#ufotable is the definition of doing one thing at a time and doing it good

[levbolton]

i cannot stopnot recommending heaven's feel to anyone because this is the best animation i've ever seen in my life, nothing has ever topped this masterpiece

[demonslayedher]

Things that ran through my head while watching this episode:

--The vast majority of this episode... is filler!! Ufotable can do good filler, I just forget that sometimes after how hyped I was for that Rengoku special. I've already gone on before about how the whole additional of the spider sisters' story was something that developed on existing characters, made statements on the relations between demons, and especially showed us a side of a Rui we wouldn't get through Rui's interactions with Tanjiro. It's also one of the best displays of something said multiple times throughout the series, fights between demons are pointless, if they want to kill each other it really is a matter of trapping one another in the sun.

--Also, a house like that in Japan is absolutely filled with spiders, I can promise you that.

--Giving Rui tons more family whom we don't see now, in particular younger siblings, was a choice. Though one panel in the manga implies he had a lot more, they generally look bigger than him. I question this choice for younger siblings a bit, as it seems Rui mostly wanted to be left alone with his family, so the little ones wondering off to find themselves killed by demon slayers doesn't seem likely, and if the parents' role is to protect the children then them having been killed off early on this mission when demon slayers entered the mountain doesn't seem likely, and if betraying Rui was so hard to do then them all having done so doesn't seem likely, and Rui seeing himself as the little brother--the center of the family--this whole time makes it seem like he wouldn't had wanted younger siblings unless they were the type to dote on him. What's the role of a younger sibling, in Rui's strict definitions? Were they toys to amuse him with their adoration for him, and Ufotable wanted to imply they didn't do a good enough job of this?

--Brother Spider seems to be the only one having fun playing house.

--Lack of food in those bowls was a really poignant choice to show the pointlessness of this facade.

--Mother Spider asking what Rui wants, and Rui responding that he wants to remember what family is like, sure does since he's about to remember that and be disappointed with his parents being willing to kill him. Oh, and the fact that he killed them instead.

--I really like how Rui has lost his cool, and then Giyuu just.... sweeps through with coolness.

--Also, Giyuu for sure totally has no recollection of Tanjiro at the moment, he's just another Corp member whom Giyuu has come to save, because Giyuu is kind.

--And then we have Shinobu.

--In the manga, she got right up and close and personal to freak Little Miss Spider out, but then she kept a polite distance as they conversed, leaving Sister Spider to feel the safety of open woods behind her in which she can potentially escape.

--And Ufotable was like, "no."

--"We are going to have Shinobu throw around what little weight she has, and she's going to enjoy it."

--"Also, she's a top."

--And no one stopped Ufotable, so they kept going. They gave Shinobu the pleasure of looming over someone (not an opportunity she gets often at her height), they set the scene to eerie music, and they told Hayami-san, "Yes, make her sound sweet. She's trying to be the living incarnation of her sister's memory, after all. No. Make it more twisted. More twisted. MORE TWISTED."

--Having become such a fan of KnY, and especially of Shinobu, I have come to see many layers of Shinobu's character, and looped from "she's angry" to "she's angry because she's sad" to "actually, Shinobu really is a very kind person (and that's why she's angry)" and I sort of forget how twisted she is, and how sad Kanae would be to see her turn into this kind of person. With how mature Shinobu seems compared to many of the other Pillars, I tend to forget that she does not deal with her feelings in a healthy way, nor does she actually act with much genuine kindness in moment-to-moment interactions. It's really a toss-up if she thinks she's doing a good job of imitating what Kanae would do or say any given situation, or if she knows she's being mean and takes pleasure in using empty pleasantries to do so. I'm willing to bet it's a mix, and depends on the situation.

--In any case, Shinobu, you are indeed messed up. Purposefully taking on a personality that's so different from her natural one had to have made the girls who love her feel strange and distanced, and by this time, she is almost certainly very toxic, in a literal sense. Shinobu has already put herself to death with Kanae.

--As she is one of my favorites, I have a lot of feelings about Shinobu's complexity, but I'll never forget my feelings the first time I watched this when I went from "oh, she'll be the cheerful healer character" to "oh, she's cheerful to the point of being callous" to "hmm, okay, she's kind of cute, I'm okay with Zenitsu being easily rescued this way, (I knew it was going to be way too easy though)," to...

--"Oh"

--"She's vicious."

[smokeybrandreviews]

Faerie Tales

I am in full Fate/Grand Order mode right now and it's paying off nicely. I think. It's an odd thing to juggle three mobile titles (FGO, Azur Lane, and Ever Crisis), Baldur's gate 3, Persona 3 Reload, and my millionth run at Mass Effect Legendary. I got too many games on my plate right now. I feel like i should pull back on something but, at the same time, nah? Like, P3R is my sh*t and i am absolutely in love with BG3. I dunno, maybe I'll reassess eventually but my crippling gaming addiction has only a nebulous effect on my choice to continue grinding through the admittedly frustrating and horrifically pay-walled world of the Grand Orders. I do it because i shill hard for Nasu and have for actual decades. Plus, some of the stories are really cool. F*cking Avalon le Fae was peak Type Moon and i cannot wait until the Dragon Slayer money runs out so they have UFOtable animate that sh*t. Interestingly enough, the Faeries are kind of why I'm even writing this update.

Yo, i popped Barghest! Tam Lin Gawain is easily my favorite of the Faerie Knights. I mean, Melusine is but Barghest is definitely right there with her. Of the newer Servants released since i lost my first account, She ranks right up there in the top ten. Actually, i think she was number nine. Albion was number one, but making it into that top ten is a feat in of itself. Dozens of dope ass servants were added in my years long hiatus and the Black Dog made it to the top of the top. It just kind of blows she's a Saber. I'm lousy with Sabers. A good portion of my Five-Stars are Sabers. Like, i already have Mordred, she will NEVER leave my party, and Artoria. They are powerhouses in their own right but i also have Okita and Altera as back up. That's four Five-Star Sabers. Where the f*ck does my Hellhound even fit? Still, i am mad hype to pop her off the Artoria Caster Banner, because i did it with some bullsh*t Summon Tickets! Pretty sure i got Artoria doing that, too, but that's not why I'm happy.

You see, that Caster Banner is part of the Twenty Million Downloads campaign. Also [art of that, are two special summon tickets, one for a Four-Star Craft Essence and the other for a Four-Star Servant. I was going to use that ticket on Barghest, even though i already have a ton of Sabers. That's how much i like the character. Popping her off that banner allows me to choose a different Servant now, one that i actually need. I have one Avenger and it's Hessian Lobo. That guy sucks. I mean, it's fine, but it ain't Demon Nobu. However, there is another Four-Star Avenger who i had on my old account. An Avenger that happens to be a Medusaface, and we all know how much of a sucker i am for Medusa. Not only did i get a Barghest on one of the most improbable ways possible, but i was able to outright choose Gorgon! I was able to secure a much need Avenger option AND the Black Dog I've wanted since Avalon was released! Honestly, I wish I had one more of those free tickets. I'm set on Gorgon, for sure, but Lancer Artoria Alter is an option, too, and she's kind of my favorite Artoria. There's just something about an Alter which really does it for me.

I'm actually really very pleased with this account right now. Sucks I'm still missing a ton of Servants that i want, but progress is being made. I mentioned in my last update i was able to finally acquire Anastasia but, since then, I've also added Ivan the Terrible, Anne Bonny and Marie Reed, Assassin Okita, and Lakshmibai. These are all solid additions, even though they aren't necessarily Servants i would personally choose for myself. I mean, Ivan is, that gigantic motherf*cker is a powerhouse, but considering i don't run at FGO Banners like i do Azur Lane ones, the fact that i have any Five-Stars is kind of a blessing. Obviously, my Mordred is coming along nicely. I've been able to both unlock and max out her second Append Skill, while grinding away at the monumental task of getting that eleventh Bond Level. Right now, that's the current quest. Oh, somehow, i was able to naturally roll a second Mordred so she's got a level two Noble Phantasm now. Just three to go! I'm just chipping away, man. Slowly but surely, I'll have my max Mordred.

[toxic-potions-productions]

Meet the oldest daughter of the Rengoku family, Akari!

Why are kimonos so hard to draaaaaaaaaaaaaaw??????????? TTmTT

I don't want any comments about her being in the same post as Zakiko, I know

Also, cuz of the way her obi is drawn, she actually has a little bit of a belly since I think it was cute

Anyways, meet Akari! She's the oldest & only daughter of the Rengoku household (Kyojuro first, then Akari, & finally Senjuro)

I even found a headcanon singing voice (Japanese) for her already! Which is this lovely song

I wanted to make her look like Ruka to prove she is related to them, so that's why she looks like her

Anyways, she's a funny & sweet young lady who became sort of the mom figure after Ruka's passing. Kyojuro's pretty protective of her, too, & they have a good relationship. She protects her little brother Senjuro alot & from anything & anyone. She used to be a real daddy's girl towards her father Shinjuro when she was little, but they've really grown apart when he fell off the deep end. She surprisingly never took any beatings, though, but that's because she looks too much like Ruka so Shinjuro couldn't bring himself to do that. The only times Akari ever did was to take the blow for one of her brothers, but that's about it

She's pretty emotional & can be a little bit of a crybaby at times, but the rest of the time she's the guardian angel & protector of her brothers. Since she inherited her father's anger, she's had moments where she blew up & lost it. Those times were usually fights she was in, if you must know

She mostly does alot of the housework like cooking & cleaning & stuff like that, & she's not bothered by it. In fact, sometimes she'll just sing to herself when she does. She always cooks dinner & is even teaching Senjuro how to cook, too!

