#this manga has challenged me as a writer and artist

[jesncin]

Our Dreams At Dusk tribute piece with the Lunar Boy cast~

This manga was truly informative to me and is a constant source of inspiration for Lunar Boy.

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

I Think Hypmic's Portrayal of Gender Roles is Kinda Refreshing: An Essay A.K.A. I'm Procrastinating on a Weekend Deadline :)

Hypmic's talking points on gender are hamfisted, corny, and melodramatic. "Maybe...we shouldn't have a wage gap," is not the hottest of takes. However, like most things in Hypmic, the writers have a lot more to say about gender and gender roles in the framing of the story itself that's much more nuanced. And honestly? It's kinda refreshing.

It's also something that went way over my head when I first became a Hypmic fan. Sure, I read manga and played Japanese video games--usually translated into English first--but I didn't have enough exposure to hundreds or thousands of pieces of untranslated Japanese media. I'm going to guess that most Hypmic fans don't either, which is totally fine and normal. We all exist within our respective cultural communities wherein we're bombarded with messages constantly telling us how to act, think, and speak. We tend to absorb these messages on subconscious levels and reflect them in the art we create and stories we tell, either by reinforcing them or challenging them. Thus, our stories don't exist in a vacuum, and divorcing stories from their cultural backgrounds can suggest the artist is the original thinker of a larger concept or hide their specific point of criticism. That is, if I wrote a story about a man who chooses to not catch fish, drink beer, and drive a Dodge Ram pick-up truck, we should be aware that I'm not the person who conceptualized the stereotype of dudes who catch fish, drink beer, and drive pick-ups. I wouldn't deserve the credit for dreaming up that exact image, and at the same time, it would be incorrect to read that as me targeting those three things randomly. The choice to not drive a Dodge Ram pick-up is not a commentary on Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. It's a stand-in for the notion of masculinity.

Thing is, we're hit with messages about masculinity, femininity, and other gender-related concepts on a daily basis. No matter where you live or what language you speak, every person on Earth is inundated with messages saying, "This is what you are, and consequently, this is how you should act." Our relation to these messages is complicated, and this complexity is compounded by different cultural communities preaching different messages in their stories, marketing, and human interactions. For instance, the US's massive global cultural influence means that those outside the US can still easily recognize what I mean by catching fish, drinking beer, and driving enormous American pick-up trucks. But the location and cultural differences may add or subtract nuances. A person living in, say, Munich is unlikely to have Dodge pick-ups advertised to them the way a person in rural Texas would. Our fictional Munich person does not feel the same social pressures to buy a Dodge and represent their masculinity with a Dodge the way our imaginary Texan would. In turn, the Munich person likely sees a Dodge with an element of absurdity--who the hell needs such a big truck in a European city?--and foreign Americanness. The Texan wouldn't have that concern--why worry about navigating your enormous truck down narrow streets when you live in the countryside?--and sees Americanness as their local default, thus removing any element of foreignness.

That is to say, gendered messages aimed at people (especially women) who live in Japan don't affect me the same way as they impact those who do live in Japan. Like, it's not my dog in the fight, and there are plenty of people who are directly affected who write their own stories and commentaries on gender roles in Japan. Japanese women don't need a random guy in the US to stand up and say, "Damn, your gender roles are fucked!" 1) They already know. 2) They're already saying it. So I come at this from an angle of someone who already has deep, primary frustration with the gendered messaging in my culture and secondary frustrations when similar messages appear in other cultures. I don't have a bone to pick with Japanese media in particular. Plain and simple, reading and working on hundreds of pieces of Japanese media is what I do for a living. It's in my face constantly, and as a result, I am also perpetually bombarded by messages about gender roles in Japanese media.

It's not a hot take to say that Japanese media, like the media of every single other culture around the globe, has a lot to say about gender. There's a lot of slotting people into boxes and telling people what to do. It's chafing, as we see all across history in art produced in reaction to gender roles. In the past couple of decades, global shifts in gender roles have caused media to shift the messages they're pushing, but it's not controversial to say that Japan has lagged behind other countries like the US.

Many, many stories push arbitrary notions of how to be a girl or how to be a boy that don't necessarily come from the author themselves. The authors probably aren't even fully conscious that they're making these choices. If an author writes a story about a library and makes every female character a romance fan and every male character an action fan, it's likely a reflection of endless messaging that says action is for boys, romance is for girls. In turn, this story becomes yet another reinforcing message. If no fictional girls like action, and no fictional boys like romance, it becomes alienating for real girls and boys who don't follow these same rules. These rules are everywhere and have so much to say about gender that it's hard to know where to begin. Girls must like cute things. Boys can't like sweet food. Women must not express sexual desire. Men can't be shy. On and on and on.

Which is why, when there's a relative lack of this in Hypmic, it's kind of a breath of fresh air.

Wrong Ways to Be a Man

Actually, Hypmic does have a few moments where characters claim there are certain things men or women should do, but the writing always frames these messages as incorrect.

Take Samatoki, for instance. After Kuukou and Sasara leave MCD, Samatoki tells Ichirou, "Men shouldn't cry when they lose their friends. Men should only cry when they lose a family member."

(TDD chapter 10)

This line usually appears via Ichirou's perspective. In the stage play, it's told during a song Ichirou narrates, and as shown above in panel 3, the manga frames the line from the angle at which Ichirou sees it. In such moments, the audience is meant to read this as a cool line from a strong mentor figure to Ichirou. That's how Ichirou sees it, and he's a seventeen-year-old with too much on his shoulders who idolizes Samatoki. He is incapable of seeing how much pain Samatoki struggles with.

However, when the manga focuses on more intimate moments of Samatoki's life, we see that Samatoki does struggle quite a lot.

(BB/MTC+ chapter 6)

This isn't a cool, attractive figure meant to be idolized. While Samatoki's cigarette usage and aggressiveness are often framed as sexy or enticing, the juxtaposition with dirty laundry, overflowing ashtrays, and empty bottles make him a sympathetic and struggling figure. Therefore, we should understand that his notion that men don't cry is flawed. It's a means to distract himself from emotions he doesn't want to feel.

Later, as Samatoki begins to process his emotions and open up to his teammates, the unhealthy coping mechanisms recede. Samatoki is more confident, mature, and happier as a result of being more emotionally vulnerable.

We see a similar transformation with Kuukou. As a teen, Kuukou is reluctant to accept help or truly let anyone in. In a conversation with Hitoya, he says (and I am still completely unable to take this seriously), "A man's got to wipe his own ass."

(DH/BAT chapter 4)

However, over the course of his character arc, Kuukou learns that he cannot exist as a good leader or individual without the teamwork of his newfound "family." Only rejecting this classical and toxic notion of masculinity brings Kuukou joy.

In fact, most of the first-line characters have very similar arcs. At the start of the story, Ichirou is insistent on doing everything himself. He has to learn to be able to rely on other people (Kuukou, Samatoki, Ichirou and Jirou) to be happier and unlock his true strength. See below, his final attack and Ability use in the 2nd DRB, which is only possible when his brothers figuratively and literally support him through it.

(BB/MTC+ chapter 25)

Sasara struggles with emotional honesty and trust in favor of using humor to gloss over discomfort. It takes multiple heart-to-hearts with Roshou before he can let humor take a backseat and say how he really feels. Ramuda has difficulty trusting other people and being honest with his emotions when faced with stressful scenarios. Only through Fling Posse is he able to open up and ask for help instead of driving people away when the problems are too big for him to face alone. Jakurai struggles to connect with other people, work through and acknowledge his complicated feelings, and not place himself on a pedestal. Through Matenrou, Jakurai is able to ask for help, be more open, and ultimately be less hard on himself.

The second- and third-line characters follow similar arcs, and this repetition creates a core message for Hypmic: Trust and rely other people. Be open with your feelings. There's a wrong way to be a man, and that's to hurt yourself and other people.

Right Ways to Be a Man...Are Infinite!

But with that being said, there is a surprising lack of commentary on how else to be a man. Hypmic as a whole doesn't do much to constrain the male characters in terms of gender roles.

Sure, some characters do fit into more traditionally masculine roles--Ichirou, Samatoki, Riou, etc. The messaging makes it clear that it isn't wrong to play into masculinity provided it doesn't become toxic. (See above.)

Even then, however, these especially masculine characters are associated with less masculine traits that are either portrayed positively or not portrayed as a joke. Riou is an avid cook, but the joke is never that he wears an apron and knows his way around an outdoor kitchen (tee-hee, men don't cook!). It's that he cooks with horrifying ingredients. Samatoki is a fashionista, but the joke is framed as a counterpart to Ichirou's nerdiness.

(DoD chapter 1)

Here, it's funny that neither of them can shut up (the ペラペラ/blah blah SFX, the long bubbles filled with lots of text that's cut to indicate they kept going for longer), but the object of their attention--a model toy and a pair of jeans--are treated in the same neutral light. It's very common for stories to touch on, even defensively, the social taboo of men being into clothes. Hypmic doesn't even acknowledge that such a taboo could exist.

This is subtle but extraordinarily effective in giving characters the same consideration and weight. The more feminine characters are always treated just as sincerely (or, if there's a joke to be made, irreverently) as the more masculine characters. Take Ramuda, for instance. In Japanese media, a love of sweets is often characterized as feminine and will often be remarked upon, even in LGBT+ media, as atypical for men. Again, there's zero acknowledgement of such a thing in Hypmic. Whenever other characters talk about Ramuda's food intake, it's always framed as a concern about the lack of nutrition.

(FP/M chapter 11... I don't have the source lying around on my computer, so here's the old-ass scanlation lol)

It's also given the exact same weight as anyone else's junk food habits. Here, MCD goes out for burgers (a neutral to masculine-coded food due to the meat and high calorie count) while Ramuda opts to try a sugary Starbucks-esque drink. The parallelism in the comic's framing suggests that the two objects are functionally the same, and there is no comment that a sugary drink is feminine and therefore "inappropriate" for Ramuda. There's also no indication that MCD's preferences are in any way better. They simply happen to be the characters' personal preferences. The punchline is two groups splitting up, only to awkwardly run into each other again moments later.

(DoD volume 4 bonus comic)

Similarly, Ramuda's interest in clothes or fashion is never treated negatively--in fact, the discussions of clothes as a means to find identity and happiness make it a positive!

In ARB cards and promotional materials, Ramuda sometimes wears dresses. It's, again, portrayed in parallel to other characters wearing more masculine clothes and is never commented on as something "unusual." It's just who Ramuda is.

