#utsumi and mai!!

[kaiiscottage]

Arajin appreciation post bc I genuinely like him <3

[skania]

i get losing interest in the free series after utsumi left because its the same for me. S3 was just shit and the writers didn't care about writing a story, just wanted a way to force every character to have a role in the series and neglected the main characters. high speed was eh but i enjoyed my RH angst. the movies had potential but execution wasn't good. i enjoyed my RH moments but i know utsumi would've made those moments even better. its a shame since i dont care about her new series SK8.

This is more or less how I feel too, and I feel terrible for saying it because I've been trying to keep it to myself all these years 😭 But I think it's time to let it all out.

I think the current Free! stopped working for me because when I watch it, I don't find in it the same heart that blindsided me when I watched S1. And it's funny you mention SK8, because I don't care for it either, but a friend forced me to watch it, and it had heart. By the time I was done watching it, I couldn't help but feel sad. Because you're right anon, Utsumi would've taken Rin and Haru so, so much further if only she kept working on Free!

I know Utsumi had her issues, the biggest one (for me) being how neatly separated she kept the Samezuka and Iwatobi storylines until it was time for the RH climax. Which was kind of ridiculous because they lived in a small ass town and they all knew each other.

But I feel like the new team has the exact opposite problem.

We have a bazillion characters in a huge city but they keep running into each other for no reason whatsoever, simply so KyoAni can say that every single character interacted with each other at least once. Characters run into each other into the middle of nowhere, literally materialize into each other's cars for no apparent reason, every time Haru breathes you have 15 different characters talking about it without really contributing anything... it's all so disingenuous?

It's like the franchise has become a merchandise-selling machine, so they go out of their way to create scenarios that will allow them to sell merch of 50 different combinations of cute dudes. And they achieve this by doing the same thing over and over again except slightly different each time, because if it worked for Utsumi it'll work for them. And this is an issue that's been there since S3, which honestly had zero originality, but sadly the last two movies failed to fix this for me.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the RH from the last two movies as much as anyone else. There was some genuinely brilliant stuff there, like all the imagery with the level crossings stopping Haru from reaching Rin? Imagery that they've been using since the S3 opening? That was fantastic and it had me in tears. Haru trying to tell Rin that he wants to keep swimming by his side forever? The literal marriage proposal I've been waiting for since S1, because this is as close to a confession as one can get in Haru-speak. Haru thinking of Rin when he is asked about what changed his life? Stunning, breathtaking. Rin admitting that he has been deliberately playing dumb about Haru's feelings? A huge game-changer that literally had me stopping and staring because holy shit the fanfic potential for that line alone is astronomical. Probably the best line in the entire movie for me because it's the one thing that felt genuinely new.

And that's the thing, because the rest—while great, because RH has always elevated the story and that will never change—felt... terribly safe? It's like they didn't dare to do too much, so they just rehashed stuff that's already happened in S1 and S2. Rin hugs Haru? Already did it in S1. It'd have been incredible if we finally had Haru initiating a hug, but nope they don't dare to go beyond what Utsumi already did. Rin tells Haru he admires him? Already did it in S2. Haru tells Rin he taught him lots of important things? Already happened in S1. There are SO many things Haru has yet to tell Rin, you could fill an entire phonebook with it. But instead of everything Haru has yet to tell Rin, they chose to have him say... one of the few things he has already told him? Why??

It’s like they don’t dare to go out of the dotted lines Utsumi already traced, so instead they just end up adding the same colors over and over again. And Rin and Haru do end up globetrotting together, but... we already knew they would? That’s never been at stake. The important thing was to see how they got there, but they wasted an entire movie on drama that they resolved within the first 30 mins of this second movie, only to then add even more drama in the form of Haru getting injured.

The movies should have been about Haru and Rin getting used to the professional world and getting to form a relay team. Instead the relay team is a second thought and formed in a rush. And for what? The drama felt like it was there only for the sake of drama, because the conclusion Haru reaches after all of that is just a combination between this S1 and S2 conclusions. The main difference is that S1 and S2 alternated between showing and telling, while now we get some forced showing so they can do the telling.

So while there's some really cool stuff there and I am and will always be happy that RH got their happy ending, the last stretch of Free! just really pales in comparison to S1 and S2 for me 😭

[yurikotigerisnotmaiwaifu]

Utsumi Keita instagram post 1/26/2022 shooting‼️

Hair : @utsumi_keita photo : @tetsurotakai make up : @riniferbi Stylist : @p.under.ism @f.de.tokyo @va_contest Model : @yurikotiger @ere.dalle ----------------------------------------------------

#撮影 #トリートメント #音楽 #ハイトーンカラー #photographer #beauty #creative #ダンス #hair #ヘアスタイル #hairstyle #ヘアカラー #haircolor #セクシー #ヘアアレンジ #makeup #ファッション #fashion #正月 #休日 #hairstylist #可愛い #モデル #colors #動画 #写真好きな人と繋がりたい #shooting #magazine #music

[animebw]

Seasonal Reflection: Winter 2024 Anime

My feelings on the first anime season of 2024 can be summed up thusly: Most of my favorite shows from winter 2024 were continuations of shows that were already great from last season, not new entries. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and there were plenty of new anime I at least enjoyed watching. But it became clear about halfway through the season that aside from a couple fall 2023 holdovers, there was barely anything truly exciting going on here. Most of the adaptations I watched didn't do much to truly elevate their source material, and most of the few original series we got ended up the worst of the bunch. I can't say nothing good came out of winter 2024, but if this is any sign of how the rest of the year is gonna go, we may be in for a slog. For now, though, let's take stock of the anime I watched this season, and which ones are worth your time.