When she & Kyojuro were little, they claimed alot of childhood play spots to play at. One of them was an old shrine & the other was in a forest with a gorgeous waterfall (Based off a C.AI of it ^^)

She's extremely worried about Kyo cuz of him being in the corps, since she doesn't wanna lose him like how they lost their mom. So, whenever he comes back, the first thing she always does is run up to him & give him a big hug. Which is actually one of her favorite parts

Since I imagine anything with an Oc to be an au of sorts, this means this is an au where Kyo obviously survived (Cuz I said so). If she were in canon, then his death would have a HUGE impact on her. Her eyes would be dull, she would be quieter than normal, & she would've lost her smile. She would lash out at her father & blame him for his death like how she blamed him for Ruka's death & would become EXTREMELY protective of Senjuro. But, since it's an au where Kyojuro survives, that won't be happening anytime soon. Just know that if she were in the anime, that would definitely affect her. For now, she's just living life with her big brother

Because of growing up in a house with only boys, she's become very tomboy-ish & rough. But, she didn't just inherit her father's anger, since she also inherited her mother's wisdom & kind heart. She believes in an afterlife & ghosts & stuff like that, so she always has a feeling Ruka is still watching over her & the boys. It's something she lives by even to this day

Also, here's that little doodle:

Baby's first umai (Come on, you know I had to)

Anyways, the poll is still going on, so get voting if you haven't already! Until the next KNY character's debut, enjoy this little fireball! ❤️‍🔥

---------------------------------------

Akari Rengoku by: Me

Demon slayer by: Ufotable

Do not steal, trace or copy.

[animehouse-moe]

Fate Japanese Art Book Haul

So, a big old order of Fate material. But still, even with this much being added to my collection I've scratched the surface of Fate/Type-Moon material. This (alongside my other Heaven's Feel stuff) represents the majority of anime art book works, but still I'd say I'm only getting to about 50, maybe 60, percent of the anime art books currently. So yeah, still loads to go on all fronts, but good progress! Anyways, let me dive into the art books from top to bottom in the above image.

Fate/Prototype Animation Material

This one is really interesting to me. The vast majority of the art book is just the storyboards for a single 10 minute OVA. The amount of projected and potential work in this art book comfortably outweighs the information we get in the OVA, making it a super cool look into the original concepts that Nasu had for the Stay Night route.

Of course, the book has more than just storyboards to it, as it starts off with character and prop design pages in full color. Super cool to see so I sort of wish they included more extraneous production aspects alongside it, but I won't really complain given how much material there already is, and the fact that I got it for dirt cheap (a little over 5CAD at auction).

Fate/Zero Openings and Endings Key Animations

Another sorta extra purchase, but for how much it was (10.50CAD and it's Hardcover), I wasn't going to pass it up in the moment. Have to fill out that roster somehow, right? Anyways, it's a relatively small art book, just a bit bigger in trim than the Prototype one, but it's really cool to have the openings and endings in keyframe format. Lots of pretty stuff in there.

There is a proper item set for this though. It originally comes in a box with a pair of extra material books including storyboards for the openings and endings. The whole set itself is a bit of a challenge to find at times, but the individual items are very abundant, so I'll probably be picking them up in the next haul or two if I can find them for cheap. Or maybe I'll double dip and get the box if I can, it does seem pretty cool (also comes with bonus full sheets from the OPs/EDs).

Image from this art book blog, which you should definitely check out

Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works First Season Key Animations

This was really cool. I'm a big cheapskate (despite how much I buy), so I was incredibly happy to have won the auction for this pair of books at only around 20CAD each. What's not cool, but rather confusing, is how different the second season key animations set is. It's a colored and metallic dust jacket. Very weird, right? Anyways, it's super cool fate stuff and the key animation is as incredible as you might expect.

Fate/Stay Night Heaven's Feel AD Correction Collection Volumes 1 & 2

I feel like a fraud, only having things for Heaven's Feel 1&2, but Spring Song stuff is so expensive. I could get the first two storyboard collections for both Heaven's Feel and Unlimited Blade Works for less than I can typically find the Spring Songs Key Animations for. It's so rough. Anyways, these are a collection of the correction done by the Art Director for Heaven's Feel. You could say it already overlaps with the Keyframe Collections of their namesakes, but I think it's interesting to see the changes and overall process of the work.

Fate/Zero Key Animations Collection

I really appreciate that Zero kept the dust jackets consistent for itself. UBW Season 2 really is just the odd one out of Ufotable's Fate collection. Regardless, it's pretty much the same story as the UBW keyframe collections, plenty of cool and very pretty keyframe art that provides a window into the production and work of Ufotable on the series.

Fate/Grand Order Trailer's Trail Volume 1

Now hear me out, I don't play FGO, but I do enjoy the quality of the trailers, and when an A4 book comprised of over 400 pages of key animation is 10CAD it's hard to look the other way. In general though, it's pretty cool, and well organized into chapters so you don't get pieces mixed up with each other. Definitely worth it for any fans of the game, or just like some really well animated Fate stuff.

Ufotable 15th Anniversary Exhibition Pictorial Record

This was a pretty cool pickup. Special art stuff for studios as a whole isn't something that greatly interests me, but Ufotable is definitely a studio I'd be interested in having a history of, even if I'm not a fan of everything they work on. Overall it's a very pretty and well constructed hardcover art book, with a nice helping of works from all across their years (which they did an excellent job of selecting the best moments from).

And that about does it with this haul. As you can tell, there's a lot here, but also a great deal that I'm still missing. The more you come to understand and have, the deeper the abyss seems to grow. At the end of the day though, it's incredible fun and something I've grown to be incredibly passionate about. There's so much history to all of these art books, so many memories and so much passion behind it all. Having a record of all of my favorite series and titles and animators just feels right. I'm able to be in control of what I remember of them and it's a really great feeling.

[smokeybrand]

Faerie Tales

I am in full Fate/Grand Order mode right now and it's paying off nicely. I think. It's an odd thing to juggle three mobile titles (FGO, Azur Lane, and Ever Crisis), Baldur's gate 3, Persona 3 Reload, and my millionth run at Mass Effect Legendary. I got too many games on my plate right now. I feel like i should pull back on something but, at the same time, nah? Like, P3R is my sh*t and i am absolutely in love with BG3. I dunno, maybe I'll reassess eventually but my crippling gaming addiction has only a nebulous effect on my choice to continue grinding through the admittedly frustrating and horrifically pay-walled world of the Grand Orders. I do it because i shill hard for Nasu and have for actual decades. Plus, some of the stories are really cool. F*cking Avalon le Fae was peak Type Moon and i cannot wait until the Dragon Slayer money runs out so they have UFOtable animate that sh*t. Interestingly enough, the Faeries are kind of why I'm even writing this update.

Yo, i popped Barghest! Tam Lin Gawain is easily my favorite of the Faerie Knights. I mean, Melusine is but Barghest is definitely right there with her. Of the newer Servants released since i lost my first account, She ranks right up there in the top ten. Actually, i think she was number nine. Albion was number one, but making it into that top ten is a feat in of itself. Dozens of dope ass servants were added in my years long hiatus and the Black Dog made it to the top of the top. It just kind of blows she's a Saber. I'm lousy with Sabers. A good portion of my Five-Stars are Sabers. Like, i already have Mordred, she will NEVER leave my party, and Artoria. They are powerhouses in their own right but i also have Okita and Altera as back up. That's four Five-Star Sabers. Where the f*ck does my Hellhound even fit? Still, i am mad hype to pop her off the Artoria Caster Banner, because i did it with some bullsh*t Summon Tickets! Pretty sure i got Artoria doing that, too, but that's not why I'm happy.

You see, that Caster Banner is part of the Twenty Million Downloads campaign. Also [art of that, are two special summon tickets, one for a Four-Star Craft Essence and the other for a Four-Star Servant. I was going to use that ticket on Barghest, even though i already have a ton of Sabers. That's how much i like the character. Popping her off that banner allows me to choose a different Servant now, one that i actually need. I have one Avenger and it's Hessian Lobo. That guy sucks. I mean, it's fine, but it ain't Demon Nobu. However, there is another Four-Star Avenger who i had on my old account. An Avenger that happens to be a Medusaface, and we all know how much of a sucker i am for Medusa. Not only did i get a Barghest on one of the most improbable ways possible, but i was able to outright choose Gorgon! I was able to secure a much need Avenger option AND the Black Dog I've wanted since Avalon was released! Honestly, I wish I had one more of those free tickets. I'm set on Gorgon, for sure, but Lancer Artoria Alter is an option, too, and she's kind of my favorite Artoria. There's just something about an Alter which really does it for me.