Hifumi is another interesting case. Like Ramuda, his playful personality often doesn't as stereotypically masculine. (To be clear, I read much of this as "gender neutral with a strong emphasis on youth" versus "feminine" in a way that I'm not sure has a good US equivalent...metrosexual/yuppie men's fashion, maybe? In the sense that it's a youth subculture that defies some masculine gender roles but is still focused mainly on men. I wish I was more well-versed in Japanese men's fashion and could give an exact term, but I'm what I'm thinking of is definitely an established thing--young, trendy dudes whose styles focus on poppiness vs. the rugged manly man or "idk, I'm just some guy" subcultures. It's a thing that pisses off old Japanese conservative men in the same fashion as people getting up in arms about "the gayz!!!1!" and their androgynous clothing lol.) Their personalities are often the butt of jokes, but only in the same way that Dice or Doppo are--that is, that they're exaggerated and over the top. There's no commentary on masculinity or lack thereof.

There are also moments when Hifumi, Gentarou, or other characters play feminine characters in roleplay moments, which is usually (but not always) not the sole joke. The audience is supposed to find it funny, but the humor is almost always centered on the absurdity of the scene as a whole. For instance, in a moment where Hifumi and Doppo are pretending to be two drunk karaoke-goers, the humor comes from the composite set-up of Hifumi's hair twirl, Doppo's untucked shirt and tie, Doppo and Hifumi's exaggeratedly flirtatious poses, the spotlights and sparkles, and the same font as used on classic karaoke machines.

(FP/M+ September 2022 oneshot)

Hifumi and Doppo do not perform traditional gender roles in their homelife, and while it's easy to see and often commented on in the English-speaking fanbase when it comes to Hifumi, I find it just as prevalent on Doppo. It's true that Hifumi is taking a feminine role by doing the majority of the household's cooking and cleaning, but if we were to assume Doppo has the masculine role in the household, he would have the breadwinner duty. However, he isn't the main source of income for their household, and he's just as unassertive in finding a (female) romantic partner as Hifumi is. Japanese men are bombarded with media messages stressing the importance of taking an active role in career and romance. That Doppo does not would, in many stories, make him the butt of a joke for not living up to masculine gender roles. But he isn't; instead, Hypmic portrays him as a sympathetic character. It's tough, Hypmic says, for people to get good jobs and maintain friendships/relationships as an adult.

Similarly, it's noteworthy that Hifumi's self-appointed term "Gigolo" is consistently portrayed as a good thing in Hypmic. The meaning of the English term aside, the Japanese word ジゴロ (jigoro) is almost always used as an insult for a man who is financially dependent on one or multiple women. In the strictest sense of the term, Hifumi is a jigoro in that his income derives from his female clients. However, there is never any shame associated with that, and as a whole, Hifumi's career as a host is shown to be a positive thing. I can't express enough how rare that is in any sort of semi-serious media. Certainly, Hypmic acknowledges that his job requires too much drinking (Doppo's verse in Hoodstar), but the overall portrayal is overwhelmingly positive. Hifumi and his coworkers are never treated as uneducated, boorish, or pathetic for "failing" to find other work that does not require flirting with and entertaining women. (This is partially due to the overlapping judgment with sex work.)

All the various harmless preferences and personality traits of the male characters are treated equally with no judgement over what's masculine or non-masculine. Within the broader context of Japanese media, this absence of judgment stands out and reinforces one of Hypmic's core themes: Differences make us better, not worse. In the end, Hypmic suggests, there's no one right way to be a man.

Right Ways to Be a Woman...Are Just as Infinite!

But what about women? This series is, after all, marketed mainly towards women, and while female audience members can no doubt extrapolate the lessons learned from the male characters, it's worth taking a look at the female characters too.

The female characters do receive much less screen time than the men and are not the focus in the series; I'd argue that's less an issue of overt sexism and more that they fall out of focus in the story the writers want to tell. (There's a broader discussion to be had about inherent sexism in the writers' focus which goes hand-in-hand with rap industries across the globe favoring men and rap being an example of exaggerated masculinity, but that's a topic for another day.)

Even so, the framing of the female characters is interesting in a couple key respects. The individual character arcs and motivations of the main female characters are, in my opinion, some of the weakest parts of Hypmic--many times, Otome and Ichijiku do things because the plot demands them to, making them look incompetent or needlessly cruel for characters we're supposed to sympathize with. Nemu's story seems to be handled with more care and takes an interesting twist, wherein she openly acknowledges that she's disenfranchised as a woman in modern Japan but rejects the notion that she needs to find strength on either Ichirou or Samatoki's (male) terms. By choosing to be strong in "her own way" (whatever that means...it's not well-defined), the authors are using Nemu to reject the notion that strength and power are inherently masculine.

What I find to be far more interesting is the character design for the Chuuouku women, both in what is said and what is not said.

To begin with, the characters and their portrayals run the gambit from highly sexualized to completely non-sexual. Some characters (especially Ichijku and Honobono) have conventionally attractive, curvy body types and are often drawn in ways that highlight their bodies.

(FP/M+ chapter 4)

(FP/M+ chapter 14)

In some cases, especially Honobono's, the enticing nature of the illustrations is framed as the character's choice; in the above, her words indicate that she wants to seduce the off-screen listeners. The images included above are largely representative of these characters' raps, regardless of illustrator.

But on the flip side, other characters with large breasts or hips are never drawn in a sexual fashion. By way of comparison, here are two shots of Nemu rapping.

(BB/MTC+ chapter 12)

Even in shots with dynamic poses, no attention is drawn to Nemu's figure in any sort of provocative sense. Nemu touches her chest, drawing the reader's eye there, but the artist does not emphasize the size of her chest--they're allowing a chest touch to be no more than an emphasis of the self. At the same time, Nemu's body isn't downplayed. We can see in panel 2 on page 2 that Nemu has a small waist and wider hips, but once again, she isn't being sexualized. The action lines draw the reader's eye to Samatoki and thus put the action first and foremost. This creates the idea that not only can characters portray themselves sexually, but they can just as easily choose not to.

We see similar with Otome, who does not wear any sort of revealing clothing and is never shown in a sexual fashion. However, Hypmic doesn't equate revealing clothing to sexual portrayals either! While I wouldn't call Tsumabira's outfit revealing, she does have more visible cleavage than most Chuuouku figures. However, her bare chest is never sexualized like Ichijiku's.

(BB/MTC+ chapter 4)

Compare the non-emphasis on the chest and the power stance to any of the many shots of Ichijuku where her breasts are front and center in the camera. Speaking of power stance, Tsumabira remains confident in her power stance without being sexy--that is, no stepping on the camera and showing her whole leg.

Which isn't to say that Tsumabira is a sexless character. She's drawn visibly turned on by the male characters in such a way that is cartoonish but not, in turn, overly sexual. Were this supposed to be titillating to the reader, I would have expected to see a larger close-up on her face and tongue. However, the artist (who is no stranger to focusing on tongues!) devotes the majority of the panel to Tsumabira's body language (which, again, doesn't absurdly exaggerate any of her proportions or focus on her chest) and covers part of the mouth with text bubbles. Tsumabira is drawn as engaging in sexual behavior without being sexualized for reader entertainment.

(FP/M+ chapter 4)

The juxtaposition of such different views with little to no judgement attached to any of them suggests that it's perfectly okay to want to be sexy or not, to wear revealing clothing or not, to be involved in sexual situations without being the object of sexual interest, or to simply exist with an attractive body type without sex ever coming into the equation. Just as some characters choose to tie bodies to sexiness, some don't whatsoever--and either is perfectly fine!

The former idea ("I can choose to be sexy") may not sound especially revolutionary to US audiences, where sexuality is thrust upon women willingly or otherwise, but I find it fascinating because it lets the main characters embrace this idea without associated slut shaming. So much of Japanese media insists that women should be sexy but are also wrong for wanting to indulge in their own sexuality. Therefore, having characters who run virtually every iteration of take on the topic (I want to engage in sexuality and be sexualized, I want to engage in sexuality without being sexualized, I don't want to engage in either) with multiple body types (ie, Tsumabira isn't automatically not sexualized because she has a smaller chest; Nemu isn't automatically sexualized because she has a bigger chest) and no judgement involved feels like another breath of fresh air to me.

As a whole, I find the diversity of the Chuuouku uniforms and character appearances quite interesting. They're undeniably all feminine and relatively militaristic, but different characters wear entirely different wardrobes. Skirts vs pants, blouses vs dresses, high heels vs boots... Since every character has her own take on the common theme, it once again feeds into the idea that each character is her own individual and perfectly valid for defining femininity in her own way.

Haircuts, too, range from longer and more feminine hairstyles to pixie cut-esque looks.

(BB/MTC+ chapter 16)

Again, nothing of the framing suggests this short-haired woman is in any way different from her longer-haired counterparts on the edges of this screenshot.

Finally, while most Chuuouku women are conventionally attractive, I find it extremely compelling that Haebaru is a stereotype of an unattractive Japanese woman. To be extremely clear, I do not think these stereotypes should have weight, but the combination of chubby and/or muscular build, freckles, rounded nose, and non-glossy hair is often used as a visual shorthand for unattractive or otherwise undesirable women.

Sure, it's not fantastic that Haebaru is a scheming, two-bit villain. However, so is virtually every other female character in the series, and in particular, Haebaru is (the conventionally attractive) Tsumabira's counterpart. Both are treated with the same respect or lack thereof, suggesting that one's appearance has nothing to do with your ability to be a no-good baddie. Ha ha ha.

It would be lovely if the female characters were fleshed out further and given intelligent choices and diversity outside of the realms of physical appearance. However, I do think the writers' choices are limited by virtue of all women automatically being antagonistic side characters (which, again, is another discussion altogether). What the writers can and have accomplished is further reinforcing a celebration of differences. Just as there's no one right way to be a man, there's an infinite number of ways to be a scheming snake of a woman HAHA.

Intersection with LGBT+ Topics

Unfortunately, this is a very binary look at gender and gender roles, which, while largely representative of the current state of Japanese media, can be disappointing.

Hypmic appears to want to steer shy of LGBT+ topics as a whole, which is a bit of a shame. In a story so focused on gender and acceptance of diversity, it seems the natural next step to explore the notion of those who experiences don't align with a strict gender binary. Such stories are growing in popularity in Japanese media but have yet to be anywhere near the mainstream acceptance in US media (which is still in a fledgling stage at best). I would imagine Hypmic's writers are unable or unwilling to take a definite stance on these topics in the work due to fears of financial or career backlash. If nothing else, the sexuality of the main characters needs to remain in a limbo in order to have plausible deniability for both self-shipping and shipping with other characters. (Some deniability may be more plausible than others.)

The few instances in which Hypmic does wander into this territory are usually clumsy. I am no fan of the handful of scenes where male/male attraction is supposed to be funny purely by virtue of being male/male.

