#this ep started extremely strong with the s1 vibe

[california-112]

[sothischickshe]

OMG did you finally watch Derry Girls???!! 😱😱😍😍😭😭👀👀💖💖🙈🙈💜💜💞💞💕💕

What did you think? Did you love it? Did you??? Tell me EVERYTHING 😘😘😘😘

Hey sweetie! I hope you're doing well 😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘

& yes, I did finally watch derry girls!

I did end up loving it actually, though it was a bit of a slow burn for me! I warmed fast to the characters/tone/setting/comedic style etc, but it felt like the (earlier) eps had a habit of ending just as they were getting interesting??? Idk, maybe it's partly personal preference or expectations, but they often felt v cliffhangery, only without being picked up ever again??

Classic example would be the first ep where everyone's accusing the girls of killing the old nun, which just kinda ends & I don't think that's ever mentioned subsequently? see also: stowaway jumps into the next car's boot WITH the tent James has been put in charge of in hand, or the hash scones are about to be eaten by the whole family (an extremely egregious example to me haha, you can't tease an everybody must get stoned conclusion and not demonstrate it! 😢), or even Erin writing 'parents' on the board a smile is shared...run credits.

I don't even like plot ha, and I'm def into it just meandering along in the bg while the focus is on the characters, & maybe these endings were supposed to emphasise that vibe, but I don't think it quite worked for me. Contrast with say the ending of the take that concert ep which feels like an ep ending!! <3

I do think the eps mightve benefited from being a little longer (or perhaps the writing mightve benefited from knowing how to write to that length ♻️) generally, & the s1 finale in particular was kinda dampened for me bc I don't think the resolution to the clare-Erin fight feels entirely earned? I totally respect the show choosing to not make Clare's sexuality a source of dramz (& the fact that it won't be amongst their milieu is kinda foreshadowed by everyone's disappointment @ everyone else re their supposed homophobia twds James), but I think this ep needed a liiiiiiil more space for the topic considering how dismissive erin is to clare immediately. (plus, doesn't erin kinda out clare to others eg Mary in discussing this...?)

I feel like the writing got a lot more intricate as the show went on tho! 🤩 eg I remember being struck by the haunt-y ep where James gets hit by the van & clare panics at all the plant pots & throws a rock through the window -- which seem like classic highjinks... And they are, but also they're respectively: a reason the girls are frazzled so end up inadvertently breaking into the wrong place, & a sign they're at the wrong house (the instruction to find the key under 'the' plant pot initially seeming humorous, but actually being a well hidden Reveal). Or ciaran assuming Sarah's broken it off with him to become a nun in the hallowe'en ep?? Impeccable!! Or how the storylines in the train ep (backpacks switcheroo; Mary and sarah running into an acquaintance they can't place) neatly dovetail. The third season really impressed me overall, and particularly that final lengthy special!!!

So I do think my experience of watching this show is strong evidence for my theory that waiting for the whole thing to be out and watching all in one go can be the best way!! Like yes you do miss out on the live fandom screeching experience & can easily run the risk of being spoiled but I got to watch the writing improve in this compressed fashion!! Plus there were certain things where I was reserving judgement to see how they were handled going fwds, and s3 (so good!!) really delivered! Eg clare getting a love interest, michelle/'s family backstory, some discussion from Clare's parents re her sexuality, the girls developing better music taste lol, a bit more interrogation of Mary & gerry's relationship.

As u know I'm a bit of a hard sell on media/stories abt young ppl (to start with there's way too much!), but I really like the tone & setting of the show -- the sort of black comedy vibe, the 90s nostalgia -- and def enjoyed how much the grown ups were present too!! The performance of Tommy tiernan as gerry in particular really stood out to me, he didn't always get many lines, and often the ones he had were quite clipped, but the acting gave it a lot of depth. Plus I love that the mums got their own flashback ep!

I think the erin/James romance was foreshadowed really well + had the exact right amount of focus (ie not a huge amount) + was resolved exactly the right amount (ie fairly implied but open ended); he was an aspiring filmmaker she was an aspiring writer can I make it any more obvious should be more of a trope too sffgddfg. I feel like a lot of shows abt teenagers are either aggressively puritanical abt sex or substances or w/e, or lean hard the other way and instead try to glam up & sexualise boring children, and this did neither! The fact that it didn't focus almost exclusively on romantic pining and/or relationships or get into the partner shuffle game was really refreshing for a ~teen show, & I love that the focus stayed on the group/dynamic.

Other thoughts: Sister George Michael extremely iconic obvi! I really enjoyed James as a device (ppl needing to explain the ~setting to him), I think more shows should do that (espec in place of bloody voiceovers, way too many of those these days, so I loved the lampshading of that trope too); his deployment in the funeral ep (english ppl vs acknowledging the concept of death) really sung for me! And I lovvvve how uncle colm was used (espec in s3)!! I generally really like how Sarah & orla were portrayed/treated by the show also. And the music was done v well -- both in terms of songs chosen and how they were used! Some very iconic guest stars too, although omg i didn't even recognise ardal o'hanlon which is WILD given I slogged through a fair amount of my hero for him back in the day 😅

Anyhow yes I did love it, excellent rec, and I think it would be fun to rewatch. I'd be curious to hear/read more abt the writing actually, and particularly re when character details were decided (eg Michelle's brother backstory) cos stuff generally did seem to hang together well overall 😊

....ok, that enough thoughts for ya? 😆

[sour-n-salty-citrus]

Do you have any hopes for the season finale? I saw in another ask, you described the dynamic between rick and morty this season as "very weak, distant, and downright frankly boring" and I completely agree with you! I hope that, because this is most we'll see rick and morty interacting this season, it'll have at least a few moments of what makes their dynamic so interesting to watch.

(Ok i started airing my grievances with this season, which ended up being... long, so skip this paragraph (starting at / / /) to get to my thoughts on the finale)

Oh gosh I remember that ask (I think-). And yeah, maybe I'm being a bit overly critical. I'll probably look back on this season with retrospect, and a kinder, fonder view. Ik androgynousblackbox (think thats right) made a great point about it being the season FOR rickorty shippers. And sure, I agree on some bits, like Rick acting all pissy and partying the way you would if your ex got with someone new in the planetina ep. Overall though, i think my problem lies in that I was enjoying more individual moments than episodes themselves, especially the middle three. For example- Amortycan Grickfitti. Like, I really liked the idea of the Ship getting on a crazy adventure with Summer and Morty (and Chutback). I like the idea of a Beth-Jerry-Rick adventure. But put together, it's just kinda... meh? You know? I liked the first half of the Thanksgiving special... but it kinda dragged on after that. I get that they want to give other characters (particularly female ones) more attention, which is completely understandable and i encourage it(!) but I can't help but find it underwhelming. Like, Summer in the voltron ep was like- girl how are you STILL vying for Rick's attention! He's the worst! Haven't we done this already? (I will say though I ADORE how far Beth has come, props to her for continuing to seeing through her dad's BS. I was worried the character would relapse into a more typical s1/s2 Beth, and I'm glad she didn't). Some of these plots, funnily enough, seem more fitting of the comics (they actually had a voltron parody already). Fun and entertaining for two or three-something issues, not so much a 22 minute episode. i think most of my complaints come from the dynamic between our titular characters- ok, I know I'm very biased (I mean you can see it), but I came to the show primarily for their relationship. It doesn't even feel drama-fueled, just that they kinda... can't be arsed. I'm torn because on the one hand, they're unhealthily codependent and this separation is probably a good thing, but on the other... it doesn't feel natural? I'm not sure if that's the right word- it's like, season 4 had them practically joint at the hip, but all that's suddenly flung out the window. It just kinda feels like this "i got better things to do" vibe from both of them and its strange. The only time they both got a solo adventure (I'm classifying "solo" as an adventure where they spent a significantly large portion of time together, without the other family members) was in the sperm ep and Thanksgiving ep. And, well, in the Thanksgiving ep Morty felt like a side character in his own show, and the sperm ep... um. Yeah. I don't think it's AS bad as people were saying, but I was cringing the whole time (the second hand embarrassment for Morty was so strong I had to turn off the episode multiple times and return to it. It's just like- godammit MORTY). And I think there's good reason those two seemed to be the most disliked episodes overall. They're the ones RaM spend the most time together and it's... meh. Meh? Meh. I don't mean to say the season overall is bad (it has loads of good points, and its amazing for Smith family as a whole) just that if we're talking specifically about the dynamic between these two? Yeah, I wouldn't recommend a single episode from this season so far to use as an example of their relationship.