I'm actually really very pleased with this account right now. Sucks I'm still missing a ton of Servants that i want, but progress is being made. I mentioned in my last update i was able to finally acquire Anastasia but, since then, I've also added Ivan the Terrible, Anne Bonny and Marie Reed, Assassin Okita, and Lakshmibai. These are all solid additions, even though they aren't necessarily Servants i would personally choose for myself. I mean, Ivan is, that gigantic motherf*cker is a powerhouse, but considering i don't run at FGO Banners like i do Azur Lane ones, the fact that i have any Five-Stars is kind of a blessing. Obviously, my Mordred is coming along nicely. I've been able to both unlock and max out her second Append Skill, while grinding away at the monumental task of getting that eleventh Bond Level. Right now, that's the current quest. Oh, somehow, i was able to naturally roll a second Mordred so she's got a level two Noble Phantasm now. Just three to go! I'm just chipping away, man. Slowly but surely, I'll have my max Mordred.

[hexyourheartablaze]

would love to hear how u feel about yoriichi 👀 thirst or otherwise

Oh if it's Yoriichi you will get thirst. I can't avoid Yoriichi thirst, sorry not sorry, you've opened a whole can of worms as I am in love with this sunny man. I'm totally not working on a cosplay for him right now haha I-I'll start with sfw and put the thirsty under the cut.

Yoriichi is actually one of my favorite characters in KNY but he's very underrated and I'm hoping that all changes when he shows up in the anime. Out of all of the major characters besides Tanjiro, Yoriichi is one of the most selfless characters and one of the saddest stories imo. I also enjoy that he's not a typical social butterfly like most good guys are, he's quiet and doesn't really want to be the hero of the story. He just wanted others to live a happy life, the same happy life that was stolen from him. He knew that it wouldn't be possible for others to live peacefully if demons continued to existed though. I have a soft spot for heroes that rise to the call but didn't particularly want to be chosen/special.

Favorite panel of him (sorry I love him I love him I love him)

NSFW/NSFT Below the cut. Minors please DNI 🔞

Yoriichi utilizes sex for bonding with someone, not for getting off alone. He can go for a long time without sex/masturbating so when he does have sex he's probably going to go for a couple of rounds. No such thing as a quickie with him. Expect to be booked for the entire day and night (it he's not out slaying). If his partner(s) are stressed out he'll definitely initiate cuddles that turns into sex. I don't see him flat out asking for sex, I see him using mostly body language with him asking in a whispered voice "Is this okay to do?" sprinkled in here and there. Man's erection rises with the sun, expect morning wood often.

My man's a sub all the way. I will shout this from my roof top. Also the world's strongest samurai being a submissive person in bed?? Gets me sweating, gets me shaking... that's the good shit.

I can't see Yoriichi being a dominant person, I think he would try if you asked him but he wouldn't be great at it. He also knows he wouldn't be great at it. This ray of sunlight bottoms even when he tops, I would put money on it. Very soft... His partner(s) would have to be the ones to bring ideas to the table. Yoriichi doesn't have much knowledge on kink, but when he does bring up something it's at a whisper and you'll be floored that it even came out of his mouth. Wants to be tied up or held down but don't blindfold him, he likes to see everything going on. Absolutely loves to be teased and I would bet he could get off on just watching his partner(s) pleasure themselves alone. 100% tears up during sex, especially when he's about to cum. Doesn't have a breeding kink in my opinion? I think pregnancy would be a happy outcome but it's not his main goal during sex. He's not loud most of the time but I... listen, I just know in my heart that he has pornographic moans/whimpers. I just know it. It has to be true... Ufotable has a big job to do when picking the VA for him...

Aftercare is a requirement, it doesn't matter if the sex was rough or not. Yoriichi just wants to be so close and know you're safe... He wants to feel and hear every breath you/his partner(s) take...

I just... I want to lay down for a bit...

[punderfulowl]

TOP 10 ANIME (that I've seen) IN 2021)

Just like the title suggests, this is a list of the anime I've seen during 2021 and are not necessarily ones that came out that year. My hope in doing lists like these is to provide recommendations for any anime of any year. Here we go!

(Holy crap, my is sort of on time this year!)

Honorable Mentions: K-On!!, Beastars S2

10. When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace (2014)

I could be simplistic and just say that this is a harem show where the main protag is a chuunibyo...but that's exactly what it is. Unfortunately, this show falls to the bottom of the list because it's one of those shows that's more of a commercial for the original source material and it ends before the actual plot starts without a second season. Why recommend it? Well, I will give points for the protag for not being a complete idiot, the animation/character designs are pleasant, and the concept of having someone make believe they have powers then suddenly having them is pretty humorous. Plus, there's a good chance that you have seen a clip from this show without realizing it. This show is the home this scene.

9. Seitokai Yakuindomo S1 (2010)

This show only has one joke. That joke being: what if high school girls were openly perverted? And it's a joke that lands every time. I'll admit it, I enjoyed myself. It's kind of a breath of fresh air having a whole cast of female characters be openly expressive with things of a sexual nature. Sure, there have been harems where, typically, an older woman is more direct with her approach, but for high school girls to have no shame in exploring these kind of things? If it weren't mostly played for laughs, I'd call it a game changer. Even so, I can't wait to start season two this year.

8. Bubuki Buranki (2016)

I can't even be sure if I like the show this much, but I'm pretty sure Bubuki Buranki is this high up mostly on style points. I'll bring up the elephant in the room: this is a 3D anime (but a 3D anime done well). Character models move around just fine for casual scenes, but is turned up a few notches for the battle choreography! As for story, the set up is paced just fine, but then slams on the gas pedal and never lets up. The show reminded me of the early years of RWBY where the fight scenes were the main draw. If all style shows appeal to you, I'd recommend this one. It even has two seasons!

7. Joshiraku (2012)

Based off a gag comic, Joshiraku is a series about cute girls performing in a style of a one person theatre known as Rakugo. While I did have fun watching Joshiraku, I'll be honest and say that it's hard for me to suggest it. There's nothing overly wrong with it, the color palette is very pleasing and the humor goes over well. The best way I can put this is to paraphrase a friend of mine, "It's very Japanese." Again, there's nothing wrong with that, but if you are relatively new to the anime scene, this probably won't appeal to you. If you want to give it a shot anyway, I'd say go for it. If you're a seasoned weeb that hasn't seen this yet, definitely seek it out!

6. Higehiro (2021)

Higehiro is about a young man in his 20s who takes in a runaway high school and helps her get her on the right path and deals with her past. I wish I could bring myself to rank this higher. At the heart of it, the series is really touching and shows that there are still people, albeit rare, that can/will help you out of the goodness of their heart. On the other hand, this show had a habit of picking ill-timed camera angles and framing for certain moments that felt icky. If you're able to ignore those moments and focus on the wholesome parts, give it a watch. If you can't settle for anything less than 100% wholesome, I completely understand.

5. Demon Slayer (2019)

When it comes to my approach of popular shows, I usually wait until most of the hype dies down before I watch them. With that said, being able to watch with clear eyes unaffected by hype:

it's fine. Just fine.

Yes, Ufotable knocks it out of the park once again with its animation. Yes, most of the characters are fun and likable. And yet, I enjoyed just fine. I honestly don't know what it is, but I just wasn't blown away. Still looking forward to the next arc, though.

4. O Maidens in Your Savage Season (2019)

Watching a show about high school girls going through their own sexual awakening as a dude, gotta say, I've learned a lot. Not saying I'm an expert, but definitely have a better understanding now than I did beforehand. To further establish my lack of expertise, I'll just give it a high recommendation before I say anything that shows my ignorance.

3. Records of Grancrest War (2018)

This was the show that got me mad. Not at the show itself, but rather at the several people in the anime community who didn't watch this. I'm not one who's all in on waifu culture, but all y'all slept on this anime! Yes, the waifu game is strong here, but it also has decent animation, large-scale battles, political drama, and allegiances that change! Please check this out. Being three years late is better than never!

2. Den-noh Coil (2007)

This was an anime that had been stuck on my "Want to Watch" list for YEARS, but finally gave it a watch after I found the whole show on Blu-ray for a good deal! Den-noh Coil takes place in an alternate world where people wear glasses that not only connects to the internet, but allows interactive augmented reality. However, this technology isn't perfect, in fact, it's actually kind of sketchy. It's a sci-fi and supernatural story being led by a group of young girls, which is a combination I don't see often. It's a fun series that surprised me quite a bit and I hope it can surprise you, too!

1. HoriMiya (2021)

SCREW. BECOMING. A. COUPLE. AT. THE. END.

I want more romance shows that establishes a couple in the first few episodes and shows their growth throughout! Don't get me wrong, I understand the "Will they/won't they" model because it's a tried and true method to tease the audience to come back for more. But when shows like HoriMiya write relationships, it's so much more satisfying. Ahem, sorry. Yes, for all the reasons I just said as well as comedy with great timing, this was my favorite anime I saw in 2021.

[wynsnerdyrambles]

KNY Season 2 News Thoughts

OK, now that I've spent the whole day squealing about this news, I might actually be able to coherently give my thoughts on it. OK, let's go chronologically in series timeline:

Mugen Train TV Anime Edition:

I actually did not see this coming. Of course I'd heard the rumors that the beginning of Season 2 would be 'Mugen Train', but I brushed those rumors aside with the logic of: "Well, the movie didn't cover the entire arc, we still have some aftermath to go over, so that's probably what this is talking about." Well, I was completely wrong. Not only are we getting what I'm affectionately dubbing "Mugen Train Extended Edition", we also get an entirely anime original episode starring Kyojuro in the days leading up to the fateful mission aboard the Mugen Train. Words cannot convey how excited I am for this re-adaptation.

