#this was fun I love yuas design…

[askatimegod]

@askwanderingdreamer <Yua, human> @ Dia: They approached him with a small smile. They could see they were cold, in their hands a streaming cup. "I see you're freezing out here. Have this. They called this hot chocolate? It's really tasty but hot so it should do the trick."

@askwanderingdreamer

"hot coco always does wonders on a chilly day,I admittedly almost forgot all about it” dia takes the cup happily giving a small bow as thanks ,its a good temporary solution less he feels anymore drowsy or chilly.

“Must admit you definitely look more prepared for the cold than I ever could be”

[jujumin-translates]

[A3!] ★ Main Story | Act 14 - DREAM CATCHER | Episode 7 - Medium-Hot Review

Yuki: The clean copy is done.

Hato: Thank you. I appreciate the help. Well then, you’re free to go for today.

Yuki: Good work.

Koro: Woof, woof!

Yuki: You went for a walk just a bit ago.

Hato: Koro, it’s time for Rurikawa-kun to go home, so he can’t play with you anymore. It’s time for you to say goodbye.

Hato: Ah, that reminds me… I’ve been asked to design costumes for an upcoming play, but I’m a bit short on staff…

Hato: Since you have experience with stage costumes, I was wondering if you’d be able to help me, Rurikawa-kun.

Hato: I can’t give you any of the details yet, but have you heard of Aiko Kataoka-san? They do costumes for Hollywood movies--. 

Yuki: --I’ve heard of them.

Hato: Good. Since you do costume design, I was certain you would.

Hato: What would you say if I told you that the same Kataoka-san is involved with this project?

Yuki: I’d love to do it, but… I’m more busy with my theater company at the moment.

Hato: Right. It is an important time for you guys right now, isn’t it?

Hato: Well, I’m sure there’ll be another opportunity like this at some point, so I’ll let you know when that time comes. Good job today.

Yuki: …

· ��� —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Passerby A: Yua Troupe’s performance was so novel and interesting~!

Passerby B: I honestly thought they just created a theater troupe for clout, but they called in some real hardcore theater people to be on their production team, so it was way better than I thought it’d be!

Passerby A: The contents of it had that typical Yua Troupe feel that gives things a sense of stability, and the audience was packed with OG fans, so overall, the whole thing seemed to be going pretty strong.

Passerby B: I’m gonna write a review on Encom!

Yuki: (Encom, huh… I’ll check it out just a bit, for the sake of researching other theater troupes.)

Yuki: …

Yuki: (That Yua Troupe they were just talking about was selected as a notable troupe. And they were ranked pretty high during the pre-voting…)

Review: “And the costumes were cool too! They didn’t look a whole lot like stage costumes, but Yua Troupe’s got such good taste~.”

Yuki: …

Yuki: (There’s a MANKAI Company review too… I don’t know if I really want to see something like this, but, well, it’s for research…)

Review: “Spring Troupe’s performance was literally the best thing ever! I never thought they would’ve done a sequel, but the way you could feel how much they’ve grown had me sobbing!”

Review: “I can’t wait for Summer Troupe’s either~. If they go with this trend, that means it’ll be a sequel to their debut, right?”

Yuki: (Seems like people generally liked it…)

Review: “The costumes had that same stable feel they always have. But don’t you think that as Yuki Rurikawa’s become more established as a creator, his costumes have started to lack a bit of surprise and unexpectedness?” 

Review: “Maybe I’m just noticing it more after seeing Yua Troupe. I guess it’s just inevitable when you have the same designer do things every single time~.”

Yuki: --.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Troupe Member: Good work today, Ikaruga-kun. There are only a few more shows left, but let’s keep up the good work until the end.

Misumi: Ka~y! Good work~.

Misumi: (Being on a stage other than MANKAI’s was a little weird at first, but once I got used to it, it’s been fun~.)

Misumi: (It’s interesting to see all the different actors, scripts, and stage direction~.)

Syu: …Good work.

Misumi: Huh? What are you doing here~?

Syu: My bad. I didn’t have your contact info, so I just had to wait for ya to come out.

Misumi: Did you see my performance?

Syu: Yeah. I happened to know someone who was in the show, so I came to watch and was surprised to see you there too.

Syu: While we’re at it, I thought I’d invite ya to come have a drink with me.

Misumi: Sure~. And after that, we can exchange our LIMEs~.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Syu: So you’ve been doin’ a few guest performances here and there lately, huh? Didn’t think ya were the type.

Misumi: Director-san and Tenma and all the others suggested it. It’s been really fun getting out there!

Syu: Is that so? Well, with actin’ talent as good as yours, I’m sure you’ll be in high demand.

Misumi: And they also said that I can grow by gaining lotsa experience on different stages~!

Misumi: I’ve also gotta try even harder for the Fleur Award.

Syu: Huh, I’m surprised you’ve thought about it that much.

Syu: Did Hakkaku-san teach ya about theater?

Misumi: Nope. But he showed me videos of old MANKAI Company performances~.

Syu: I see. Well, given the way Hakkaku-san was, I dunno if he was really the type to take his grandkid by the hand and teach ‘em everything he knows step-by-step.

Misumi: What was it like performing on stage with one of Gramps’s scripts?

Syu: Let me think… Well, simply put, it was excitin’.

Syu: I like Hakkaku-san’s scripts and I was happy to be the first to read ‘em before they were released to the public.

Syu: Hakkaku-san’s scripts ain’t just interestin’ to talk about, they’re pretty actor-friendly too.

Syu: He made sure to think about how to make each and every role shine onstage.

Syu: You could really feel that he trusted ya as an actor, which in turn got ya fired up.

Misumi: I see~. I wish I coulda also been on Gramps’s stage before he died~.

Syu: Did you start actin’ when you joined the troupe?

Misumi: Yep.

Syu: Gotcha…

Syu: Your actin’ has its moments where it shines, but it lacks depth. If there’s anythin’ you should be more aware of in the future, it’s that.

Misumi: Depth…?

Syu: Ya can’t control your own life experiences, but ya can experience the lives of many different actors on stage.

Syu: The more experiences ya have, the more depth your actin’ will have.

Syu: In that sense, you’ve made a good move by adding guest performances to your deck.

Syu: I know you’re prolly busy with the Fleur Award right now, but if you’re interested, get in touch with me. If it’s you were talkin’ about, I’m always ready to welcome ya.

Misumi: Okay, got it~.

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

[zylophie]

PROFILE PAGE☆

ᵎᵎ 📳 modena🎨 is calling.. | ฅ(•ㅅ•❀)ฅ

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​​ModEna🎨

Hai I’m Ena but my name is Mango!

୨♡୧ Pronouns:

❅ She/They

୨♡୧ Age:

❅ 12-16

୨♡୧ Hobbies:

❅ Drawing, Writing, Making bracelets, baking

୨♡୧ Specialty (chars you write well for):

❅ Tsukasa (probs add more later)

୨♡୧ Favourite food :

❅ sabritones or hot fries :3

୨♡୧ Least Favourite food :

❅ Many pastas (love alfredo doe)

୨♡୧ Favourite Color :

❅ Pink

୨♡୧ Favourite PJSK character :

❅ Tsukasa + all nightcord chars!

୨♡୧ Characters I Kin :

❅ Misturi (KNY), Himari (Doughnuts under a cresent moon), Mei (Turning Red)

୨♡୧ Genre tastes :

❅ Fluff, Angst

୨♡୧ Fav music :

❅ Rock, J-pop, K-pop, pop

୨♡୧ Fav mangas :

❅ Doughnuts under a Crescent Moon, The Summer You Were There, KNY

ᵎᵎ 📳 modmafuyu🎼 is calling... | ฅ(•ㅅ•❀)ฅ

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ModMafuyu🎼

Hi-nya𝅘𝅥𝅮 I'm Mod Mafuyu, otherwise known as 'X'!

୨♡୧ Pronouns :

❅ She/her

୨♡୧ Age:

❅ 16

୨♡୧ Hobbies :

❅ Gaming, Baking, Drawing & Singing

୨♡୧ Specialty(which character you write especially well for) :

❅ Nene + All of N25

୨♡୧ Favourite food :

❅ Soba + Salmon + Ice-cream!

୨♡୧ Least Favourite food :

❅ Spicy food

୨♡୧ Favourite Color :

❅ Purple and Blues~

୨♡୧ Favourite PJSK character :

❅ Nene and Mafuyu

୨♡୧ Characters I kin(Top 3) :

❅ I kin a lot of people, however I do think my highest kins are Nene, Ena and either Mizuki/Honami

୨♡୧ Genre tastes :

❅ Horror, Thriller, Fantasy and especially mystery!! I like anything sad too/hj

୨♡୧ Music :

❅ Pop, C-pop, J-pop

୨♡୧ Fav music artists :

❅ Roan Lee, Miori Celesta, Nerissa Ravencroft, Rachie, PinocchioP, DECO*27, Hachi and Ado. I love too many.

୨♡୧ Fav Animes :

❅ Kimetsu no Yaiba, No Game No Life, Gakkou Gurashi! And Mieruko-chan

୨♡୧ Fav Games :

❅ Genshin Impact, Path to Nowhere, Reverse 1999, Tears of Themis, PJSK

୨♡୧ Funfacts :

❅ I am formally known as 'Xilyks' on tumblr. I went on hiatus for exams but when I came back I was more interested in PJSK. Then I thought 'why not kidnap some friends to write with me?'' If you were an old follower of mine. Hello!<3

ᵎᵎ 📳 modmizuki⛩️ is calling... | ฅ(•ㅅ•❀)ฅ

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ModMizuki⛩️

(｡･ω･)ﾉﾞ Hello

hii hii!!, I'm Mod Mizuki! I'm also known as "Yue" nice to meet youuu !! (*ﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ

୨♡୧ Pronouns :

❅ She/her

୨♡୧ Age:

❅ 20+

୨♡୧ Hobbies :

❅ Gaming, Writing, Reading & Listening to Music

୨♡୧ Specialty(which character you write especially well for) :

❅ Mostly male characters but I can do some girl ones if I want to be... creative enough (･∀･)

୨♡୧ Favourite food :

❅ Spicy Foods, Noodles, Fries and Waffles

୨♡୧ Least Favourite food :

❅ Vegetables (funny enough, my code color is green) ( ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｱﾊﾊ

୨♡୧ Favourite Color :

❅ Purple, White, Blue and Light Green

୨♡୧ Favourite PJSK character :

❅ Toya, Rui, An & Shizuku

୨♡୧ Characters I kin(Top 3) :

❅ Honestly, I like everyone equally but hmm...I think my top kin is probably Rui, Touya and either Nene/Kohane

୨♡୧ Genre tastes :

❅ Pop Music, Rock & Jazz

୨♡୧ Fav music artists :

❅ Reol, Eve, Aimer, Milet, Give Heart Records & Amalee

୨♡୧ Fav Animes:

❅ Haikyuu!!, MHA, KNY, The Rising Of The Shield Hero & Jujutsu Kaisen

୨♡୧ Fav Games :

❅ Genshin impact, Honkai Star Rail, Tears of Themis, Ensemble Stars, Reverse: 1999, Xenoblade Chronicles 2&3, Persona 4&5 and Fire Emblem Three Houses

୨♡୧ Fun Facts :

❅ I start writing at the age of 12 so I'm constantly trying to find a way to improve my writing skills!

