#this is how i tell you for the first time that astaroth was also incredibly nihilistic and a little bit insane in the past in jtta

[journey-to-the-attic]

Astaroph??? By what definition of less sane do you mean in the dragon au? Did he have any friends before cursed armor sought him out?

okay so the thing with astaroth is that you have catch him in his early personality development stages and give him a good hobby - in jtta this was stargazing and later music - and if you fail to do that within a certain window, he turns to other things for entertainment

in the dragon au this is jewel-thievery. it's not for any noble reason, he's literally just bored; any stealing-from-the-rich and giving-to-the-poor aspect is only because he didn't know what to do with the jewels afterwards

then the thievery gets boring too, so he starts making his schemes more elaborate until they're practically full one-man heists. still not enough? okay, what if he starts hunting these people around their own mansions? what if he starts setting up elaborate traps to get them? now that's what he calls a good night out

he goes after the rich, whether good or bad, just because they're the most amusing - it's a coincidental bonus if he kills off a corrupt landlord or abusive duke in the process. he's a decisive, occasional striker; he plans these things out meticulously, and so has never been caught

which is why it throws him off when wiz and alecto walk into town and immediately identify him, courtesy of the cursed armour. he decides to travel with them, again, purely out of boredom - because he does know that it's not normal to elaborately plan and carry out murders for fun, and part of him hates himself for it, but most of him just doesn't care

his objective in travelling is to find something that does make him care. in relation to how mephisto's story seems to naturally end in his death, i think astaroth's would involve actually coming to care for his travelling companions and thus feeling grief for the first time when this happens

(it goes without saying that he does not have anyone that he considers close before this)

[aonogifreactions]

Hug Headcanons: Revisited

a/n: ive felt like i should rewrite this for a while now. i hated seeing those stuped ~180 words, so.. thats why were here! xD i added yukio to the mix as well, since ive gotten this ask >:) huge thanks to @no-remorse​, who beta-read it for me <33

Tiny edit: I’d love to hear the feedback for this one! <3

Warnings: Spoiler in the last headcanon in Yukio’s part!

★ Characters: Rin, Yukio, Mephisto, Lucifer, Amaimon, Astaroth.

★ Words: 2,1k.

Rin:

no matter where, who’s watching, or what had happened before, he’s gonna give you a big, big hug! he absolutely lives for your hugs, it soothes him emotionally so much and works as immediate relief.

almost always his one hand wraps around your waist, while the other one goes on your head as he nuzzles into your neck; his hugs are always tight, almost as if you were about to get taken away from him - he doesn’t really feel like that inside, but.. he likes feeling that you’re here. present. for him.

after a fight, he immediately runs into your arms and almost makes you both fall on the ground as you nearly lose your balance when his arms wrap around you; feeling your embrace, your warmness.. something in his mind switches right away and he’s calm. he’s still shaking, but it gradually stops as he relaxes in your arms.

at first, he might be a little shy, but when he gets comfortable, he can’t keep his arms away from you. He just.. loves feeling you. hugs make him somewhat vulnerable, because he lets his frustration out, and at the same time - Rin gets an extreme dose of serotonin. He tends to place his forehead on yours just before he loosens his hold on you, and eventually moves on do to his things.

depending on your height, he still loves hugging the same! if you’re short - during hugging, he also places his cheek on your head, leaving a soft kiss on your hair. if you’re tall - he loves!! hugging!! into your chest!! or whatever he reaches!! he’s just snuggling into you like a madman.

he gets butterflies in his stomach when you hug him from behind and almost starts stuttering. (do it when he's cooking or sumn,, but u didn't hear it from me) 

also, please, PLEASE wrap your arms around his neck. he’s gonna MELT.