Metallic Rouge: 3/10

If you asked me what the worst show I finished this season would be at the start, I never would've guessed Metallic Rouge. I mean, it's a cool-ass original sci-fi anime from Bones with slick 2D mecha animation, surely that's gotta be at least a little cool, right? Sadly, no. Because this is, without question, one of the most baffling scripts I've ever seen in anime. Almost every single detail of its world and plot are barely explained, if at all, and the mechanics of what's even supposed to be going on are so nebulous that every attempt at a plot twist feels like a twist on something that never actually existed. Characters are plopped into the story without even an introduction. At times it feels like whole scenes have been cut out entirely. The only thing I can compare it to is the original Suicide Squad movie from 2016: a story so cut to the bone in the editing room that you can barely tell what's supposed to be happening half the time, and yet enough of the original story remains to suggest it was never any good in the first place. The one thing it gets right is the prickly chemistry between its two leads, and then it fucking keeps them separated for like half the damn runtime! How do you even unforced error that badly?

Bucchigiri: 3.5/10

Man, this was not a good season for original anime. Bucchigiri might not have been as staggering a writing trainwreck as Metallic Rouge, but its sin is arguably even worse; it's boring. It's a wacky, colorful high school delinquent romp with rainbow-haired Jojo's punks beating the snot out of each other with genie powers, it's sort of a re-imagining of Aladdin, it's got freaking Hiroko Utsumi at the helm, and it's boring. Why? Because this show gets absolutely stuck in the quicksand of its own status quo and refuses to budge an inch. Character growth is nonexistent, the protagonist is an aggravating loser wimp who never learns his lesson, and nothing of actual meaning happens from the first episode to the end. Literally everything you think is setting up a character arc where someone learns a lesson or grows as a person, all of it amounts to nothing. It's a limp, inert world that perpetuates the same overdone jokes and contrived, misunderstanding-based drama over and over again until all the outsized Utsumi visual personality feels like a tacky coat thrown on top of a lifeless corpse. What an utter waste.

Urusei Yatsura Season 2 (1st Cours): 5/10

I'm still not quite sure what to make of the Urusei Yatsura remake. is it charmingly dated? Annoyingly dated? A welcome throwback or a sign that some things should stay in the past? If nothing else, it never fails to get at least a couple chuckles out of me every episode. But the more it tries to lean into being actually sincere, the more its inherent cheesiness and lack of depth starts becoming a problem. I'm sorry, this cast of characters is just too abrasive and purposefully insane to take seriously, and none of their relationships are healthy enough to unironically root for. Lum and Ataru are not a couple I want to see actually get together, at least not unless Ataru stops being such a fucking shithead. And if him being a jackass could be charming in season 1, then this season is really starting to test my patience with him. It's one thing to be a serial skirt chaser, but his actions this season regularly cross a line from womanizing to unambiguous sex pest, and there's only so many wooden mallets he can get knocked over the head with before it stops feeling like like he's getting punished as much as he deserves to be.

Undead Unluck (2nd Cours): 5/10

Good news, everyone: Undead Unluck finally gave up on those awful groping gags that were ruining its central romance! Bad news: at the same time, it spontaneously developed one of the worst cases of recap padding I've ever seen! I'm not just talking overlong recap segments at the start of the episode, I'm talking constant flashbacks to events we just saw just moments before, straight up playing the same footage again just minutes apart, all climaxing in a truly unforgivable episode that spends seven goddamn minutes on recycled footage. Not even Tokyo Revengers was this bad with its time-wasting. And to add insult to injury, once it finally gets its feet unstuck and returns to a reasonable amount of recap for the final arc, it's probably the best arc of the entire show! It's some of the most bonkers high-concept emotional storytelling I've ever seen attempted, let alone pulled off so spectacularly. It's proof that there is so much brilliance to Undead Unluck, if it could just get out of its own way. But as long as it continues suffering from such massive systemic flaws, it's only ever going to be an also-ran.

Solo Leveling: 5.5/10

Okay, look; is this show dumb as a bag of rocks? Absolutely. Is it as nakedly an adolescent power fantasy as any anime has ever been? Ditto. Does it solely exist for dweeby incels to feel like swaggering douchebag chads getting revenge on all the normies who looked down on them by becoming The Bestest Strongest Chadliest Awesomest Of All Time? You know it. But god dammit, it's actually fun. I cannot pretend I'm too mature and sophisticated to enjoy a big, helping heaping of dumb edgy schlock when it's actually done well. I'm the one person on the face of the earth who still caries water for Akame ga Kill, for crying out loud. And Solo Leveling makes two really smart storytelling choices that keep it (mostly) on the entertaining side of dumb fun: building a genuinely interesting and intricate world that exists well beyond the scope of the protagonist's actions (for now, at least), and making sure that no matter how stupidly overpowered Jinwoo gets, his opponents are always just a little bit even more stupidly overpowered, so he's still pushed to his absolute breaking point and barely scraping together a win by the skin of his teeth every time. There is an art to edge that's too often taken for granted, and this show is proof that being the living embodiment of a twelve-year-old boy's wet dreams is no excuse not to be at least a decent version of that. That said, let's be real, Jinwoo was so much more attractive before his supposed glow-up. Give my boy back his scraggly rat locks, you cowards.

Bang Brave Bang Bravern: 6/10

What happens when a campy, cartoony 70s-style super robot anime crashes headfirst into a much grittier real robot anime? Well, what happens is Bang Brave Bang Bravern, the latest ten-car pileup of mismatched genres from the Cygames masterminds behind "What if horse racing but idols?" Take a desperate war story of survival against impossible odds, airdrop a skyscraper-sized superhero into the mix, and watch him completely shatter the original tone one cheekily ironic powerup and power-of-friendship speech at a time. It's a beautifully bonkers sendup of mecha tropes that has some of the funniest individual moments in this entire anime season, and the absolutely wild twist it pulls with the titular robot's identity in the back half is more than worth the price of admission on its own. Unfortunately, if it wanted to be as perfect a parody-until-it-isn't mecha series as Akiba Maid War was a parody-until-it-isn't mob flick, it probably should've tried being as long as most mecha series tend to be, i.e. more than just twelve measly episodes. There's just not enough time to develop any of the characters or world beyond the most essential parts, resulting in huge chunks of the supporting cast hanging around with nothing to do but take up space. And it leads to this show, which is trying to be so big and over the top, instead feeling so small and half-formed. Also, the secondary romance is gross. Like, really gross.