❅ I named myself as yue which is like the front face for darker and unhingedness side of me which happened often, yui for my cheesy and daydreamer part and yua for my rambling writer personality...did you notice only one letter is changed?

❅ I absolutely love folklores especially japanese folklores!! You might see a lot of references to those folklore in the future!

❅ I'm the graphic designer for those banners and headers you see here and no I don't have an degree for it but I start editing when I was still using wattpad! I'm also the editor for this blog, I want to make the blog look appealing and easy for you to navigate through!

❅ X actually kidnapped me into working together with her and mango (they are my precious friends 💕) when I was telling her one of my stories draft and that's where we are now~

❅ I mostly write yandere as less violent as most yandere that being portrayed as most bloody and unhinged killers on the media, it's meaning of the term, yan is sick and dere is love then you get lovesick! I want to be unique and tried to match the yandere traits with the existing personality of the character so I hope you enjoy my stories~

[erigold13261]

Sorry for spamming with the asks for the extended mermaid club but would the mermaids be different as the result of Arachnkids input? Like: Yua using neopronouns like Gwen who uses note/notes, Aoi being less snarky to reflect Gayatri…

Yes and no! (and don't worry about spamming me with asks lol, I'm actually having a lot more fun with this AU than I thought I would!)

I would say that Sayu and Aoi would stay relatively the same personality-wise. Maybe Aoi goes through an arc that makes them kinder, but since Aoi and Sayu were one of the first mermaids made, I can see their base personalities already being pretty fleshed out through Remi's art and possibly comics and animations.

Yua was probably a work in progress that got changed before finally being officially inducted into the mermaid project because of Gwen becoming her voice actor (and possibly this would mean that Yua would also use note/notes pronouns if Gwen would end up feeling comfortable with that happening).

Renho and Haru's personalities can definitely be changed since they came out later in the project. They would better fit Peni and Margo's voice acting style (like Renho being a bit less shy and reserved), but wouldn't be too far off as Remi probably had a whole idea of how things would go and I can see the team listening to him on how he wants the mermaids as they were technically his original project (sometimes the team doesn't want to say anything because they think it might upset Remi but Remi honestly doesn't mind and is always willing to work with them. Just teenagers anxieties sometimes getting the better of all of them).

This does go into the idea that the mermaids need to represent their voice actors, which isn't always true! Not every voice actor is represented in the character, which is how you get voice actors like Tara Strong or Jennifer Hale who have really large voice acting pools with characters of all different designs and personalities.

However, the voice actor can influence the character creation, like how Neon J's voice actor ended up helping inspire the personality a bit more during development. I think that is what I heard, where Muhammad Zulhilmi said he added some singing to his audition tape or something and the company loved it and so made Neon J a but more outgoing and stuff.

So yes, the mermaid project is definitely not going to be exactly the same as the mermaid club, but it won't be ENTIRELY different. Designs might change a little bit, but overall the roles of the characters is probably going to stay relatively the same.

Now, the thing that sucks about this, is that I SOMEHOW still haven't fully thought of the mermaid club's personalities. Not to great extent at least. So trying to think how their voice actors and the teams more diverse workers would change the mermaids is hard for me to do lol.

Like I see Sayu as a leader type, very extroverted and always wanting to help others. Basic main character kind of stuff. Probably a bit like Steven from Steven Universe where he is always putting other people first and preaching about peace and love. Wanting to talk about problems instead of fighting but able to fight if necessary.

Aoi is more of a mean girl stereotype who becomes friends with the main character. Or is already friends with the main character and nice to them but can be mean to anyone who isn't a friend. A bit snappy and snarky. Quick witted but also probably hides a small temper (which you are right this doesn't fit Gayatri's personality, but for some reason I can see her having a voice that would fit this personality).

Yua and Haru are pretty similar for me for some reason. I see them as goofs and silly, but in different ways. Yua is more like a class clown who wants attention and is willing to make herself look silly, while Haru is a bit more mean spirited and willing to make someone else the butt of the joke thinking it's all well and good but is willing to apologize if things go too far. Haru and Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony seems like a good fit in personality type for what I am going for (don't have a character idea for Aoi or Haru).

Then there's Renho who I always saw as very much a shy introvert. Probably brought into the friend group last but brings a lot of care to the group. Tries to keep things from spiraling out of control but also willing to join in on the fun. Probably the most anxious but also the one to stick by a friend no matter what even if scared. I think a toned down Shaggy from Scooby Doo is probably a good fit. Like, a very loyal friend and helps out even if they don't want to. I don't know.

The problem is that I need to make them a lot more concrete and separate from each other. Which I guess was my mistake when first creating them. It doesn't help that the image I based them off of made it look like Renho and Yua were super outgoing while makign Haru and Aoi look like some kind of villains for the story.

So yeah, I still need to just sit down one day and flesh out the personalities for each mermaid a lot more. I have Aoi's and Renho's down pretty good, but Yua and Haru being really close in personalities isn't something I particularly like. At least if they are both the comic relief of the group I need to make them more distinguished from each other.

It's like with 1010 honestly, each one has their role and how they are supposed to act on stage. Rin is the strong leader, Purl is the quiet and cool one, and Zimelu is the rough and tough one. Haym is supposed to be the innocent one and Eloni the funny one, but I run into the same problem with those two as I do with Haru and Yua, because I want Haym to also be a jokester.

Haym and Eloni are supposed to play off each other really well, while also Haym and Zimelu play off each other really well. But having two little clowns seems like doubling up. So Haym is stuck in this middle grey area of being the innocent one but also trying to be funny (and honestly I can see Haym being the first to try and break from his role because being the innocent one probably came with a lot of infantalization from the fans he hated).

And that is where Haru and Yua are at. They are in a grey area right now that I don't like. At least with 1010 I can spin that grey area as Haym literally trying to break out of his role. With Haru and Yua's grey area, I don't even want it to be there in the story, which is why I try to offset the goofy nature of Haru by making sear a bit more mean spirited, but then THAT is a problem because that makes a grey area between Haru and Aoi.

I'm just ranting now, sorry about that! I think what I should do is do some small redesigns for the mermaids (nothing major, I actually love my designs a lot) but while doing that try to think more of what role I want Haru to be in. I'm content with basically the rest. It is just Haru who I don't really know what to do with.

I am willing to let Yua not be the super goofy one, maybe she can be that super supportive friend or the little gossip girl while Haru is the jokester, or maybe the other way around. I do like Haru being a jokester a lot, especially since Haru's Halloween costume was a devil/angel hybrid to sell prank gags. Yua was a pumpkin with vines which is why I think she could be the gossip because of the phrase "heard it through the grapevine" which I do like.

Literally yeah, I am so off topic. The mermaids in this AU definitely have the ability to change, but they probably aren't changing much since the team does want each mermaid to feel unique but also keep their already established identity if applicable (so Sayu and Aoi).

Also, I do think the names would probably be different for Yua, Renho, and Haru. Since the team is no longer just purely made up of Asian characters (the Crew) I can see the designs and names being slightly different for the last three. Maybe something more American since Gwen, Margo, and Peni are all from America. I don't know.

Pronouns and stuff could also be different, but also be the same as the OG club. The club itself only used she/her pronouns, with Yua being the only queer character by being trans. I don't think the mermaids would start using different pronouns until they became sentient. Though, Yua and Renho could potentially use different pronouns later on before being sentient as Gwen and Peni figure things out about themselves.

Though honestly, considering these are teenagers getting super popular with their work, I think they might be a little bit scared to have the mermaids with neopronouns. It was probably already nerve-wracking to make Yua trans when they had a small audience (and that is something some people could ignore or forget about since it isn't completely obvious just from the the design itself).

Imagine how scary it would be to make a character use entirely different pronouns (or at least add pronouns so it's like she/note) when they started getting popular.

By the time Renho and Haru were added, the team was thinking about joining NSR. NSR is full of older people judging new musicians. If they don't like openly queer things like that then they might not get accepted (which would be for the better if that was the case). So they didn't want to make those pronoun changes before the Lights Up Audition happened.

However, once they got accepted and started moving up the ranks (and later on become a megastar) changing the pronouns of characters will just look like a marketing stunt and could potentially lead to backlash for the mermaids and the team. They would be afraid to give these mermaids (who at the time are all entirely fake and not sentient) neopronouns because of their teenage anxiety telling them all the horrible things that could happen.

It probably wouldn't help that Gwen and Tila's family lives could be something the whole team thinks of whenever the idea of making the mermaids more queer comes up. It is definitely something they want to do, but they know not everyone is going to like the change and either say the mermaids are now woke and stupid, or this might make them less popular and they would have to push themselves even further to not get fired or something.

So honestly, I don't think the mermaids would use neopronouns before being sentient. However! If they do become sentient like how Sayu and the club did later on after the revolution, that is something I can definitely see changing! And the pronouns they use too would most likely change.

Renho is probaly not going to keep only using they/them (maybe something like they/fin). Aoi I kinda want to keep using he/they no matter what, I just really like that a whole lot. Yua I can see sharing a lot of experiences with Gwen since Yua was basically made in Gwen's image kinda, so maybe Yua does also start using note/notes pronouns as well as she/her (or maybe another set entirely). Sayu as ze/mer is still a favorite of mine, but anything can be used for mer (love the idea that Sayu takes pronouns that sound like she/her and keeps those ones or makes up mer own). Haru, yeah, I can definitely see Haru as going with something entirely different from sea/sear pronouns. Don't know what though.

Anyway! Yeah! Mermaids would change, not into a completely different group that would not be distinguishable from the OG club, but there would be changes. A lot of the major changes however come later after the Rock Revolution where the mermaids might become sentient.

[tsuki-sennin]

rare tsuki-sennin double recap

Saber Special Episode

-Not even being from another franchise can stop the reach of the ever-expanding Tojitendo, apparently. I'm sure Bokkowaus and Gege have a massive target on them.

-I love the Tanabata reenactment. I appreciate the crossdressing angle, it's fun and it's a great callback to the Tom Sawyer and Momotaro scenes.

-Zox overstepping those interdimensional boundaries again. He really is a Marvelous fanboy.

-It seems Twokaizer brought his absurdist humor with him. Not much to add, it's just really funny.