Yukio:

his hugs are rare, but it’s not like he doesn’t touch you - it’s just Yukio being Yukio; hugs make him vulnerable, similarly to Rin, except that it’s Yukio’s way to “open up” about his problems a little. It’s surely a very small step forward, but it shows that he's trying, yet he doesn’t realize how much it actually helps him.

he prefers to hug somewhere where there are not so many people around, not necessary in private completely, but as long as you’re the only one with him in the room, he’s down for a hug if he feels like it (or you beg him enough lol).

he’s usually silent during hugging, but he really “quietly” lets his frustration out, you might even catch him sighing. at first, he embraces you with only one arm and places his head on your shoulder, but when it hits him - the emotions, that he’s been waiting for years and now he’s finally able to tell someone everything - he’s almost crying, but he intertwines his other hand with yours instead. even though there are no real words shared, his love language involuntarily shows the beauty of his complicated personality.

now, he’s a little “unwilling” to hug you, mostly because of all that emotions crashing on him, but he feels so much better afterwards.. it’s unreal, he feels like you used some kind of magical spell on him.

the worst time to hug him is probably when he’s angry - and while it seems like a totally normal thing, it doesn’t work as comfort for him - it makes him even more upset, so it’s really best to leave him alone for some time. he knows your intentions are good though, so usually, he comes back to you with a calmed mind and apologizes.

I picture his S/O being in this mess in chapter 126, where the twins just beat the shit out of each other, and suddenly Yukio’s s/o comes up to him and stops from shooting Rin - he’d have that mental wall blocking him from hurting you in any way, just when he realizes he points his guns at your face or grabbing his hands and attempting to get Rin out of his target range - both of those things and any similar scenarios would end up with him looking at you with those beautiful, yet unfortunate eyes showing so much pain and sadness, along with that broken expression on his face, hoping to understand him.

Mephisto:

we’re gonna have fun here. hugging with Mephisto is pretty common, he likes touching you physically and doesn’t really care if people see it - he’ll push boundaries as far as he can, but unless it’s someone or something really important, he stops and gets serious. 

^unless it’s Arthur, he could politely knock on the door. Hearing the permission to come in, the first thing he sees is Mephisto hugging you with a hand on your lower back, heading dangerously onto your ass while casually giving him random papers and smirking at him. wow.

if you think the twins’ grip was tight, Mephisto’s gonna literally try to squish you into his body - it’s not hugging if your bodies aren’t touching themselves in EVERY possible way. You could be practically glued to him and he won’t complain - in fact, he’s gonna have that shit-eating grin and tease you by saying “hmm, aren’t you needy, darling? you can’t be away from me even if I work!” (even if.. it was him who called you over...)

he GETS handsy and you can’t do anything about it. and he really does it on purpose, just to tease you and see how much time it takes for you to get either horny or snap at him. nonetheless, he likes to place hands around your waist or just on your hips, then shove you into him, so he’s able to whisper sweet nothings in your ear.

hugs definitely show his rather “softer” side, the silly one - but he also doesn’t hesitate to hug you when he’s serious; these hugs, however, tend to be quicker but more intimate. even if it’s just him standing next to you and placing his hand on your hip while watching the dark sky, stars flickering slightly as you feel a slight, cold breeze hit your face; you look at him, wondering what he’s thinking about, this incredibly sharp mind with hundreds, perhaps thousands of different thoughts. Is he reflecting? Reminiscing? Regretting? or is his mind wandering around some silly thoughts? Yet you’re the one left wondering, not noticing his emerald eyes have focused on yours a while ago. You take your eyes off him, slightly embarrassed, hearing only a faint chuckle and feeling his grip tightening on you as you two once again gaze at the glittering galaxy above you.

Lucifer:

due to his body being not as strong as Mephisto’s - he’s usually down for cuddling instead. however, when some of the elixirs do their job, he’s gonna give you hugs pretty often.

prefers to be in private when he really wants to give you a genuine hug; he doesn’t want to show others he fell for the trap named “love”. he lets himself be a hypocrite about it, for once (ekhem satan and yuri).

Of course, tiny hugs wouldn’t be forgotten while attending stuff anywhere else on Dominus Liminis, but they’re just quick hugs when you walk past him. he isn’t ashamed of you by any means, in fact, he’s proudly walking along with you most of the time, having a hand either on your waist or interlaced with yours.