The inclusion of Urumi, the one minor character explicitly LGBT+, is not stellar either. I am hesitant to apply any definite label to her, as the real-life people her stereotype portrays self-identify as everything from trans women to cis men--or refuse to use these English labels at all! Still, we know from her profession (proprietor of a bar heavily implied to be a gay bar by the neighborhood it's in), appearance (poofy permed hair, exaggerated make-up), and demeanor (feminine speech style, a bit flirtatious) that she's AMAB and choosing to present herself in a feminine fashion. By writing Jirou to ask, "Aren't you a man?" in an exasperated fashion, the writers have put her gender presentation in a boke role--suggesting she's over-the-top, exaggerated, comedic. It's not great. I completely understand why readers find it offensive (and it is) even while I don't think the writers intended it that way. Ultimately, it would have been great to see other explicitly LGBT+ characters portrayed without the joking angle.

With that said, I'm not entirely unhappy with her character. She is a stereotype, but the authors have chosen to take only the visual elements of the stereotype and leave the rest on the cutting room floor. In other works of fiction, characters like Urumi are often hypersexual to the point of being in-universe creepy, especially towards underage boys. Other times, characters like her may be eccentric or off-putting in other ways. However, that's not at all the case here. Urumi seems to play a helpful big sister/aunt role in Jirou's life, and he's clearly comfortable enough with her to spend the night at her bar.

(BB/MTC+ chapter 17. "Sorry, but can I shack up here again tonight?" "Of course you can.")

While she seems to engage in some sort of a bohemian lifestyle, as evidenced by the alcohol and smoking, it isn't anything outside of what many of the other characters do. Additionally, while she isn't drawn in a flattering fashion in scenes where she's playing up her persona (which is par for the course with any character in this series, regardless of gender), there are plenty of neutral shots of her being serious. Finally, the art is never outright rude--that is, she isn't drawn exaggeratedly masculine or flamboyantly...snakey? I don't know how to describe this to anyone who's lucky enough to have never seen this--clearly LGBT+ AMAB characters drawn with noodly limbs and huge, overblown lips winding around male characters.

Maybe because I see so much worse continuing to be produced in this day and age, I feel like Hypmic could have done a much, much worse job with this character. She overall plays a positive role and is treated with much the same care as other side characters. It's unfortunate, then, that the writers have chosen to make her gender presentation the subject of a joke.

In other frustrations, I heavily dislike the unnecessary gender divide in background characters. All punks and other background baddies are male, whereas all adoring fans are female. (But Rhyme Anima has done an interesting job of subverting this!) The vast majority of other background figures fall into strict gender roles, which is likewise disappointing. It appears that diversity may be an accepted trait for none but a lucky few that form the main Hypmic cast.

All in all, I don't think Hypmic's portrayal of gender roles is groundbreaking, nor do I think it's fair to suggest that all Japanese pop culture plays into strict gender roles. There are certainly many Japanese works, popular or otherwise, with much more interesting things to say about gender. However, when compared to the vast majority of the titles that cross my desk on a regular basis, I notice and appreciate the level of care put in to Hypmic's commentary on gender roles. The work consistently reinforces the notion that it's okay to be your own individual, no matter how that plays into your gender, and I find that freeing. That's a message we could all do to hear more often, regardless of culture and language.

TL;DR: Oh no, my rapidly approaching deadline. :)

[robotlesbianjavert]

what would you say are horikoshi's biggest strengths as a writer and what are his greatest weaknesses?

ooh that's a really good question that i've had to think a lot about. it's difficult cuz while i've read his tenko oneshot and the original my hero oneshot, i haven't read his other two multi-chapter works (oumagadoki zoo and barrage) (though i have seen the raw scans of his other oneshot shinka rhapsody thanks to @codenamesazanka). boku no hero academia is obviously his work i'm most familiar with, and it's difficult to use mostly that as a metric for his skills overall.

on the other hand, bnha lasts for so much longer than his other works and is also so much more recent, so it's the main work that has to show off how growth or lack thereof as a writer, as well as his biggest challenges due to how punishing the manga industry can be and how it would have forced him into situations he may not have experienced with his past works. so in a way, bnha kind of has to be judged a biiit separately from the rest?

anyways with those caveats aside. his greatest strength is always and forever his art, which in manga is at least half of the writing. he has this special little touch with physicality and emotion that like. it's hard to describe how exactly it's different from other artists, who are also often great with physicality and emotion! but horikoshi's art often has that extra bit of weight to it that really sells it to me.

like i've said previously, i also think that he does have a knack for character writing that shines best when he's working with complicated, rough around the edges characters who aren't straightforward goody-two-shoes. shigaraki and bakugou i've already said are great examples of this. endeavour can get more difficult to talk about in this context due to the baggage around him, but i'd maintain that a lot of the series best writing does go to him, shouto, and the rest of the todoroki plotline (although it struggled a bit at the end there). twice, while ultimately a really nice guy, is still a very complicated criminal who gets theeeeee best development in the series. obviously there's toga, normal cute girl of all time.

a lot of that extends to horikoshi's affection for his minor/side characters as well. while i don't think he always nails it with integrating them into the story (fucking shouji. also vigilantes honestly did parts of this better), he does obviously put a lot of thought into them even when he doesn't get to use it. this is part of why i adore spinner so much, because he's that very typical minor side character who could easily be written out but instead gets a fleshed out and evocative role of his own.

i also think that horikoshi has a really strong instinct and potential for great horror/horrific material. again, this is where shigaraki proves himself horikoshi's best character - everything from his initial character design with the hands, the hints and insinuations about his backstory dropped over the first and second acts, all culminating in the beautifully gruesome shimura family massacre that just hits every single fuckin time. i honestly think it's one of the greatest payoffs in the series, basically bar none. (i know people try to give that title to the dabi reveal, but i keep getting taken out by how abrupt that particular instance is) it's the horror moments that make his art especially shine, he comes up with great scenarios, and honestly when he mentioned wanting to try his hand at a horror work after bnha i'm like, all in.

but that kind of segues into my biggest criticism of his writing - he holds back. he gets meek, he doesn't go all in. he had some interview where he admitted that the yakuza arc took a lot out of him because of how dark it got,

this extends to the entire series, especially in how the third arc has shaken out. deku and all might are really big victims of this, where there is absolutely a lot of complex development and criticism you can do with the way their characters are set up, but the story backs down from that to go "well maybe they're just. too heroic sometimes. self-sacrificing. that's an issue right." the 'dark deku' arc is a joke because while deku does extend himself beyond his limits, he never gets to the point of causing real harm to himself and those around him before class 1a swoops in.

i also have my conspiracy theories about hawks and how the fallout of his murdering twice was soooooo weak, where i think the popularity of hawks and his status as a hero scared horikoshi off of doing anything more critical with him, instead feeding that overwrought backstory as a distraction and giving the whole "government sponsored murderer who is wracked with guilt and bitter about the hypocrisy" to nagant. who again he didn't go hard enough with because then deku would have like, something outside of shigaraki to actually deal with. and would have to question the society that he's protecting. whatever.

he's also been so half-assed with the critique and deconstruction of hero society that he's set up, only to hastily and clumsily reconstruct it because superheroes are too cool to reeeaaaaaally say anything about, and also hero society has too many parallels with real life modern society, which might be awkward to critique in a youth magazine meant to satisfy as broad an audience as possible.

and then there's the heteromorph arc. goddamn the heteromorph arc. if you follow me you've probably read this but @stillness-in-green's conclusive write up of heteromorph discrimination as it's been laid out throughout the story and how that arc failed, which i think really signifies either the ways that horikoshi doesn't dig as deep into the concepts he brings up as he should, or doesn't realize how deep he needs to go with them.

i don't know if part of the way that horikoshi holds back or lands on the most boring resolutions for some of the ideas the story brings up is in part due to not wanting to rock the boat culturally, if he doesn't want to accidentally turn readers away after he's worked so hard to get to where he is now as a mangaka, or if it's the workload wearing him down, but it leaves the story half-formed.

i also think his other greatest weakness, which is a brutal one for shonen, is that he kind of fucking sucks at interesting fight scenes. like how much stuff ends with deku giving a big punch. it is my honest and greatest opinion that it should have been iida fighting muscular and uraraka fighting stain either alongside or in place of deku - their characters just had so much more to gain there. but i can also imagine all the fanboys who only care about power stats sneering and asking what iida and uraraka could have possibly done, which i think really speaks to a lack of creative thought not just in the fanbase, but in the writer. horikoshi can spin up all these cool and unique powers, but struggles to do anything really engaging with them. given that shonen fight scenes double as big character moments, it leaves a lot to be desired. big punches can only be inspiring so many times.

anyways. there's probably a lot more i can say. but that involves retreating more of the story than i am willing to do so right now. so alas.

[yandere-sins]

Heyo! Can you please answer Q6, Q4, Q2, & Q16. Also have a peaceful and lovely day/night<3

[Writer asks here]

Thanks so much for asking ♥ I am surprised so many of you were curious!!

»»———————— ♡ ————————««   

#2 Do you listen to music when you write? What does your current writing playlist look like?

I actually do! And very specific ones, I have a few selected youtube videos which are either lo-fi hip hop or writing/studying music and just run on repeat. I'll link some of my favorites to give you an idea!

1 | 2 | 3

Most important is no lyric (especially not if I can understand it, but I usually also don't like the songs that are have people humming or singing to the songs and will skip these), upbeat but I keep the volume low so it really is just a background music (but that means like classical music doesn't really hit the itch), and preferable with ambiance sounds like rain or waves or so.

Sometimes music can be almost too much, so I use mynoise.net for either the Irish Waves or the white noise, depending on what suits me that day. It's my personal recommendation for anyone wanting background noises.

Lastly, yes, I am very jealous of artists who can do their art while watching movies or the like. But I can't even have someone talk to me while I write so that is just the biggest no-go lol

#6 When (and not if) you ultimately finish your WIP and publish, do you picture yourself giving readings and signings and interviews, or would you prefer to stay out of the public eye? 

Hm, complicated. I am not a super private person and I love talking with people (I am an introvert but my family and my job raised my tolerance lol) so I'd probably do well if I wanted to do events. But, if I ever get to finish my book, I'd go for self-publishing so the chances that I'd ever have a signing or reading is just super low because pulling it off on my own just seems... harder. Not impossible but harder. I don't think the genres I want to go into could be picked up by traditional publishing, so it would be a lot of work, and I don't know if I have enough dedication to see it through. Passion, yes, time and resources, no.

However, I think if I did have a book, I might start tableing at my conventions! I see a lot of authors there and that might lean towards my target audience more!

I think I'd still like to sign books though, maybe have a special sale and then sign them and send them to people or something. That would be cool. It was nice to write a special note to everyone who got my Yantober book, so I know I'd really like to do that!

#16 CHALLENGE: Tell us about your current project in three sentences or less. 

Oooh, hmmmm, let's see. It's something all of you guys chose in a poll a while ago, so how do I tease it without revealing too much hmmmm...

It's an isekai story and inspired by an existing manga (manhwa?). The concept is similar but I haven't read the original, I am just turning the core idea around and making it properly yandere (although the idea has been done in different versions a lot). The main character/reader misjudges the effects it'll have to just level up one certain stat and it comes back to bite them in the form of a typical noble getting overly obsessed.