I've seen some press complain that it's simply milking the Mugen Train cash cow for all it's worth. While I do feel that, in regards to things like this, the financial side of things must be taken into account when determining causes of decisions; I feel there is more to this. It's a television re-adaptation of the singular most successful film in the entire history of the Japanese box office. Much like the Television specials that have been broadcast in the past, I feel that this is more a publicity move than a financial one. Instead of compiling many episodes into a few specials to air over the course of a couple of months, we instead are treated to an extended cut of the film split up into seven episodes, including a special episode starring the film's most popular character: Rengoku-san! That way, with each new episode airing weekly, hype and publicity builds to a climax for the premiere of the Entertainment District Arc. (We also get 2 new LiSA songs serving as a full OP and ED for the mini-cour, which my KNY playlist will gladly accept). Only time will tell which version of the arc will be my preferred version for viewing, but I am ready for this arc to hurt me again- in a serialized weekly format (maybe with Taisho secrets pls).

Entertainment District Arc:

So the Entertainment District Arc will start airing early December, which to be fair, is not unexpected for me. Aniplex and Ufotable had basically nothing final to show us regarding the arc back at the Aniplex Online Fest in July, so it was always iffy in my mind that we would actually get this arc in October like many people thought. A few of my main takeaways from the trailer will follow. (Manga Spoilers after the break)

I am excited by the prospect of an hour long premiere, although it makes me wonder whether the Mugen Train re-adaptation will include the aftermath scenes with Tanjiro's visit to House Rengoku. It seems odd to me to have an hour long premiere if we're just gonna jump right into the heat of this arc, especially if you consider the fact that there are plenty more episodes in this season to follow.

Daki's voice sounds perfect! Miyuki Sawashiro definitely captured the 'sultry and intimidating' air that Daki puts on when she's confident, but I wonder how she'll fare during Daki's tantrum, or during the flashbacks to Ume. I'm sure she'll do great, though it will be interesting to see the direction they take.

On a related note, I'm quite happy they seem to be keeping Gyutaro under wraps. Hopefully we can keep it that way until December! (On a vaguely Upper Moon 6 related tangent, I'm so hyped for Doma reveal during the flashbacks, purely for the eyes, and to finally get some semblance of a canon hair color for the guy).

I was initially a little sad to hear that LiSA would not be lending her vocal talents to the OP and ED for this arc, since the vocal consistency between seasons 1 and the movie was very appealing to me; but having heard that tiny snippet of it during the promotional reel, I think it fits. It's not at all what I envisioned though. I had initially envisioned a LiSA song, that was kind of tight, focusing on the suspenseful atmosphere of the arc, and the mystery. But wow, what we got is so flamboyant, and sure to be an earworm (it's already stuck in my head). I think it works, despite having taken the opposite vibe of what I expected, and Aimer seems to be an excellent choice for this song (I've loved pretty much every song of hers' I've heard).

The shots that we were treated to in this reel seemed up to par with what I've come to expect from this adaptation of KNY, and served a really good purpose as a trailer of things to come. It showed things and characters people should keep an eye on (I'm looking at you, shot of angry Nezuko).

While we've still been shown very little footage from the arc, I'm quite excited by it, as much like Mugen Train, it's a favorite of mine, and I'm ready to see what flashy magic tricks Ufotable has in store for us with this arc. I'm just hoping and praying that Daki VS. Nezuko gets the episode 19 treatment.

Well yeah, that's the end of my hopefully coherent ramblings about this news. This has maybe been the biggest day in this fandom since I joined a little over a year ago, and I'm glad I get to be a part of this with all of you. Here's to season 2!

[veiledsilver]

top five fictional boys, go

I'M GLAD YOU ASKED. These are the kinds of asks I was hoping for, everyone. The scale is from 1 ("look at my good taste") to 5 ("haha don't judge me")

Boys

1. Yoriichi Tsugikuni. Hands down, no contest, forgive me for who I'll become when this fine swordsman gets animated by Ufotable, I could go on! He's gentle and kind but also the way he gets when he's super focused is SO hot omg... his twin brother had a scene where his kimono got ripped to shreds, revealing his chiseled abs, and the fact that it never happened to Yoriichi is a crime ugh

2. Todoroki Shouto deserves a place on this list for being my first anime crush. In middle school I motivated myself to do difficult homework by pretending I was on a study date with him. I got into reader inserts because of this guy. Also the contrast between crimson and white, fire and ice, and turquoise and silver is just gorgeous omg. I love him

3. I did not like him in the first seasons, but when Zuko started getting proper hair (and it was fluffy hair!) I started paying attention haHA. His redemption arc was brilliant and carefully woven together, and I like how there were subtle hints of him being redeemable even when he was an antagonist. Then I found a fantastic reader insert series and now we're here

4. Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd made me blow all my allowance money on fe3h despite not being very good at it. I also lost the game card very early on 💔 so I never got past the bandit's canyon. However. I love how he was described as having the facade of a charming prince but having darkness lurking beneath the surface... get you a man who can do both!

5. ...Ace Trappola from Twisted Wonderland. If I had a nickel for each time I crushed on a ginger boy with zero self preservation, I'd have two nickels. But now I know my dream relationship dynamic and it's me, sandwiched between a elegant yet brooding dark-haired guy and a more outgoing, teasing one with lighter hair. Is that weird? 😂

Girls

1. Lan Fan was my bisexual awakening (I won't watch the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime because she isn't in it). She's so cute but also kickass! Ling would not have survived without her! I like how we both wear black comfy clothes 99.9% of the time! Can I get a bodyguard au where she vows to protect my life and I tenderly h*ld her h*nd

2. Nobara Kugisaki!! Jujutsu Kaisen has so many pretty girls and they revolve around in my head at all times. Today it's Nobara's turn! I love her rose aesthetic and how she's so confident in herself! I'm sure she'd prefer a girl with a spine, unlike me, but I'd love to shop my way through the streets of Tokyo with her! We can get ice cream at a cafe afterwards ♡

3. Emerald Sustrai from RWBY. I like everything about her- her mint green hair, her weapons, her illusion powers, ma'am please stop chasing after Cinder when she doesn't even like you, because I'll definitely return your feelings! I stopped watching the show but I heard Emerald gets major focus in the newest volume, so I just might come back 👀

4. A very very very minor character. I dropped Bleach after the Save Rukia arc to focus on studies, but I'd pick it up again just to see Cyan Sung-Sun have actual speaking lines. She's so mysterious and elegant, and she has such a pretty kimono outfit in the mobile game! Oh to be a shinigami dueling her in a fight dripping with tension,,

5. I'm so sorry but when I read the manga I... also thirsted hard... over Daki. I know she eats people and there's the whole thing with her being turned at thirteen (😬). But... maybe in the author's modern au where she's a high schooler... I can dodge her brother long enough to risk giving her my number. She'll think I was ballsy at best lmaooo

I have more but these are the ten I thought of from the top of my head 😂 but they'll never replace you in my heart, Rin!

[simon-newman]

Newman’s Anime Reviews - Kimetsu no Yaiba

Hello Everyone and welcome to my first anime review in… Nearly 4 years?

*Cough*

Yeah - I know - I am still supposed to write the Seven Witches review… I have no excuses. I will get to it. SOMEDAY!

But today I’m going to talk about another anime. The first title from my 2021 anime challenge.

Actually this is the only anime from the challenge list that I’ve picked myself because I’ve been intending to watch it for a while now.

I’m talking about

Kimetsu no Yaiba

Now - I didn’t really know what I’m getting myself into. I’m not sure if this counts as an achievement but I didn’t know shit about this title outside of:

Some people I know highly recommended it to me,

Nezuko is the best girl (and a demon)

There’s some dude wearing boar’s head as a mask,

Swords

Apparently it’s about killing demons

This is everything. EVERYTHING I knew when I started watching.

First things first however - let's start with the premise.

We meet our protagonist - Kamaboko Gonpachiro as he’s living his harsh but happy life with his large family. Monjiro takes on the responsibility of caring for his mother and younger siblings as the oldest male in the family after his father’s death before the start of the plot.

We join our protagonist as he goes down the mountain to sell charcoal at the nearby village and promises to come back with a lot of goods and food for the New Year’s.

Right off the bat we’re presented with beautiful scenes of  a loving family life our protagonist enjoys and I’m not going to make any anime veteran jokes about it.

Long story short - Tontaro’s trip lasts longer than he expected and he ends up staying the night at the village. It is then that we learn about demons that prowl the night of Kimetsu no Yaiba world. Evil creatures of darkness that feed on the flesh of humans. We also learn about demon hunters who protect people from those demons.

Gengoro resumes his trip back early in the morning but thanks to his keen sense of smell soon realizes that something is wrong. Very wrong. He rushes forward to get back as soon as possible but it is already too late.

There was a demon attack during the night and his family got killed with the sole exception of his sister Nezuko who was turned into a demon.

Surprising a demon hunter who appears shortly after Nezuko manages to regain her senses and has strong enough will to resist attacking humans. Thus begins Kanjiro’s journey - to become a demon slayer himself, avenge his family, protect others from what happened to him and find a way to turn his sister back into a regular human.

Sounds easy, right?

  I’ll be honest here that while the beginning was executed beautifully I must admit that I wasn’t really feeling this anime right away.

It seemed like your standard shounen anime from the start. Greatly executed despite being very cliche but still not outstanding.