A Sign of Affection: 6/10

I think this show has helped clarify something for me: I'm really getting tired of how quickly modern romance anime get their main couple together. As much as we rag on the endless will-they-won't-they of ages past, taking so much time to build up the characters and their relationship before they finally make it official can result in some truly one-of-a-kind storytelling when done right. I might agonize over how long Sawako and Kuronoma take to get together in Kimi ni Todoke, but the payoff is so transcendent that none of those complaints matter. Whereas Yuki and Itsuomi getting together so quickly in A Sign of Affection... I mean, they're cute, I guess? His cool demeanor plays off her sincerity very well? But it feels like the show's in such a rush to get to the good stuff- and so determined to make Istuomi the dreamiest, most perfect boyfriend ever- that it skips over so much of the careful character-building that makes all the best anime romances so special. It's a sugary sweet confection, but wipe the frosting away and there's just not that much cake underneath. Honestly, I find the side characters a lot more interesting because they're allowed to have messy internal conflicts with a bit more meat on their bones. But hey, props for putting a deaf heroine at the center of your shoujo romance and taking so much time to explore how that affects the way she interacts with the world. That's a cause well worth celebrating.

Sengoku Youko: 6.5/10

Rejoice, everyone, we finally have an adaptation of a Satoshi Mizukami work that doesn't look like absolute garbage! After the flaming disaster that was Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer's barely animated hackjob production, Sengoku Youko has arrived to give the cult fave manga artist a chance for his work to actually shine on the silver screen. As someone who only knows him through Planet With, I've always wondered if Mizukami deserved the reputation his manga gets, and with White Fox delivering as tight and intense a production as they gave Re:Zero, I guess it's time to finally find out. And the answer is... mostly? Like, the biggest problems in this sci-fi/feudal fantasy mashup are the characters being a little too eager to state the themes out loud and one pretty crummy death that's about as hamfisted and over-telegraphed as I've seen in a while. But there's a shockingly gripping narrative underlying it all, a story about the scars trauma leaves on people, of characters making bad decisions and facing real consequences for them, of hatred and poisonous ideology forced to reckon with the more complex reality of the world as a whole. And it all climaxes in an absolute barn-burner final episode that knocked my score up a half point all on its own. If future seasons can make good on all the potential this first season has set up, then I may just end up a Mizukami fan myself when all is said and done.

Blue Exorcist Season 3: 6.5/10

I'm of two minds about Blue Exorcist's second return after a six-year gap between seasons. On one hand, it's clear the new staff is just nowhere near as talented as the folks who first brought this series to life at A-1 Pictures. The action is abysmal, the storyboarding is clunky, and the animation feels like it's constantly fighting for its life to maintain a passable standard. And it sucks that a series that once brought such great life to its story is now held back by such a mediocre production. But on the other hand... holy fuck, am I glad Blue Exorcist is back. I once described The Devil is a Part-Timer as the mathematical average of anime as a concept, but if you were to ask me what the best possible version of that mathematical average looks like? It would be Blue Exorcist. This is, hands down, one of the best straightforward shonen action stories in the whole medium, a reminder of why all the most generic and overused tropes were once powerful enough to become generic and overused in the first place. It's proof that even the simplest of "superpowered teens kick demon butt with the power of friendship" concepts can result in a wonderful goddamn series when handled with good old-fashioned storytelling fundamentals. And not even the rough-as-hell production is enough to keep season 3 from delivering on the thrills, tears, laughs, and cheers that make this series so magical. Just, please, give the next season more time in the oven so it doesn't feel like it's wading through molasses to hit those heights. Okay?

Delicious in Dungeon (1st Cours): 7/10

Delicious in Dungeon's biggest problem is that it takes a while to really settle into itself. The opening scene of the protagonist's sister being devoured by a dragon sets the tone for an intense and desperate rescue mission, but the actual series that follows this harrowing opening is as lackadaisical as can be. And it's jarring to be thrust into a gag-filled, character-driven fantasy cooking comedy where the harsh tone of that opening scene and the ticking clock of Falin's digestion completely disappear from the characters' heads in favor of how beast to cook and eat the various fantasy monsters they encounter in the dungeon. Yes, it makes a little more sense once the mechanics of death and resurrection are explained later on, but it's a weird note to start on. Which is a shame, because once Delicious in Dungeon gets a handle on what kind of story it's trying to be, it's really fun! Its sense of deadpan comedy coupled with Trigger's expressive animation makes for some really unexpected gags, and the way it explores its fantasy cuisine is genuinely some of the most creative stuff I've ever seen in the cooking anime genre. Plus, with the dark tone coming back in at the end of the first cours- and landing much more naturally this time- I have high hopes for how this series will marry those two sides of itself moving forward. If the manga fans' reactions are any indication, I think we're in for a damn good time.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (2nd Cours): 8/10

So remember in my last post how I said that it was kind of disappointing whenever Frieren turned into an action show because of how disconnected the fights were from the beating heart that makes this show so special? Well, apparently the writers heard me and decided what I meant was I wanted this peaceful, meditative tale about grief, change and the passage of time to turn into the goddamn Hunter Exams for ten episodes straight. It's one of the most shockingly ill-advised storytelling swerves I've seen in an otherwise good show, discarding all this series' strengths in favor of a half-baked tournament arc with tonally jarring grimdark elements and a bland, overstuffed cast of characters who only start becoming interesting in the rare moments they're allowed to stop slinging spells at each other and just, like, talk about life? You know, the stuff that Frieren's actually good at? Not this brainless slice of shonen envy that only avoids being a complete slog thanks to how spectacular the action is across the board? Ugh. Look, Frieren is officially the most beloved anime on the goddamn planet right now, and its best moments are so incredible that I wish I could join that chorus as well. But it's so disappointing to me that a show this singular and special has so often chosen to be the least interesting version of itself.