Hope that keeps everyone guessing lol! :D

[letyukisayfuck]

I have filled out the survey, and was wondering if you had any sort of recommendation guide to the supplemental haruhi media.

Basically all I have done is the anime, movie, LN. then I tried disappearance of yuki and dropped it because i thought it was bad.

Do you have any particular recommendations out of the other Haruhi media?

a lot of it depends on what you want! i haven't actually dug that deep into extra content myself, but of what i have haruhi-chan is really fun. (there's the like 20smth episodes you can find just on youtube, and 12 volumes of manga--it's by the same guy who wrote the disappearance of yuki-chan manga, puyo, but it's less grating. i honestly think part of yuki-chan's problem is it has too much haruhi-chan in it, but in a parody series that isn't trying to tell a serious story at all, most of it works fine. there's also a tie-in short story by tanigawa at the end of volume 12; the returning favor of haruhi suzumiya)

(intrigues of itsuki koizumi-kun, ALSO by puyo, was at least partially compiled in one of the later haruhi-chan manga volumes. no one appears entirely sure how much of it is there and how much of it existed.)

the manga anthologies are a bunch of work by different writers and artists that i have but haven't read. i know one of them centers on kyon and koizumi.

if you like the light novels but want something a bit different that could still be canon, try the tempo loss bishop exchange--a short story set shortly after disappearance from koizumi's pov, written by sou sagara but endorsed by tanigawa

if you're instead my brand of insane and want to fuck around with fan translations because you have Personal Beef with the guy who translated intuition, if you go digging you can find fan translations for random numbers and seven wonders still. (there aren't any for tsuruya's challenge because intuition was a simul-release and it wasn't released outside of it, unfortunately. this drives me crazy because i KNOW they fucked it up somehow.)

i haven't played any of the official games but the fanmade fighting game that got a C&D from kadokawa is pretty fun (gekitou, the one with the lucky star crossover. there's no english release but it's decently intuitive in my experience! there's a story mode i had a friend translate for me but you Can play it without any of that stuff)

there's efforts being made to translate most if not all of the official games, but afaik the only one currently complete is the promise of haruhi suzumiya (psp game)

the character cds are also fun if you haven't poked around them (they offer insight into the characters, including a couple who were never actually relevant in the anime--who the hell decided emiri kimidori needed an anime-based character cd??), and there's a lot of other weird little things like that. like asos or the radio branch cds.

[egalitarian-tomboy]

100 Hirumamo Prompt Challenge

I want to breathe new life into the fanfic sphere for Hirumamo because this ship has me in a choke hold & refuses to let go. I've come across some great stories but I got a problem - new fics are few and far between. Don't get me wrong, it's been a long while since anyone has seen Eyeshield 21 or has read / re-read the manga like I have. But I think that we can breathe new life into this ship's content sphere with this - a fanfic prompt challenge!

Each of these prompts that you so choose to create must be at least 1,000 words at the bare minimum.

Or if you're more artistically inclined, you can make any of these prompts into new pieces of art. If you do just tag me so I can see it please. There are #100 prompts in total so let's get started!

ALSO!!! IF YOU CAN POST THESE STORIES ON FANFICTION.NET OR ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN THAT WOULD BE FANTASTIC!! PLEASE!

Camping

First Kiss

Injury

Sick Day

One Bed

Wedding Dress

Confession

Protective

Practice

Game Day

Valentine's Day

White Day

Pocky

Summer

Beach Day

College Football Game

Pregnancy

Engagement Rings

Meet the Parents

Summer Festival

Making Out

Dance

NFL Super Bowl

Birth of First Child

Fantasy AU (Your Choice)

Hickey

Library

Dinner Date

Writer Choice

Masquerade Ball

School Play

Babysitting

Cuddling

First Time (NSFW prompt)

Locked in a Closet

7 Minutes in Heaven (Can be possible NSFW content)

Fishing

Photograph

Rain

Training

Las Vegas

Childhood Stories

Good Luck Kiss

Airplane Flight

Making Up After a Fight

Jealousy

Phone Call

"That's My Boyfriend" / "That's My Girlfriend"

Ticklish

Smile

Soft Touch

Comfort

Christmas

Birthday

Swapping Bodies

Indirect Confession

Piggyback Ride

Swings

Apartment

Avenge

New Years

Song fic

Movie Theater

Video

Retirement

Tango

Almost Kiss

Moment They Fell in Love

NSFW Prompt (Your Choice)

Music

Hand Signs

Honeymoon

Vows

Trauma

Sleeping on Their Shoulder

Cherry Blossoms

Fireworks

Welcome Back Kiss

Strawberries

Gum

Nickname

Massage

Winter

Guns

Family Planning

Rough Football Loss

Tears

Gossip

Lotion

Undercover Date

Rose

Father's Day

Mother's Day

Family Picture Day

Shopping

Clubroom

Chess

Swimming

Horny (NSFW Prompt)

French Kiss

I'm looking forward to reading your fics. Again, if you write any of these or all of them in one big collection. Reblog this with either a link to your story or to your fan art. Let's give more entertainment to the community!

[sixty-silver-wishes]

Reading Junji Ito's "Billions Alone" from a post-lockdown, culturally individualist perspective

Today, I met up with some local writers at a cafe/comic shop for some group discussion and writing. One of them is a fiction writer like myself; the other is a video essayist. Since becoming more involved in the local artistic scene, both as an artist and a writer, I feel like my mental health has been improving, at least when it comes to my personal life- I'm building a circle of like-minded creatives, surrounding myself with others who have similar beliefs and interests as me. As I'm finding community in the creative scene, however, I'm also realizing that many people I'm meeting feel much of the same way.

At the writers' meeting, while we discussed our stories, our goals, and our writing challenges, the idea of "third spaces" also frequently came up as well. My video essayist friend was talking about a new project studying how public infrastructure is designed to favor drivers over pedestrians, and we all agreed on something that I've been hearing many times in online circles- the internet itself is changing. Despite social media platforms supposedly promising to bring people together, they've only become more isolating as they've become more corporate, AI, and algorithm-driven. We talked how lots of online users are returning to the "old internet," forming their own blogs and seeking an escape from the increasingly stifling major platforms. We discussed how while everything is filled with SEO and short-form content, nobody actually likes TikTok or Instagram, but they've become so ingrained in online society that we tolerate them, using them to promote our small businesses or connect with others.

After the meeting, I decided to look around the comic store, and was drawn to a copy of Junji Ito's manga collection, Venus in the Blind Spot. I'd become a Junji Ito fan way back in college, and his art style has had a big influence on my own work. While I also take heavy inspiration from styles like Expressionism and New Objectivity, and artists such as Edward Gorey and Stephen Gammell, Junji Ito's painstaking pen-and-ink hatching, bulging eyeballs, and grotesque faces have played a distinct role in my artistic growth. However, I didn't own any of his mangas (having read some online), but I'd been wanting to get one so I could study his art style up close. I ended up buying Venus, and after my conversation with my writer friends, it was strangely coincidental that the first story in the collection was Billions Alone.

Junji Ito's Billions Alone tells the story of Michio, a reclusive young man who has a crush on his former classmate, Natsuko. Natsuko is planning a school reunion, and invites Michio to reconnect and meet her new friend group. Meanwhile, a mysterious series of mass murders have been taking place, as a group called "Billions Alone" appears to be killing people en masse and sewing their bodies together. As Michio and Natusko's friends are killed and the heaps of bodies grow bigger and bigger, the public is warned not to form gatherings, and to isolate from one another. Eventually, Michio sees military planes that he thinks are attacking Billions Alone aircrafts, but are actually dropping pamphlets about "coming together" onto the town. As he thinks the government is finally taking action against the murders, he goes to tell Natusko, only to see her sewing the bodies of her family together, implying that the murders have not been carried out by an organized crime group as suspected, but rather civilians being compelled or brainwashed into killing each other. I've seen analyses before that Billions Alone is a commentary on Japan's collectivist culture, and that many of Junji Ito's works critique different aspects of Japanese culture- for instance, Gyo has been interpreted as a metaphor for the Japanese government's denial of atrocities committed by Japan during WW2, such as in Nanking, China, while My Dear Ancestors has been read as a criticism of the concept of filial piety. While these interpretations are certainly fascinating, I admittedly don't know enough about Japanese culture to properly analyze Ito's works from that lens, and will leave that up to people more knowledgeable than I am. However, coming from the United States, which has a heavily individualist culture as opposed to collectivism, Billions Alone resonated with me in a different way, especially after the Covid lockdowns and the increasing isolation of people, ironically in part due to the internet, which has simultaneously allowed people to "come together" and drive them apart.

Before I get into my thoughts on Billions Alone from my own cultural perspective, I want to add a disclaimer- just because Covid lockdowns are over doesn't mean that Covid itself is over. People still get the disease, it's still contagious, and it's still deadly. If you're sick and going out in public, it's common decency to wear a mask; public health is still important. This analysis is not anti-mask or anti-lockdown, but does discuss the social and psychological effects of lockdowns. I'd also like to say that when I call myself "culturally individualist," I mean that I come from an individualist culture, not that I consider individualism to be a superior ideology; both individualism and collectivism have their pros and cons. That being said, back to Junji Ito.

One thing that stood out to me the most in Billions Alone is the way the concepts of togetherness vs. isolation are framed in both positive and negative ways. Natsuko is a very social character; she has a friend group, a fiancee, and is planning the school reunion. She's also the only character shown sewing people together at the end. Meanwhile, Michio is very isolated; he's spent the last seven years at home. He misses Natsuko at the beginning of the story, and while he wants to confess his feelings towards her, while he's been shut up in his house, she's found someone else she loves. Togetherness prevents social death, but it also means physical death. Isolation means mental anguish and loneliness, but it also means survival.

The characters in Billions Alone both crave and are terrified of togetherness. As they're ordered to stay separated by the authorities, many young people, including the main characters, ignore the orders to gather in groups. This definitely brought the Covid lockdowns to mind for me; like the characters in the manga, to protect ourselves and the people we loved, we had to avoid gathering with them. Michio thinks that by the end, the Japanese government "finally" decides to take action combatting Billions Alone, but only after the death toll has become impossible to ignore and increasingly large masses of bodies begin to appear in public spaces. Worse yet, the planes he sees are in the control of Billions Alone, dropping propaganda to even more people (this page points out they're possibly an allusion to Allied planes during WW2; the allusion to John Lennon's music on the radio also makes a possible case for an analysis of the Billions Alone group symbolizing western globalization, but that's a study for another time). Notably, the bodies don't appear in workplaces or the home, but rather in "third spaces"- public parks, hiking trails, and areas being used for parties, like the school reunion. To survive, people must avoid these places, leading them to become more and more isolated. Natsuko's desire for social connection leads her to continue with the reunion despite Michio's insistence, justifying it as a "memorial" for the members of her friend group. However, the auditorium is empty, and she and Michio are confronted with a large web of bodies.