-Toei, Bandai, you absolute cowards, give Kento a new form already! It's Yua all over again. I swear to god, Revice's third Rider is gonna have like... one form and barely fight all that much, maximum. I'll gladly wait until the Espada V-Cinema! Hell, it can just be Espada x Necrom, just give him something!

-The design of Orihime Warudo is pretty good. Zenkaiger's monster designs in general have been generally scoring pretty highly, but nothing's topped the perfection that is Jishaku Warudo yet. I think this imagining of Orihime being so bitter that they'd make random couples fight and break up is also really freaking funny.

-Oh Reika, how the mighty have fallen. Kanon is in need of some company, I guess. I hope the fanfic writers like you enough to give you what you deserve. And I hope that Onii-sama develops a personality quick, we have like... one episode left.

-So, I assume that Storious is either busy having a dentist appointment or auditioning for the movie? I'm guessing it takes place a bit earlier in the plot, probably around Ep. 40, and I know these specials have loose continuity anyway, but it's so weird going from losing Desast to YOHOHOI to THE WORLD IS GONNA DIE, FUCK YOU SWORDSMEN!

--

Zenkaiger Special Episode

-Y'know, I kinda understand why Orihime Warudo was acting so bitter, Hikoboshi Warudo's a real dick. Chasing women when his beloved neighbor's out of season on behalf of the Tojitendo. He's not even doing his job right, the pig. Apparently he also chose not to take away the Noroshi and Konchuu Daihyakka Book? Yeah, no wonder Ijirude's so mad at him.

-Y'know, if Kaito and Magine really wanted to celebrate Tanabata twice in the same summer, they could wait a few weeks and make a three hour drive to Sendai on August 8th, which I hear is when they celebrate it. August 14th seems to be a little too long a wait.

-Oh Secchan, you're annoying and adorable~! I can't stay mad at your exposition for too long~! I understand why Bokkowaus dotes on Gege so much~!

-I guess Stacey's currently hanging out with Storious and the rest of the Northern Base Riders in the Not-Immediately-Marketable-Zone. Poor kid, at least give him a candy bar.

-Super Twokaizer looks way too freakin' cool. Good on Flint, she's a fun and interesting gal of fine aesthetical taste and exceptional engineering talent.

-The Kamen Rider Gears are interesting. Definitely not canon, but they're a fun little addition.

-Meanwhile Reika and Ryoga continue the Shindai family tradition of looking cool and displaying identifiable personality only when it's irrelevant to Saber. Goddammit Fukuda, I wanted to like you so much... Ah well, at least their fights were cool. ...well, Ryoga's anyway, Reika kinda got unfairly shafted this episode. Again. In a different series, no less. Good GOD, guys, why do you hate your extra Riders so much? ...her hugging Magine was nice though, that was cute. Ryoga also rocked that dress, ngl.

Looking forward to when I finally get to watch Super Hero Senki. Asmodeus looks sick, btw.

If I see any jokes about the premise of Episode 22, I'm going to shit a house.

[asknarashikari]

Minific of Yua, Izu, and Naki playing an April Fools joke on Fuwa. And Aruto tries to calm him down. The prank was a present box filled with bananas and a drawing of him as a gorilla and the quote "Mmm, where banana? 🦍🍌 ".

We can do better than a drawing of him as a gorilla can’t we? Of course we can

Lmao RIP Isamu

Isamu’s eye twitched as he gazed into the box that he’d just been given, not quite knowing what to say about it. All he knew was that whoever sent it- and he had a pretty good idea of who they were- must be having quite a laugh at his expense.

“Isamu? You alright, you’re not looking so hot...” Aruto asked nervously as he watched his lover’s expression. 

“Just look at what your secretary and her co-conspirators sent me, Aru,” Isamu told him. 

“Co-conspirators?” Aruto blinked at him in confusion, walking over to his boyfriend to peer at the box that was delivered by a delivery-drone that very day. His eyes widened when he saw the contents of the package. “Oh. Uh. This... this is a lot...” he managed to say without bursting into laughter.

“It came with this.” Isamu handed Aruto a sizeable plush toy of a gorilla, somehow modified to look like Isamu’s Punching Kong form, complete with the tiny Shotriser held in its ridiculous, disproportionately large hands. There was a familiar ribbon tied around its neck, with a card that had gorillas and bananas printed on it and a cheeky, ‘Mmm, where banana?’ written on it.

“That’s Yaiba’s handwriting, I’m sure of it,” Isamu insisted. “And this... this has Naki written all over it.”

“Eh? How can you be so sure it was them?” Aruto questioned.

“I just do, okay? Isamu replied, looking at the whole crate’s worth of fruit they now had to deal with. “What are we supposed to with all of this?”

Aruto stared at him. “You say that like you don’t go through a whole bunch of bananas in a few days since you eat them at almost every meal,” he pointed out. 

Isamu sputtered. “It’s the principle of the thing, Aru! They’re making fun of me for my own Rider form! Which Yaiba designed, by the way!” He pouted. “I don’t make fun of her for being a bee!”

“Isamu, that’s because you know she’ll kick your ass if you do,” Aruto pointed out. He rubbed up and down Isamu’s arms in a soothing manner. “It’s not so bad, Isamu, really. We can work with this.” 

Aruto grinned wickedly, wrapping his arms around his lover’s waist. “Besides, now we can plan to one-up them in revenge.”

“Revenge, huh?” Isamu chuckled. “Now that’s why I love you, Prez.” He said, turning in Aruto’s arms to face him, with a matching evil smirk of his own. “Do you have anything in mind?”

Aruto laughed. “Well... I’ve got some ideas...”

*Side note about the banana thing: it’s actually a thing that happens in my family. My dad insists on having bananas after dinner every night, and sometimes other meals as well, thus we finish a whole bunch of them every week. 

[tk-productions]

Mystic Sisters Ch. 2- Ocean Eyes

Hikari looked around then turned her attention back to me. 

“Are you sure? You’ve been jumpy all day.”  I looked around again and there was nothing there. Am I just imagining things? I gave my sister a defeated look. Hikari came closer and engulfed me in a hug dropping the bags. 

“You know you can tell me what’s wrong right?” Hikari whispered. I nodded hugging her back before picking up the groceries. “Come on let’s get home and get dinner started.”  

“Wow this looks better than my miso soup.” our father laughed.

“Anything would be better than your soup.” Hikari whispered more to herself.

“ Better than your cooking in general dad.” Yua replied to him with a straight face.

“I heard that Hikari. And Yua keep it up and you won't get your allowance this week.” Dad jokes taking the lid off the pot. 

After my bath I sighed laying on my bed. Why was today so weird? I had a nightmare, my ex showed up out of thin air and then someone was following me.  I just wanted to sleep without having any more nightmares or thinking about my ex. I fell asleep for a few hours before waking back up.  Everytime I close my eyes I see Haru. I rolled on my back frustrated. A part of me hated him but unfortunately there was another part that still loved him. That part wanted to forgive him and run back into his arms. I laid in bed on my phone until I fell back asleep.

The next morning I woke up excited because it’s the weekend. Hikari and I planned to take a cooking class at the local university and then go shopping. Hikari wanted to go thrifting for a clothing design she’s working on and I wanted to add some more things to my collection.

“Hikari, you better be ready or I'm leaving witho-.” 

“I’ve been ready. I was waiting for you, she sassed, cutting me off walking down the stairs. 

“Why are you always so sassy!” I yelled chasing after her. 

“Because I can be.” Hikari , smiling as she walked out the door. 

I returned her smile as I followed her outside to start our day. The class we signed up for was Okonomiyaki which was one of Hikari’s favorite dishes. There used to be a shop that sold them on the way to the train station but it closed down and we haven't had any since.

 “Okonomiyaki,okonomiyaki.” Hikari sang skipping into the classroom. 

“How did you feel about the class?” I asked my sister as she looked through a rack of jeans.  If she could she would spend hours looking through each rack.

“It was fun. We should make okonomiyaki at home more. We wouldn’t have to eat dads cooking as much.” Hikari laughed, throwing a pair of jeans into the basket. I looked down and she had already filled half the cart. 

“So is this where all your money goes.” I joked following her down another rack of clothes. Leaving the thrift store we headed to the mall but I felt uneasy. I had the same feeling I felt yesterday. Hikari must have picked up on it because she quickly turned back and looked at me. 

“Yua what’s wrong?” she asked.

“I feel like someone is watching us again.” Before she could respond I felt a gust of cold air. I shivered feeling the cold air against my bare arms. 

“I'll go pay so we can go to the mall.” Hikari smiled brightly hurrying to the checkout counter. I looked around and just like yesterday there was no one there. Matter fact there was almost no one in the store.

“How the hell did you find a vintage Chanel bag at the thrift store?” I questioned my sister still in disbelief as we entered the mall.

“I have the magic touch.” she winked before finishing off the last of the mochi. “Let’s head to the makeup store we went to last time. I need a new cushion.” 

 “Didn't you just buy one?” It was nice spending time with Hikari. With school back in session and Hikari working so much it was nice to finally catch up. Even though I would never  admit this to Hikari I loved having our sister time. If I told her she’d never let me hear the end of it. I don't know how but we ended up staying at the mall until closing time. Stepping outside it was pitch black and cold. 

“Mom said she’s on her way.” Hikari said, putting her jacket on. Another cold gust of wind blew  past like earlier. It's just the wind. I looked over at my sister who didn't seem to notice anything. She was texting rapidly on her phone. “Maybe it’s just me.”  I said to myself. I looked up and there was a dark figure. I couldn't make out what it was but it was definitely a person. As I reached to tap Hikari’s shoulder the person moved away. For a split second we made eye contact.I didn't know who he was but I’ll never forget his icy blue eyes.

[reversemoon255]

1t's Never 0ver

Hot take: Brain is the first Reiwa Rider. Still, for the first Reiwa series, Kamen Rider Zero-One was a great start. I've seen a surprising amount of kids shows tackle the idea of treating robots like people, and this show handles it pretty decently.

The Good: Aruto was surprisingly funny and competent. I was optimistic when they presented him as an unfunny comedian turned CEO in the preview material, but I'm impressed by how well he turned out, with full credit to the actor for nailing most of his deliveries. One of my big problems with both Build and Zi-O was that I couldn't always get behind the characters, but Aruto was definitely a step up, being the first Rider since Drive to really grab me.

Considering we just came off Zi-O, with a large cast of stoic characters, it's amazing how much Izu, the emotionless robot, pulled it off better. (Actually, credit to all the Humagear actors for outstanding mono-emotional performances. They all did very well.) I think a big part of that was the fact that they allowed her to make jokes and do silly things with a straight face, instead of being purely dour. And it was an excellent payoff, seeing her slow progression from a very basic personality to a much more lively one as the series progressed.