/ / /

There's one thing this season has been pretty good at, though. And it's showing us what happens when Rick is alone.

And that brings me to the finale.

"Who is Rick without Morty?"

Well... we already know the answer to that. Pathetic. Sad. Lonely.

This season has been phenomenal in humbling Rick. (And trust me I'm happy for it- every time someone beats the crap outta this shitty old man I'm like YES!!! IT'S WHAT HE DESERVES!). Ep 1 had his "nemesis" clearly besting him, ep 2 had Beth making constant digs (love her) and overall pointing out his extreme callousness and cruelty towards even himself(ves). Ep 3- when Morty shows interest in a girl and ditches him (like seriously it's not like he's moving out, chill) he immediately goes on a bender and develops a deep attachment to the first person he can (wearing yellow, funnily enough). Ep 4, he devotes himself to becoming an "honest man" for his new child, only for it to instantly be taken away from him. Ep 5 highlights how RICK is the asshole for making fun of and taking advantage of someone well-meaning and honest, if "simple", and how literally not cool that is. Ep 6 has his crazy rivalry with the president, and they both get smacked down a couple pegs for that. Ep 7 shows what happens when he allows himself to get carried away, and that he can end up driving everyone else away in the process (lucky they still wanted to save his ass when he needed them). And episode 8? Hooooo boy. Episode. 8. We see a direct parallel in Birdperson with Morty, and the whole "Rick and [insert] 100 years!" Rick has few people he cares about, arguably only one or two that he truly devotes himself to, but when he does, boy does he go HARD. We see younger Rick, optimistic, energetic, friendly and hopeful. And we see all of that crushed in minutes. Rick is desperate for a companion, someone to see the stars with. He needs someone there, someone he can trust and rely on to stay. Someone like Morty. So without Morty, who is Rick?

No one.

And the thing is, Morty doesn't need Rick anymore. Not like Rick needs him. In season 1, Morty was this bright-eyed kid who was new to the cosmos and the multiverse, who needed his grandpa there with him as they explored all these places together. But that's not him anymore. That's not them.

The promo has Morty using the portal gun to go somewhere w/o Rick's permission (i like to think it's boob world lol). It doesn't matter to me as much where he's going, as much as he's doing it alone. He doesn't just not need Rick there, he doesn't want him.

(Also correct me if im wrong but I've missed that sweet portal gun so much. I think the last ep was like- the first time this season we saw it).

Morty's response to Rick? "Replace me!". And wow. Wow. WOW. Morty doesn't give a FUCK! I think Rick thinks that because he's so smart, that he can offer so much, that Morty will come crawling back, and I don't think he will.

Hopes for the finale! Hmm. I mean, I definitely hope "evil" Morty makes a reappearance, haha. I think we all do tbh ;). I want to see some Morty development too, this season has been very Rick-centric (not that there's anything wrong with that!) so I wanna see what's in store for Our Boy. I really hope we get to see the Citadel again, and see the state it's in, but I doubt it. We know something super big is in store, it's just a question of what? Other hopes I have is some Summer + Beth action (please let them team up Im BEGGING) and Jerry too ahaha. I'd love if some other side characters made an appearance as well. Oh- I'm definitely expecting a dramatic cliffhanger at the end of the first half leading to the second half, with the kind of angsty music that leads into the credits (pls that shit is so good (OH WAIT imagine if it was like, for the damaged coda, but like- the chopin version or smth so it could be more subtle maybe bruhhhh)). Ok haha, maybe that's asking too much, the writers made it clear in the story train ep that they weren't gonna do that big dramatic showdown (... unless 👀). Oh, I'd also love some Premium Angst too, like someone getting kidnapped/nearly dying (like ACTUALLY nearly dying). These stakes better be so damn high I could spear a man on them! OH, also I remember androgynousblackbox (is that right? I hope it is) mentioned something along the lines that they could be driving Rick and Morty apart this season in order to have them come back together stronger than ever in an explosive finale, which, I'm strongly hoping for myself.

Thanks if you made it this far! If you have any thoughts on or hopes of your own for the finale please feel free to share! :D

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S5 Ep 17:  Joey Falling Down for 20 Minutes

It is HOT in my house and so I’m going to do my best but no promises!

It’s a holiday weekend, which usually means I should catch up on work that’s falling behind, but today means that it is too hot to do anything but talk about this weird arc of Yugioh. One where, in case you forgot, we are in an isekai that takes place in an Egyptian pyramid that is in the Northern part of India. Oh, and this isekai was made by Alexander the Freakin Great. Don’t worry about it.

What’s weird about this, is that we are definitely in that anime video game isekai genre, but we are actually in less of an isekai realm than normal Yugioh. There’s no game stats. There’s no game rules. Just these pokemon tubes we shoot at other monsters and we just let them do whatever. Kinda like a reverse isekai if you will.

This arc definitely has more of a Rated G quality to it, it’s trying really hard to capture that Wile E. Coyote feel. And does it hit it? No, not really, which is a shame because we would all like to see an Emperor’s New Groove style of wackiness applied to any show, honestly. But, instead, we get so many dry one liners out of Joey Wheeler who is like side-eyeing the camera like “nyeh, remember when this show was grimdark?”

(read more under the cut)

At some point last episode Joey Wheeler got abducted by this bird, who is a mother of this many children.

I don’t know why anyone in their right mind would be like “yes, Joey is delicious” but these birds will try to eat Joey for the rest of this episode. Some sort of crazy pheromone is going on with his shampoo, and they want all of it.

Faced with the end of this gimmick we are introduced to that convenient tree branch that is in basically every animated show with a freefall in it, but something about Yugioh feels just real enough to make this particular splat....REALLY painful looking.

And after this series of random events, we get yet another convenient plot device.

Usually you have to go out and find your MacGuffin, but in the case of Joey Wheeler the MacGuffin got tired of waiting and just went out to greet him.

Alexander the Great’s free time sure is something else if he just made a magical D&D campaign with monsters and stuff and then just...never used it. He just decided to leave this here for hundreds of years later. Just cuz he was too busy taking over the middle East and romancing just so many people, I guess?

Haunted D&D game for sale, never used.

We are finally introduced with a rule to this game, and the rule is: You will die. Does that mean now their Pokemon run is Nuzlocke?

Man...I think I have used a Nuzlocke joke on this blog here before but like it just really changes the dynamics of Pokemon if they can freakin die and then Ash Ketchum also freakin dies.

Like take this orange “baby” dragon with pecks that are the size of hubcaps. If it freakin dies, so does Joey Wheeler.

Joey of course, can’t truly walk anymore, so it’s a good thing he’s letting baby dragon do all the work.

Meanwhile, in the woods, Yugi is getting attacked by a bunch of trees and that just makes sense.

These Deku trees look so much like something out of a Adult Swim show but I cannot put my finger on what it is. I think it’s that hair. It has strong vibes to something I watched in my youth...but I don’t know what it was at all.