Tragedy to set our protagonists on their way followed by the training arc and Jangoro finally becoming a demon slayer while Nezuko changes in her own way to be able to live without consuming humans - surprising experienced demon slayers.

It is only after that that the real story begins and we follow Tanjiro as he starts his mission as a true demon slayer himself.

Truly basics of the basics if I were to be honest. At that point I couldn’t really complain about anything in this show but at the same time nothing really stood out. As mentioned - the story was cliche. The fights so far were so-so. Animation was good but at the same time I knew that Ufotable isn’t showing it’s best yet. Somehow however it all just worked - together with music which really played into my tastes - yes - I really enjoy the music in this show (make it the one thing i really liked at that point).

But then everything changed with the Asakusa Arc.

Oh no! It’s Michael Jackson! RUN!

  The introduction of the Big Bad Muzan, his Twelve Demon Moons and the possible way of turning Nezuko back into human set our vague goals in place and Kentaro finally had a clear mission to accomplish.

What’s more - from this point on the fights become far more entertaining as well.

I did get the impression that this progress might be done too rapidly but thinking back it’s a good thing actually. We got too used to 150 episodes of nothing important happening and now any sort of early development seems rapid.

Before you say that I contradict my statements from earlier reviews hear me out: While we do meet major antagonists early on we don’t really get much from it outside of direction in the story. The Big Bad doesn’t make a move himself and is not even fought directly but becomes aware of Tangoro’s existence and wants him gone.

This is a good development to happen early in the story to keep the stakes high while not resolving anything just yet.

But this is not the end of improvements.

In the following story arc (Tsuzumi Mansion Arc) Santarou meets with two fellow demon slayer newbies - Zenitsu and Insouke who add some team dynamics to our already decent story and IMO further improves the fights we get to see.

As for the new team members… Zenitsu starts out pretty annoying at first with his extremely cowardly demeanor while Inosuke is the polar opposite with a fearless, rash personality.

I might be overthinking it but I see Inosuke as a parody - of sorts - for a character I personally dislike - Kirito from SAO. Both are dual-wielding master swordsmen with a feminine face (and for added bonus they’re both voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka) but while Kirito’s strong because he’s the protag (Gary Stu) Inosuke is insanely ripped from his harsh life in the wilderness and… Well… Pretty much insane.

Pretty amazing, aren’t I? Pretty amazing, aren’t I?

  This change of pace - going from just Gentaro and Nezuko to a 4 man team with Zenitsu and Inosuke - marks the difference between the first and second half of this anime (and i forgot to mention it’s a whole 26 episodes show - not the 12 episodes short we got used to in recent years).

While the first half was kinda decent but not outstanding the second half is really, really entertaining to watch. Both the characters get a lot more chances at interaction and development and the action steps up from what we’ve seen before.

In short - two story arcs I’ve mentioned above supplemented what was lacking before. Things I wasn’t even clearly aware of initially.

Without a clear mission for Tenpachirou to accomplish we’d just descend into a monster-of-the-week formula and without more team members we’d be left with no means to explore our protagonists’ character in full.

What’s of Ponjirou extreme kindness if we don’t get to see him affect people with it outside of one-time-only interactions and his good relationship with his sister?

Yes - you can show it time and time again but from this point on it comes out more naturally and as I’ve mentioned already - we get to see it affect people in the long run - something I hope we’ll see further in the story.

Left to right: Boss Honey Badger, Sleeping Badass, Best Girl and Cinnamon Roll.

  Which brings me to this sad point…

Despite being a full 26 episodes show it still feels more like an introduction. We barely get to the right formula in the midpoint and conclude the fight against the first real enemy shortly before the anime is over. Souchirou’s journey has only just begun.

I’ve really wanted to write this review after watching the following Kimetsu no Yaiba Movie: Mugen Ressha-hen. That’s for multiple reasons.

At this point I know that this story arc is going to further up the stakes with the Upper Ranks of the Demon Moons getting into action but at the same time I’m really excited to see if Ufotable is going to show us what they’re capable of in terms of animation.

Because I think this anime deserves it.

Sadly - while the movie was out already I didn’t manage to watch it before writing this review.

Kamado Tanjirou vs Lower Moon One - Enmu.

  To sum it up - It was an interesting experience to see the anime develop in front of me - from a decent cliche show that didn’t make any major mistakes and played all the tropes just right into a really good and entertaining show in it’s own right.

My final assessment of the show is also the result of a certain niche this anime fits into. Namely the enjoyable sword fight scenes.

I’m definitely going to watch the movie when I’m able to and dive right into the following seasons of anime if they are made.

At this point something with this anime resonates with me - this show feels “just right” for some reason.

There’s also an added benefit of it not being dragged into infinity. From what I’ve heard the manga is already finished and we could get a definite end line before the story gets watered down into tasteless money grab.

Something to be appreciated when it comes to shounen manga…

Well. It is time to wrap up this review as well.

With all the above being said my final verdict is...

  Final Score: 8/10  +Newman’s Mark of Quality

Status: Completed

Sentence: Butterfly Mansion rehabilitation training (I bet I’d enjoy it after a while).

 Next: Code Geass

[darksaiyangoku]

DarkSaiyan and OddNub’s YuGiOh Reboot

Back in February, my buddy @oddnub and I were talking about how we would reboot the YuGiOh anime, and we decided to follow in the footsteps of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and pitch a more faithful adaptation of the YuGiOh manga:

Now don’t get me wrong, the anime back in the 2000’s definitely had a big impact and, despite my hate for 4Kids, I do have fond memories of it. However, it’s such a shame that a lot of fans have overlooked such a great manga. What makes YuGiOh stand out from other Shonen titles is the fact that despite not being very action heavy, it’s still an engaging read and a battle of brains can be just as compelling as a battle with fists, maybe even more so.

Anime Studios

Some of you are probably wondering what would this new adaptation might look like and I have three main studios in mind for this:

A-1 Pictures

A-1 Pictures are my go to studio for this project. They have a knack for making good fantasy anime, such as Fairy Tail and Seven Deadly Sins, and using animators from those teams can really bring the battles to life in new and epic ways!

Not only that, but A-1 are also the studio responsible for producing Your Lie in April, Anthem of the Heart and the legendary Anohana. All of these are very emotional and hard-hitting stories and can carry over to the heavier moments adapted from the original manga, showing the audiences that this is going to be much different than what they’re used to.

OLM. Inc

While it would be great to have a more serious look at the story, let’s be honest with ourselves; there’s gonna be a huge demand for new merchandise. Known for also producing the Pokemon anime, OLM Inc seem like the perfect studio and can really capture a nostalgic “Saturday Morning Cartoon” vibe the original had.

Madhouse

Ah, Madhouse. One of the most popular studios among anime fans today. They would be a great studio to handle the YuGiOh reboot. Why? Simple.... horror. Madhouse is no stranger to horror anime, mainly thanks to their sleeper hit of 2014; Parasyte. Not only that, but they’ve also had some solid action series too such as 2011’s Hunter x Hunter and One-Punch Man. If they can combine that horror and hard hitting action, we could be in for a really good time!

Seasons

Keeping things simple, New YuGiOh would be divided into 7 seasons, each one being 24-25 episodes. The main story arcs are as follows:

School/Death-T Arc

School/Monster World Arc

Duelist Kingdom Arc

Battle City Arc

Tournament Finals Arc

King’s Memories

Ceremonial Battle Arc

Cast

Okay, I know that this is gonna sound controversial, but I wouldn’t have Dan Green or Eric Stuart return as either Yugi or Kaiba respectively. Before any of you jump at me, I have a reason. Mainly because I want this reboot to go in a new direction, which is being a more faithful adaptation of the original manga. As such, I don’t want any ties to 4kids being in this show. I want this to be fresh and exciting not just for newcomers but for older fans too.

Dan and Eric are the iconic voice actors for Yugi and Kaiba, I know that. But they shouldn’t be the only ones to voice the characters. Batman has had multiple voices, I think Yugi and Kaiba can have them too.

Anyway, me and Odd had a pretty cool idea where characters with a Yami form would have their voices be completely different, emphasising that there are two separate people inhabiting one body. The voice actors I had in mind are as follows:

Yugi Mutou/Yami Yugi- Colleen Clinkbeard/Bryce Papenbrook

Anzu Mazaki- Cherami Leigh

Jonouchi “Joey” Katsuya- Benjamin Diskin

Hiroto Honda- Kyle McCarley

Sugoroku Mutou- David Lodge

Setō Kaiba- Johnny Yong Bosch

Mokuba Kaiba- Alexis Tipton

Ryuji Otogi- Todd Haberkorn

Mai Kujaku- Erica Lindbeck

Dinosaur Ryuzaki- Newton Pittman

Insector Haga- Robbie Daymond

Bandit Keith Howard- Kyle Hebert

Para Meikyu- Lex Lang

Dox Meikyu- Talesin Jaffe

Maximilion J. Pegasus- Kaiji Tang

Ryo Bakura/Yami Bakura- Josh Keaton/Clancy Brown

Marik Ishtar/Yami Marik- Matthew Mercer/Mark Hamill

Shadi- Todd Haberkorn

Thief King Bakura/Zorc- Ray Chase

Music

There’s only one choice; Yuki Kajiura. I mean, she composed the music for Ufotable’s Fate!!!! What more could you ask for?