Lucifer’s hugs are very, very confident and send butterflies to your stomach - he radiates that strong energy to make you feel secure in his arms - the world could be falling, but as long as you’re in his arms, he’ll do anything to protect you from any harm, even if this means losing his precious body.

sometimes he hugs you in his own, unique way - he interlaces both of his hands with yours and places his forehead against yours, closing his eyes and sighing softly. while you might think it’s not really a hug, it’s definitely a very sweet gesture. you can get a kiss on the temple or a few sweet and uplifting words whispered in your ear too, if he feels particularly affectionate that day.

his views on physical contact are... a little bizarre; he’s confused and doesn’t fully understand the purpose of it, yet - he will admit it’s quite satisfying. feeling your lover is definitely something that feeds the feelings he’s had deep within him. he might be a little stiff when you introduce him to this too, no matter how many times he’d seen humans do it - experiencing it for the first time is new to him, but surely it is something he grew to enjoy.

 so what’s that “hugging” thing again? you just wrap your arms around someone and.. that’s it? are you supposed to just stay like this? how long? - that’s pretty much half of his thoughts going through his head when he hugs you.

it takes him quite a long time until he “learns” it just “makes him feel better”. he understands (kinda) the idea of it, but deeper down, he’s still pretty puzzled.

In the early stages of hugging, Amaimon didn't realize how strong his hugs were - if he didn’t break any bone of yours, then it’s a miracle. As soon as he noticed you almost passing out, he stopped and the guilt of possibly causing you harm has kicked in, so he promised you to make it up the best way he can.

Amaimon doesn’t realize it - but as time passes he grew used to hugs! Especially greeting hugs, which at this point he doesn’t realize he gives  - it’s become a habit of his.

not a fan of long hugs - to say it bluntly, he becomes bored if it lasts too long (unless there’s been a fight beforehand, in this case, he understands you want to regain the sense of security that physical body is able to give). he likes quick hugs instead, which he gives more often.

Amaimon’s hugs are pretty simple - he wraps his arms around your waist and that’s.. pretty much it. He might rub your back sometimes, but to be honest - he just likes the simplicity. Funnily enough, when Behemoth notices you hugging, he also wants to participate! Tiny demon bounces your way and while it’s near your leg, he starts clinging to it and nuzzling himself (Amaimon’s kinda >:((((((( when he sees Behemoth snuggling, but it’s his boyo so he forgives him).

However, Amai gets really mad when he sees you hugging someone else than him. Unless it’s a close friend or family member, he’s.. somewhat accepting this, but if it’s someone he doesn’t know - he’ll either try to fight them or take you bridal style in his arms and just go away.

He also gets awfully handsy, which he probably picked up from Mephisto. His one hand might slowly slide down to grope your ass cheeks; when you look at his face questionably, he’s just gonna place the other hand on your ass as his answer.

Astaroth:

his understanding is even worse than Amaimon’s, so he’s initially against it. he doesn’t understand the purpose of it and it's very hard to convince him otherwise, saying something along the lines of “if you need your “physical contact” we can fuck on the counter”.

continuously asking him would only make the situation worse, as he’d get annoyed more each second, eventually making him leave the house for a few days. one situation, however, changed his mind the most - he’s once lashed out at you, leaving you crying. he left nonetheless and waited a few days until he cooled off. feeling bad for his actions and regretting doing it for once, he came back, but instead of confronting you - he left a withering rose with a note.

he’s learned a little bit from that situation - seeing that you accept his quirks, he decided to try out some of your ideas - including hugging. and oh boy, how wrong he was.

he will NOT admit he likes hugs for his life; very “tsundere” approach to it, but you can catch his face being relaxed sometimes.

his favorite hug is.. hugging you from behind! whenever you’re cooking or being busy just in general, he loves surprising you with a hug, encircling his hands around your belly as you flinch slightly, not expecting him. as an apology, he places a gentle kiss on your shoulder.

due to him being nasty, you gotta bear with his dirty-talking he’s “performing” every time he hugs you. he also WILL tease you by groping your chest with no shame, attempt to give you hickies, and after a while - move his hands dangerously near your chest.

[transfluvial]

Henrik Koffmann meets the Devil

"Henrik?"