Looking at Ito's (frankly amazing) drawings of the corpses (I found myself analyzing his use of hatching and texture in every single one), I was reminded of the discussion my friends and I had about the modern Internet. In the story, technology is shown as a way to keep people connected while isolating from each other; Michio watches the news on the television for updates, calls Natsuko on the phone, and reads online forums to see what people are saying about the murders. But, as in real life, technology is not a substitute for social interaction, and while people can communicate and receive information over long distances while being isolated, they still continue to gather, despite knowing about the murders. They increasingly rely on technology, but still crave connection, enough to risk their lives for it; even Michio, who is used to being alone, says he wouldn't mind being sewn to his crush Natsuko as he ventures to see her again despite the risks. It's a line that was probably intended to be humorous, but speaks to the fact that even for him, there's only so much isolation he can take. When he sees the military planes, she's the first person he goes to talk to- if not the only person he knows who's still alive.

Overall, I think there's a lot to analyze with Billions Alone, and while I saw some people on the internet also drawing parallels with the Covid lockdowns like I did, I think what we can interpret from it in terms of the long-term increasing isolation of society- while we paradoxically "come together" with the internet- and the disappearance of third spaces is just as interesting. Like my friends and I in the comic store today, the characters are desperate for connection, and lament not being able to have it. Even if isolation may help them survive, they ultimately fall victim to their desire to live.

[imjustabeanie]

My part of the exchange with @fourtyfourcatss !

Sorry for the wait! I hope you like it!

Your kuroshitsuji match is….Sebastian!

Now listen it was a very tough choice cuz your runner up is Edward, but in the end I think your chemistry with sebby is better. Anime Sebastian is a sweetheart compared to how bitchy he is in manga (he is my fav but someone slap this man).

Sebastian is charming and very manipulative….he has a lot of facades and can just become your dream man if he wants to which means that getting down to the real him is the challenge of a lifetime. Heck who knows why he decided to court someone. But I ain’t here to analyse morally um…dubious characters or anything cuz we’d be here for the night and I’m a beige flag who loves red flags so anyways. I think Sebastian is the type to fall later and be surprised that he can even fall in love. This means that when he realizes it’s serious he will distance himself at first and then basically stay glued to you. He’s quite a possessive lover because love is foreign to him. This sums up how you got together and the biggest obstacle in the relationship.

Sebastian is a lover who’ll always hype you up and help you achieve your ambitious goals. It can get overbearing sometimes because you don’t want to disappoint him but really just talk to him about it as he’s not the most emotionally intelligent. He loves how passionate you are and if it’s in his field, he will happily coach you and help you out without showing off much. He also appreciates your honesty because dealing with fake people all the time can be so tiring (oh the hypocrisy…).

He is not a negligent lover but he’s also not always here due to his deals and job. He makes up for it when he’s back by giving you a divine royal treatment. Nothing is impossible for you (his words). I also headcanon that he tries to buy you gifts based by what other couples buy but he still finds the concept foreign because demons aren’t that materialistic. You two are also Undertaker favorite visitors due to your humor (he teases Sebastian about his feelings each time).

He lives to impress and he won’t rest until he can impress you. The main reason is pride. If this one hell of a butler couldn’t impress his lover then what kind of demon is he? No he won’t stand for it lol. This results in a pouty Sebastian that you can tease and reassure. Careful, he’ll return the teasing tenfold. This man won’t hesitate to show off his demonic strength and just exhaust you with work which is quite embarrassing cuz you’re physically active and tired while he is smirking. You’re more considerate than him and he’s a bad influence that’ll encourage you to put yourself first all the time even if it’s harmful to others.

Your artistic side makes him happy because you two can just enjoy art together and there’s a high chance he’ll tell you a story about the artist. Heck if he can he will even let you contact your favorite writers, even if they’re dead. Your logical side is a breeze to him because he’s surrounded by idiots whose savior is you. I mean you’re the only one who’ll patiently explain everything easily while Sebastian is just condescending to them! Sebastian is a little old fashioned but if you want to try a new creative way he will help you out. It’s shocking because he usually dismisses the idea when someone else proposes it.

Overall it’s quite an adventurous relationship who does have its up and downs due to Sebastian origins so…good luck. I don’t even know how I squeezed out so much from your description…is it me or do I write like I’m a couple therapist?

Your Hades match is…..Zagreus! With Hermes as a close runner up

Him and Sebby is like cats and dogs. Zagreus is the definition of the clumsy golden retriever boyfriend who means well lmao. He’s nosy, curious, creative, AMBITIOUS, and so honest it’s not surprising that you two got together. Your matchmakers were Cupid and Aphrodite even blessed your union (please they pushed him to confess after being tired of his rambling).

You two are so ambitious you’re making Thanatos go crazy. I mean you’re more rationable than him but you two always hype up the other which creates trouble. Zagreus is proud of it and proud of you. He’s always rambling about how creative and good you are to him. He loves to read with you and tries to help you out in your writing by giving you new ideas and such. Heck he walks around with a notepad in case you have a new idea you want to write down. He’ll take it out even if you two are in the middle of a battlefield. Due to his lack of self preservation, the thinking is left to you and he’s the bodyguard. Just because he’s reckless doesn’t make him less protective. Dying sucks, even if you come back to life, that’s why he will do his best to never let you die. If you die before him he goes on a rampage and then comes back all sad and apologetic to you (he wants to bring the head of your enemy but doesn’t know how you’ll react. That’s mythology romance lol).

Zagreus doesn’t mind how blunt you are considering his entourage, but he always has a witty comeback. Only he can make these comebacks to you. He is always optimistic and will do his best to improve himself for you. Even if you have issues empathizing with others, he will be patient for you and learn how to be more communicative. I believe that this and his family issues are gonna be issues in the relationship because if he feels that he’s burdening you he’ll break up thinking it’s for your own good. He does need reassurance.

Zagreus love language is definitely acts of service and words. He always compliments you and tries to remember the little things that make you happy. If he hears that something is causing you issues he will try to solve it for you in the shadows (if it works he will come all proud and if it doesn’t work he will come to you apologizing like a scared puppy lol). Also, at first his father doesn’t like you and tries to chase you away contrary to his mother. It’s only after the game events that his father will welcome you under the threats of his dear wife.

[gamerdog1]

Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-San Review

There are two types of people in this world: those who love taking a trip to their local bookstore, and those who hate fun. I happen to be part of the former group, and try to visit my local Indigo at least once or twice a month just to check out what’s there. Sometimes, its just nice to wander through the aisles, and casually explore what’s there, without really looking for anything in particular. Its a place so laid back,  it begs the question: ‘Working there can’t be that hard, can it?’

As it turns out, working at a bookstore is pretty complicated, something that I learned after watching this month’s assigned anime: Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-San. Based on the manga of the same name, this series follows a skeleton named Honda who works at a non-descript bookstore in Japan, stocking shelves and helping customers. Each day brings new challenges which Honda and his odd-headed co-workers must face, in wacky (sometimes barely animated) hijinks. 

Skull-Face Bookseller (abbreviated to SFBH from now on for brevity) is a series whose main focus is being a ‘relatable’ workplace comedy. Folks like me who’ve never worked at a bookstore might find themselves getting confused at all the workplace lingo thrown around, though the series does a good job at explaining the concepts to the audience. The series, though, has this overall sense of expectancy over it, as if the creators are waiting in the bushes for you to laugh at their ‘relatable’ jokes. Every time a character complains about working too long, about how customers are rude, or how their job sucks, the anime expects you to relate that to your own working experience and therefore laugh along. 

And yet, it always stops before it gets too pessimistic. Most shows that I’m familiar with about people with jobs go down this doom spiral, where characters obsessively complain about work. Their job sucks, something happens that they weren’t expecting, they react negatively, rinse and repeat. Here, though, the writer steps back right before the spiral begins, acknowledging the problem but refusing to let it control their life. SFBH is a refreshing take on the time-worn workplace comedy, because it doesn’t make the entire joke of the series ‘Working sucks’.

Instead, the main joke of the series is the appearance of the bookstore employees. Just like in the original manga, Honda and her co-workers are depicted as wearing unusual helmets or masks, giving them a sense of cartoonish silliness that separates them from the customers at first glance. I’m not exactly sure why they look like that (my guess is to protect the identities of the real people involved), but the weird faces has an added benefit beyond simple aesthetics. In a series that revolves around a large cast of recurring characters, confusion is inevitable, especially since some manga artists suffer from ‘Same Face Syndrome’ with their female characters. Since the main cast of SFBH are all wearing weird head-coverings, its easier to remember who is who, and every character looks distinct.

SFBH’s characters also fall into this weird grey area when it comes to gender recognition. Since most characters have their faces fully covered, our only traditional means of distinguishing are from dialogue. Nobody ever mentions the word ‘man’ or ‘woman’ (and knowing Japan, I’d be shocked if the concept of non-binary was even hinted at), but the occasional  ‘him’ or ‘she’ is thrown around when referring to someone. The Japanese voice actors sound like what one might expect from a ‘she’ or a ‘he’, but when it comes to Honda, things get complicated.

Honda is, of course, a skeleton, who lacks any stereotypically feminine or masculine traits. His face is plain, his bony frame is mostly hidden under a white shirt and blue work apron (and what would we even expect to be under there, besides bones?). By all accounts, Honda is pretty androgynous, something that isn’t too common in a series where that isn’t the main punchline. 

What makes things interesting is how Honda herself identifies. In the anime, Honda is voiced by Soma Saito, who you might recognize as that green-haired wimp Tadashi from Haikyu. Because of this, Honda sounds very masculine, and the subtitles agree, referring to him as ‘he’ or ‘him’. At the same time, the character is intended to be representing the author, who identifies as female. There are a few times in the manga where Honda is read as female, including being referred to as an “older sister” type, or when a customer declines her offer to help carry a heavy bag because it would be ‘too heavy for a woman’. 

Honda flip flops between being read as male or female, while showing no obvious signs of being either. The very beginning of the series has him lament about the typical image of a bookseller being a sweet, glasses-wearing young woman, and how he doesn’t fit that image. Yet, later in the series, when Honda talks with her manga editor about a live-action adaptation, they joke about which male actor they would cast as her. I’d like to believe that Honda is genderfluid, which would be groundbreaking for a Japanese manga, so it gets representation points in my books. 

Beyond complicated gender identities, anyone who is even mildly versed in manga will get a kick out of this series for how often it references popular series. Characters will burst into a scene, asking if there’s more copies of a famous manga in stock, all the while the name is barely censored because of copyright. Well-known manga references are thrown all over the place, giving the fictional bookstore a greater sense of legitimacy. Instead of making obviously fake titles, they just said ‘screw it’ and used real ones, making it feel more real. While watching this anime, I found myself trying to identify all the manga mentioned by characters in dialogue, almost like a little game. Its pretty fun, if you know your stuff.