And that’s the pitch for our potential YuGiOh reboot. Even though it’s highly unlikely that this would all happen, it was still a fun thought to have. One day, I’m sure we’ll see another YuGiOh series that does adapt the manga more faithfully. Until then, we still have the manga with us right now. Seriously if you haven’t read it yet, do it!

Special thanks to @oddnub for helping me with this. Go check him out, he does some fun, cute artwork as well as some good stories. 👍

[elizabethbathoryofficial]

Thoughts on Fate/Extra: Last Encore - Part 2

Hi, I’m elizabethbathoryofficial. We’ve laughed a lot today here on tumblr.com, but there’s one topic that’s never funny: Fate/Extra Last Encore.

For those of you who know me, you know I care about the Fate/Extra series more than it’s healthy. And a couple of weeks ago I made a post talking about how confusing I found its anime “adaptation”, F/E:LE. On that post I got some responses that I haven’t had time to acknowledge, and I’ve also had more time to think since then, so here are my final thoughts on FELE, and then I’ll shut up about this topic.

 In the original post I was kerfuffled more than anything. My thesis for the post was mainly that since FELE was the Fate/Extra adaptation, it had to be treated as a replacement rather than an extension of the story, and that angered and confused me. But if what @derritter​ says it’s true, then it makes SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much more sense. FELE is, at its core, a “What if the protagonist lost in Extra” story. It makes no sense whatsoever to release that as a standalone thing, but if it had been released simultaneously with the game’s remake, then count me in!! That definitely sounds like a plan to revive the series and introduce it to a new audience, as well as bringing back  fans of the original with brand new content.

 This is all just a theory until proven otherwise, but I imagine at some point they decided that they weren’t happy with how the remake was going and decided to delay it, but because of contracts with Netflix and stuff, they had to release the anime within the timeframe anyway. And now we’re in this situation.

@pk-smokey also has a perspective I hadn’t considered, and that I like a lot. When all is said and done, a proper Fate/Extra anime adaptation would inevitably cut stuff out. The story’s pretty long, so if it was confined to 12 episodes, either the introduction or battles themselves would be summarized a little too much, perhaps even rushed through. And I think that would do more irreparable damage to the franchise than an anime that does its own thing.

There’s still something that upsets me though, and it’s explained pretty well by @press-red-to-make-it-dead​

This. The fact that it accidentally made it all the more difficult for people to get into this series. And it’s a pretty fantastic series, but the game’s a psp-exclusive whose gameplay is extremely unfriendly, and the one thing that’s easier to get into, the anime, will make absolutely no sense unless you’ve already played Extra from start to finish. Not even, like, being aware of its setting and what it’s about, but to have finished it in its entirety. And that.... bums me out :( Fate/Extra is fun, and you don’t even need to be into the rest of the Fate series to enjoy it. It would serve as a fantastic introduction to the whole Fate universe if it was easier to get into, but...... sigh.

Alright, time for a conclusion, because I’ve talked more about this anime than any human ever should:

Fate/Extra: Last Encore is a good anime. It has good animation, good soundtrack, great character moments, exciting battles, and it’s even gorgeous at times. The OP slaps hard. But it was never meant to be the main representative of the Fate/Extra series, and I feel like it would’ve been infinitely better received if it had been released alongside the remake. I wish more people would watch it, because although it is flawed (I still don’t like the protagonist) it definitely still is a very entertaining and interesting addition to the Fate franchise. SHAFT’s animation style is suuuuuuuper different from ufotable’s, and I like seeing wadarco’s designs animated. Visually speaking, it stands out a lot.

I also feel like its existence will be much better received after the remake is out. If my friends end up playing Fate/Extra Record and they like it, I’ll definitely be like “hey, glad you liked it! That clown woman was super fucked up, wasn’t she? Hey, maybe check out Last Encore if you want, it’s a v fun “what if” scenario!” But until that happens, it will have to wait as this confusing, but very unique thing. I am really looking forward to the day of the remake’s release. I hope it can introduce more people to this spinoff series, the way FELE intended.

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read these posts and interacts with them, I’m sorry I take so long to reply sometimes ❤️

[deltaengineering]

Fall Anime 2019 Part 2: Fanservice

Choujin Koukousei-tachi wa Isekai demo Yoyuu de Ikinuku you desu!

Here we go. We’ve had some isekai that wasn’t totally bad for one reason or another, but of course that couldn’t last. Choujin Koukousei-tachi wa Isekai demo Yoyuu de Ikinuku you desu, or Choyoyu if you want to be merciful, or High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World if you want spoilers, is so nakedly isekai that I’m actually kind of confused. You see, usually isekai is about some loser that gets transported somewhere where his mediocrity is overwhelmingly powerful. I don’t like it, but I get it. Choyoyu, on the other hand, is about a bunch of kids that are already hax and get transported to another world where they’re even more hax and also elf girls give them tongue kisses. Is this for people who are so emotionally fragile that they don’t even want to be reminded of how much they suck in their isekai power fantasies? Then again this is written by someone who also thinks that politicians (one of the kids is the prime minister of Japan... yeah) are supergeniuses, and that if you max out journalism, you prestige class to ninja. Yes, it is more or less comedic and so bizarre that it almost seems like an attempt at parody again, but lemme check something real quick...

Nah, I’m all out of benefits of the doubt and running low on fucks as well.

Azur Lane

So, Azur Lane then. I could tell you all about how it’s a gijinka thing about World War 2 warships, but then you’d say “isn’t that just Kantai Collection” and yes. Not to mention that Azur Lane seems to be more popular than Kancolle now, so either way this isn’t very surprising. So let’s just go over the differences: Azur Lane isn’t almost entirely Japanese ships, and there’s a three-way fight of Axis vs Allies vs Aliens going on. The upshot of this is that Azur Lane is mostly shipgirl(s) vs shipgirl(s) and not everyone vs mobs. And that’s it for the one difference that matters, apart from that it’s a bit more varied than the Kancolle anime was, but that just gives it an uneven tone that swings between Gochiusa-levels of fluffiness and lesbian twincest aircraft carrier villains hamming it up. Characters? We have several dozens of them, thanks for asking. If you play the game or stalk Danbooru/Pixiv religiously, you might even care about them. The (supremely silly) action is technically alright, but doesn’t reach the level of “impressive”, and of course it’s hard to follow with so many obligatory participants. I’d label this one “fans only” and even for them I’d assume it’s just decent at best.

Null Peta

This is a short about a child genius that misses her (dead?) sister so much she builds a robotic version of her. Several mishaps later and she’s stuck with something that most closely resembles Doraemon if Doraemon was all ara ara and also all mofu mofu (apart from when the spikes come out). As far as wacky children’s adventure comedy shenanigans go, this seems to be fairly agreeable, but where it really shines is how it looks. This season admittedly hasn’t had a real sakuga heavy hitter so far, but Null Peta comes the closest to one since it looks quite dope, especially for a weird random short. 5m/week and nothing too annoying make this one easy enough to follow up on.

Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy

Here we have the example of an anime where I would admit that it’s pretty good at what it wants to be, but what it wants to be is just intolerable. This appears to be a reverse harem with the theme of all the boys having some shade of chuunibyou (if you gotta ask, you don’t want to know) going. I even like the protagonist girl, she’s likeable and shows a bit of personality when being exasperated at the gang of incredibly annoying idiots surrounding her. But that’s the problem: In particular “Red”, a genki runt with a sentai gimmick, is a show destroyer all on his own. The others aren’t quite as bad as him but I’d still accept maybe one of them per harem at most. It does alright in execution, visuals, timing and so on (DEEN’s “poor man’s SHAFT” team, cf. Meganebu, seems to be seeking a comeback), but you’d have to be embarrassingly thirsty for idiot dick to put up with this shit.

Val x Love

Just to prove that I am an equal-opportunity harem h8r, here’s a non-apparently non-reverse one and yes, it also sucks. Not only is it easily the cheapest looking show so far, it’s also reminiscent of the Conception school of harem setup: If you must know, Val x Love is about an ugly ogre of a dude whose lonely house is suddenly stuffed full of Val(kyrie)s (= 9 Japanese harem archetypes because, you know) by none other than Odin himself between cuts. He then has to fight some monsters by cuddling one of the Vals, which unlocks their super or something. Barebones, uninteresting and crappy looking, this one is a real stinker and should be of interest to nobody.

Fate Grand Order - Absolute Demonic Front Babylonia

It’s the seventh story arc of the hit mobile RPG Fate/grand order! How do I know? Because they talk about how they skipped the previous six ones, presumably because they’re boring. Or more boring, at least. It’s Fate, and I know an embarrassing amount of details about Fate (e.g. enough to know that the Rinclone that appears apropos of nothing is Ishtar), and I’ve even seen First Order (which sucked), but this stuff is impenetrable, yo. This iteration on F/go definitely doesn’t care for people who don’t play the game, rare as they may be, and at best you’re supposed to let the proper nouns wash over you and enjoy the spectacle. It’s just that it’s CloverWorks this time, and while an attempt was made, shit just blows up way gooder over at ufotable. So the spectacle is insufficiently spectacular, and Mash is still insufficiently moe. In the end this does nothing to change my opinion of F/go away from “functionally identical to every insipid homebrew Servant thread on /a/ ca. 2010, also Shiki can kill Servants, discuss″, and I ain’t watching 2 cours of that.

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun

Iruma-kun is a goodhearted boy whose scumbag parents sell him off to some demon, who then transports him to hell and enrolls him in demon school where demons try to step to him. Isekai and battle harem is my first suspicion, but not so fast! It’s not a light novel, and while the general gestalt of this setup might resemble a certain conical helix, this appears to merely be convergent evolution. In other words, it’s just a funny kid’s manga, and it’s not even bad for that. It’s colorful, moves at a decent clip and I was moderately amused by the antics of Midoriyaface trying to dodge the ol’ KILL BY DEMONS. It’s just that I also know that this is very much not for me, and while it’s better than say, eIDLIVE, I don’t think I want to stick around. Props where they are deserved, though.

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: The Demon Girl Next Door, Episodes 1-3

And so we begin! In which we sprint right from the starting gun with a million laughs a minute, and I gush over all the ways this show puts me in such a good mood.

MY FUCKING SIDES

Ask any media critic worth their salt and they’ll likely tell you that analyzing comedy is the hardest part of their job. Humor’s one of the most subjective ways we interact with fiction, and while you can certainly critique construction and craft of jokes just as well as drama or action, there’s often no real way to categorize what does or doesn’t tickle your funny bone. Just look at Demon Slayer, which I just got done talking about: I absolutely hated Zenitsu’s constant freakouts, but his over-the-top cringe factor coupled with Ufotable throwing their all into making his stylized spasms pop off the screen certainly ended up entertaining for some of the audience. You can have an idea of why something does or doesn’t make you laugh, but everyone’s sense of humor is so specific that comedy’s just kinda inherently difficult to talk about. So I’m definitely interested to see how much material I’ll be able to wring out of analyzing The Demon Girl Next Door which is by far the most purely comedic show I’ve tackled on this blog since... fuck, maybe since all the way back with Nichijou, and even that show had some sort of point to make. There’s not much here in the way of thematic depth or profound artistic statements, there’s just jokes upon jokes upon jokes, following one after the other at an effortlessly rapid pace. It’s gag comedy in its purest form, and it’s an open question how much there’ll be to really analyze with it once you get past the initial question of “Is it making me laugh?” Of course, that’s not gonna stop me from trying; if Gintama’s taught me anything, it’s that I can always find a way to get the words out even when it feels impossible to do so. I just hope I’ll still be able to find new and worthwhile things to say about it once the initial burst of laughing gas wears off.

That being said, even if The Demon Girl Next Door leaves me nothing but its gags to chew on, I don’t think I’ll have much to complain about, because sweet buttery muffin tops, this show is SO FUCKING FUNNY. Seriously,  I was laughing my goddamn ass off nearly without stopping all throughout these first three episodes, and there were no small handful of moments that almost had me rolling on the goddamn floor. This show just never stops throwing things at you; every second is a new joke, every gag has a million things going on, and it just constantly piles on funny moment after funny moment at such a breakneck pace that even if a bit occasionally doesn’t land, it’s easily forgotten as it’s swept under a tsunami of laughing gas. I cannot recall the last anime I’ve watched that’s had this much concentrated hilarity, where the jokes never stop coming and the pace never so much as pauses for breath before diving headfirst into the next one. By the time the first episode was over, I was damn near gasping for breath and grinning so wide I’m pretty sure my cheeks are still sore. The Demon Girl Next Door is an absolute delight of a show, and as long as it keeps leaving me in this good a mood, then I’m pretty sure this is gonna end up among my favorite anime from 2019. So let’s see if we can dig a little into what makes its cavalcade of gags work so damn well that I barely got a chance to stop laughing all throughout it.

Never Miss a Beat

Relentless comedy can be a more difficult trick to pull off than it first appears. Even the best jokes can get exhausting if they don’t allow breathing room to settle, to the point where laughing feels more like an obligation than a natural reaction. And I think what makes Demon Girl such a constant delight in spite of its gag-a-second sensibility is that as hectic as its pacing is, a good chunk of its humor comes from underplaying. The very first thing that Yuko does in this show is try to go back to sleep rather than listen do her ancestor’s sphiel, and that very much sets the tone for the attitude both she and the show take towards her status as a demon girl and her conflict with the Light Clan. Her mother teaches her their history as if handing down a new set of household chores. The grand struggles of the past are in the present boiled down to a financial inconvenience, an indignity that must be overcome not for some great destiny, but because it would be nice to get out of poverty and live a more financially secure life. And Yoko’s reaction to it all is less of one inheriting a great legacy and more of a kid coming to terms with new responsibilities that don’t so much turn her life upside-down as they do give her a new source of adult stress to occupy her attention (”I must still be dreaming, so I’m going back to bed-” “Don’t try to run from reality.)” It almost plays like an extended puberty metaphor, with Yuko’s body going through new and nerve-wracking changes that help her come into her own as a person but also open her up to a new world of responsibilities to deal with, not to mention make her feel super weird and self-conscious about her newly grown big, round, noticeable, attention-drawing... horns. It’s a new set of things to keep track of, sure, but ultimately, her life’s still trucking along just the same as always.

And that purposeful banality really ends up being the glue that holds this show together. With the overall tone and vibe set up as a comfy coming-of-age sort of deal, we’re given a status quo that all the outrageous gags are able to build off of to explosive effect. With how lived-in and almost naturalistic the show treats its premise, it give us a grounding anchor of comfort in the chaos, so no matter how ridiculous the breakneck gag train becomes, it never feels too divorced from reality. And as a result, we’re able to keep our footing as the show loads up a double-barreled machine gun and lets rip with the fullest force of funny ferocity it can muster. I cannot overstate how utterly jam-packed this show’s pacing is: there’s a new reason to laugh every single second. There’s sight gags and slapstick and sucker-punches for days, from the timer on Momo’s first transformation that pokes fun at how ridiculously fast the flashy magical girl transformations must go by in real time to the manga-esque stylized titles that remind me of the best meta gags from the likes of Ouran High School Host Club (”Super-chic”). Character are constantly talking over each other so we’re getting a million different trains of thought at once, and even a single character can pull that effect off by us hearing their frantically spiraling thoughts at the same time as their actual speech (”Please be cosplay please be cosplay please be cosplay”). Every visual beat snaps into place with impeccable timing: the constant goofy stylization effects (Upon Yuko’s attempt at intimidation falling flat:  ”Out of Ammo”), Momo’s uncanny ability to show up out of nowhere at the drop of a hat, the ridiculous slapstick of Yuko’s constant flailing failures, the casual chaos that informs every single action the characters take (Yuko’s mother snapping her goddamn neck to calm her down), all of it wound as tight as a stopwatch and going off with the whipcrack immediacy of a karate match. It’s a tumbling avalanche of overlapping, raucous giddiness, so relentlessly entertaining that you can’t help but get bowled over.

Peach Blossoms

But a good comedy’s nothing without good characters, and thankfully, Yuko and Momo are an absolute frigging delight. Yuko’s voice actor, in particular, is having a goddamn blast bringing her to life; her ability to whiplash between snark, deadpan, freaking out and pouting at the drop of a hat is the source of so many of this show’s biggest laughs (”Sorry, but are those horns?” “I see how they might look that way.”). Her sputtered verbal mouth sounds whenever Momo gets the better of her are so goddamn adorable, and her inability to keep her composure when the rug’s pulled out from under her never ceases to leave me cackling (”These aren’t tears! This is just eye juice!”) She’s an utter goddamn disaster and I fucking love every second she’s on screen, which is, like, all the seconds. And Momo’s own hilarious deadpan (”Dump man, are you okay?”) is balanced out by a growing realization that she’s probably just as much of a disaster as Yuko. Sure, she actually knows how to keep her composure, but the instant she accidentally lets slip the corny incantation she uses to transform, she’s instantly bargaining for Yuko to delete it from her mind. Their collective ability to take the most absurd scenarios in stride is a hug source of what makes this show’s laughs so densely concentrated; you don’t even need to explain anything to them, they just dive in to whatever scenario’s unfolding headfirst and take it from there. Why waste time waiting around when every second spent on exposition is a second that could be better spent on belly laughs?

And ye gods, you folks weren’t kidding about this show’s gay level: Momo and Yuko’s relationship is so fucking wonderful. I love how Momo just imprints on Yuko right away; she can tell how much of a disaster her would-be opponent is, and because she actually does basically uphold the moral virtues that make her a magical girl, she instantly commits to being Yuko’s life coach, giving her the guidance and assistance to help her reach her full potential. She’s such a good egg she offers Yuko a pastry the first moment they meet, and the sight of watching Yuko’s attempts to initiate conflict constantly being undermined by Momo’s unabashed support of her pursuits had me rolling on the goddamn floor (”You wanna give it another shot?”) She’s constantly building Yuko’s spirits up, constantly offering to help out, constantly hanging around in the background just to keep an eye on her and make sure she’s doing okay, and it’s so fucking sweet you guys oh my GOD. It barely takes a full episode before their rivalry devolves into basically just a pretense for them to go on dates, treating their supposed blood feud like a series of relationship-building rendez-vous (”But it would really help if I knew how to get a hang of you in times like this.”) And that’s all before you get to the moments where there’s really no explanation for what’s going on other than Momo’s straight-up trying to flirt with her. ”It’s cute, like a fairy in the forest.” “You seem like you’d be really good at household chores, so I have high expectations.” Like, goddamn, girl doesn’t even hesitate to turn the charm on, and Yuko’s inability to process how supportive Momo’s being to her is utterly frigging magical (”I have so many questions right now, but thank you very much!”) Bottom line, these two are amazing together, and I’m already looking forward to all the wonderful times yet to come.