Anyway, trapped in a small corner, Yami gets his second monster to bond with his entire soul, and it’s exactly the sort of thing he’d get really excited about.

This animation of Yami smiling as he stares into the horrific fire he started in the woods to burn so many sentient trees is very on point for Yugioh.

Never let Yami back into California.

Straight up fire season is a few months going now, and I’m already so tired of the endless anxiety that is fire season.

Meanwhile, Joey has gone to a waterfall, most likely in order to ice his crotch from falling directly onto a tree branch.

Coincidentally, he finds yet another MacGuffin. And like, I guess this is because of Joey being lucky, but it’s extremely kid’s show because stuff just keeps happening.

Baby Dragon sets Joey Wheeler on fire again (FREAKIN FIRE) and honestly...how many times are we going to set Joey Wheeler on fire in this show? We’ve had a literal fireball, fire golem, that god card that was just a fire bird, and like...an actual volcano last season?

Is Joey made out of asbestos?

Good thing Kaiba isn’t here to completely disregard this map, but although they’re certainly better about finding out where to go than a Kaiba...they ain’t good at it.

Tea and Tristan spend this whole episode fighting a giant merman. It felt a lot like card stuff so I skipped most of it, just know the big thing was that Tea remembered that her pokemon can heal Tristan. And that was a little weird because Tristan was like “That’s the GOOD STUFF give me MORE OF THAT” and it’s like...would it actually feel a little bit like drugs?

I mean it would, right?

And then, as it looked like they were about to die, the episode ended with a mysterious man using his monster to save them, that’s right, it’s the only other person it could possibly be.

Not Kaiba, I know. We all wish it were, but it appears that Seto got grounded this arc, and when he was like “Roland! We are going to India!” Mokuba and everyone else in that office promptly hid the keys to the wifejet by flushing them directly down Seto’s dragon-shaped toilet.

Instead it’s just Grandpa.

Pretty sure Kaiba’s voice actor went on vacation during this arc, from what I’ve heard.

PS, as you can see--I numbered the episodes wrong. We are on 17 now. I have no idea how that happened. I don’t know where I went wrong. I will probably not fix it.

Like seriously how do I keep misnumbering these episodes, haha.

Anyway, hope y’all have a safe holiday weekend for those that celebrate, and if you want to see fireworks, go to a show done by a licensed professional (not your weird cousin), or get a good score in Super Mario, or watch it on TV. Overall, don’t be the dumbass that burns down half of California! And have a good time!

And if you aren’t doing anything this weekend, or you’re just new to the blog--hello! You can read all of these episodes from S1 Ep1 using this link.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[bon-nii]

There's literally no stakes in the anime at all. Its so bland and emotionless. I don't feel anything for these characters. Everything is being handed to them. Give me back my son, Adam. He is far more intelligent than any of these anime characters. They all drank stupid juice.

Yeah, I definitely agree. I'm just watching to see where this ends up at this point (and also to shitpost lmfao)

Every Thursday me and two of my friends (one has read most of the manga, the other is anime-only) watch it on discord, or talk about it on discord and man... my friend who is anime-only is like "yeah, this sucks ass, I need to just read the manga" and is confused with stuff. We just kinda clown on it at this point. It's basically just someone's shitty canon-divergence AU playing out on screen.

Random assortment of thoughts:

I can sympathize with Manga Norman. I can understand WHY he is doing what he is doing and what his motivations are. It is, quite frankly, completely disgusting what he wants to do, but I can get why he wants to do it and I don't hate him. He is a very complex character, trying to make sense/live in a very complex world. Anime Norman on the other hand? I feel nothing for him like, I just Do Not Care. Norman is, imo, the best written out of the three mains and my personal favorite, but they've completely squandered his writing... ugh

I've held strong by this belief: If you are going to adapt TPN, there are 3 major characters who you *cannot afford* to mess up. Isabella, Yuugo, and Norman. (I'd even throw Peter and Leuvis in there as well) Well, Yuugo's gone and if they *do* decide to have him show up his character is completely different (i.e. the out of character note he leaves at the bunker). Norman has next to none of the depth he had in the OG story (I can't remember, but didn't Cislo or Barbara say that he saved the kids at the mass production plants? Uhhh, what?!?!). And Isabella is being built up as the big villain YET AGAIN which does not align with her development at all (though I do think they will still pull a bait-n-switch on us like in the manga) so there goes that.

Peter and Leuvis oh where do I start? Leuvis is my personal favorite villain of the story for multiple reasons (I think I will write an entire post on him sometime) and Peter is the epitome of everything Emma stands against and is essentially the Big Bad. Leuvis is gone, Peter is in the op but has had ZERO screentime thus far, not even any fucking hints to his existence at all. There's 5 eps left so he has to show up at some point, right? He's in the opening soooo... where the hell is he? How are viewers supposed to give a shit about him? He's pretty fucking dangerous and has been influencing the plot since day ONE, but whatever I guess??

Anime Ray is the only one I vibe with rn, and even then he's meh. Anime Emma is on thin fucking ice, and Anime Norman can be fed to the Dropkick Murpheys for all I care.

Infodumps. My god. These bitches be talking like they're reading a wikipedia article.

The literal butchering of Emma's character. Goldy Pond would have been the ep 19 of Demon Slayer of this anime season if they had adapted it, and I stand by that. The amount of HYPE on social media that would have happened after Emma pulls herself from the brink of death to challenge Leuvis would have been insane. There are so few strong, well-written female shonen protagonists... damn shame that the brilliance of Emma is relegated solely to s1 and the pages of the manga, she is a husk of herself in this season.

No character growth. Trio is separate for 90 chapters. That's literally half of the entire manga. There's no feeling of separation, no feeling that they are wildly different people now. These three have spent their entire lives together. Ray and Emma have to struggle without Norman, and Norman has to struggle without Ray and Emma. It's so important. This dynamic *literally* dictates how they grow as characters. When they are finally reunited it is so emotional and amazing, but also a bit unsettling because Norman is *clearly* not the Norman we remember... but in the anime we don't feel any of the impact of those 2 years.

Yuugo and Lucas. Contrasting the love Isabella gave to the kids with the love these two dads give to them. Adds a lot to the story. RIP.

Also RIP Adam and the Gold Pond kids... jeeeeeze there was so much potential.

Anime sacrifices extremely hard-hitting and emotional moments for cheap shock factor (namely, bunker raid and the trio reunion)

Speaking of the trio reunion, why the FUCK does Anime Norman not give a shit about Anime Ray? Hes completely ignored, and it's not like in the manga where he came in later no, like... he's there, seeing Norman at the same time Emma is. There's like, a solid minute and a half of Norman and Emma crying over each other while Ray just stands in the back like 🧍‍♂️and then is added as an afterthought. Emma's like "oh yeah, I brought Ray" GIRL??? And Norman is like "oh hey Ray.." BITCH?!?! YOU KNEW HE WAS GONNA FUCKING KILL HIMSELF AND HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING WHETHER OR NOT EMMA WAS ABLE TO STOP HIS SUICIDE, FOR 2 YEARS??? AND YOU JUST IGNORE HIM?? AND THEN ACKOWLEDGE HIM AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT?? I--okay!

Manga Norman: Emma and Ray are my best friends and I love them more than anything in the world, but Ray understands me in a way that Emma doesn't. They are both important to me.

Anime Norman: who the fuck is ray

Zero suspense. Minimal world building. Very minimal lore building. No mystery.

What the fuck is up with the William Minerva part of the plot like... uh, that's pretty important??? He's been completely dropped and there's zero reason for us to connect him with Norman. Like, he had his phone call in ep 3 and then any mention of him dipped. Disappointing as hell. Don't get to see the parallels drawn between him and Norman. Man...