He woke up with a startled gasp. Confused, he looked around the room, feeling as if someone had put his insides through a meat grinder. It was brightly lit - in fact, so brightly he couldn't actually see much. He recognized two vaguely humanoid shapes, one sitting beside him and one at the edge of the room, near something he didn't know what to make of.

"I see you are having some difficulties to adapt," the person beside him remarked. "It is quite normal for you to feel this way, Mr. Koffmann. Most humans do."

Henrik groaned.

"Who the hell are you?", he spat out. "Where is this...?"

"Calm down, Henrik," said a very familiar voice. "I brought you here, don't you remember?"

"What...? Crow, is that you?"

He chuckled in response.

"It appears you are already familiar with my husband," the person who was not Crow said. "Then I'll leave the formalities behind us."

They moved their hand, and the room became way more plausibly lit.

"The light was hurting you, was it not?", they continued. "I apologise for that."

Henrik looked around the room once more. Crow was leaning against an old, wooden cabinetry with some bottles of alcohol and a few cups on it. The person - did they say they were Crow's husband? - smiled politely in their chair.

"My name is Astaroth," he said in a soothing voice, "although I am mostly referred to as just Roth around here."

Henrik felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He could finally think clearly, and his memories came back in a torrent in his mind.

"Are you...?" he said to Roth, but couldn't manage to finish the phrase. No, that person couldn't be Lucifer, could he? "What are you?"

"A demon," he answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Henrik could hear Crow scoffing in the background.

"Where am I?", he finally asked.

"You are in the Spiritual Plan, Henrik." Roth turned to his husband, "With the power of our Headmaster, Crocell has brought you here."

"You could say this is kind of a meeting room of ours," Crow remarked.

"I apologise for the delay in His arrival," Roth said. "I'm sure he'll be here soon enough."

"Alright," Henrik murmured, the absurdity of his situation having not yet dawned on him.

He tried looking behind his chair, but was pushed back in place by an invisible hand.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that," Crow explained.

"Why?"

"It's just the usual procedure," Roth answered.

Realizing their guest was visibly very uncomfortable, the couple exchanged looks between one another, and then Roth cleared his throat.

"Would you enjoy a drink, Mr. Koffmann?"

Henrik took a while to notice someone was talking to him.

"Uh, what?", he said, his mind in a completely different place.

Roth smiled.

"Can I offer you a drink?" He made a subtle gesture with his head towards Crow. "We can get you pretty much anything you want."

Henrik nodded.

"Uh, whiskey, then."

"The same, love."

Crow promptly poured two cups of whiskey on a tray and took it to the two men sitting down.

"Our Headmaster..." Roth sighed. "He is unusually late today."

"You, uh, seem to be very close to him."

"Oh, yes, we are a triad, me, Crow and him."

"A... triad...?", Henrik repeated, incredulous.

"We have been together for a long time," Crow said in his matter-of-fact way of his. "Everything we do, we do together. Everything we plan, we plan together."

"We have taken a liking to you, Henrik. You're... different."

"Special."

Henrik grimaced at these words.

"I don't like where this is going...", he murmured to himself.

"Have we got the wrong of you, dear guest?", a voiced echoed in the room from behind them.

Both Crow and Roth smiled.

Henrik gasped loudly. He felt a shiver down his spine. Something had changed in the atmosphere of the room at His arrival - it felt as if it had suddenly been filled with some dense gas, and he found it hard to breathe.

"When I say this," He continued, as He approached them, "I don't mean it in the way that your father did it."

Another audible gasp escaped Henrik's lips.

"How could you possibly know that?", he spat between his teeth.

"Why wouldn't I?", He replied, amused. "Do you know who I am?"

"So you really are Lucifer." Henrik could barely muster anything out of his mouth.

Lucifer chuckled.

"Correct," he purred. "Do you know why you were called here, Henrik?"

"It looks like you have some sorta 'plan' for me?"

"You could say so." Lucifer sat right in front of him. "But only if you agree to it, of course. I don't plan on forcing you to do anything, Henrik. It's your choice."

"Bullshit. Can I choose to refuse?"

Lucifer shrugged.

"Are you willing to find out?"

"Nope." Henrik shook his head violently. "What's it gonna be?"

