#this manga is great!

[alexiethymia]

I ended up binging all of the chapters of Akane banashi in one go, and I am excited for the upcoming Issho arc like you wouldn’t believe. It’s a good thing Kaichi is there to serve as a familiar face for Akane, but otherwise it must be difficult for her to undergo this transition.

I’ve always liked a good rivalry, and Kaisei has always been intriguing to me, so this development is a welcome one. I mean, it’s hard to pin point the dynamic Kaisei has with Akane. While Akane has many she considers rivals in her generation (with Kaisei perhaps at the top of the list), it’s telling that it seems like the two people Kaisei considers as rivals would be Rokuro and Akane. There’s how Akane and Kaisei were driven by vengeance in a way, or using Rakugo as a means to escape powerlessness. But for Kaisei, is Rakugo truly fun the way it is for Akane? I think Rakugo is about survival for Kaisei, and while he can recognize that same drive in Akane, he can’t help but be threatened by her too, especially because of Issho’s interest in her. It may be that Kaisei considers himself replaceable, and he’s burning with dark feelings that he doesn’t want to lose his place to anyone, especially someone who’s set out to directly oppose his master. But weirdly enough he can’t help but support her too, or maybe that’s just his impatience to have them perform on the same stage together (to parallel Akane’s first performance) to prove once and for all who’s the better of the two.

It’s certainly different now as compared to those first few chapters. Akane isn’t just that ‘cute’ girl anymore. There are no longer any easy smiles, just hostile intent, because as much as Akane is frustrated by the gap between her and him, Kaisei also won’t underestimate her and is serious about crushing her.

[narwhalsarefalling]

I still think it’s so funny how Dressrosa to Wano is the playing cards saga like there’s the joker and four suits, the Tobi roppo (1-10), the queen of hearts (big mom in the scariest Alice in Wonderland aka whole cake island), the three face cards (Jack, Queen, and King of Kaido’s crew), and there’s even an Ace (haunting the narrative, but ever present). It’s just so wild, one piece is so funny for doing this

also the historical mismatch of different irl cultures in one country is REALLY funny to me. its like the eastern equivalent of white ppl throwing a bunch of asian stuff together to look exotic. they’re in spain. the Colosseum is there. theyre eating french food. there’s little faries everywhere that are blamed on things going missing but also good luck. the citizens are toys (i got serious Nutcracker Ballet from that, therefore russia is represented). Doffy is from Florida. the alice in wonderland vibes is fantastic. love whatever the fuck was going on in those volumes. 

and then like immediately after they’re thrown into Edo period Japan. and they fight a dragon. but the alice in wonderland vibes are still there with characters like King and Queen and Ace being a background. the vibes really do go off on this

[babygirlizu]

forehead katsuki 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

Bonus: Catsuki

[bixels]

It's crazy how Dungeon Meshi's manga can feel more cinematic and emotional than the anime to me, even when they're practically the same. Compared to the anime, this moment is such a heartbreaking gut-drop. The way Kui uses negative space and flat compositions to create a sense of horrific stillness is so key.

The way the text (Senshi's monologue) is sequestered to an empty corner of a panel or huddled away from the edge of its text box is not only a great way of showing Senshi's headspace (fearful, isolated, dissociating), but creates a visual representation of pause, as if you hold your breathe after each line. The first panel puts us directly in Senshi's perspective too (compared to in the anime, which puts us as an outside observer over Senshi's shoulder). The detail of the door and bricks so effectively implies that he stared at it for so long, waiting and hoping, that its image is burned in his memory. The wood grain, the brick arch, the number of rivets. The lack of dialogue in the second panel shows a moment of realization too –– "he's dead" (also a great example of the Kuleshov effect). And it's that pause that creates a beat and sets a great rhythm to his headspace, like a music rest: "He never came back." (oh god.) "I'm all alone." Finally, the third panel's negative space, cropping Senshi, shows how truly alone he feels. Without his family, the world ceases to exists. Under shock, he traps himself in a 1-foot radius, too scared to even perceive a world outside its boundaries; a world that can hurt him, kill him, make him disappear with it. There is only his body, the stone beneath his feet and against his back, his thoughts, and that awful bowl of soup.

Even though they're a series of flat images, there's an implicit reading of silence in Senshi's realization and horror. Kui influences your experience to slow down and take your time.

Compare this to the anime, which fills every shot with dialogue. The pacing is fast; we never get to sit in silence like we do with the manga. The horizontal frame allowed the boarders to add Senshi, turning the composition into an over-the-shoulder shot, which takes us out of Senshi's POV. They also added a zoom-out in shot one, which adds unnecessary energy to a very somber scene. The tightening on Senshi as a close-up reaction shot also dulls the moment. In the original panel, Senshi stares ahead at the empty space to his left as a shadow surrounds his mind. It not only shows how Senshi's senses are dulling and his world is shrinking (setting up panel three), but shows how terrified Senshi is of what's in front of him, how the air itself becomes pitch black and opaque, how Senshi is surrendering himself to fear. The pacing is understandable and necessary; this episode packed a lot of story content together. It's just a shame because it really (imo) deflated one of the most nauseating moments in Dungeon Meshi.

[farelosolar]

To commemorate the end of My Hero Academia, I've put together all the eyes of the characters that I painted since 2021 ✨

Looking back, it's all very nostalgic! 🥹

[speedl00ver]

Asuka

[beddybites]

quick obashinomitsu doodle in-between commissions… mitsuri and her girlfriends

[o0kawaii0o]

FULL THROTTLE - Congrats on season 2!

[neznakomkav]

take a slice

[fever-dreamer97]

New Illustration from Hori for the new upcoming movie

It’s like looking at a sweet child posing for his school yearbook photo 😭😭❤️

[thefloatingstone]

Appleseed PDA montage to save you from reading endless pages of unimportant politics that don't amount to anything

also because I have nothing better to do, I'm bored, I'm moody, my gaming laptop is still broken so no BG3, and it's too late at night to start drawing after doing animation clean-up all day.

[2001hz]

Tenjou Tenge 天上天下 'Heaven and Earth' (1997) Artwork Illustrated By: Oh! great

[kelogsloops]

Cloud Ladder to the Moon watercolour & mixed media on paper

Excited to share that I’ve been part of 3dtotal's latest book project: Hokusai: An Artist’s Tribute! Fourteen artists (including me!) were invited to reimagine masterpieces of Katsushika Hokusai. You might not recognize his name, but you definitely know his iconic work, The Great Wave Off Kanagawa (yes, THAT wave painting).

We each documented a 15-step process showcasing how we created our pieces from start to finish. Each of us shared insights into our inspiration and artistic choices throughout the process. In my chapter, you’ll see how I recreated Hokusai’s original ink drawing, ‘Daoist Master Zhou Sheng Ascends a Cloud-Ladder to the Moon' to this very painting here

More info about the book & prints here: https://bit.ly/40jLdWL

#brbchasingdreams

prints | tutorials

[beaulesbian]

👒"If we fight the Navy together now, you'll be a Government-defying villain! Would you prefer that or being killed like this?" ⚔️"What are you, the devil's son?! Well, whatever. I will be your pirate, if I'm just gonna die here instead!"

[artbookisland]

Scan from Bakemonogatari by Oh! Great.

[fumifooms]

Homegrown

Thistle and Delgal - Dungeon Meshi, Ryoko Kui

^ Fernando Pessoa / Killing Flies, Michael Dickman / A Brother Named Gethsemane, Natalie Diaz / Antigonick, Anne Carson v Oats We Sow, Gregory and the Hawk