Yeah idk what else... am I being too critical? Honestly, not sure. I think my criticisms and frustrations are well-founded, but I am definitely basing most of this off of the anime's failure to adapt the manga. Though I suppose, looking from an anime-only standpoint who has no idea just how much of the story has been axed, it might be okay or it might not be? Or it might depend on the person... in any case, I cant fathom how anyone could look at this season and go "Yeah, this feels like the same show as season 1!"

[ambitionsource]

did you guys ever have voice casts for the characters? like people/singers you think the characters would sound like n all that? if so would you mind sharing them?

This is such an interesting question... admittedly, Es and I hadn’t really thought about it! We especially just think about the actual actors for those who already sing, but we can provide a couple other samples for each person if it intrigues you to know! Let’s see...

FARKLE | Corey actually does sing -- though not often in this version of reality -- but I do believe he has some professional training. We think of this song he’s recorded in particular, which I think is a really good example of how he sounds circa S1 in my head (this song is actually a bop. The YT version cuts out like 20 seconds too early but I found a version on Tumblr last year that was full so now I have it on my phone LMAO let’s go 2015 Corey). Anyway, it’s that pretty stereotypical power tenor vibe. A couple more comparisons I suggest are:

Jonathan Groff -- I think Jonathan Groff is the best comparison I can make. He’s theatrical, he has a pretty impressive range, but he rests pretty comfortably in the natural tenor range. Like he can do Kristoff one minute and King George from Hamilton the next, and I think that is equitable to Farkle’s range. The man key is that he’s a powerful vocalist. I think Farkle’s true center of his voice has a higher resting place than Groff, but it’s close enough. Example track: Bohemian Rhapsody. One of Glee’s best and an amazing display of Groff’s vocal range in one track. Farkle could match this beat for beat, flair for flair.

Chris Colfer -- I think that the flair Chris Colfer brings to a lot of his performances on Glee match well to Farkle’s vocal stylings as well (which is why he’s done a few performances with that version), but to be clear, I think Colfer’s voice is softer / higher than Farkle’s. It’s more about... emotion and inflection here than tone. Example track: Not the Boy Next Door. Farkle did this on the show, so you know we endorse it. This was also the track Esther brought up when I asked for her opinion.

Brendon Urie -- I think that Urie’s range is really akin to Farkle’s. I don’t think Farkle has at all the same kind of flair or inflection that Urie does (and Farkle is obviously more Broadway than radio), but on certain tracks I think it’s pretty cross applicable. Example track: Dying In LA

I’ll continue this under a read more to spare everyone who doesn’t want to read on because clearly this will be lengthy LOL.

RILEY | I have not heard Rowan sing since the thinly attached source material theme song days, so I honestly don’t think of her much as Riley’s voice (though I think she could do it if trained for it). Especially because of all the mains, Riley is one of the ones who is meant to be less trained and unimposing. For me, the most important quality to Riley’s voice is that it’s not overwhelming. It’s beautiful, and leaves an impact when you listen, but it’s never going to be Maya or Zay’s big, brassy vocals. And that’s fine. That’s what makes it unique in the landscape of the show (and why it appeals to Lucas rather than turns him away). A couple more comparisons I suggest are:

Amanda Seyfried -- I admittedly only know Seyfried’s work in the first Mamma Mia film, but she has the right delicate soprano that I envision Riley having. It’s like... a lilting, soft thing that’s enjoyable to listen to but can escalate into strong belting if needed and handle it effectively enough. Example track: Thank You For Music. Literally a perfect track for Riles.

Phillipa Soo -- Another great example of a powerful soprano player. Case in point enough that we’ve had Riley do a Eliza Hamilton song on the show already. Gentle and gorgeous, but sharp and intense when it needs to be. Example track: Burn.

mxmtoon -- First of all, let this be my plug that everyone should listen to mxmtoon. I love her. She has this lovely gentle voice and her instrumentation is so good. Her EP dusk is gorgeous and I cannot recommend it enough. But she is a great non-theater example of what I think Riley’s voice is like. She varies between ukulele and piano, and everything is just really understated and nice. Example track: show and tell.

MAYA | This is easy. I literally don’t have to say like anything. She just is Sab. That’s it. Like Sab is a phenomenal vocalist and she’s brassy and bold and has range and that’s all Maya is. Like literally that’s it LOL. If you need examples, hit her discography, but I’ll specifically highlight “Sue Me,” “Looking At Me,” and “Diamonds Are Forever” aka the Sab songs we’ve had her do on the show.

ZAY | Zay is an interesting one, because I don’t really think he fits any specific category in my head. He kind of defies definition. He definitely has a brassy swing to him that allows him to pull off showstopping numbers (like his Kossal audition with “Ain’t No Way”), but he can pull it back and reshape it to fit breathtaking musical theater renditions (like “Music and the Mirror”) or banging contemporary (think “Consideration” or “Self Control”) in a way that I don’t think Farkle or Maya can. He is the most vocally versatile of the bunch, and that makes his comparisons sort of wide-reaching as well. I’m not really familiar with Amir’s vocal ability outside of rap (so at least we know he can do that), but based purely on what I hear in my imagination, a few comparisons:

Leslie Odom Jr. -- A younger and less polished Odom, to be clear, but this is a big one for me. I think Odom’s vocal strength and range is so impressive, and what really strikes me is how... grounded and resonant his voice is. That’s a big thing for Zay for me -- you never doubt he’ll be able to support his vocals and that they’re strongly rooted. If he ever cracked or ran out of breath, it would be a shock. This is also really tied to Zay because of how much I would kill to see him perform “Wait For It” and how I feel like it’s such a Zay song. But anywho... Example track: Wait For It.

Frank Ocean -- Ocean has such a cool interesting range and does a lot of things with his performances vocally, so that’s why he’s on here in that he also defies definition. I think Zay also considers Ocean a musical inspiration, so it makes sense that he would adopt or emulate some of his style. I feel like he also translates emotion well, which is a key Zay trait too. Example track: Godspeed.

Amber Riley -- Now hear me out here. Obviously, Zay is a baritone and Amber is like a mezzo soprano / alto / what have you, but the reason I’m listing this Glee legend as a comp is because the quality of her performances is so sharp. It’s like, any time Amber performed on the show it was jawdropping. Her vocal runs are insane, the power behind her vocals is awe-inspiring. She captivates you from the first note, and that is why I always think of Zay. That’s how it is when he performs too, especially in moments where he’s trying to sell it (like his Kossal audition). I wouldn’t be giving my authentic comparisons if I didn’t mention this. So there. Example track: And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going (I would sell my soul to see Zay perform this. Please. PLEASE. Maybe I’ll crowdsource with Charlie and we’ll both sell our kidneys).

CHARLIE | Speaking of Charlie, he’s an interesting one, too. I honestly didn’t really... have a concept of how he sounded in my head, but then when I learned that Tanner sings, it was not at all whatever was deep in my head. But I love his voice, so I think I kind of ended up reconfiguring my perception of what Charlie sounds like around that revelation and now I’m still kind of trying to figure out exactly what that sounds like in the context of the show. The thing is, though, I think Charlie also doesn’t really know what his style is (LMAO), so it’s okay that we’re experimenting a little bit. Like in S1, the few times he sang, it was all over the place but mainly radio. Then in S2, he did predominantly musical theater duets. And now in S3, we’ve really just gone all over the map (from punk-rock opera with “Superstar” to bubblegum pop with “Party For One”) and there’s a lot of fun in that. Where Charlie will land, I don’t know yet, but I will share with you all Tanner’s only recorded song at this point and you all can start to orient yourselves from there. But a few other ideas to get the ball rolling:

Norbert Leo Butz -- Now here’s the thing... Charlie doesn’t sound like this LOL. The reason I’m including Butz is because I started writing about Jeremy Jordan and his rendition of “If I Didn’t Believe In You” and Jordan’s rendition is truly just so inferior that I realized no, I really don’t think Charlie sounds like Jeremy Jordan. So then I ended up here, and you know what, here’s the thing. I think an older Charlie would sound like Norbert Leo Butz. Like, give him 10 or so years, and this is where he’ll settle. To a degree at least -- I don’t think he’ll ever go quite as brassy or bold as Butz can lean sometimes, but the way he like... emotes through his vocals feels extremely Charlie, and the range is about right in terms of voice part. Anyway, give him 10 years, and then get to the point with this amazing example track that is one of my favorite musical theater tracks ever even though I hate the character who sings it. Example track: If I Didn’t Believe In You.