I really liked Fuwa, and his was another character that underwent several shifts during the run of the story, those the moments where he started turning are more evident than Izu's (but he's also not portrayed as very bright, so that makes sense). His entire arc is him overcoming his hatred for Humagears, eventually reaching the point where he wants to help them, with the final expression of this being him declaring his will to carry on Naki's dream and using his Progrise Key to transform. And he was just pretty fun, being the serious character who likes bad jokes, and often ends up the butt of them himself.

Yua is a troublesome character. There was a lot of untapped potential there that I feel wasn't reached, but there was some good, too. Her arc was seeing Humagear as people rather than tools, which isn't as well executed as Izu or Fuwa as she took a back seat for about two show arcs, but is ultimately satisfying. Most of her development in this department seems to comes from her interactions with Izu, but her experiences during the Fire Fighter training were also a big push. And her resignation was amazing. I feel most of her issues could have been solved if they didn’t push her so hard in promotional material at the beginning.

I disliked Gai for most of this show, which I think was the point. He was a total butt for the majority of the runtime, but it's also amazing how quickly I 180'd on him after his dog showed up. He was very functional, and I wasn't really interested in him as a character until, again, Dog Thouser showed up.

Jin was definitely the villain I had the most investment in throughout the show, even if that started waning near the end when he was just sitting around and letting Horobi do whatever he wanted. Still, he was very similar to Izu, being a Humagear that we see slowly obtain his own singularity and ideals, but taken from a different perspective. He was also a lot of fun. I've found my favorite characters are usually the ones with positive attitudes and outlooks, even if he was aiming for mankind's extinction.

I know a lot of people like Horobi, but it took me a while to warm up to him, and even then I wasn't the biggest fan until his changes in the final episodes. When Gai replaced him as the main antagonist of the series, I wasn't sad to see him go, but I am glad he eventually came back because they did good things with him. It's also cool how he sparks Jin's first major development with his death, and Jin sparks his final changes with his own.

I found myself very invested in the story, especially since this series was very good at not letting a status quo settle for very long. As soon as the Aruto VS A.I.M.S dynamic was set up, he reveals himself to them. As soon as Metsuboujinrai.Net is defeated, Gai shows up. After 4 "nice" contests between humans and Humagear where the humans learn something through the competition, we get one where the villains win and Aruto is ousted as CEO. And I think that was to the show's benefit. A lot of Rider shows will wait half the show before a shakeup, but Zero-One was constantly keeping the viewer interested with new story lines and revelations.

Oh, and every belt chant was amazing.

The Bad: Going in the same order, Yua had a lot of unused potential. I remember how much hype her character had out the gate, being the first female Rider to start a series. She even got a form change, which is a first. However, she only got one form change, and as I mentioned when discussing LupinRanger and Ryusoulger, power-ups in Tokusatsu shows are often used as physical representations of a character's growth. Yua's second form showed up before episode 10. Yes, she also had Fighting Jackal later in the show, but that was a monster form; it's made to represent her fully giving in to Gai’s will, which is why we don't see it after she quits ZAIA. I would have loved if she had used Fighting Jackal in the ShotRiser and had gotten a new form as a representation of her moving on from those painful memories, or forgiving Gai. It sucks, because we got a ton of short-use Riders and forms in this series, so you'd think they could swing it. Just in the last few episodes, we got Arc-One, Arc-Scorpion, Vulcan Japanese Wolf, and Eden. At this point, I think Toei's just not sure what to do with a female Rider. At least they treated her better than Poppy and Nico.

I really didn't like Gai. And I know that's the point, but there's a difference between there being a character you're supposed to hate for the whole show and a character you're supposed to come around on. You can have a despicable character become a good guy, but there has to be something about them that makes you want them to become one in the first place, otherwise it's just jarring. Dan Kuroto is a great example of this. He was also a despicable character, but he had this humorous over-the-top attitude to him that made him fun to watch, and you want him to join the main cast to see how that persona bounces off everyone else. Gai didn't have anything like that; he was just dislikable. If they had hinted at all to his past, it would have worked, but they waited until the episode where he face turns to do it. And that just doesn't work.

This is also a personal nitpick, but when they were teasing stuff for the finalé, I thought Aruto was going to use Rocking Hopper, not Realizing Hopper. Thematically, that would have been awesome, but I'm ok with what we got.

There were also quite a few episodic plots I'd wished they'd covered in regards to the Humagears. We covered quite a broad range of topics with them, but there were a few big things they missed. One of them is about Humagear choosing new careers. It's cool that Humagear have dreams, but they're all in regard to their predisposed profession. The manga assistant wants to write a manga, the coaches want to teach the best athletes, etc. But no one wants to change jobs. We don't get a farmer Humagear that suddenly wants to become an artist or anything, and I would have liked to see how Aruto would handle that. And what about love? It was briefly brought up, but what happens when a Humagear falls in love with a human? Or when two Humagear fall in love? How did they have sentient robots and not talk about love!?

I also can't help but wonder what the show would have been like if we hadn't lost 4 episodes due to current events. I have a feeling we might have had a Gaim Finalé situation with Eden and that's why they had the costume on hand. Who knows; maybe we'll get some interviews down the road that will give us some insight.

And lastly, spoilers, I want top talk about the death of Izu, because that's the one thing I see the most that people disliked about the ending. It's not that she died at all, because we've had that before with characters like Ankh, but because Aruto created a new, identical Izu, with the same name, and proclaimed he was going to retrain her.

I had to think on this for quite a while, but I'm ok with this. Don't get me wrong, I would have preferred an ending where Izu was restored like Jin, or where Horobi becomes Aruto's new assistant, but the thing is this was foreshadowed. In the early episodes, every time Metsubojinrai.Net corrupts a Humagear, and Aruto or Fuwa or Yua has to destroy it, what happens? The owner gets a new Humagear of the same model and retrains it. Aruto is following his company’s policy. And yes, it’s painful. You can see him well up as he’s reminded of the first Izu, but he smiles and moves forward.

There is a form of Japanese pottery called kintsukuroi. In it, you take a piece of broken pottery, and along the cracks you piece everything back together with gold. It's not an easy process, it takes time, and the cracks are still there, but the end result is far more beautiful that what you started with. Aruto is always going to remember the first Izu, and living with the second Izu is going to be painful, but there’s the potential for this new relationship to be even greater than the one he started with. Or at least that’s me reading too much into it.

The Next: (At the time of writing this,) Saber premieres this weekend. Love the designs, as I'm big on the knight motif. I think the belt gimmick is cool, and might get it if they reveal some interesting power-up books. I think a story about story is very fun, very meta, could be great, but could also go horribly wrong if not given to the right writer. We'll have to see. After how well Zero-One was handled, I'm excited to see how the rest of Reiwa will go. They probably won't all be winners, but I enjoyed most of Neo Heisei, with only the last few entries being bad-to-ok in my book, so here's to hoping we'll get a repeat of that trend, without repeating their themes.

Overall, this was a good season. Not my favorite, but certainly in the upper half of the show's library. Looking forward to the movie, whenever that happens. Looking forward to Saber, too.

"A Rider Kick to the sky turns to take off toward a dream!"

[quintessence-sentimentalist]

quintessence-sentimentalist Takes on 30 Days of W.i.t.c.h.versary!: Week Four

Well, I’m a bit late and also exhausted, so not as much to say this time around. Still, Days 22-29!

Day 22 A wonderful pet

Oh, Dormouse/Mr. Huggles, for sure. Comics Dormouse was as iconic a symbol of Will as frogs or, hell, even the Heart. He was as adorable as he was troublesome, and he was just so precious with Will. His death still packs such a wallop that it’s outright unfair.

Mr. Huggles of the cartoon has a slightly better time of it, with the exception of literally being turned into a monster. I generally prefer comics Dormouse’s brown coat (and lack of name, I’ll admit) to Mr. Huggles’s white-gray, but I do think the color change works a bit better for animation. And while it’s a little... odd that they largely did away with Will’s close bond with him, at least they still kept him in his little family by having Matt take him in for good. Their relationship - a boy and his not-a-rat-he’s-a-dormouse - is reminiscent of another one from a certain other Disney teen hero cartoon around the same time, so that’s enjoyable to me. (And now I’m headcanoning Matt and Mr. Huggles meeting Ron and Rufus in a team-up of sidekicks to badass redheaded ladies and I really need this now.)

Day 23 A magical item

Is it too cliché to say the Heart of Kandrakar?

Really though, I absolutely love the design and concept of the Heart. Do its actual powers vary frustratingly from time to time and randomly do incredibly powerful things without any prior hint that it can? Sure. But the fact that such a pretty crystal packs that much of a punch is pretty darn cool.

Day 24 A group shot

I’m sure I could think of multiple from the comics, but hey, I’m just going to go with my header image, because I feel like I’m one of the only sources out there for it (somehow??) and honestly I love it too much because I feel like it should have been the season 3 promo art, with the way it has the girls looking super badass and surrounded by their allies.

Day 25 A minor character

For some reason I keep thinking of Principal Knickerbocker?? Her comic design is just really sticking out in my head for some reason.

But okay, I’m going to cheat on this one and go with pretty much the whole non-family/non-significant other supporting cast in Heatherfield (with the exception of Uriah and the gang). I just think they made a very... eclectic cast of background characters in the girls’ civilian lives that make for some fun and interesting moments outside of saving the world. There’s a running gag with how Mr. Horseberg and Coach O’Neill can’t stand each other (and literally come to blows over it), poor Bertold the custodian is Knickerbocker’s confidante/sidekick in running the show at Sheffield, and yes, I’m going to include Medina, McTiennan, and Sylla in this group because I enjoyed the concept of getting actual law enforcement involved in a magical girl series. 

Day 26 A fantasy people/race/species

I think I’m going to go with the Banshees, partially for the reasons I discussed already in regards to Yua (beings that are supposedly super evil but frankly just want to be left alone in their bog home). I also find their design fascinating, as they all pretty much look the same and have the silhouettes of a beautiful woman, but get on their bad side and they’ll show you exactly how otherworldly and terrifying they can be. 

Runner-up goes to the Basiliadians, because they’re so markedly diverse and I’d be fascinated by that worldbuilding.

Day 27 A personal headcanon

Oof, okay, let me think of something that I haven’t already blathered on about... 

Hmm, well it’s not so much a headcanon as, like... a vindictive moment of satisfaction I’d love to see (and will maybe one day fic), but sometimes I like to entertain the concept of Will running into her old friends from Fadden Hills - who rejected her in the Year Before special - and just seeing them react to how much better her life is, having these friends who legitimately care about and love her and how she’s grown into this confident leader. I’ve been in pre-series Will’s place before, so this would be a cathartic thing for me, as well as a means to revisit prior canon.