I’d also like to think that whoever recommended this series to me knows me really well, because the amount of references to yaoi or BL in this anime is shockingly high. The entire first episode is practically devoted to it, culminating in a scene where Honda has to deal with an English-speaking customer who is looking for an explicit doujinshi that his daughter wanted. I really don’t know what’s worse: the fact that a character mentioned a BL series vaguely in an off-hand comment and I immediately knew what it was (despite never having read it), or that I knew exactly which doujinshi the English-speaking dad was looking for. Let’s just say that I haven’t watched Gintama yet, but I have some experience with the main character...

SFBH is a good anime: not great, not fantastic, but not bad either. It wasn’t trying to be some over the top, zany comedy, or some deep meditation about workplace culture. Its a short, snappy, and visually distinct series with it’s own sense of humor, one that relies more on weird people and situations than pessimism and ‘relatability’. I enjoyed how much it had to say about how bookstores work, and I felt like I learned while watching it. One thing’s for sure: I have a new sense of respect for bookstore workers, after seeing all the hard work that goes into keeping everything in order. Now, I can rest assured that when I bring my big stacks of plastic-wrapped BL to the counter, the employee ringing me up is just as embarrassed as I am. What a relief.

[psymmetry]

writer 20 questions!

so aoba tagged panda and yellow (@guesst), who tagged me, but i saw panda's post first for some reason. hi everyone. thanks for remembering i exist, i had to dust off my writer card. i will be responding to everyone's points…

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

36

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

125,372

3. What fandoms d(id) you write for?

mairimashita

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

dying doesn’t suit you either (433), trying not to move (same fic) (360), pandemonium (280), it’s not the end of the world (239), soft cream otoshichatta(191). what, no kidnapping fic on here?  no vampirio? vampirio is still my second most iconic work; people mention it to this day 

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i think i do. enough that the number of comments is different from the number of comment threads.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

probably the one where kiri makes azu kill people and then it ends with him dissociating sitting on the bathroom floor knowing that his life is ruined. what a great fic. does anyone else want to read this fic? the statute of limitations has passed i don’t even mind

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

uuuu….. FIGURE IT OUT I DON’T KNOW

8. Do you get hate on fics?

never in my life lol i am a perfect angel

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

surprised to see other people saying they don’t. hey, if you get to write without being a disgusting pervert freak, why not me? if you can be motivated beyond a base impulse. if you can want something closer to pure, just for the satisfaction of pieces clicking into place, words coming easy for once– i want satisfaction in a bad way.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

IN… theory. A. i love crackficcing and B. i feel like it’s hard to find an interesting crossover, which is a challenge, but hm, not really a thing i do. 

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

no, but someone once used my manga coloring for a fancam. i can’t be mad, i stole that shit in the first place lolol

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nooooo (psy is not that famous) (never got a podfic either)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes! i have been listed as a co-author for beta-ing and i have also written fics that were completely co-concepted and beta’d by the other person. never written by like, trading off chapters or had both people write extensive passages though. 

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I’M POLYAMAROUS I DON’T HAVE AN OTP 

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

vampirio #2… i drafted it out and everything… from WIP to RIP… 

i don’t need to finish things for them to count towards my artistic development or whatever. you know, perhaps fans of my work would disagree. perhaps such people would prefer that i post things for them to read

16. What are your writing strengths?

this is too embarrassing. words pretty :> flow flow :> 

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i can’t structure and follow through on anything longer than 10k. i don’t block out time to write.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

tu quieres escuchar mi espanol terrible? en un fic? por que’ yo quisiera hacer este NFDNs?? escribir fic por the smash hit sensation EL CUARTO MISTERIOSO. yo debo mirar mas shows en espanol…. este keyboard no tene un numpad. fun fact. no alt codes para mi

19. First fandom you wrote for?

uuuuuuuuuu nope that’s LIMITED INFORMATION

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

playing the victim. the aforementioned serial killer fic. 

i am tagging @cometkov and @dragonofthedepths! and everyone. everyone at all. if you see this you have to answer all 20 questions. 500 words each. assignment is due 11/30 11:59. by the way, here is a blank to make it a little easier.

[monstroustea]

a friend was talking about style influences earlier and it reminded me of this old meme and i wanted to do one!!!!! i'll talk more about each one under the read more, but if you want to do one, here's the link: https://www.deviantart.com/foxorian/art/Influence-Map-Template-174550753

Sailor Moon (particularly the 90s anime) - this is a big one! i remember drawing sailor moon in elementary school and playing pretend/LARPing sailor moon on the playground... the good old 90s anime style with the exaggerated expressions! cute girls! friendship! this general kind of soft, roundness to the style of the 90s anime? it has everything

Honey and Clover - this manga/anime means the world to me. i love the style, the way the mangaka draws emotions, but also the protagonist's story of finding himself? resonant. the manga especially is precious to me bc of the art tho, it has a sketchy quality that i love

Hey Arnold! - another childhood favorite... this one doesn't reflect on my actual style so much, but it's a big influence on the stories and characters i like and create. if i could make everyone watch only one cartoon, it would be hey arnold

this is a triple threat... Persona 5, sketchbooks, @meruz - if you look at more than one page of this blog, you can probably guess i like p5(r)!! a lot!! i love all the characters, even if you mostly see me drawing the protag and akechi bc i'm a shipper at heart lol... i'm always inspired by sketchbooks of other artists! especially proper sketchbooks, where they're messy and worked in and aren't curated to be "good looking" for people to look at. that said, this is a page meruz posted from one of their sketchbooks (go buy them) and i adore meruz's work! i got into their work a while back and their lineart really drew me in, the lineweight and use of spot blacks is delicious. i need to work more on those in my own art and meruz's work always makes me want to do just that

Dolls - and here we take a little detour from the obvious? i sadly don't own this doll :( she's a rune naito fashion doll and i want one so badly. i collect dolls, especially fashion dolls!! i love their designs!! i usually just leave them in their stock outfits bc those are part of the charm to me. i wanna draw my dolls more, but for now they're just a big influence on design and outfits for characters

Amanda Lafrenais - i've been following amanda for so many years i can't keep count anymore!! her style blends "western" and "anime" so well to me and also she just draws lots of pretty women?? also we love queens who draw different body types

Roleplaying (pixelated image from wiki-how) - i've been roleplaying, mostly just with my bestie erin, since i was like 14? i draw stuff inspired by our roleplays soooo much, whether it's from a scene or just "what if"s we threw around. erin is a brilliant writer, has great ideas, and she's basically the GM even tho it's collaborative writing-based rping lmao... im just like "erin come up with a plot and we can shoot ideas back and forth" lol

Drawfee - no idea anymore how i came across drawfee but it's a really fun and funny channel and i'll do some of their challenges on my own sometimes!! (my favorite is the 30s character from memory challenge, i'll have erin give me characters and time me) also they have a ttrpg-style series called Drawtectives that has great characters!!! also every time julia draws a scene im like "ah i want that to be me..."

The Golden Age of Illustration - i'm such a junkie for cartoons and anime and comics and such, i don't really know the classics OOPS... but in the past year or two i've gotten really into what's apparently known as the "golden age of illustration"!! roughly the 1880's to 1920s, there's a lot of fairy/folk tale art from this era and i'm obsessed with all of it. standout mentions that i love to look at the work of are kay nielsen and edmund dulac

honorable mentions are just... every manga i've ever loved. every artist i've ever obsessed over the art of. and HONORABLE honorable mention to drawingwiffwaffles who sadly hasn't updated in a few months... she got me back into traditional media tho and is a general delight to watch work

[junesprojects]

📺 CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLIGHT 📺

Introducing Comic Artist @erskye!

Full interview below:

Q: Please tell us about yourself!

A: I'm Syn and I've been in this fandom for three years now. I love cold seasons. I love spicy foods. I love doing lineart but my lineart isn’t truly lineart, they're just clean sketches (don't zoom in).

Q: Who is your favorite Persona 4 character/s and why?

A: Yosuke Hanamura. He is everything for me. I've always been weak towards comic relief-ish characters who kinda got screwed over by the writers and got misunderstood by half the fandom. I tend to immediately "adopt" them. Also Yosuke is VERY cute, kind, and funny. I want this twink obliterated.

Q: Which Persona 4 characters/s do you find fun/challenging to write/draw and why?

A: Souji Seta/Yu Narukami, I find the most challenging and fun to depict. Because everyone has their own interpretations of him and it's fun to witness each and every one. I find the most joy in trying to mix some of his different personality traits from the manga, game and anime. Or even putting emphasis on some of his more subtle traits I find have the potential to be intriguing but doesn't get addressed as much.

Q: What are your favorite Persona 4 ships?

A: Shuhana and Shuada. I also love to ship almost everyone with Yosuke to be honest. 

Q: Which Arcana do you see yourself as?

A: Wheel Of Fortune, probably.

Q: What's your favorite trope?

A: I have many favorite tropes. One of them (and the most common) is childhood friends/best friends to lovers. 

Q: Do you have a favorite Persona?

A: Yukiko's persona designs rocks (I'm particularly fond of Amaterasu).

Q: What made you want to become an artist?

A: Well I love drawing. So I use that to draw my fav characters in specific scenarios, heehee.

Q: How did you get into the Persona series?

A: Someone gifted me P3FES for my 12th birthday. Unforgettable experience.

Q: What would you like to accomplish with your contribution to AOA zine?

A: Most importantly, I want to have fun and do my part for the community. We all eating good together, fellas.

[anjumbai]

Bakuman

“I prefer to be a humble dreamer, with visions to be realized, rather than the ruler of people with no dreams or desires.”

MAL Rating: 8.52

I enjoyed watching Bakuman for several reasons. The most prominent one being that it's always enjoyable to watch people work hard to achieve their dreams. That's what the anime seemed to be about. It was about two middle schoolers, one of them being seemingly unaffected by the mundane struggles of life, realizing a new passion, a new dream to work towards. Kawaguchi Tarou, Mashiro's uncle, was a one-hit wonder in the manga industry and the person who made Mashiro want to pursue manga in the first place, died due to overworking. His uncle's death had turned him into any ordinary child just going through life without any passions to pursue. He left art, but his relentless classmate Takagi Akito, an aspiring writer who wanted to turn his stories into mangas for he loved manga so much convinced him to draw a manga with him. With Mashiro's art and Takagi's story, you could just tell this was gonna be a duo you will root for.

And also comes the important promise. Mashiro asks the girl he likes to marry him when their work turns into an anime and she can voice its heroine. An aspect of the story many people disliked, but I found it to be such an amazing addition to it. "Living up to the challenge" they say. It is sucha shounen-like feeling that you just have to get energized, brimming with motivation and the spirit of youth for a fulfilling 3 seasons with a total of 75 episodes.