The Dangers in My Heart Season 2: 8.5/10

It's official: director Hiroaki Akagi is the master of middle school rom-coms. No other creator so perfectly grasps the specific blend of immaturity, awkwardness, cringe, and heart-on-sleeve sincerity that defines the love stories of early adolescence. That was already clear with his work on Teasing Master Takagi-san, but now that he's pulled it off twice, there's no room left for argument. And just like with Takagi-san, the second season of The Dangers in My Heart takes a show that was already shockingly good and catapults it into all-time greatness. This is a coming-of-age triumph, a soaring tribute to embracing your own cringeworthy self, flaws and all, and sharing that self openly with the people who matter most to you. Ichikawa's journey toward maturity, Yamada's journey toward self-love, and the way their romance sparks the best in both of them is the stuff that dreams are made of. I laughed, I cried, I squealed like a little girl, and I felt my heart grow three sizes by the time it was done. This is a new gold standard for anime rom-coms, and if you can stomach a bit of groanworthy fanservice, it more than deserves your attention.

The Apothecary Diaries (2nd Cours): 8.5/10

Most of the time when I cover a two-cours show on these seasonal reflections, I end up in a pretty different place by the end of the second cours than I did at the first. Either it sort of fell apart in the second half, or found its footing and took it to the next level, or it changed in some interesting way that affects how I view the show as a whole. But The Apothecary Diaries has stayed the course from the first episode all the way to the end. Start to finish, it's remained pretty much the same show, with the same ideas and attitude, exploring the same themes in the same ways. And you know what? When you're as good as The Apothecary Diaries ended up being, there's nothing wrong with that. This is a spectacular historical drama that builds such a rich, compelling world for its equally rich, compelling characters to inhabit. It's a powerful exploration of how old society treated the disadvantaged- women, poor people, people with all severities of disability- and how one deeply abnormal girl carves her way through this viper's den with her body and soul intact. It's the kind of mature, thoughtful series we so rarely seen done this well, and with the announcement of a season 2 already confirmed, we may well end up with close to 50 episodes when all is said and done. That, folks, is what a true shoujo/josei renaissance looks like. And I'm so happy such a deserving series is leading the way in reminding us how damn good women's stories can be when they're given a chance to shine this brightly.

DROPPED

Cherry Magic: Dropped at 2 episodes for looking like butt and the central romance feeling pretty lifeless.

High Card Season 2: Dropped at 1 episode because I realized I didn't care anymore.

Ninja Kamui: Dropped at 2 episodes for being dull tryhard edgy bullshit with overdone fight scenes that are impossible to follow.

[kudouusagi]

ADAM and cigarettes

Q: Why did you make ADAM smoke?

Utsumi: One reason is we wanted to show that he's stressed. He's a politician in his public persona, so he can't smoke to protect his image. But since the "S" is an outlet for his stress he can do it freely there. I think that's one reason we chose to show that. We also use it in a directorial way in episode 4 to show that he's looking down on Reki as he skates. When he smokes a cigarette while he skates it really makes it feel like he's looking down on him even more doesn't it?

Q: It really does show how little he cares, doesn't it?

Utsumi: That's right. Also, in the past, when I used to cruise around with my friend in the middle of the night, my friend used to smoke while skating and it was really cool. With how the smoke trailed behind them and how I could see the flickering red cherry in the dark. I really wanted to use it in an anime someday. Of course in real life there's the problem of second hand smoke………… (painful laugh). But in anime it's a very effective tool that adds color to the characters. I think it can add a cool and sexy appeal to a character when done by an adult and so we also used it in that way in episode 4.

(Prince Animage May 2021)

[rubywolf0201]

Thoughts on the latest episode of BUCCHIGIRI?! Episode 5

WARNING: *May contain spoilers so be cautioned*

- We get to see that NG Boys actually has a factory where all the members are doing unpaid labour. Making that faction all the more horrible.

- Matakara’s entrance and declaring to see where Akutaro is just so badass!

- But when Akutaro called in Arajin, who he now calls AJ, the latter ran in only just with his underwear. Poor Mata was so shocked at that and it’s pretty priceless to say the least.

- BUT that’s beside the point, because just as Matakara was questioning Arajin, Akutaro ruined the moment and Mata was prepared to fight him.

- Unfortuantely, because he has Ichiya with him, Mata was easily beaten by Akutaro and was promptly sent down to some dingy dungeon, tied up. 😢

- Arajin doing one act of small kindness by taking out the tape out of Matakara but still refusing to acknowledge him just made me a teensy bit upset.

- Akutaro kills the reunion scene again and Arajin not wanting to look at Matakara is just….heartbreaking in and out of itself. Not helped by the fact that Matakara kept crying out for Arajin’s name over and over again before the door slammed. It killed me.

- The whole flashback of that childhood incident is revealed. Apparently, some older kids trespass kid Arajin and Matakara’s secret training ground. Mata tried to confront them but sadly, he got beaten up pretty badly to the point of unconsciousness. Arajin on the other hand hid from them until said older kids decided to target him and all Arajin can do is run away all the while abandoning Matakara. And this all happened when they’re just 6-7 year old!

- I want to hit Arajin with a goddamn rubber chicken because of the earlier flashback scene of how Akutaro just drafts him into NG Boys easily by using his weakness for pretty women at the nightclub and he just falls for it easily.

- Oh well, at least, Senya is the only one who is aware of that. He was the one who sensed Ichiya in Akutaro after all.

- Just about any scene with Akutaro and how he invokes fear onto his members is just bone-chilling in and out of itself.

- Ok so we do have a backstory on Akutaro’s history with the gang, esp with Kenichiro and Minato Kai. Apparently, during their younger years, Kenichiro saved Akutaro from a bunch of thugs. This of course made Akutaro admire Kenichiro and so decided to train himself to be on his level and even transferred school to be admitted into Minato Kai (well he did wore a different school uniform in the flashback).

- Unfortunately, during his time at doing the daily matches Minato Kai, Akutaro decided to cheat and go against the honor code Minato Kai upholds by using a police baton and hit one of the members on the head. Kenichiro saw that and gave a pretty disproving look alongside the other members who watched that.

- It was at that point that Akutaro swore vengeance against Kenichiro and the whole of Minato Kai for kicking him out despite all the hard work he put in. (As much as I want to feel bad and whatnot, dude shouldn’t have brought in a weapon to a fighting match)

- Akutaro proposing to Arajin about how he would give him all of the women at the NG Boys club and Arajin just fantasizing about it plus his delusions about Mahoro would always be funny to me but at the same time, it’s getting old. Utsumi, pls let our main lead grow out of it and have him realize that Matakara is waiting for him.

- Senya just looking done with Arajin is priceless and more or less represents how the fandom just wants him to grow.

- Mahoro being the fandom surrogate when Marito took off his shirt and accessories. Also her just beating the ground and barrel all the while name calling the main leads a ‘Stone Pervert’ and ‘Blockhead’ but worrying about them under her brocon attitude respectively is just the biggest highlight lmao.

- Zabu was the biggest MVP in that not only did he rescued Matakara but even admitted to the whole gang that it was his fault for being used by Akutaro. I mean damn why isn’t he promoted cuz that’s some big balls of courage he has to admit his mistake of being used.

- Mata and Zabu thankfully managed to stop all of the Minato Kai and Siguma Squad underlings from fighting but not the bosses themselves.

- Jabashiri and Hagure crumbs but no word on Outa. Like what happened to the dude? Is he still out of commission?

- The marking on Arajin’s butt just started to glow and this made Senya fused with him unknowingly and Arajin just punched Akutaro.

- Reason above is because Akutaro started to talk about Mahoro and how he wanted to use her as a trophy girl of some sorts 😬

- Although that being said, Arajin pissed off a whole of the NG Boys squad and brought all of the members to the main gang.

- But bad news is that Akutaro sensed Senya in Arajin already. Though then again, there was plenty of foreshadowing that he already sensed it to begin with so.

- Matakara beaming like a small puppy but still thinking that Arajin never abandoned the Honki people motto just make me want to go ‘No mah boi, he just pissed off the whole members of NG Boys! He’s still distant from you!’

- Episode ends in cliffhanger with Kenichiro and Marito duking out.

[ohsuchoh]

Some thoughts on Bucchigiri?!

As I write this, Bucchigiri?! is about to release its last episode

Arajin from Bucchigiri?!

First things first. I have a weird feeling about the cultural appropriation of stereotypical arab "aesthetics" thing here. But it's a complex matter that I'm not addressing now, I have to educate myself more to talk properly about it. Though, as I've seen other people say, it seems Utsumi is following the original plot of 1001 Nights and I think I understand why she chose it. The original Aladdim is a horrible person, the perfect matrix for a selfish, coward and irritating Arajin - a main character who is the opposite of the shonen hero trope. Almost as hated as Shinji Ikari from Evangelion - a much older and bigger project. By the way, I see some references to Evangelion and other classical anime across Utsumi's works and this is something I would like to address in the future. 

Another topic is that I had already noticed with Sk8 the Infinity how interesting Utsumi's approach on masculinity is, especially queer masculinity. No wonder a considerable part of the sk8 fanbase is masc-oriented, either trans men or non-binary people. Now, with Bucchigiri?!, masculinity seems to be the central topic of the work. I wanna write more about it in a future post. Please mind that I don't take too much into consideration protocol, evasive answers in interviews. Rather, I prefer to study the author's work, worldbuilding, plot and characters, using interviews only as a side consultation sometimes. I'm not immune to misunderstandings and confirmation bias, though, so take my analyses with a grain of salt. 

This post started to get too long, so I decided to break it into a series of shorter texts. I intend to update this main post with the links to the other ones (if I happen to have time and energy to write them). Mind that I'm not doing extensive research. It's just a collection of thoughts that may or may not make sense. For me, well posed questions are more interesting than categorical and definitive answers.

Mahoro as all women

Sk8 the Infinity: a beef parallel

Katabasis and tragedy in Bucchigiri?! 

Masculinity as a central topic of Utsumi's works

[danceofthephilos]

Our Youthful High School Days (Animage November 2021)

Utsumi: For Sakurayashiki, he's probably never had a friend with charisma like Adam's before. He's been fighting and having fun skating with Nanjo, but then this amazing guy he's never met before appears, and he can't help but be attracted to him. Being called special by a guy like that must have deeply moved him. Gotou: Though I guess it wasn't that he was attracted by any particularly amazing scene. Utsumi: Being told that by such a special person—wouldn't that have been really important to him? Being acknowledged, being able to be a part of Adam... Gotou: For the scenes in the high school era, I also remember coloring them to have that special feeling. —Meeting Adam again, both Sakurayashiki and Nanjo seem to want to rehabilitate him and see him return to his old self, but you could feel a difference in enthusiasm between them. I wonder if Sakurayashiki's yearning for Adam is stronger. Utsumi: That might be so. The scenes in the original work are from Sakurayashiki's perspective, so it may just be that he sees it that way, but I think the feelings he's carrying are different from Nanjo's. It feels like he has stronger feelings for Adam, doesn't it?

(Director Hiroko Utsumi and color designer Yukari Gotou, from Animage November 2021)

[zukadiary]

Anastasia (Umeda Arts, 2023)

I’m flattered that the overwhelming response to my poll was to bring back reviews :D Since I posted that, Takarazuka has unfortunately been involved in a terrible tragedy (additional information here). I may review the Takarazuka performances I was able to see at a later date, but at the moment I’m going to take some space from doing so.

In the meantime, a very bright spot in a long-awaited trip otherwise filled with multiple bouts of shocking news was the Broadway musical Anastasia, featuring Asami Hikaru (my ご贔屓, kamioshi, bias to end all biases, for those who joined during COVID and somehow missed this) amidst a rather star-studded cast. Getting to see Anastasia was quite special, not only because it’s been 4 1/2 years since I was last able to travel to Japan and see Komu, but also because I HAD tickets to the original Spring 2020 run before, well, you know (not to mention the ruined plans to see fave #2 as the same role in the tkz version). On top of that, it was good.

The Broadway version of Anastasia follows two con men in post-revolution Russia, Dmitri and Vlad, who, amidst rumors that Anastasia Romanov has somehow survived the execution of the rest of the royal family, accidentally find the real one while auditioning actresses to pretend to be her for reward money.

Given that my bias to end all biases taidan’d 17 years ago, I’ve seen my fair share of Japanese theater outside of Takarazuka in my quest to spend as much time in her presence as humanly possible. Usually, I find the non-OG cast members (especially men!!) unimpressive to the point of superfluousness. Imagine my shock when I found myself raising my opera glasses when Komu wasn’t even on stage.

Ranking!!

Anya: Aoi Wakana / Kinoshita Haruka

Anya is a poor street sweeper with amnesia who has a feeling SOMEONE is waiting for her in Paris (turns out it’s her grandmother, the dowager empress). I was supposed to see each actress twice, but due to the flu making its rounds through the cast, I ended up seeing Wakana three times and Haruka only once… which is unfortunate, because Haruka is an absolute powerhouse, and Wakana is a TV actress. The cast lineup for my first of four viewings was absolutely flawless, and I wish it had been the finale instead (especially because I was in shock from Sora taidan dropping like 3 hours prior to curtain). Haruka has a Broadway-quality voice, and her acting not only made sense, but also lacked that peculiar anime-like delivery that most of the Japanese actors I’ve seen have in spades (IYKYK). Although perhaps she returned from flu recovery too quickly and didn’t have her whole voice, Wakana’s singing wasn’t really up to the challenge of the role; all of Anya’s big solo’s were rendered anticlimactic by very flat long notes. I also found her acting to be over the top and desperate, whereas Haruka’s was quite nuanced.

Dmitri: Kaiho Naoto / Aiba Hiroki / Utsumi Akiyoshi

Dmitri is the romantic lead, something of a street urchin who starts off by hatching a moneymaking scheme to produce a fake Anastasia, and ultimately gives it all up after falling in love with Anya. I got to see Kaiho and Aiba, and to be honest, the only reason I’m not mad I had to see Aiba once is because that day Kaiho Naoto was Gleb. I know I am very late to this party, but this was the first time I got to see Kaiho Naoto live, and hooooooooooo boy. That man’s voice gave me chills, he acts like a normal person and not a cartoon, and his facial expressions are SO dynamic. His fans in the FIRST ROW had their opera glasses up, and now I take back making fun of them in my head. Incredible casting choice for Dmitri; he did an amazing job going through the full range of emotions and showing character growth, plus he looked so good in that scruffy little outfit. Tbh, marry me (Aiba on the other hand was an anime boy made flesh and blood and I can’t say I cared for it).

Vlad: Osumi Kenya / Ishikawa Zen

Vlad is Dmitri’s old man friend, a former aristocrat and adulterous lover to Lily. This one is slightly less cut and dry because both actors had their merits, but alas, I’m a big Ishikawa Zen fan. Osumi Kenya is a dancer and Zen is not, and that was quite apparent in any scene with choreography. Other than that, I quite preferred Zen’s knockout voice, nuanced acting, and overflowing kindness. He’s irl bffs with Komu, so I found his Vlad’s chemistry with Lily to be more compelling; but he also integrated himself seamlessly into each cast, despite that I imagine it’s tricky to get the best possible rapport going when the roles are changing all the time. Osumi definitely gave his Vlad quite a bit of enjoyable energy and unique flair, but ultimately, I thought his Vlad was a bit over the top (he’d be a huge hit in a kids’ show), and he seemed to be acting next to rather than with the rest of the cast.

Gleb: Kaiho Naoto / Douchin Yoshikuni / Tashiro Mario

Gleb, a Bolshevik general trying to fill the shoes of his father who relished executing the Romanov family, is the villain of the show. I was SUPPOSED to see all three Glebs, and I’m quite sad I didn’t, but the flu took Tashiro Mario. I ended up seeing Douchin three times and Kaiho once. This is REALLY HARD, and it’s likely impossible to separate out my feelings toward Kaiho’s Gleb in isolation, because Dmitri, without Kaiho in the role, was not compelling, so the overall impact of the show was less on the not-Douchin day. Kaiho showed up again with the voice that gives you chills, and while his performance throughout most of the show was a bit more low-key, his final scene, in which he attempts to get Anya to admit she’s playing around and return to Russia lest he be forced to shoot her on the spot if she is in fact the real Anastasia, was ABSOLUTELY FUCKING UNHINGED (spit flying everywhere, no wonder everyone got sick). Douchin, however, also has quite a powerful voice, and I think overall he did a better job of coming off as creepy and weird. He was awkward in kind of an is-this-guy-ok way, his barely concealed feelings for Anya were both clearer and more unsettling, and he felt believably indoctrinated into an ideology vs. just this is the villain because we said he’s the villain. His slick, jet-black hair and choice to wear light blue colored contacts also really enhanced the evil image. I really regret not getting to see Tashiro Mario, but I think my ever so slight preference here is Douchin just because his presence balanced the rest of the cast.

Lily: Asami Hikaru / Marcia / Horiuchi Keiko

Lily is the dowager empress's lady-in-waiting, a former countess who, in her younger days, cheated on her boring husband with Vlad and is currently tending to the dowager empress in refugee-laden Paris. LBR, I didn’t fly across the world to see the other two (although 3 or so days into my trip there was a SCARE where Komu was announced out with an injury, and I thought I might have to… but she recovered in time for my first show!). Ohhhh it was so nice, I missed her more than my COVID-era complacence led me to believe. Lily was a very fun and pleasant Komu role for me. Homegirl is 51 now (don’t talk to me) and fresh taidansha like Tamaki Ryou are getting the heroines she played a decade and a half ago, but Lily isn’t exactly someone’s mom either. She’s funny, and sassy, and wears sick costumes, and has DANCE NUMBERS! Which she did without looking injured at all! With the exception of like 20 seconds in the prologue, Lily does not appear at all until Act 2, but Act 2 is very juicy. I think I liked the look-Vlad’s-back tango even better than her piano-top nightclub solo, but both were utterly delightful. She also has great chemistry with her Yukigumi top senpai Asami Rei, comfortable yet reverent (just like in real life!). I juuuUUUUuuUUUUuuuSsstttt wish they would lower the key for her… just a little… as a treat.........

Dowager Empress Maria: Asami Rei (more like Asami SLAY)

Y’all… seeing Asami Rei live has BEEN on my bucket list, and the experience did not disappoint. Her voice may be going, but it’s completely age appropriate, and she could have done literally anything up on that stage without it ruining the impact of her presence. I legit inadvertently gasped "mother" into my mask when she made her appearance in a black and silver bejeweled gown to attend the ballet… serving boatloads of charisma uniqueness nerve and talent at 73, to say the least.

The ensemble was also a force and the songs were expertly directed, giving the whole show a stunning sound that has been rare in my experience with Japanese musicals (part vocal talent, part book made for Broadway). The play-within-a-play scene at the ballet was genuinely impressive (it's been a while since I've seen a man jump that high). All in all, a treat to watch!

[kaibutsushidousha]

List all your Nasuverse blorbos. No B-tiers or A-tiers, only the S.

That's a really difficult one with how the concept of tiers has its really blurry lines, how TM stories are so different in nature from one another that an S from a story could fall below an A of one from a different genre, and with how I'm very attached to a few characters that have incomplete stories at best and exist only as a glossary blurb at worst. But let's give it a try.

Kara no Kyoukai

Enjou Tomoe

Kamekura Mitsuru

Asagami Fujino

Tsukihime

The original

Kohaku

Toono SHIKI

Yumizuka Satsuki

Sequels and remake

Zepia Eltnam Oberon

Noel

Michael Roa Vandamjong

Future content if my delusions match Nasu's delusions

Lululily Arach Paranodahlia

Van-Fem

Merem Solomon

Mahoutsukai no Yoru

The first

Shizuki Soujuurou

My mental image of the second and third

May Riddell Archelot

Suse Ritsuka

Fate/

The Fuyuki ones

Kotomine Kirei

Medea

Matou Sakura

Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald

Elmo 2 (guest characters counted elsewhere)

Orlocke Ceasarmund

Yakou Yukinobu

Dismantling War if that's where Elmo is going

Lord Brishsan

Prototype + Fragments

Arash

Apocrypha (specifically future volumes of the sequel)

Lemina Eltfromm Yggdmillenia

Dunkelbert Haidewolf

Odin

Grand Order

Goetia

Kirschtaria Wodime

Scandinavia Peperoncino

Solomon/Romani Archaman

Olga Marie Animusphere (U and unlettered)

Muryan

Wak Chan

Kumanoin Yoshisuke

Samurai Remnant

Chiemon

Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro

Miyamoto Iori

Extra Series

Kishinami Hakuno

BB

Gatou Monji

Leonardo Bistario Harwey

Requiem

Manazuru Chitose

Utsumi Erice

strange Fake

Fake Assassin

Flat Escardos

Haruri Borzak

Ishtar

Keikenchi stuff

Sakamoto Ryouma

Rengoku

Magatsu Reiji

[lea-heartscxiv]

Let's see I want to make one thing very clear sk8 team (Utsumi-sensei and colleagues) and us (Van and I), don't know each other, and we have never talked to them, but I think we share the same thinking on the project, I don't know how to explain it so I'd better explain a little of what is the thing and you draw the conclusion.

On September 26th while Van was making some advances with the commission that he was asked (with one of them), I opened our Blogger and started to write, a little story to then develop it with Van, and the first characters that came to my mind were :

Reki, Langa, Hiromi and Miya .

So far so normal, and everything would be as usual, if it weren't for what happened a few days later.

On October 4th they announced the new official SK8 artwork and you may not know who the star characters of that artwork were:

Reki, Langa, Hiromi and Miya... and little Sketchy

Are you familiar with these characters?

Effectively the same ones that are the main ones in our Simblreen (Halloween) story.

I know some will say that it was just a coincidence … but it's a good mystery for this Halloween month,

Utsumi-sensei and we can have the same thought without knowing each other?

What do you think about all this? Do coincidences exist or do they not exist?