Day 28 A personal memory

Oh dear, there are several of these that come to mind, some of which I’ve definitely mentioned before. But I guess I’ll choose one for the comics and one for the cartoon that I haven’t discussed previously.

I honestly just distinctly remember the wait for new issues - whether of the Philippines comics or the UK magazines - after my dad would order them on Ebay, since the US had largely stopped releasing any books or graphic novels by that point. I just remember being 13 and zoning out in history class because the package was supposed to come that afternoon (it oftentimes took a few more days) and I was so ready to binge-read when I got home. 

As for the animated series, we didn’t get cable until near the very end of season 2, and the series had stopped running on network TV in early season 1, so I had to watch the majority of the series via YouTube. Mind you, YouTube had only been around for a year at this point and I think we had just switched over from dial-up, so most of my viewing happened at the kitchen table on my mom’s brick of a work laptop, having to rewind the low-quality recording every few seconds because it was buffering again, and then having to track down parts 2 and 3 of the episode because there wasn’t a capacity for more than 6-8 minutes of footage per upload. It was tedious, but the memories are somewhat fond. 

And then some six years down the line, when I was a senior in high school, I would pop the DVDs I had into my computer and rewatch the series in the middle of the night after I finished studying, conveniently forgetting that I needed to be up for school about five hours later. I guess I just have memories of watching the series on a smaller screen.

Day 29 A word of thanks to any official W.i.t.c.h. artist(s)/writer(s)

I mean, you can’t have a W.i.t.c.h.versary without toasting to the minds behind our beloved girls: Elisabetta Gnone, Barbara Canepa, and Alessandro Barbucci. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for giving us these wonderful, truly magical heroines who have shaped my life in more ways than I can list. I’m a good 15 years into my adoration of this series, and I don’t see that train losing steam anytime soon.

Also, a nod to Greg Weisman and crew for season 2 of the animated series, which took the narrative in some intriguing directions that I still enjoy to this day.

[sailor-cresselia]

Zero One 04: Watch out for incoming lore!

(And for incoming Riders and rocket fists.)

So, I’ve been having a lot of trouble freeing up the brain power to actually, y’know, even get myself to watch this week. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to, it’s just that I’m completely drained. So, this might not go as in-depth as I have in the past.

On a lore episode.

Ah well.

––

We’re starting this episode off with a bang – almost literally. The trip Aruto and Izu are on is to observe Anna, a tourguide HumaGear. At first, he’s still having fun, because, y’know, it’s a bus tour.

And then Anna announces that they’re coming up to the site of a significant event.

Aruto’s excitement drops off.

He was there, after all.

In Daybreak Town.

(One of the young boys who is also on the trip grows just as serious, looking down in the same way Aruto is.)

––

It turns out that Daybreak Town was a collaboration between the Japanese government, Hiden Intelligence, and a number of other corporations to design a city run by HumaGears. It was also where they launched the satellite from, the one that controls them.

We get treated to a diagram of several of the company logos spreading across the city, implying that they each were in charge of a district, before a ‘blueprint’ of the satellite.

I don’t like the phrasing said blueprint uses for some of the data readouts. There’s “Core Unit”, which is fine. The two “M-Wheels” are probably short for Motion, and what keep it stable. The section labeled “Life Line” is a little concerning. And I really, really, wish that Toei had chosen literally anything else for the bottom one, which reads “Slave Analyzer.”

Like, I know this is a Japanese show, and the kids probably aren’t going to be able to read it, but their parents? MAYBE! And since we’re dealing with ‘robots’ who are slowly gaining sentience… yeah. I’m not comfortable with this at all.

ANYWAY. Let’s leave the sub-text issues, and into the real-text issues, shall we?

And it sure is an issue!

Like I mentioned before I got off track, the city was an attempt to design an urban center run by HumaGears, as well as all sorts of research projects, including the satellite.

But 12 years ago, there was an accident in the Research and Development sector. It’s shown as a wide view of the city, showing just how large the explosion was – and it was big. And bright blue. You know. The same type of blue flame that we see in Aruto’s flashbacks.

But the damage didn’t stay in R&D for long, and it spread to the power infrastructure. In the end, the entire city was wiped out.

Even 12 years later, nobody is allowed in.

––

Back in the present, we see Anna and the school tour (and Aruto and Izu) at a viewing platform, with a view of the lake that the city has become.

At one very smug looking students prompting, Anna explains that the theory is that the incident was likely caused by faulty maintenance.

Aruto looks away, remembering how Isamu had said that the truth was covered up, that HumaGears had gone on a murderous rampage.

Nobody sees a certain hooded not-Gremlin approach the bus driver, tapping on the window with a Zetsumeriser and Zetsumerise Key.

Two kids start mocking one of their classmates, the one who had gotten as serious as Aruto earlier, saying that it was his dad’s fault, because he was the one in charge of the factory. One of them says that his dad blew the whole thing up.

The bus explodes behind them.

The bus driver, the soon-to-be-overwritten Bāsu, pulls out his key and ‘transforms.’ I know that his name is basically ‘bus’, but Rider Wiki also romanizes it as ‘Burs’, which I can only assume is because of his incredibly massive sideburns. Like, dang, those are big.

But we don’t have Bāsu for much longer, because he becomes the Onycho Magia, based off of the Onychonycteris, the most primitive form of bat. Interestingly, it may have been diurnal. The fossil record is inconclusive so far, but it may not have had the adaptations to echolocate, or the enlarged eyes that nocturnal bats have.

Something I’ve noticed is that most of the species that have been used as Magia so far have something in common aside from all being extinct: They’re mostly comparatively recent discoveries, and there are very few fossils that have been found of them. Just something I thought might be worth noting for the future.

Also, Onycho has huge claws on his ‘normal’ hands and also on each finger of his wings – remember, bat wings are technically webbed hands. Those ridges are fingers. Onychonycteris had claws on each finger, unlike modern bats, who only have two or three.

As Aruto yells for the kids to get out of there, Jin sits on top of a retaining wall, kicking his legs idly, and asks Onycho – who can’t hear him, anyway – to kill some humans for him.

Whenever he says that to his Magia… that’s the only time he’s really serious. That’s the only time he drops the smile.

Interesting.

––

After the OP, which I love, we cut to Onycho pursuing the tour group through a wooded area, Aruto herding the kids along. One of them, the one who was being mocked earlier, trips. As Onycho catches up, Aruto prepares to transform – but doesn’t get to do more than pull out his belt before shots are fired  from another direction. He hurriedly hides it behind his back as Isamu and Yua show up on scene – somehow – and transform.

Of note, Isamu still has to force his Key open, and he’s still punching the bullet. Yua has no such issue, and just lets her armor form, before they go on the offensive.

She’s still quick and efficient, while he’s more of a wildcard whose primary mood is ‘gun.’

Onycho quickly gets out of range when he goes to hang upside down on a high branch, and then flies away. (There’s an ‘analyzing’ sound effect as Izu watches him fly off.)

The two agents detransform as they go up to Aruto, the boy, and the two functioning HumaGear. Isamu points out that ‘Oh, look, Hiden’s president is here. Again.’ But the boy, who’s been sitting on the ground, curls in on himself, saying something about wondering why this is happening to him.

Both Isamu and Aruto look at him in concern.

––

Back in Aruto’s office, we have Aruto, Izu, Anna, Isamu, and the boy. Said boy’s name is Sakurai Gou, and his father was one of the victims 12 years ago.

I can’t help but wonder just how many people died that day.

Especially when Gou says that people have always told him that it’s his fathers fault it happened. That’s an awful lot of weight on a teen’s shoulders. And, Isamu, I know you mean well, but I don’t think that’s quite the way to go about reassuring a kid that it’s not his dad’s fault. Usually, people don’t react well to someone saying that it was HumaGears, who were designed to kill.

Although, Gou seems to take Isamu’s claim that it was HumaGear who leveled the factory in stride.

Isamu, of course, doesn’t take Izu’s statement that ‘there are no records to back up his claim’ very well., yelling that it’s because it was covered up.

Anna points out that the consensus is that it was caused by faulty maintenance.

Aruto looks down as he wonders if the concensus is the same things as the truth.

Anna watches him, just like she’d watched Isamu during his claim that Daybreak happened because of the HumaGear.

––

Outside, Isamu and Gou are leaving, and Gou says that he wants to know the truth.

Isamu asks if he really feels that way, and when Gou nods… he says that he does, too.

“Hey, kid, want to go break into a secured area?”

––

Ohhhh, man, I like Serious Aruto.

He’s flat out interrogating Jun, asking what happened at their factory 12 years ago.

But all that Jun will say is that he can’t recall.

Anna and Izu both call him out on this – not activating their look-up functions, by the way. Anna asks why there’s no record of the HumaGear uprising. Which implies that she knows there was one, somehow. Izu says that a cover-up seems intentional.

Aruto knows he’s hiding something, the way that Jun is so nervous makes that pretty clear. And he’s not a comedic nervous, like we’d expect from his characterization in the first three episodes. No, he’s scared… and maybe ashamed. Especially given how, as he takes his leave, he says that ‘sometimes, the way business works means that you have to keep the truth in the shadows.’

So, there’s definitely at least one layer of cover-up here. Probably more than one, in fact. This is written by the same guy as Ex-Aid, after all.

––

Later on, Anna and Aruto – without Izu, it would seem – are basically confirming to each other that they want to find out the truth.

Anna is looking into this because, as a bus guide, it’s her duty to know the historical facts of her tour. It’s her duty to make sure the truth is known.

Aruto says that he guesses they’re going back to Daybreak Town then. After all, he’s the president. He can’t ignore an employee in need.

He’s not saying that he wants to know, too. Not out loud, anyway.

––

The next day, at the entrance to Daybreak Town, Gou and Isamu are… actually breaking into a secured area. I mean, it was a foregone conclusion, but I didn’t think they’d be this blatant about it. Isamu’s even got a huge bag with him, probably with some sort of camera equipment or something. They’re not alone, though, when Yua steps in front of the gate, asking what they think they’re doing.

What they think they’re doing is that they’re going to find the truth.

She sighs. She’s not going to be able to stop them, is she? So, Yua pulls out a grey Progrise Key, and offers it to Isamu. She does say that it’s ‘high performance’, and he probably won’t be able to use it. He asks why she’s giving it to him, then, which is a valid question.

Yua just warns him to not forget what his job is.

Isamu takes the Punching Kong key, tucks it into his suit jacket, and takes off his tie, smirking. “Actually, I’m off duty today.”

––

As Isamu and Gou are about to set out on an inflatable motorboat – which appears to somehow be what he had in that giant bag – Gou isn’t sure if they’ll really find anything by going out there, to which Isamu says that they’ll just have to try.