Oshima Brothers -- The shape of the O bros vocals don’t quite match how I hear Charlie in my head (they’re a bit too flat), but the essence of their performances resonate with him very strongly. It’s that gentle, soft-spoken acoustic vibe that I think is so core to Charlie’s performing delivery, which is part of why he’s so consistently overlooked even when he proves time and time again that he can bring compelling vocals (i.e. Haverford’s semi-finals setlist). Example track: Cadence.

Harry Styles -- It’s funny to think that if Charlie saw I was comparing him to Harry Styles he would lose his shit, but I want to be very specific about why and under what conditions I’m including him as a comparison (as he’ll show up on another person’s list too). I think Styles specifically works as a comp for Charlie in regards to the general tone and quality of his voice, in particular when it is on a softer acoustic (like “Cherry” or “Sweet Creature”) and when it’s more upbeat (like “Lights Up”). Like I’m not out here being like Charlie is as good as Harry Styles LOL, but I think the core qualities of their voices are similar. Especially when cross-compared with the other examples above along with Tanner’s actual voice. Example track: Sweet Creature.

ISADORA | Isadora is an anomaly of sorts, since she’s that character archetype where they never expected to be a singer but then ended up being talented anyway (Asher is in the same box). I tend to imagine her with a defined alto register, and a slightly huskier, gravelly tone as compared to Maya’s polished, trained vocals and Riley’s gentle, chime-like resonance. So it’s like... gritty, in a way? I have never heard Ceci sing, though I’ve been told she has once upon a time, but I am working basically from scratch in regards to how I imagine her. So without further ado, some comparisons I suggest:

Jorja Smith -- I think Jorja is the most Isa-like track we’ve had her do on the show thus far, to my brain at least. She has this charming edge to her vocals even when they’re on the softer side which is exactly what I envision for her, and I think there’s such a strong definition to when she jumps into her lower register. Whereas with Isa, I think it would be the same, but reaching into her upper notes would be even more of an audible stretch. Example track: Don’t Watch Me Cry.

Dua Lipa -- Another strong alto here, which automatically tracks Isadora for me. Dua especially has that husky quality I was describing. I would recommend all of her Live Acoustic EP to get a sense of what I’m highlighting most as a comparable, but it’s just that like... slight grit, gonna-kick-your-ass alto excellence. It’s so hard to articulate so I hope you get what I’m saying LOL. Example track: Tears Dry On Their Own Acoustic.

Madison Reyes -- I don’t know how many of y’all have watched Julie and the Phantoms yet, but it’s fun. And Madison has a great voice, which made her another good comp for Isadora. Same thing of like that unpolished but compelling belter, slightly gravelly quality. Example track: Wake Up.

LUCAS | Obviously, Lucas doesn’t sing all that often. And when we do give him songs, or roles in songs, most of the time it’s of a variation where he can more talk-sing the words than actually Sing. But he’s not totally exempt, so he deserves a comparison. For me, it’s like... the way Lucas would tell it it’s like he’s the worst singer ever in the history of the universe and you should never hear him, but honestly he’s like. Fine. He’s not great and he would never have gotten into the school for singing, but he’s not terrible. He’s passable. When he tries, it’s charming. I think the biggest key that makes him different from everyone else is he doesn’t have much of a range -- when I pick songs for him, I always try to go for ones that kind of stay within the same octave or register for the entirety so it’s almost like monotone singing, because that’s about what he can handle decently (his performance in 211 being an exception, of course, because it had to be). So, comparing accordingly:

Harry Styles -- I warned you he’d be back again, but this criteria is even more hyper-specific than Charlie. I think Styles is a great comp for Lucas in the very limited tracks where he is not showing off in any capacity and is really just keeping it stripped down and to the point (think “To Be So Lonely”). His cover of “Girl Crush” is another good example of what I mean. It’s basically like the same 4 or 5 notes and very little movement or flash, and his voice kind of takes on a grittier, flatter quality which is what I’m aiming for. Example track: From the Dining Table

That’s really it honestly. He doesn’t perform enough to warrant much else. You get the idea lmao.

ASHER | Although we didn’t expect it back in the days of S1, Asher has certainly jumped up to take spotlight in terms of performing in the last couple of seasons! Ricky (along with Liam) are actual singers and were together in a band for several years, so there’s no doubt they can sing and I think of their voices most often (in particular, I recommend the “Compass” music video, because it’s a good song and allows you to actively see which boy is singing what). But admittedly, Ricky’s handful of solo tracks since FIYM went on hiatus are average at best (and his lyricism... king you need Liam to write your lyrics LMAO), so I don’t usually jump to his music as examples of what I think he -- or Asher -- is actually capable of. So with Ricky’s good vocals as a base, here are some additional comparisons:

Ruel -- Cannot stress this one enough. There’s a reason Asher’s true initial debut was Ruel’s best track (”Younger”). He just has that perfect like... strong tenor with soft edges that feels very teenage twink and very Asher. It’s not quite Diva!Asher flair, but at Asher’s most base vocal style, I think Ruel is the perfect match. Example track: Down For You

Troye Sivan -- Same kind of traits here in terms of like smooth tenor, and in this case it actually is a certified twink singing so the crossover is even more apt. I don’t think Asher is as... electronic as Troye’s production often is, but the general range of his voice is close enough to be considered a match. Example track: 10/10

DYLAN | So same FIYM video shared in Asher’s applies here as well, but I think what works so well about Liam’s voice in regards to Dylan is that I think the key trait to Dylan is that he’s not flashy. When I think about Liam’s voice (and I love his voice, he’s my favorite FIYM member), I often think about when Sue on Glee called Quinn’s voice a “soft, forgettable alto,” but only it’s a tenor and I mean it in a nice way. The most endeared way. Dylan is less about being impressive and more about just like... character. His voice is not the best in the bunch but you can feel how him all of his performances are through his inflections and his energy. That’s what Dylan vocally feels like to me. So aside from his soft, forgettable tenor on the second verse of “Compass,” here’s a couple other niche comparisons for Dyl Pickle:

Princeton in Avenue Q -- Whenever “Purpose” comes on shuffle, I think about Dylan because of how distinct and energetic the delivery of the song is. There’s just so many little quirks and inflections and moments of fun within the vocals, and that reminds me so much of how Dylan performs. Little laughs, free-wheeling runs, stuff like that. Example track: Purpose.

Graham Verchere -- This dude like isn’t even actually a singer and he isn’t that big an actor, but I love love love his rendition of “Thirteen” with Grace VanderWaal and every time I listen to it I think about Dylan and Asher. It captures the other end of Dylan’s range for me (the soft, forgettable tenor thing) in the sense of like... imagining Dylan plucking out songs for fun on his guitar while hanging out with Asher and then playfully serenading him and the two of them doing a carefree, easy duet like this. I just love it. So I’ll include it. Example track: Thirteen.