"Take it easy, child," He smiled. "I have a lot in mind for you. But, first, I'd want you to be my Consul, Henrik Koffmann."

Henrik's eyes shot open.

"Consul?" He couldn't help but burst in laughter. "Consul as in that kind of Consul?"

"Yes," Lucifer smiled patiently.

"You, uh, you do know I'm an antimage, don't you?"

"I do."

"So... Why?"

"Hmm, I have my own reasons. But I'd like to let you know that we have, indeed, been watching for a while."

"Wait, were you listening?"

"What I'm trying to say is," He raised his voice a bit, "I like you, Henrik. I really, really like you. And I like your sister."

"Henrietta?"

"I've had my eyes on her for a while, too..." Lucifer smiled. "She's really interesting."

"Okay, what the hell do you want to do with her?"

"Oh, the same as you. I want the both of you to be under my guidance."

"Guidance? Henrik raised an eyebrow.

"Precisely, guidance," Lucifer replied, staring at Henrik's eyes. "I think the both of you have an incredible potential, and I'd like to personally help you refine your skills."

"This is so hard to believe," Henrik sighed, his hands on his tempers.

Lucifer chuckled.

"Let us start by dropping these useless formalities, shall we?" He chuckled. "My name is Lucien Lefèvre. Please feel free to call me just Lucien, alright?"

Henrik nodded, speechless.

"These two," he gestured to the couple with his hands, "I'm afraid you already know them. They are my partners, and my dearest friends. Each one is a part of me on their own."

"You may want to think of the entity Lucifer as you know it as a junction of three of us, Henrik," Roth explained. "Although, for obvious reasons, our Headmaster claims the title alone."

Lucien nodded.

"I'd like to take you somewhere, Henrik." Lucien reached out his hand to Henrik. "Could I?"

Henrik shrugged. At that point, nothing could get more absurd than it already was. As soon as he took Lucien's hand, he was transported to another place.

He took a while to adjust to the sudden change, but he recovered way quicker than the first time. When he opened his eyes, he found the confused gaze of four other people - two ghouls, a vampire and... another person, whose species he couldn't recognize.

"Henrik...?", one of the ghouls called.

"Igor?!"

"Okay, what the hell is going on here?", a ghoul girl yelled, her hands on her hips.

All members of the triad laughed.

"These, Henrik, are the other ones I have gathered in this little project of mine," he gestured to each of them in order as he said their names, "Anastasia, Eleanor, River and Igor, whom you're already familiar with."

"Wait, these people aren't mages."

"Do they have to be?" Lucien chuckled. "The only one who's going to be officially part of my clan is you, though. Those are my esteemed allies, and also a small group of resistants."

"Who is she?", he pointed at River.

"She's just like your sister, Henrik. One of a kind. She and I have known each other since she was a child."

The woman blushed.

"My name is River Marlowe Simmons," she said, her voice surprisingly powerful. "I don't know who you are, but I have a feeling that we're going to see each other quite a bit from now on."

He could see the woman smile at him before, all of a sudden, she and the rest were gone, and they were all back at the tiny shed. Igor was sound asleep on the sofa.

"So, Koffmann," Lucien took a step into Henrik's personal space, "do you accept to be a part of my little project?"

"This is all the info I'm gonna get from you now, isn't it?"

Lucien nodded.

"If you accept, we'll naturally tell you more about all of this as we go on."

Henrik sustained Lucien's - Lucifer's - gaze with confidence he himself didn't know he had. It was all so damn absurd, he felt as if he was trapped in a fever dream.

But what else did he have, anyways? He'd lost everything he could've ever possibly wanted in his life, and his desire to get revenge on his father has never been bigger. Also, he could have Igor.

Fuck it, Lucifer himself was asking him to be part of his clan. That's all he had to know.

Without even a second more of hesitation, he shook Lucien's hand.

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: 5 WEBTOON Series We’d Love to See Animated!