And then a bunch of Trilobite mooks come up – some of them still saying ‘intruder detected.’

See? This is what he means by a cover-up!

Isamu’s shooting some of them down, but one gets close to Gou-

And is tackled into the water by Aruto.

Isamu accuses him of being there to make sure they don’t see anything they aren’t supposed to, but Aruto shoots that down. (Heh.) He wants to know what happened, too.

Completely ignoring Izu’s protests about ‘protecting his secret identity,’ he pulls out his belt and stands next to Isamu.

“Do you want to die, get out of- wait what’s that belt?!”

Aruto, with his serious face on, promises, as Hiden’s president, that he’ll find the truth, and transforms.

Both Isamu and the Trilobites dodge the heck out of the way of that robot grasshopper – and yet he still can’t believe his eyes when he’s standing next to Zero One.

Aruto tells Anna to go with the two of them – it’s a tour guides job to make sure her guests get to their destination, after all. He takes over fighting the Trilobites, as they head out.

––

Ohhhh. I’ve just realized that comment I made earlier about the rarity of the species used for the Magia. I’m making a separate post right now, but I’m copy-pasting it in.  

The skeletal design of all the Magia isn’t just to make it easier to repurpose the suits - it’s because they’re all using extinct creatures as their base. They’re all fossils, themselves.

The main Magia, the corrupted ones with powers, are all powered by creatures that have relatively few examples in the fossil record.

The mooks, however, are Trilobites. This doesn’t just allow the anonymity factor with the shell acting as a mask.

Trilobites are incredibly common, and as such, make the perfect option for a swarm of faceless cannon fodder.

––

In the flooded ruins, Isamu, Gou, and Anna make their way to what used to be the control room of the factory, where Gou’s father worked.

It’s also where the explosion started.

Why… is Anna the one searching for things to help them find the truth? She explicitly says that she will look. That’s odd.

And why would the control room be where an explosion started? Why not, say, the factory floor, or a lab, or a test area?

Why the control center?

––

On the shore, Zero One handily dispatches the Trilobites with a Shark-powered Slash finisher. Much like his Impact finishers, it involves the sword summoning a giant hecking row of sharks teeth.

I love this seasons fights.

And here comes Onycho, swooping in with energy spheres to blast our hero back. Aruto tries to jump after him, to bring him down to the ground, but he can’t jump high enough on command to catch up to someone who’s continuing upward, and misses.

As he picks himself up, Izu throws him a Brand New Toy Progrize Key, which fortunately he catches. Y’know, unlike the unfortunate incident with the Attache Calibur in episode one.

WING

When the robo-bird is beamed down, it attacks Onycho for a while, before Aruto finally uses the key. And there are bright pink feathers fluttering around whenever it hits, too, which is really cool!

Fly to the sky! Flying Falcon!

Spread your wings and prepare for a force.

…We’re never going to see this form again.

Not with how Zero One immediately rises into the air, and doesn’t even try to land as he and Onycho start an aerial fight over the lake, swooping around the buildings, firing attacks, Aruto streaming pink and yellow energy effects with every movement.

This thing requires far too much CGI for us to see it more than… I’d say about one more time in-show, and maybe in one of the movies. Maybe.

This is GataKiriBa all over again.

Also, as he’s flying around, Izu waves, wishing him a safe trip.

Izu, I love you.

––

In the office, Gou’s given up. He can’t find anything… it must have been his fathers fault after all. Why bother looking any further?

…son of a- Toei named this kid Gou on purpose, didn’t they? I was initially thinking, ‘oh, hey, they’re reusing names, that’s nothing new.’ And then I just remembered that ‘Oh, right, the main Gou’s father actually was to blame for the robot uprising in Drive!’

Anyway, significant name reuse aside, the kid’s surrendered, but Isamu encourages him to keep looking.

And then the Trilobites show up. Even as he’s fighting them, Isamu keeps giving small!Gou a pep talk. It can’t have been his fathers fault, it was the HumaGear! So if you don’t believe in him, who will?

Isamu, I get it, but, uh, maybe don’t take this much of this particular trait from Mach? The one where you say that a human can’t have be to blame, it’s the out of control robots? I’m just saying. I doubt this kids father in particular was to blame, but I’m pretty sure at least one human was very heavily involved in what happened here.

Looking at you, Grandpa Hiden. You are very much not above suspicion.

Isamu’s statement, as he is getting very beaten up, that “if you stop now, it’s all over, so raise your head and keep going’ seems to be as much to himself as it is to Gou.

And he’s getting very beaten up, so he pulls out the Punching Kong key.

I’m pretty sure that not only did Yua not unlock it, he’s also opening them wrong. I know that’s just a joke theory at this point, but it really looks like he’s actively blocking the part that swings out when he’s holding the keys, so I think he’s making it worse on himself.

Whoops.

It’s still not fair that his transformation is this cool. This time, instead of punching the bullet dead on, he backhand punches it. Because why not.

Punching Kong!

Enough power to annihilate a mountain.

…Huh. The keys that Vulcan and Valkyrie use don’t have the pre-announcements that Zero One’s keys do. Like, he has the whole ‘fly to the sky’ for Flying Falcon, and the ones for Rising Hopper and Biting Shark, but there’s no such announcement for the three AIMS keys. Interesting.

As Vulcan starts wailing on the Trilobites, Gou takes his advice to keep going forward to heart, and starts looking again. Good thing he looked right in front of him, because he finds an SD card with the Hiden Intelligence logo on it.

According to Anna, it’s the memory chip for an older model of HumaGear. She inserts it into one of her earpieces to start reading the data.

…Maybe you shouldn’t be doing that in the middle of a battle area? I’m just saying. Maybe, you know, wait until you guys are out of there?

Yeah, see? Aruto and Onycho crash in through a wall, and the Magia fires off a set of cables, overtaking Anna. Nobody is okay with this, least of all Anna.

Who is fighting back. She lasts longer than any of the other Trilobite transformations we’ve seen. The overhaul completes, and ‘she’ goes after Gou, grabbing him by the neck… and as Vulcan aims his ShotRiser in her direction, she stops, and her ear pieces start flashing between the hacked red and their native blue.

…wow…

“Now p-playing… f-footage from-”

She activates her ear pieces to play the security footage. And it is still Anna in there. She’s fading fast, but she’s still there. She is so intent on seeing this through… I hate to say this, but Anna would have made an excellent Magia, wouldn’t she?

––

The footage is absolutely heartbreaking.

Gou’s father, Sakurai Satoshi, is in his office, lit by red emergency lights. He’s recording a last message.

“All HumaGear in the factory have gone berserk! The factory is likely going to explode. All the employees should have evacuated, so…”

The monitors are overtaken with static, and the regular displays are hijacked to play a message. A shadowed figure with rectangular yellow eyes stands in front of a purple background, with the logo of metsubojinrai.net in black.

He’s declaring their war against humanity, their intent to destroy the town and annihilate all humans.

But Satoshi says he won’t let that happen. He refuses.

He pushes one of those big red buttons, the ones that should never need to be pressed, closing all gates. He’s sealing all the HumaGear inside… as well as himself. As the head of this factory, he will take responsibility for making sure they are destroyed.

As the emergency alert continues to sound, calling for evacuation, he takes off his microphone headpeice, and all but falls into a chair.

“Gou…”

The scene is covered in flames, before the footage cuts out.

––

As Anna’s hand falls from where she was projecting, she manages to say – without any of the usual broken stutter – that the database is being updated with regards to Daybreak Town. She slumps down, inactive.

Aruto is quiet as he says that Gou’s father was a hero.

Isamu is quiet, trembling with rage, as he says that this wouldn’t have happened if HumaGear didn’t exist. He prepares his finisher.

Why does he get such AWESOME FINISHERS?!

The default Punching Kong finisher? The ‘Punching Blast’?

It’s rocket fists. He literally shoots his gun – and by that, I mean the fists of his armor turn into rockets, going after Onycho, pushing him through three levels of ceiling and out into the sky, where they go right through him.

As the fire from the explosion channels down the GIANT HOLE IN THE CEILING, the fists return and reattach to his armor.

Yo.

Isamu seems… I don’t know if determined is quite the right word? But he’s almost calm as he tells Aruto that AIMS will be confiscating the HumaGear (Anna) and analyzing it’s (her) memory to uncover the truth behind Daybreak-

A spike lands in her back as he says this, and she glows purple, before… well, I hate to phrase it like this, but she basically pops. I wish that wasn’t the sound effect they used, but it’s a dissolving sound effect combined with a balloon bursting. She’s turned into motes of purple light, and is gone.

Aruto and Isamu – still transformed, mind you – run over to where she was, confused.

…The spike didn’t glow, but we didn’t see it after the light passed.

––

A figure in purple, with a yellow belt and rectangular eyes on his helmet walks away, and removes his progrise key from his belt, detransforming into Horobi.

Jin bounces behind him, calling him cold for doing that.

Horobi doesn’t change his neutral expression much as he says that it would cause too much trouble if anyone found out about the Arc. Or, maybe it’s supposed to be Ark? It’s hard to say. But he smirks at the end, before he and Jin walk away.

Well, Horobi walks. Jin is skipping.

––

The next day, we see that the news is reporting on how Hiden Intelligence released new information on Daybreak, showing that the incident wasn’t what was on the record, and that they had obtained footage of those final moments.

Gou’s classmates apologize to him, for being so mean, but he seems okay with it. (He probably wouldn’t have been so determined to find out what happened if they hadn’t been.) As the news report, given via those giant heli-drones, ends, they head off to school.

Aruto watches them from a pedestrian bridge, and Isamu walks up to him and Izu.

“So, you really meant it when you said you wouldn’t cover anything up.”

“And you wouldn’t have known what happened if you had destroyed Anna right away.” Aruto smiles gently, before the comedian sound effects start kicking in. Oh no.

The Awful Pun Of The Day as Aruto flips up his hood is something involving being a ‘hood guy’, or telling Izamu not to ‘sweater it.’

Apparently, the original pun is a combination of the phrase for being indebted to someone, but part of the phrase also contains the term ‘to wear’, as in clothes, so he’s saying this while putting on his hood.

Aruto, please.

Isamu trembles while he’s still facing Aruto, and walks away as Izu starts explaining the joke. Aruto’s desperate attempts to get Izu to stop doing that mean that he doesn’t hear as Isamu almost lets a laugh escape, even while desperately trying to regain his composure.

Isamu’s willpower fails during the closing screen, and we hear him laughing as the Flying Falcon and Punching Kong Progrize Keys show up on screen.

––

Oh, nooooo, the next episode looks like it’s about relegating entire tasks to HumaGear, and also about passion for one’s work.

You know, getting heated.

And Izu’s line in the trailer actively asks if humans have trouble regulating their temperature if they get too passionate.