[transarchivist]

do you have any podcasts recs? I want to listen to archive 81 but I need some backup and I've already listened to the more "famous" ones, like all of them I binge podcasts like they pay me for me it ajsjjshfje

!!!! ok i'm sorry it's taken me a hot minute to get to you BUT i think i have a good amount of reccomendations :o

these first few are kinda "famous" but i thought i'd point em out just in case! some of them ended a few years ago and they were more well known back when they were running

wolf 359: gotta point this one out juuuust in case you haven't listened to it! amazing sci fi... would drama be the right word? it's very intense and has some really interesting meditations on morality and the self But it's also so extremely funny. complete, ended in 2017

ars paradoxica: america during the cold war, the red scare, intense government conspiracies.... And Time Travel! complicated but amazing plot and a big cast- i would recommend not pausing and listening to something else, it gets complex! mischa stanton directed it so you Know it has stellar sound design (added bonus: lgbt main characters) complete, ended in 2018

the bright sessions: people with superpowers go to therapy! plus: shadowy capitalistic conspiracies, amazing romances and phenomenal character development! i'm not a fan of romances and i Loved the ones here (it's not heavily romance focused though!) (added bonus: lgbt main characters + main lgbt romance) complete, ended in 2018. i think a spin off series is running rn tho!

the adventure zone: this isn't an audio drama, it's an actual play d&d podcast! the first season (balance) is amazing- hilarious and heart wrenching! (the heart wrenching takes a while to kick in but MAN it's so good) the first season ended in 2017. i haven't finished the second big season (amnesty) but i loved what i did listen to, same with the currently running season (graduation)

sayer: starts off as sinister night vale but with an ai and in space, evolves into a complicated save-the-world plot concerning several ais. it's in second person and it's Amazing! lots of meditations on the self and personhood. currently on hiatus but will be ending when it resumes

alice isn't dead: from the people who did night vale! starts as a trucker trying to find her wife, evolves to include shadowy government conspiracies and the power of regular people banding together. ending made me tear up it's really good! it's Big on the horror (the first ep is the only podcast that's ever truly scared me and it continues to scare the shit out of me to this day) but its Extremely Good Horror. very americana too! complete, ended in 2018.

ok that's the more well known ones out of the way, i think? i'm not too confident about how well known some of them are nowadays ^^' all i can say is that i heard abt them frequently in 2016. now onto the lesser known ones ! the ones that are complete are generally pretty short listens (relatively- they're still a good handful of hours at the least)

zero hours: by the wolf 359 people, it's a short anthology that released all at once last year. to pharaphrase/quote the official blurb: each episode is a take on the end of the world, whether the apocalypse is planetary or personal. each episode is separated by 99 years, starting in the past (1722) reaching the present and then overtaking it. surprisingly hopeful ending, made me <:')

i am in eskew: you've probably heard me holler about this before- it follows the trials and tribulations of david ward, who lives in the nightmarish and otherworldly city of eskew. 30 episodes long and complete, with a phenomenal ending! i can't rave about this enough i could Keep talking but i'll cut myself short. it's horror and it's damn good horror! does deal with extremely heavy topics, please be careful!

janus descending: sci fi horror with what has to be the most interesting formatting i've seen in ages: the two points of view alternate each episode... but one is chronological and one is backwards! amazingly done, keeps you guessing until the end! complete. follows peter and chel as they undertake a survey mission on an alien planet

midnight radio: made by @/theradioghost! big on the idea that "all ghost stories are love stories". a 1950s radio hostess gets letters from a fan. horror, big on the 1950s aesthetics, focus on the relationship between one and one's hometown. lovely ending! it's sapphic too :]

the far meridian: by the same people who did ars paradoxica! follows peri, a bit of a hermit who has extreme social anxiety, who lives in a lighthouse that suddenly begins to teleport. each morning peri wakes up and the lighthouse is in a different place! there are like... some horror elements? kinda? but it's not intense imo. it mainly follows peri learning to cope with her anxiety & helping others, with each episode usually having a one off encounter (usually pretty strange!) often has wholesome vibes. s3 is currently in production and is the final season. plus: lgbt characters, and kinda spoilers but peri uses a cane later on!

old gods of appalachia: honestly it's what it says on the tin! a collection of short stories set in historical appalachia that deal with entities beyond human understanding. they're good about trigger warnings, but it's Horror. produced by actual appalachians! stellar music, a Lot strong female characters, and a good amount of lgbt rep! killer music!! it's currently releasing but the latest short story is finished. (do listen in order though!)

the deep vault: by the archive 81 team! in an "almost-post-apocalyptic" america a group of friends chase a rumor about a secret hidden vault, only to Find it! follows the group as they traverse the deep vault. horror, actively points out capitalism a Lot, definetly has an interesting ending! amazing sound design, which is to be expected from dan powell!

tides: the official blurb is short and sweet: "tides is the story of dr. winnifred eurus, a xenobiologist stuck on an unfamiliar planet with hostile tidal forces". extremely snarky and endearing main character and fascinating worldbuilding! i don't know the status of s2, but s1 was really good!

limetown: follows one lia haddock, a public radio reporter, as she tries to unravel the mystery of what happened at limetown. all she knows is that 10 years prior, over 300 men, women and children vanished. horror, mystery, and some sci fi elements. presented in a found footage kinda way. i really enjoyed it, especially the first season. complete.

mabel: horror (big on the haunted house type specifically), sapphic romance, fun take on the fair folk/fae! follows anna limon, an in home carer who's trying to get in touch with her client's estranged granddaughter. evolves into a big fae-horror-romance-thing! really interesting romance tbh. amazing imagery and prose- lots of prose + almost poetry, but it's really good i promise. currently on a post season hiatus

spines: horror but it evolves past just horror in an interesting way (keeping the horror bits, of course). follows wren, who woke up in an attic surrounded by the remains of a cult ritual without any memories of who she is or what she was doing. she searches for answers, encountering creepy shit along the way. really interesting take on the super-secret-organization-that's-always-been-there trope! really good ending. one of the main characters is nonbinary + there's other lgbt main characters.

mirrors: by the people who did spines. also starts as horror but evolves past just horror (it's also sci fi). follows three women in three different centuries who are all experiencing the same haunting. phenomenal take on ghosts! like i can't articulate how cool this angle on ghosts is! s3 is supposed to start this year :] one of the main characters is sapphic, and her wife is a supporting character.

the six disappearances of ella mccray: also by the people who did spines and mirrors. evolves past just horror but keeps more of the horror elements? follows the 6 povs of the people who witnessed the surreal disappearance of ella mccray. each saw something different and surreal, and as they search for her, surreal things start happening to them. unsure abt the status of s3 but s1 and s2 are really good! lgbt main characters, including a trans lesbian (played by a trans woman!)

the bridge: horror. follows the crew of watchtower 10 on the transcontinental bridge that spans across the atlantic ocean. i listened to it back in like 2016-2017 so my memory is hazy, but i remember really enjoying it! currently on hiatus.

within the wires: sci fi... horror..? i listened to the first season a few years ago and enjoyed it and i've continued to hear really good things. it's by the people who make night vale! my memory isn't great but iirc the first season is a sort of romance that's formatted as a set of relaxation/meditation cassettes. it's a few seasons in and i think each is generally self contained, im unsure if it's currently running or not

the orbiting human circus of the air: also by the night vale people! again i listened to this a few years ago so im hazy. follows julian the janitor who works at a radio station that broadcasts from the top of the eiffel tower! surreal but in a wholesome way, iirc! i remember tearing up with happy tears at the s1 finale ^^' really good music! i think the second(?) season ended recently

stellar firma: i've only listened to a handful of episodes, but i've liked what i've heard. sci fi improv comedy that follows the newly made clone david 7 and the mess that is trexel geistman as they try and design custom planets. i think it's currently running but i dunno

rusty quill gaming: also another one that i've only listened to a few episodes of. actual play pathfinder (basically d&d) podcast set on an alternate earth. alex newall (martin's voice actor) is the dm. i've heard really good things from a lot of people! i think it's currently running but again i don't know for sure

right! that's. that's what i got.

i mentioned @/theradioghost earlier (shes behind midnight radio) but i would absolutely recommend looking at her rec list tag! she has impeccable taste

[kinetic-elaboration]

May 10: Orphan Black 5x04

Extremely depressed today but I think it’s passing a little and I’m starting to form new resolutions to, uh, magically be better and be a different person lol.