  With Tower of God over and The God of High School hitting the midway point, it’s pretty obvious that WEBTOON Series adaptations are a hit, but what will come after Noblesse later this year? While we don’t have any real answers to that question, we do have five titles we think would be fantastic adaptations to see animated on our screens. The WEBTOON library is frankly huge and filled with tons of great possibilities, so we decided to try and narrow it down to five different genre titles we think would really shake things up on the “big screen!” If you want to learn about even more WEBTOON Series we think are great (some of which definitely deserve an anime), check out our previous article here.

    When deciding what would make a good anime, though, there’s more to it than just, “Wow, I really love this series, so it should totally get an anime!” It’s also worth asking the question: “Would this benefit from being animated?” What would they be able to do with it that they couldn’t do as a WEBTOON Series? What sort of changes might they have to make? As we’ve seen with Tower of God and The God of High School, action series benefit from animation greatly, but that doesn’t mean only action series deserve some lovin’. So with that in mind, I tried to grab a few different genres and styles of WEBTOON Series. But, of course, this is by no means an exhaustive list, and we highly recommend you go check out the WEBTOON website or app (available on Google Play and on the App Store) and see what types of amazing series you can find! 

  Love Advice from the Great Duke of Hell

    I’m a huge comedy fan, some of my favorite series of all time are comedies. So when I started reading WEBTOON Series, I really wanted to find something that would make me laugh. I didn’t have to look too hard, but perhaps no series has been as funny so consistently than Love Advice from the Great Duke of Hell. The main character, Paul, just can’t seem to get the attention of the woman he thinks he loves. So he chooses the best possible course of action: learning black magic and summoning Astaroth, one of the Great Dukes of Hell!

  The comic routinely features amazing, understated visual gags and humor while building an interesting and deep storyline over the course of its run. In fact, I really didn’t expect the characters and world that Duke of Hell creates to really suck me in as much as it did, but that just lends to its overall strengths. As far as an adaptation goes, I could see this as a fantastic comedy hit that either focuses on extensive, gorgeous animation for gags like HINAMATSURI, or a muted and simplistic animation style like Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san that lets the art and jokes combine without getting too big. Either way, just thinking about voice actors for the various characters, especially Astaroth, is perhaps one of the most fun fantasies to have—after all, it would need to be someone with enough gravity to play such an amazing Duke of Hell! 

  Purple Hyacinth

    Purple Hyacinth has long been on my read list and was actually one of the series that got me started on the idea of seeing WEBTOON Series animated. Unlike other series, Purple Hyacinth routinely asks readers to turn their audio on, playing ambient and specific music throughout the series to create a multimedia experience. Of course, that isn’t the only reason for it being on this list. No, Purple Hyacinth is here because it’s a type of story that, frankly, isn’t told very often in anime lately: a gritty crime mystery thriller!

  Lauren, the protagonist, has dedicated her life to avenging the death of her childhood friend and the elimination of Phantom Scythe, a terrorist organization responsible for the events that would alter her life forever. Lauren meets the assassin “Purple Hyacinth,” who just so happens to share similar goals as her. This series really just gets how to build a complex and deep mystery and the fact that you need excellent character drama to make people care about what happens next, especially when big twists and turns come! Lauren possesses the ability to detect lies, “seeing” them in red whenever people tell them. Just imagining the creative ways this could be animated alone makes me giddy at the idea of a Purple Hyacinth adaptation. But beyond that, the character drama and intrigue of the twisting mysteries here would turn this into a killer multi-season anime. I can just imagine the gleeful frustration waiting for the next season after the first one ends on a cliffhanger! If any of these series were worthy of being dubbed “binge-worthy” as an anime, I’m convinced it would be Purple Hyacinth. 

  Lookism

    Readers of our first article on WEBTOON Series pointed out Lookism as a favorite of theirs, and with good reason. This long-running ugly-duckling story packs a lot of punch, both literally and figuratively, as the story threads of school bullying, the ugly side of society, delinquent fights, and more together into a fascinating tapestry. Daniel is poor, overweight, and bullied to such a degree that his mother scrapes all the money together that she can to send him to a new school. However, his life takes a huge change upon arrival to his new school home when he wakes up in a different body: gorgeous, tall, and super-strong! The “new” Daniel gives him the ability to pursue the life he thought he wanted, but it comes with a lot more than he bargained for!