In the episode where Zero One’s fire form debuts.

Oh boy.

––

So, that’s episode four! I guess I still wound up going pretty in-depth, huh?

Man, the aesthetic of this show. It’s really cool, and I love the music, too.

Zero One really isn’t shying away from the ethics of what’s going on here, is it? And it’s not dodging the terrifying backstory, or putting it off until later.

I hope they can keep this momentum going!

[venus-says]

Kamen Rider Zero-One Episodes 01-09

The biggest gag of this whole thing is that I don’t have a punchline to talk about a show with a comedian as the main character.

⚠ ⚠ Warning! Very long post ahead, be prepared. ⚠ ⚠

Yes, I’m bringing something weird, kinda unrelated, and very random again to the blog, but seeing that precure is taking a break this week and that I had some free time I thought, why not?

Kamen Rider was something I always wanted to get into but I never did just because of the huge amount of things in this franchise (much like what keeps me away from Idolm@ster, and pushed me from Doctor Who for so many years). But I was babysitting in the weekend and I had to sit down through 5 hours of power rangers on netflix, and that kinda revived this flame on me. And seeing that he newest season of Kamen Rider is still in its early days I thought it was a good time to start.

I’ll go back and watch the older seasons (at least the ones from the Heisei Era) because *spoilers* I enjoyed Zero-One quite a lot, and it also would fit with a project I’m planning for next year, but I won’t give much detail on that just yet. For now, let’s just focus on the task at hand and talk about Kamen Rider Zero-One.

Since this is a review/first impressions post instead of talking specifically about each episode I’ll talk about some specific topics. Starting by the plot.

This setting is very entertaining, I don’t know if it’s the future, or if this is some kind of alternate reality where humanity has progressed faster than our reality or whatever, but I like the futuristic vibe. The concept of Humagears isn’t anything new, it’s what you expect from a futuristic show, but it is somewhat decent. I don’t know if talking about machines getting conscience is a concept that’s easily palatable to kids, and I have a feeling that the show will lack in this discussion, but I’m okay with it.

I’m okay because this show does an amazing job when it comes to being emotional. In every episode, they make us sympathetic to at least one character and when this character gets caught between fire or is turned in the MOTW we feel for them. I was especially touched by Mamoru in Episode 2, the kid from episode 4, the seiyuu Humagear played by Karen Miyama and her father in episodes 5 and 6, and especially the coach and the basketball team from episode 7. In a very short amount of time, they made me feel attached to these characters and I was really invested in their stories and that’s a huge plus for me.

The plot regarding the company is probably the least interesting and the less believable IMO. Maybe it’s just me being dumb, after all this is a show where dudes transform in mecha armors with animal motifs using belts, but I find hard to believe that in any parallel world a successful and respected businessman would hand their very important company in the hands of someone unprepared for the business. Yes, the protagonist being the head of the company gives him an interesting plot point in episodes 8 and 9, but that was really the only time I saw it as being used in an interesting way in all of these episodes.

A.I.M.S. is a thing I have mixed feelings. First they seem to be the police, then they seem to be like a third (shadier) private organization, still they seem to use things as if they’re the government, they seem like they can play a very interesting role but this beginning is just so confusing I don’t know what to think of them. Though I have a major problem being that they seem to be huge, very important, smarter than the other, above everyone else, Still on episode 8 they let themselves be invaded without offering that much resistance resulting in loss of equipment and valuable data, and after all shit is done, they didn't run any kind of scan in their giant robots to see if nothing happened to them. That was really dumb.

The part I like the least is the villains' plot, they are boring as hell and I can’t care enough about them. The reveal on episode 8 that they’re also humagears is very rushed and very dumb because it shows that the protagonist has been wrong all of this time. I genuinely would like more if this was a revolution created by a maniac with a god complex rather than another story of machines rebelling against humans.

I can’t talk about Plot without talking about Characters. While this is a show that does one-off characters wonderfully, the majority of the main cast I have issues with, at least for now.

Aruto is the regular protagonist of any sentai show, I feel, so I don’t have strong feelings about him so far. Though, the characteristic that is supposed to differentiate him from the others makes me not like him as much. I don’t know if it’s because his jokes are lost in translation or if it is the style of comedy that doesn’t resonate with me personally, but to me he’s not funny he’s just very cringe. I also don’t like how this is overused and more often than not it ruins beautiful, touching or emotional moments. Though Aruto has something great in his favor that is his companion Izu. Izu is a delight and she makes Aruto be way more bearable as a character. Yes, her gag when she has to explain Aruto’s jokes is overused and after nine episodes I don’t think it’s very funny anymore, but I still enjoy her a lot and episodes 8 and 9 showed a lot of potential for her.

A.I.M.S flagship characters once again show my mixed feelings about the organization. While I love Yua (she’s probably my favorite character), I hate Fuwa to death. Yua is very interesting, she shows signs of humanity but she’s not afraid of using the resources she has at hand to fulfill her missions, she’s the gray character in the sea of blacks and whites and I love this, it’s still very shallow but it gave her character some level of complexity that put her above the other to me. Fuwa on the other hand… I may be wrong about him, he may pull a Bakugou on me and make me sympathetic towards him later on, but for now his hot-blooded, hard-headed, stubborn personality gets under my skin and seeing him loosing in Episode 8 was probably my favorite moment of him so far. (PS.: I know Fuwa’s first name is Isamu but I don’t think he was ever referred by his first name so far so I’ll stick to calling him Fuwa)

Like I mentioned before, I don’t care for anyone in MetsubouJinrai.net. Jin had something going on for him in episode 6, but instead of using that to build him as a character the show just threw that away by revealing that he’s not actually Horobi’s son, he’s just a Humagear he made and they took away all the things that made him interesting. Horobi seemed like just the generic villain, then he raised his status with the whole “I made you Jin” thing, but once again they lost any kinda of dept to his character when they made him another Humagear instead of a human going against society.

Tied in with the characters talk there’s the Rider aspect of the thing. I can’t judge them in level of efficiency or anything since I don’t really have some reference point to compare them to, but I can talk about designs!

Zero-One has a pretty efficient design, when you look at it you can immediately recognize that this is from Kamen Rider yet it’s still unique enough to differentiate from its predecessors. His power-up forms are also very decent, though I wish in some of them we had less of the grasshopper design and more of the animal the power-up is evoking. My favorite forms are Flaming Tiger and Freezing Bear since these are the forms that keep less from the original design. I don’t know if he giant mammoth mecha is considered a power-up but I’ll mention it here, that thing is very goofy I can’t take it seriously.

Vulcan and Valkyrie are pretty similar and bland in their basic forms, though I enjoy the touch of half of them being more mechanized and the other half share more similarities to their animals. In terms of power-ups, Vulcan’s Punching Kong isn’t very imaginative and there are not enough changes for me to like it. Valkyrie’s Lightning Hornet, however, is my favorite form of all of them, I love how it feels like a completely different design from the original and the colors work pretty well together.

I don’t know if they’re also considered Riders but I’ll talk about them anyway. I love Jin’s Flying Falcon, the shade of pink is very pretty and to me it has a better design than Zero-One’s form. Horobi is basically just a recolor of Jin, but it works I feel, maybe it’s just my love for purple and the fascination for scorpions and poison-related powers but I enjoy it. Talking about the Magias I feel that their designs are very hit or miss, more misses in my case, but I can’t deny that some of them are very funny.

The transformation devices all look kinda silly, if I was a kid I wouldn’t see myself interested in any of them. Though I’m all here for the progrise keys designs, it’s simple, it’s colorful, it’s fun, they look like cassette tapes and I love them. The briefcase weapons I also dislike, they seem like a very fun design for a toy in scale of a figure, but in the show hey seem way too big and don’t work as well for me, though I like Horobi’s arrow version. Zero-One has a very cool looking bike, but I gotta admit when it falls down from sky looking like a cellphone I can’t help but crack at it because it just looks way too goofy.

The last thing I have to comment on is production. Though I don’t have the knowledge to give a proper analysis I gotta say the show looks very well produced.

The locations are very pretty, the action, for the most part, is very impressive, the soundtrack is decent, and sometimes they take some styling decisions that are very impressive – like the “attacks animations” and when they’ve put these comic borders during a portion of the fight in Episode 5 to seem like it was part of a manga. The characterization is also pretty spot-on, we have the futuristic elements yet there are this similar present days vibe that makes things more relatable and easy to connect with this world, I especially love the earphone thing the Humagears have, is such a nice touch.

The actors are all pretty good as well. Yes, there are some moments where they go way overboard IMO, but overall they do very well with what they’re given to work with. Props to Noa Tsurushima for being able to pull out an amazing Izu that is very robotic but still has this very human aura to her. I also checked them out in their social media and it seems that the cast get along very well and they always seem to be having a blast in the backstage pictures. Also, did you know Fuwa’s actor has a youtube channel and he apparently does lives every single day? I was very shocked when I found out about that.

And the biggest thing that deserves praise is the special effects and CGI that, aside from a few moments like the giant mechas fighting in Episode 9, are amazing and a delight to the eyes. It’s very rare for me to find a show that is heavily dependant on CGI that doesn’t tickle me off and this one managed to pull it off wonderfully and I can’t wait to see more of it.

And these are my thoughts on the first nine episodes of Kamen Rider Zero-One, I really enjoyed the show and this is now part of my fixed weekly schedule of shows to watch. Have any of you seen it, what are your thoughts about it? One of the things I liked the most during the symphogear season was interacting in the comments and discussing the episode and I haven’t seen much of that recently so please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts as well. In any case, thank you so so much for sitting through this very long post, and I’ll see you a next time. (guess is finally time for me to aikatsu again after an entire month)

[randomfandoms2004]

rider k i c k! download: screaming abt eps 04-09 (MASS post)

I missed a BUNCH OF SHIT But I’ll be officially caught up!

Again, spoilers!

Episode 4 Highlights

I have a feeling this a very exposition heavy episode... also peep that boy who was clenching his hands, i see u 👀👀👀

Oh! Hi again Yua! Hm... a new key? (I’m glad she’s understanding of Prickly’s angst, as aggro as he can be)

ARUTO BRO WHY R U UP AND- *sigh* THERE’S A WHOLE POINT TO A SECRET IDENTITY MAN! but gdi do I love this squishy boi

oh... damn... That kid’s dad.. oof feels

AW SHIT ANNA! FUCK WHOMST OH SHIT ITS HOROBI! THE GUY’S GOT A FUCKIN SUIT!

and here we see the debut of prickly’s meme face gdhjsghjds

Overall thoughts: Now that Fuwa knows of Aruto’s identity as “damn grasshopper guy” I wonder what he’ll do with that information... and now that we know Horobi has a suit, what else can he do with it?