Together, Mashi and Takagi turn into Ashirogi Mutou. They produce work after work in hopes of serialization, popularizing their one-shot comics and leaving their mark in the industry as an up and coming hotshot manga artist. Takagi comes up with unorthodox yet energizing stories and Mashiro completes the story with his brilliant art. They face numerous challenges, numerous authors and do their best to be the best. And hopefully, achieve their dream of becoming the best manga author along with an adaptation.

The most beautiful part of the story is that it was written and illustrated by the prolific duo of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, the creators of Death Note. They created something special with Death Note, highly regarded as one of the best works in Shounen Jump. And it's almost like the two of them shared their story, their perils and their falls to their long running journey in the manga world.

I know this anime doesn't go with all the pretentious fuck kinda stuff I watch but I enjoyed it a lot. It has made me respect long running authors like Eichiro Oda, Tite Kubo and Masashi Kishimoto. It really takes a lot to produce high quality manga that can stay on top week after week in the rankings and maintain that position so you don't get cancelled. It made me think a lot about why sometimes stories that should've ended a long time keep stretching and stretching for no reason; and why good but not so popular shows get cancelled. The industry is pretty cruel.

I loved the trio of Hattori, Takagi and Mashiro. The romance was meh, and the full time support Kaya-chan was just a badly written character. It was painful to watch what the writers were doing to her but I guess it's for the best. And they didn't show Mashiro and Azuki's wedding, which is a bummer (I didn't care until I saw how many people were actually bummed out about the final episode). The supporting cast of manga authors were really fun to watch. Hiramaru and Aoki getting the W in the end was a huge blast of an episode.

I liked this show a lot. It has made me wanna pick up long running shows like One Piece. I considered One Piece readers to be the type to "not understand what anime is about" but I understand that I was just being pretentious. Long running shows like One Piece are really hard to create. And to do that in a consistency like Eichiro Oda does is almost impossible to imagine just from watching the anime. The guy is a creative genius and a legend in the manga community. And he's still producing work. Freaking amazing.

8.5 out of 10. Almost hard to believe that this is from the creators of Death Note. But I think that the death note manga was actually stretched and it did not end the way the authors wanted it to. The final manga written in the anime was called Reversi, a very similar story to Death Note. Any anime watcher could tell the similarities and how Reversi was based on their real life work Death Note. And they wanted it to end in their own way, not how the company wanted it to or how the producer wanted it to. It's a great look into an industry of hard-workers, dreamers, and most importantly- gamblers. Not the sin city kind, but the kind that gamble their entire lives on creating successful art.

[thessaliah]

You know, I feel you. Some of kids of the new fandom sound like entitled morons. The code-nonsense I just read made me barf.

By kids I mean you. A 22 years old trying to pass themselves as an old fan. Lmao. I couldn't hide my shock when someone linked me to read your arrogant post attempting to pass yourself into a BNF of old yore. No babe, back off. All you address is old, good or bad, you're not a ship police, you are a nobody. A regular fan the same as everyone else. But let me introduce myself, also a fellow fan.

Hello there. I'm Thess, former administrator of all the livejournal Hellsing communities, former ringleader of all the Hellsing roleplayer community in yahoo (oooold shit), former writer with more than 100 fic under my belt (which got awarded and voted by the community and won prizes), former mod and part escalator of the Band of Hawks and other forums, and an original member of the FIRST Hellsing forum in English (formerly localed in hellsing.nu). All those shiny Young King Ours magazines? Were scanned by us, one of my friends, Taylor, owned them and shared them. I was friends with Erin of Shine too. We used to make cooperative Round Robins among all fanfic writers, we used to give giftship, we used to cooperate with artists to do mutual art-fic project frequently too.

You don't know shit. You weren't there waiting the new manga release, speculating, arguing, gushing month by month, all these ten years Hellsing run. We left once it was over. Then you came I guess.

I come from a pre-pixiv era, if you didn't know, most japanese Hellsing fanart was made in personal websites, collected in webshrines. And it was always AlucardxIntegra >>>>>>> PipxSeras >> AlucardxSeras >>>>>>>>>>> other ships popularity wise. Something incredibly novel because seinen manga and works of the era (Trigun and Trinity Blood later) had more yaoi domination. Alucard and Integra was just so amazing that all yaoi fans liked it better than the boring BL options of Hellsing. Also a phenomena noted in the Hellsing guidebook, officially published by YKO. ;)

I am The Original Integra Hellsing fangirl. Claimed her all around social media back in the day which was before Hellsing finished. Hells, my handle was SIR HELLSING lol. The person who guessed Alucard was coming back and was going straight to Integra's bedroom when he does when nobody thought so and later bowed to my actual literacy skills. Because I knew Hellsing was a tribute to Dracula, not just as novel, but as a franchise. I recognize the cliches Hirano was subverting to give the Count his happy ending.

If you call yourself a "cop", I was the Fandom Mafia Donna who literally ran a community to criticize and help fanfiction with challenges and scores (targeting those who bashed Integra because she was "in the way" of their Alucard ship). We had a good system back then, we were bitchy and ate our own. You wouldn't have survived as soon as you spouted that you shipped IntegraxSeras and AlucardxAndersen and tried to tout it as a canon sticker (no issue with those pairings, my friend Jade/DreadNot was and still is the biggest and best writer of AxAA but she knew it was a fanship; and I've written gift fic). You would have gotten laughed at and made a laughing stock.

Let's see... you are against AlucardxIntegra and AlucardxSeras? Oh shit. I might be against the later as notp, but that's bullshit to pretend is some new fan thing (even with the kissy mushy aspect, it's an old tradition, while the other pairings? Newer). This fixation with yuri and yaoi, on the other hand? Clearly a product of this new fandom. AxI vs AxS are the original SHIP WAR. The one that burned and dedicated threads of Hellsing.nu forums to argue against one or the other and you, a literal who fledgling is trying to speak about them? For real? Of course, AlucardxSeras has family-element, but so is your precious IntegraxSeras. Integra acts like her mother surrogate and is even clear in Romancia where she scolds her as she does with a child. Seras' arc, in the manga, is to follow her father figure steps (Alucard), and protect her mother figure (Integra) because she failed to do so in her childhood trauma. That's basically it. She got adopted now by Hellsing. She's the daughteru. You're just taking out of context a lame scene by otaku to titillate them as something that supports a ship. It's ok, but you're using ammo against AxS while ignoring that interaction you ship (with Integra) is also found family to Seras.

Her love interest, the couple "everyone is envious of", is Pip Bernadotte. You can't even write Seras after his "death" without Pip because he's part of her and cannot part at all as a "Combination". And there is still Gonzo show AlucardxSeras which is as canon and part of a "love triangle" officially with AlucardxIntegra even if it's in the loser side.

Hirano, in the Hellsing guide, already declared AlucardxIntegra and SerasxPip are the ships his manga stuck with from the beginning, dismissing the possibility of AlucardxSeras. But see that? It's always those three considered and addressed when they speak on pairings. No AlucardxYour guy of choice, or IntegraxSeras, because they are fanships without real authorial intent or substance that simply aren't even considered in the first place when he began to write the thing. He did choose to not go the AxS direction. If you want to play canon sicker and ship police as you do, you need to acknowledge that your preferences (sans HeinkelxYumie) are beneath AxS in the canon scale.

Don't even make me start on the bullcrap with Integra you brought up. Integra isn't meant to be androgynous (neither is Rip!). She's written straight out Hirano's fetishes and he gets mad when people assume she's androgynous or manly. He just finds girls in suits and with glasses and long hair hot. Rip and Integra are his taste, rather than Seras. You can say that to you she is, but framing it as authorial intent is bullshit. He has no problem to admit Alucard's not male (yes! he said so! Alucard was originally male but after his transformation he/they lose that grip of gender) and Heinkel is intersex, but the idea of anyone trying to pass Integra, his beloved waifu, as manly or androgynous makes Hirano angry. He even chose the VA of the Gundam character he has a crush on as Integra's VA. And declared her as his waifu. And won't even touch your mischaracterization of her and why she stabbed herself in the anime. The ending of both anime and manga are meant to be ambiguous of her choice because it could go either way. All old Integra fans know this if you properly have a grip of her character and notice what she wants (both in anime and manga, that are different things). But you do not have that, huh?

Tone down your arrogance and know your place. It's fine to like a fanship, and you can do it without shitting on canon ships (and try to literally pull "canon" on these while not thinking yours are absolutely outside the canon interpretation - SerasxAnyone is no go after she drinks Pip's blood because she's Pip and Seras, it'll always be a threesome unless you AU it. Period). It's fine to have the "Integra won't become a vampire" interpretation as long as you know she also can become a vampire and is as valid. Be self aware please! When your interpretation (and that "coded" new fan nonsense lmao) clashes with authorial intent, propping it as totally canon-follower is ick. No issue if it's our preference.

Also stop being so full of yourself and call yourself an "old" fan because us, the real old fans, don't claim you.

Buh-bye.

Hey op just curious what makes you hate the new Hellsing fanbase. As a fellow Hellsing fan I was wondering if I’ve completely missed something strange going on lately.

The new Hellsing fandom honestly irks me because of the surface level probing of the source material*. Yes, to most it's a hard core, dark, violent, mad and bad-ass anime but, like I've said so often, for so long on this dumb blog, it has the BEST female characters I've ever seen, recently rivaled by Arcane. Incredible depiction of platonic relationships and morally grey characters. To me, it's primarily a found family story, among other things.

The side characters are incredible, Yumi and Heinkel are the most underrated of the show. I mean come on priest and nun lesbians (lesbian used liberally). Heinkel is confirmed by the author to be an INTERSEX HUMAN. Alucard shapeshifts into a female (which, looking at the Devilman fandom, everyone took for an obvious trans metaphor, why not here?). The source material is as homoerotic as it can get between a lot of the characters (the tension between Sir Integra and Seras during the blood scene). Let's not forget Rip van Winkle, Pip, Walter, and Alexander. Alucard's teasing, Seras' naivety and subsequent maturity, Pip's endurance and playful wittiness. These characters and relationships are stuck in my head forever, they're all incredibly unique, fleshed out and worth remembering, no matter how short a time they spent on screen. And the character designs? As a long-time vampyr and catholic guilt fan, can I just say. Rawr. This show shaped how I dress like irl and my own shitty characters, as well.

Sir Integra is my favorite character of the show and one of all time. Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing. Like, an actually good depiction of a no-nonsense, androgynous as hell, unabashedly commanding (dare I say) woman? And it's played completely straight? No "Whaaa that's a woman?" every 2 seconds or "heh, you will listen to me despite my womanhood" from her. Powerful in her own right despite being the few "magic"-less humans of the series. 0 sexualized Ultimate scenes (sorry Seras and the "hot down there" comment doesn't count, that was banter). She was fucking knighted by the Queen of England before she was even 25, hence Sir Integra. Canonically bi-racial and South-Asian. I'm not even going to go into her character's willpower and values but. Hellloooo??? 