  One thing about Lookism that caught me off-guard is that it seems, at first, to be a sort of traditional ugly-duckling story where Daniel learns to love his original self while teaching those around him to be better people. But it also features heavy delinquent style fights and action. While this might sound a little dissonant, it’s fair to say that Lookism would provide tons of great material for high school delinquent action and social drama—and the fight scenes in later storylines are truly amazing to behold on the page. Lookism also features an amazing supporting cast of unique and weird characters that tend to steal the spotlight from Daniel as they get introduced, meaning there are tons of characters to fall in love with here (I’m a big Vasco and Jay fan, myself!). With a unique mix of action, comedy, and heavy drama, Lookism really has a lot to bring to the table, and when animated, would surely take advantage of its mixed genre-typing to be a big hit.

  Let’s Play

    While many of the series we’ve talked about have a tinge of supernatural action or combat to them, Let’s Play is quite a bit different—just regular people here! Of course, these regular people are involved in all sorts of turmoil and romantic drama, but that’s to be expected. Let’s Play follows game dev Samara “Sam” Young, creator of the game Ruminate, and the trouble she runs into when her game’s biggest critic, Marshall Law, becomes her neighbor. Let’s Play is a fairly interesting drama due to the combination of game dev discussion—which veers into similar territory as shows like Shirobako that delve into making things—and the personal drama of the main cast.

  Although it is indeed a romance, the most striking part of the series is Sam��s struggles with anxiety; her internal monologues and issues make her an incredibly relatable and fresh character. Let’s Play would make an amazing romantic comedy with a woman lead, which we really need more of these days! The video game elements of the story add that extra touch that, in all honesty, feel like they would be amazing to see animated and played with using various graphical touches, allowing animators to play with the adaptation in ways that don’t rely solely on action sequences. 

  unOrdinary

    If you’re an avid WEBTOON Series reader, then it’s very likely you came to this list expecting to see this exact series, so don’t worry: we agree! UnOrdinary would be an amazing anime adaptation, likely to find a huge audience of new fans who would gobble up the series premise: a world in which some people are born with powers, or Abilities, and those who don’t find themselves treated as lessers and outcasts. John, unfortunately for him, is the latter, and as a result, he is relentlessly bullied by his classmates for his powerless nature.

  In a lot of ways, unOrdinary is almost like a darker My Hero Academia, except instead of a world of superheroes and villains, it's a world of the “haves” and “have nots,” where people without abilities are treated extremely poorly. Like quite a few WEBTOON Series, social class, status, and bullying are a big part of unOrdinary, which gives it a sharp, dark edge to its narrative at times. Similarly, John is a fairly interesting protagonist and, without spoiling things, certainly makes unOrdinary, well, unordinary! Given the popularity of My Hero Academia and Tower of God, unOrdinary would probably be the best possible candidate to get the anime treatment next, likely becoming a smash hit in no time—especially once the superpowers start showing up!

    With the continued success of shows like The God of High School and Tower of God, it’s only a matter of time before we see more and more WEBTOON Series adapted to anime. Of course, there’s no real plans or releases yet, but we think our list is pretty solid. No matter what, it seems like an exciting time to get into WEBTOON Series and keep an eye out for the next big hit title that might be showing up on your screens in animated form!  

  Which WEBTOON Series titles do you want to see animated? Do you agree with our list? Let us know what series you like and what you think in the comments!

  ➡️ Watch The God of High School today! ⬅️  

    Nicole is a frequent wordsmith for Crunchyroll. Known for punching dudes in Yakuza games on her Twitch channel while professing her love for Majima. She also has a blog, Figuratively Speaking. Follow her on Twitter: @ellyberries

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[siixwith2eyes]

Hail to the King Chapter I

“Ezekiel! It’s time to wake up, kiddo!”

“Ugh.” I groaned as I rolled onto my back. I reached over to my bedside table and grabbed my phone to check the time.

7:45 AM

Monday, April 29

Yippee, another day in He- I mean, school. I sat up and groaned while stretching my arms above my head. I got out of bed and walked towards my dresser to grab some clothes when I heard a scream from outside my room.

“Mom?” I called out. There was no response.

I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, “Mom? Are you ok?”

I stepped into the living room to see a humanoid thing with bat wings hunched over my mother’s body. Before I could even react it shoved its hand into her back before ripping out her spine, skull included.

I stepped back in fear and tripped over my own feet. As I hit the ground, the creature's head shot up and it looked right at me. It grinned with its sharp, bloody teeth as I started shaking in fear. It licked its black lips before lunging at me as I raised up my arms.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” I screamed as black flames shot from my hands and burned the creature. It shrieked in pain as the fire spread, covering it entirely. It continued to writhe as it’s skin burned away, it’s muscle and bones following soon after.

I was still shaking as I looked down at my hands which were still covered in the black flames. The flames didn’t burn me, in fact, they felt good, natural. I clenched my hands and the flames disappeared.

I looked up from my hands and my attention was brought back to my mother’s body. I felt tears well up in my eyes and I crawled over to her bloodied corpse.

As I held her, her blood seeped into my pajamas but I didn’t care. My mother, the woman that had sacrificed so much for me, was dead. She didn’t deserve to be killed so brutally.

I knew I couldn’t stay here. The thing that had killed her was burned from existence and I was soaked in her blood. I stood and wiped my eyes before running back to my room to get changed and pack.

An hour later, I stepped out of my front door dressed in a red hoodie, black jeans, and red converse. I also had my black backpack slung over my shoulder, full of clothes, food, and water.

I turned back to my home as a tear escaped my eye. I quickly wiped it away before igniting my hand in the black flames. I pressed my hand against the house and it caught fire almost immediately.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to protect you, mom,” I said quietly to myself. “But I will avenge you.”

I turned and began walking down the road before I heard screaming. I turned back to notice a crowd had formed outside my former home.

‘Word gets around fast.’ I thought to myself. ‘I better get outta here before the cops show up.’

I was tempted to run but I remembered the first rule of being on the run. ‘Don’t run, walk.’ I let out a breath and continued walking as though I was on a morning stroll. No one noticed me and I was able to navigate the streets of Las Vegas easily. ‘Thank you, Natasha Romanoff.’

I eventually came to an intersection and contemplated which way to take. ‘If I go left, I’ll head towards Pahrump. If I go right, I’ll be on my way to Arizona.’ I bit my lip as I thought of which way to go.

“Go right.”

I whipped around, trying to find the source of the voice. “Uh, hello?”

“Hello, Ezekiel.” Said the voice. “Go right, you can trust me.”

“How can I trust a random voice in my head?” I asked the voice.

I heard a grumbling sigh in my head before I received a response. “My name is Astaroth, and I am your uncle.”

“Uncle? My mom didn’t have any siblings.” I said. I realized that I was slowly being surrounded by people so I put my phone up to my ear to make so they didn’t think I was crazy. Though, maybe I was starting to go crazy.

“I am your father's brother.”

“M-my father?” I asked, confused. “I’ve never met my father.”

I heard another deep, resonating sigh. “If you go right, I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

While I still didn’t completely trust the voice, I wanted to know more about my father. I made my decision and started to walk right.

“Ok Astaroth, I went right,” I told him. “Now tell me about my father.”

“Please Ezekiel, call me uncle.” He said. “Anyway, the reason your father was never able to see you is because he is an incredibly powerful man.”

I was even more confused. “Mom said that he died in a mining accident. How powerful could he be?”

As I said those words, the ground started to shake a bit before stopping. It rattled me but I continued walking. Small earthquakes were common in Nevada.

“I wouldn’t say such things, nephew.” My uncle said. “Your father isn’t dead, in fact, he’s nearly impossible to kill, being the King of Hell and all.”

As he said those words, I froze in place. King of Hell? That impossible though. That would make my father...

“Satan, yes.” My uncle said. “Your father is Satan, young prince.”

“Prince?” I asked him. “I’m not a prince! I’m a fifteen-year-old kid!”

“Quite the contrary, nephew,” Astaroth said. “All hail Ezekiel Alvarez, Son of Satan, and Prince of the Damned.”