Anyway, I did watch OB. It was really good! I feel like we are finally getting close to some kinda.. end point. The tension is getting so drawn out that the stakes for the eventual Reveal are getting pretty high. But I’ll retain trust. It worries me that OB’s strong point has never been Actually Explaining Stuff (as opposed to describing the atmosphere around the stuff) but it heartens me that they do seem to be referring specifically to some kind of goal, like there does seem to be a goal. I’ve been worried for a while that the goal was just “to control human genetics and modify the species” because that’s as detailed as they’ve ever gotten. But this ep included not only Susan telling Ira that she and PT disagree on methods only, not the end goal--in a potent, cliffhanger way that implies there’s an end goal just out of the viewer’s sight--but also S specifically questioning that generic “control genetics” goal. So--could be leading somewhere.

I really enjoyed the two main plots of the ep: S and Sarah on a mother-daughter con and Cosima investigating the island. I love the atmosphere of the island. I feel like if you told me in S1 that the show would eventually wind its way to some obscure island with a cult living on it and a creature in the woods I’d be supremely suspicious but... I’m digging it. The classic horror vibes of the whole Creature story line were really well rendered. I also loved how the reveal of the actual person was cut with the explanation from Virginia Coady. I mean it’s a very classic plot but very effective--horrifying, scary, and believable in the greater context of the story. Not surprising, but in a good way--a twist that felt earned, to the degree of not really being a twist. They’re mad scientists! One of my favorite horror tropes!

Sarah and S doing the extended con together felt organic, felt right. It’s wild we’re in S5 and we’ve never seen this from them before! Mrs. S’s criminal past has always felt different from Sarah’s--more about vague revolutionary ideology, hiding from Nefarious Bad Sources, whereas Sarah was a minor con and a drug dealer. But they do have overlapping skills--and S is where Sarah gets hers. I enjoyed the underscoring of their relationship by the psychologist also, the ‘she’s dealing with what it means to become you line.’ Chef’s kiss.

It’s a little cheap that they brought Adele back and had her magically know about clones for the convenience of the plot BUT I like Adele so I don’t care. Another criminal with specific skills for the general Ocean’s 8 Style Heist Team lol. Poor Felix is so put upon. He’s the only real parent figure Kira has at the moment, he’s everyone’s care taker, and he doesn’t even get to enjoy his art opening because he’s being sent off to Switzerland by his mom to investigate criminal finances.

I love Scott and Hell Wizard as the research team. Not at all clear to me what Hell Wizard thinks he’s doing since afaik he doesn’t know about clones...but whatever. Maybe he does.

The Susan stuff was mostly confusing to me and what I primarily took from it, other than the outlines of the pre-Castor/Leda story, which basically made sense except for I don’t see how Duncan fits in, was the sense that some bigger explanation is just out of reach.

Loved the description of Rachel as a “corporate raised psychopath.” Yes, she’s irredeemable, she’s a clone villain, it’s great.

Sarah and Helena getting some sister time was nice, and I liked that the show pulled together Helena’s vaguely defined feelings about their bond, Kira’s sixth sense about the clones, and Sarah’s experiences on the island, because I’ll be honest, I never made that connection on my own. I’m glad Helena is in a safe place with a nice nun.

Heading into the middle of the season now, and it looks like the next ep will be more about the island, which I’m looking forward to.

[untapanimedraw]

Spring 2020, What Will I Be Watching

Well, it’s that time again, a new season of anime is upon us. Winter 2020 held a surprising number of gems and the hype for Spring 2020 is strong. So let’s see what catches my interest. 

I’m looking at Livechart.me, sorting by airdate to see what’s starting soonest. 

Ahiru no Sora - Continuing show, this season marks the 3rd of 4 cours. 

Tower of God - So fucking stoked for this show. As soon as I heard the rumor about it getting an anime adaptation, I started reading the webtoon. I binged all 460 chapters in about 2 weeks and can reliably say that it is one of the best stories I’ve read and I could not be more excited about seeing it animated. The first episode aired this past wednesday and despite the pacing being slightly quicker that optimal, it was an excellent start. 

The 8th son? Are you kidding me?  - This one vaguely reminds me of Ascendance of a Bookworm, grown man dies and is reborn into a young child in a medieval setting where they are poor and have to figure out how to survive. I suspect that’s about where the similarities will and it’ll end up being slightly closer to Wiseman’s Grandchild in terms of content. I’m not expecting much from this show, but I like a good trash isekai show as much as the next weeb, so I’ll keep watching. 

kakushigoto - Father/daughter adorableness, Father authors a lewd manga and can’t live with his daughter knowing that so goes to extreme lengths to hide it. The first episode was fantastic and this looks like a fun series. 

Listeners - I’ll admit, I was not expecting the mecha aspect to this. If I didn’t know better i’d almost say this was a Studio Trigger show for all the reminders of Darling in the Franxx this show gives me lol. I hope that the music becomes more a focus as the music was ok, but it definitely wasn’t a big focus this episode. Overall, it’s a decent first impression and I’ll stick with it a while longer. 

Wave, Listen to Me! - Ok, wow. What a first impression this show gives. The cold open was completely out of left field, and the rest was a great introduction Minare Koda. I could listen to her drunken ramblings for many episodes. I’m very much looking forward to this show this season.  

Arte - Cute girl doing art in renaissance Italy. Sold. 

Gal & Dino - So... this show is just not my style. I was interested at first, cute designs, interesting premise, but the mixed media approach is just not for me. Same reason I never got into Pop Team Epic. I couldn’t finish the first episode. 

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! - This show was pretty entertaining. I got a lot of Average Abilities vibes from this first episode, and seeing how fun that show was, I have a good feeling about this one. 

Sing “Yesterday” for Me - I’m not quite sure how to describe this show. But it’s giving off fantastic vibes. A show about adults, I’m always excited about those kinds of shows. It also has a strong contender for Best Girl and a highly relatable MC. 

Ascendance of a Bookworm S2 - Fuck yeah! This was one of my absolute favorite shows of last year and I’ve been waiting impatiently for the last 3 months for this season. 10/10

Tsugu Tsugumomo - Hot damn, season 2 of Tsugumomo. It’s been 3 years and I never even imagined that we would get a second season. So happy. 

Gleipnir - So, not entirely sure what to think about this show. The first episode was intriguing and what I’ve heard about the source material is that it’ll pick up quick. So I’m looking forward to what this show brings. 

Dropkick on my Devil!! Dash - Speaking of second seasons, a second season of Jashin-chan was a very nice surprise. The first season was a riot and I’m expecting more of the same for this season. 

Fruit’s Basked S2 - I would like to watch this, but I’ve very far behind in S1 and my smart self decided to rewatch ATLA instead of finishing S1, so I’ll catch up eventually. 

Diary of our Days at the Breakwater - Not entirely sure what this will be about but it’s a SoL from Doga Kobo so I’m sure it’ll at least be decent. I could use a nice SoL. 

BNA - Speaking of Studio Trigger, here’s this one. Very excited for it, but hopefully a decent fansub group will pick it up, seeing as it’s in Netflix jail. 

The Millionaire Detective - Balance: UNLIMITED - Cool, another detective show. Hopefully it’ll be interesting. 

No Guns Life S2 - Hell Yeah, season 1 was fantastic and I hope Season 2 lives up. 