Episode 5 Highlights

Oooo more insight on the whole HumaGear stuff Hjskdhjd Aruto that was great, he looks hilarious

Can I just say that Horobi’s smile is... really creepy??? (it... looks so... idk how to put it but it makes me uncomfortable, but that just adds to the creep factor)

Oh? Prickly gets a suitcase too! (dghjskshdj that whole part where he tries to figure it out is so goofy)

Mr. Mangaka might be a lazy asshole, but at least he still wants to grab his lineart pen

Yo, can I just say I love Flaming Tiger form? Like hell yeah, good suit design!!

jin and horobi... in a parent- child relationship??? what???

Overall thoughts: It seems that Jin is human, but is he really? then again, he wouldn’t act as insane if he were a HumaGear. and what abt Horobi? he feels like a subboss, so do we know who truly is the main villain?

Episode 6 Highlights

Hm... it’s obvious the poor old guy is grieving... but it is a little messed up to make such a near-copy of your child

Seems Jin was triggered by the word child.... I wonder what his backstory is?

shit... man, what the hell... Seine seems to have memories of Sumire...

Horobi, you are so fuckin cold...

Oh ye, lightning hornet time. The whole color of the new suit looks dope af btw.

Aw, good for Mr. Seiji. Glad to see he’s changed and willing to move on.

THAT WAS ACTUALLY A CUTE ASS PUN ARUTO OMG

Overall thoughts: It seems real off that Jin is so... humanly insane? like he’s a HumaGear, but he’s so... crazy... I also think that Mestuboujinrai.net is working with AIMS and the Boss is one of the main bad guys... I’m also really hoping we slowly see Izu act... less robotic in a sense? Like her being... idk... just cuter.

Episode 7 Highlights

I wonder where AIMS took the Assassin AI...

And also... A Blizzard Key? I wonder which animal that is... maybe a Polar Bear?

Kobe is so pure, he loves the team so much. Plus he produces good positive reinforcement! That whole scene with the pass was cute.

Yua... filming the assassin AI? what for? (Turns out she analyzed his data too...)

Oh! I was right! It is a Polar Bear! And the suit design for this one looks cute I mean, look at the ears!

Yua... what the hell are you planning...(she managed to take the Mammoth Magear key... I wonder what for...)

Overall thoughts: AIMS(More specifically Yua) is planning something... and I don’t think it’s a good thing... I’m still wondering what they’ll do now that they have the information that Aruto is being hunted.

Episode 8 Highlights

Hm. Seems Dodo bird can’t hack, Yua’s doing I presume.

Well Science advancements mean advancements in medicine, right?

I wonder what Horobi will do to Yua... especially since we’re aware that she’s the one who hacked Dodo bird.

AW SHIT, YUA! Fuck, and they stole some of the upgrades! 

Hm, so hacking the Giger can do bigger damage since they’re meant to attack rampaging HumaGears...

OH I WAS WRONG COMPLETELY BOTH JIN AND HOROBI ARE AIS???? holy crap... explains the bandana...

Oh, well shit. Damn, Horobi is so brutal...

Overall thoughts: I have a feeling Prickly is gonna live (especially since he’s apart of the main cast, aside from that Tokusatsu doesn’t really kill unless it’s backstory or plot). But it seems that both sides are even. If AIMS and Aruto wanna survive, they’re gonna need to work together (Which, I think both Prickly and Yua are gonna HATE).

Episode 9 Highlights

I’m surprised Yua cares so much... Prickly and her always act like they hate each other’s guts, y’know?

Shesta and Izu doing the “anime electric rival glaring” stare is so endearing (these two may not be human, but they sure don’t like each other!)

Yua, seriously, you’re so fired up... (it’s... weirdly pure of her...)

Is Izu... more aware than I think she is? Must be Aruto rubbing off on her.

AW LIT A NEW UPGRADE!

Yua, quit hiding... they’ll be onto AIMS eventually...

Fuwa is such a typical tsundere, it’s so fun to see his meme expressions

Overall thoughts: Plot progress! I do think eventually Prickly and Yua will become heroes. They’re secondary riders for a reason. There’s a bigger bad guy (who might be the ZAIA/AIMS leader?), who will end up forcing Yua and Prickly to switch sides when the two of em are backed into a corner.

Preview Time ~ Seems like this next ep will have some focus on Fuwa after recovering.  And it seems Dodo bird will be on the hunt for Aruto again...

[erigold13261]

Hi I would love to hear about your Doki Doki Mermaid team! They deserve so much more love

Oooh! Yeah okay! Though I will say, I don't have their personalities concrete yet, so most of this will just be fun facts about them and their designs or something.

Also: Club=Robot Mermaids (Renho, Haru, Sayu, Aoi, Yua), Crew=Humans (Remi, Tila, Dodo, Sofa), Robot body= With Legs, Mermaid body= With mermaid tail.

But anyway, to start off, the DDMC were at first just created for the DDMC game as promotional material for Sayu, but so many people liked the designs that the rest of the club would show up in the background of videos or as special guests with Sayu (with Tila using a voice changer, or maybe Remi and Sofa would voice them with a voice changer).

The club wasn't all that important compared to Sayu, but once Sayu was given an AI, over time ze got lonely being the only teen robots. Sure ze could relate to 1010 a lot, but they were older and could not always relate to a teen, and the Crew could relate more age-wise to Sayu but not the robot aspect. That feeling Sayu was feeling and eventually expressed is what pushed the Crew and Neon J to create the rest of the Club mermaids for Sayu.

Instead of forcing certain aspects and identities on the new mermaids, they were given their base personalities and names for code and then allowed to choose for themselves as their AI grew. During this time they were not in the public eye so they had little to no outside pressures on them to conform a certain way.

Sayu: [16, Ze/Mer, Nonbinary, AroAce.]

First of the mermaid AIs to be made. Leader of the Club. Only reason ze figured out mer gender was because of 1010's experimentation with gender along with the Crew answering all of mers questions about gender that popped up.

When in mer robot body ze ends up using a wheelchair or cane to walk. This is because the tech used for mer body was very experimental, trying to reduce robotic attributes like visible joints, but also Sayu had a very hard time adjusting to walking after a long time being just a mermaid.

It also made sense at the time of designing humanoid Sayu (after the revolution but before the AI was made) because the Crew thought a mermaid given legs wouldn't be able to walk that well. As the tech got better, Sayu decided to not fix the problem so that ze could be a role model for mer disabled fans.

Aoi: [16, He/They, Genderfluid, Lesbian]

Has the most fragile fins of the Club, especially in later forms where it turns into lace. Only member of the club to have sharp teeth along with inverted eye colors (dark blue sclera and white pupils). I misread the cover art by Aoi and saw Sayu's tail fin as a pearl that Aoi was holding, so now his signature item is a giant pearl lol.

Him was probably the main villain of the game, with Haru being either a villain by Aoi's side or a minor antagonist/red herring villain.

With their AI, Aoi got really close with Sayu, the two of them being best friends. I feel like Aoi would be very sarcastic in a mean way to people they don't care for, kinda like an absolute bitch that people try to stay away from, but with friends they are more chill.

He, and the rest of the Crew not counting Sayu, was able to come up with his own robot design. He decided to have normal looking eyes and braces in place of sharp teeth. Sometimes wears glasses as going from light pupils to dark pupils messes with his eyes.

The tech problem Sayu had was gone by the time the rest of the Crew was made, but Aoi wears a special brace on their right leg because they tends to pop the joint out of the socket/mechanism a lot. It never happens to the left leg though.

Haru: [17, Sea/Sear, Nonbinary, Omnisexual]

Shortest of the Crew and Club. Has broken heart pupils in both forms (a glitch occurred once before the AI was installed that had sear pupils move away from each, so one eye had a pupil on each side). Sea is fat, in both robot and mermaid form, so sea has the thickest tail.

I don't have much to say about sear other than sea is the most lively out of the bunch. Definitely the most extroverted and will be the one to tell the cashier sear friend asked for no pickles lol.

Design wise for sear robot, sea wanted to be hairy, kinda taking inspiration from DJ because I definitely see Haru as being friends with them. It is also something sea ended up really liking about searself and will rub sear legs when sea gets nervous (which is pretty rare).

Also, Dew (Purple 1010) is heavily crushing on Haru. He is also 17, he is not as old as the rest of 1010 (who are about 25) because he, along with 1010, were initially 17 but he broke down, so when he was rebuilt Neon kept him at 17 instead of forcing him to be 25. Because of this, he often hangs out more with the Crew and Club, which is where he developed a crush on Haru, who is either oblivious or ignoring it because sea doesn't know how to react yet.

Yua [17, She/Her, Transfem, IDK sexuality yet]

Longest mermaid and second tallest of the Crew (Dodo is the tallest). Has diamond/rhombus shaped pupils. Only one with a spit tail in first form. Extremely flexible.

Like Haru, she is pretty extroverted. Not as much, but she is also very kind. Idk, I kinda see her having Haym's type of energy and recklessness. Her and Haru teaming up with Haym would cause so many problems but also be SUPER fun to hang out with! Probably the one who has the braincell the least amount of the time lol.

She wanted her robot design to be flat chested and tall. Also asking for a labret and navel piercings to be incorporated. After a while with her design she ended up adding hair to her legs because seeing Haru with hairy legs made her want them.

Her and Haru are best friends, and she loves teasing Dew with Aoi. But she does it in a loving way while Aoi kinda pushes the boundary a bunch and causes Dew to leave the group sometimes.

Renho: [16, They/Them, Agender, Lesbian]

Heart shaped eyes like Sayu. Has a prosthetic fin and fully blind on the right side because they lack that eye entirely. Only mermaid that keeps the tail fin connected to the tail in all forms. The others have disconnected tail fins from their 3rd form on wards (TECHNICALLY Aoi has a very thin string/lace piece connecting his tail to his body, but no one really counts that).

Renho is probably the most quiet out of the Club. Very soft spoken, but very eager to talk when with close friends. Is probably closest with Sayu, Tila, and Sofa.

With their design, it was decided to just turn off the right eye and let Renho decide if they wanted to turn it on or not when they became sentient. This made them very comfortable with having only one eye and they decided to just have it removed because it sometimes tried to forcibly turn on which messed with Renho greatly, even with their eye patch.

As a robot, Renho was offered to make one of their legs look like a prosthetic to match their tail, but instead Renho decided to only have one leg (the left one), taking inspiration from Sayu to be a disabled role model. They use forearm crutches to walk when in robot form.

[That's all I really have for all the mermaids right now. I don't think of them as much as I should have, probably because I was heavily on the "Sayu is not an AI" train for so long that now that I AM on board with Sayu having an AI, I still sometimes go back to Sayu and the mermaids just being tools and not sentient. I'm sure I'll make more up for them as time goes on or people ask specific questions]