Not to mention, something noteworthy about the series, but Hellsing works because Hirano made time for silly moments. I mean, hell, one of the scenes I remember most vivdly was the gag of Heinkel lighting Sir Integra's cigar and being mega-pissed about it during the final battle, it's funny yet in character, despite many fans saying the humor throws you out of the "reality" of the show.

Oh no, but what do the new fandom gremlins talk about? "Alufart rails Y/A" "OMG VLADCARD'S BARA HAIRY TIDDIES I WANNA RUB MY FACE AGAINST THEM" (you know who you are) “I drew the most fucked up version of Alucard I could think of in my twisted mind”

and my personal "favorite":

"omg 🥺 what if intewa and alucard kisswdd", it's almost as bad as Seras x Alucard.

Unfortunately, I am a part of the ship police, so I'm gonna say right now that these two are my most hated ships:

1) Sir Integra and Alucard's relationship goes beyond romance to me. Since none of the new fans know the lore, Sir Integra is and will die a virgin (canon), it's literally plot relevant because by having sex, if she gets bit she will become a zombie slave (obvious but apparently needed to be said) and, taking a note from the 2001 anime, gone is any chance to continue the Hellsing mission. If she was bitten, plot armor aside, she'd have to off herself instead of becoming a vampire. (and for you freaks out there/pos, dare I say… ace representation? you can argue about desire and subtext later)

2) Seras and Alucard's relationship was specifically noted by the author to be a father/daughter dynamic, which is kind of obvious in the show. Like I said, fundamentally a found family series. Yeah, you don't need to treat found family like family family but I gen can't stand this ship.

I know that people will ship characters who've never been in a room together before. I can't stop people from shipping them and these two ships have ALWAYS been popular in the fandom. I typically ignore this and, yes, "don't like, don't interact" is my main rule. However, new fans ONLY talk about this stuff. None of the rest of the show seems to matter, just Alucard's hairy mustached tig bitties and him fucking one of the two women in the main cast. Or someone's self insert.

((tangent but personally my favorite ships are Alexander x Alucard (obviously in an enemies to enemies way), Heinkel x Yumi, and a romance only Seras x s.Integra. Like, you want old women yuri??? There ya go! They were in a mansion for like 30 years (I forgot) together, probably going missions alone and sharing their grief over Alucard and their unique experience/history. Like I said, I can't help who people ship, I'm not trying to say the source material is in favor of my ships or "how dare people interpret these obviously gay characters as straight". like no, that's not why I'm upset and ik alucard and alexander weren't yaoi-ing it up but like. alucard and s.integra shippers dni /j))

Not to mention, I couldn't help but notice, despite this information being readily available to my middle school self, no one knows the fckn lore or background of this show?? I honest to god saw someone comment that Hellsing Ultimate™ was a bad “remake” because it diverged from the original anime.

Here's SOME fun facts:

-the 2001 version of the show has a different ending than the manga because it wasn't finished yet (duh). Hellsing Ultimate is "soooo short" because production took almost a decade and it was trying to be a faithful, well-animated (that takes time bruv) adaptation. Oh, and a bunch of directional changes that I won't get into.

-there are multiple OVAs following Walter's youth in WW2 (Hellsing: The Dawn). Young Walter's design honestly was one of my favorites from the series so. Walter enjoyers. Check it out.

-there is a bonus book explaining a lot about the characters and process of creating Hellsing written by Hirano himself. whenever I got a hold of it, though (8+ years ago) there was no English translation.

-Alucard didn't just transform into a girl that one time, he was in his girl form the entire time during WW2 (hence why when people mention his possible affair with the Queen it might've been a sapphic thing but I think that mostly stems from the abridged series. the queen thing not the girl thing)

-Hirano used to be a Hentai mangaka and actually designed many of Hellsing's characters in said hentai or in short stories (such as Crossfire, it's basically extra, non-canonical Hellsing content) beforehand. Which, this used to be the most popular "fun fact" but has been lost to the sands of time now, so prepare for a lot of people rediscovering this.

-personal lore is I almost named myself Rip van Winkle bc of this show (quirked up Portal, Grell Sutcliff, queer-coded, rifle-wielding shawty)

Anyway, to sum it up, I hate when people don't interpret characters in the same way I do. Yes, I am a bad “fandom elder”, idgaf I am fundamentally a hater.

*I keep seeing this happen with old shows that resurface. Unlike newer or more popular shows where every scene gets scoured, characters who showed up for one scene get analyzed, and endless cafe AUs are made- older shows mostly get fan art of the main charas and the ships of the two hottest characters and that's it. Discussion of lore and themes are completely off the table. So I'm not surprised, just disappointed.

[christiangothicgirl]

Formal Introduction

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Hello everyone!

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing this introduction to share a glimpse into my world through the lens of my hobbies and personal interests. I truly believe that our hobbies can reveal much of our character, passions, and values, and I am eager to share mine with you.

One of my foremost hobbies is being a visual artist. In elementary school, I began my visual artist journey. I spent days drawing popular cartoon characters and wouldn't stop until I mastered each art style. It was then; I memorized how to draw those characters because DVR's weren't as popular and I didn't recieve a smartphone until 9th grade. In fall 2018, I dipped my toes into digital art and thus began my visual and digital artist era. Engaging in art has not only provided me with an outlet for creativity and self-expression, but it has also taught me valuable lessons in perseverance, discipline, and the joy of pursuing something purely for the love of it.

Another passion of mine is creating background music using FL Studio. In high school, to become "popular (which failed miserably)" I inserted myself as a rapper who tried to rap, but quickly discovered I could not. Guys, I can't even write poetry. In 10th grade, I discovered FL Studio on YouTube and, given my background with the keyboard, I figured I'd try it. It took a few months to acclimate, but I can truly say I am quite good at making happy, bouncy background music. I find great fulfillment and a sense of adventure in immersing myself in the world of art and music. Through this hobby, I have connected with like-minded individuals, learn from their experiences, and broaden my horizons.

I am an avid creative writer and manga reader. My love for art developed in elementary school after watching a series of nickelodeon cartoons, but I became a creative writer after watching the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie in the 7th grade. I thought, "The dialogue sounds so easy to write.... I can do something like this," and this my writing journey began. Now that I've figured out my art style is heavily based on anime designs, I began reading many mangas including Gangsta and JoJo. Writing brings me immense joy and allows me to tap into my creativity. It has also served as a valuable outlet for relaxation and self-reflection, providing me with a sense of balance amidst the demands of daily life.

Beyond these hobbies, I am constantly exploring new interests and seeking fresh experiences. I believe in the power of lifelong learning and continuously challenging myself to grow and expand my horizons. Whether it's [mention any other hobbies or interests], I approach each new endeavor with enthusiasm, curiosity, and a desire to learn and evolve.

I firmly believe that hobbies play a vital role in shaping our personal and professional lives. They provide us with an opportunity to recharge, explore new perspectives, and develop skills that can be applied in various aspects of life.

Thank you for taking the time to read this introduction based on my hobbies. I am excited to connect with you and discover the potential intersections of our interests. If there are any shared hobbies or experiences that resonate with you, I would be thrilled to hear about them and explore the possibility of embarking on a meaningful journey together.

[absolutebl]

Top 9 Movies

thequeenofsastiel tagged me to list my top nine movies, so here we go.

In keeping with the title of this blog you get BL and queer romcoms only.

I’m only choosing stuff that originally aired as movies so, sorry Korean short forms, you’re out. (Or they’d dominate the list.) Some of these are really nostalgic for me since they were some of the first queer anythings I saw with HEA, so I forgive them (much as I forgive BL now) for their sins against wokeness. They are what they are.

Shelter ~ Street artist surfer falls in love with his best friend’s older brother (explains my weakness for this trope + stepbrothers). Angst + a heavy dose of familial responsibility and tortured coming out sequences. 

Latter Days ~ LA party boy makes a bet that he can seduce one of the mormons who just moved in. Instead they fall in love. Great friendship group. SUPER romantic. Triggery ttriggers. 

I Can’t Think Straight ~ Chronic party girl keeps trying to get married but can’t because she’s hella gay. Meets and falls in love with gentle writer, but family expectations are a bitch. Introvert/extrovert pairing + secret romance. 

D.E.B.S ~ Sure it’s candy but it’s queer candy. Lesbian spy (dressed as a catholic schoolgirl) falls madly in love with evil super villainess. Straight boy is the sidekick. Musical montages abound. This one prepped me for the levels of ridiculous BL can reach. 

Were the World Mine ~ has some consent/obsession issues (hellloooo BL) and fantastical elements, but sublimely fabulously gay af. 

Maurice ~ what can I say? I have been and always will be a sucker for a costume drama. 

Will we ever get our gat kiss? ANSWER THE CALL, KOREA! 

Restart After Come Back Home AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de ~ Atmospheric study in rural Japan meets complex family dynamics built on a romance framework of city boy meets country boy, grumpy/sunshine. It’s beautiful and icy sweet. Slow moving in places but ultimately worth the patience, low heat, low angst, very pretty. Full review here. 

This was the first thing that finally convinced me to give atmospheric BL a chance. Up until then I had watched it but kinda dismissed it in annoyance, what can you do  hen you’re raised on Takumi-kun? Restart broke through that for me. 

His (Viki) ~ it took me a long time to warm up to this one. His is about being a grown adult and still struggling with coming out as gay. It addresses the consequences of life choices disingenuous to identity. Nagisa turns up on Shun’s doorstep with his precocious daughter in tow. This is a touch confusing to Shun since they were each others first love. Shun has retreated from society, rejecting the world before it can reject him, already brokenhearted because without Nagisa he never had a reason to fight. Nagisa went the opposite way, tried to pretend to be something he was not and ended up with a daughter he adores and a wife who hates him. This movie is beautiful and the setting is unique and interesting but I'm STILL not wild about the ending. 

Silhouette of Your Voice AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru AKA I Hear the Sunspot ~ it’s certainly not as good as any of us wanted given how wonderful the original manga is. Also it doesn’t really end happily, but it’s on this list for what it COULD have been. 

Irresistible Love 2 AKA Uncontrolled Love ~ obsession whipping boy romance but with a kinda happy ending quite violent, lots of tiggers. Why is it here? Well I found it after Addicted and Advance Bravely I was just so happy to see any kind of even slightly good resolution out of China at this point. Sure it’s challenging, but that’s what early BL is about. Of course I have only the secodn movie up here because the first one ends on a cliff hanger. 

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I do LOVE Big Eden but I also didn’t find it at the right time. Too late on this one to make it truly formative for me. 

(source)