OreGairu S3 - Oh shit, another sequel. Dope. 

Appare-Ranman! - I’m looking forward to this show, I saw the PV a while back and it looks like a whole lot of fun. Also it’s a P.A. Works shows, so that’s always a good sign. 

Food Wars S5 - I absolutely love this show, but the word on the street is that this upcoming storyline is hot garbage, so I’m not sure whether I’ll watch this or not.��

Kaguya-Sama S2 - The quick S2 announcement was a pleasant surprise, and I’m very much looking forward to more of these dorks’ antics. 

SAO: Alicization Part 2 - Part 1 was actually really good and the anticipation for part 2 is quite high, I’m excited. 

So as far as I’m aware that’s all that’s showing in Spring 2020. Re:Zero S2 was supposed to air, but the Covid-19 issues are pushing it back to summer. Hopefully nothing else will be too adversely affected. 

So my totals are, 15 guaranteed watch, 7 most likely, 22 total. About the same as last season, but I dropped 3 last season. I’ll give most of these the 3 ep test before reporting back here on what I find to be worth keeping up with. 

Until then, keep watching anime!

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S4 Ep 27: Joey Punches Valon to Death and Seto Kaiba buys a Car.

My favorite character is back!

THE STORYBOARDER.

Like clockwork, the best storyboarder of all of Yugioh saw in the episode notes “This is the one where we shall Destroy Joey Wheeler” and he was like “Yes! this is extremely my thing!” and he’s back at it again, destroying Joey Wheeler with such finesse.

Like it’s so hard to explain in caps because you can’t see stuff move, but this animator is so good at the Yugioh vibe--he makes these character designs WORK for him (or her? No idea the identity of the mysterious storyboarder (or team of storyboarders--maybe this was one little group they freelance out to that worked really well together? I dunno) ) they really capture what Yugioh IS in a really unique way and still remain fairly economical in the animation sense. They do not hold back on any pose, and go completely ham into this ridiculous concept of a card game where you put on a special suit and punch eachother in the face.

Mind you, it’s still a card game and I skipped all that, but man...this is such a good storyboarder and I know that next episode they’ll be gone but for now I’m just gonna bask in it.

First off, Rebecca manages to figure out Seto’s 6-letter password in order to access billions of people’s personal data off of a satellite (we don’t get to find out what the password was) and although the storyboarder is great--they did make one fatal mistake.

The bane of every Californian who leaves California. LA is like a completely different country to San Fransisco but everyone only knows of two Californian cities and assumes we’re right next door to each other.

And it’s like...no, man. I don’t have Disneyland. Do I sound like a cheerful person that lives next to Disneyland? Do I say “bruh” and smile with the force of 1000 suns as we surf the coast on the backs of Lisa Frank dolphins? No dude, I have a strong Bay Area accent that makes me sound like a dry sarcastic asshole and I wear sweatshirts to the freakin beach because it’s very cold and filled with great white sharks.

(Sorry I just had to delete like 10 k words where I compared the entire cast to US cities by saying cryptic stuff like Joey Wheeler : Seto Kaiba is like LA : San Fransisco and like it was the biggest random tangent that only makes sense to me. Quarantine brain, y’all, I got SERIOUS quarantine brain. Anyone else? Anyone else just find themselves wasting like 2 hours thinking of which cities match the personalities of different characters on a show that came out so long ago? Man I need distractions right now.)

But back to what’s happening on the show, Yami is coming to terms with Joey’s struggle about as well as Yami does.

Which is mostly Yami saying “I’m pretty sure I killed Joey in that card game with Bakura in S1 and Tea had to bring him back from the graveyard so like wtv.”

(read more under the cut)

This was like 2003??? I think I keep forgetting when this season came out but we had printers at this point. We had google maps and a printer.

I don’t think I’ve touched a map like that since the 5th grade, where we had this competition to make a hypothetical road trip across America. It was Awful, and if you won the competition to get from SF to New York with the shortest distance, you would win something like pizza and a cool engraved name plate. We did not win pizza, because I could not even unfold this asshole map.

And now we have Google so like thanks, Mrs. Lambert, it was cool, but I’ll never use that information again. I hope. It was such a vivid frustrating memory that these maps still fill me with anxiety to this day, hearkening back to my 5th grade self just desperately trying to use string to measure how many miles the freeways across the midwest contain. (spoiler: a lot)

How OLD is this kid? Rebecca’s like secretly a 68 year old. She’s secretly Mrs. Lambert.

At this point we had a swell in the music as each friend of Joey joined in to announce their willingness to risk danger and save him.

Were they...not going to join him the whole time? It just seemed like a weird thing to bring up sooo after the fact.

Yami then turned to Duke and was like “but not you. You stay here” and he was like “Oh, thank gods.”

Rebecca stayed behind because the animators don’t want to draw her. Honestly, she’s incredibly helpful and they were mad stupid to leave the only smart one in the car. But youknow...this team loves being mad stupid. It makes the show more entertaining.

As they left we had a weird aside where Arthur Hawkins reflected “Rebecca is having just a REAL hard time trusting Yami” and it’s like--Arthur Hawkins! You’ve been dumping on Yami for like an entire season, that’s why. Like don’t pretend you’re all on team Pharaoh now. Why ever stop dunking?

But youknow, character development, Rebecca is going to learn the trust the ghost that possessed her crush/best friend that she’s had for 2+ years on a kid who’s been living in Japan this whole time who literally forgot who she was 2 weeks ago. You trust that ghost, Rebecca.

Or not. I mean you really don’t have to. You don’t owe Yami anything, dude. You don’t need to blindly trust idiot men, Rebecca. You just do you. Trust that instinct of “is this guy not trustworthy?” because yep. Chances are if you’re having that thought, that he’s totally not.

Storyboarder!

Storyboarder what ARE you???

STORYBOARDER!

after this followed a scene that I’ve seen gif-ed just so, so often that I assumed it was in a Yugioh Spin-off. I don’t know why I thought it wasn’t in this OG series, but I didn’t expect it to be here, in the Dartz season. But, it does make sense that this scene was under the best Storyboarder‘s direction because *chef’s kisses * it’s perfect. Every frame is a joy. The amount of sinister expressions on Mokuba, the level of sass coming off of Kaiba. It’s such a freakin shame that this man’s best work so far only lasts like a few seconds.

PS my bro looked it up and this car salesman has a wikipedia page.

He also looked up if anyone has shipped this car salesman and it’s our lucky day because this ship does not exist with any human ever in the world. Thank you, humanity. But, they DID make a wikipedia page so maybe we’re just putting off the inevitable?

I’m not even gonna cap it because I KNOW this is a gif you can easily download from everywhere but mm--this is a SOLID piece of animation. This animator is just flexing so hard, man. Yugioh did not deserve this much care and attention to detail.

Shippers rejoice, Seto Kaiba did briefly consider helping out Joey (before he absolutely drove away in the opposite direction)

(They’re clearly in the financial district already, PS. They are driving 5 ft to Dartz’ house.)

At some point Joey nabbed Valon’s card and so now he also gets to wear a bunch of stupid armor outfits.

This one is weird! It’s very Kamen rider-ish...but it’s a color scheme that feels very valentines day. It looks hard to wear. Good thing it’s animated.

I may need to capture this walk sequence though...if I still have the energy...the picture does not display his very energetic arms-in-the-air walk cycle I haven’t seen since that one Season zero episode. I dunno if it’s a reference to that, but I can’t think of any other reason why Tristan is walking like that.

This is when Mai finally shows up.

Valon lost his helmet during this fight, which lead to this:

What a good note to end on.

Anyways, I have no idea what my update schedule will look like or be, so if you’re new here and you want to start reading these from the beginning, I have a link for that:

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono