see anymore. Natsume doesn’t just want to protect her physical safety but her mental and emotional well-being as well. He fell in love with a girl who always looks on the bright side, who is so optimistic and kind that her cheerfulness bleeds into everyone else. From the start, he was concerned that if her life darkened, her own light would fade and become tarnished.

But Natsume doesn’t need her to always smile. He just wants to protect her the best he can. If she needs to cry, then she can cry on him. He will hold her and support her and comfort her. She can’t always be happy, but all he’s ever wanted was to be there for her when she can’t be. When she needs to crumble a little, he will be there for her, because she would do the same. She comforted him too, even if she never knew she was doing it. It's not about having her be happy all the time, just minimizing the trauma. He can't protect her from all of it. Everything else is more powerful than he is. He can't keep her ignorant and blissful forever. Nobody can. But if they can't escape the flashback, then he will keep her from looking.

He can do this openly now, so he does. He wants her to know that she can rely on him and seek comfort from him. No matter what happens, he will be there for her.

So as Izumi dies, Natsume and Mikan aren’t looking. She doesn’t need to see. He keeps his focus on her, to support her, because she has to process a deeply traumatic event in a very short time. After all, the flashbacks are still going. Time didn’t stop for Yuka, and it won’t stop for Mikan.

Natsume’s shirt is probably soaked with tears. Not that he cares.

He holds her, not just through Izumi’s death, but for most of the aftermath. He stays, holding her, for as long as she needs him to. He will only let go when she’s okay to stand again. He ends up holding her for a couple chapters, and even when they stop hugging he still holds her up. He'd hold her for hours if she needed it.

Conclusion

Natsume and Mikan learned that their mothers were besties and are now struck with the knowledge that by pure chance they managed to meet and become as close as they did. Natsume confessed to the whole DA class (including Mikan) that he loves her in the last part, and he's done nothing but prove it over and over again.

We'll wrap up what is left of NatsuMikan in the Time-Travel Arc next week on Monday. His low self-esteem, selflessness, and all-consuming love will all take center stage in the next few entries.

Thank you all so much for reading so far. I hope you have a lovely day!

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