No need for anyone to answer, just anyone who wants to… this is just a text I let go in my head. 🙇‍♂️

[doamarierose-honoka]

Although there seemed to be signs suggesting otherwise, Sega basically announced everything but a new Virtua Fighter at The Game Awards 2023 this past week.

The Washington Post recently interviewed Sega co-COO and Sega of America CEO Shuji Utsumi about the "new era" for the developer as well as what they're looking at for the future of Virtua Fighter.

With the reveals of new entries for Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, Jet Set Radio, Shinobi and Streets of Rage, Utsumi says these are part of the "treasure trove" of dormant IP he wanted to see revived and is now finally coming to fruition.

Moreover, he says Sega wants to show their "edginess and rebellious mind-set" that the company was known for in its console days of the '90s, which was pretty apparent in the TGA trailer.

So what does that mean for Virtua Fighter?

Well, Sega is apparently aware of the demand, but they don't sound sure of what direction to really take it next yet.

"We are evaluating right now," said Utsumi. "Virtua Fighter doesn't use so many tricks, special moves like in Street Fighter, it's very realistic. How can we make it more dramatic? It's something we're working on."

Interestingly, this is a similar answer that VF Producer Seiji Aoki gave all the way back in 2021, so it doesn't sound like much concrete progress on a brand new title has been made over the past two years.

In potential opposition to Utsumi's idea, however, Aoki noted that the core would need to make sure that old Virtua Fighter fans who've supported the series for upwards of 30 years would also enjoy a new entry that would live up to their expectations.

So it sounds like Sega may need to walk a bit of a tight rope to try and keep their core VF community pleased as well as make something that can appeal to modern fighting game fans who are less familiar with its intricacies.

Sega did just announce a new version of Virtua Fighter 3tb as the first new release for it in over 20 years, and they of course released Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown in 2021.

It seems pretty clear that Sega hasn't given up on Virtua Fighter by any stretch, but it's also likely going to be multiple more years before we see anything substantial and new from them one way or the other.

[honou-izzu]

This is so cute... lol 😂😂😂 I mean even if it wasn't explicitly shown that either Yukawa and Utsumi had a closer relationship by now, I love how you could see some small hints that Yukawa was really taken to Utsumi very much. 

Even more if you compare Yukawa's interaction with Kusanagi in which you can see that the two were really close friends. But unlike Utsumi, Kusanagi usually takes Yukawa's opinion at face value and accepts anything that he suggested. And once there’s evidence that countered Yukawa’s opinion, he’ll just accept it as maybe even Yukawa can be wrong sometimes and stopped at that.

Utsumi though, as much as she does consider Yukawa's opinions, would tend to try challenge his ideas if she thinks that whatever explanation she heard didn't quite fit with her own theories. Yet, when she realise that maybe he was right all along despite the evidence they’ve found, Utsumi had no qualms to continue defending that Yukawa’s hypotesis may still be correct. Kusanagi tend to not try to think too much outside the box once he found a probable solution to his problem. Utsumi on the other hand, perhaps due to Yukawa's influence and her own ability to relate to other people and think outside the box, would keep pursuing an answer until she would find an answer that would satisfy her. And I guess, to Yukawa... that was what makes Utsumi so attractive to him ❤❤

And it's not just because she's pretty.

[actiaslunaris]

Galileo as domestic slice of life.

The prevailing meme on the Yukaoru Twitter tag is the concept that, following some unfortunate set of circumstances forcing Utsumi out of her apartment, she has to move in with Yukawa.

I think it says a lot about what the shippers there actually crave that the delusions fantasies headcanons that have arisen from this concept are about the tiny conflicts and intimacies -- all platonic, for the most part -- of a man and a woman living together.

For instance, Utsumi taking out the trash, while not wearing a bra, and Yukawa not being quite comfortable with Utsumi's extreme comfort. (https://twitter.com/no_no_916/status/1648321465962618881)

Or, Utsumi drinking in Yukawa's home, knowing this situation is temporary and still, while under the influence, calling it 'home' for herself. *(https://twitter.com/gs8DiwGa0jV39lL/status/1648161768248852480)

[*This account seems to be the originator of the meme, though I'm not sure if they actually are. They seem to post the most and use the tag I'm appending to this.]

Or, Yukawa leaving heated up food for Utsumi, and notes for sides to have with it and Utsumi replying with writing down 'otsukare' (thank you for your hard work) because that expresses appreciation but isn't too familiar and keeps a certain distance. (https://twitter.com/gs8DiwGa0jV39lL/status/1646493619287887872)

Or, Utsumi falling asleep and Yukawa carrying her to bed, noting that she seems to not be eating due to how little she weighs, and making sure to give her a bento for the next day. (https://twitter.com/Konpeitou_0421/status/1636583171495014401)

All these are some of the most recent, but the tweets focusing on this go all the way back to the beginning of the year. These are just summaries of the auto-translations, so some details may be incorrect.

There are many others, all along those lines, all very domestic and so platonic, and lovely. They are just living together, not dating!

[kudouusagi]

Note from Utsumi

The reasons behind the location choices revealed for the first time!?

For the location where they receive the "S" sticker, when we were location hunting we heard there was a street called "New Paradise Street" and that location was on a nearby street so we chose it because we liked the name "Paradise Street".

For Joe's restaurant, it was originally found by the producer, Mari Suzuki, from BONES. We were looking for an Italian restaurant in the Shuri area and we happened to find one. We just went to the restaurant for dinner during location hunting, but since the interior was so stylish and the food so good, we immediately asked "May we use your restaurant as a location in our anime?"

Incidentally, an acquaintance of the owner was sitting at the counter at the time, and Sakurayashiki just happened to end up sitting in that same spot in the anime. Seeing them talk in such a a friendly manner at the counter was so wonderful, and so I'm glad that we were able to recreate that in the anime as well.