Odds and Ends

-I really like the soundtrack. It’s got a very “Starting Town of a Medieval Adventure” feel to it.

-”I heard that piano drop just now.” askdjhasd fucking hell

-”Found you!” “Yeah, you found me.” These random students are such a mood and I don’t know why.

-”You’ve got three whole minutes, that’s more than enough time to start a fight! Go get it, girl!” mrgrmgmrgmrmgrm I cannot deal with these idiots

-oh my god the timing on that inhale for breath was PERFECT

-”Aren’t those tears?” “No, I stopped them before they could get out.” GOD DAMMIT I FEEL CALLED OUT

-”Too bad about your utter defeat yesterday!” Get you a friend who’ll lovingly rake you over the coals like this.

-Who uses protractors as shields istg Yuko

-”Shamiko was experiencing her very first runner’s high.” GOOD FUCKING GOD.

-”I’ll take something to drink from within the depths of your consciousness.” Okay, that’s just freaking ingenius.

-”It does that.” Seriously, Yuko’s voice actor is having a fucking ball here.

-”The power of pancakes is not to be trifled with!” That’s the smartest thing anyone’s said thus far.

-Calling it now, that “ancestor” is secretly the mom’s wife.

-”People often tell me my cooking can be used as a weapon.” snrk

-”I’m sweating buckets, if that counts.” She is such a mood, god damn.

-”Wait, you were watching over me?” “Never mind that.” Oh my god, I just realized: this is what happens when two tsunderes fall in love. Oh NO.

-”Why are you being so supportive of me when we’ve just met?” Because she’s got a big fat gay crush on you, obviously.

-”I want to be covered in cats!” You and me both.

And with that, we’re on our way! This is gonna be one to remember, and I look forward to sharing my experience with you all. See you next time!

[metalandmagi]

Hogwarts House Anime Recommendations pt 2: Gryffindor!

A couple years ago, I made some posts with anime recommendations based on Hogwarts houses. And in case you haven’t noticed, there’s been a lot of new anime that’s come out in that time, and I’ve thought of some other things that I think people may have missed. And I was bored…So if you have ever wanted some anime recommendations with the same general themes and tones, maybe you’ll find something here.

Other house recs:

Gryffindor pt 1

Hufflepuff pt 1

Hufflepuff pt 2

Ravenclaw pt 1

Ravenclaw pt 2

Slytherin pt 1

Slytherin pt 2

Last but not least is GRYFFINDOR! Or as I call it, the house of main characters, where one is brave, adventurous, heroic, reckless, and always fights for what’s right. Because Gryffindor is kinda the...most popular house, I always seem to focus on more popular anime because they fit the traits so well. So that’s why this list may seem a little more mainstream. And I talk about most of these in my 2019 Anime Worth Watching lists, so the descriptions might sound familiar. 

Cardcaptor Sakura: A classic magical girl anime in which a 10-year-old girl named Sakura accidentally releases a bunch of magical cards made by a mysterious sorcerer into the world and must collect them all to stop them from wreaking havoc. This anime was made in 1998, but it recently got a continuation called Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card, which picks up right where the series left off and is equally amazing. This is a delightful anime with amazing characters that formed a lot of people’s love for the magical girl genre. There’s mystery, action, adventure, cute outfits, cute romance, and like any other CLAMP work, a lot of LGBT subjects. And when I say subjects, I mean CLAMP makes a lot of canonically gay characters who are in canon relationships, and no one can dispute it. 

While this show is very much for a younger audience at the beginning, I watched it as an adult, and I still loved it all the way through. Sakura is a great Gryffindor protagonist who always does what’s right even when it’s hard, and she grows so much over the course of the show. Not to mention the mystery of the Clow Cards will always keep you coming back for more. And I should mention, the best thing about Cardcaptor Sakura is that it’s kind of the start of the larger CLAMP universe. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, the creators of Cardcaptor Sakura (a group called CLAMP) have made a ton of other works over many years...and eventually those all sort of intersect and basically become the Marvel Cinematic Universe of anime and manga. While this is a good, lighter story with some heavier undertones, it can be a good introduction into the darker CLAMP universe. So, if you want a cute, classic magical girl show that doesn’t overdo the campiness, this is a great one that a lot of younger people haven’t watched. 

Demon Slayer- Kimetsu no Yaiba: A shounen action/adventure in which a boy named Tanjiro comes home to find his entire family has been slaughtered by demons...all except for his younger sister Nezuko who has been transformed into one! Now he and Nezuko must embark on a journey to turn her back to normal while fighting demons along the way. The premise may sound basic, but this is a great show with a well-made protagonist who is not super annoying, a kick ass little sister, and some very entertaining side characters. Not to mention the fighting system and the villains are super dope. 

It hasn’t even finished airing yet but this has been one of the most popular shows of 2019, and for good reason. While it started out as kind of...bland...it quickly grew into one of the most entertaining and emotional shows of the year with its own jaw droppingly beautiful and unique animation from Ufotable. I think you could make the argument that Tanjiro is a Hufflepuff because he’s so blatantly nice, but I think he’s a true Gryffindor at heart because he does a lot of reckless fighting all for the sake of others. Yes, he is very kind to the point where even when he fights demons, he does so with a sense of compassion and understanding as opposed to the “I must avenge my family” trope. I also think Nezuko is a Gryffindor because she is constantly fighting off her demonic instincts in order to help people. They are a great duo, and the side characters really bring the show together for an awesome, emotional, action-packed adventure that I hope will become a modern classic. 

Made in Abyss: A mysterious adventure story (with a dash of horror) that takes place in a fantasy city where explorers are constantly trying to get to the bottom of a mysterious chasm that lays outside the town. The story follows a girl named Riko and a boy named Reg who are pushed into an adventure trying to find Riko’s mother at the bottom of the abyss and discover the secrets of the creatures inside it. It’s a thrilling escapade with a lot of mind-blowing mysteries. Yes, the characters are drawn in a cute chibi style, but do not be fooled. This show has some heavy subjects and more gore and body horror than you’d expect.

This was one of the best shows of 2017 (if not the best), and I need so much more of it. Riko and Reg are great Gryffindor protagonists who are strong in different ways, brave beyond measure, and loyal to a fault. The creatures and threats of the abyss are incredibly interesting (and also terrifying), and the world building and atmosphere are off the charts. You know this is going to be a great show from the first episode.

Run with the Wind (Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru): An anime in which 10 misfit roommates are all manipulated/coerced/forced into running in a prestigious race even though almost none of them have any running experience. Now, you may think a “sports” anime with so many main characters would be trying to juggle too much. And you’d be wrong. This anime has the perfect balance of amazingly real characters and an intriguing plot that makes you really want to see these boys succeed even though you know it’s a crazy idea. 

Okay, I admit that Haiji, the captain of this team who is responsible for forcing all his roommates to participate is 100% a Slytherin, but the main character Kakeru is a Gryffindor all the way. He’s a good example of a different kind of Gryffindor. He’s not the outwardly boisterous or chivalrous type of sports anime protagonist, but he is quietly brave and definitely reckless in his own way. Also, the team in general has a lot of Gryffindor spirit because they are putting in so much work and commitment to something for the sake of their friend, even though they know they have no chance of winning this race. And that takes a lot of bravery. I also think the whole team has a sense of unity and camaraderie that is unique to Gryffindor house. This anime was absolutely amazing, definitely one of the most underrated shows of 2018, with great music, a lot of feelings, really defined characters with great interactions, and an unbelievable story. Plus, it’s made by Production I.G, the king of sports anime, so you know it’s gonna be good!

Dororo: A dark action reboot of the 1969 anime in which a samurai lord trades the limbs and organs of his son to demons in exchange for prosperity for his land. Unbeknownst to him, his son grows into young warrior named Hyakkimaru, who travels across the land fighting monsters to regain his lost limbs with the help of a lovable scamp named Dororo. This show is how to do a dark gritty reboot right, with more fleshed-out story lines, cool animation, a compelling story of brotherhood and good and evil, AND IT HAS A MAIN CHARACTER WHO CAN’T SEE OR HEAR WHO TOTALLY KICKS ASS! 

I cannot sing the praises of this anime highly enough, even though the last episode was a little...different from what we were expecting. Still, I had Dororo as my top anime of 2019 until I watched The Promised Neverland, because every episode was such a wild ride full of action, adventure, and family drama that’s actually interesting. This is a solid Gryffindor anime because the whole thing centers around sacrifice and how what is considered “good” differs from person to person. What starts out as a clear line between right and wrong becomes blurry as Hyakkimaru regains his limbs, and eventually he must avoid becoming a monster himself, with the help of 100% Gryffindor certified Dororo. Dororo is a treasure to this world, and we are not worthy of this wonderful child.

I also want to include another bonus anime: Vinland Saga! It’s the long-awaited Viking anime about a young boy named Thorfinn who must fight among the enemy to avenge the death of his father. I had a bonus anime with Ravenclaw, and I wanted to include this one because even though it also is not over, I can just tell it’s an absolute Gryffindor anime. I can’t really explain why this is a Gryffindor anime at its core, but it just is. It’s the general vibe of bravery and recklessness that makes it a good show for this house.